*Whew* We are almost completely settled into our new home :) I have been trying to be Susie Home-maker as much as possible!
We haven't eaten out (except once when I went to visit Joshua on his break for lunch one day) since we have moved into our new casa. We have kept right on eating home cooked food. (I'm actually pretty proud that we have been able to continuously save some money by not eating fast food or eating at restaurants!) I'm a pretty awful cook. I can bake like no one's business but cooking is not my strong suite. I have been cooking some pretty simple things since we've gotten the house: meatloaf, sloppy joes, etc. Every time I try to make some major meal, I always fail at it. I just can't get it quite right. [Although I will say all of my desserts have been fabulous :P I even made some yummy cinnamon roll cupcakes with homemade icing. They were divine.] I just hate cooking because I always worry that I won't cook the food thoroughly and someone will end up sick! So I always seem to undercook things in an effort to not OVERcook them... Ugh. Who said it would be this complicated?! :P If anyone has any cooking tips, please feel free to email me lol.
I have fallen in love with a certain part of Korean life. The fish market. It's an covered outdoor market that (you guessed it) sells fish. Different vendors set up to sell fish and they also sell fresh fruits and veggies. The first time I went, I bought about 2 lbs of strawberries for 7,000 won (about $6.00) and bought 3 good sized heads (with the stalks) of broccoli for 2,000 won (about $1.50). Fabulous deals. Today I went with one of the wives that has come to visit. I bought 4 large sized potatoes for 3,000 won ($2.50) and for one head of broccoli for 1,000 won ($.75). The first set of broccoli that I bought, I steamed. This one that I bought, I am going to use in a batch of broccoli, rice and cheese. Joshua's step mom gave me the recipe so I'm very excited to try it out.
At our new apartment, we have a little playground for all the little kids in the complex. Every day when we leave the apartment, we walk right past it. It amazes me how similar children of both cultures are. I will walk past and the Korean children will be playing the same games as you would see American children playing. It's amazing that both sets of kids are unique yet still the same. Ever since I have been here, I have felt like an outsider, but everytime I walk past those kids I feel like I fit in. Those kids are no different than how I was as a child. They roller blade, play on the see saw and they swing like crazy. They even play little fighting games.... Love it.
Off for now. Going to see Joshua at work for a bit as he is still working extra duty with his soldier (it's 9pm here).
xoxo,
Hannah
Wednesday, March 9, 2011
Sunday, February 27, 2011
Fourty One
Okay. So let's start from the beginning. Tuesday (02/22/11), we officially received the paperwork saying that we can live off post. FINALLY. (As if we hadn't been trying to get that for over a month.) We spoke with housing and they said we could officially move in. So in we moved! We were ecstatic. Our own house is something we have been looking forward to since BEFORE we got married! Ha :) The first day or so, we were without internet as it hadn't been hooked up yet, but we've got some now! I tried to email out some pictures of the house, but for some reason, my yahoo doesn't like to cooperate! I don't understand...
Either way, I will post pictures and explain as there are a couple different things in these houses.
This is our front entry-way. The cabinets are so that you can put your shoes in there. They swear (I'm not sure how true it really is...) that if you wear your shoes inside the house, you will ruin the floors so we take them off in the little entry way.
This is the first bedroom. It's door is right next to the entry way. It came with one bed in it. The mattress is a Korean mattress. The only word to describe it is: Hard! Their mattresses are really hard. Little less than a box spring, but still feels just as rough. It's pretty basic and we decided to put sheets on the bed just in case we have a visitor one day :)
This is our living room. It's a bit smaller than an average American living room, but it's pretty decent size for a Korean apartment. She prefurnished the house for us. The couch (burnt orange leather LOL.), the "entertainment center" and the coffee table are all hers since we couldn't bring any of our stuff over with us. The glass doors in the back are to our "porch". Since we live on the 8th floor, we don't have a real porch, but this leads out to a hallway that has a bunch of glass windows that will let the summer/spring breezes in when it gets too hot.
This is our dining room. It consists of a table and a mirror haha! The table was also furnished with the apartment. The door up against the wall in the kitchen leads to our washing machine and dryer.
