Destiny's Child, have you no shame??

Jessica and I witnessed something last night that had both of us laughing/cringing for the better part of an hour. We borrowed a DVD copy of the classic stop animation Rudolph the Red Nosed Reindeer. Side note to Team 13: It belonged to Kacie. One of the extra features on the DVD was something called "Destiny's Child Video". We couldn't resist watching; like the car crash metaphor. Words can't really describe how funny this was, that's why I grabbed a couple of stills from it to share.



It opens up with a stop animation DC dropping it like it's hot in the studio. Nothing too crazy here, unless you count the stop animation DC. They're singing a souled-up version of the classic Rudolph song. They sing a little here, then the scene changes and they put on snowboarding attire and go racing down the slopes to meet up with Rudolph himself.







So they give him a big hug, as they sing their hook, "Rudolph, we love you boy." But then things take another turn. They get into some triangle formation and do this spinny move to reveal...








that their snowsuits have been covering up revealing ghetto rat clothes. If you look closely, you can see the snowsuits flying off the top of the screen. I could pull pictures from this sequence all day, but I have a limited amount of space here at Blogger.com, so I'll just let you know that once they shed the extra clothes, there was some pretty funny animated booty shaking going on. But that's not what really got Jessica and I laughing. That honor goes to this next picture.






This is Sam the Snowman. In the original "Rudolph", he's voiced by Burl Ives and does the narration on the story. That was in 1964. We can see that over the years, Sam began a successful career as a music producer and sound engineer. In this video, he's in the booth while the girls are singing in studio. Toward the end of the video, we see him as he is here, feeling the groove and waving his hands in the air. Some would say he's waving them like he just don't care. Thank you, Destiny's Child, for making me laugh harder than I have all week.

Merry Christmas!!

Merry Christmas from everyone's favorite reindeer/baby hybrid! To all of our friends and family around the world, we sincerely wish you all a very merry Christmas. Jessica and I were talking, and we realized that we truly do have friends scattered around the world. From here in Korea to Iraq, to the Cayman Islands, to places all over the U.S. We're very fortunate that no matter where we end up at, we're bound to be close to someone that we know. It's not everyday that you can say that.

In Korea, I'm quite fetching...

There's some things that happen in Korea that would never happen in the U.S. If there's a theme to this blog, I guess that's it. This is another tale to re-iterate that point.
So there I am, out in downtown Seoul buying our Filipino nanny a Christmas present. She had gotten us this sweet lamp that we had wanted so we thought it the least that we could do. By the way, this lamp is similar to another lamp that my parents got in the Philippines 30 years ago. My brother and I have an ongoing feud about who is going to eventually get this lamp. I decided to take matters into my own hands and get one myself. But I digress...
So I'm sitting in the store talking to the salesguy about getting our nanny her present. We haggle over the price and finally agree. Instead of picking up the purchase from him, he makes a call to his... supplier?... and tells me to wait five minutes for the guy to bring it around. So we're sitting uncomfortably silent for a couple of seconds before he asks me if I'm from the U.S. and how old I am. I tell him, not too surprised because Koreans love to ask you how old you are. It's a status thing. The older you are, the more respected you are. Then he goes on to tell me that I'm "very handsome, movie star." This was completely unsolicited and took me a little off guard. But I took in stride and we kept talking. Next he wanted to know who was the biggest movie star in America. He proposed that it was Brad Pitt. I agreed, saying he's probably the biggest right now. Then he said, "Tom Cruise?" and made that side-to-side hand tilt that means "a little fishy." I said that Tom was pretty big, but probably not the biggest anymore. This was all a little surreal. Then another Korean guy came in that worked there. Without asking the other guy, he asks me how old I am and tells me that I'm very handsome. Did I miss something? Why am I getting a creepy feeling all of a sudden about this place. But there was nothing strange in the way he said it. It was an honest compliment.
It had me thinking how strange and out of place that would be in America. As a guy, I can never ever think of a time when another guy has said how "handsome" I am. Let alone a salesman at a store. Imagine if you were at Best Buy and the kid showing you the TV's said, "Hey, you're a really good looking man." It just does not happen. Ever. But here, it's apparently not that uncommon.

On a completely unrelated topic, Aidan is arguably the safest baby in the world. This picture was completely unstaged and he brought me the safety gear to put on himself without any prompting. As far as an explanation why, I have yet to figure that one out. Enjoy.

They warned me!

Here's another unrelated picture that has nothing to do with the post- but I know everyone loves to see Aidan.

