Christmas

So while everyone here was going to Thailand for Christmas, Hunny and I took it easy, plus we beat the rush and are waiting till February to travel again. I am from a smaller family so presents and presentation was a little more done then in Hunny's family. His rule is that it has to fit in the stocking. But I loved as a kid waking up and seeing Santa's gifts laid out on the couch! Granted they got smaller and smaller and I know it isn't about gifts, but it is the surprise. Plus, books don't always fit neatly in a stocking. :) It works out for us because we stuff each others stockings and obviously if it is out everywhere we would see. So Hunny stuffed mine and went upstairs and I stuffed his. Tee hee! It is so fun being sneaky.

The next morning, since nothing was laid out to distract him, Hunny wanted to go out in the fresh snow and take pictures. since I am not one thrilled to be cold I put up a small fight but in the spirit of Christmas I donned my coat and out we went. Snap, pose, click. INSIDE!! Ahh... warm crock-pot egg breakfast. I should do crock-pot everything's more often. They are "easy", "worry free" and tasty.! Finally...to the opening of gifts! Stockings emptied, paper ripped, boxes opened. It seems silly but I love my glass bowls I got. Hunny got a new laser from Thailand that is super bright! We read some of Hunny's Calvin and Hobbes book and have gained a new appreciation for comic makers. Poor Hunny's gift was in the mail and hadn't made it, a nice new camera lens and neat filters for effects. My nice gift was in the mail too but Hunny came up with a much more clever way to tell me. He had wrapped a slab of wood decorated as a GALAXY NOTE 10.1!!!! >o< He had been pulling my chain the past so many days. I CAN'T WAIT for it to come in! I mean.... I LOVE MY HUNNY!!! Yay for gifts and giving and awesome technology.

After gifts and cleaning up, we took it easy and visited with family via Skype and prepared food for the evening's dinner and guests. We had are two best friends whom we have known the longest here who we frequently do games with, and have all sorts of dinners together, including Christmas last year. We enjoy their company and enthusiasm. We did a little gift exchange and ate dinner. Yummy food, oh and their PIE!! Oh! The best way to settle with a tight tummy is to end the night with a board game. Settlers of Catan it is! I will admit, I have become the nerd I used to pick on for playing that game. I love it and crave it. I am the reason we got it for our family. We had a delightful time, lots of leftovers, and memories made. We are grateful for our friends, Ran and Bran, and for this season to remember the Savior's birth and the opportunity to feel more charity. May we always remember the Savior and serve Him all year.

Birthday in THAILAND

The thing I was most excited about doing in Thailand was riding elephants so we decided to do that on my birthday. I was super excited about it. We got up and ready, and I usually skim over that part... BUT today was a special day, starting with breakfast. I love breakfast! Not only did the breakfast buffet at the restaurant have a beautiful array of different Thai foods each morning, but they also had fried egg and omelet options. Why is that important? Because...sense we had to be ready for our tour by 7:00 am, I didn't think I would have time to get a much desired omelet. If you know me, that is a big deal because I love food, especially breakfast. I figured if I got in line as soon as we showed up I would manage it but the line was too long so, sadly, I moved on. But my sweet, wonderful Hunny went up later while I was still eating and got one for me! That just made my day! It helped that it was the best omelet I'd ever had but it might have been because it was my thoughtful Hunny that got it for me that made it taste so good.

Anyway, we hopped in the tour van with a few other tourists and our enthusiastic guide had us all introduce ourselves. We were the only Americans, and native English speakers for that matter, in the van. There was a Belgian, Israeli, Norwegian, two Spaniards, and, of course Thai. There were a crowd of about 4 french speakers and they were a rambunctious group; and we had a 3 hour trip...both ways. Thankfully both ways there was a stop. We were treated to a free drink and a treat- Thai fried banana slices. Oh so tasty!! A quick tour of the memorial they are constructing for the 2004 tsunami that had a big impact on the area. The centerpiece of the memorial is a navy ship that was pushed inland by the catastrophe.

We then made it to the elephant riding academy. :) Like most events in Thailand, there were no instructions or briefings just, "Ok, hop on!" So we did. There was a bench on the elephant's back and the guide just sat on its head. I felt like the old British English high-class men folk that would ride them on hunts like in Two Brothers. I never knew that elephants skin was so rough and their little hairs very stiff! It was so cool to be up there! We strode through a river to take pictures before going into the 'jungle'. Luscious trees and vegetation.

