Matthew's Baptism Invitation

Chris - South Korea - Day 9

4/17/14

We saw more buddhist temples today, but in huge afternoon we visited the Hyundai shipbuilding yard.  It was really impressive, but sadly we weren't allowed to take pictures.

We did a lot of shopping today. I probably won't ever be back to Korea again.

Friday will just be driving back to Seoul and then Saturday we fly out in the morning so this trip is basically done.

Chris - South Korea - Day 8

4/16/14

I'm starting to get done with the he trip.  Not sick or anything, just getting tired.   All the buildings are looking the same and the novelty of the architecture is wearing off.  Every day we go see something great and wonderful...that looks exactly like the great and wonderful thing we saw yesterday.  Think of it this way; imagine seeing a house and learning it was the house George Washington was born in.  Then tomorrow you see another house and it was the one Jefferson was born in, and the next day it's Adams, but all three house look more or less the same, even in terms of color.  After a while even the fact that it's so-and-so's house doesn't make it any snazzier.

This afternoon we spent WAY too long sitting in this guys house listening to him not talk about Confucianism.  He was some kind of super important elder in his clan, but it was quite clear by his acts and words that he really wasn't interested in being there, and his answers to our questions, many of which were mine, were so short, vague, and non-answering.

Chris - South Korea - Day 7

4/15/14

I was putting on my black shoes this morning when I noticed a hole.  The shoe has torn from the sole.  Alas, my black doc martins, which I took on my mission and have worn for 15 years, have finally died.  I'm going to use them for the remainder of the trip, but then I think I'll just throw them away instead of carry the extra weight.  They have a hole that can't be repaired, no sense lugging them back across the ocean.

We went to about a half dozen Buddhist temples and a national museum.  It would have been better, but today was middle school day so the place was filled with hundreds of kids.  It was a bit too loud for my tastes.  Dinner tonight was Korean BBQ.

This is short, but what can you say when you walk around looking at temples?  They all look the same after a while. The story behind the temple keeps it fresh, but the walking started to wear on us.

Chris - South Korea - Day 6

4/14/14

Today we visited a Buddhist temple.  Actually it was more like a temple complex. Picture he Buddhist equivalent of temple square.  It was like in the movies.  The temple was at the top of a mountain, totally secluded and built along a mountain stream.  There were monks in robes all over the place, chanting, banging drums, praying, etc.  this particular temple houses a repository of woodblock prints that can be used to print over 300,000 pages of Buddhist scripture.  It would be like finding all the plates that didn't make Mormon's editing cuts.  We had lunch at the temple kitchen, where there are two rules; you must eat anything you take, and you must be silent until you leave. I never realized how noisy just eating can be without talking over it.

That was actually all we had scheduled.

We are really getting wined and dined here.  Let me put it this way; my bathroom has a heated toilet seat.  

So I think I made a name for myself last night.  Dinner is darn close to 5star standards, and it was a Buffet, so when I went back for my sixth trip some people in the group asked how on earth I ate so much without getting fat.  How could I resist? They had so much sea food.

Chris - South Korea - Day 5

4/13/14

Today we went to this museum dedicated to Korean printing (like the old school movable type stuff)  It turns out that Koreans were printing books using a press like Gutenberg, but about 150 years before Gutenberg.  Then we went to this activity center and actually made a book the same way that monks in the 1400s would make one, starting with making our own paper.

The meals are still hit and miss.  Either each dish is awesome, or it makes me want to barf.  No whole crabs to eat, thank goodness.  They told us that tonight the meal is "western," which means stake, pasta, etc. things I know I like.  Then tomorrow it's back to local cuisine.  It's no wonder everyone here is thin.  Every meal is rice, vegetables, and soup, with very little meat or fat thrown in.  I wonder if the cost of lots of veggies is the same or less than the cost of meat.

I just occurred to me that the opera song playing in the lobby here is the tune of one of the hymns at church.  Who knew it was an opera tune before it was a hymn.

Chris - South Korea - Day 4

4/12/14

Today was out first day of our touring.  No lectures or seminars.  Our first stop was the tomb of this major king who is revered by Koreans more than Washington to Americans.  It's so weird to see how different architecture is compared to Europe.  The right angles and stone buildings are replaced with wood and acute angles.  If not for the group, the culture shock here would be too much.

