Hello All!
The first mass email had so many wonderful responses that I decided perhaps a blog would be easier. This will make sharing photos easier and perhaps make for a more community-environment in the recording and sharing of life! Currently my track record isn't stellar (read: 1 email in 7 weeks...) but I promise to try and be better. I was working on a secondary email which I never sent because I've been planning on this for at least 2 weeks.
Fortunately - I have lots to report, but I'll try to break it up a little so no one gets bored.
The less recent adventures...
'm living in a flat now - no longer in the lodging on base. The flat is basic but much bigger than the on-base dorm rooms. It has it's own set of complications, but involves a wonderfully hard bed (I know it sounds odd, but really, I love the beds here) and a gas stove. Work continues much as before - I've learned a lot, but there are always new things to learn that I haven't yet discovered. So I'm continuing to meet more people, get accustomed to how things work and trying to do my best.
I can't believe I've been here almost 8 weeks....which also means I'm a terrible correspondent. I've had several adventures since the last email. I moved into a flat just off base. It's got 2 bedrooms, 2 bathrooms, a tiny office, a small kitchen, living room space, and a special little galley shaped room behind the kitchen - for the washer/dryer which is a 2 in 1 machine. It's not the most homey yet, but I'm ok with that because it's not really my home. It's nice to have space away from work and base, but still close enough not to have a car, but I also know it's not a long term arrangement. For the moment it smells like banana bread but often it smells like whatever people in other flats are cooking. I'm sure that will be even more appetizing come summer when it's hot and humid here.
In the past few weeks, I've had a few adventures including E-Mart (a great Korean store with a little of everything from groceries to outdoor equipment (maybe by The Red Face, the unknown cousin of The North Face, maybe) which has cheery uniformed attendants welcoming cars out in the parking lot, a Wine Train trip with the ITT office on base, singing my first solo at Church ever, a 4.1K run, and Costco - all Korea style.
The Wine Train trip was billed as a train ride to a "wine-factory (read: vineyard) with unlimited snacks and wine tasting of award winning wines, a chance to make personalized cosmetics, a foot spa experience, and concert. What actually happened - we took a 2 hour train ride in a gaudy train car with tasseled curtains, tasted 4 wines, one was ok the other three were hideious, and enjoyed a plate of stale strips of white bread, cut up pieces of processed cheese still in their plastic wrappers, half an orange and Ritz/Saltine crackers. The Italian buffet was a long line of delicious Italian favorites like plain salad with strawberry yogurt topping, vegetables, boiled tiny octopi, small sandwiches with something un-discernable inside, noodle soup, and a large tray of lo mein-type noodles and a red sauce (read: Korean food with make believe spaghetti). After lunch, we made bath salts that looked good but fell apart then sat with our feet in tubs of warm wine-colored wine. Our concert was cancelled because the musicians were unavailable - they took us to a traditional music museum and school. What looked at first to be a hideous experience of the tour trying to fill our extra time, ended up being the best part of the day - we had a class banging on traditional Korean drums taught by an instructor who didn't speak English. Let's face it, who doesn't love to wail on a drum sitting right in front of you! On the way home, we dined on a delicious tray of kimbap (a Korean dish of rice rolled around cooked vegetables, egg, and ham), hard boiled eggs, and a muffin because a muffin is always the way to round our a meal!
In other news I've had a few more new experiences...The Seoul Marathon was a great race and I had a blast. A friend of mine really wanted to break 4 hours so I helped pace him through the race. I ran the first 30 km all covered up in gortex because the weather was cold and rainy. Fortunately my gortex (read: trash bag) was the perfect and very cheap solution to miserable starting conditions. I had a super race and felt amazing at the end, but I stayed with my pal trying to help him beat the elusive 4 hour mark. Alas, we entered Olympic Stadium just at 4 hours and finished in 4:01:48! Overall, it was a great experience, but I wouldn't run that race again. I'm partial to races that have restrooms (not cities that want to be 1st world developed cities and yet encourage evacuating on the side of the race route in bushes or between buildings. Again - a 55 gallon trashbag is excellent for modesty - but I still prefer restrooms.
Costco in Korea- there are live fish in a giant tank and more people than the mall parking lot on Christmas Eve - it was bananas. However, I was able to get a bag of demi-baguettes and several bottles of French and South American wine. I had been hoping some of the Kirtland Signature brands and other standard Costco products would be the same price as in the U.S. but my efforts were unrewarded as most of the American products were far more expensive than here in the states. It was worth a try though and I'm enjoying the baguettes so far.
With that I'll sign off, promising to write more in the future. I miss you all quite a lot, but each day brings me closer to coming home to all of you and my little family in Colorado! Many kisses and prayers each day!
