Every night there is a light show on Namsan tower. They make the tower itself appears as if it is on fire.
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The view of Itaewon from Seoul Tower/Nansam mountain
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More of the laser light show
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How cute is she playing with the light!
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I really loved the red on this building.
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I took this shot looking down from our apartment.
This is the tree outside our window.

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Making Kimchi on the sidewalk
I mean, where else would you make kimchi? This is in Osan, which is a small town about an hour south of Seoul. An Air Force base is stationed there and I went to visit a friend. We were walking along and stumbled across these women working away.

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Julie as a fairy, Claire as a witch, and Andrew as a Halloween something.
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Alex as Darth Vader. He's costume made the breathing noises and everything. He was in heaven.
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Lining up to get candy from my boss, Mrs. Lee.
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Rocky. I made the mask for him since his parents didn't dress him up.
I was actually really annoyed at all the parents of the kids who weren't dressed up. How mean is it to send your kiddo to school for a Halloween party and not dress them up? The ones not dressed up were so disappointed and felt awkward.

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Jamie. He's in a different class.
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Jane. Also not one of my students.
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Emily. She is in the afterschool program that I teach.
Fashion is everything for this little one. She daily sits in my lap and asks me about my clothes, jewelry, hair and eyes. She remembers all my clothing and notices if I wear new jewelry. She also loves to eat my hair.

Tae Yeon. Also one of my kids in the after school class. He is as adorable as he looks.
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Ryan is in the back and also part of my after school class.
Spiderman or Jonathan isn't one of my students.

Andrew bobbing for the apple. One of two allowed bobbers.
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Painted faces!
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Andrew purposefully posed eating his cookie cause he thought he'd look cooler.
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My coworker Issac scaring the kids in Gail's class.


Gail painting her kiddos faces.
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Entrance to Changdeokgung Palace
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Walking inside the Palace.
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Blue roof is the sign of dragons which means leadership and power.
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Inside the King's room for official business.
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Ceiling of the King's business room.
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More buildings within the Palace.
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These figurines were thought to warn away evil spirits.


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Part of the Queen's area.
More humble buildings that belong to the Queen's family. Royalty lived in these rooms until the 1980s.

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Entering the Secret Gardens
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The library and publishing house in the garden.
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The bookstore in the garden
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Looking into the traditional neighborhood.
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Traditional house
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Traditional house. Blue means royalty
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Street with traditional houses.
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Traditional house with a modern twist.
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Andrew, Alex, Julie, and Claire jumping like frogs.
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Claire
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Julie in a game of tag.
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Rocky and Alex digging for mushrooms
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Rocky eating lunch
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Claire inspecting her cookie
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Ta-da! (Alex)
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My coworker Gail playing with her kiddos.
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Claire and Julie
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Myeongdong
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We saw a parade in Myeongdong. Supposedly its a wedding parade.
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This woman cooks up whatever dish you request. The meats and produce are for sale in front of her.
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This is the food you can have cooked up on the spot.
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This guy was selling women's dresses and was wearing them as advertisement
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My kids and I at the park!
Left to right: Rocky, Alex, Claire, Andrew, Julie, and Julie Yoon.

Pushing Julie on the swing.
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Claire
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Claire with one of Korean helpers.
My friend and coworker Gail is in the background.

Alex and Andrew
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Rocky in our classroom.
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Alex
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Andrew
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Julie
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Claire
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Julie Yoon
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Rocky digging at the playground. His favorite pasttime
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Alex. This picture makes me laugh!
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My boys!
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Walking back to the school from the playground.
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The Wedding Hall
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The Bride
Before the ceremony all the guests take turns having their picture taken with the bride.

