Bird Flu

We all seemed to be a little congested and sneezy. Mornings are groggy and slow for us all. When I think everyone is up and moving, the truth reveals itself. Erin still has a knack for finding her way to our bed when she is feeling under the weather.
Since she was the first to start coughing, we are blaming her with infecting us with Dodo Bird Flu.

Moving Day

Most people do not move in with only 6 suitcases like the Snellings, and lifting your belongings up 16 stories can be challenging. Here is how they do it in Dongducheon:

This is a neighboring apartment building in our complex, and someone is moving in. There are seven of these buildings in the I Park complex, so ours looks just like this. The elevator shaft and stairs run up the middle, and there are two apartments on each floor - one on either side of the elevator.

This platform gets filled up, then it makes a high speed run to the moving van waiting below. It is amazing to see how fast this thing runs up and down the rail.

The Seoul Train

Thanks to a head cold, I have a little extra time this morning. I am finally posting the pictures of a recent trip to Seoul. This trip was the first time I braved the train, subway and buses alone. Once I reached Seoul, I met up with Miri. Miri is a friend that threatens me and makes fun of me, but she still takes me under her wing to show me things and interpret for me.

Here is a link to the pictures.

Would you like hashbrowns with that?

Job 6:6 Can that which is unsavoury be eaten without salt? or is there [any] taste in the white of an egg?

I was walking to Camp Casey yesterday morning and I gave Bonita Dawn a call. (If you do not know Bonita, she is my long time "partner in crime" from Alabama.) While talking to her, I passed a street vendor selling something that smelled good, and I was hungry. Since Bonita was with me, I was feeling brave and purchased the mystery food. YUMMY! It is some kind of sweet bread - think Jiffy Cornbread, just not as grainy - with an egg right in the center. I tossed the yolk, because I cannot stand boiled eggs, but the white and the bread was too delicious - or maybe I was too hungry. Here is a picture for your viewing pleasure, but it tastes better than it looks:

If you look closely, you can see an uneaten yolk inside the wrapper! LOL

It was so good, that Erin and I are walking this morning to look for the vendor again. These things are 2 for a dollar, so it is a cheap breakfast!

What time is it? Work Time!

Therefore, my beloved brethren, be ye stedfast, unmoveable, always abounding in the work of the Lord, forasmuch as ye know that your labour is not in vain in the Lord. I Corinthians 15:58


You have read a bit about the zany adventures of acclimating to Korea. I get to explore, but here is a little about what the chaplain is doing. His work days begin at 5 and end about 11:30. He has been to the apartment twice in the last two weeks, so the girls and I have been spending alot of time chasing him around Camp Casey and helping out where we can - which is more than we would see him if we were in the states. While it may be long days, it is still fun, especially when we see unchurched soldiers coming to chapel to see what it is all about.

Here is a little of what the chaplain is doing:

• Leading the West Casey Chapel services, and those services are continuing to grow.
• His chapel was selected to be involved in a new Family Ministry being planned, that will involve Sunday School Classes and a children's program. There were already two Sunday School Classes, and now they can be expanded.
  
• Lots of counseling. Not the kind of counseling where folks make an appointment and then come see you. Nope, it is the kind of counseling where folks drop in your office or see you out and about and let you know they need to talk to the chaplain - NOW. That means drop everything, and squeeze in an unscheduled hour - sometimes at 10 PM. Of course, if you come to this chaplain for counseling, you will get nothing but Biblical counseling, no matter what you believe. That is usually an eye opener for folks - mini sermons that are tailor made!
  
• Plays football - okay, this one is work/play, but it gets him in with the soldiers!
• Mentors a soldier that will be attending seminary after his upcoming retirement.
• Leads a Bible Study and oversees the others that are taking place - there are four with another being planned.
• Arranges Battalion volunteers for the USO and orphanage, with a building project in the works for the orphanage.
• Handles Protestant Field Services for other battalions without a Protestant Chaplain.
• (Hopefully) will soon be the fill-in chaplain for the 100 men stationed at the Joint Security Area on the North Korean border.
• He spends his "free time" in the field with soldiers, and someone is always in the field or training.

