Little Miss Kitty

This weekend the weather is beginning to cooperate with Spring.

Friday it hit upper 60's and this weekend was 40's to 50's. 
Little by little...
















Joseph and I had a quiet weekend.  We stayed indoors for the most part but had dinner with friends on Friday night and then took ourselves to eat dalk galbi Saturday night. 

On Sunday, it was finished raining so we rode our bikes to the Timeworld area and ate McDonalds then went to Starbucks for coffee.

After that we decided to check out the Cat Cafe which was somewhere in the building next door to the Starbucks.

Joseph and I have been to a Cat Cafe before and the kitties are usually not very active.  At this one they were quite active but it became apparent they love to eat!  The place was clean and smelled good.


We paid 8,000W per person and got a free beverage from it as well.  I don't think we had paid an enterance fee before, but it all goes to a good cause so it wasn't bad--although Joseph was not pleased about the entrance fee.














Still, it is blog worthy and we had a nice time petting the cats.

We did observe something gross though:  one of the cats jumped up on a table and a woman's purse was open.  He stepped in and around it then hopped off the low table.  The same cat came back about 5 minutes later and peed in her purse.  Gross!  We were the only people to notice in a room of about 15 people so Joseph told the owner of the cafe about it and she took care of it from there.   Apparently the woman who owned the purse was fine with it.  Gross.  We were not fine with it, but thank goodness it wasn't ours.  Maybe they have a cat or dog at home.

We rode our bikes home and I found a pretty cherry blossom to take a photo of--but my photos are not as pretty as what Joseph or Kate take!  

 

Graduation

Maple Bear graduation. It was everything a proper graduation should be.
A magician, fire, an opera singer, Mickey and Minnie Mouse even put in an appearance.
All of this for 7 year olds? Korean age 7 year olds. Which means they are really western age 6.
For real?
All this for that?
Oh yes.
Each class in the school except my 3 year olds were required to perform for the graduating class of 20 kids.
B-rian and I nabbed a seat in the very back to get a great view of the spectacle and to be well out of earshot and eyesight of anyone who might need our assistance.


We proceeded to support our spouses but also to laugh our heads off and discuss what we were witnessing.
Can you believe the next week some parents came in upset that the performance and graduation were not grand enough? That blew all of our foreign minds.
In Korea, children begin normal schooling when they are 8 years old. Before that it is normal to begin at a kindergarten at age 3.  The graduation is a bigger deal when the graduate to the public schools like we are more familiar with.
After the 3 hour graduation we went to a staff dinner to say goodbye to foreigners leaving and to welcome 2 of our new foreign teachers.

The Brave Little Toaster [3/13]

So one Saturday evening a sister calls her sister and says, "Hey!  You wanna come with me to get my ears pierced?"

Any other time the answer would probably be "eh...it's Saturday and I can think of a million other things I might like doing better."


However, this is Korea.














The usual method of ear piercing in the western world is usually not common place everywhere else.

Needles, clamps and no numbing are on the menu.  This is just piercing ears.  A second hole.  Nothing traumatic or weird like a nose or other places.
So Kate and I made the journey to old downtown and to the tattoo parlor we know about.  Tattoo parlors is the place you want to have any piercings done in Korea.  There is no Claire's or mall kiosk to patronize.

This tattoo shop seems to have more piercings done than tattoos because the walls and area in the front of the shop are not filled with flash, but rather earrings, bracelets and necklaces to purchase.

Kate has a conversation with the guy and decides to do it.  I agree to hold her hand and be a good sister and not laugh if she screams.

Then the guy pulls out the clamps and needles and I'm wondering if I'll be able to watch this and at the same time wondering if Kate will actually go through with this.  She does, and I'm left feeling she is braver than I.

The guy says there will be no pain and each of us look at each other and are thinking the same thing, "like hell there isn't."  In good faith Kate takes the stool offered and sits down.  She's looking at me and holding my hand and I'm looking at what the guy is doing and thinking Kate is glad she can't see this 3 inch long needle coming her way.   He uses a pen and marks her ears and she checks to make sure it's fine then he clamps her earlobe and Kate turns her head.  He puts the needle through her earlobe and then the needle is just kinda hanging there.  He takes the earring she has selected and kind slides it in behind the needle and pulls out the needle at the same time (I didn't fully watch that part) and then does the same with the other ear.

We were both thinking the same thing:  a story about either Aunt Mary giving grandma pierced ears or the other way around, and we just remember laughing about things and wishing we had been there to see it.  

I'm thinking Kate is hugely brave and I'm just a wimp when he finishes the first ear and Kate didn't even know it.  I had to tell her.  She felt no pain at all.  For realz?  Yup!  Cool.  Sign me up.

Absolutely no pain and I'm considering having the middle triangle part of my ear pierced (it is hugely popular here). 

Oh, street food is fabulous and most of the time really fun to eat.  During the winter Joseph and I enjoy 2 things: egg bread and the pancakes with yummy nuts and honey inside them.  You can only get them during winter but that's fine with me.  It makes winter that much more enjoyable when your hands are freezing and you are able to hold a piping hot cornbread like muffin with a boiled egg (shell-less) backed inside of it.  So darn delicious.

I keep saying to Joseph we need to do a post on street food.  It is well worth it and all that, but honestly it would be so long and need lots of posts to give it justice.  We will begin compiling some of our favorites and then posting them with pictures and a description as well as some of our favorite things to eat here.

To leave you with a tidbit of yummyness, we went to a friends birthday party about 2 weeks ago and were surprised with frog legs, lamb skewers and a few other yummy dishes.