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A picture of the Korean traditional formal attire.
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Inside the wedding hall
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The groom about to walk down the aisle.
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The bride and her father about to walk down the aisle
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They walked under this canopy of roses.
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Getting married!
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The pastor. It was a Christian ceremony.
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Her friends performed this dance for them after they were officiated.
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The groom jumped in and joined the dance surprising Jinny.
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Part of the dance
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Blowing out the candles on the cake
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As they walked out the guest threw streamers and confetti.
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The flowers that lined the aisle
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Mr. and Mrs!
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The cake
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Family photo
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Don't really know what this is but it was outside the ceremony room.
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Picture with all the friends
The family insisted that the teachers join this photo. The four of us are on the right. (in case you don't notice the Americans. :) )

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Throwing the bouquet
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Part of the buffet
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Another room in the wedding hall
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Our big American breakfast
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Entrance to the zoo
Notice all the street vendors lined up on both sides of the path. Street vendors selling food is seen everywhere here.

Woman selling food
She is selling common snacks that Koreans love to munch on. She has kimbop (Korean sushi made with cooked meats and veggies), rice cakes, cinnamon twists, dried octopus, roasted corn and roasted beans.

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Dried octopus
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One of David's favorite street snacks; cinnamon twists
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On the cable cars heading towards the top of the zoo
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The amusement park
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All the tops of the buildings on the right are part of the zoo
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Korean family having a togetherness day
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More of the zoo down below
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The woman keeping watch while the men sleep
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Sleeping is goooooood.
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Playing in the water
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Hello
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I don't remember this guy's name but he's related to the panda.
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A brown bear
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These bears were hysterical! They would beg to be fed by sitting up on their hind paws and putting their front paws together as if begging. The crowd would cheer and throw food into the cage. The bears clearly loved the food and attention.

Putting on a show for food.
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What?
A black bear

A baby monkey!
This zoo has an animal nursery with all the little ones hanging out. This monkey hardly sat still long enough for me to get a shot. 

Baby lion
There were three of them in the nursery. Between the crowds of people and the cubs running around I never got a great shot. 

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Otters!
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Life in the water is good.
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Sea Lions
There was a dolphin show going on the other side of the wall the sea lions are staring at. I swear they were dancing to the music and pretending they could see the performance. They bobbed with music and never once turned around to face the crowd during the dolphin show.

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I thought this family was sweet.
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Resting pavilion
All over the zoo one can rest in one of these pavilions. Koreans of all ages would take off their shoes and then lay or sit down for a respite.

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This is a type of sheep. I love their habitat!
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Playing in the water
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"I have something on my face I can almost reach..."
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Flamingos
Flamingos are the skinniest birds ever!

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Leaving the park
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Watching the cable cars go by
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Bonus pic!
This has nothing to do with our new place. This was David's bday when we were on our way out to celebrate. We didn't know it then but it was our last night in the barracks.

Our entry way
This is the view when you first walk in. Note the closets on the left. Its for your shoes and coats. Not tracking dirt through your house? Win.

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Our living room.
This is the first room one walks into. The marble floors are heated in the winter and nice in cool in the summer. The room also has about 10 different lighting options...actually, every room has multiple lighting options. I end up getting confused on which of the six light switches I want to hit and in which order.

David's new tv
It took about ummm...24 hours to get this puppy. lol The room on the left is the entrance into the guest bedroom/study.

Shot from the living room into the kitchen and then our bedroom.
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My new kitchen!
The sliding glass door leads to a small semi-balcony. In that room the laundry room is to the left and the right has a storage closet.

Small laundry room
This is our washer and dryer combo. Sorta works. I have dry it twice.

Little tv and radio in the kitchen
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Guest bedroom/study
Right off of the living room.

Guest bedroom/study
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Bedroom!
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Bedroom
Small semi-balcony off the bedroom. Closets on the right.

Slowly unpacking
Slowly moving everything into the closets.

Vanity off of the bedroom.
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Master bath
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Master bathroom
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Electric toilet
This toilet has it all. It has heated seats for the winter, turns into bidet, will wash and dry your rear. I'm a little scared and haven't tried it. Oh, there is a spot light above the toilet for when you use the facilities in the middle of the night and don't want to turn on the lights. Not kidding.

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Entrance into the main hall of the memorial
The sides of the building are flanked by two halls dedicated to all those who died in the War. The courtyard in front of the main hall is the Peace Courtyard.

(not my picture)

The Main Building
Inside this building one can see further artifacts about the war.