This is our kitchen. It's actually pretty big for a Korean kitchen. Probably one of the biggest I have seen. It has a lot of cabinet space, but no drawer space which is one of my complaints. There are only three drawers and they're all really skinny which means my silverware holder/tray is sitting out beside the sink since I have no other home for it :( I guess I'll know what to look for next time!
This is our master bedroom. The windows that you see actually open up to the hallway that is filled with the glass windows (that you saw in the living room). It's not gigantic but it is a good size. I would say it is a bit smaller than my mom's master bedroom but for a Korean apartment, the size is good. Koreans live in smaller houses and live more conservatively than Americans. They don't rent/buy places with lots of space because they know they have to pay more to heat them or cool them down. Korean houses also aren't insulated so it takes a LOT of keep them hot or cold.
This is our neat little bathroom... Now this one takes some time to explain! Koreans don't use bathtubs like Americans...at least for the most part they don't. The Master bathroom (there is another bathroom in our apartment that has a bathtub but it has no shower curtain or rod in it) is lined in tile and has covers for all light sockets and toilet paper. The whole bathroom IS the shower. You just turn the sprayer on and then go to town. The whole bathroom is water proof. The sink is a seramic and the toilet lid is plastic so the water just beads up and rolls off. The toilet paper has a metal flap that shields it from water. It's amazing. It just makes drying off a big difficult since everything is wet lol. But still, very cool to say the least!
This is our "office" area. This is the area that has our closet (because they don't keep a closet in any of the bedrooms) and it's the place that has all of our internet jacks. It's interesting because they don't sell this house saying "We are renting a three bedroom apartment", they say "We are renting a two bedroom that also has an office". It is a closed off room that can be turned into a bedroom, it just doesn't need to be that way for us since we have no other reason to! :) The windows in this room lead into the laundry room/hall.
This is the view from our little "hallway" that runs from the back of the living room to the back of the master. If you can see faaaar in the distance, there are two red and white checkered water towers. That's the Army base. We are probably about 1/2 to 3/4 miles from the base. Joshua walks it every day to and from work (and at lunch) and I walk it anytime we need something from Joshua's barracks that we still have or anytime I need to go shopping,etc. It's a nice little uphill walk to get to the apartment so it's definitely a good work out. I love that walk....except when I have my hands full! Haha.
Either way, I will post pictures and explain as there are a couple different things in these houses.
This is our front entry-way. The cabinets are so that you can put your shoes in there. They swear (I'm not sure how true it really is...) that if you wear your shoes inside the house, you will ruin the floors so we take them off in the little entry way.
This is the first bedroom. It's door is right next to the entry way. It came with one bed in it. The mattress is a Korean mattress. The only word to describe it is: Hard! Their mattresses are really hard. Little less than a box spring, but still feels just as rough. It's pretty basic and we decided to put sheets on the bed just in case we have a visitor one day :)
This is our living room. It's a bit smaller than an average American living room, but it's pretty decent size for a Korean apartment. She prefurnished the house for us. The couch (burnt orange leather LOL.), the "entertainment center" and the coffee table are all hers since we couldn't bring any of our stuff over with us. The glass doors in the back are to our "porch". Since we live on the 8th floor, we don't have a real porch, but this leads out to a hallway that has a bunch of glass windows that will let the summer/spring breezes in when it gets too hot.
This is our dining room. It consists of a table and a mirror haha! The table was also furnished with the apartment. The door up against the wall in the kitchen leads to our washing machine and dryer.
This is our kitchen. It's actually pretty big for a Korean kitchen. Probably one of the biggest I have seen. It has a lot of cabinet space, but no drawer space which is one of my complaints. There are only three drawers and they're all really skinny which means my silverware holder/tray is sitting out beside the sink since I have no other home for it :( I guess I'll know what to look for next time!
This is our master bedroom. The windows that you see actually open up to the hallway that is filled with the glass windows (that you saw in the living room). It's not gigantic but it is a good size. I would say it is a bit smaller than my mom's master bedroom but for a Korean apartment, the size is good. Koreans live in smaller houses and live more conservatively than Americans. They don't rent/buy places with lots of space because they know they have to pay more to heat them or cool them down. Korean houses also aren't insulated so it takes a LOT of keep them hot or cold.
