Trip to America; July 2017

Now that Jasper is born Joseph and I try to take him home to visit family once a year.

This was the second time Jasper has been to America and it was great.  He was so much more aware and moving around and just really enjoyed himself and all of the s p a c e that was around him.


First, Jasper and I spent almost 2 weeks in Virginia to spend time with Joseph's family: his brother and sister in law.

We had a really nice time and spent the 4th of July there.  They live close to Monticello so it was interesting.  Jasper got sick for a few days while there-an ear infection.  Went to the doctor and it was $119 for the visit.  Not too bad for not having health insurance.  Jasper really liked playing with his cousins.  Playing in the pool, going to the park--we saw a deer!--and just being a kid playing with his family.

Then Jasper and I flew to Orlando.  This was an all day adventure and by the time it was over I onl had ONE diaper left.  ONE DIAPER.  Things were getting serious.
Our original flight time had us reaching Orlando at 2pm.  No problem.
Due to other weirdness we waited at the Richmond airport until ONE PM then flew to Chicago and then getting to Orlando by about 10:30PM.  WOAH.  With a 2 year old this was interesting but Jasper did a great job.

Mom and dad picked us up and to their house we drove.  Swimming pools, parks, riding bikes, the beach, visiting Gigi...such a great time.  We went in the pool almost every day and we went to McDonalds one day so Jasper could get a Happy Meal: he got a Minion's toy which he promptly dropped into a puddle on the way to the car (bye-bye toy).  It was really hard to come back to Korea.  Really, really hard.

Jasper's English drastically improved and at school now his teacher says he speaks mostly English but he still remembers Korean.

Billie Jo and I spent a lot of time together too which was fabulous.  Her boys helped me clean out our storage unit and then we got rid of everything and kept a small amount.  It was really nice to spend a lot of time with each other.

Jasper was speaking small compound sentences before going to America but now they are larger compound sentences with more inflection and larger vocabulary words.

Hopefully we will begin making plans to visit again soon.

August Birthday's

Two of our friends have birthdays on the same day: August 27th.

It's interesting.  Joseph has the same birthday as Elvis (THE Elvis), but I have never met anyone with the same birthday as myself.

One friend, Lee Ann, was speaking about different places to celebrate her special day and decided she wanted to go to a 5 star hotel to have High Tea. It was AMAZING!  So cute and fun.  Joseph, Jasper, her and I went yesterday (Saturday) and had an adventure from start to finish.

We had red velvet pancakes for breakfast and then drove to Seoul. The drive was quite long and when we arrived at the hotel we put our name on the list. After an hour and a half of waiting it was finally our turn.

We left there and drove to the Palace to walk off our tea.  So pretty at night.  We had not been to the Palace yet--or any other tourist attractions since being in Korea.  It was lovely!  The photos do not quite show how lovely it is.

Next, we drove around to Itaewon in case we were hungy and nothing sounded or looked quite right so we headed on the drive back to Daejeon.

Arriving home around 2am.  It was such a nice day.

On Sunday we went to a lamb restaurant and ate lamb chops and lamb skewers.  Delicious! We went to Starbucks for dessert and coffee: blueberry cheesecake and coffee.  Back at our house we each had a glass of Moscato to bring the festivities an end.  Happy Birthday, Lee Ann!

Expat: Dying in Korea

Being a foreigner in another country has many exceptional opportunities.  It also lends itself to thoughts, conversations and sometimes actions involving the more dismal yet realistic side of life. Death and/or illness of either yourself or family members back home.

It is a real question and can be a real problem for some foreigners. 

Sometimes expat families have a seriously sick child or a single expat dies alone in their apartment only to be found a couple of days later by their company.  Both of these examples have happened since we have been here.

Family members getting very sick and/or dying back home.  It happens. 

What do you do if/when that email or Skype call comes in?  Is it possible to fly home? Will you be fired if you go? Will you have a job when you come back?  How can you pay for the flight?

As far as your legal rights, it technically depends on your job. Are you an independent contractor? Public or private sector? Hagwon....? Teacher or other?

Something positive in all of this is that the  government will pay you a death benefit to help cover your flight home/back depending upon who has passed.  Immediate family is the requirement.  In Korea, immediate family consists of mother, father, siblings, and  grandparents.  You also get up to 14 days/2 weeks (including weekends) if it is a family member back home. If it is family here (expats married to Koreans) you only get 3 days including the weekend.

You must provide the death certificate to the Korean government then you will receive a percentage amount of the total in your pension account.  Generally speaking, the amount usually is the cost of a round trip ticket home.

However,  this will not apply to you if you do not receive government pension. If you are a private contractor, for instance, you will not receive this payment.

Friends and family here usually try and set aside a certain amount per month for these types of instances.  The ones who do not usually ask friends for funds.

*sigh*

If an American expat dies their body is taken and an autopsy performed then the body is cremated.  If the family requests the body delivered home then a family member must come collect it. If, for religious reasons, the body must have various practices done then it is hoped a relative or friend in the country can notify the authorities of that.

As far as wills and all of the paperwork, nothing is valid in this country from your home country. You must have papers drawn up here.  Especially if you have children. 

Sad business, but very much need to know.

Children's Day 2016

A wonderful long weekend in Korea!

Those don't happen often so it was nice to  be able to celebrate it.

We had Thursday- Sunday off for Children's Day, Parent's Day, and Buddha's birthday all in one 4 day weekend.  Before Jasper's arrival I venture to say we would have taken a plane almost anywhere for this long time away but seeing as we are more responsible and have less free money lying around these days we stayed in town. 

We had a walkabout in our city and went to a Children's Day celebration. Picnics, games and activities, food...a regular festival.  After exploring that we ate at a great little Asian place which gathers their culinary fusion food from various Asian countries. Yum. Jasper was able to try on a variety of local hats amd looked so darn cute.

Another day we just wandered around and looked at neighborhoods we had not been to since Jasper has been born. Let's face it, we have been pretty boring and responsible since Jasper's arrival.  It is nice to get out and wander while still following Jasper needs and cues.

We are trying to plan a trip for a few days in the summer and just dont know if it will work yet with Jasper being so young.  Mongolia is the goal but only having a week or less sounds as if we would be neglecting our adventures being as the the country is so massive with tons of things to experience--and what if Jasper gets sick in the middle lf nowhere and we cant return home? Maybe age 2 will see us venturing out in the wilderness.