One of the two halls which have the names of those who perished
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Koreans who perished
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Korean names of those who perished
I love this picture because on the plaque you can see the reflection of the flags flying. Then on the right hand side you can see the weapons used during the war.

Names of Americans who died during the war.
Sorry its blurry.

Texans who died
There were four plaques of Texans who perished.

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Description of the memorials
Sorry its so hard to read. Its a blurry picture plus the type of stone makes it difficult to read.

Bronze Sword
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Layout of the memorial directly in front of the Main Building
Layout of the Bronze Sword memorial in front of the main building.

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These statues surround the Tower of Korean War/Bronze Sword
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Titled 'Two Brothers.'
Next to the Bronze Sword

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This just made me laugh
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Pond in front of the Main Hall
The plane sits in the courtyard which showcases lots of the machinery used during the war.

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Woot! US Airforce
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Just thought he was cute!
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The monument of the Great King
Description on the next image.

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The Chinese characters on the monument for the King.
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Used to gun down plans
Description on next image.

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Not sure what it is but looks cool
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Symbolizing flight
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Clock of Unification
The South is waiting to stop this clock the moment the North and South are unified. Description next image.

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Relaxing at the memorial
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Morning calm lily
Floating in the pond which wraps around the main building.

Seoul Tower from the Memorial
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Seoul Tower
I took this from base one evening. This is our nightly view.

Seoul; at the entrance of Namsan park
The path we hiked uphill to get to the beginning point for our official hike.

The beginning of our hike up Namsan
These are the stairs the greeted us at the beginning of our hike. It was about a 1/3 of the hike up the mountain.

Half way done with the first 1/4
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Finally! At the 1st lookout point.
We're now where all the buses and cabs drop everyone off to walk up the last 75 meters.

Joining the families for the last bit of the walk
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We're here!
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Beautiful views of the city
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Far from home
Each window had the name and distance to a city in the world.

We love the mountains that surround Seoul
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World Cup Stadium!
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The US Army base
All the buildings from the center of the picture to the right is the Army base.

Our barracks!
We found our barracks from the Tower. Its the short cream colored building in the center of the picture.

The bathrooms
The bathrooms have floor to ceiling windows with beautiful views. Wash your hands while admiring the panoramic views of Seoul.

Good luck locks
For good luck, thousands of Koreans and foreign visitors have place locks all over the fence. Each lock has a heart attached that they've written a message on. The locks are everywhere.

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Walking home through the pine forest.
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Pine Forest
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Walking
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On the way downhill
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Beginning to cook
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Almost done!
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Ottogi sauce
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Dig in!
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Up to bat
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Hit!
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Running to first
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It was an easy 1st base
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Ready to catch the ball
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Easy catch
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Stepping to give the pitcher a break
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Throwing to second
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Other team up to bat
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Crack!
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I'll catch it!
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I've got it!
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Morning reading lesson
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Reading homework assignment to the teacher
Today's lesson was on elephants from Africa and India.

Laughing at the teacher's antics
This little boy was hysterical the whole day. He loves to laugh and even performed for me his signature dance set to Funky Cold Medena.

Getting a stamp for a job well done.
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1st Korean food
Yep, been here two weeks and its my first time eating Korean food. My coworker ordered it for me. Its breaded pork with a sauce over it. It was really good.

Singing!
Each class learns an American song every week and then performs it for all the other classes. The children standing are some of the older "beginner" classes. Here they are performing 'The Wheels on the Bus.' Loves it!

More singing
You are my sunshine, my only sunshine. You make happppppy when skies are graaayyy....

Learning the new song of the week.
This little diddy is "Swing Low, Sweet Chariot."

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Living room
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Kitchen
The kitchen is off of the living room. My back was to the living room to take this shot.

Balcony off of the living room.
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Master bedroom
Its a bit bigger than it appears here.

Master bath
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1st Guest bedroom or office
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2nd Guest bedroom
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Guest bathroom
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Guest bathroom
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Laundry room!
American sized washer AND DRYER!

In Yongsan
This is right outside the base. The wall on the right is the parameter of base. I love that most of the sidewalks are so wide and green. 