Before (and since) we came to Korea, lots of people warned us about "crazy" Korean customs, behaviors, etc. Although we have only been here two months, I feel totally confident in saying they were WRONG. Ha ha. Here are some common beliefs about Korea/ns and what I, the new Korean expert, think:
1. Koreans wouldn't pee on you if you were on fire. That's not exactly what I was told, but this is a family blog. This is supposedly based on their Buddhist beliefs, that everyone has a circle of friends/family to help them, and if you're not in theirs, someone in yours will eventually wander by and help you out. To the contrary, I have found Koreans to be very helpful. Once I didn't have any won for the subway, and the ticket guy let me put $1 in the charity box as payment instead. Downright sweet of him, I think.
2. Seoul is a filthy, disgusting city with unbreathable air. We have not yet been here in summer, when the smog is supposed to be worse, but again, I have to say I disagree with common perception. Seoul may have poor air quality, but it sure is tidy. Our building security guards are always sweeping and doing minor yard work, and I see old Koreans sweeping the streets with brooms all the time. National motto: If you have time to lean, you have time to clean.
3. Koreans smell like garlic and kimchi. Not so much; maybe this one has a little truth to it. But, you'll never guess what Koreans think Americans smell like- butter! If you think, "Butter doesn't smell so bad," then I challenge you to stick your nose in some room-temperature butter for a few minutes and see if you change your mind. I did.
4. Seoul is too expensive. I'm still debating this one. To make a fair judgment, I think you have to compare Seoul to other big cities, not cheapie suburban wonderlands like Clarksville. Unfortunately, I have never lived in another big city, so I can't say. Sure, a coke may cost $3.50 in restaurants, but you can also buy a Louis Vuitton wallet or an Abercrombie sweatshirt for $20. That's got to even out.
5. Koreans are crazy drivers. Guilty as charged.

Bonuses that no one told us about:
1. They play classical music and birds singing on the subway
2. The technology here is ridiculous- remote control ceiling lights, fingerprint locks on the front doors, security camera screens in the apartment so you can see who is outside your building or front door... It's crazy.
3. Korean cuisine is more than just kimchi and bulgogi- Joel loves kimbap (sushi), and my favorite is mandu (dumplings). Also, there is so much international food here- we've eaten at four different Indian places already.
4. Everyone speaks English- just not that well.

Walking in an Asian Wonderland

Well hello there. I didn't see you sitting there. I was just about to talk about the blight of the Korean pedestrian. [Note: no, the photo doesn't really go with this post, but here's the view out our side window after a recent snow.]

There's a couple of things you should know before driving or walking in Seoul. It is not like the U.S. I think I might have mentioned this in the past, but let me reiterate. First of all, you should know that Koreans hate sidewalks. Hate them. There is something in the national unconscious that causes them to be diametrically opposed to the concept of walking safely away from oncoming traffic. Mind you, this doesn't mean that they don't have sidewalks here. Hell no! In fact, the city is rife with wide, inviting sidewalks. The intersections often have gentle ramps up from the street to the sidewalk to ease in the pedestrian's transition. But, a typical Korean will walk two feet away from the sidewalk in traffic rather than on the sidewalk. I don't understand it. It's not that the sidewalks are crowded; it's more like they can't be bothered with maneuvering over to the sidewalk. It's baffling. The only exception to this are major roads i.e. greater than four lanes. The pedestrians will typically stay off these. But that doesn't stop the old women or men with the enormous push carts from taking up a lane.
These octogenarians will pull a giant cart, similar to a rickshaw, laden with whatever it is that they're selling in traffic as if they were a car. Cars and city buses just switch lanes and pass right by them without slowing down. I haven't see one splattered out from under their carts yet, but I'm certain that in this city of 12 million it must have happened once or twice.
As a westernized driver, there is a certain unspoken agreement between pedestrians and drivers that I subscribe to. Namely, if you are a pedestrian you will do your best not to step blindly out from the side of the street and into oncoming traffic. Likewise, if you are a driver you will come to a stop and yield to a pedestrian if they are in the process of crossing the street. Clearly, Koreans have no such agreement. While driving, I've had all types of people dart out in front of my car when they clearly did not have the right of way. Old ladies, mothers with children in strollers, members of the clergy. Similarly, as a pedestrian in a crosswalk with a green "walk" signal I've had all kinds of cars barrel on through as if I wasn't there. Taxis, police cars, the Popemobile. The really crazy part about it is that when they nudge you, or you nudge them, they look at you with complete surprise and bewilderment, as if saying, "Holy crap, where did you come from? What are you doing in my way?" But never angry. Always stunned or... befuddled, I guess.

