On Monday, I am happy to report that Darci made not one, but two new friends in our apartment complex. Their names are Abby and Ava and they are 8 and 6, perfect for Darci! I also found out that one of my good friends and her husband got their approval to come here, so I am so excited about seeing them again and actually knowing someone in Korea. Happy Dance, Happy Dance! We also received our first piece of mail today. It was an Easter package from my mom, which included lots of Easter Candy..... GO PEEPS! She sent the most adorable Easter card that plays the "Bunny Hop", which my children decided to dance to. It is absolutely hilarious. Check it out below. Tonight was the first night that we all ate a full Korean meal. Let's just say that the kids were not super thrilled about not having any other options. The food was actually very delicious and Mitchell did find that he enjoyed it. Darci ate everything begrudgingly! The dishes I can remember the names of are Jap Chae Bop, Mandu Guk, and Yaki Mandu. There are a couple of pics of them. After we got home, the kids decided they wanted to play a quick round of hide-and-seek before bed. And yes, the apartment actually has tons of hiding places. So off we go, and low and behold on my first time to hide, I manage to slam my foot into the foot of the couch. I pretty sure I broke at least one toe and possibly a bone in my foot and I was officially out of the game. Wait a minute, didn't I say that this week was pretty calm? I don't know what I was thinking when I wrote that!
Tuesday was actually fairly uneventful except that we needed groceries badly. Dave was at work and I can't drive here yet, so the kids and I took our first taxi ride. It really wasn't quite as scary as I imagined it would be. The worst part was that we were in a taxi that couldn't get on post, so he had to drop us off outside and we walked in. Well, I hobbled in, what with my limp foot and all. Anyway, after limping all the way to the commissary from the front gate, we went shopping. I took one picture that was absurd to me. It was a pound of pecans for $10.28. I don't know what the going rate for pecans in the states is, but this is ridiculous! Maybe I am spoiled, because I can get them from my dad and just pay shipping, which I will be doing very shortly. The evening was very relaxing. After the kids went to sleep, Dave and I downloaded some old episodes of Castle and we got to watch our favorite show.
Wednesday and Thursday consisted of a few outings. Dave took us to LotteMart so I could get some seeds for a science experiment that we needed to do. For dinner, Dave decided that he would cook burgers. We cannot grill here at our apartment, so Dave tried cooking frozen burgers on the gas stove. Let's just say that we are lucky the smoke alarm did not go off in the entire building. All I can say is, we are looking for a good deal on a George Foreman. One very important event in Mitchell's life did take place. He got his first military dependent ID. He is so proud! He really thinks he is hot potatoes now that he has an official id. That evening we spent some time watching old episodes of Hogan's Heroes, thanks to my mom! It is really fun to show the kids old tv shows. They have found that they actually enjoy them.
Our field trip day was Friday. Dave had the day off, so after the kids took their assessments for the week, we decided to go visit the Jeongok Prehistoric Museum. Its only about 10km from here, so it did not take us very long to get there. It is a very odd museum to look at from the outside. It looks like a big metal tube stuck into the hillside. The premise, from what I can gather, is that you are supposed to be traveling back in time to the days of prehistoric man. This museum was ultra modern on the inside. The curator came out and spoke with us and invited us back in the future for some hands on activities when the weather was better. He also showed us this computer they have that will take the kids' pictures and morph them into different stages of prehistoric man....very cool! The curator allowed the kids to see and touch an actual mammoth tusk that dates back about 20,000 years! There was also a display on the local ecosystem, which was perfect because Mitchell has been studying ecosystems. They had some displays of the local wildlife. I took a picture of one of weirdest squirrels I have ever seen. The exhibit displaying the timeline of human progression was done really well. It was set up, so that you followed them through their migration from Africa to the Korean Peninsula. We had snack in their cafeteria, which was probably the most "modern" place I ever been. Check out the seats! Later that afternoon, we headed down to New City and took the kids to eat supper at the Lotteria (it's like McDonald's, sort of). The kids got chicken fingers, Dave got a burger, but I tried the shrimp burger. It was odd. When we got home, we spent the evening watching Bedtime Stories and hanging out.
Dave got up on Saturday morning and made breakfast. Big SMILE! He made delicious cinnamon french toast. The kids even helped him clean the kitchen afterward. While they did that Dave and I played our own version of "name that tune". I played old tv show theme songs on the computer and he would try to guess what show it was from. It was so much fun and such a jog down memory lane. You should try it sometime. After a trip to the laundromat and a week's worth of laundry, we headed out for our first train ride. We took the train down to Uijeongbu to go look around the underground mall. I have never seen anything like the "mall." It was like maze down there. There were shopping stalls everywhere that sold mostly clothes, shoes, and cell phones. When I say cell phones, I am talking about at least a HUNDRED cell phone shops in this one shopping area! It is a RIDICULOUS amount! And I thought, Americans were obsessed with cell phones. Another thing that I found odd, was that there were shops and shops of clothes for adults, small children, and babies, but there were not many places to buy clothes for kids Mitchell and Darci's age. After walking around in what seemed like circles, we ended up going up to the street and went to Dunkin Donuts to get a drink and snack. It was like 3:30 in the afternoon, and the place was full of people! Donuts are NOT for breakfast here! The train ride back to Dongducheon was much more crowded. Dave took a picture for me because he was like the tallest person in our car so he could get a shot. I took a nap when we got home. I was exhausted! That night we decided to a family game night and play Beat the Parents. Its a trivia game that puts the kids vs the parents. When Dave and I got our first questions wrong, Darci said, "I knew your brains were fried from all of that bad 80s music." After that comment, we were determined to WIN, and we did! Our night ended with the four of us snuggled on the couch watching Hogan's Heroes.
Sunday was a LAZY day! We skype with Nana and Papa. I talked to my "sis", Sarah Kauble. Mitchell played video games, of course. Dave and Darci played with her legos. He also helped her make a potholder on her loom. I even snuck up and video taped them singing together, well Darci singing and Dave trying. You'll see what I mean.
So that was week 3. We really had a great time. I am starting to really enjoy being here. I can't wait to see what we can do next. Until next time.....annyonghi geyseyo.
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