In which we go to a movie, and then I get terribly lost.

Long time no see! I'm back with some fun stories for you. Let's start with our trip to the movies.

We went to see "Frozen" at a Korean theater, and I thought I'd show you a little of what the experience is like. First, the theater we went to was on the top few stories of the Lotte department store, which seems to be pretty normal here. There isn't room to build out, so they build up. And up. And uuuup. So we take a bunch of escalators to the 6th or 7th floor, I think, and buy tickets.

The really cool part is that you can choose your seats. Also, these screen kiosks make it significantly easier to go to movies here, since we don't have to deal with the language barrier.

The next step, of course, is the snack bar.

There is the familiar butter popcorn, as well as cheese popcorn and carmel corn. My favorite is getting a bucket with half butter or cheese, and half carmel. They put a little divider thing down the middle so the flavors don't mix. 

They don't have candy, but there are nachos, hot dogs, and ice cream. And of course fried squid. Because what is a movie without your fried squid?  :)

And here's a shot to show you the lobby. You buy your tickets here, and go up another floor or two to your theater.

Now for my tale of sorrow and woe, the night I got lost.

I had a tutoring appointment with a new student, a ten-year-old boy. His mom doesn't speak much English, so we'd been communicating via text and using translating apps, which is always fun. And by fun, I mean a bit nerve-wracking. Anyway, I was to meet them at their apartment and she gave me their address in both English and Korean, and since I have a total of three navigation systems I figured I had a decent shot of finding their place even though actual street addresses in Daegu are absurdly difficult to get/find. They aren't really big on street names or house numbers. To get places they mostly seem to rely on landmarks.
       I made my first attempt to input the address into one GPS. No go - it couldn't find the neighborhood (side note - Daegu is divided into something kind of like districts, and then further divided into neighborhoods. They live in Dalseo-gu, Wolseong-dong.) So I tried the second GPS. It got the neighborhood, but not the actual street number. I figured meh, as long as I get to the general area I can figure things out. So off I set, not knowing the impending horror to come.
      First off, my trusty GPS took me in a literal circle. Twice. Not like around the block, but u-turn after u-turn. So I made a turn that forced it to "recalculate". Eventually I found myself on the expressway. Since we haven't had a car long, I'm not very experienced in driving in Daegu, and I just thought, "Okey-dokey. I guess this will just get me there quicker?" Oh-ho-ho no. Where it got me was OUT OF DAEGU. Literally outside of the city. My poor '94 Hyundai was attempting to keep up with the 100 km/hour speed limit without completely disintegrating, as I tried not to panic. Eventually I found a way to turn around, and found myself at a tollbooth. Of course. So I attempted to pay the toll, but it seemed that I needed some sort of pass or ticket or something. Eventually between two different tollbooth operators it became aparent that I needed to go somewhere else for some reason with the ticket they gave me. I drove off, trying to puzzle out what they were saying, and as I looked around I zoomed right past what looked like some kind of station. I assume I should have stopped there, but it just wasn't gonna happen.
      I followed the expressway back into Daegu, and then turned off my GPS (I may have sworn at it and thrown it on the floor while cursing its lineage). I decided to use the navigation system on my phone to get home and just text my client to let her know I'd need to reschedule since I was half an hour late. Again, the trap was set by the navigation gods. Somehow my phone decided to betray me. It took me all over the stupid city (I'm sorry Daegu - I don't mean that. I still love you). After a while it sent me down an alley. I thought, "Huh. This is weird. Maybe it's some kind of shortcut. I'll see where it's going." The alley got smaller and smaller - and it was already small to begin with, since people park their cars on both sides of the street at all sorts of happy, jaunty angles here. And at this point - heaven forgive me - I became that stupid woman who follows her GPS blindly into a river. Okay, not a river, but a freaking market. Yep, I ended up in a MARKET. It wasn't a big one, just one of the small little neighborhood markets, but since the alley was so small and packed with people's cars, I couldn't turn around and I ended up hitting stuff. Stuff owned by the market people. Water jugs, and some poles, and I was soooo humiliated. Just the worst night ever ever ever. I stopped my stupid car, cheeks flaming, and rolled down the window as a man came walking up. He didn't look angry, just a bit concerned and amused. I showed him my GPS and said, "It lied. I'm lost." He nodded, stood behind my car, and directed me back in a 147-point turn to get me mostly out of the market without hitting further objects.
      At this point, I asked if he knew where Camp George was. More specifically I said, "Camp-uh Jo-ji?" Which is how every Korean person says the name of our post. He pointed off through the alley and gave basic directions in Korean, which I understood, but then a woman came up to my window and said, "Camp-uh Jo-ji? My husband work. I show." And this woman, the greatest Korean to ever live, just climbed in my car and directed me home. When we got back to the post I told her I would call her a taxi and she just chuckled and said, "No, I walk."
     After reflecting on that experience, I thought about how different it would have been in a city of comparable size in the states. Can you imagine what would happen if you destroyed property of any kind in a big city - think 2.5 million - in the states? Cops would be called, there would be a big tumult. Here they were like, "Aw, poor little nummy-head. Let's just get this poor puppy home." Seriously, not a word was said about their broken stuff although I apologized profusely in Korean. These people were amazing. And thinking about it further, if I'd had my kids with me I don't doubt they would have offered us food. LOL
      So that was my terrible, horrible, no-good, very bad driving experience. I think from here on out I'll stick to mostly subways and taxis. :D

Korean Food, Y U SO Tasty?!