I went out today to buy Jessica a Christmas present. Can't say what, because she reads this and I don't want to give her any hints. Anyway, on the way back home I made a detour by the electronic mart to see what all they had out. I walked out to this one pavilion that seemed to have a lot of activity. Sitting out on this sidewalk was every type of computer component that you could have imagined. Cases, motherboards, power supplies, DVD drives, graphics cards. All of it legit looking and all of it cheap. Like 75% off cheap from what you'd expect in the states. Also, they had some of the ubiquitous bootleg DVD guys out there too. Some guys were selling a box-set of the first four Harry Potter movies, to include the one that's in the theaters right now. I saw one guy playing it at his cart and it looked really good. I think I'll wait a couple of weeks and pick King Kong up on DVD when it's released in theaters. 'Yoink!

Sick House

Well it's flu season, and our house has been hit hard. Aidan came down with something earlier this week, and he's just had a rough time kicking it. Lots of coughing, sneezing, wheezing. He's had a hard time sleeping at night, which means that we're having a hard time sleeping at night. If that weren't enough, Jessica has caught whatever Aidan has been carrying and she's been done for a couple of days now. So our Saturday was spent mostly sleeping and resting up. Lots of fluids, etc. You know the drill. On the bright side, it's been pretty cold and overcast recently so we wouldn't be able to do a lot outside anyway. I guess it's as good a weekend as any to get sick.
To keep myself amused, I did just get in my DSM-520, D-Link HD Media Server. I hooked it up Thursday and we've been playing with it since then. Basically, its a wireless receiver that hooks up to my HDTV via HDMI and plays music, video, and pictures from my computer, in high definition. We've been pulling U.S. shows off the internet using BitComet. It's been great, because we can get anything that shows in the states almost immediately after it airs. Plus, no commercials! Anyway, Jessica and I have been enjoying it a lot. It definitely beats sitting in front of the little computer screen to watch T.V.
Tonight we're going to duck out and leave Aidan with a sitter while we go see Harry Potter on post. I'll let you know how it is.

It's been a while since we rapped at ya...

Well, Christmas has arrived to the Springer household here in Seoul. We took 100,000 won (a little less than $100) down to Dongdaemun for Christmas decorations, and we weren't disappointed. We got a tree, eight boxes of ornaments (unbreakable one for this year), tinsel, a star, 500 LED lights, and a wreath for the door- with change left over! Aidan was so excited about the tree. He "helped" us put the ornaments on, and was so funny about the lights- he kept blowing on them like candles! I guess we had a few too many birthday celebrations this year.
We went to Kat and Tyler's mansion for thanksgiving. They had 19 people there, and it was a lot of fun. I thought it might be a little lacking in the food department, but everyone seemed to go out of their way to make homemade versions of everything, even cranberry sauce. Joel made awesome apple pie, as expected.
Today I'm off to the Seoul International Women's Association Holiday Bazaar, so hopefully I'll have a good story about that later on. TTFN!

We're the white people in the back- way back

This is a still from a commercial for our apartment building. I am sure you can tell, because you can totally see the high rise where we live featured prominently in this photo. The ad campaign slogan is, "Smile in your life." OK!
I have received some requests for more of a back story on us- where we live, what we do, etc. So, I will try to give the TV Guide version of the past month.
We arrived in Seoul on October 13th, after a 15-hour plane ride. We stayed at a super nice Army hotel called the Dragon Hill Lodge for 10 days while we searched for apartments, cars, and phones. We found an awesome apartment in Hannamdong, right by Yongsan Army post, where Joel is working in a staff position. Our place is 3 bedrooms, 2 full baths- about 1000 sq. feet. With only the Army-issue furniture, we have plenty of room.
I am teaching English three nights a week- one night is kids, and the other two are with a group of businessmen. We have a nanny/housekeeper that comes over for a couple of hours, between when I leave and Joel comes home. Aidan seems to like her and I love a clean house. It's good for now, but we don't have much family time in the evenings. I am keeping my ears open for different options.
I am still in school, trying to get my Master's degree so I can be a "real" teacher, hopefully by the time we get back to the states. Aidan is in some play groups, and Joel is taking a Korean language class and starting a kendo class. We're really into the extra-curricular activities here!
Hope that fills everyone in a little more. As you can see, I do take requests, so send them on over.

These squiggles say, "Onnuri!"

