Korea Folk Village

Today, we took a USO trip to the Korean Folk Village. This is a picture of the Farmer's Music and Dance performance.We were able to see Korean food, clothing, and housing styles from the past. There were many artisans working their handicraft skills in pottery, basket and bamboo weaving, paper making, and other traditional arts. There were all sorts of unexpected moments lurking here - especially at the woodcarvers booth. One surprise was in the garden. Here I am with a small crop of Hemp. We contemplated pinching off a small souvenir to laminate and mail to my mother but figured that could easily get out of hand. We are too close to leaving for an international incident.

Afterwards, we sent the girls back to Dongducheon and took a walk up Itaewon looking for more souvenirs before heading back home ourselves.

Happy Anniversary

The traditional anniversary gift for the 20th year is china, and since I do not need any plates I will just take a country instead. Do not let it be said that I am hard to shop for! ;) The chaplain is in the field right now, but we are going to China next month for a belated anniversary trip.

Bonita and I did some baking and had cookies, cupcakes and a cake delivered to an unsuspecting chaplain in the field. Because there was no groom available, I had lunch with one of my bride's maids instead! Bonita and I rounded the girls up for another trip to the galbi restaurant on Soyo Mtn. after our sneaky little delivery of baked goods.

Here is a picture of our new step cabinet, the anniversary souvenir to ourselves. There are three pieces to this cabinet, so it can look like this, you can turn one the "step" pieces upside down on top of one another to form a buffet style cabinet or you can set the top step off to the left and make another low cabinet. Since the doors and drawers come out and can be turned upside down, you can turn the step pieces around or on end if needed. There are also drawer handles and sliding doors on the other side so it does not have to be kept against a wall. This thing is too neat, and since it is so adaptable it is perfect for the ever moving Army family.

And a little child shall lead them.......

The destination of choice today was the CO-EX Mall. Now Betty Lynn and malls mix like oil and water, sooooooo I used this as an opportunity to catch up on some work while *ahem* Erin led our visitors to CO-EX. After much prayer, they made it there without a hitch, and were able to catch the recently released Pirates movie.

Coming home was a bit of a different story. Erin was going to put Bonita off at our subway stop, then she and Ever were going to stay on the train and head to Camp Casey. Weeeeeeeeell, Erin sent a cell phoneless Bonita packing at the wrong subway stop. Although she knew she was at the wrong place, she had the smarts to just stay put and I made my way to her. I started hollering "Marco!" as soon as I got off the escalator and found "Polo" studying a subway map with an attendant.

What would a trip be without a little bit of blonde induced adventure?

Hikers on Aisle 6

Anything touristy is a long subway ride away. Since I am trying to plan Bonita's visit in such a way as to avoid exhaustion, we decided to stay close to home today.

What would a visit to Dongducheon be without a trip to Soyo Mtn? Bonita was a trooper, and we made some great pictures as we dragged ourselves up and over the mountain ridge. Afterwards, it was a late lunch at a Galbi restaurant that is conveniently located at the end of the trail.

With full tummies and tired footsies, we headed home for a quick clean up before a trip to another Korean landmark - E-Mart!

Bonita had the opportunity to explore the Korean "Wal-Mart", and we brought home a nice collection of snacks. This trip, like the trip to Insa-dong, was a reconnaissance mission and most of the purchases will be eaten - or at least sampled - so we can be sure that no suitcase space is wasted on undesirable treats.

Palace Tour

Here is the changing of the guard at Deoksugung Palace. We were able to view this ceremony and then we headed over to Changdeokgung Palace for its English (yea!) guided tour.

After making a rubbing of Korean tiles, buying some postcards and touring the Changdeokgung grounds we headed over to Insa-dong for a quick peek and review of the shopping available there. Bonita has a long list of souvenirs to buy, so we have to plan this smartly. I am keeping an eye out for '07 Christmas presents, but so far all I seem to find are things I want for myself!