This is our neat little bathroom... Now this one takes some time to explain! Koreans don't use bathtubs like Americans...at least for the most part they don't. The Master bathroom (there is another bathroom in our apartment that has a bathtub but it has no shower curtain or rod in it) is lined in tile and has covers for all light sockets and toilet paper. The whole bathroom IS the shower. You just turn the sprayer on and then go to town. The whole bathroom is water proof. The sink is a seramic and the toilet lid is plastic so the water just beads up and rolls off. The toilet paper has a metal flap that shields it from water. It's amazing. It just makes drying off a big difficult since everything is wet lol. But still, very cool to say the least!
This is our "office" area. This is the area that has our closet (because they don't keep a closet in any of the bedrooms) and it's the place that has all of our internet jacks. It's interesting because they don't sell this house saying "We are renting a three bedroom apartment", they say "We are renting a two bedroom that also has an office". It is a closed off room that can be turned into a bedroom, it just doesn't need to be that way for us since we have no other reason to! :) The windows in this room lead into the laundry room/hall.
This is the view from our little "hallway" that runs from the back of the living room to the back of the master. If you can see faaaar in the distance, there are two red and white checkered water towers. That's the Army base. We are probably about 1/2 to 3/4 miles from the base. Joshua walks it every day to and from work (and at lunch) and I walk it anytime we need something from Joshua's barracks that we still have or anytime I need to go shopping,etc. It's a nice little uphill walk to get to the apartment so it's definitely a good work out. I love that walk....except when I have my hands full! Haha.Well that's all I have for now, guys. Thanks for joining me on my "tour" of our apartment. Wish you all could be here to see it in person! If you guys have any good recipes that you think I should try, please do share. Since this is the first time I'm a housewife, I need all the help I can get! Ha :)
xoxo,
Hannah and Joshua
xoxo,
Hannah and Joshua
Monday, February 14, 2011
Fourty
Lordy, lordy. Look whose turning 40...posts?
So this week has been a stressful week. No memo....STILL. Which means still no apartment. GRRR. I've officially began bugging everyone I know (Army-wise...not civillians) about it. I've even practiced what I would say if I happened to run across either of the "gentlemen" who have been holding back my move off post. It starts off nice and sweet and ends with a few rude words and a hair flip.
The guys are gone to the field...yet again. Joshua won't be back until the end of the week, I assume. Then we have a 4 day weekend that will be full of extra duty shifts. They left for the field on Valentine's Day which just further aggravates me with this Colonel. It's just a silly little day with a silly little name, but why wasn't this just delayed for an extra day so that we could spend it with out significant others? It's killing moral for anyone with any kind of family on a day like this. Just a silly day but it just makes it worse when they take them all away. I'm ready to rip someone's head off.
Even if we didn't get to spend the official holiday together, our Valentine's Day was great. It was nice to just get away and do something together...alone. We are almost always with others when we go out and do stuff. Even though I enjoy the time we spend with others, I also enjoy the time we get to do things solo.
Hope your Vday was grand!
Love,
Hannah
So this week has been a stressful week. No memo....STILL. Which means still no apartment. GRRR. I've officially began bugging everyone I know (Army-wise...not civillians) about it. I've even practiced what I would say if I happened to run across either of the "gentlemen" who have been holding back my move off post. It starts off nice and sweet and ends with a few rude words and a hair flip.
The guys are gone to the field...yet again. Joshua won't be back until the end of the week, I assume. Then we have a 4 day weekend that will be full of extra duty shifts. They left for the field on Valentine's Day which just further aggravates me with this Colonel. It's just a silly little day with a silly little name, but why wasn't this just delayed for an extra day so that we could spend it with out significant others? It's killing moral for anyone with any kind of family on a day like this. Just a silly day but it just makes it worse when they take them all away. I'm ready to rip someone's head off.
Sorry for the rant.
