Monday and Tuesday were fairly boring in the sense that we are in Korea and did not do anything Korean! None the less, we had a good start to the school week complete with science experiments. I even made my own sort of science experiment with hot dogs and spaghetti (thank you pinterest). We also spent some family time watching the movie We Bought a Zoo. It was a wonderful movie that you should watch if you haven't already. I cried, of course! Darci looks over at me while I'm balling my eyes out and she says to me "Mom, you're not crying, are you?" complete with an eyeroll that would do any teenager justice! She is becoming sooooo cynical.... just like her daddy. Oh! I just remembered...I did do one thing Korean on Tuesday. I ran my first red light!!
my experiment
kiddos loved it
cute scientist
handsome
hard at work
Wednesday started with a trip to the doctor for physicals. Mitchell and Darci are growing so much. We found out that Mitchell needs to visit the eye doctor, but otherwise both are typical healthy kiddos. We also spent some time outside today enjoying the nice spring weather. Yes, Spring HAS Sprung in South Korea. The trees and flowers are beautiful. All of the Japanese Cherry Blossoms are in bloom. They are planted everywhere. I have also seen a few trees that I have never seen before.
The absolute favorite part of my day, however, was not something the kids would say they enjoyed. I am laughing just thinking about it.......
Imagine a very fashionable 8 year old with her hair done exactly how she wants it and her 10 year old brother who has not learned the valuable lesson..... Never EVER Mess with a Girl's Hair!
While sitting in the car waiting for Dave to come, Mitchell and Darci are bickering and picking at each other. No tears, just the normal picking...... UNTIL Mitchell reaches over and ruffles her hair. She breaks into tears and started to cry about how her hair is "RUINED". Now, the situation probably would have been ok had Mitchell not opened his mouth and inserted BOTH of his feet by saying..."I don't see what the big deal its. It's ONLY hair! I don't care how my hair looks."
In that moment, the crying stopped. There was complete silence in the car for all of about 5 secs and she turned on him! Darci was no longer a sweet 8 year old child.... she was an ANGRY, HORMONAL girl. She SNARLED at him, "You DON'T understand what IT'S like to be a GIRL!" and she walloped him in the arm! My only regret....not taking a picture of the look on her face!
Life Lesson #334
Never EVER Mess with
A Girl's Hair
Thursday was a very busy day for us.....school, library, friends, science experiments, and girl scouts. Dave took the car that morning, so when it was time to go on base, we took a cab. It had to be the SCARIEST cab ride of my life. The cabbie was driving about 90kph, weaving in and out of traffic, and running red lights. I was relieved when he finally stopped and we got out of the car, even though he had dropped us off in the middle of the street!
Anyhoo, we made it to the library, where Mitchell started looking for books for his project. He has decided to do a research report on Attila the Hun, of all people. We also met up with my friend, Kathleen, and her children Tim and Lauren. They came back to the house with us and helped us with our science experiments for the day. The afternoon ended with Darci's Girl Scout meeting.
new friends, Tim and Lauren
Blubber experiment
Crisco and ice water....
GROSS
solutes and solutions experiment
Girl Scout Troop 512
Friday was an exhausting day. We started the day with school, as usual. We also skyped with Sarah, Stephen, and Dickens. It was the best part of my day. I miss them! The afternoon was full of preparation for Darci's date with Daddy. That night was the big Daddy Daughter Dance in Yongsan and she had to look perfect! And of course, she was beautiful and I have to say Dave was the most handsome Daddy!
Sarah, Stephen, and Dickens
Mom's hair salon
So pretty
aaawww!
