Adjustment

Journal entries and facebook status posts during our first days in Korea.

 

Feb. 15th

Watching the Olympics on Korean television, which our children are learning means watching the events that have strong Korean competitors, with commentary in Korean. They are still loving it, especially the commercials.

 

Feb 16th

It's 3:55 am, and we're all awake ~ the joys of jet lag.

 

Feb 18th

We have finally learned how to sort our garbage properly in ~ vinyl, plastic, glass, styrofoam, metal, cardboard, food, and everything else. We got to sort through 3 days of garbage once we finally learned - so fun. We have also attended church, taken a taxi to and from the bus terminal successfully, learned how to use our washing machine, rice cooker, thermostat, and water heater, taken exploratory walks, applied for our foreigner registration, and met interesting people from all over the world - Kazakhstan, India, etc. And we've eaten lots of yummy Asian food that we've been missing - the Korean versions of onigiri, sushi, inarizushi, mochi, dim sum, mikans, miso, etc.

:A "garbage" truck, taking away styrofoam to be recycled:

As unfamiliar and confusing as many things in Korea are, it is almost like coming home when we go to the grocery store. So many beloved favorite foods that we've been missing from Japan ~ kaki (persimmons), mikans (fresh mandarin oranges), ichigo (Japanese strawberries that are somehow always so much more beautiful and tastier than in the U.S.), asian bok choy, fresh crisp bean sprouts, burdock root, so many yummy varieties of mushrooms, Oh! and kabocha! (Japanese squash, and the best squash in the world). And so many other things that are in the Japanese style and so much better than in the U.S. ~ the yogurt (to die for), the mayonnaise, the yogurt drinks, and all the yummy snacks and candies ~ a little bit of heaven.

 

Feb 21st

Yesterday a new friend we made at church took us to Costco. That was the best. And then his Korean wife helped us order the additional furniture we need online through a clearance site. Such a relief! Can't wait to have a sofa to sit on, a table we can all sit at, and beds for the kids. We've also had a 3 hour tour of Daejeon (the city where we live)- offered to us through the University. We are surrounded by mountains, which virtually all cities in Korea are, and they are promising to be gorgeous spring through fall. The kids have made some great friends at the playground in our apartment complex. Today we had our first full day of homeschool, and it went really well...... Tonight it will be a week since we arrived. Time goes so fast.

:Our kids on the playground with friends. We've been blessed that they have made friends quickly and easily:

I am in our apartment, watching the kids play on the playground, via our TV screen, which is linked to security cameras, and shows the playground and surrounding areas from several different angles. We just stumbled across this on our TV when we were looking at channels. Korea is very high tech in surprising ways.

 

Feb 24th

I am so grateful to be done running our home business, so that I can focus my time and energies on homeschooling our kids, and just enjoying them. I'm also grateful for our new simple lifestyle overseas that makes these same blessings even richer."

 

Feb 27th

I just made ddeokbokki (rice cakes in spicy sauce)! I'm trying to cook Korean/Asian as much as possible while we are here. It's yummy, healthy, and much more fun than focusing on the American foods that we can't get here. Thanks to the internet in general, and Pinterest specifically, I can find Korean & Asian recipes written for Americans - something I couldn't do when we first moved to Japan 18.5 years ago. (Just one way that the internet has made living overseas much easier.)

I left out the fish cakes, because they aren't my favorite. I don't know how a Korean would feel about my attempt, but we think it's yummy!"

 

March 3rd

Making kimchi.

:We love kimchi, and were making it in the U.S before we came to Korea. I expected to buy it here, in the land of kimchi, but quickly discovered that it was looked down upon. Homemade is healthiest and tastes best. This is our favorite recipe.

 

March 4th

Just put my three little ones on a bus/van to go to their first day of Hapkido martial arts. The van picks them up and drops them off, 5 days a week. They learn tumbling, tae kwon do, judo, weapons like nunchakus & swords, yoga, meditation, and the list goes on and on. I'm excited for them, and miss them already.....

And I'm feeling badly for their friends that are expecting them to play on the playground today. They were confused to see them drive away. It's so hard not to have enough language skills to explain it all.

 

March 5th

The dresser for Mia & Susie finally arrived this morning, so we are officially unpacked from our suitcases now. And our sofa finally arrived on Saturday, so we have a comfy place to sit. Life is good.

 

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