Random things

I figured I would make this post a hodge podge of things. We finally got all the camera memory sticks from several cameras, the camcorder, and even my phone and moved all the pictures to the computer. So it was like Christmas (the ones from the camcorder were quite literally Christmas!). I wanted to post a few with the kids for the family to see.

Benjamin tested for his yellow belt in Taekwondo class

Ashley started part day preschool and here is the first day of school

Ashley, wearing a cool Korean hair accessory. You can tell by the picture she does not like it.

This is Ben getting a haircut. For a few extra dollars you can have a massage, which is what he really wanted.

James tried to kill us (aka, this looks like fun)

We thought that since Ben had Spring Break and James had Thursday and Friday off from school, we would do something fun since the Korean children were all still in school. So James wanted to take us to a place called Gangwha Island. We drove a little over an hour just to get to the bridge that went from mainland Korea across to the island. Next, we drove across the island to a small port on the other side to get onto a ferry and then went across the water (about a 10 minute boat ride) to another island (Seokmo Island) then we had to drive another 20 minutes to get to Bomunsa, the temple that James wanted to see. While on the boat Ashley decided she had to use the bathroom. After she saw the one available, she decided to wait. The traditional bathrooms here are affectionately called “squatters” by Westerners.

After we got off the boat and arrived at the temple’s parking lot, I took Ashley back to the bathroom. However, it was also a squatter; she did try to use it, but I guess it was not ladylike enough for her. We then ate lunch at a small restaurant, eating Korean style (sitting on the floor). James and his friend from school, Ryan (who is from Taiwan and decided to accompany us on our adventure) ordered for us. The kids and I stuck with good, old-fashioned Ramen which was a little spicy. The banchan, which are the little bowls of various items they serve you with your meal, were quite interesting. We did try more than normal, but still shied away from certain things. There was even a bowl of tiny shrimp as shown below that, except for Ben, we all tried. They didn’t have much of a taste and were a little crunchy.

After eating, we headed up the hill to the temple and quickly discovered how steep it really was. It actually felt like someone had a hand on your body, pushing you back while you walked. After that minor obstacle, we finally arrived at some flat land where we could rest, complain and rehydrate. We looked around at the temple and saw a very big Buddha lying down.

Next came the part where James tried to kill us. His main focus for this trip was to get to the top of the hill where they had a large Buddha image carved into the side of the mountain. It was on a Korean TV show that he is watching and thought it would be great to see it in person. The first warning sign we had was literally a sign: it stated that it was 419 steps to climb to get to the top. Thankfully, there were a number of switchbacks so there were places to rest on the way up. Ben was the first one to get to the top and was very proud of this fact; I was the last one up and was happy I didn’t stop and turn around part way up. The view was spectacular and the Buddha carving was pretty interesting to see. I guess the story goes that if you make the effort to get to the top, you can make a wish and your wish would come true (since you made such a big sacrifice). We’ll just say that my wish was a big one.

On the way back down, several older Korean ladies that were resting talked to us and congratulated us (at least that is what James told us; of course, when we first got here and he was practicing his Korean, he told a cab a driver he was assigned to the library instead of the Embassy). The boys decided to look in the gift shop and Ashley and I decided we needed water and a snack so we headed over to a bench. While we were sitting there, we (or should I say Ashley) were approached by several Koreans that wanted to take her picture. Once they started to take photos of her, then more came over. Now I know what Brittany Spears feels like with the paparazzi around here. I bet there were at least 9 people taking photos. The boys finally came out of the gift shop and we went back down the hill. After the hike down, we thought we deserved ice cream so we each got our own, then drove back to the ferry and headed home.

The view from the top of the mountain. You can see the stairs (with the paper lantern decorations) in the bottom left corner, Bomunsa temple is in the center of the photo (the slight clearing halfway down the mountain), and you can also see the island's coastline in the top right corner of the photo.

What an experience!

This past weekend we went out another outing…this time it was for me. I saw somewhere that you can let your feet soak in a tub with these special fish that only eat dead skin. So I thought, “Why not?” After all, I had to try it once to say that I did it.

Here's a photo of the front of the building. The spa was on the fifth floor (you can see where it says "Bread Dr Fish Spa Books").

The name of the place we to was translated (somewhat awkwardly) to Restree. When we got there, we found out the rules were that you had to buy a drink in the café and then you could purchase the Doctor Fish treatment for an additional 2000 Won. We each got a drink. James and I went with Caramel Macchiatos, with the kids going for juices: strawberry for Ashley and kiwi for our normally not-so-adventurous son, Benjamin. We sat at a table and enjoyed some breads with butter and jelly while we waited.

Here is our tray with the drinks we ordered...the Caramel Macchiato tastes as good as it looks!

When we were finished with our refreshments, we walked over to the tub and rinsed our feet off and put them in the tanks. The kids kept pulling theirs out and you can imagine how much we were laughing. It tickled a lot! James discovered that if you only placed your heels in it was easier to take. I was brave and placed both feet in. It was kind of weird how the fish would follow your feet even when they weren’t in the water yet, they were definitely ready for it! Ashley refused to let the fish “kiss” her feet and Benjamin might have had a few fish nibble on his feet (he insisted that he did, but we didn’t actually witness it). On the other hand, I enjoyed it very much once I stopped laughing. I would definitely go back, but maybe next time without the kids.

Afterwards, we had lunch at California Pizza Kitchen. They had absolutely wonderful service and food. The afternoon kind of made us feel like being back in the States (except, of course, for paying money to have our feet chewed on by fish). For anyone that wants to visit us, I will be glad to pay the bill for the fish treatment.

A little about food

Wow…boy how we take things for granted. I went to the commissary craving Cracklin’ Oat Bran cereal and I was looking forward to having a bowl for lunch. I looked and looked but did not find it. How disappointing is that? I know my kids still ask to go to certain places to eat, like Olive Garden, Chick-fil-a, and Chuck E. Cheese to name a few. They have gotten used to eating at the Pizza Hut in Korea and have tried more types of juices, candy, and ice cream then I can count. They enjoy going down to the local Family Mart and picking out something new to try. All in all, I must say our kids have adapted quite well to living in Korea and I give them both kudos. James and I are also trying new things we had Kimbap (the Korean California Roll) with tuna fish. I was kind of afraid to try that since all I could think about was “food poisoning”. James ate half the roll; I guess he needed to get his $1.25 worth of it before seeing my point. We are looking forward to the weather warming up so we can venture out and eat at different places. Keep checking back and I will write about all the different juices and goodies that we have tried along with a few pictures I managed to get at local eating establishments.