New Community

As I sit here, barely able to hold my eyes open (though it's 2:00 in the afternoon!), Reece babbles in his crib, trying to fall asleep (though there's a good chance he won't). He slept through the night all week, and we'd started to think maybe we'd turned a corner, but the last couple of nights have been terr.i.ble. Ugh. Multiple wake-ups is always so much harder after you've gotten used to being fully rested again!

Eric and Cade are off on another of what we have come to refer to as the "birthday party adventure." Seriously. So many, many stories to tell of the headaches that have arisen as a result of what should be (in our minds) a simple birthday party. But so many things aren't simple when you live overseas. The worst fight of our marriage--one when I'd decided I was going home to pack my bags and fly back to the States that afternoon--was a result of not being able to find a birthday party.

These are the kinds of things I'm not going to miss.

That's right. I'm making it public. We won't be back in Seoul next year. Most of you already know, anyway, but it's been harder to blog without alluding to thoughts of next year. So much of our thinking at this point seems to revolve around how little we know about next year.

And while there is a huge part of me that breathes a sigh of relief when I think about birthday parties or my outing this morning, (The hostess had sent out a map that did.not.help me at all! I knew the area where she lived, and I still couldn't figure out where it was based on the map and address she provided.), there is another part of me that grieves.

This morning, I was invited to a Christmas tea. Not really my sort of thing, but I like people. I like food. So why not go? Just because it's 32 degrees out and I don't know where I'm going? Maybe. Because I have to bring something and lug it all the way over there? Maybe. Because I have to be out of the house by 8:40? Probably. Because I can't just hop in the car and drive over there? Sure.

But, I pulled up my big girl panties, I texted a friend to walk with, I threw together some coffee, some pumpkin caramel, and some peppermint simple syrup, and headed out into the cold to hang out and laugh with some lovely ladies. Some I'm just getting to know because they only arrived a few months ago and some I've known since we've been here, but I'm always getting to know better.

And those are the moments when I wish we weren't leaving. When you're surrounded by community that you've been plopped right into. I might not love every one of those women, but when I moved here with no friends and no family, they took me in. They will understand things about me that many of my old friends never will. They won't expect me to be the person that I was before I became an expat. They've been here for me when I've had no one else, and for that I'm so grateful.

We don't know where we're going to be in six months. We don't know if we'll have jobs or a place to live or friends and family nearby. All we know is that God is going ahead of us. Paving the way for us, and we're just praying that there will be a community waiting for us wherever we end up.


(If you, too, are looking to make some food to take pictures of (oh, am I the only who does that?! haha), then I definitely recommend this recipe for pumpkin scones and this recipe for pumpkin caramel...both are amazing!!)

Celebrating 10 Years

Our first week of school is always a short one, as we celebrate Korea's Liberation Day at the end of the week, and this year was no different. So, the kids only had three and a half days of school, but it's nice to ease into it.

That Thursday night was actually our anniversary, but good friends of ours were having a post-wedding shower, so went to that instead. We rarely celebrate our anniversary on the actual day, anyway. So, we went out the next night. Last year on our anniversary, Eric was starting to get sick and not eating much. Shortly after, we found out that he had pneumonia, so I don't think we ever really went out for our anniversary. Since he was making up for last year, and we were celebrating year 10, he decided to go all out!

He talked to one of our Korean friends (who is all about finding new and exciting restaurants!) and ended up with reservations to a nice what I will call "Western style Korean restaurant." I'm still not quite sure what it was. But, I do know that it was expensive, it was the first six course meal that I have ever eaten, and that we were both starving again when we finally made it home an hour later!

As always, it was an experience getting to the restaurant. I had originally asked Eric to find a place that we could drive to, but those are few and far between. So, we planned on a taxi instead, our only concern being how to communicate to the driver where we were going (since we didn't know anything other than the name of the restaurant). It turned out that he couldn't read the address from the website, as we'd hoped, so after a ten minute conversation and multiple phone calls, Eric decided just to follow the directions on the iPhone maps and tell the driver where to turn. It actually worked out pretty well, aside from how angry the driver was with us. It was just a short walk from where he dropped us off, through an alley, and a weird little gate. iPhone maps saved us again!

The dinner itself was pretty incredible, though we felt pretty out of our element. We started with abalone, followed by pistachio-crusted scallops, there was a salad, a pasta course, a main dish of beef tenderloin with roasted garlic and bleu cheese, as well as dessert and tea. It all looked and tasted amazing, but we were served the world's smallest portions in huge dishes!