Advertizing their food
Restaurants and cafes everywhere advertise their food by placing these plastic replicas in their windows. It makes it easier for us!

Farmer's Market everywhere
Walking along the streets there are vendors selling produce and meets everywhere. Some are small farmers selling produce out of their trucks and others have little shops.

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Octupus anyone?
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Market
This area was full of little shops and food stands.

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Garlic!


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Sausage
This sausage is sitting in a container that keeps it hot and ready to eat. Although the smell is less than appetizing.

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Seoul Station
Similar to our Grand Central Station and has a mall attached.

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Kiwi juice
Fresh kiwi juice at Bennigan's. Yes, Bennigan's.

Shopping Meyong-dong
Shopping, shopping and shopping. The streets are closed off to cars and thousands of Koreans mill about shopping and eating. Loved this place.

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Loves it!
I got a pink pair. :)

View from the front door.
As you can see; our bedroom is on the left and directly in front is the kitchen. To the right you can see our study.

Our front door and "living room."
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The world's smallest bathroom.
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Note the 'his side' and 'her side' of the shower.
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The vanity
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Our hallway.
We are on the top floor, which is the second floor. The door at the end of the picture leads outside.

Downstairs. The common area kitchen.
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Common area kitchen and laudry room
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A picture of the I-Park's courtyard
I've stolen this picture off the web to give you an idea of how massive this mall is.

Another stolen picture of the courtyard
Note the benches and gardens for reading.

Outside iPark Mall
Standing on the steps of the entrance overlooking the city.

One of the entrances into iPark Mall and Yongsan Subway Station
This is the subway line right next to base.

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11/22/2009 10:50:32 AM - 000078861313
Aw, thanks Aunt Brenda! I often think of your advice to be their cheerleader. We give lots of high fives and hugs in my class. And I love making them laugh during our lessons so they remember what we discuss. Its pretty cute to watch their personalities come out. I never knew I'd love teaching kiddos so much! Hope you have a great time in CO. Love you!

11/21/2009 4:12:08 PM - 002005382730
Hey Elaine, I'm lying in bed on this lazy Saturday morning in Breckenridge, CO., reading all about your adventures in Korea and perusing your photo albums. As a fellow kindergarten teacher, I absolutely love reading about the antics in your classroom!!! I know the kids must LOVE their Elaine Teacher! What a cool experience for you! Hugs to you and David!! Auntie Brenda

9/12/2009 9:09:31 PM - 002076622241
praying for your new job, and cant wait to hear about your lil puppy! Love you both, Linds (and Jack says hi also)

8/29/2009 3:17:26 PM - 002085956583
Great apartment! Excellent pictures!
Thanks for the update! YOU 2 ARE IN HIGH COTTON. Bob Mcg

8/19/2009 7:49:39 PM - 002083894140
Hey Bro & Sis! New house looks way cool! Good job sis on cooking! I'll have to come visit before yall leave

7/31/2009 1:43:04 PM - 002081306057
I 'm loving Korea!, but me wants to see some pics of Korea and you!

7/24/2009 2:20:32 PM - 002076622241
Hey Guys, It looks like you guys are having so much fun! I hope that we get to visit you while yall are there. Elaine, It was so good to talk to you! I'm sure your little kindergarteners love you... Goldilocks. I cant wait to hear about your new apartment. Love you guys, Linds

7/16/2009 4:23:27 PM - 001057686809
LOL! I love the story about your hair. That's hilarious! Keep the stories & pictures coming. Glad you guys are doing well and settling in. Miss you! -Holly K

6/30/2009 8:26:58 PM - 002076941928
Me Ma & I are delighted to hear that you arrived safe to your new Asisn home. Thanks for the update & picts. Erin forwarded your blog to me. Suggestion from a former AAF non-com in Germany. See as much as you can while you can travel. I just looked at notes I mailed to my family from Bad Kissingen while I was assigned to the 8th Air Force. i really enjoyed the journey back 60 years to visit the young man I was at 19,. Yiu & David are in our Prayers. Love always, your Grand Parents!!