[Daegu]
[That's an awful picture of both of us, but it's all we've got to commemorate the day]
[Daegu]
[That's an awful picture of both of us, but it's all we've got to commemorate the day]We celebrated our Valentine's Day a day early- on Sunday. We got dressed, took a train to Daegu and did a few things that we don't get to do on a regular basis. We ate at a little burger joint that is the closest thing to a good hamburger that you can get over in Korea. It's called Gorilla Burger. It has all kinds of hamburgers. My favorite is the Original Gorilla Burger. It's a burger with a slice of (real, not Kraft) Cheddar cheese, smothered in Barbecue sauce with lettuce, tomato and pickles on the side. It may not be the classiest restaurant or classiest dinner, but it was good, and that's all we were going for. After wards, we went to Krispy Kreme donuts to get a little extra American lovin'. It was delicious. We sat down and started eating. In about thirty seconds, I had already eaten one and Joshua had already eaten two! Ha. They were so so great. After we fattened up at Krispy Kreme, we headed back to the train station. It was so cold that Joshua even let us grab a cab back even though the donut shop and the train station are really close together. When we got back home, we swapped gifts. He even bought a red bag and pink tissue paper! 
[My Red Bag present with Pink Tissue paper!]
Haha he did so good picking it all out for me :) He gave me an x-box Kinect work out game that I really wanted and I got him a laptop bag. The second present that I bought for him didn't come in the mail yet so we are still waiting for that one to come in!
[My Red Bag present with Pink Tissue paper!]Even if we didn't get to spend the official holiday together, our Valentine's Day was great. It was nice to just get away and do something together...alone. We are almost always with others when we go out and do stuff. Even though I enjoy the time we spend with others, I also enjoy the time we get to do things solo.
Hope your Vday was grand!
Love,
Hannah
Thursday, February 10, 2011
Thirty-Nine
We recently had a Cook Out. The boys all bought and cooked a lot of food. They had hamburgers, steak, bratwurst, chicken and ribs. There was probably enough for 30 people! It was delicious though. We played music, grilled and played volleyball at the nearby Volleyball courts.
They are all SO so competitive in any sport. This was no different. Eventually I quit playing because Joshua kept getting mad when I would miss the ball! Haha. Ahhh. The joy of boys.
Let me preface all of this next story with this bit of information: If a soldier gets in trouble, he is given an Article 15 document. It's a bit like a write-up except it's a bit more hardcore. You can get discharged from the Army over it. The repercussions of an Article 15 is you lose half your pay for 60 days and have to work extra duty for 45 days. Extra duty means every day-even on work days/weekends/holidays- you work from the time you get off regular work until midnight. An article 15 is rough stuff. It's not every day that someone gets one and is usually given when the circumstances are insurmountable. Just before one of the most recent 4-day weekends, his sergeant major gave a big speech on underage drinking. He spoke about how he didn't want anyone doing it and anyone doing it would get in a LOT of trouble. Well of course, boys will be STUPID boys and Joshua's underage soldier went out and got drunk. He fell down and broke his nose. When he went to the hospital, they breathalyzed him and of course he had a lot of alcohol in his system. It's the perfect grounds for an article 15.
Joshua's sergeant major decided it would be a bright idea to implement a new rule due to this. The new rule states that the person over the soldier that gets an Article 15, has to work the 45 days with them as punishment for "bad leadership".. So that's exactly what we've been dealing with for a week now. Long long days and short uneventful weekends. Joshua's sweet Staff Sergeant has so willingly helped him on these duty days. He is always great about taking half of Joshua's shifts so that we can spend some time together and get some sleep! I have appreciated his help immensly.
They still haven't gotten our letter signed to be off post. I'm livid and am ready to go into each of their offices and pitch a fit. A big one. It shouldn't be this difficult. It has taken us a MONTH to get NOTHING done. Nothing. Why? Why?! Oh for no reason, of course. Ugh.