Lunch was...interesting.  We went to a place run by a guy who is a culinary "artist" which means the kind of weird stuff we see on Chopped.  One of the courses was crab, not the way you'd normally think, but baby crabs, deep fried whole.  They brought them out on the plate and it looked like they had been taken out of huge ocean and frozen in place.  I ate one just to say I did.  It was crunchy, pokey, and even now thinking of it makes me throw up a little in my mouth.  I didn't want to be the only one who didn't do it, and wanted to say I've done it.  I will never do it again.    The food here is bi-polar; it's either so good I'd eat a whole platter, or it's so nasty I can't even pretend to eat and like it.

The afternoon was taken up by a tour of the imperial palace in downtown Seoul.  The place was monstrous, both in size of there compound and the size of the buildings.  Dr. Peterson is really good at his commentary.  He tells us stories and teaches interesting facts rather than give the boring tour guide stuff about when it was built.  I think I would have enjoyed it more, but thoughts of lunch were actually making me sick.

At dinner we had this stuff call bibimbap.  It's rice and veggies with some spicy sauce thrown in, not bad given that it's missing meat.  Tomorrow we leave the academy to head down to southeast Korea.  It will be nice to get out of Seoul, this place could give New York a run for its money in terms of traffic, crowds, and hustle and bustle.

Chris - South Korea - Day 3

4/11/14

The last two lectures were really good.  One was history the other was economics.  After that it was on to lunch where I had real sushi for the first time ever.  Honestly, it wasn't bad, but given a choice I probably wouldn't choose it over the other.  Since it's raw it doesn't have a lot of taste, but when you add wasabi to it it gets too strong.  I just eat what gets put in front of me.

After lunch we toured a Korean middle school.  Everyone wanted to see the tall white guy.  I would wave and the entire class would wave back while the. Girls all starts giggling.  Either the school. We went to was a new school in a rich neighborhood or Korea spends a heck of a lot more money on public schools than the US.  They never get homework, but that's because everyday after school they all go to private tutoring for another 3+ hours.  What American kids do with sports and dances, Koreans do with more school.

Our last stop for the day was to the Korean national museum. We only had an hour and a half to go through it.  Fortunately, since I'm not well versed in Korean history I didn't need to stare on detail at everything like I did the German museum.  I was a little rushed, but I don't feel like I missed anything. 

 Now it's on to dinner, though I don't think I've fully digested lunch yet.  And I seem to be getting a lot of acid reflux.  Hopefully it's just the change in diet and not that I'm getting older and don't take care of myself very well.

Just had the first dinner that I really didn't much care for.  There wasn't a single dish that I could eat until full and like it, so I guess it will compensate for how much I eat at all the other meals.  Surprise surprise, it was a vegetarian dish with turnips masquerading as chicken and some mushrooms that were so rubbery I could bite through them.

I think I partially misread the suggestions for dressing.  They made it sound like jeans weren't approximate for most places we were visiting, when they meant no jeans for the three days of formal seminars, and only pants of some kind for the Buddhist temples.  Guess I'll just be an impeccably dressed tourist.

Chris - South Korea - Day 2

4/10/14

I woke up at 4, but that was pretty good in comparison to some of the other fellows.  I was able to use the time to put out some fires back at school.  Breakfast was an interesting infusion of "western" (American) and Korean food.  It was really good.

After breakfast we had our orientation meeting and met the faculty and staff of hue he institute here.  The whole session was translated, even though I think most everybody spoke English, at least to some degree.  The accommodations here are quite good,  from the dorm rooms to the conference rooms we are getting 5 star service.

Lunch was an experience. There were 17 different dishes presented to us.  I, like an idiot, kept loading up on each one, so sure that it was the last.  I ate all kinds of things, some of which I don't know what it was, and don't think I want to, though I did eat octopus... and the rice is purple.

After lunch was our first lecture.  I'm sure I would have enjoyed it more had I not been so jet lagged.  My body was screaming "it's 3am!" And kept trying to shut down on me.

Next was our meeting with the academy president, which gave us a little taste of how tradition and ritual are still very present in modern Korea.  There was lots of bowing, formal statements by her and from us, and then a little gift from her to each fellow, followed by some pics for the paper and then that was it.  It felt like a non-religious ritual, which is exactly what it was.

Second lecture was a bit easier to stay awake in.  I won't bore you with details, but it shows the reason why history is important.

We have dinner in about 30 mins.  I fear it may be another 15 course affair.  I'm not sure I can handle having thanksgiving three times a day.  How is it possible I don't see fat people everywhere when they eat so much?

So dinner was only 7 courses, and the first was a basket of black bread, pumpernickel? No, squid ink.

I'm done.  Hopefully by tomorrow I'll be over the jet lag.