7/19/2009 1:42:13 PM - 000078861313
Thanks Julie and Holly! Miss you both.

7/16/2009 4:24:28 PM - 001057686809
Hilarious about your hair. Gald you were a hit! Keep the stories and pics coming. Miss you both! -Holly

6/29/2009 5:33:26 PM - 002076721360
So glad to hear from you! Pics look beautiful - what a view. How was your flight? Can't wait to hear about your job when you start - and looking forward to seeing pics of your apartment when you get it so I'll know where to picture you! Hope to visit at some point...will start working on Terry now. Love you, Aunt Julie (your favorite aunt)

Dindy- Doing what he loves best; digging.

Claire and Joey on Count Dracula

I am clearly on my way to loosing my voice in these videos...

Alex on Dinosaures

Tug of War with the Kiddos

Our kids played tug of war on our field trip to Seoul Park.

Claire and Andrew are my two kiddos who make me laugh daily with their intentional and unintentional jokes and quips. Today Clarie was in high form with her Claire-isms and I couldn't stop grinning. Of course, I might have just been in a its-Friday-slapstick-happy-mode and nothing Clarie said was actually funny. You decide.

Apparently, Claire has just learned about angels. About a week ago she started talking about them and each day we discuss them, what they look like, and how she thinks everyone turns into an angel when they die. Well today she used her knowledge against the class antagonizer, Rocky.

Rocky was teasing her mercilessly and repeatedly told Claire that she was going to drink poison and die. (They learned about poison this week and frequently bring up the dangers of drinking it.) Normally, Claire takes Rocky's teasing in stride but today she had enough. After one joke too many, she pushed back from the table, stood up, pointed her finger, and said, "Rocky, quit teasing meeeeeeee! And I drink poison and die and I will be will be a angel and I won't help you EV-er!" I had to hide my smile before correcting Rocky and trying to soothe Claire back into coloring.

A bit later, after one of my 10 minute breaks, I walked downstairs from the teacher's lounge into my classroom. One of my bosses was leaving my floor, which is a bit unusual. I walked into my classroom and asked my kids if Lonnie had been in our room. "Yes," said Claire. "What was he doing?" I asked. "He was looking at this," said Claire as she pointed to their vocabulary workbooks. "Why?" I wanted to know. Claire, looked up at me and in her sing-song voice responded sincerely, "I don't know Teacher. I am the student."

1. Dogs that wear clothes should not be trusted. Only appropriate response when passing them on a walk is to crouch low and aggressively and then spring for the attack at just the right moment.

2. Men in surgical face masks are also not to be trusted. See above for the appropriate response. Suspiciously, I see men in masks more and more these days...

3. Bikes and motorcycles look fun. I often lunge to catch and play with them but am pulled back by my owner. Let me know what it's like if you've caught one.

4. When I am told to 'stop' while on walks, I am frequently told to 'sit' as well. Normally, I can't remember what sit means. If I do, I only remember for a second. But when I get home and am offered a treat on the premise of sitting, I immediately remember how to 'sit.'

5. If you ever have to throw up, I recommended purging on the bed or a rug. While it might be easier to clean-up if you are on marble it feels better to lay on fabric. Trust me, I do this often so I know. Besides, someone else will clean it up for you, anyways.

6. Everything is in a food group. Really, you can eat anything as long as you don't get caught. So far I've dined on three electrical cords, goggles, sweaters, socks, books, pens...if you try hard enough it will be good.

7. Above all, everything taste better smeared in peanut butter.

Legs are all the rage in Korea. In the summer, no short is too short and no skirt bares too much skin. In the winter one simply adds thick leggings to the outfit and one can continue to wear 6 inches of fabric to cover the rear-end. What's classier with shorts that are too short? Five inch heels. I've seen grown, professional women on the way to the office dressed in clothes that the least feminist American woman would wonder astonishingly how they ever expect to be taken seriously.

But don't misunderstand and think they dress cheaply. Far from it. Koreans take great pride in their clothing and dress very fashionably. But when you have a country that every single person has the same body type they've all perfected how to maximize their best asset. Legs.

