Back to School, Bolaven, and a Broadway Show

Let's see:  back to school, two typhoons, labor day celebrations, and a Broadway musical; all in one week!  Boy, I am tired just thinking about it all.   As you can see, this past week as been EXTREMELY busy.  That's a good thing for you guys because I have TONS to share with you.

After a very short 3 week summer vacation, we went back to school on Monday.  I decided that since all of the DODs schools started that we might as well too.  The kids were not thrilled, but they had no choice.  They were even less thrilled about taking back to school pictures, but I did manage to get a couple of smiles this year.

at least its not a frown

I pray this is the ONLY mug shot she ever takes!

Who gets to go to school without shoes?   WE DO!

Tuesday brought us Typhoon Bolaven.  Originally, this was supposed to be a pretty major storm with as much as 12 inches of rain in some places.  Everything on post was shut down and the second day of school was canceled peninsula wide.  Thankfully, the rain prediction was way off and it ended up being primarily a wind event.  It actually ended up being rather fun because Dave got to spend the day with us.

I filled the bathtub in case we lost power and forgot to turn off the water.

SOOOO grateful for the drain in the floor!

 The wind made it possible to finally take a picture of these flags:

until I moved here, I had NO idea that the swastika is actually a Buddhist symbol

Wednesday turned out to be a beautiful day.  New people moved into the complex.  The kids and I got a lot of school assignments done, while Dave went to work.   We even decided to treat ourselves to a trip to Yangju  and have some much needed "GOLDEN ARCHES" for dinner.  

I always find it interesting to watch

never thought I'd say this BUT I missed McDonalds

one more thing we couldn't get away with in the states

By the time Thursday came around, the weather had turned bad again.  This time it was due to Typhoon Tembin.  It rained all day, but no wind with this one.  So grateful that we dodged two bullets this week.

On Friday, the weather was beautiful again, just in time for the Labor Day festival and parade.  After a long morning of homeschool, the kids and I did the laundry and caught up with Dave just in time to catch the shortest parade I have ever seen.  You know, nothing says Labor Day quite like Korean bagpipers, superheroes and a bloody body on the hood of a humvee.  In all honesty, it was fun watch the parade.  There weren't many kids, so Mitchell and Darci got a lot of candy.  We then headed over to the carnival for some rides and chili-tasting.  We ended up having a pretty fun time.

 Dongducheon High School Marching Band

belly dancers

a Korean dance troupe

the picture speaks for itself

bungee time

Dave is the KING of the teacups

thank goodness they ate these after the teacups

love that smile

taken right before the hedgehog bit me

  

she is not afraid of anything including mice

After having such a big week, the weekend turned out to be just as busy.  On Saturday morning, Mitchell and I went out to run some errands and to have lunch.  It was so nice just hanging out with him.  Darci and Dave stayed home and watched JAWS!  Yes, JAWS.  I told you that she wasn't afraid of anything.  She LOVED it and has already asked Dave to get the others so they can have a JAWS marathon.  Saturday night was so much fun.  Our friends Choi and Ron came over.  All of the guys, including Mitchell, sat around and listened to rock music while Choi and I were entertained by Darci.  Eventually, Darci wanted to hear some music she loves.  

she was pretending to be SOME kind of doctor

she was cooking "Don ka su" (Korean Pork Cutlet)

돈까스

check out our "Egyptian" and her back-up singers

Wow!  We finally made it to Sunday.  It was mother/daughter, father/son day.  Mitchell and Dave spent the day golfing and hanging out.  Dave is not the picture taker of the family, so I don't have any to show you of their day, unfortunately.  Darci and I went to Seoul to watch WICKED!  It was so much fun.  We enjoyed a delicious American-style brunch in Itaewon and then headed over to the Blue Square theater for the show. I even managed to take a few ODD Korea pics along the way.  

you never know what you might find in the allies in Korea

we found Tartine ..Too

a cute little cafe

Darci had the #5....she said I couldn't order that because it was a bad word

the Chef preparing our brunch

my DELICIOUS German pancake

bacon, eggs, and hash browns....oh my!

I love the name

that's like $ 42.00 for a pie!

ad in the subway

GAG story?  its a convenience store

AppleHolic punch smells weird

YAY!

even the bathroom stalls were decorated

 

Darci loved the costumes on display

the slippers weren't always RUBY

After our train ride home, Dave took the whole family out to eat.  We went to Beaver's BBQ, where we enjoyed some of the best BBQ complete with corn, coleslaw, macaroni salad, and baked potatoes.  DELICIOUS!   You never would have guessed we were eating at a restaurant in Korea in the middle of nowhere.  We even got to listen to country music while we ate.  Getting there was an adventure in and of itself.

 

all of the walls were covered in chalk writing

this was my favorite

they even had a fish pond

hanging out on the front porch swing

everything was served family style....no menu..

just two options: steak or bbq

view from the other entrance

listening to the stream was relaxing

So there you have it; one very busy, very interesting week.  I will close for now and go get some rest.  I hope you have enjoyed our journey.  Until next time .....

annyeonghi geyseyo