The real fun began after we left the restaurant. Right away, we noticed that streets were closed and there wasn't much traffic. Soon, we were walking through throngs of chairs and people setting up what appeared to be a major event. It didn't take us long to remember that the Pope was in town, and clearly we were right in the middle of where he would be speaking the next morning. There was no way we were going to be catching a cab or a bus without a long walk. After walking about 45 minutes (by this time it was almost 10:00), we stopped to get something to drink and rest for a few minutes at Dunkin' Donuts. Both of us were hungry, but donuts didn't look appetizing. After walking another block, we finally came to an intersection with cross traffic and were able to find a taxi--what a relief! We finally made it home, and then Eric headed out to get kebabs from the late weekend night cart that was in our neighborhood. Another adventure that we won't soon forget!

These pictures are from our week spent with Evan, Jen, and Graham after we left Whidbey Island. I think I've already mentioned that I did a terrible job documenting the events of our summer with the camera, and this is a great example. We spent the week shopping, seeing relatives, playing Legos, watching the World Cup, and hanging out at the park, and I didn't document any of it! For our anniversary, Eric is paying for me to take an online photography class for the next month, so hopefully I'll start being a little better about documenting life again!

The Garden of Morning Calm and other adventures

I've got Senioritis. It's official. And we still have three more weeks of school. So much to do before the year ends! In order to finish grading everything on time, I have to grade 7 articles per day, in addition to some of the regular grading--quizzes and such that inevitably come along. My goal was to get a few extra done on Saturday, so that I could relax a bit on Mother's Day, but it didn't happen. At least I met my quota. I'm keeping up.

Here it is May, and I'm finally posting the last day of my brother's trip. That either means that we had a great time and everything was picture worthy, or it means that I've been a really slow (bad) blogger. I think it's a combination of both.

And I announced that I'm pregnant, but I haven't given an update on that at all. I do plan to do that, too! Obviously, the first trimester was a tough one--the biggest reason why things were so quiet here, but thankfully it's over and the second trimester is living up to its reputation.

On the last day that we had off before Travis left, we decided to pack in a lot--probably too much--live and learn, right?

We started with a trip to iPark Mall. I was determined to finally pick up the tripod that I had been shopping for the past year. My brother is much too supportive of these things! Eric was not thrilled with the purchase and even less thrilled that I didn't buy the cheapest one available. He's still figuring out how much it has cost me per picture that I take using it.

After we picked out the tripod, we headed for some lunch. After some debate, we agreed on a Japanese restaurant. The kids had pork cutlet while the adults had stir fries and sushi. Sushi here always looks a bit different. For one reason or another, Koreans tend to serve it with a mayonnaise sauce on top. Yuck. Nonetheless, it works for me, and it's better than kimbap!

After lunch, we headed outside to the ice skating rink. Cade had been a bit bothered that he didn't get to go skating with us when we took Kennedy, so we had to take him. It was good for Kennedy to get some more practice again so soon, and Cade stuck it out for as long as he could, but I wouldn't say he loved it.

He had more success outside the rink...until he got a bloody nose, of course. Then it was time for us all to be done! Eric opted out of skating, so he took the pictures instead.

We still had big plans for afternoon and evening!

Last fall, our friends went to the Garden of Morning Calm and had great things to say about it. I'm not sure how, but I discovered that in the winter, the Garden is covered in lights and is quite the attraction after dark. So, we hopped in the car and headed out of town.

I think the drive is supposed to take about an hour--maybe an hour and a half. But, of course, we got lost. And ended up in the middle of nowhere on snowy roads. At one point, we finally stopped and Eric discovered that I hadn't used the correct address for our destination. I'd gotten the address from the tourism website, rather than the website for the Garden itself. Before long, we were on the right track again.

We finally made it--well after dark, which isn't exactly what I had planned, since it was the night before we went back to school. And we'd made it, but somehow we'd lost hats and gloves in the process and it was frigid, so the first stop was the gift shop.

Trav picked up hats, gloves, and hand warmers while Eric got tickets and we were off into the winter wonderland. It was a bit overwhelming at first, and being a novice with the tripod, I didn't have a lot of confidence pulling it out and getting in everyone's way like the hundreds of Koreans around me, but I did it, and was even somewhat successful.

We really didn't spend too much time traipsing around the gardens, considering how long the drive was, but it was worth it (to me), anyway. Before long, we felt that we'd seen all of the lights and it was time to hit the road. We had to get up early the next day. So, we headed back to the car, hoping to find some dinner as we drove back to the highway.