Joel and I have been trying to find a new church to go to here in Seoul- a major undertaking any time we move, complicated further by the fact that we are now looking for the "special" foreign language service. In the states, we usually went to the bright and early 8:00 am service, and stayed for Sunday school. Then, we took Aidan home for nap time around 11:00. Perfect.
Last week we tried a church that Kat and Tyler go to, called Onnuri. Not only did it loose points for the parking situation (we illegally double-parked on the side of a highway, but, in our defense, so did about 100 other cars) and requiring an incredible walk that included going up five flights of stairs holding a 35-lb kid, it also had no nursery for Aidan and (here's the kicker) started at 11:30, running until almost TWO.
So, this week we tried Seoul International Baptist Church, because they have a fun play group that I went to last week with Aidan. We thought, surely this has got to be better. All I can say is, they did indeed have a nursery. We showed up at 11:00 and left around 1:45 pm.
Seoul is no place for early birds. They have 24-hour movie theatres, the Namdemun and Dongdemun night markets, all kinds of late night events- so maybe no one is ready for church until early afternoon. Next week we are going to go on post, where we know people are used to getting up early, and we can be reasonably assured church will run the usual, U.S.-sanctioned 60 minutes.

Fun in Osan

We took the opportunity this veteran's Day Weekend to drive down south and visit the town of Osan. There's another Army post down there, so we parked on post and walked off into the town to check out the shopping. Osan is like a little Seoul, with plenty of knock-off purses and DVD's, but at small town prices. They have custom tailors and shoemakers that are a lot cheaper than they are here in Seoul. I'm going to get a couple of suits and maybe some shoes made while I'm here, but I need to scout out some pimp styles first. Maybe I'll get the Napoleon Dynamite suit made...
There are a couple of things in Korea that I still think are so funny. One of them is how everything, everything, has a little cartoon mascot. The subway, the census, towns, parks, every possible commercial item, everything. They are everywhere; all smiling, giggling, pointing to their product and inviting us to take part. It's a little strange. On our trip to Osan, we saw the town mascot for Osan wishing us a fond farewell as we left the city. Observe...

What is that? Some naked flower man?? How does a town go about deciding that they want a nude man-child with a flower head to represent their city? Can you imagine what characters didn't make the cut? I'll see if I can get more pictures of strange Korean mascots.

While we were in Osan, we all ate at a little Korean restaurant and had authentic Korean food. Here's Jessica enjoying some kimchi and pork dumplings.

Whenever you go to a Korean restaurant, doesn't matter what kind, you always get four or five little dishes of kimchi with it. Could be a Italian place, Indian place, fast food, doesn't matter. They put kimchi with everything. For those that don't know, kimchi is a [the ed. Jessica] Korean national dish. It's a vegetable dish, usually cabbage, that is pickled with tons of garlic and hot pepper paste. They put that stuff in a clay jar and either bury it or seal it and let it sit outside for a long time. It takes some getting used to, but it's not half bad. The Koreans will eat it for every meal, to include breakfast. It's a silly, silly place.

Dongdaemun and Insadong

Saturday, my friend Kat and I went shopping with two friends who drove up from Camp Humphries (near Osan, south of Seoul). It turned into an 11 hour marathon, starting in Insadong, the antiques market, and ending in Dongdaemun, a huge outside market surrounding several department stores. Although there were some purchases (Merry Christmas!!), it turned out to be more of Korean cultural experience than anything else.

In Insadong, there were many beautiful Asian antiques, but the prices were not cheap, and I came home with only a scarf and a few gifts. The best part of the trip there was visiting a tea room that Kat had visited. We sat in sock-feet on the floor, and there were maybe a dozen tiny little birds flying around loose in the restaurant. Several people have wondered about the poop factor, but I didn't have any problems. Hey, when in Rome... There were only 6-7 items on the menu, all teas- although they did serve a few complimentary "cookies." I think one was made from rice or bean curd. The tea was very unusual, and had an orange's worth of peel on the bottom. Even at $6 a pop, it was worth it for the tea and the experience.

Unfortunately, I did not have my camera with me, but one of the craziest things we saw were two HUGE stages set up outside the department stores, featuring dance-offs. One was had four girls individually dancing against each other, and the other stage had what looked to be professional groups- with matching gold lame bras in one instance- dancing to several songs before switching out. There were more spotlights and fog machines than at one of our Halloween parties (ha ha!).

We ate dinner at a Korean restaurant. We weren't sure at first if they had English menus, so we all just guessed Korean dishes, and fortunately, they had everything we asked for- mandu (wontons), udong (Japanese noodles), kimbap (similar to a California roll), and raman (spicier than in the U.S.). I felt like a real regular. The four of us ordered a total of seven dishes, and the total was 13,000 won, or $13.00. Unbelievable.