I got to ride on the neck for half the trip. It was fun and way cool but I had a newly acquired wound on my knee and the ears would flap right on it so I had to flex and sit a certain way the whole time. It was worth it, though. I thought the ears were my favorite part of an elephant, 'till we got the opportunity to feed it. Oh that was so neat! We bought some sugar cane and mini bananas and watching the trunk twist and turn and move and flex. You would think it had eyes. We would hold out a piece of food and the trunk would probe it, wrap around it, twist toward its mouth, and toss it in. It was fascinating! After feeding the elephant we rode we were treated with a little performance. A volunteer was asked to stand in front the elephant facing away, the elephant would then pick up a hat and placed on her head. Then several of the men were given a 'massage' were they would lie down and the elephant would place one of its feet on their backs and rub back and forth! Then a it did little jig. Then it was picture time. We were doing a Flat Stanley and had the awesome idea of getting a picture of him being squashed under its foot. Cute!

Before heading to lunch, we got to stop at Monkey Temple for a little bit and feed some monkeys. I think our time was cut short so I'm glad we brought mini bananas from breakfast with us. There were monkeys everywhere running free. This time we were given more of a briefing. You can feed but don't try to touch or hold because they might bite. They were so cute though! Except the big ones... They were a pretty greedy bunch too. Hunny handed one an entire banana and he said it broke into it and scarfed it super fast, so we learned to make our treats last longer we broke them in pieces so we could feed more. Hunny had the great idea to push Tiki in the ground and was placing banana piece on top of him. Eventually one monkey got the idea that Tiki must have been the banana God because it snatched him and ran! WHA!! He ran off with Tiki! Luckily he was dropped and we were able to get him back. But wouldn't it have been the perfect final resting place for him?

All too soon it was time to go. Bye little monkeys... But on to lunch! My favorite! I thought it was going to be weird sitting with all these strangers but we got to talking and we had a swell time learning about each other. Plus it is always fun seeing others' reactions when they hear that Hunny flies helicopters. The food was tasty and then it was time to go on a little water trip. We reserved our trip online and booked the bamboo raft instead of a plan canoe ride. Again, we were the only ones that choose that option. So we went to a different spot and were instructed only to get on the raft. We were the only ones all around. It was nice and peaceful.

When we got done we had to wait for the rest of the other group to make it back. There was an orchard, or at least a lot of trees in a row and they had lychee berries on them. I didn't want to pick any but figured it was okay to get one off the ground. So Hunny and I went searching for one that wasn't so brown. Now, we have never had one before and didn't know what to look for, what was edible or how to eat them. So we were pretty cautious. You peel off the outer layer that has alien looking spikes and inside is a white bulb like fruit. But the pit has a thin layer that comes off making it a bit chewy. Always interesting experimenting, and trying new things.

The car trip back was long and boring! I decided to do something I do every now and then on long trip, only this time in a whisper to Hunny instead of just in my head. I described the movie Toy Story, lines and all, so we could watch it in out minds. Toy Story is probably the only movie I know well enough to do that with. After about an hour and a half my brain got tired of trying and bored with it. I think it only got us half way through the movie. I knew I should've brought a book.

When we finally got back to the hotel there was a piece of cake waiting for me that the hotel had provided. Unfortunately it had already been discovered by a colony of ants. Somewhat disappointed we took it to the dinning area and they said they would replace it but the only thing they had available was cheesecake. O.O We went from a tiny meh piece of :p cake to CHEESECAKE! No problem! Oh it was so fancy and tasty! We decided to have dinner there and the live music was a guy in the guitar that played an OLD Jim Croche song that I'm sure NO ONE knows but I did, and loved. This day could not have been any better. If there was ever something kind of bad that happened, something better made up for it. I am grateful for my Hunny that does such a great job of taking care of me even when I make it hard or ask him not to worry about things. He loves me so much and I am so blessed.

MERRY CHRISTMAS 2012

That is right folks, we made it! We made it past the end of the world, and that meant a lot of last minute Christmas shopping for me; I didn't think anyone would be around to give anything to. It is a good thing that I am so prepared that I prepared for this too.

Bee and I would like to wish you all a very Merry Christmas! We love you. We are grateful for you. We will be spending Christmas this year with a few close friends of ours here in Korea.

We wish you and yours a joyous, Christ centered, Holidays!

Phantom of the Opera

So there was a church Christmas party planned for December 8th that I was SO stoked about. I was going bring food, hang out with awesome people,and eat! Everyone has been thrilled about this party since it was announced a month in advance. Whenever I mentioned it to Hunny, he would always say that we had something going on that day and that we wouldn't be able to go but that he could never remember what it was. I ignored him and continued to plan on going, until I opened my birthday present from him. Tickets to see PHANTOM OF THE OPERA!!!! But they were the same time as the party. :( Bummer. But he had bought them back in September when they first went on sale, before the Christmas party was announced  Good thing too, we looked later and tickets are pretty much sold out to mid February.