The exhausting part of that day, however, was the trip itself. The army base at Yongsan is in the middle of Seoul and only about 25 miles from our house. Easy right?!?!? Think again....after an hour and a half on the road, we still had 8 miles to go. If we had gone a different way, we probably could have gotten there quicker, but its a new thing for us to drive down there. You live, you learn! It is a such a surreal experience to be inundated with Korea and then to make a turn onto the army base and suddenly feel American again. I took some pictures and video of some of the sights and sounds from our drive. They definitely give you an idea of how Korea can be quite ODD! (hint: look for the pumpkin cars)
I was holding the camera steady!
a kimchi pot store
a chicken BOB truck
pumpkin cars!?!?!?
Stuck in Traffic??? BUY a snack!
the cyclist that almost hit US
three wheeled scooter
side street
Dave and Darci had a great time even though they were late. Mitchell and I had dinner with one of the other Girl Scout moms. It was so nice to sit down and be able to order a steak and margarita! The trip home was faster. It only took us an hour and a half to go the whole distance! We were able to see the city at night. Its amazing to see all of the lights. As we were crossing the river, we could see boats covered in flashing neon lights.
crossing the river
sitting at yet another crosswalk
Saturday was very rainy. I went early to do the laundry and then we drove down to Yangju to check out the E-Mart since we have already shopped at LotteMart a good bit. It is also like a suped-up version of Walmart. This one had a cooking studio where you could take a cooking class. You could also go to a medical-like clinic to have beauty procedures done. The food court is set up with this HUGE cabinet with plastic food in it, where you can choose what you want to eat. (LotteMart is like this too.) You order it and then when its ready your number lights up on an electronic board. We decided to go eat at McDonald's down the road because there was no way to really tell what you were getting from the big cabinet. McDonald's here is very cheap. Our family of 4 ate for 16,300 won! That is about $14.67. You can't eat at a fast food restaurant in the states for $14.67 and feed 4 people! So here are some of my random pics:
cooking studio
hungry anyone?
2 squid only 1,780 won.... that's a bargain at $1.60
Dave and I should get the matching set.. don't ya think?
a Korean book about American History
The day must have worn Darci out because she passed out on the couch around 8:30. Dave thought we should take a couple of pictures. I stopped him before he and Mitchell put shaving cream in her hand.
she could sleep anywhere
It rained again on Sunday. So after a morning of lounging and a lunch made my Mitchell and Darci. We decided to take the kids to Lolli Polli, an indoor trampoline place in New City. At one point we found ourselves in a elevator in a building with 9 floors that had no 4th floor listed on the panel, but went from 3 to F to 5.
a Korean child riding Donald Duck
something look strange?
After that, we decided to go to a traditional type Korean restaurant. The name of the restaurant was Chamimat. There were no pictures on the menu, so Dave just picked something randomly and we prayed for the best. We had no idea what food would be delivered! There were a few pictures on the walls, some of which included octopus. We ended up getting something called deungppyeojjim (which I translated when I got home). It had beef (which came from spine area of the cow), shrimp, potatoes, pumpkin, cabbage, spicy red peppers, and clear noodles in a very dark, sweet and spicy sauce. It also had these tough thick noodle-like things in it. I am not sure what I was eating, but it was pretty good. Bowls full of Korean vegetables were served with it....... Kimchi, plain carrots and onions with red pepper paste, radish kimchi (I think), a bean sprout mixture, and a garlic noodle mixture with hotdogs (I think) sliced in it. The children actually tried some of the meal and did not complain....too much! The shrimp had the their heads on them and Darci said she was used to eating shrimp, but not with the eyes staring back at her! I was very proud of them. The dish was rather spicy, but very enjoyable. The beef was delicious!
I was SCARED!
water cup
the metal bowls are for the bones and shrimp heads
our utensils
peek-a-boo
they don't look thrilled do they?
I think the descriptions are correct
deungppyeojjim
Mitchell mastering the art of chopsticks
my bowl
and for dessert..... Paris Baguette... I'm Your Brownie cookies...
mmmmmm!
Well I'm pooped! So I will leave you and go watch a little Home Improvement with my family. More Seoul pics next week. Until then..... Annyeonghi Geyseyo!
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