Next week is another field mission so I will be sitting here alone..again. And I can't even have my own house to sit alone in. Blah.
xoxo,
Hannah
They are all SO so competitive in any sport. This was no different. Eventually I quit playing because Joshua kept getting mad when I would miss the ball! Haha. Ahhh. The joy of boys.Let me preface all of this next story with this bit of information: If a soldier gets in trouble, he is given an Article 15 document. It's a bit like a write-up except it's a bit more hardcore. You can get discharged from the Army over it. The repercussions of an Article 15 is you lose half your pay for 60 days and have to work extra duty for 45 days. Extra duty means every day-even on work days/weekends/holidays- you work from the time you get off regular work until midnight. An article 15 is rough stuff. It's not every day that someone gets one and is usually given when the circumstances are insurmountable. Just before one of the most recent 4-day weekends, his sergeant major gave a big speech on underage drinking. He spoke about how he didn't want anyone doing it and anyone doing it would get in a LOT of trouble. Well of course, boys will be STUPID boys and Joshua's underage soldier went out and got drunk. He fell down and broke his nose. When he went to the hospital, they breathalyzed him and of course he had a lot of alcohol in his system. It's the perfect grounds for an article 15.
Joshua's sergeant major decided it would be a bright idea to implement a new rule due to this. The new rule states that the person over the soldier that gets an Article 15, has to work the 45 days with them as punishment for "bad leadership".. So that's exactly what we've been dealing with for a week now. Long long days and short uneventful weekends. Joshua's sweet Staff Sergeant has so willingly helped him on these duty days. He is always great about taking half of Joshua's shifts so that we can spend some time together and get some sleep! I have appreciated his help immensly.
They still haven't gotten our letter signed to be off post. I'm livid and am ready to go into each of their offices and pitch a fit. A big one. It shouldn't be this difficult. It has taken us a MONTH to get NOTHING done. Nothing. Why? Why?! Oh for no reason, of course. Ugh.
Next week is another field mission so I will be sitting here alone..again. And I can't even have my own house to sit alone in. Blah.
xoxo,
Hannah
Wednesday, February 2, 2011
Thirty-Eight
*Sigh* Another week gone and done. February is here, thank goodness! Glad to see the time start crawling by. I usually do nothing but despise being in Korea (Things in Korea would be easier if we just got rid of the Lt Col that is above Joshua. He is a complete jack ass and needs to go to someone else's unit. I'm tired of his ass hole ness.) but at this point, I think I will be sad to leave when September rolls around. I will be sad to get back to the normal way of life. Everything is so uncertain. Where will we be stationed next? How far away will I be from my family...again? It's easy to hate Korea, but it's hard to hate something in the states.
I guess I'll just always be a Texas girl....and a Korea girl?
Anyways.
Nothing exciting has happened since I last updated. Bradley came down to visit for probably the last time before he will leave to go home. He flies out the day after Valentine's Day :( I am sad to be losing my bro! (I am jealous that he will touch that beautiful American soil before me!) We all went out the night he came to visit. We had gone out the night before and stayed out until 3am so we didn't stay out too late the night he was here. It was SO cold, so that also encouraged us to get to our room and cuddle up in bed (me and joshua cuddle...not bradley :P ).
I have located (and snatched...even though they are technically free) a magazine that tells all about things/activities going on on base. There are apparently quite a few things going on for Valentine's Day on post. I have also located the schedule for the Yoga class!! This Saturday they are starting up a belly dancing class! And the best part is they are all free! So glad I can participate in all of these activities. I have been taking advantage of the gym as often as I can while I have been here. It makes me feel productive during my days while Joshua is at work :)
Either way, still no apartment yet. Almost there. We are waiting on Joshua's stupid Col to get it together so that he can finally "council" him so we can get approved to live off post. Seriously. This is slowing me down and I'm not happy about it :( I'm ready for my pretty three bedroom apartment..
I guess I'll just always be a Texas girl....and a Korea girl?
Anyways.
Nothing exciting has happened since I last updated. Bradley came down to visit for probably the last time before he will leave to go home. He flies out the day after Valentine's Day :( I am sad to be losing my bro! (I am jealous that he will touch that beautiful American soil before me!) We all went out the night he came to visit. We had gone out the night before and stayed out until 3am so we didn't stay out too late the night he was here. It was SO cold, so that also encouraged us to get to our room and cuddle up in bed (me and joshua cuddle...not bradley :P ).