So the night of the Opera came and we had been running around before and I had an assignment for school I needed to turn in before going. So of course we ended up rushing around to get ready, get our tickets, find dinner and be back in time for the show. We were close the the same seats we had for Wicked which was great because they are great seats for the price. When we sat down we looked around and were both thinking that it wasn't set up as fancy and intricate as Wicked. But after the auction scene when the theater comes to life, dusty drapes uncovered the decor underneath and the chandelier floated off the stage up to it's proper spot high above the audience.

I was surprised with how close the movie followed the play. It was pretty much spot on. But instead of being impressed with how well the movie mirrored the play and being disappointed at the lack of effects plays aren't able to do like movies, I was astounded at what they were able to do. Flipping the scene to appear behind the curtain, going down into the dungeon, the Phantom hiding in the lowered stage centerpiece for the roof scene, and the best of all was the lake scene. The boat 'floating' through misty water and, oh, the candles coming out of the floor and floating in through the side and extending to appear coming out of the water. The effects were phenomenal! And of course you cannot forget the costumes! Masquerade had colorful ones and Hannibal's were so intricate.

The singing was pretty but unfortunately there were many scenes where there would be multiple people singing different words at the same time and you couldn't understand what any one of them was saying. I was just glad to have seen the movie so many times I could follow better. It was hard to not compare Phantom to Wicked. Wicked was our first play and when it was so perfect, it kind of set the standard. Phantom was very dark and creepy, more in the sense of creepy stalker. I feel like the Phantom was less harsh in the movie making him more lovable. And also with Wicked, the depth and layers of not just entertainment but morals and character development and plot, I feel, puts any play to shame. (But I haven't seen Les Mis. yet so we will talk more after that.) Overall Phantom was a wonderful performance but we enjoyed Wicked more.

Surprise Party!

So I will admit, I am a little selfish and was disappointed when I asked Hunny in Thailand, "So, if it weren't my birthday, would we still have gone Elephant riding?"
"Probably."
"Oh... what all would we have bought if it weren't my birthday?"
"The same."
"Really? So what are we doing for my birthday?"
"Visiting Thailand!"

That is why I've always disliked my birthday being around Thanksgiving. Because it always gets looped in or overlooked. I couldn't really complain this year because we went to Thailand... but we were gonna do that anyway!! What was special about my birthday? I tried to let it go and was almost over it when...

I got a message from a friend of mine saying that they were hoping to do game night and wanted to do it in the upstairs Penthouse in their apartment building so that they didn't have to worry about being loud and waking the kids. Sweet! so Hunny and I hurried and had dinner and were on our way over. I was chatting the whole way and excited to be hanging out with cool friends. When we got to the building the Apartment security desk guy was almost waiting for us and told us, "Penthouse right elevator." Oh cool, how did he know we wanted the Penthouse? I see this now but didn't think about it at the time. The whole ride up on the elevator I'm telling Hunny a story and am a little irked he wasn't paying full attention to me but didn't say anything. The elevator opened, I turned the corner and I see some of those I knew were going to be there for games and went to throw my hands up to say Party Time! when I see a whole lot more people than I expected and I stop, shocked as they scream, "Surprise!!!"

I was stunned. Thrilled, but stunned! There were a lot of people! There was tons of food. There was an adorable banner with individual letters cut and on a cute back ground spelling Happy Birthday [Bee]. There was a GIANT picture of my face...we could have done without that...that said Happy Birthday on it. Everything else was so nice. Hunny had been asking me some random questions all week, and being over all a bit more talkative than usual. Turns out he was putting together a "How well do you know [Bee]" Questionnaire. But some of the answers I didn't even know the answer to. It was neat to stop and think if I liked Vatos (AMAZING Korean Mexican Fusion) or Leatherby's (Small town homemade Ice Cream Parlor) better, or if my favorite movie was The Avengers or Toy Story. And instead of cake, because he knows I don't like cake, Hunny made sure I got cheesecake!!!! And I cannot go on enough about the family that brought the cheesecakes (that's right PLURAL!). Not only was one pumpkin but the SECOND one was a Sopapilla cheesecake. I've never had Sopapilla but have heard of it and know it is Mexican. Need I say it again, it was a Mexican Cheesecake!! Could everything have been more perfect! I have such great friends. Some ditched another party for mine, many of them are super busy and though they couldn't stay long made sure to at least come by even for a bit. Two couples helped Hunny plan and put everything together. I have such great friends and the BEST hubby for doing this all for me!!! I am so blessed and love them so much. We had a great time and I cannot get over the giant face....