Tastes Like Spam

Koreans love spam.  People from Tennessee apparently love pork brains.  Eww.

Joseph and Stephen went out last night and were given a small 5oz. container of pork brains by a french man who owned the establishment. He had been given them by a man from Tennessee.



Now you know Joseph and know he enjoys trying new things.  I don't mind trying said new things but I believe I will draw the line at pork brains for now.  If they were fresh or perhaps not from a pop top can, I might be persuaded to try them.

However, Joseph cooked up some eggs and then cooked the brains and ate them with the eggs. 
They smelled really yummy actually, similar to corned beef hash, but I passed. I'd rather eat dog soup--which will be another post.

Enjoy the photos. :-)

Blah

Was just rereading some of our posts while we have been in Korea.

One thing jumps out:  we have had some good times here.

Looking at our first year it didn't seem like we did a lot but looking back, we did. 
This year we are concentrating on saving more money and saving for bigger trips out of the country.

Japan in July is on the agenda and The Phillipeans or Thailand for Christmas or Korean Thanksgiving.

Our advice for anyone looking to make a change or do something different or just wanting to get out of a rut:  just do it!  You will have a great time!  The only one holding you back is yourself.

The End

So we have been in Korea for almost 2 years.  We still have a ways yet to go until we return but it is great fun planning our final trip back.

We have begun the pre-planning for this trip and are having great fun deciding the details.

Welcome to the Trans Siberian Railway!  Yes.  Joseph and I are going to do this end to end.  We are going to go from East to West.  From Vlasivostok to St. Petersburg, Russia.
We are going to hop off the train for a few days in Mongolia!  I've always wanted to go to Mongolia.  Joseph, not so much but he has Japan and I have Mongolia, Harbin, Shangahi...


If we can manage going to Harbin, China we will go but it may not be doable.  However since we will not know the next time we will be in China it may be a good time to check it out.

Anyway, in addition to the Siberian Railway, on the list to visit and spend at least 2 or 3 days in each are:

Finland--come on.  No one goes to Finland and that's why we want to go!
St. Petersburg, Russia
Moscow
Lithuania
Vladivostok, Russia
Mongolia--how awesome is this?
Harbin, China--maybe
Sweden
Norway
Poland (kinda do the trip I took the first time around and take Joseph to a few of the great places)
Prague
Munich, Germany
Switzerland
Paris
London

Now the one of the best parts is the trip to the continent of North America.  You are going to love it.  We aren't going to fly home--how mundane!  No, we are going to travel in style:  The Queen Elizabeth II cruise ship.  We are able to book transatlantic passage for less than  $1000 USD each for a one or 2 week voyage.  YES PLEASE!  After more than 3 years in Korea this ship will be the best thing.  We can already imagine the food available and the lack of Kimchi!

The ship will dock in New York and we will explore the city for a few days then fly home to Florida.  Our total estimated time to be spent on this trip?  About 60 or 70 days.  How much money are you talking about?  About $8000 USD.  Total.  Including necessary visas, the cruise home, New York and the flight from New York to Florida. As it gets closer things will be more streamlined in terms of cost, but just now on average it should run us about that.

Well you might remember that we have a cat over here that we brought from America.  What about him?  Well, he's going to be shipped home from Korea to stay with...we aren't sure who because it is too far away to figure out just now.

What about all of our stuff?  We will ship it home on a slow boat and it will arrive in Florida about 2 months after we send it.


What if we have a baby?  Well, duh.  They would come with us.  They will just have their own backpack of goodies.

Well, cool but what time of year should all this take place?  Funny you should ask...this will all begin to happen "around" October/November and end around December/January.  So yes, it will be cold most of the time we are gone and yes, we will be in Sibera and Mongolia and a host of other places that are positively frigid during this time of year.  Not to mention on a train in the middle of nowhere.   Each of us with one huge backpack as our only luggage.  


We. Are. So. Excited!

Does anyone else have this insane travel bug?  We divulged our plan to a couple we know and they looked at us like we were nuts.  When we said we'd still go if we had a kid...that look just got longer.  :-)  We figure as long as we are prepared and ready for the unexpected it should be an amazing trip and as long as everyone is healthy things should be smooth sailing.

We can't wait for it to be time to take this trip!  We are having a fun time planning it.

If anyone has been to any of these places or ever traveled on the Trans Siberian Railway, do tell!  

Happy New Year!

New Year is here and 2013 has started out fine.  No drama and no mess.  Perfect.

Had a nice New Year's Eve.  Nothing amazing. Just down home and quiet but full of laughter.

Oh, and a fight with a wine bottle.  :-)  We won.  Barely.


A pre-dinner hour across the street at Ray and Chien's place for about an hour then back to our house with Kate. 
We headed to Home Plus and got some materials for making dinner: precooked chicken and potatoes for mashed potatoes.
We also found REAL Doritos.  For about 7$.  I'm okay with that.  Between the 3 of us we ate the entire bag.  Delicious.  Eddie also had a few.

At about 15 minutes till midnight we decided to open the nice bottle of wine and get ready to toast.  Well, 10 minutes after midnight it still wasn't open.  To top that, the corkscrew broke and got stuck in the cork.  We were laughing so hard and so much.  Joseph ran out to the GS a few buildings away and bought another one.  In the meantime we tried to pry the screw out with chopsticks--a sure sign we've been here too long.

Took a few photos, had a lot of laughs and ate some yummy food.  Kudos for Kate for making the mashed potatoes! Yummers.
Oh, and my first try with false eyelashes.  Who knew they'd be so pretty?