I have located (and snatched...even though they are technically free) a magazine that tells all about things/activities going on on base. There are apparently quite a few things going on for Valentine's Day on post. I have also located the schedule for the Yoga class!! This Saturday they are starting up a belly dancing class! And the best part is they are all free! So glad I can participate in all of these activities. I have been taking advantage of the gym as often as I can while I have been here. It makes me feel productive during my days while Joshua is at work :)
Either way, still no apartment yet. Almost there. We are waiting on Joshua's stupid Col to get it together so that he can finally "council" him so we can get approved to live off post. Seriously. This is slowing me down and I'm not happy about it :( I'm ready for my pretty three bedroom apartment..
Wednesday, January 26, 2011
Thirty-Seven
*Whew* We have had a whirlwind over the last couple weeks. We have been so busy! The weekend of the 15th, Joshua and I traveled to Seoul to visit my little brother Bradley who is stationed up there. It was nice to see him! We did some sightseeing while we were there. We went to Lotte World (a theme park kinda like Disney World), Seoul Tower (their "tower" like Eiffel Tower, Sears Tower, etc), Teddy Bear Museum, and E-Mart/shopping (which is always my favorite!!). The first thing we did when we arrived was go to E-mart. E-mart is like a Korean version of Walmart. The major difference is the look. Walmart looks more modern and up to date. Also, Walmart products (believe it or not) also seem better quality than some of the items at E-Mart but the prices were great.
The next day, we went to Seoul Tower. The Teddy Bear Museum is located inside the tower, so we went there first and then went up the tower (which is an $8/person ride JUST to go up the elevator to the top...geeze!) and looked out the observatory. It was very cool. They had each section of window labled to say what location it was aiming towards. The closest the windows came to Texas was Miami. They also had Seattle, D.C and New York. It was neat! Outside the tower, there is The Lock Trees. It's essentially a bunch of wire that people hang locks on. Usually it's a thing for couples to do. (The guys over here have no shame in being all lovey dovey!) You buy a lock (or bring one), write things on it (Lovey dovey things, of course ;)), then lock it to the wires. Once they are locked on, you throw the keys over the ledge (as to say you will always love that boy/girl). Joshua and I definitely did one...of course! But then I forgot to throw the keys! Eeek! So I decided that I would just throw them in random places that we visit from now on (I have three keys for the lock). I tossed one at Lotte World so now I have two more that I can toss.
The next day in Seoul, we went to Lotte World. It as fun but DEFINITELY a knock off of Disney World. But really, what in Korea ISN'T a knock off?? Nothing. It was neat though. It is supposed to be the largest indoor theme park in the world. They also have an outside theme park but it was bitterly cold this winter in Seoul so it was closed off until warmer weather (not that any normal human being would have ridden rides in such cold weather anyways!). It was three stories. We only rode one or two of the roller coasters since I tend to get car sick/motion sickness. We went on a trolley ride around the park to see everything and we also went on a "hot air balloon ride". The hot air balloon ride was a mechanical air balloon that just took you across the top story of the park so you could see down it. We rode with a Korean mom with two kids. Even though I couldn't understand what they were saying, you could still hear the little kids excited squeals! [Side Note: It's interesting that certain things always stay the same no matter what language barrier. We even passed by a guy would was showing his little girl some game or something and he was speaking Hangul and then said "whoa!" in reference to something the game was doing. How cool that whoa is still the same :)] We then went to Pizza Hut afterwards and grabbed a canadian bacon/pineapple stuffed crust... YUM.
We then came back home and the next day left to go back to Seoul AGAIN! This time for a marriage retreat. We spent three days at a hotel in Seoul (on Bradley's base). Everything was paid for- hotel, meals, childcare (if we had kids), everything. We spent most of the early day/early afternoon in classes then we had the evenings to hang out and go around to different places. The first night we were there, we went bowling with a couple that was there. (They had their little two-year-old with them. He reminds me so much of Carly. I just love it!) Bradley came and joined us to bowl. The next afternoon, we went with the same couple to the aquarium. It was a lot of fun. They had all kinds of crazy animals at the aquarium. Well let me rephrase that: crazy to the Koreans, not crazy to us. They had prairie dogs, gerbils, ground hogs, monkeys, etc. It was interesting to see all the animals that they felt deserved a spot in an aquarium.
The next day was our last day of the retreat so we left that afternoon. All in all, we had a great time. That week went by so fast but it was so nice to have a little vacation from all the stresses of Joshua's work.
