Hello again, my comrades in my native country... Texas. I am sad to report that I am not really missing the states one bit. I have finally found a decent burger joint (on post) and they have all the taco bell the little alien in my belly desires. I do wish however, that I had a some sort of futuristic contraption where I could shrink all of you and put you in my pocket to experience this with me. Until I figure out a way to invent that, I'll just have to be as descriptive as possible when explaining my escapades on my blog.

We have finally moved into our mansion in the middle of nowhere, South Korea. They should actually call it central Korea since it's so close to the border. From what I hear, the South and North Korean guards have face-offs all day and just stare at each other from across the fence. I would love to see them in action while I'm out here. I wonder if they have fancy hats like the British. Stay tuned and I shall report back.

Our apartment is located in a town called "Ji-Hang" which they also called the "New City". It's a million times better than I imagined it, but my imagination often runs pretty wild and I didn't give this place much credit prior to my arrival. Although it's not as big as the towns in Seoul, we have several blocks worth of high rise buildings with good food and shopping. I've got pretty cheap Korean taste buds, so the street food and delivery jja jang myun will keep me satisfied most of the time. The ladies of the night have not been very visible contrary to what I was told probably because they have learned to disguise themselves with straighter hair and less red lipstick. Instead they have taken on the form of imported Filipino women (and there are a lot of them here), who try to seduce the "joes" around base. Fortunately the town we live is just far enough away to not be in the mix of all that.

Living in this new apartment makes me feel so ignorant. I have been so oblivious to all the cool technology America has been hiding from us. For instance, we have heated toilet seats and a ventilation system throughout the whole house for when we cook. A video camera to monitor the front door, comes standard, but with the "home network" system we can control everything from outside our house. You can say goodbye to all those times you walked out of the house and you wondered "did I forget to...." cause now you can turn off your lights, your gas, or just shut down the electricity from your phone!! I have a TV in the kitchen that shows you how to make different Korean foods, with a ton of different recipes, and the verandas have little hoses to wash off the soot (which is perfect to use for Lexi's bathroom).

We have 4 rooms. Once our furniture gets here, we'll start arranging the master bedroom, the baby room, our computer room and our closet room. Yes, we have a whole room with nothing but closets, on top of all the other closets in the other room. I'll never have to complain about storage again. The only downside to our apartment is that is gets so dusty here in Korea, so I might contemplate getting a maid... YES, I said it!! Call me high maintenance but there's nothing wrong with getting hired help to scrub the floors. I'm creating jobs to stimulate the economy! haha

I have began the hunt to find a good Korean hospital. Even the doctors here at camp Casey recommended that I try to deliver off post. Our baby Addison will luckily be an American citizen no matter where we deliver, and thanks to the army--Tricare (our health insurance) will cover 100% of the cost. I am however, a bit worried about the language barrier, and wonder if I am screaming at the nurses to get me an epidural whether they will understand me. I am not trying to undermine Koreans, but even when I speak English with a Korean accent, they seem to have no idea what I'm talking about.

The other day I was at dunkin donuts trying to order a de-caf tea. When I asked the lady if it had "Ka-Pae-Een" she told me the tea comes in a bag. Whatever that means!! For some reason, as stupid as this may be, I feel as though repeating myself will help them understand me. So yesterday I told the taxi driver 4 times that I wanted to go to E-Mart, and every time has asked me a question, I would just reply "E-Mart". I thought my Korean would get me by, but there's so much I am just not comprehending. I am hoping to pick up on a lot of the language before I leave here.

Anyways, it's 1 PM and my husband is getting back from work already. He hasn't officially started, but he does like to show his face around the office. I have done absolutely nothing but Skyped with friends since I woke up, which means that I will have to tidy up the house in the next 15 minutes in order to make it seem as though I haven't been a complete waste of space all day. I don't know if other housewives can relate, but I can be extremely lazy when I don't have anything to do all day. Which reminds me, I am going to start tutoring from home... hopefully there are enough children in the area that need help with English, and maybe I could learn some Korean in the process.

Hope everyone is doing well and warming up!! Miss you all, so please come visit~~~ ahn young!

Ready, Set, Musical Chairs

Its the beginning of a new week, a manic Monday, and a race to get all of our paperwork completed and get in-processed. Lucky for me, my husband is very diligent and an over-achiever, so I get to sit back and relax while he takes care of business. Sadly, this is a contributing factor to my growing rear, which is far from being ass-tastic.