Thanksgiving in THAILAND

Bee has already introduced you to our vacation to Thailand but we did so much while there that we simply could not put it all into one post. We spent our Thanksgiving in Thailand and what a grateful and pleasant Thanksgiving it was.

We stayed in Patong on Phuket Island for the duration of our trip but did a lot of moving around while we were there. Thanksgiving day was our first day there and we decided to go on a site-seeing cruise to some of the beautiful, smaller, surrounding islands. We got picked up from our hotel and drove to the small harbor where we embarked a small cruise ship. We found seats on the sun deck and made ourselves comfortable. As we made our way out of the harbor we passed many little Thai motorized long boats and fishing boats making their way back to shore. The water in the harbor was more dirty than I envisioned pushing past occasional pieces of plastic trash. Once we got out into more open waters the water turned a more deep greenish-blue and there was less trash, there was however, a whole lot more traffic.

After staying a comfortable amount of time on the sundeck we decided to explore the rest of the ship. It was a total of 4 stories tall, including the sundeck. It had a lower deck which was all inside with round windows at about wake level, a main deck that was mostly enclosed but  had an open area at both bow and stern with a small walkway on each side between them. The next level was very similar but the inside area on it was much smaller and was for staff. It was also where the helm could be found. then there was the top level, the sundeck.

As the boat pressed on toward Phi Phi Don (pronounced pee pee and Don means island), which was the main attraction of the cruise, we passed by many smaller island that jetted out of the sea in very majestic manner. They all had similar vertical rock faces protruding out of the water extending into the sky with the base of each cut in at the bottom by the incessant pounding of waves. Yet each one was unique in size and in beauty. Some were no bigger around than a city block, others were miles in length; some had caves in the bottom, some had caves part of the way up the rock face. A few islands we saw had small beaches on them. One island we saw had a quaint beach tucked into a little cove and was apparently the filming location of a Hollywood film creatively named, The Beach.

We arrived at Phi Phi Don by noon where we docked and a smaller ship pulled along side us. We boarded this ship and steamed over to the other side of the green bay and set anchor. This is where we would be doing our snorkeling and scuba diving. After an hour of that we headed to shore for some lunch. It was a very tasty buffet of assorted Thai foods with local fresh pineapple and watermelon for dessert. We were given a table number before we disembarked the ship but when we found the assigned table and went to sit at it we redirected by one of the staff to a table all to ourselves with the explanation that the other table was all a specific group and we would be much happier at this other table. We did not argue. Instead of a traditional buffet where all the food is on one table and you have to go to the food, each table had all the buffet options on a Lazy Susan at its center. Convenient!

My favorite part of the meal was probably the soup. It was such a tasty seafood soup. I am not a big fan of octopus but during this trip I discovered that it is Korean octopus that I dislike; it seems there is a big difference from that of Thai octopus . Even though it is the same animal, it appears that the two cultures have very different ways of preparing it; and flavoring it. Koreans don't really flavor it, they just add spice (hot). I could not figure out what it was but the flavor in the Thai soup was amazing. It was a bit spicy (hot) which meant Bee did not enjoy it, but I slurped it down. I also discovered that not everything in my soup bowl was edible. This seemed to be a trend as we experienced more local dishes.

After lunch we did not have much time to explore and wander through the small street market. This was our first chance to see what Thai markets had to offer and Bee fell in love. Good thing we didn't have much Bhat (Thai currency) yet or we probably would have had a whole lot less after wandering through that market. We took a few pictures and then got back on the boat for the return cruise.

On the way back we sat on the side rail with our feet dangling out over the water and continued the Thanksgiving game we had started on the way to Phi Phi Don. The game was that we were to go through the alphabet, alternating between letters, coming up with something we were thankful for that started with the letter we were on. I started with A; I am thankful for the atmosphere! It gives us air to breath, it protects us from the blistering heat of the sun in day and the harsh cold of space at night. In it weather is produced and through it heat, water, sound and many other things are distributed. I am grateful for the Atmosphere. It was Bee's turn with B; books- Bee is grateful for books. C; cameras- I am thankful for cameras to capture pictures and memories with. And so we continued through the alphabet all the way to Z; zippers. When we finished we started over but switched letters, that way we each said something we were grateful for for each letter of the alphabet. It was a fun, insightful game and I am grateful for Bee in coming up with it and inviting us to play.

We did not get a turkey dinner but we had a wonderful Thanksgiving day reflecting on things we are thankful for and enjoying the beauties of God's creation in Thailand. It was a great trip and a wonderful way to spend Thanksgiving.