As it turned out, most of the restaurants were already closed by that time on a wintery Sunday evening. We ended up stopping at the first 7-11 we found on the road, hoping that they might have something real to eat and praying that if we fed the kids early in the ride, they would fall asleep before too long on the road. Neither plan worked out perfectly. We ended up getting something into our stomachs--Pringles, popcorn and Ritz crackers, as I recall--and the kids eventually fell asleep, but not quite the ending I had hoped for!

We actually took Lindy here last week, so eventually I'll get around to posting some pictures of what it looks like during the daylight hours in the spring, but it was another adventure, I can promise you!

Happy Mother's Day! I hope that you all have a wonderful day with your families! We had a nice, relaxing day, and I felt very loved and appreciated by my family today. Now, I'm ready for bed!

Gyeongbukgong Palace...again

This is our last week of normalcy for awhile. While all the rest of you Seattle-ites are suffering from "Seahawk fever"--taking the day off to attend parades and such--we're still in our normal routine, for a few more days. Next week, I start soccer again--high school, varsity soccer. More time than I'm prepared to invest right now--my heart races at just the thought of trying to keep up with everything! I have a feeling I'm going to get way more "I told you so" than I've ever heard (or deserved) in the next ten weeks.

I realized last night, after having made homemade naan and tikka masala, red beans and rice (from scratch), Greek pasta salad, and beef stroganoff this week, that I might be cooking out of guilt in preparation for the next couple of months. With practice ending at 6:00 every night (except game nights when it's even later), I'm not going to be doing much cooking for the next ten weeks. Eric is going to have to start stretching his cooking skills again. I'm not sure why, but he has still not started cooking here, even though he did the majority of the cooking while we were in the States. Okay, maybe it's because he had to do the majority of the cooking, and he doesn't have to now.

You may have noticed--especially based on these posts from when Travis was here--that I don't normally cook often enough. And when I do manage to cook five out of seven nights, at least a couple of those are things like tacos or pasta with sauce from a jar, so for me to cook that many legitimate meals from scratch in one week is pretty impressive. (I probably shouldn't admit that!) But, I will say that we have such a wide range of options for takeout here (and some of them are even healthy), that I don't even feel guilty about it anymore--until someone comes to visit.

Travis' trip was 26 days, I believe--he counted, not me--and I am 6 posts in, covering about 7 days, I think. It's time to pick up the pace! It's made easy by the fact that I didn't take pictures for two days. The boys took the kids to Bukhansan to go hiking one day, and I stayed home to grade essays. I'm sure they took some good pictures, but I don't have them.

We spent the next day doing a few random things. We went swimming for a few hours in the morning at the school pool. When I say "we," I mean "they." I sat near the pool grading essays while they swam and played with a few other staff families. Then, we went home had lunch and soon after the boys headed back to the War Memorial (trip #3, I think?). Cade desperately wanted to go sledding there, so Eric took him sledding while Travis finished up the museum. Kennedy and I stayed home and worked on our puzzle, of course. We had gyros for dinner (see? we have healthy options!), and then the boys went out for a guys' night with some of Eric's friends from school. None of it picture worthy.

The next day it was back to the tourist thing--I had a list, we had things to check off, and we were wasting time! (I say tongue-in-cheek, but really I mean it...) We headed back to Gyeongbukgong, confident it was not going to start snowing this time. The only thing we weren't confident in was our route for getting there.

Eric was pretty sure that he'd seen the palace on the bus route they'd taken returning from the mountain a couple of days previous, so he chose our bus and where to get off. It was true, he had seen a palace, but it wasn't the one I was planning to go to. Again, if the weather had been warm, it would have been fine, but we really needed to go the one that also has a museum, so that we could go inside and warm up. We didn't have any luck orienting ourselves on iPhone maps, nor did I see a bus that I knew went to the other palace, so we hopped in a cab and arrived there shortly after (all of the palaces are conveniently within close proximity--the benefits of replicas).

There's something about this particular palace, though--maybe it is the fact that there is a museum there--or just because it's so big, but we always end up splitting--with someone going back early. This time it was Eric and the kids. We went through the children's museum while Trav did (1/3 of) the regular museum. By the time we were done with our paper cranes (great light in there!), they were done and Travis hadn't even seen the palace yet.

So they headed home while we finished up. Travis was fully intending to go back and finish the museum (it's so nice that they're free!), but it never happened. We'd skipped lunch, so he stopped and got a chicken skewer from a street vendor, missing out on an ideal opportunity to try some silkworm larvae; I couldn't believe it! (We still haven't tried it, either. Apparently, if you can get past the smell, they're not so bad, but the smell is awful!)