It's been a very hectic few days here, traveling to and from Seoul. I've noticed that my legs have swollen up and taken the shape of cankles. I always knew pregnancy would lead to swelling, but I had no idea it would hit me so soon. Hopefully it's nothing more than my body trying to acclimate to this weather and I won't look like the fat kid who ate the entire cake until later on in my 3rd trimester.

Speaking of cake, everywhere you turn there's a bakery or sweet shop with the most delicious and exquisitely decorated cakes. I have died and gone to bakers heaven. Not only are the cakes to die for here, but the fruits are so ripe and sweet. Some dish we tried the other day called ha-chae had diced fruits inside a sweet milk which was nothing short of an orgasm in the mouth.

I have heard that there are designated seats on the subway for pregnant women... Unfortunately it's right next to the smelly old people (and trust me, some of them are really stinky) so I choose to fend for my life like every other subway passenger. As soon as the doors open to board the train, it's like the music has been cut off on an intense game of musical chairs, and the last one standing is out!

The natives here have gotten really good at this "game" and some of them are so good, they don't even have to stand at the front of the battle ground to win it. People of all shapes and sizes will jump out of nowhere and push you out of the way just to grab the last seat. One man was in a squat position ready to sit down, and some grandma came out of thin air and slid home. He nearly sat on her, and all I could think was "WOW, now that requires skill!"

By subway, it takes approximately an hour and half to get from Ji-Hang (camp casey) to Seoul (yong san). It's a straight shot on line 1 pretty much the whole way there, but on the way back home we kept having to exit the train and wait for another one to pick us up. I'm not sure why we had to de-board if they were all going in the same direction, but there's a lot of things that I haven't quite figured out yet. On one stop, Brad and I sat in the train for about 30 minutes expecting the doors to shut and begin heading towards home. Unfortunately when the train did begin moving it went in the opposite direction, and to make a long story short, it took us 2 and half hours to get back home.

To keep you updated, we found an apartment in a town just south of Dong-du-cheon called Ji-Hang. It's a brand new complex, that has all new appliances (dishwasher, w/d, ac units, refrigerator), 4 bedrooms, and enough closet space to make even Carrie from SATC jealous. The train station is a 5 minute walk from our place, and the restaurants and shops are located there as well. We tried an all you can eat meat buffet, and for the two of us, it cost about 17 dollars. I am so thankful that this place exceeds my expectations by a million.

I am still unsure of the situation with the hospital and seeing the ob-gyn, but I was told the military base has helicopters available to transport us to Seoul if I were to go in labor. The little alien in my tummy has been kicking and punching almost every couple hours, and Brad has finally been able to feel the movements. Every time he detects anything, he gives me this wide eyed "AHA" look with a big gasp which makes me love him so much more. My belly button has almost popped inside out, and my maternity pants are getting more snug.

There is still so much to see and do, and I cannot wait to get settled. I'll be posting pictures of our place and the town in upcoming posts... Please stay tuned! Really miss all my friends and family, and I am looking forward to seeing a bunch of you here in Korea! Till next time... keep warm!

Foreigners only

Hello, from the future. Today is January 8th 2010, and it is approximately 9:30 am. I woke up to the Korean national anthem once again, which is apparently broadcasted around the military base here in Yong San. I couldn't refrain myself from singing along in my head, although I could only remember every other word.

It is day 2 and we just received word that we will be picked up by our sponsor around noon, and escorted to Camp Casey. From there we will begin looking for housing with a realtor assigned to us by the Army. Hopefully our saving grace will be that we are both fluent in Korean, and we will come out with the better end of the stick; cause God knows neither one of us have very effective bargaining skills.

Preparing for the day is a very grueling process. The amount of layers I have to wear requires assistance to even be able to put it on. When I am finally ready to walk out of the room I feel as though I have been bound by a straight jacket from the limited amount of mobility. The cold weather here leaves no room to make any sort of fashion statement... I have come to terms with looking like the puffy white marshmallow on ghost busters, and rudolph with my bright red nose.

We were finally able to get out of the hotel yesterday to meet for dinner with friends. If our jet lagged appearance and Americanized clothes didn't scream foreigner, the taxi we rode in definitely got the job done. In order to get back on post there are only certain taxis we can ride in that have "foreigners only" stamped in bright orange along the side of the car. To get 5 miles from our hotel, it took close to an hour by taxi. The traffic here is needless to say, ridiculous. It will be a completely new experience having to drive in it.

The BCS championship is being televised as I sit here and finish this post. The score is 14 to 6, with Colt McCoy out for the game and the backup quarterback shaken up as well. I can't help but utter under my breath that it's just not fair.