Shark Bait!

Many of you know we took a vacation to Thailand. We had such a wonderful time. On our trip we had the opportunity to do LOTS!! One of the coolest things though was scuba diving. The best part was that we didn't have to be scuba certified! Gotta love Thailand!

We took a boat cruise to the most popular islands, Phi Phi Island (yes, pronounced Pee pee). Just off the coast while everyone else is just snorkeling, we suited up for scuba diving. I think there would've been some benefit to having certified to know and understand the basics. I was having a hard time managing the sink/float mechanism, the mouth piece, the flippers, the waves, and worst of all, getting my ears to pop under water. It just was not working. And all of this going on while our tour guide hardly knows any English whatsoever. Finally I just sucked it up and we went down. The guide was nice enough to help me by tugging on my gear so all I had to do was look and breathe, and Valsalva.

It was so neat seeing the sea urchins and their eyes and mouths, schools of fish, and breathing rocks. We got to one spot that had a rock with sea anemanenaminee (anemone) and little Nemo fish in them. I was rapidly falling on the frilly tubes and was terrified because all I could think about was that they shock. "Do you want this anemone to sting you?" And I did not! I tried swimming back but realize now that the guide must have still been holding on to me and since you can't really talk under water, I was at his mercy.


Finally we all surrounded the strange plant and the guide showed us it was okay to touch the plant. Hunny followed tentatively and me even more so. And was very surprised. It doesn't technically 'shock' you, though it is shocking, but it is more like an intense suction feeling. Like it latches on. Like tentacles. I would've played more with it but I felt something like a small rock fall on my leg. Seeing as there were no rocks above me, I got nervous but let it go. It happened a second time but this time more sharp. I looked down toward my leg to see a fish the size of Devon's hand hovering in the water staring at me opening and closing it's mouth as if to say, "Nom Nom Nom". I screamed and swam/jumped into Hunny's arms underwater. I pinched his arm pointing to the fish struggling to convey that it had just bit me. Thankfully he saw it and attests to it, even that he heard me scream under water.

We left the scene of the crime and enjoyed the rest of our swim exploring the different wonders of the coral and surrounding waters. It was so interesting to see the different colors and creatures. When we got back on the boat I looked at my leg and sure enough there was a red circle mark from wear I had been attacked. Despite it though, we had a blast and thoroughly enjoyed scuba diving and I hope we will be able to get certified and go more often.

"Then the darn thing bit me!"

HERO: Drawing Show

Here in Seoul is an open run, non-verbal show called HERO. It is a show similar to NANTA!, DrumCat, and JUMP! which we have been to and reported on in the past. It is also quite a bit different. The actors are artists and they draw, paint, and sketch their work right in front of you on stage during the show. It was a fascinating performance! Bee and I were both very impressed by the whole show; arguably the best of the three we have now been too...probably because of our love for art and drawing.

There were four performers in the act. One of them started the act by painting a picture in time to a song that was playing. As the song sped up, so did his brush. The other three appeared right next to Bee's and my seats with a Polariod camera. They snapped a picture of themselves and handed the undeveloped film to Shelby and motioned for her to shake it. They then ran on stage to start their next act.

As the music played they each took paint in their hands and smeared it in an indistinguishable manner on a wood panel in front of them. They would occasionally switch panels or bump into one another to invoke comedy into their routine but at the end of the song one of them took the four panels, turned them this way or that, and placed them next to and on top of each other to form one larger panel with a now recognizable painting of Michael Jackson with part of him on each pane.

Amazing as it was, to me most amazing painting they did in their act was the watercolor they did of Ariel, the little mermaid. It looked like they took little bottles of oil-based paint and dripped different colors onto the surface of this vat of water. They would put in a few drops of this color, and some of that, and would then smear or swirl them together to produce a seascape. It was a pretty seascape with a variety of fish and aquatic plants. When they were done they took a canvas and dipped it into the water allowing the oil to cling to it. When they pulled it out the entire scene had transferred to the canvas. After they hung it on the wall one of them tore away some sort of vinyl or paper that was in place on the canvas to act as a stencil. And of course the stenciled picture was one of the little mermaid.

The whole show was fantastic. All these type of shows that Bee and I have been to have a lot of interaction with the audience, including a part where they select someone from the audience to participate with them on stage. For some reason or another they thought I would be an excellent choice for this selection.