Chris - South Korea - Day 1

Just landed and have met up with the group.  It was a really good flight, other than being 14 hours.  First thing I see in Korea? Baskin Robbins.  Go figure. 

 Chris is 13 hours ahead of the East coast

Right now it's 9:30 in e evening on April 9th. I don't want to think about what time or day it is there.  I managed to grab 2-3 cap naps of about an hour each since leaving, so I'm dead-tired, but not dead.

We got stuck in Seoul rush hour going to dinner.  At dinner, we sat on the floor and everything was shared.  Kind of forces you to get cozy with everyone quickly.  I do not like kimchi, I liked everything else at diner, but I do not like kimchi.  I feel rich after changing my money, I now have 200,000 won in my wallet.  At least I felt rich until I saw that a Big Mac meal was 13,000.

It's a very small group, less than ten including the guides and directors.  That could be good or bad.

They are being merciful and we are starting late.  Breakfast isn't even until 8.  Later in the trip our days start at 6.

Nothing else to write about.  It was a long day in the air, but a short one on the ground.

Chris in South Korea

Last August Chris went to a conference in Charlottsville, VA for a week to learn about Korean History. The Korean Government funded this so that professors can learn more about Korea and start teaching Korean History in their colleges. After this Chris applied to go to Korea and he got it. He will be gone from Tuesday, April 8th to Saturday April 19th.

I took Chris to the Richmond airport today at 8:30am. He flew from here to Dulles to get on the plane and flew non-stop to Seoul, South Korea. What an awesome experience for him. I don't know how much internet access he will have but I will try to put up the experiences that he is having here for you to journey with us.

BEYOND EXCITED!!

As of yesterday I just became very excited that my husband is leaving. That sounds bad but because he is leaving and will be gone over spring break my sister-in-law suggested that we go visit them in FLORIDA!!! YIPPEEEE!!! I am VERY excited to go see them!!! I just love that family!! We leave on Friday to travel down there. Chris is happy that we get to do something fun also while he is gone so we aren't just home the whole time. I dropped Chris off at the airport this morning. He is kind of getting to be a seasoned veteran thing at this going over seas business but he has never been on a 14 hour flight. He was excited to go and visit Korea:) I am sad to see him go and Allison has been crying that he is leaving but knowing that we get to do something fun while he is gone makes it a lot easier. So excited to see my family, AND they just had a baby 3 weeks ago so I am sure Allison and I will dote all over this precious little girl. SO EXCITED!!

Intently Watching General Conference

My kids are always looking forward to General Conference. We usually give them conference Bingo but this time I did things a little bit differently.

I got some bowls and put different candy in them and taped a word to each bowl. When they heard that word they got to take one out of that bowl.

I don't think they have ever listened so closely as they did today. They were even listening to the words of the songs as well.

This time was the first time watching it on the TV. We have always watched on our computers but our TV is smart and can connect to the internet so we were able to get it on our tv:) 

It was kind of blocky and cut out some but it was still fun and much bigger then any of our computers.

Look at Allison's long hair. I know I need to cut it but I am not quite ready yet. I have been thinking about doing Locks of Love with her hair but then it would be REALLY short so I may let it keep growing out.

 They have gotten A LOT of raisins since 

Jesus, Christ, Lord, or Savior could count:)

They were laughing so hard during the second session of Saturday conference when they are doing the offices of the church and all the stats of the church. They just kept reaching for the candy corn and laughing that they kept saying church.

 It was VERY successful (lots of sugar) but they listened A LOT.

They are looking forward to the next one:)

Pinewood Derby Prep

Matthew is going to turn 8 which obviously means that he will be starting Cub Scouts with the church troop. His first day of going to Cub Scouts is going to be the Pinewood Derby. I don't know how they do it here, but it is still on the Wednesday night at 7pm. I wonder if it just doesn't take as long or what but anyways he is now an official Cub Scout with our pack and he will be participating in the Pinewood Derby this year. In Texas the Pinewood Derby was usually in March on a Saturday. I don't know if Matthew is necessarily excited for the Derby but he is very excited to start going to Cub Scouts with his friends. I think it is so cool that these are the kids that he will be going into YM with and stuff. It all starts when they turn 8 and they go on Wednesday night and don't stop going until they graduate:( That is such a sad thought, he is growing up too fast. I am starting to be more sentimental about my kids growing up because it is so obvious now, it almost makes me want to cry:(   Anyways, the Cub Scouts went to the Cub Scout Master's house on Wednesday to cut out their cars. We were going to go but realized that there would be about 10 boys running around so we should probably go to their house another day.