After dinner, we headed to the outside markets. They only begin to be set up at 9:00 pm, and many people shop well into the morning hours. I had been to Namdaemun, another open market, but this one was primarily clothes and accessories. Everything was "name brand" and cheap, cheap, cheap. I am not sure how "real" anything in Korea is, but if you're not concerned about it, there is a ton of shopping available.

Also out at the market were food vendors beyond anything you've seen before. One of my favorite things to see are the corndogs- one kind is a hotdog rolled in french fries rather than corn meal. For the seafood lover, there was squid, octopus, fish, and all manner of sea life that I didn't want to inspect very closely. Another specialty is some kind of fried bugs that I have heard are popular with kids. On a more positive note, we got some kind of ball-shaped pancakes with bean curd in the middle that were so delicious.

It was a lot of fun, but I was totally done by the time I rolled home at midnight. I think it will be a while before I have the energy to go back for round two.

Aidan Loves the Ladies...

...and God knows that the ladies love him. Aidan and I were playing at the playground Saturday evening, and he was wasting no time getting to know all the Korean girls that were playing down there. He ran right up to this group of 5 or 6 girls and joined them in the game they were playing. I don't think he really understood what they were playing, but he knew it involved running around and that's all he cared about.
They were playing some sort of "Red Light, Green Light" game. They all lined up at one edge of the playground, then one girl stood at the other side. The lone girl turned her back to the rest, said something in Korean, then turned back to face the other girls. Meanwhile, the rest of the girls would be running toward the solo girl, and stopping when she turned to face them. But the weird part was that when one of the girls got close to the "it" girl, she would turn around and hold her finger up to the running girl's nose when she stopped. She held it there for a while, then moved on to the next girl. Check out the picture:

Of course, Aidan is right there to officiate. He made a couple of close calls that the crowd didn't agree with, but I think overall he was even handed in his rulings.

Aidan and I spent a lot of time together hanging out this day because Jessica was off on an eleven hour shopping trip! I don't see how this is enjoyable. But, she seems to have a real great time with her friends. She'll have to tell about all the things she saw while she was out. That'll have to be another post, though.

Cross Cultural Explosion!!!!

We knew it wouldn't be long before we would have to explore the Korean pizza scene and see what it had to offer. We had a craving tonight, so I peddled on down to the local neighborhood "Masa's Pizza" to sample their stuff. Funny thing about Masa's: they are definitely a pizza place that only serves pizza, but their mascot is a little Mexican guy in a sombreo. Some gourmands would refer to this Korean-Mexican-Italian hybrid as fusion.

But it doesn't stop there. Masa's has taken a page from the Papa John's handbook and added their own little piece of flair to the pizza experience. One dozen limp sliced pickles in a tiny zip lock bag. Delightful. We didn't even open these up, but I can only imagine the breath that you would have after eating the warm pickles and pizza. This country needs a stick of gum.

Can we trick or treat? YES WE CAN!!

Everyone has been asking about the Halloween pictures, so here is one of our little "Bob the Builder."
I just got home from my second day of work...zzzzzz.
I am TIRED!! The kids were pretty good, for the most part, but they are in school almost 12 hours a day so they were a little stir-crazy by the time I saw them. We played Jeopardy! with categories like, "Holidays," "The U.S." and "Jessica." It was pretty funny. Aidan seems to like the nanny, Tonet, and I really liked coming home to a nice clean bathroom and an empty dishwasher.
The most exciting news is, of course, that I am now an official licensed driver in two countries! I am already wreaking havoc on the streets of Seoul. Actually, Joel usually has the car at work, but it's nice to have the option.
By the way, only one caller for the prize pack... what's up??

As promised, the rug picture

Sorry to keep everyone in suspense. Here is our new rug. Pretty nice, right? It's big, probably 6' x 8' or more. It'll be on a stateside tour shortly, so check out the tour dates for your city!

Best... Post... Ever.

This is officially our first post and thereby kicks off our "Official South Korea Blog!" First 100 callers to the station will recieve a Joel and Jessica Prize Pack!!

We just bought a rug today. It was a big purchase. Let's just say it cost more than two of my 1994 Hyundai Excels. [Jessica's note: That is extremely subjective, as you can buy Hyundais for a couple of hundred dollars here.] It's a nice rug though, and we'll be able to pass it down to Aidan and our other kids. We went shopping for it yesterday and bought it today. Pictures to follow. Stay tuned!