They pulled me up on stage with them, gave me one of their hats and we did a little song and dance after which I was placed at the end of a line of two other painters facing the other end of the stage. Someone tapped me on the shoulder, showed me a picture of a circle and pointed to the other two painters standing one behind the other in front of me. He pointed again at the circle, and then back to the other painters. I really had no idea what was going on so I went and stood in front of the other two painters facing the same way they were. That was obviously not the right thing to do. I was pulled over to the man with the circle again, he traced the circle with his finger and pointed again at the other two. Still clueless I decidedly reversed the order of the two other painters by positioning the back one in front of the other and then took my place at the front. This wasn't the right thing to do either! Once again I was standing in front of the circle with it's outline being traced by the man holding the picture. Once again that same finger stretched singularly to the other two men. I scratched my hat and set to work spinning the man closest to me. After I got him spinning I advanced to the man in front of him setting him in motion also. The two of them stopped, made some circular gestures to each other, spun a couple times, another circular gesture, then the most forward one took a paintbrush and, with a roar of applause, drew a circle on the canvas he was standing next to. Ah HA!

With that there was another short song and dance and the front man moved to the back and we each advanced one spot. As I looked the other way the man behind me was shown a picture...then came another tap on the shoulder. The man behind me dramatized hitting his fist against his head then in a dizzied fashion spun one of his fingers in the air over his head. I turned to the man in front of me, tapped him on the shoulder and reenacted the scene. He then took the brush and with a questioning look, and another loud applause, drew a star on the canvas beside him.

Quick song and dance later and I found myself at the front of the line. A few outbreaks of laughter erupted from the audience and finally the tap came. I turned around. I did not receive some simple demonstration of what to draw; the man behind me put both fists over his eyes and extended his fingers out, then he put both hands at the sides of his head like rabbit ears, with his hands he then drew a giant bulge over his belly, and closed it all up with lifting one leg off the ground in front of him while extending his arms in opposite directions. He then handed me the paintbrush and pointed to the empty canvas. Uhhh...? Maybe a bunny? I had no idea what to draw but because of the ears I though up a very rough outline of a rabbit. As I did so I noticed that the paint I was using was not sticking to parts of the canvas. The actors encouraged me to keep painting and as I scribbled paint across the rest of the canvas a picture of Kung Fu Panda appeared where the paint was not sticking.

Everyone applauded, they thanked me, gave me a shirt and escorted me off the stage. I almost got all the way back to me seat with the hat but they wouldn't let me keep it. Bee was rolling in laughter when I got back to my seat. She thought it was the most hilarious thing she had ever seen. It was fun to get up there and make a fool of myself, I seem to be pretty proficient at it.

It was a great show and Bee and I would definitely recommend it to anyone interested in seeing a show in Seoul.

100 Posts!!!

WooHOOO! This is our 100th Post! And what better way to celebrate than with BUBBLES!

These, however, are not your normal everyday bubbles. Bee and I went to Children's Grand Park in Seoul the other day and saw these bubbles. I wanted to try them out but Bee was not as interested. The zipper on the side is water tight and is where the worker unzips it to get the children in and out. After they put a child in they inflate it with an air tube that looks like a vacuum hose and then push the kiddos into the water and let them float and spin around.

I don't know if anyone has ever seen this before (in the States or otherwise), but I say it looks like an awesome, needless to say, FUN idea.

We are happy to present you with our growing blog and are grateful to you family and friends who take the time to keep up with us.

Stay Groovy!

busy bees

Dear family and friends,

on the subway

Do not worry, we are still alive and well. We have unfortunately been super busy lately and have been unable to keep you up to date on our comings and goings. We have both been busy with school, which just finished for me but Bee has another month left with. She has been taking a full semester on online classes which tends to keep her swamped. I took only one class this past semester but it was Economics which proved not to be an easy class. I am done with it now and am glad I passed. I have also been busy at work with progression in my career path. I am please to announce that I have just completed another milestone in my career path and the next one will probably come next near about this same time. It has been a little bit of a relief the past couple of days having completed my class and my evaluations last week.

To let you know, we have a few posts in the works that should be up soon and for Thanksgiving we will be going to Thailand so we will be sure to let you all know about that trip.

We love you, we miss you, and we hope you have a wonderful Thanksgiving. Ponder on those things you are grateful for...if you are not grateful, you ought to be. We are all blessed and there are many things, each day, that happen in each of our lives that we can be thankful for. We are thankful for each one of you and pray that you have a wonderful week

Love,

Hunny & Bee

Troop Campout

As most of you know, Hunny and I are the Boy Scout leaders in our church branch. We pretty much started from scratch and haven't had much to work with. But Hunny has taken the program and flew with it. I thought it would take longer to get things up and running, but not for this go-getter. He has scheduled, met, taught, gathered, everything and is moving full force. So much so, that he planned an over night camp out. He doesn't mess around! We had a meeting with the boys to discuss where, what to bring, what we'd be doing and what to eat. We bought food, packed tents, and met at our place on Friday. We had a great turn out of eight scouts.

