On March 3rd, the kids and I left Ga and flew to San Fransisco...it was not a fun experience but we made it none-the-less. On March 4th, we flew out of San Fransisco around 1pm and made the 12 hour and 40 minute flight to Incheon, South Korea were we arrived around 7pm on Monday, March 5th. After processing through immigration and customs (WE GOT OUR FIRST STAMPS IN OUR PASSPORTS), we finally got to see Dave who had been waiting for us for several hours :) We then proceeded to DRIVE to Yongsan Army Base in Seoul. The drive was sort of a blur because I was exhausted, but I do remember driving up and through these very steep hills with streets that seemed not wide enough for two lanes of traffic and shops immediately off to the sides (there were no sidewalks where we were driving). There were scooters and cars were parked haphazardly on both sides of the street. It was very unnerving seeing cars coming at you at high rates of speed, but I have to say Dave seemed to be an old pro at driving here.
The next day, we headed out for Dongducheon to go to our apartment that Dave had set up for us. Driving in Seoul on the expressway was quite a unique experience complete with tiny matchbox trucks, police vehicles that ride with their lights on all the time, not being able to read any of the signs, and many other things I can't even explain. Once we reached the apartment, we were shocked to see how luxurious the apartment was. I had seen pictures, but I wasn't really prepared for how nice it was. Dave did a wonderful job. I found out a few days later from the realtor that he told her that we wanted the best apartment she had available because he wanted the best for his family.....aaaaawwww!
For the rest of that day and the next, we just rested and tried to unpack some. We live on the 12th floor and our apartment overlooks a playground that we took the kids to play on. I did find out that the playground has two cameras that show a live feed on TV here so the kids in the building can play and their parents can keep an eye on them from inside. (more on that later) Dave also took us on a quick driving tour of Dongducheon. It was one of the scariest rides of my life. I learned two very important things this day. The first being that traffic signals are only suggestions here and speed bumps are everywhere. We also had our first trip to LotteMart, which is the Korean version of Walmart with a few exceptions. The store is 3 stories high and they actually have escalators that are ramps where you can take your shopping cart from floor to floor. You can find anything from clothes to appliances to squid and seaweed. There is a daycare, a spa, and even a pet store. We bought a 1.5L bottle of coke and sprite. It cost 3100 won, which is about $2.79.
Once Thursday, March 8th, rolled around, Dave decided it was time to go see Camp Casey and Camp Hovey where he works. We inprocessed onto post, played on playground, met his boss, paid the rent, went to the PX, and saw Dave's office.
On Friday, we had to drive to Uijeongbu to Camp Red Cloud to get our ration cards for the family. We are only allowed to purchase a certain amount of products from the commissary each month and they track everything you purchase by scanning the ration card. When we left, Dave decided to take the expressway, which turned out to be just as slow as the other way because the expressway has SPEED BUMPS every mile or so. We then proceeded to get a little lost in a city where no one can give you directions and there are NO, and I mean NO, signs in English. I was quite worried that we might run out of gas trying to find the army base, but we finally found it and had lunch at Popeye's, of all places. Another HUGE milestone today was that we GOT OUR GAS MASKS! WOO HOO! (I hope you can hear the sarcasm in my voice) That evening, I cooked dinner and Dave's friend, Ed, came over to eat with us. He brought us a cake from a store called Paris Baguette (which, apparently, is very popular here. I took a picture to show that people in Korea LOVE LOVE LOVE cartoons! Keep in mind, this cake was not made for a child's birthday.
On Saturday, the 9th, Dave decided we should be thrown into the Korean Experience so after a quick trip to the PX, we went to lunch at a Chinese restaurant that served "American Chinese." I did order a Korean dish. I had bulgogi and rice. We then went to the 2nd Market shopping district, which is a big open air market that is under a building. Some of the odd things we saw for sale were stingray, giant carrots, and sea weed. I did not know there were that many varieties of sea weed. They also had clothes, household utensils, and blankets. We later went to New City, which is a very modern place to shop, with lots of blinking lights and signs. Finally, we ended up back at LotteMart and headed home. We were exhausted by then. Oh and check out the blue trash can ......its not a trash can....its a kimchi barrel on the sidewalk.
Finally, on Sunday, March 11, we went to the laundromat because our washer (which is a combo washer/dryer) takes FOREVER to do one load of laundry. We had lunch and Dave took us on a hike. We hiked part of the way up Soyosan Mountain which you can see from our kitchen window. Once we got to Soyosan, I told the kids that we needed to use the restroom at the bottom before we left. Unfortunately, it was nowhere close to the comforts of home. I took a picture because I couldn't even begin to explain it. We then hiked up part of the way, where encountered exercise equipment on the path (which you will find in lots places throughout the city), a community water well were you could use a ladle to collect water from the spicket, lots of stone pilings throughout, and even a pine cone (which of course, made me miss home). At the top of Soyosan, there is a Buddhist Temple. We did not make it to the top this day, but have plans to go back.
Well that pretty much sums up our first week in Korea. I probably have forgotten some of the things because I am just now getting use to the time difference. I hope you have enjoyed our adventure and there will be many more to come, I can assure you. Til next time...... annyonghi gayseyo
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