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!