Market Day

Bonita's first full day in Korea is Market Day. We took the walk to see, taste and smell (fishy!) all along the way. It was a great way to stretch legs that had been on an airplane too long and provided a leisurely way to start the Korean tour. Also, if jet lag had reared its head, we would not be too far from home.

The girls went through the market on their own. That way, they could look at and eat what interested them, and we older types could do the same. Look out ATM, here we come!

The Eagle Has Landed.....

.....and she brought a little birdie with her.

Bonita and Ever have arrived for their Korea visit.

Bowling

Tuesday nights are dollar bowling nights, so after the Bible Study everyone heads over to Casey Lanes.

With soldiers coming and going, the faces change, so we have spent the past year bowling with a variety of folks. In the meantime, our bowling score averages have increased. Here is Chris (soldier) and Kevin (Army kid) and they are two of our current bowling night attendees.

Of course, cutting edge minds like Erin's can do two things at once. She can bowl AND stack the announcement placards up on end. The stack made it to about 12 high and had the attention of the entire bowling alley before finally toppling. It is a good thing she has Chang, the manager, wrapped around her finger.

Captain D's

The chaplain got wind there was a Captain D's at Osan Air Force Base, and decided he wanted some fish - American style.

After our journey, the chaplain mentioned how his folks used to drive 45 minutes to King's Table Restaurant or over an hour to Po' Boys Restaurant. As a child, he remembered passing all those perfectly good restaurants along the way, because 45 minutes in the midst of hunger pains is a LONG way. He has now surpassed his parents, as we traveled over 6 hours - round trip - for his fish and chips.

There were several vendors there with some type of outdoor festival in the parking lot. Since they were taking down their tents, we managed to buy ourselves an anniversary present at a great discount as we walked to Captain D's.

"Look, point, purchase." That is my 15 minute shopping philosophy.

All dressed up....

Jon and Mira at the Division formal.

I tried to get dressed up, but it just did not work out. I found out the end of April that a formal was scheduled for tonight. Since I was about the last to know, there was no time for mother to mail me the formal I had left at her house for this very purpose. I initially decided to just skip it, but the chaplain asked me to try and find a dress (Shopping! Oh, joy!) and go with him. After a herculean effort on my part that spanned three days, I finally found a dress. Not a perfect dress, but appropriate and (most importantly) cheap.

To make a long story short, in a distracted haste to get off the subway I managed to leave my dress on the train. Since it was not turned in to the lost and found, I managed to spend the evening at home in my t-shirt and flannel pajamas. Cary was jealous.

When I was telling Mira about my dress, she said, "Oh! It is a good thing you did not come. There was another dress there just like it!" Hmmmm...... I wonder if she found it on the subway!

Road Construction

The Chief of Staff of the Army and his wife, General and Mrs. Casey, recently visited Korea. I was invited to attend a meeting with Mrs Casey (2nd from my right) in order to share a little insight into being a non-command sponsored family member. It can be a dangerous thing to ask for my opinion, and here they were giving me an opportunity to give an opinion in a very "official" forum.

We attended a "pre-meeting" a couple of days earlier in order to review the topics. Although I told the chaplain I had been trained in the proper care and feeding of a General's Wife, the pre-meeting was a very good idea because it allowed us to become familiar with the topics addressed. Without any topic overlap, the planning meeting provided the focus that would be necessary for a successful meeting (you know how scattered women can get).

Non command sponsored family members now outnumber sponsored family members about 5:1 in our battalion. Things like housing, transportation, health care, education and financial issues are hurdles that must be overcome in dependent restricted areas like ours. These days, more and more spouses are willing to jump those hurdles in order to keep their families together and with more and more of us living up here successfully then sharing our experiences with other spouses (I call us the "Move to Korea Evangelists") the family members here will only grow. So, while we may look like a group of mild mannered women, we are actually road workers and this meeting was one step in paving the way to making Korea an accompanied tour for ALL Army families.