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!