It's about time I updated this thing, since we've been out and about a few times lately. Let's start with our last trip downtown where the girls spotted a person in a kangaroo outfit. Why? Because Korea.

Earlier this summer we went to an art museum with our friend Yun. Yun is an English teacher, and is therefore fluent in English. However, when she asked me if I wanted to go to the museum I briefly wondered about her language capability because her approach was to ask if I like polka dots. :D I thought that was such a funny way to ask! In my mind I was like, "Hm. I've never really considered my feelings towards patterns. How DO I feel about polka dots?" She explained that there was an exhibit by an artist that revolved around polka dots, and it turned out to be a really fun trip.

This was a room where we took off our shoes and put stickers EVERYWHERE. The kids loved it. Yun and I even had a few on us.  Also, a couple of girls asked to have their pictures taken with the girls, and I had them text me one. So cute!

Aiden on the second floor of the museum with the hanging polka dot balloons. He did not like being on the first floor, because he felt like the balls might drop on us. I couldn't seem to get him to understand that they were full of air, so it wouldn't matter.

My friend Brittany and I went out for lunch and decided to eat at Pizza Hut. Koreans do pizza in the most interesting way.

This one had bacon and potatoes on it, and then I think it had a sweet potato filling in the crust with cream cheese drizzled over the top. It sounds so weird, but trust me, it's really good!

Here is a picture of Lillie and Sue - I mentioned Sue in an earlier post, she's the one who approached me about teaching English. I meet her once a week to just have English conversations to help her brush up on the language. She has taken quite a shine to Lillie, and has actually asked to be able to spend a day with her. Lillie calls her Omma Sue, which means Mama Sue in English. LOL

Finally, some friends invited us out to a place that has something called shabu shabu, which is basically (to my understanding) a broth with a bunch of stuff in it. :D You start off with beef, and then add whatever you want. This place also had make-your-own spring rolls, which was so fun.

Full of tasty goodness. We're so lucky to live in such an amazing place where we've met such fantastic people. I'll be so sad when we have to leave!

It Was A Night Out...

So we went out to eat at a "beef and leaf" with some friends tonight - that's a restaurant where you grill the meat at your table and then you wrap it up in a lettuce leaf and nomnomnom it down. It was so tasty!




Samgyeopsal (pork belly)







Galbi (beef)





And here's a full shot of our table:

By the time we left we were joking that there must be some sort of contest with the waiters to see how many bowls they can leave on our table. Seriously, there were seven people eating but like 20 bowls. Oh, and for dessert there was bingsu! It's sort of like shaved ice, but then they put stuff on it like mango and pineapple and red bean. 

So that was dinner, and it was awesome. The kids all tried some of the meat, and then settled down with their rice, and afterwards the kids and I took a cab home in the rain. Sadly, this wasn't one of the cabs that can go on post, so we had to get dropped off at the gate and walk to our apartment, which is in the far back corner. Well, since it was raining and my tummy was full of bap and samgyeopsal and galbi and bingsu, I was happy. Therefore, puddle-jumping.

So far the only downside of the evening has been listening to the clunking of shoes in the dryer. :)

Too hot to blog!

Hey! I remembered I've got this bloggy-thingy where I can write down stuff about my life that I want to share! So hi there, I'm here again. :)

Life is, as usual, fairly uneventful. David recently had an entire month off, and we did nothing at all. Didn't go anywhere, didn't see anything, just hung out and enjoyed the beauty that is having a husband/dad in the house. His job here is amazing, and he has really normal hours - practically 9-5 - which is a dream come true after his years as an MP, so we just soaked up that month of Papa-time. Then sadly he had to go back to work, and shortly thereafter the kids started asking to start school again. All this time I've been thinking how weird they are to want to go back to school at the end of July, till it occurred to me that we finished school in the middle of May. So yeah, they're over this whole summer break thing and we're starting up on Monday August fifth. For the past couple of weeks I've been making sure I've got all the books/binders/apps/supplies I might need for school, and now it's just time to get down to it. If anyone is curious about what we're using as far as curriculum, leave me a message and I'll fill you in. :)

I've got (as usual) a bunch of weird and semi-random photos to share. I think I'll just start off with signs I've seen around.

This building is not far from post - I'd love to talk to the owner and find out why they named their apartment that.

Seen in the subway. On the left you've got a baby. On the right you've got an adult with Clorox and a rag behind their back... what? Seriously dude, what on earth...?

It's been blessed hot lately, so we all stopped at the local dollar store and got fans. Mine is probably the neediest personal cooling device I've ever used. It's covered in piggies and the words, "Do you like me?"

We went to E-World with our friends Nick and Lauren, and Lauren and I got animal ear headbands. Because that's what you do. And I think that's awesome.