It's almost noon. We are so used to living out of a suitcase by now that packing up our stuff is a five minute process. As soon as the phone rings, we will lug our 7 bags and Lexi, our Lhasa Apso, downstairs to begin the 2 hour relocation to Camp Casey. Upon arrival we will begin getting settled and familiarize ourselves with the town. The experience should be interesting.

Will keep you posted. Until next time... ahn young =)

The year of the White Tiger....2010

If I haven't already had the chance to personally tell you, I wish each and every one of you a happy new year, full of wealth, health & happiness... or as the saying goes "good luck, good f*ck, and good money" right?

The start of my new year was celebrated in a church service, where to be quite honest I was a little weirded out by the number of people who were praying out loud in what sounded like tongues. Never the less, one of my new years resolution for 2010 is to somehow restore my belief in God, and to renew my faith. I don't know how I'm going to make this drastic transition in my life if I don't. So I'll probably update you from time to time about my religious excursion.

So if you don't know already, I'm 21 weeks pregnant... That's right, there's a little alien growing inside my belly, and every now and then I can feel it kicking and punching. It forces me to eat sweets against my will, and stuff my face with the most delectable cakes ever known to woman. Brad insists that it's a boy, despite what the sonogram technician told us, and as well endowed Asian men often are, there's always the possibility that the tiny little wee-wee didn't show up. There's not a doubt in my mind, however, that we're having a little girl.

"They," the superstitious Koreans, say that 2010 is the year of the White Tiger, and unfortunately that will mean that my little Addison will be extremely assertive and domineering. I might have the next Hilary Clinton on my hands. "They" also believe that May is the month in which genius' are born. So I guess this means I'm going to have one heck of a kid!

As I sit here and type, I can faintly hear the Korean anthem being played over an intercom of some sort. Everything here is covered in white. I can see my breath even after I enter the buildings, and I can barely maneuver in my puffy blue ski jacket I bought to battle the cold. They say it's the worst winter here in 103 years, but I can't remember ever spending a winter here to be able to compare.

After our 14 hour flight from DFW to Incheon Airport we waited around for another 2 hours for the military buses to come pick us up and drive us into Yong San which is right north of the Han-Kang river, smack dab in the middle of Seoul. It took us about an hour to get to the military post, and about another hour and half for the sergeants to brief us on the policies and to tell us that they weren't quite sure what will be in store for the next couple days. Now, if you are anything like me, and you don't really know a single thing about the military, just know that the one thing you can count on is that nothing is ever certain, and everything is subject to change.

Walking out of the military brief, and to our hotel through the snow with our enormous bags reminded me somehow of the Trail of Tears. Everyone was so tired from their long journey, and yet we still had to lug our shit around from one place to another. Haven't they ever heard of a bell man?? A single bell man could have made a fortune on tips, but I guess the economy hasn't quite hit an all time low yet.

As of right now, I'm sitting in a hotel room at the Dragon Hill Lodge, waiting on any word from my husband that we are to grab our stuff and be sent to Camp Casey. Camp Casey is more than likely where we will be staying for the next 2 years. It's about 30 minutes away from the DMZ, and I'll be neighbors with North Koreans. Camp Casey is known for their readily available abundance of prostitutes with big hair and bright red lipstick. They say a lot has changed, but it'll be a big change from what I'm used to. Never the less, I am ready for the challenge, and can't wait to get settled in.

There are a few downsides to living in Camp Casey as opposed to Yong San. There are obvious reasons like the fact that Seoul is just a larger city & everything is more accessible, and the big one is that I'll have to drive 2 hours at least to come to Yong San and see an OB GYN because Camp Casey doesn't have one. That will be an adventure in itself, and I'll definitely keep you posted on how ideal that is being pregnant.

I am ecstatic about all the food I'll be able to eat here. I can't wait to stroll down the street and try all the different cart foods like dduk bokki, o deng, roasted corn.... yum! The list goes on and on. I will definitely keep you posted on all the new foods and restaurants we try, and if I come across any good recipes, I'll be sure to post those too! I can't wait to cook with real Korean ingredients!

The sun is slowly rising, and the town is waking up. I don't know what the day will have in store for us, but it will be the beginning of a new adventure. The year of the White Tiger will be eventful for us to say the least. Brad and I will finally get to settle down as a married couple, welcome Addison into our lives, and learn all about our heritage. We anticipate traveling around Asia while we're here which I am very much looking forward to sharing with you guys.

In the meantime, to all of our friends~~ please be safe, make the most of the new year, and live life to the fullest!!! Until next time... ahn young~!!!