Throw in a few things like inspections, guests and an evacuation exercise and you get a feel for his time in Korea. Of course, if you know the chaplain at all, then you know that is how he likes it. He heads to the field for three weeks in November, so maybe he can get some rest then.

What Time Is It? Game Time!!

Well, the Beast did it. They won the Post Tournament. (They bought new uniforms for the tournament, but it is still the same team!) I thought I would have a little bit of a break to do some catching up, but the Division Tournament starts Wednesday night. They won last night in the last 10 seconds of the game. .....whew! That kept us in the winner's bracket, and tonight we ended up playing the same team. It was not nearly as close, and over anxious fans charging the field too early caused a penalty - we had to make our mark on the game! That's okay, it just meant we got to charge the field TWICE! lol

Here is a picture of the Quarterback Chaplain in action at one of the games, and then a picture of the team with yet another trophy:

Yes, Meghan is in Korea.......

I got to reading through some of the past posts, and realized that Meghan is not making many appearances. Well, she is here in Korea, and working hard. Here she is with a few of the children from one of her classes:

She is really here, and really busy.

She has met a new friend, a wife of one of the soldiers, and her name is Meghan also. "The Meghans" can be seen roaming Camp Casey together, especially on Tuesdays and Sundays.

Devil Went Down To Georgia....

...and CDB went down to Dongducheon!


Tonight was the Charlie Daniels Band concert. A certain chaplain had been looking forward to that concert every since MWR started advertising it. We thought we would not get to attend because tonight was also the first round of the post flag football tournament - game at 6 and concert at 7. We made it!!

The team purchased new jerseys, so I inherited the chaplain's old one. I handed it off to a certain fiddler from North Carolina, and it now sports a Charlie Daniel's autograph:


That is Annie behind me. I invited Annie and Karen to the football game, and they were able to attend the concert. Neither had ever heard of CDB, but that did not stop their excitement. Mr. Daniels has a pretty busy schedule in this part of the world, and he is looking good to be 79 years old - he turns 80 in about a week. Happy Birthday CD!

We had a great time, and were in need of an evening off. Cary did not come home at all last week due to 4:30 mornings and 11:00 nights every day. It was not planned, that is just how it worked out. I brought some of his work home with me, and was able to help, which meant a few of those late nights and early mornings for me too. My only early mornings were his Prayer Breakfast on Wednesday (which would not have been a late night, except I purchased a new color printer to design and print out his certificates, and it gave me FITS before I got it working) and I went with him to Yongsan this morning which meant meeting at the bus stop at 5:45 am. He had a meeting in Yongsan, so I did not get to spend any time with him there, but we had two hours on the bus this morning. We would have had two hours on the trip home, but his meeting was late and I'd already purchased my ticket so I had to leave Yongsan without him.

I have three posts I am working on, I just spend too much time proof reading them - and STILL find errors to fix. Grrrrr........ I plan on catching up on Monday. . . . . . . . . . yea right.

Cookie Caravan

Leviticus 24:5 And thou shalt take fine flour, and bake twelve cakes thereof....

Several have asked what we need in Korea, and between the commissary and PX, we really have all we need. But if you are just itching to send something to Korea, then I have a list:
Cookies
Cookies
Cookies

The USO is sponsoring a "Cookie Caravan" for the soldiers at Christmas time. They are recruiting the wives to bake cookies and goodies to be distributed between December 20-24. If you want to send a few cookies this way, then I will make sure they are given to the USO and shared with the soldiers. I have to have the cookies before December 18. Fix any cookie or treat you would like, but remember it must travel well, and store well.

Legal Disclaimer: The authors and publishers of this site will be held blameless in the event of late cookie arrivals. Wherefore and forthwith all late cookies will be subject to consumption by the receiving family provided they are not fat free, sugar free, caffiene free, gluten free, and/or chocolate free. Any such cookies of the free variety shall be subject to some type of distribution rather than consumption.

If you want to send some cookies, just let me know. I will freeze them until the 18th. For convenience, and ease of freezing, pack them in an airtight bag then ship them in a box the size of a shoebox. I have access to four freezers and shoeboxes should fit nicely in them.