Ironically their necklines are as high as their shirts are short.  It's unacceptable to show any amount of cleavage. Even in the summer it is normal for women's shirt necklines to rise to the base of their throat. One time, while walking down the main drag in Itaewon, I passed a Korean 20something wearing a strapless, sweetheart dress showing about the same amount of cleavage I showed on my wedding day. (not much) I must admit that its been so long since I've seen anyone else's cleavage that I was a bit taken a back.

The 20somethings in front of me were horrified at the strapless dress. They began gesturing amongst themselves describing how low her dress was and no doubt making a few choice jabs at her scantily clad body. Never mind the women in front of me were wearing micro-minis with stiletto boots. Its apparently all about perception people.

Every month, as a way to expand my kids vocabulary and understanding of Western culture, they are introduced to a new theme that we spend the month studying. September's theme was animals and October's theme was Fairy Tales.

I read to my kiddos all kinds of fairy tales including, "Little Red Riding Hood," "The Three Little Pigs," "Goldilocks and the Three Bears," and "Jack and the Beanstalk." True to their childlike nature, they absorbed all the stories and then began repeating them wherever they felt it was appropriate.

Now, whenever my kiddos think I'm being the bad guy by making them sit down, do their language arts, or to quiet down, I instantly morph into the wolf from "Little Red Riding Hood," or the "Three Little Pigs." Shouts can be heard from my classroom, "Ohhhhhhhhhhhh TEAcher! Teacher is a big bad wolf!" I normally turn towards the board to hide my smiles.

Another Monday morning I came to school and had completely lost my voice due to persistent cold. The cold had moved into my eye and given me a gross eye infection, which meant no contact or eye make-up.

That morning with my kids and instead of them changing their shoes, getting out their homework or any of their normal morning routines they stood around me kinda staring at my make-up free face. I had missed the previous Friday due to being sick and apparently I can back a little worse for the wear. As my kiddos stood around me starring quizzically, Andrew spoke up and said, "Where's Elaine Teacher?" I laughed and said, "I don't look like Elaine teacher?" All the kiddos giggled and said 'no.' "You don't look like Elaine teacher" quipped Andrew. "And you don't sound like Elaine teacher. I know! you're Goldilocks!" All the kids started laughing the kids all returned to their normal routine.

Well later that day my kiddos still hadn't settled down wouldn't stop talking or getting out of their seats. Finally fed up with their antics I mustered the loudest voice I could and croaked, "Everyone in your seats now! Quit talking or I'm erasing all of your stars!" The room become still, half out of fear of their stars being erased and half out of wonderment of my broken voice. Again Andrew spoke up, "Ooooohhhhhh, scary Goldilocks!"

Since I've started teaching, life has gotten a tad more full, hence the absence of any recent updates. I teach a kindergarten class of six students everyday from 9:30-2:30. Then on MWF I teach a couple of elementary class until 6:45 pm.  My kids are adorable and extremely bright and I love spending my days with them. However, the administration hasn't been as pleasant.

Since I don't want to spend the next year with yelling boss who cheat us on our pay, I've decided to look for employment else where. I have given my school a two month notice but they'll probably replace me in the next couple of weeks. So I am currently job hunting. It shouldn't be too difficult and I hope to find a new place later this week. I can be in Korea for up to a month after my last day at my current school.

Please pray that I find a new place soon!

A few random events that really bring our life here into clear focus:

1. Daily, I am serenaded by our neighbor as he sings while hanging out in his room. He sings particularly loudly whilst showering. Each day, while in our apartment I am entertained to his musical repertoire of "Lady in Red," "Hotel California," "Please Don't Go," and other various 80s top hits. The sappier the song the louder and more emotional he sings. However, I've also been treated to "Smack That" by Akon and "Baby Boy" by Beyonce and Sean Paul. I am the only privileged one in the barracks to have a personal musical performance as he works nights and is home during the day. I wonder what would happen if I sang along loudly enough for him to hear me.

2. Our laundry was stolen out of the dryer this week. There are 16 rooms in our building and all are occupied by 25-40 year old men. Who steals men and women's workout clothes from their neighbors? They also took our laundry basket.

