This is Little G and Little J doing taekwondo here. It's a big class, with probably 30 kids, but there's 3 or 4 teachers and they break the class up into smaller groups, like in the photos. Little J and Little G's group is working on the routine to pass the yellow belt test.

Our car isn't here yet (I should be studying for my driving test tomorrow, but I haven't studied at all) so going anywhere on the post bus takes an extra 30minutes to an hour. And because we don't have a car, I'm carrying groceries back on the bus. I'm limited to how much I can carry (about two bags) so I go almost everyday. The walk TO the store is nice, a paved footpath with no traffic allowed and trees growing along it.

And the monsoon rain has stopped, and we're used to the heat, so it's not too bad. We usually go to the playground near our house after supper, and that's 15-30 minutes I can read or knit while the kiddos scamper about..

I've taken a couple of trips out into Seoul now. The first, Big J went with us all, and we went to the Korean Immigration Bureau to get our visas in our passports (us civilians, that is). We took the subway, and the office itself wasn't too exciting. Lots of people waiting in a big room. But the kids were excited by the vending machines in the subway...me too! There's almost anything in them, and the kids liked the ones with juice and cookes, but I would swear I saw one that had books in it. Korean books in hangul, but still an awesome idea.

The second trip, I went with the kids to get Little G ballet clothes. That was a bit more of an adventure, because I got off on the wrong subway stop...but I knew where we were, all the subway stops are labeled in english letters, and, I Have A Map! We wandered around a bit to find lunch (I'm firmly of the belief that the street food the locals eat is safe, and we found a lovely, REALLY nice, dumpling place down an alley), and eventually found the store we needed. The buildings may have numbers for mailing addresses, but I haven't seen any posted on the buildings themselves. makes it hard to find a specific place.

She's smiling, but i seem to have taken the picture with her eyes closed. Little G did really well for her first time, but she told me after that she wasn't sure she liked it, and she thinks she likes soccer better. I said we'll try it for a couple times before we quit, maybe she'll like it better after she is used to it. I can't wait until we need to go find soccer shoes!

People on the subway have been really nice. The trains are usually full, and I've been carrying Little V in the baby backpack, so I would be happy to stand. People (especially old ladies) would give up their seat so Little G could have a seat, or people would move so that the kids and I could sit together. And then, people would come up beside me so they can pet Little V who doesn't want anything to do with them...so I smile at the people, because they're usually quite nice people who think the littlest Girl is cute.

It turns out we don't get a new address. All our mail goes through Big J's office. It only seems to take about two weeks to get from the states to here, but Big J is soon going to be gone until the end of the month, so I'm happily not getting any bills...

We have a house!

This picture is from this morning. The rocky waterfall tumbling down a hillside among the trees is one of the prettiest places in Korea I've seen so far, but it's not a good example of Seoul...except that it is almost an ideal landscaped scene. Oh, and I still see smog in this view. Most of Seoul, including the view out our hotel window, is full of business and highrise apartments.

The army base here is unusual in that most buildings do not go above two or three stories. The housing areas are three stories, but that's still not normal for Seoul. Many of the apartment buildings in the city are 20-60 stories tall, and one that is under constuction will be 123 stories.

Visiting the Housing office today, took over four hours. That's really not too bad, considering that first we had a meeting with a counselor so she could offer us two houses to look at (I think it's a bit of a psycological trick. There's really not much difference between any of the army housing, but if there appears to be free will involved, the renters are happier about the results), then we took the shuttle bus over to the housing area to look at the two possible houses. Before we actually looked at the houses, we had to fnd the housing office in the area, and this took a chunk of time, because we got lost. :( We're not familiar with the areas, and I think we probably got off the bus at the wrong stop. So we walked around until we found the office, and thank goodness I had brought the baby carrier along for Little V to ride on my back.

A nice woman from the office (This office, like most of the other installation offices, was mainly staffed with native Koreans. They all speak English, to some extent.) walked over with us to see the locations that had been offered. Big J put on camo booties over his army boots before we looked inside -- the kids and I just slipped off our shoes. Both possibles were on the second and third floor of the condo complexes. 3Br, 2 1/2 bath, for those of you who read the realty ads. The square footage is pretty small, but it will work for us. The kitchen is best described as a very efficient box! The only difference was on the rear patio. One had just a railing, and the other, that we picked, had been glassed in, with sliding windows and screens. It may get warm in there in the summer for any plants (I hope not too much!) but it will be more useful in the winter time (also monsoon season) because it's not as exposed to the outside.