I am volunteering to be one of the 'elves' that delivers the goodies, so I should have pictures and stories to tell.

Thanks!
Betty Lynn

Walk to Camp

I walk to Camp Casey pretty regularly. The trip is about 3 miles, and there is alot to see. Here are some scenes from my travels:

Bathing Bunnies

This is Meghan's bunny in the middle of his bath. He goes limp when she is bathing him, even when he is belly up.

The Rest of the Story

You have read the tale of my Korean washing machine, so here is my state of the art Korean dryer:


This drying rack is on the "patio" outside our bedroom. When I want to dry clothes, I pull the cord and lower it from the ceiling, then throw open the windows and ta-dah!

On a recent trek to E-mart, I saw these drying racks for sale. I told the chaplain that we were going to take at least one of them home with us. If anyone wants one of these babies for Christmas, you had better get your order in. When technology like this hits the market during the holiday season, it does not sit on the shelves long!

"What is E-mart?" Well, I thought you would never ask! Americans here call it a Korean Wal-mart, but it is better. There are no pallets of merchandise blocking the aisle, there are employees everywhere, and it is built UP rather than OUT. This particular E-mart is about 4 stories, and had an escalator that enabled patrons to move their shopping cart up to the different levels. The parking deck is right in the building, so there is no 1/2 mile trek from the back 40 to get into the store.

I had intensions of exploring E-mart after we found the white shirt that necessitated this foray into mass capitalism, but the real me just could not do it. Even with all the neat things, a store is a store, and stuff is just stuff. After about 15 minutes the novelty was gone, BUT I managed to drag myself to the small food court and have a Baskin Robbins ice cream.

Yup! 31 flavors has hit the Korean peninsula - only you would not recognize some of the 31. I feasted upon Red Bean Ice Cream (declining the Pumpkin Pudding, Jasmine Tea and Green Tea flavored ice creams on this trip.) It wasn't bad at all, and the chunks of red beans mixed in were a real treat!!

Erin bypassed Baskin Robbin's "Wellness Flavors" for some sort of Triple Chocolate Chunky Something. What a wimp!

Mushroom Clouds and Pigskin

I just read on the internet that a certain neighbor of ours has been dallying with glow in the dark munitions. (Maybe the seismic tremors shook up a new hair-do for him.)

We missed it, and would not have known about it if I had not read it online. Do not worry about us, as of this post, all is well.

The only explosions in our area this morning was "The Beast" putting a hurting on yet another team. Cary's unit won the Columbus Day Tournament:

My Favorite Thing....

An Asian Pear!

I have discovered many new things that I like - kimchee for example - and I have found a few morsels that I will never aquire a taste for - seaweed BLEH!! I shiver at the thought of seaweed. Of all the new taste sensations, Asian Pears are my favorite so far, and I have been chowing down on them since week one. These things are bigger than your average pear, and incredibly juicy.

We were recently given a 7.5 kilogram box(16.5 pounds for those of you that are metrically challenged) of Asian Pears as a welcome gift from the ladies in the chapel. The box had 8 pears in it, so you can see how hugemongous these things are. Normally, we slice them up and two or three Snellings feast on it. When these pears arrived, I was all alone. Although I sliced it, I ended up eating a whole one all by myself. That pear bit back!

Daniel and his family gave us a box of these pears and some dduk cakes for Ch'usok. The pears are divine, and the dduk was good but our American tasters had to get used to the chewiness.
Dduk is made from glutinous rice, and if I remember correctly, the rice has to be pounded until it becomes sticky and it is then formed into balls. These little bite sized "cakes" are filled with either sesame seeds or white stuff. The sesame seeds are lightly sweetened and taste really good, and since we are in Korea, there is a 97% chance the white stuff is rice based.

I have developed an inclination to put my own little twist on the Korean food - like rolling the above mentioned treats in sugar. One night, at Daniel's suggestion, we purchased a bag of little puffed rice cakes - think Quaker Oats, just smaller and much more bland. Of all the items the vendor sold, Daniel said these were the best - NOT! They tasted like puffed cardboard. I had no idea what we were going to do with this bag of cardboard cakes, when I remembered some extra chocolate icing in the refrigerator. Guess what! The puffed rice things were gone in a day.