Not Quite Made For Cities

As we were walking down the street today, dodging cars and scooters and winding around random carts and other debris, it occurred to me that I miss not living in a city. I really love Korea, and the people here are amazing, and I truly feel incredibly safe here. But sometimes I think it would be nice to not be surrounded by buildings all the time. 

The kids and I went to Herb Hillz (http://daeguexpat.info/fun/50-herb-hillz) with Yun on Friday. It was sort of a rip, since you paid quite a bit to get in and then had to pay for each ride, but the gardens were beautiful and the zoo (?) was cute. It was really nice to just be out in the green for a while. We had a lot of fun taking pictures of the kids in these silly "pose-a-long" type things.

So at the end of the day, Daegu, I still love you. You are gloriously absurd (I give you pre-buttered bread)...

... but seriously, I could not love you more, you zany city you. :)

Aiden's Korean Uncle

Life has been so hectic! I started homeschooling, started teaching seminary a week or two later, Mom and Dad came to visit, Aiden got baptized, and the latest addition to my crazy schedule... tutoring. :)

Last week the kids and I were at WooMul, the coffee shop just off post. I ordered our food and lemonades for the kids, and when I sat down this woman next to us kept sort of looking at us funny. She eventually scooted over and sort of ooh-ed and aah-ed over the kids, and then asked how long we'd lived here. I told her we'd been here about 6 months, and she nodded and scooted back to her seat to sort of confer with a friend of hers, and then came back and asked if I would teach her son English. I was quite surprised, as you can imagine. Just because I can speak English doesn't mean I am able to teach it, especially to Korean kids. But she explained that he's 12 and understands English well, just needs help speaking and writing. I thought about it and told her I'd give it a shot. So I met with her this week to talk about hours and pay, and it turns out that he (and his 3 friends!!!) can't start till July, but she and her 20 year old niece would also like to have English tutoring, just basic pronunciation help and stuff. So yesterday I printed out a news article for Sue and her niece Wonnie (Jung Won, but Wonnie is what her family calls her) to read aloud for me so we can work on pronunciation. We met for an hour, and after they read for me and we talked about the content of the article for a bit, we really just spent about 40 minutes chatting. And then Wonnie paid me $30. Seriously, I got paid to chat. We decided that I'd see Sue on Wednesdays, and Wonnie on Thursdays, and they'd each pay me $30 for an hour of practice time. And then starting in July there would be four kids who would be taught in two separate groups and they would pay $50 per group. Crazy that I can get paid for talking to people!

This very blurry picture is Sue - Reagan caught her while she was talking to me. Sue later told me she was very nervous about talking to me because she had attempted to talk to other Americans about tutoring, but she was totally ignored. I thought that was so weird, since her English is actually quite good, and she isn't terribly hard to understand. It's not like you could just wander off thinking to yourself, "Oh well. I couldn't understand her anyway." So she'd had experiences with some pretty rude people just trying to find someone to help her speak our language more clearly. :( 

This is me and Wonnie - Sue took it while I was talking to her yesterday. We both look so angry! Sue says she thinks we just look like we're talking about something serious. :D

Now about Aiden's Korean uncle... we sometimes go to a corner store called Shinwoo. The owner knows us and is always very friendly. One time he had a bunch of his friends there, and one of them speaks English. He introduced himself - his name is Hoyun - and chatted with us as we did our shopping. A few weeks ago he was there again, and when Aiden saw him he said, "Hey guys! It's Hoyun!" Hoyun went nuts! He was so excited that the kids remembered him AND remembered his name that he came up and gave Aiden a huge hug. So we went in again today to get the kids ice cream cones, and Hoyun was there, and his eyes just lit up when he saw the kids. Aiden walked in and he got another hug from him. Here's a picture of them together.

And I thought I'd end this post with a few awesome pictures of random Engrish.

Ashamed Cat is ashamed that she lives in the dollar store. :(

Mr. Pizza... "Love For Women"? What? Is this "delivery" in Korean? I have no idea what that could possibly have to do with anything.

"Sweets make a very special." They surely do. :)

And a couple more of the monkeys - here's a random kid who came up and walked with Aiden while we were coming home from church one day. Usually the girls are the ones to get all the attention, so it was kind of fun for Aiden to get someone who was hooked on him.

And this is probably my very favorite picture of my kids ever. :D

Hope life is going well for all of you! 

As Apology For Not Blogging, I Offer You This Post.

Basically I have a ton of photos to share, so I'm going to do a couple of different posts. This first one is us at E-World with my folks.


David, Bibi (My mom) and Lillie heading up the log flume...

 ... and their triumphant landing.

 Awesome sign in front of one of the rides.

 Me and the Lillie Mac when we stopped to eat our bento box lunches.

This is David. He's on a horse.

And this is what was labeled as an "oriental" toilet.

This trip to E-World was a lot more calm than the last one. WAY fewer people running up to coo over the kids, and no one wanted pictures with them this time. LOL We still had kids waving at them, and one or two of the ride operators did get a little googly-eyed with them, but other than that it was pretty uneventful. Thank goodness!