Learning To Use The Subway!

At the Army Community Services (ACS) building they offer some free classes to help soldiers and families get acquainted with Korea. The newcomers class even has free baby sitting! They give you a bus tour of post and Seoul and a free Korean lunch. We've signed up 3 times....and something ALWAYS comes up. I gave up on that class! They also have classes that teach Hangul (the Korean language) and Korean traditions. I'd like to take those classes...but it's kind of difficult with three kiddos! But we did finally get to make it to the transportation class on our third try. They taught us what to watch out for when taking a taxi, then went over the subway system a bit before heading out on our very first subway ride! The Seoul subway is the largest in length, has the second most stops, and is the second most used in the world. There are 18 different lines, 593 stations, and approximately 6.9 million people ride the subway DAILY!!! That's a lot of people. It is considered one of the best subways in the world. I was particularly impressed with it's cleanliness, and the fact that all the stations have automatic doors that open when the train arrives...meaning no accidental falling on the tracks.

Addley was pretty excited! 

Austin trying to hear what the next stop is. 

The class was nice, but we defiantly could have figured it out on our own. It's pretty easy. I only wish we would have been brave enough to check it out sooner. With the amount of traffic and lack of parking here, the subway is almost always faster, and cheaper.  During the class we made a transfer from one track to another and took a short walk downtown. We stopped in at a tea shop, green tea is very popular here, and it was super cold and snowing.

Addley and Tracker were the only kids on the tour, Carter was at school, so our tour guide asked Addley if she liked sweets....of course Addley didn't answer...she doesn't talk in public, drives me crazy! She's got plenty to say at home I assure you!  Even though Addley wouldn't answer, our guide took us down the street to this stand that was making a traditional Korean sweet. It's called the kings desert and is made from strings of honey with candy pieces or nuts wrapped in the middle. It starts out as a frozen block of honey that they turn into 16.000 strings. It was crazy! They are pretty good, but you couldn't eat too many of them. Of course we had to buy some to take home to Carter. They taste a little better and are much less messy when they are fresh.

I really wish I would have had taken a video, but I found this one on YouTube and seriously think this is the same guy. If it isn't him, it's his brother or cousin or something. He sounds exactly the same as the guy we saw, sings the same, laughs the same, it's gotta be him. 

After we all had our samples and bought what we wanted we walked back to the subway and made our way back to post. 

Driving in Seoul!!!

Austin was finally able to get away from work for the afternoon so I could 'hopefully' get my drivers license. It was actually far easier than I thought it would be. They give the test the same time everyday on post. Like most things around here, one person will tell you one thing, and another, something completely different. When we got to the testing place there were a lot of people in line, and a lot of them were complaining about having an appointment and how it must not matter. And it must not have, because I didn't have one and was able to take the test. It was easy enough, but took forever. First I waited in line for about 30 min. Then they called us up by number and we went into another room and took a 3 or 4 page multiple choice test. When we were done we took them up to the lady supervising and she graded them. If you passed you had to come back later and watch a video. Apparently when Austin took his test a few weeks back, he didn't have to do this part. Things are kind of inconsistent around here like that. Once we watched the video we waited for our names to be called and they gave us our drivers license! Austin tried to make me drop him off at work and drive home with the kids alone...but there was no way I was going to drive alone my first time here! (and it was raining!)

There are numerous reason why I was nervous to drive.

Buses! They go where they want, when they want!

People drive around with no lights on here....ALL the time!

All of those were in the same 1/4  mile.

Trucks that are taller than they are long or wide....makes me nervous!

Trash bikes? Sometimes they act like pedestrians, sometimes cars...they do what they want!

Day or night!

Mopeds do the same thing, except they are more likely to drive between cars. They definitely do what they want!

Weird stop lights!

I mean seriously....WHAT does this mean?!?!

The main reason it makes me nervous to drive? PEDESTRIANS....seriously, just walk in the middle of the road! 

Did I mention buses? 

But eventually I did it! 

When Austin got off work that night we went on post to go bowling again and he made me drive! But I'm glad he did! It's amazing how much more of a person I felt like after driving. It had been 3 months since I drove. The next day I even drove to the commissary by myself!! After 3 months of going grocery shopping with three kids and the husband...it was AMAZING....and I HATE grocery shopping!!!!

Christmas and The New Year!