Ch'usok

Today is Ch'usok. It is similar to Thanksgiving, with a few extras tossed in. I found a young girl's Ch'usok project online, so follow the link to read more about it.

When I found out this was a gift giving occassion, I thought it would be a neat idea to send everyone a Chusok gift. You should see the gifts!! There are large gift packs in the shops consisting of olive oil, soaps, fruits, and best of all SPAM. Here are a few photos of the gift sets:


This is a Spam Set. The price is 45,000 won, which would make it a $50.00 gift. So this Christmas, forego the fruit cake and give the gift of Spam!








This is Tuna and Sesame Oil. (yum!)










A soap/toothpaste set. There are also gift sets of fruit, and I would show you the box of Oriental pears we received for Ch'usok, but we have already dived into it. Oh well.




Since it would be very expensive to mail all this stuff, I have an idea. Today, lather up in the shower real good, fry yourself up a SPAM sandwich, eat a pear and know the Snellings are wishing you a Happy Ch'usok!

New roommates

Well, I finally succumbed to the wails of my petless girls. Yet another animal vendor was on the streets with his profusion of potential pets.

• Kittens - no
• Puppies - no way
• Birds - absolutely never, you'll have to be living in your own place miles from me!
• Turtle - that is a possibility, but the vendor only had one.
• Chipmunks - ground squirrels running in a wheel like a hamster is a sad thing - nope

I am looking for pet grasshoppers or some other cuddly creature, when the girls happen upon:

Dwarf Bunnies

As best as he could in his limited English, the pet vendor assured us they would not make bitty bunnies if if we covered their cage at night. Good grief - there ARE outer limits to my American ignorance! These are RABBITS!! and I do not believe a little nocturnal privacy will hinder their prolific amorosity. I assured the girls that the same gender would be a much better guarantee of birth control, so we have placed our trust in our knowledge of bunny anatomy and hopefully have two bucks.

Since these particular bunnies are too tiny for hasenpfeffer (That is a 7 1/2 in tile they are sitting on) and dwarf bunny hors d'ouvres would be a bit tedious to cook, then I am really hoping these are both male bunnnies.

Chapel And The Ministry

How then shall they call on him in whom they have not believed? and how shall they believe in him of whom they have not heard? and how shall they hear without a preacher?

Sunset from the apartment.

We had a great Bible Study and Chapel Service today. Just when I think I can get a handle on names and faces, we get a fresh crop of new faces. Chapel is alot like church, but then also completely different. It is hard for tradition and "we ain't never done it like that" to be an issue when the entire congregation turns over every few years. The necessity of knowing the ever changing congregation and adjusting to their needs is even more pronounced.

At different times, some have made comments or expressed concerns that chapel is not "real" church, or that the chaplain cannot be a "real" pastor, because he is restricted by what he can and cannot preach. (After an initial seething thought, I have to laugh on the inside. I have sat through some real yawners, and I am glad chapel is not like "real" church.) As far as sermons go, they are prepared and never have to receive clearance from anyone other than the Holy Spirit. There is no fear of repercussions from other chaplains, higher ranking officers.....deacons, elders, disgruntled members, etc. ;)

During our time at Fort Benning, a few alluded to the notion that Soldiers were only attending church and accepting Christ because of where they were going after Basic Training. (A false assumption they were all headed to war, and they had to get right with GOD in the meantime.) After listening to the soldiers give their testimony, it had more to do with the fact that Basic Training was the first time many had ever heard about Jesus. All we have to do is share Jesus, and He will take care of the rest. So many of the soldiers had never spent any time with a pastor (shhhh, they do not know the chaplain is not a "real" pastor), attended any type of church service, or even read a Bible.

I want to say thank-you to a few folks from various parts of the country. Because of your concern for the men at Fort Benning, the chaplain was able to give over 3000 soldiers a whole Bible - for many it was their first Bible.

Now that we have left the country, we are considered "on the mission field" by some. As a chaplain, he has always been a North American Mission Board Missionary to the US Army, whether he is stateside or abroad. While the surroundings have changed drastically, the mission has not.