That evening, we had a "family play date" with Kennedy's friend--the one whose family we had an impromptu lunch with the week before. They have quite a large house, as he works for one of the most prominent businesses in Korea, so they invited us over to play and have dinner. It was another long meal, but we had good food and good conversation, and the kids had a blast! We had to be up early the next morning, though, so we had to end the fun before it got too late.

I had better get some more of these pictures edited, if you're ever going to see them! The week after soccer starts, I have essays due in class, so my posts will probably be less wordy in the near future. (And just know that we're dying over here--one of the biggest events in Seattle sports history--and we're in South Korea. Sheesh.)

What We Ate

It is quite possible that in the almost four weeks that my brother was here, we saw more of Korea than we have in the last 2 1/2 years. As a result, I have a lot of pictures to share. Eric joked the other day that I will probably be sharing pictures until April, but we all know that's not a joke. It usually takes me about 3 months to get through all of our summer pictures, so it may be about the same!

Travis got in the evening before our last day of school. I actually didn't have to go to school that day (officially, anyway), so we had the great joy of driving to Cade's school an hour after we'd put him on the bus to drop off his tuition. Long, bad story. We made it back to school in time to take care of a few things before the middle school Christmas lunch at the new BBQ place in Itaewon.

That evening, we went out for galbi at our favorite neighborhood Korean restaurant. Cade loves galbi--even the bones! (Ironically, these pictures of him were edited with a preset named "Sweetheart"--he looks like anything but a sweetheart in these pictures!)

Gyeranjjim, or steamed egg, is one of my favorite side dishes.

Saturday morning, we gave him the truly Korean experience of heading to Costco to fight the masses. All was well until Eric said that he needed to push the cart, too--otherwise you haven't really experienced Korean Costco. An experience that he does not need to re-live!

After Costco, we headed home to unload groceries and headed out to meet a friend for lunch. We went to the much-acclaimed Everest, in Dongdaemun. I'd been hearing about this Nepalese restaurant for the past year and was excited to finally try it! It was delicious! And, Ross, having lived in Nepal, said it was pretty authentic.

Have you noticed a theme here? I think that oftentimes our days revolved around food--and sometimes when we neglected to do so, things went downhill quickly. Our afternoon culminated in Legos, of course, and some good ole' spaghetti for dinner. Nothing like flying to Korea to have spaghetti from a jar. That's right. We're classy around here.

If I have a post for every two days that Travis was here, then it will probably take more than three months to make it through this--I'll have to cut down!

What's for Dinner?

The latter half of our week was a little less exciting than the first half, thankfully. I did a little better actually taking pictures of our lives this week (okay, our food), so I figured I would grace you with a few lovely iPhone pictures.

I took my family to Haddon House, one of the biggest international markets here in Seoul. What a mistake. They were certain they needed everything! I was excited to find spinach, cilantro, and black beans.

Since my mouth was still a bit sore, I was still looking for soft foods. I made some cowboy caviar (which is much healthier when you have to use a fork, rather than chips as a vehicle) and Spinach Artichoke Dip pasta. Yum.

 

This week was Celebrate Korea days at school. Events like these always result in guilt for me--both as a mom and a teacher. What creative activity can I do in my own classroom to incorporate Korean heritage? What can I do for my kid's classroom?

 

I received loads and loads of "mom" emails asking for help with various projects in Kennedy's classroom. Of course, I couldn't really participate in any of them, but I was able to stick my head into her room for a few minutes between projects for my own classroom.

I updated my phone to iOS7. It didn't begin well. Took hours to update and then an error occurred and I had to restore the entire phone, but it turned out fine. I'm loving the update. I feel like I have a whole new phone!

On Saturday, Eric was supposed to have a baseball game in the middle of the day. My options were to send the kids with him where they would play in the dirt for a few hours, be hungry and cold, and surrounded by a bunch of guys who are drinking, swearing, and smoking--or I could take them with me to my soccer jamboree. There they had 30 middle school girls to play with, as well as 6 high school coaches to watch them. (Not to mention the fact that I am not actually on the field.) Needless to say, soccer won out. Kennedy had a great time photobombing as I figured out the new features on the iOS7 camera.

As it turned out, his game was cancelled yesterday, so he got to clean the house and get plenty of work done for school. He's making up for it by playing this afternoon on the other team. Unfortunately, I'm still not getting any work done.

The temperatures did drop yesterday. It never got over about 65 degrees and rained just a bit. I was in the mood for some nice, warm comfort food when we got home yesterday. Nothing says comfort like  a recipe with "supreme" in the title. Chicken Broccoli Supreme. It did not disappoint. A rich, creamy cheese sauce. Chicken, broccoli, Ritz cracker topping. Even the kids devoured it. Make it. Tonight.