Camping in Seoul is almost oxymoronic. How do you 'camp' in the middle of one of the most populated cities? Thankfully, along most of the Han River is a park that offers grass, soccer fields, tennis courts, exercise equipment, and even a 7/11 (but that doesn't help my big city camping argument...). It was close by and Hunny had camped out one night before and had no trouble so we decided it was as good a place as any. We had to get the scouts into a camping mood somehow, and what better way then to hike to our campsite... along the highway.... It was only a mile and it was a gorgeous evening. Once our spot was picked we laid out our tents and set up the kitchen. Chili dogs for dinner! Leave it to the scouts to plan healthy meals. At least I was able to convince them to get apples....

It was so fun watching Hunny meet with some of the boys to help them pass off some requirements. It was even more rewarding to watch the boys learn teamwork.

After dinner they were eager to play soccer which gave us adults time to recoup and figure out the rest of our plans. It got pretty cold fast so I was eager to snuggle in my warm sleeping bag. I wish I could've said the same for some of the scouts. I think 2 of them were looking at pulling an all nighter. All of them were pretty loud. I don't blame them, 5 scouts crammed in one tent on their first camp out. But two of them decided that since they couldn't sleep that they would sit between the leaders' tents and talk with their outside voices.... I'm not a happy camper at 2:30 in the morning. Of course I shooed them to bed. Hunny was completely oblivious. Oh to be able to sleep like an Army Pilot, dead to the world.

The next morning was a gourmet breakfast of boxed pancakes, scrambled eggs, and BACON! We had many scouts say that was their favorite part of the whole trip. With a brief on map reading and orienteering, we broke camp, packed, cleaned and headed out for our 4 mile hike. It was originally supposed to be 5 but we counted the mile to the camp site as one, we weren't sure these poor boys could last 5 miles straight. We started along the river, crossed a bridge, and walked through an almost grassy trail. For being in the middle of Seoul, it was pretty nice. The weather was perfect. We were spread out at first with some lagers but after about half way the adults decided to help speed up the kids. They weren't allowed to be passed by the last adult and he was going 4mph. That might not seems fast but after 2 miles with your gear, I was struggling to keep up. :) We managed to make it all the way to the Scout Closet on post. The kids were beat. Their parents told us later that we had some sleep for 13 hours that night. I felt pretty proud, helping parents get a break like that. :P

Since all 7 of the boys are 11-12 years old, it can get pretty loud, rambunctious, and just plain difficult. But we were able to help direct them and get them to direct each other. Hunny chose one scout that night to be Patrol Leader. It was a learning experience for everyone. We have a ways to go to shape up these boys into Boy Scouts, but they are on their way with the help and leadership of my Hunny!

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Lotte World

That castle look familiar?

Here in Korea a brand that you will often see is Lotte. There is Lotte Mart (convenience store), Lotteria (burger joint), and Lotte World (amusement park)! It's a big deal here in Korea. I am not sure why, or if it even is one company that owns them all, but there sure is a lot of Lotte around here. Lotteria is Korea's McDonald's and Lotte Mart reminds me of 7-Eleven. There are also Lotte department stores. Like I said, it's huge. I don't know but maybe Lotte mean something like Western in Korean, or perhaps something along those lines. Who knows!

So Bee and I went to Lotte World, Korea's Disneyland. Same idea anyway, with a little Korean twist. It is both indoors and outdoors with a variety of rides and attractions. It is also the Guinness world record largest indoor theme park; Fact! We used to live closer to it and have had it on our list of places to go in Seoul for quite a while but we finally got around to going this month. It was a Saturday and we had nothing else going on. A group from church was going so we decided to see if we could meet up with them while they were there.

Most of the rides are typical ones you see at any theme park like roller coasters, drop towers, and concession stands; and others are...unique to Korea. It was worth the discounted price we paid for it but I am not convinced it would be worth the normal admission price. Two of the roller coasters we went on were fun and another one we did not make it on looked like it was worth it but I think I was most amused by the many unique or poorly translated signs they have posted there. On sign told us not to lower our head during the ride, another told us it was okay if the buckle came loose during the ride and if it did to "please be easy."

