Happy Turkey Day!

Gobble Gobble.









Wishing everyone a Happy Thanksgiving! We were fortunate enough to be invited with some new friends to their home for a delicious Thanksgiving meal. We enjoyed turkey, ham, duck lettuce wraps and all the fixings, including of course kimchi!! Princess Sadie actually let me put a barette in her hair.

Benjamin's kindergarten class enjoyed their Thanksgiving luncheon.

Lessons in Restrooms

One thing I wanted to share with everyone is my experience with Korean restrooms.

Many restrooms for women have this squat-style urinal.

Anyhow, I came across this article which pretty much sums it up. Now there are many times since we've been here that I've said "When in Rome..." But when it comes to toilets - no thanks.

http://www.escapeartist.com/efam/52/Korea_lessons.html

Connections

Steve has been in Seoul all week - AGAIN. Basically I think his job is to analyze used equipment that comes from military bases before it is thrown out, recycled or sold. And a good thing too because the other day he found some encrypted piece of equipment that if were in the hands of an enemy would not be good. Apparently the DRMO up there is behind in their work. It's not the end of the world and travel has always been a regular part of his job even when we were back home, and it looks like he'll be making several more trips up there in the next few months. Like my mother-in-law always says, "this too shall pass".

Which leads me into something many members of my family were very concerned about before we packed up and flew all the way to Korea. "Aren't you going to be lonely?" And still today, they ask me, "aren't you lonely?, what do you do all day, are you bored?

The ironic thing is, this could be the first time in my life I've felt the least lonely. A major reason for this I believe is because I'm put in a situation where I have to reach out to people, and also, other people are reaching out because we're in the same situation. Also, I checked many of my past insecurities with my luggage and left them packed up and stowed away hopefully for good. I came out here with a new attitude, and an attitude I wish I had adopted earlier in life, but I'm always learning and growing. I'm making new friends and meeting new and interesting people all of the time. It's amazing what will happen when you put your judgements aside and greet everyone with a smile, when you stop worrying so much over how someone will perceive you, and you just take chances, try something new and put 100% into that giant leap forward.

I guess I'm also in sort of this dorky phase of my life where everything just amazes me. For example my online (distance education) American Authors class I'm taking right now. It's soooo amazing how much more I know about the 20 students and professor of my class: who lives where, how many children they have, their hobbies and interests than any face 2 face/lecture style class I've ever taken. Or learning about another culture, asking questions, becoming friends with my neighbors, learning about military life, seeing these mini US cities on military bases, observing cultural diffences. The list goes on and on.

Today was another Daegu International Women's Association luncheon. I just plopped myself down at a table where I knew not one person and had the most fabulous time talking to the women at my table, making friends with the nicest Korean woman next to me, and hearing about how the "matchmaker" set her up with her husband. Apparently this is very common to have a matchmaker here. Who knew they had Korean Yentas?

Now this is not to say that every day is just a frolic in the park. Like, when I got lost in the city of Daegu for an hour and a half last week and Steve had to leave work early to meet Benjamin at the bus stop while I was still going around in circles trying to find Rt.1. There will always be days like that. But, I'm not lonely, I don't feel that sense of void in my life like I used to. And it's not because of all my new Facebook friends either. I'm just making connections. True and honest attempts to connect with people, connect with myself and connect with my new surroundings.

School Days

Sadie's Korean Nursery School. She's the only American baby.

They do not speak English. We swear Sadie is speaking

Korean to us sometime and we have no idea what she's saying!

Sadie's school. Celebrating another student's birthday. The kids eat at tables Korean style (on the floor). I think they let Sadie do anyting she wants. They totally spoil her!

Miss Choi and some of the kids with Sadie.



When Benjamin dreamed of taking a school bus to school I don't think
this is quite what he had in mind.



Sometimes we're not sure if he's going to school or to Kansas on the greyhound! This bus picks up the students from Waegwan K-12 and drives them to Deagu and back everyday.

There is a bus monitor who assists all of the children.

Support Those Troops

Working for the Defense Department overseas has its benefits, one being that we get an APO address. Since we have moved to Korea, our family has graciously sent us several care packages and presents for us and the kids. My mother-in-law and I always laugh because every time she goes to mail us a package the post-man says “thanks ma’am for supporting the troops!” Recently however this saying started to resonate within me.

Sometimes unless an issue has a direct impact on you or a close friend or family member, it can be hard to grasp the concept and relate to it. For example if you are not a special ed. teacher or a parent of a child with disabilities you can’t possibly know the effects on those individuals’ lives.

Over the years I’ve heard the slogan “Support our Troops”, however it never really affected me in any sort of way. If anything, my definition of supporting our troops would mean gathering at a peace rally against war. My parents were not part of the armed services, none of my friends joined the military. I’ve always been very far removed from the subject.

The first time I’d say the lives of soldiers impacted me was when I watched the recently televised PBS series "Carrier". The story behind each one of those navy soldiers really moved me. The circumstances that led them into the Navy, how they survive living on those ships for months at a time and the family in many cases that they left behind. I was glued to the tv for the 5 days and 10 hours that it aired.

Now that many of our activities evolve around or take place on a military base, the people I meet and the friends I make these days most likely have ties to the military. Their stories never cease to amaze me. Both husband and wife are in the military, their baby lives with the Mom or the sister lives with the Dad in Korea and the brother lives with their Mom in Germany. Or their husband is in the field for several days at a time. Separation appears to be a constant in their lives. So many important moments missed, birthday parties, births, holidays. The coping mechanisms that get them through all of this.

A friend last weekend had planned a birthday party for her son who was turning 5. It was a large gathering after her church service on Sunday. Unfortunately, her husband was in the field at the time and missed the party. I couldn’t help to think how sad that was after all of the effort she put into the party, the food and decorations and for the birthday boy himself. But I could see she had a community of support around her through her church members and friends. Consequently, supporting our troops may not involve directly sending support to the soldier fighting a war overseas but the lives of those affected by their service. It really is something to think about and I thought it appropriate to share as part of our experience here in Korea.

It’s odd to think that Steve has a role in our US military but he definitely is my number one hero and soldier. He has done a fabulous job supporting me, Benjamin and Sadie as well as contributing to saving our planet through his environmental efforts! Oh and by the way, we love our packages, so you can continue to “support those troops”!!