Normal Seoul Weekend

TUESDAY NIGHT IN HANNAM-DONG...

I feel inspired to update the blog today - earlier than I normally get around to it. Why? Because the boys and I went for our walk tonight and it was the first time that I recall going for a walk in Seoul and not being basically forced to stop at some point for the adoring locals to touch and play with the boys. Although I do cherish the fact that the kids are darn adorable, it makes me a little uncomfortable and does border on annoying.

We are normally serenaded by choruses of "ipo da" (cute) and "sangdoomni" (twins!) as we walk along just trying to fit into a rather homogenous society. Thankfully we live in an a neighborhood called "UN Village" with about 20 Embassies within a 1/2 mile radius, so we aren't the only non-Koreans around. Today I realized that I walk past 8 Embassies on our normal walk, hadn't noticed the Bulgarian one until tonight, there was a new sign put up for it.

Anyhow, here are some pictures of us a few weeks ago on the playground on the Army base in Seoul.

Jimmy - the kid from Easter Island? Ha ha. Yes, Aunt Jeanne, those are your outfits! Thanks!
Joey in a rare moment of apprehension or cautious consideration? Nah, the camera lies - he never hesitates to get himself into situations that make me gasp and run toward him!
Daddy showing off his aspiring professional photography skills... This is just the coolest pic!
The Kane Family in their Harley Davidson outfits from my sister Teri --- pretty cool. We were definitely stamped as Americans in these outfits! Thanks, Teri!!!
Moments like this are those that might be somewhat unique to mothers of multiples ... if they both fall at the same time, who do I grab? Is it a subconscious reaction? Am I better off to let them both fall and just give hugs later instead of dealing with my own psychological misgivings about choosing one over the other instinctually? Wow, I need to go to sleep... Cheers, y'all.

Jim's Change of Command

Jim took command of HHB, 1-15 Field Artillery in Camp Hovey, Korea on July 9th. It was a nice little HOT ceremony. Here are the pictures:

This picture of (L to R) the outgoing commander, battalion commander and Jim.
Here I am, the "First Lady of the Battery" getting flowers during the ceremony while entertaining Joey. Jimmy is being entertained just behind us by the Battalion S1.
Jim gets big points for making no speech, just saying things "remain in effect". The NCOs sitting behind us cheering and clapped for his no-nonsense approach, not wanting to keep the soldiers out in the searing heat for any extra time.
Here is the new commander and his men!
Jimmy in front of Joey on their way to the "Iron Triangle" restaurant for a post-command reception.

Jim's little boys and his wife are very proud of everything he has done to get to this point, so have earned so much trust in his chain of command to be entrusted with the lives of these soldiers, way to go Jim!

Trip to Pusan

Pusan

The second largest city in Korea (5 million peeps). Located in the SouthEastern corner. 3d largest container port in the world. It also has a nice beach... well, I've been to Hawaii, Southern California, Florida and Thailand PLUS to some extent in my "mountain loving" mind, a beach is a beach... but too much mumbo jumbo, I'll just let you see some pics. This first one is a self-portrait (duh) that was aweful, but the only one that proved we were on a beach, so....

Yes, we took the early fast train on a Friday to Pusan (without the kids!) and stayed one night, returning to Seoul the next night late. The train went as fast as 160MPH, not quite a bullet-train, but it was pretty darn zippy. Not bad for a society that was pummelled to almost nothing 53 years ago! Anyway, we got to stay out past 0100 and sleep in until after 0900, so it was just the break we needed. We could have missed out of the first opportunity in over a year to gamble... roulette will take your money on every continent, I imagine. We tried to local Kalbi (spicey BBQ pork ... YES, pork!!!) and I cried a little, so that means it was sufficiently hot, I guess.
This is a shot of the Chunnyeolsa Shrine which is from the 1500's I think. I forget which Dynasty and if it was the Chinese or Japanese who smacked the Koreans around on this occasion, but either way, it was very pretty and it was the first time I had experienced little Korean kids pointing at me and yelling "Mi Guk! Mi Guk!" at the very top of their little lungs. Anyhow, we stayed at a pretty decent 3-star hotel - Riviera Haeundaue - and were like 200 meters from the beach with also had a TGI Fridays, Bennigans, Starbucks and a pretty yummy Indian restaurant which again was good, but only made me perspire, not cry, so not as hot as Pusan Kalbi was!
These are some neat shots of the Pusan Harbor from the Pusan Tower... like the Seattle Space Needle, only not nearly as nice looking. Weather was not the best, so the view is limited, the pic does not do it justice, a very busy port!
UN Cemetery up there in the foothills north of the city.
Another port shot, with the bridge that connects the High Dollar Real Estate part of Pusan. It was nice to get a break from working and being overwhelmed Mom&Dad. That probably won't happen for an overnight again until we come back to the states this winter, so we appreciated it.

Baby Backpack Season

Hi Everyone!

We had a pretty boring 4th of July, since it was on a Wednesday, Jim had to stay up north at his "workweek" home, so the boys and I were home alone. The highpoint of our day was a short jog down to the American housing area to play on their awesome playground and swings. The boys are already naturally going in opposite directions when at all possible in public, so it's fun to gauge the level of risk when choosing who to be closer to! The climber seems to get most of my attention. They will climb onto anything lately - so far (knock on cheap Korean pressboard) no big falls!

This is the look on Joey's face after being told that he will live in this box forever if he doesn't go to college!

We got some stuff in the mail the other day and the nanny immediately did what the boys normally argue must be done --- make us a cardboard car! It's the least expensive toy out there and sometimes they even take turns pushing each other around in them!

Now that it is warmer out, we've broken out the baby backpacks again and each Saturday that Jim is down in Seoul, we climb up to the neighborhood Pagoda that overlooks a neat couple of bridges on the Han River --- unfortunately the summers aren't especially sunny here, so the view is not very clear.

Jimmy's on the left, Joey on the right ... they like running around on the Pagoda after riding their Mommy and Daddy pack-mules up to the top every Saturday!