We've always traveled home for Christmas, so spending this year on the other side of the world was sad, but we made the best of it. One thing I can say for Korea is that no where have I seen such a meticulous job hanging Christmas lights. The lights on post were beautiful, and the tiniest lights I'd ever seen.

Those aren't 'net' lights on the bushes, they are stringed....just crazy!

Decorating for Christmas gave me a great preview of how I am going to feel the rest of our time here. There are SO many things I swear I brought, but are no where to be found. Our stockings for instance, and Christmas lights. I specifically remember setting enough lights aside to decorate a tree and string on our balcony that I knew we would more than likely have, but when we got the tree home to decorate...no where to be found.  Which lead to a quick trip to buy some cheap lights and stockings at the PX. My favorite part of Christmas mornings are the stockings...you just can't have Christmas without stockings. A plus side to celebrating Christmas on this side of the world....Santa comes to see us first! ;)

You may notice the bottom of our tree has no ornaments! Tracker is very fond of throwing things in the trash can. I thought I was able to get them all moved out of reach before we had any casualties, but was proved VERY wrong when we went to pack the ornaments back up for next year. I had several empty boxes! Little turd!

Never in my life have I been so grateful for free shipping, Vonage, and Apple devices with FaceTime! If you have family far away...there is NOTHING better than FaceTime and iMessaging! To be able to text for free and see and talk to your family for FREE on the other side of the world is amazing! But everyone we know doesn't have an Apple device, and that's where Vonage comes in....$9 bucks a month for unlimited calling to the states is pretty awesome too.

This is where my mom watched the kids open presents from Christmas morning! It was a challenge finding a place to set her so she could see all of us....I keep telling Austin how much easier it would have been if we had a MacBook! ;) (And please, feel free to send all the warning emails you'd like addressed to Austin about how terrible tobacco is and why he should stop using it, just don't tell him I said to...that won't help me get a new computer! ;)) As strange as it was having Christmas so far from home it turned out great. And to no surprise, everyone managed to spoil the heck out of our kids from thousands of miles away. 

New Year's was pretty low key for us. That happens when you've got a few little ones! We spent the night watching movies, doing our best to make it to midnight. The kids and I fell asleep, but Austin woke us up so we could ring in the New Year! (All but Tracker that is! We know better than to mess with that guys schedule!)

Next year I will be sure we are somewhere we can see the fireworks. We were only able to hear them and see the flashing of the sky, and holy cow. I have never heard anything like it. It was what I would imagine a war zone sounds like! Solid banging and popping for a good 30 min. Absolutely crazy! It was SO LOUD! I can't wait to actually see them next year!

Carter turns 6!...and The Korean War Museum

SIX?! How can that be?! I remember bringing him home from the hospital Christmas morning as if it was just yesterday! It's amazing how much faster your life seems to go by after kids. We started off the birthday boy's weekend going to a classmate of his birthday party at the arts and crafts center on post! All the kids got to pick a ceramic dish to paint, had pizza, cake and ice cream, and took a shot at the pinata.

 After the birthday party Carter wanted to go bowling and have pizza on post. (American pizza) I'm embarrassed to say, I think this was the kids first time bowling! They were pretty excited and we all had a great time!

Even tracker got in a few frames!

and a hot dog of course!

He didn't think much of their hot dogs! 

 The next day was Carter's actual birthday, and to no surprise, he choose to spend the day at The Korean War Museum. He IS his father's son, no doubt about it! History, military, guns...they are all about it. Addley and I, we couldn't care less....but anything for her favorite big brother and my birthday boy! (We had tried going to the war museum once before on a Monday that Austin was off work, but like a lot things in Korea, they are closed on Mondays. The pictures outside are from that first visit.)

I did find this North Korean 'spy sub' the South found in 1996 interesting. 

Like stepping on Lego's in the night!

South Korean soldier of the future. 

I'm sure the pictures might be more interesting if I could tell you more about them. Next time I'll take notes! After we wrapped up at the museum we headed home for presents, cake, and ice cream. Austin and I make the kids birthday cakes based on the theme of the party. I come up with the idea, bake it, and do my best, then he fixes it! He's much more artistic then I am. I don't have the patience to decorate baked goods.Carter has become a huge Star Wars fan and wanted a Millennium Falcon cake, so we did our best.

Our presentation definitely could have been better, but no one seemed to mind! It was a great weekend celebrating our smart, handsome, by the book, well behaved, sweet, sincere, thirsty for knowledge and too grown up for his age first born! He makes us proud everyday!