Young Gung Temple

This Buddhist temple was on the edge of the sea cliffs. It was a bit rainy but we still managed to have a good time. However, we didn't anticipate all of the steps. Steve had to carry Sadie's stroller up and down steps. We ate rice cakes and stayed away from the cooked bugs.

Our Favorite Bakery

Our favorite place for lunch is this bakery around the corner from our hotel. I don't know how everyone is so skinny in this country with these tempting bakeries on street corners, in shopping malls and street vendors selling homemade donuts everywhere.

Me World Amusement Park

Benjamin and Sadie having fun at Me World.

Benjamin's Spot

I went down a slide that was near the beach. There's this aquarium with an interesting underground sea tunnel. We're at a hotel and we made it here. We went on a gigantic airplane that was bigger than Daddy. Ajax can't come but we're okay.

The End.

Cultural Clashes

Interesting Observations

Motorcycles drive on the sidewalks too!

• Some things you wouldn't expect are exorbitant and costly.
  

Korean women and girls go bananas when they see Sadie; taking pictures with their camera phones and touching her. I checked with someone on this and apparently it's because they find her to be soooo cute. I admit it does get a little annoying after a while.

• The apartment buildings all look like public housing. Because they have to quickly build many apartments (80% of Korea is made up of mountains), they just throw up these awful looking structures everywhere. It's quite a shame. Cabrini Green, here we come!

• There are huge golf driving ranges just randomly popped up all over the place, even in the middle of the countryside. They all have 2 or three levels. I have to get a picture soon for you.

Pleasant Surprises

• Paying for your plastic grocery bags. Most people bring their own. It appears there is a considerable effort to recycle here.


• Finding it agreeable to bow instead of wave and remove shoes at the door.


• Bakeries everywhere. The most delicious bakeries are found everywhere, on the streets, in the markets and dept stores.


• No tipping for services, restaurants or taxi cabs.


• Korean people are very healthy for the most part. I haven't seen one overweight person. They love to walk and hike, ride bikes, swim.

The Happy Dog

Ajax is a happy camper at Uncle Bob's and Aunt Fran's in Nova Scotia. Bob, our savior, drove at least 40 hours (not sure how many miles) to come pick up his adopted son in Maryland. But first he was transported from Richmond by Grandpa Ron. We've had many happy reports of Ajax's new adventures, walks, and ball eating pursuits.

Quality Time

During all of this preparation for our big trip, the most important part wasn't what dishes to pack (more on that later) or how much deoderant to stock up on, since apparently deoderant isn't a big purchase here, or what pieces of furtniture to store, but the importance of quality time with our family and friends. And, in all of this I realized what an idiot I had been in the past to not make this a number one priority in my life at all times.

As the days and hours and minutes and seconds counted down, we realized especially with the children that we needed to make the most of our quality time with the people we love. It suddenly didn't matter to argue over which restaurant to go to or what time to meet up, just how much time can we spend together. I wanted to make sure that Sadie and Benjamin were able to spend time with their four sets of Grandparents and ten aunts and uncles. We needed to see our best friends, hug and kiss each other. We wanted to talk to everyone every day. This is what is was all about.

But duh!!!! It should always be this way and it might sound so trivial now, but it really took this big (temporary) move to make us realize this. So here I am, sitting in our hotel suite. I'm so happy that I have all of these fun memories of the last few months; Passover in Chicago, bbqs at the Levine's, fun talks with my sisters, Benjamin's birthday party, Aunt Laura, Shabbat at Nanny Ruth's, parties and fun at Nana's, dinners with friends, Benjamin's graduation with Grandpa Ron and Sandy, Naomi and Kevin moving to Richmond, our unexpected layover in Chicago. Thank you everyone for creating our quality time. Love and Miss you all!