We have found an apartment! We should be moving in soon! I am very excited. It's one of the most American apartments we have found. It even has a dryer (which for a Korean apartment, is rare!). As soon as we get moved in, we will be taking pictures....lots of pictures! :)
We send lots of love to you guys! I also promise to come back and update with pictures soon! I am going to start working on my tax refund so as soon as I get done with that, I will update!
Until next time,
Mrs. Hannah
The next day, we went to Seoul Tower. The Teddy Bear Museum is located inside the tower, so we went there first and then went up the tower (which is an $8/person ride JUST to go up the elevator to the top...geeze!) and looked out the observatory. It was very cool. They had each section of window labled to say what location it was aiming towards. The closest the windows came to Texas was Miami. They also had Seattle, D.C and New York. It was neat! Outside the tower, there is The Lock Trees. It's essentially a bunch of wire that people hang locks on. Usually it's a thing for couples to do. (The guys over here have no shame in being all lovey dovey!) You buy a lock (or bring one), write things on it (Lovey dovey things, of course ;)), then lock it to the wires. Once they are locked on, you throw the keys over the ledge (as to say you will always love that boy/girl). Joshua and I definitely did one...of course! But then I forgot to throw the keys! Eeek! So I decided that I would just throw them in random places that we visit from now on (I have three keys for the lock). I tossed one at Lotte World so now I have two more that I can toss.
The next day in Seoul, we went to Lotte World. It as fun but DEFINITELY a knock off of Disney World. But really, what in Korea ISN'T a knock off?? Nothing. It was neat though. It is supposed to be the largest indoor theme park in the world. They also have an outside theme park but it was bitterly cold this winter in Seoul so it was closed off until warmer weather (not that any normal human being would have ridden rides in such cold weather anyways!). It was three stories. We only rode one or two of the roller coasters since I tend to get car sick/motion sickness. We went on a trolley ride around the park to see everything and we also went on a "hot air balloon ride". The hot air balloon ride was a mechanical air balloon that just took you across the top story of the park so you could see down it. We rode with a Korean mom with two kids. Even though I couldn't understand what they were saying, you could still hear the little kids excited squeals! [Side Note: It's interesting that certain things always stay the same no matter what language barrier. We even passed by a guy would was showing his little girl some game or something and he was speaking Hangul and then said "whoa!" in reference to something the game was doing. How cool that whoa is still the same :)] We then went to Pizza Hut afterwards and grabbed a canadian bacon/pineapple stuffed crust... YUM.
We then came back home and the next day left to go back to Seoul AGAIN! This time for a marriage retreat. We spent three days at a hotel in Seoul (on Bradley's base). Everything was paid for- hotel, meals, childcare (if we had kids), everything. We spent most of the early day/early afternoon in classes then we had the evenings to hang out and go around to different places. The first night we were there, we went bowling with a couple that was there. (They had their little two-year-old with them. He reminds me so much of Carly. I just love it!) Bradley came and joined us to bowl. The next afternoon, we went with the same couple to the aquarium. It was a lot of fun. They had all kinds of crazy animals at the aquarium. Well let me rephrase that: crazy to the Koreans, not crazy to us. They had prairie dogs, gerbils, ground hogs, monkeys, etc. It was interesting to see all the animals that they felt deserved a spot in an aquarium.
The next day was our last day of the retreat so we left that afternoon. All in all, we had a great time. That week went by so fast but it was so nice to have a little vacation from all the stresses of Joshua's work.
We have found an apartment! We should be moving in soon! I am very excited. It's one of the most American apartments we have found. It even has a dryer (which for a Korean apartment, is rare!). As soon as we get moved in, we will be taking pictures....lots of pictures! :)
We send lots of love to you guys! I also promise to come back and update with pictures soon! I am going to start working on my tax refund so as soon as I get done with that, I will update!
Until next time,
Mrs. Hannah
Monday, January 3, 2011
Thirty-Six
Cold.
That's pretty much the best way to describe this season in Korea.... COLD!
It's the kind of cold that just burns your skin when it touches you. Makes you wish you had indeed put that third layer of clothes on! lol And it definitely makes you miss Texas a lot.