In between sessions this afternoon we went over to their house. Their son and Matthew had their cars ready to cut out. It is hard to make the kids do everything when they can't touch the saws. Chris has been wanting to get into more wood working, home improvement things so he was the one to cut it out. I think we have more work to do then I realize. If anybody wants to give us any tips I am more then open for them.

 

Some may not believe me that Chris worked on the Pinewood Derby car so I needed to have proof:)

They're Growing Up:(

My mom helped me realize that my kids are growing up:( It is true, they really are. They aren't babies, toddlers, or preschoolers, they are little kids. I do enjoy them being older because then we can do things but it is also hard. I like to think that as long as I can lift them up and hold them on my hip, they are still little. Thankfully, I can still hold both of them on my hip, even my little boy that is going to turn 8 this month, lets me hold him occasionally. Allison likes when I literally pick her up from the bus, so she doesn't even have to step on the ground, though I only carry her for so long, not all the way home. I feel like I have given up hoping to have anymore babies in our family but when I see pictures of my friends having their babies or cousins or other family members, I long for that. Yesterday at soccer practice I didn't realize how cold it was going to be and I was wearing shorts but brought a jacket with me. My legs were cold so I pulled one leg up into my jacket and zipped it up. Allison come over and asked me if I had a baby in my tummy:(  She really wants a baby to join our family too but....it is not in our hands or timing. I am very thankful for the two that I have though. They can drive me crazy but they really are good kids and have a very kind heart. I love the love that Allison shares with us and so many. She is the best hugger there is and gives them freely and makes so many people's day. Love my kids:)

Nice Weather

When you don't like something it really makes you like something that you might take for granted. One example is that I used some onions that were too old. They didn't seem bad at the time but let's just say that our bodies did not appreciate them and try to get rid it however possible. I was sick for two days just laying in bed. Anyways it makes me appreciate my health more.
With this winter that we have had, I have been ready for the warmer weather. Yesterday it was almost 80 degrees. I worked out in the yard trying to make our house look a little better and then when the kids came home we met some friends at the park, then went and got Slurpees with them. The funny thing is that my kids didn't know what Slurpees were:) Yep, they are sheltered kids:) I even got a little bit of a sunburn yesterday since there was so much sun, but thankfully it wasn't bad and never actually hurt, just a little pink since I am so white.
Yesterday and today I discovered a gardening tool that I already LOVE. It is a blower/vac. It is so awesome. I have always wanted a blower since when I cut the lawn there is always grass on the sidewalk or driveway. It just looks nicer when it isn't there. I learned last fall that we have A LOT of leaves to rake up. We raked up some but then I thought I would be able to just use the lawn mower and get the rest. Well that didn't work so then I enlisted Chris to come out and help me rake leaves. He wasn't a big fan of that either. He finally agreed that maybe a blower isn't just a useless tool. I tested it out yesterday and today and it is AWESOME!!!!! I even cleaned out all the dirt and leaves out of our garage today, without having to sweep. It was so quick and easy!! I had a pile of leaves that were in a pile and I just "vacuumed" them up, it mulched it, and put it in an attached bag. IT IS SO WORTH the $46!!!! It is one of my new favorite tools. I didn't know that there was such a thing as a vac for outside and attached to the blower? Such an amazing invention!!! I am ready for those fall leaves to fall this year:)
I think we are going to have a nice day tomorrow, maybe 81 and then get some rain on the weekend but only going down to low 60s. I think we are going to have some nice, beautiful weather, occasionally getting up into the 90s but not staying there. I am looking forward to doing some more stuff to make our house and yard look better.

A Good Doctor

I had to go see my OBGYN yesterday. I have to say that the best thing that happened to me having had to go through my miscarriage is that Dr. Tozer is the one that did the D&C. I had never met her until right before my surgery. Since I didn't meet the other dr. that was recommended to me, and Dr. Tozer did my procedure I decided to go back to her. I am so thankful she is my Dr. every time I see her. When she walked in, she noticed that I had cut my hair which made my hair seem like a different color (cutting off some of the highlighted areas). I was super impressed she remembered THAT part because I haven't seen her since August. She asked about the kids and asked how I was doing. I know that all doctors ask how you are doing but I feel like she generally cares. I feel like she listens to me which makes it easier for me to tell her whatever I need to tell her. It is great to feel like I have a dr. that knows me, understands what I have been going through the last year and is on my side.