After spending the morning outside on "Magic Island" we hopped on the little monorail they have that goes around the island as well as through the inside park to give you a glimpse of all the attractions. Most of the indoor venues were small kid attractions and eateries but there were a few rides meant for bigger kids. Two rides we saw that you typically do not find inside are the pirate ship ride (the kind that flips you upside-down) and a big steel-track roller coaster with high loops and sharp corners. We did not go on either because I don't care about pirate ship rides and the line for the roller coaster was HUGE (2.5 hours), it also looked like it did not run very often.

One of the rides that we did go on that ended up being a waste of time was the Ghost House. It was advertised as being a 3D hunted house ride. It was nothing like what Bee and I expected when we got in line. We went in and were led through a few narrow hallways into a small theater that maybe held 40 people. We were handed a pair of 3D glasses each and found a seat on the wood benches facing an unadorned wall. After everyone was seated, on the wood benches, the lights were dimmed and we watched a very darkly lit animation in which we followed a cat through a mansion filled with creepy toys and undead dogs that tried to kill it at every turn. The cat found his way out the mansion, through a greenhouse filled with hungry carnivorous plants and a snake, finally making his way into a graveyard  behind the mansion where he discovers that somewhere in the journey he became undead himself. That was it! The movie ended, we gave back our glasses and walked out the exit. No moving chairs, no jolts, no spritz of air at your feet, just a short animation that made me think of what it would look like if Tim Burton produced Toy Story. It was totally and completely anticlimactic.

Unfortunately that is how most of the rides we went on ended. Regardless, it was fun to be together and see how Lotte does amusement. I am sure we got more amusement laughing at some of the rides there than the rides themselves. But, then again, maybe that was their intent.

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Up in the Air

So, Hunny gets to fly in a helicopter all the time but I have never been flying in anything other than a big jet before. As we are always one for trying new things, our most recent adventure was having a go at fixed wing flying; an airplane.

We have a good buddy, Baron, down in Osan that flies and was more then happy to take us up.  We went down and he got us signed in and showed us the tiny plane we would be flying. I mean TINY. Which means that you could feel the turbulence a lot more, but we will get to that...

Baron was quick in his brief and we got all strapped in. My headset wasn't working all that well, I could hear but couldn't get my mic to work quite right; I guess I'm just not loud enough for my voice to be picked up. I started out in the front and mostly just nodded when appropriate and didn't ask questions or say anything. I did get to taxi a bit and feel the controls on the ground. We took off and started up and looked at the beautiful scenery. It was so nice and so fun to be part of the controls. He let me steer a bit but it freaked me out way too much. I couldn't handle it and begged him to take it back. I just want to look! And then my favorite part. He demonstrated me zero gravity. Mind you he was going pretty fast and I couldn't say anything. He hands me the map and tells me to hold it and as he is doing so he is climbing. I didn't notice that's what he was doing until we start to rapidly drop!!! I screamed!! My mic worked then! Sure enough, the map floated. :P It was way cooler then a roller coaster! We got to do it one more time. It was a blast. We went all around and landed at a nearby airfield. When we touched down Baron told me to pull back on the controls. Unable to argue, I did as was told...and guess what?! We took off again...I took off!!! Exhilarating!!

Hunny and I switched places and I got in the back for the ride home. He got to take off and land a few times. He also enjoys the controls more then I do. He had fun and was able to talk pilot stuff with Baron. I was okay but it didn't take long before I started to get nauseous. I was doing my best not to be too obvious that I was dying. But I made it, and we landed. We earned two flight hours!

Hunny is looking at getting a fixed wing license. It takes about 20 hours total. Baron told us that it is only a three hour flight to Jeju Island and we should fly there sometime. I think I can handle three hours. Next 3-day weekend, leave Thursday after work, stay until Sunday and leave early Sunday morning and make it back for church! Or, now that Hunny and I don't have to teach, we could just go to church on the island!! Earning flight hours, much cheaper flight, experience, we decide our own schedule, WEEKEND IN JEJU?!?!?! Totally there!!

Baron is also a leader of the Civil Air Patrol (CAP) down in Osan. I had never heard of CAP before but we went to a meeting after flying with Baron and it was so neat seeing what the kids learn and are able to do with some not-so-easy training. They practice military discipline and help fly search and rescue missions, man the radios, and other really neat things to help serve the community. The kids at Osan are in charge of raising and lowering the flag at their middle school each day. It was like learned and applied Boy Scouts for the air. We are very interested but are still up in the air about the idea of joining with it being a two hour drive there every week. However, I would invite you to check into it in your area. If you have kids it is a really awesome experience for them because not only will they learn their "yes ma'am's" and "no sir's", they will also have neat opportunities to fly in airplanes, learn about flying and search and rescue, and have many civil service opportunities. See if there is a CAP group near you and get involved!

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