Christmas came and went. It was nice. Bradley (my little brother) came up on the 23rd and hung out for a couple days. It was nice to have extra family around during the holidays! Joshua worked an overnight shift on Christmas Eve. Since I was going to make a dish to go along with our Christmas Day lunch/dinner, I made sure to cook that downstairs where he was working so we could hang out a bit for Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning, as Joshua got off work, we opened presents. Joshua's Staff Sergeant bought us a new TV...yes.. you read that right. A TV! How sweet of him! They snuck it in our room on Christmas Eve while I was cooking and Joshua was working. The guys that Joshua works for are so so sweet. Truly we are blessed with such sweet people in our lives.
Bradley opening a present from mom!
Me opening a present
Our present from Joshua's SSG
Joshua's big Christmas present
All of our Christmas Presents!
Then we went to one of our friend's house and had a Christmas dinner with all the guys Joshua works with. The food was delicious. YUM! It was a lot of fun as those guys are a barrel of laughs when you put them all in a small room. They crack me up. My abs definitely got a workout! We watched the movie Three Ninja's and all sorta hung out for the evening. It was nice.
Dinner with Joshua's friends
I don't have a ton of wives as friends here yet, although I have met a few that I really like which is a great :) The only problem is that within Joshua's platoon there are only about 4 wives (there are about 40 soldiers) and only one is actually here in Korea!
Our New Years was fun, as well. We went with some of the guys (of course, I was the only girl.) to the neighboring city of Daegu. We went to TGI Fridays (It was $15 for a burger but it was just so nice to have American food in my tummy!) then went to one of their favorite bars which Joshua and I had never been to. We had a few drinks and popped a bottle of Champagne for the New Year. It was interesting to say the least! Although, I do have to say it's a little nice being the only girl because they protected me like none other. There was always some guy standing next to me to make sure that drunk guys didn't walk up and try and hit on me! Haha It was fun.
Either way, that's all I've got at this point. So for now, I say adios, amigos y amigas!!
That's pretty much the best way to describe this season in Korea.... COLD!
It's the kind of cold that just burns your skin when it touches you. Makes you wish you had indeed put that third layer of clothes on! lol And it definitely makes you miss Texas a lot.
Christmas came and went. It was nice. Bradley (my little brother) came up on the 23rd and hung out for a couple days. It was nice to have extra family around during the holidays! Joshua worked an overnight shift on Christmas Eve. Since I was going to make a dish to go along with our Christmas Day lunch/dinner, I made sure to cook that downstairs where he was working so we could hang out a bit for Christmas Eve. On Christmas morning, as Joshua got off work, we opened presents. Joshua's Staff Sergeant bought us a new TV...yes.. you read that right. A TV! How sweet of him! They snuck it in our room on Christmas Eve while I was cooking and Joshua was working. The guys that Joshua works for are so so sweet. Truly we are blessed with such sweet people in our lives.
Bradley opening a present from mom!
Me opening a present
Our present from Joshua's SSG
Joshua's big Christmas present
All of our Christmas Presents!Then we went to one of our friend's house and had a Christmas dinner with all the guys Joshua works with. The food was delicious. YUM! It was a lot of fun as those guys are a barrel of laughs when you put them all in a small room. They crack me up. My abs definitely got a workout! We watched the movie Three Ninja's and all sorta hung out for the evening. It was nice.
Dinner with Joshua's friendsI don't have a ton of wives as friends here yet, although I have met a few that I really like which is a great :) The only problem is that within Joshua's platoon there are only about 4 wives (there are about 40 soldiers) and only one is actually here in Korea!
Our New Years was fun, as well. We went with some of the guys (of course, I was the only girl.) to the neighboring city of Daegu. We went to TGI Fridays (It was $15 for a burger but it was just so nice to have American food in my tummy!) then went to one of their favorite bars which Joshua and I had never been to. We had a few drinks and popped a bottle of Champagne for the New Year. It was interesting to say the least! Although, I do have to say it's a little nice being the only girl because they protected me like none other. There was always some guy standing next to me to make sure that drunk guys didn't walk up and try and hit on me! Haha It was fun.
Either way, that's all I've got at this point. So for now, I say adios, amigos y amigas!!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)