3. My boss apparently beats her son. Her son is 8 years old and a student at our school. He writes stories, complete with pictures, of her yelling and beating him. Not sure what to do with that.

4. Movies on base are free. Yep, free. As long as we stand for the national anthem played before each showing we can just flash our military IDs and find ourselves a seat. We watch a lot of movies.

5. We move off base into our new apartment on August 8th. Woot!!

Nothing makes you feel more pampered and provides the illusion of being a member of the upper echelon of society than a Korean pedicure and manicure. Greeted warmly with a chorus of  “annyoung haseyo” one is ushered to the pedicure throne by 4 or 6 Korean women. Should one have patronized the salon prior, the women who took care of you previously are there to ensure another fantastic afternoon.

After making sure one is seated comfortably and the water temperature is to the customer’s satisfaction then the necessary tools and oils appear and they commence grooming. Instead of ignoring the patron or gossiping about your large nose, head, or feet to their coworker in their native tongue, they engage in friendly conversation. Should they talk to their Korean friend, they try to engage you in their conversation as well. Never does one wonder if they are mocking the very feet and hands they are pampering.

No ordinary pedi and mani; the process takes over an hour as one’s hands and feet are simultaneously groomed. Hands and feet are soaked for ten minutes then scraped, clipped, filed, and buffed for another thirty. Then arms and legs are then oiled down and massaged for an additional five to ten minutes. After the oil has been wiped off with steaming hot towels, lotion is slathered on for another five-minute massage. Nail polished is painted on for the finishing touches.

But wait! Before leaving, each person is escorted to a massage chair for a fifteen-minute full back, neck and head massage. Finally, after the last knot in one’s back is worked out the customer is permitted to leave while being carried by their baby soft feet. “See you in two weeks!,” they sing.

P.S. This luxury sets one back $25.

Thanks to my dear friend Debbie, we have found a wonderful, wonderful church just minutes away from base. Today we attended our second service at Onnuri. The worship is sweet and God's presence is tangible. The message is honest, straightforward and passionate. It just awesome to be in a completely foreign country and spend time with 400 other Christians sincerely worshiping the same God. I'm glad that God is portable. :)

They focus a lot on outreach both within Korea and in other countries. I am planning on becoming involved in the outreach within Korea as soon as we get a bit more settled.

Here is a link to the church. http://www.onnurienglish.org/

And a link to last week's sermon. http://www.onnurienglish.org/messages/watch.shtml

Today was supposed to be move-in day. Guessing that the furnished apartment my school was offering us might be sub-par, we elected to leave our bags behind until actually seeing the offerings. It was the size of the postage stamp. Maybe smaller. Did you see the pictures of our base apartment? Picture a room smaller than our base housing and then add a "kitchen." The bathroom was so small that neither David nor I could fit in to get to the toilet. Not joking. The bed was a mattress sans box springs plopped in the middle of the 1 room floor.  No other "furniture" could fit in the room.

In case you think I'm being a bratty American, I assure you that Seoul is not a third world country. They have many nice apartments available that fit more than a mattress and toilet. Our next option is to hire a realtor this week to begin searching for our own place.  So far we've found many in the area we'd like to live in so I'm hopeful we'll have a place soon.

For now, I'm laying that dilemma aside and I'm off to Osan for a 4th of July bbq with some fellow soldiers and English teachers.

Happy 4th of July!

P.S. Below is a video I upload from youtube showing off an Korean studio apartment. It is bigger and nicer than than the one offered to us today.

Finally! I have arrived in Korea! (David has been here for nearly a month.) I've only been in Seoul for 17 hours and of that I've slept 13. However, I've managed to see a portion of base, move into the barracks for the next few days, get a cell phone and stop in at Starbucks (thank God for globalization). I'm now ready for a nap. Hopefully, my body adjusts to the time zone soon.

Above are a few pictures I snapped of the view I woke up to this morning. From what I've seen, Korea is very green and has thick forests and mountains all around. Lord knows there is enough moisture in the air to keep this place green. The humidity is intense.

More to come later!

E