Then, we traipsed back to the bus stop, and then back to the main Housing Office, where we waited longer to talk to the counselor, to finalize our choice. Also, to put in our request for furniture. I've explained to many people before we left, but because the Army really doesn't want to transport more stuff overseas than they have to, the base will lend us most of the furniture for the house. It's all army-issue stuff, so I have no idea what it will look like (I have slipcovers for the couch) but it will all be service-able. I requested almost everything, from beds to kitchen tables and chairs, only excepting floor and table lamps, that we don't use. We did ship our bed for the master bedroom, but it won't be here for a few more weeks (and I really hope it fits in that little bedroom...) The counselor said that the furniture will be moved in, and the house will be ready for inspection and for us to move in on Monday. Yay! I could turn cartwheels for joy, except that we're still in the hotel until then, and that would be too noisy for the people underneath us.

And my wonderful family, waiting around for me by the hotel's deli. Hi, family!

Supper! Yummy...poached tilapia, chicken-flavored couscous with carrots, and baby bok choy with bell peppers and green onions. the fish and tilapia are family favorites, and even my picky eaters ate their bok choy with a minimum of protest.

(Can you tell I'm not very proficient at foodphotography? lol!)

Hey! It's working again!

For awhile, I wasn't able to access blogger. Everytime I tried, it gave me an error message. But, tonight, it let me log on. Yay!

If I don't plan out meals in advance, I wind up running to the grocery store every single day. And feeding the kiddos a lot of junk food. I do have a subscription to a meal planning service, but I haven't been using it...bad mommy, I know. But, I printed out menus and recipes, the girls and I did a grocery trip, and supper is in the oven. Hallelujah!

Tuesday: White Bean and Ham Cassoulet, with steamed cauliflower and french bread
Wednesday: Sesame Chicken with sweet and sour sauce, over brown rice, with green beans
Thursday: Berry Delicious Pork Chops, baked sweet potatoes and corn
Friday: Baja Fish Tacos, with salad
Saturday: Crockpot Split Pea Soup with Sausage and crusty bread

Changes I made to supper tonight: I didn't have sage to put in it. I cooked it in my oven safe pan, instead of saute-ing and then moving to a 9x13 pan to bake in the oven. I've got to say, I'm sick, and it still looks yummy.

Today, and blogging

After we dropped Gloria off at preschool, Vicky and I walked over to the church for Mass. St. Casimir's, next-door to the preschool, has Mass on Tuesday and Thursday mornings, and I try to go when I'm not running around trying to finish my errand list. Church was normal, same-as-usual, until the end, when the priest asked those attending to help replace the missals in the pews with the new edition. Wow! It looked like an ant nest. (one that was kicked over, not a happy ant nest, that is) There were twenty or thirty people, and almost all of them were able to help. I did two pews worth myself, while Vicky sat in the pew with her book (the Catholic Bible Story lift-the-flap board book that a nice relative gave us a few years ago) watching in bemusement. It was fast, and it was nice, because everybody was smiling as they worked.

Nutella and o.j. isn't the most nutritious breakfast, but at 10:25, when I had 10 minutes for breakfast before I left to pick up Gloria from preschool, it was the fastest thing I could find. At least, I didn't eat Nutella straight from the jar. It went on to two slices of 100% whole wheat bread(storebought :( ) aside of my hardboiled egg.

I do need to find somethings that are fast and easy for me to eat in the morning, preferably things that can be eaten in the car. Make egg burritos in advance? Sausage links wrapped in pancakes? Maybe so.

My list of things to do is a little longer today, because I ran across Knit and Crochet blog week. It seems to be a commitment to blog on certain topics each day of that week. I can do that (just set my brain on autopilot, and turn off the filters...) but before I do, I need to blog the completed projects. Little J's stripey sweater, my triangle headscarf, and Little G's socks.  So, look for posts on those coming soon.