Ms. Parks is the lady in the travel agency office (ITT) that has booked ALL our trips and she is just an amazing person. I have to admit that when I booked my LAST trip through her today I felt a little sad...for about 3 seconds. :)28 January 2008
It's official...
We got our tickets TODAY! Ana, me and the TWO cats will be in San Antonio 26 Feb...in less than a month! Can you feel my overwhelming excitement? Marc will be joining us in March!
Ms. Parks is the lady in the travel agency office (ITT) that has booked ALL our trips and she is just an amazing person. I have to admit that when I booked my LAST trip through her today I felt a little sad...for about 3 seconds. :)
Ms. Parks is the lady in the travel agency office (ITT) that has booked ALL our trips and she is just an amazing person. I have to admit that when I booked my LAST trip through her today I felt a little sad...for about 3 seconds. :)
Kappa Delta Sorority
Dorothy is a sorority sister that I haven't seen since our wedding in 1997! I got an email from her about a month ago while she was back in TX visiting friends and family who told her we lived in S. Korea. Turns out she LIVES 30 minutes away from me in a town called Suwon! She has lived in S. Korea for 3 years now and is a college professor! Amazing! What a small world!
She and her boyfriend, Ian, came down to visit and have dinner with us a couple of times this past two weeks. She is doing great and it was fun to talk about college days and catch up!
She and Ian are going to Italy for a vacation and to visit his brother next week and when she gets back I'll have moved. But at least we had the past two weeks to see each other. I wish I would have found her sooner! It was wonderful to see you Dorothy and I hope it isn't another 10 years before I see you again!! AOT love...
She and her boyfriend, Ian, came down to visit and have dinner with us a couple of times this past two weeks. She is doing great and it was fun to talk about college days and catch up!
She and Ian are going to Italy for a vacation and to visit his brother next week and when she gets back I'll have moved. But at least we had the past two weeks to see each other. I wish I would have found her sooner! It was wonderful to see you Dorothy and I hope it isn't another 10 years before I see you again!! AOT love..."Korenglish"
One of my FAVORITE past times is to go to the local stores and find FUNNY Korenglish! I have to admit I have started an unhealthy collection if it. I try to buy things with Korenglish on it that are practical at least...something I do plan to use....like mugs. :)
This is one of my favorites...DOG...dog is goodboy it is God (good) firend (friend) with poplein (people in) my heat (heart) for (forever...?) BUT the fact that the dog is in "heat forever" just cracks me up!!!!
Again, it is the simple things in life that make me happy...really! But you have to admit...this is good stuff! :) I swear I'm not loosing my mind...really!
This is one of my favorites...DOG...dog is goodboy it is God (good) firend (friend) with poplein (people in) my heat (heart) for (forever...?) BUT the fact that the dog is in "heat forever" just cracks me up!!!!
Again, it is the simple things in life that make me happy...really! But you have to admit...this is good stuff! :) I swear I'm not loosing my mind...really!2 FUNNY Stories....
NOT that you can see it...but there is a DEAD spider that Ana stops to talk to EVERYDAY for the past year. "Mommy, look he is sleeping"....is what I hear EVERYDAY when we walk out of our apt building AND when we walk into it. Today she said, "He sleeps ALL the time Mommy"...Yep...he does...
So for about a month now...we have been encouraging Ana to eat ALL her food. We give her the lecture of..."if you eat your food all gone you will grow big and strong and can reach those elevator buttons!" For dinner a couple of weeks ago Marc was doing the lecture of eating her dinner ALL GONE and you will grow big and without skipping a beat she says..."yeah and I get big boobies too!" I swear to you Marc's mouth just dropped WIDE open and I jumped in with the "Yes that's right...big boobies, big arms, and big legs..." SHE IS FOUR! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?
So for about a month now...we have been encouraging Ana to eat ALL her food. We give her the lecture of..."if you eat your food all gone you will grow big and strong and can reach those elevator buttons!" For dinner a couple of weeks ago Marc was doing the lecture of eating her dinner ALL GONE and you will grow big and without skipping a beat she says..."yeah and I get big boobies too!" I swear to you Marc's mouth just dropped WIDE open and I jumped in with the "Yes that's right...big boobies, big arms, and big legs..." SHE IS FOUR! ARE YOU KIDDING ME?21 January 2008
DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) The Reason Marc is Stationed Here!
It is official...I can LEAVE Korea! Going to the DMZ was my LAST thing on "my list" of things to do while in Korea. BUT we almost didn't make it. The Bremer's were watching Ana for us for the day so we could both go and the plan was for us to drop her off at their house on the way to the bus which left at 7:30am. WELL, Marc set our alarm for us to be up by 6 so we had plenty of time. However, he just got off the night shift of a week long exercise and would wake up at 6pm to start his day and he didn't switch the am/pm...so when the phone rang at 7:15 asking if we were on our way we FLEW through the house and had John meet us at the bus to take Ana and beg them to wait for us and we were on the bus ready at 7:40! Mind you we live off base and it's at least a 5 min drive to the base! We sat down on the bus and Marc looks at me and says, "Did you have time to put underwear on?" I said, YES, did you? Now why would he ask this question if he had HIS underwear on? FUN start of our day!
After a two hour drive north our first stop was at the "Freedom Bridge". This is the closest point civilians can get to North Korea and a place where many Korean’s go to leave messages for their lost family members. Kinda sad.
We went to a museum and there were lots of North Korean items. I thought this was most interesting...EVERYONE, EVERYDAY has to wear a pin with a picture of Kim Jong Il...their dictator.
This is an example of a classroom in North Korea...notice the pictures above the board...Kim Il Sung (1st dictator appointed by Russia after WWII and father of current leader) and Kim Jong Il (second pic above the board and current leader). We were told that they have to worship both leaders, that this is the North Korean religion...so sad.
Then we went to Dorason Station. This is a train station that is functioning in the South but ends here at the DMZ. The tracks are there and the capability is there...but North Koreans won't allow it...yet. There is hope that it will someday connect to China and Russia train systems.
This is the sign leading North to Peongyang (North's capital) to South to Seoul (South's capital). ALSO, we got to stamp our passport here and this sign is what the stamp looks like.
JSA...Joint Security Area. This is where the United Nations and North Korea meet. Blue buildings are United Nation buildings and the others are North Korea. VERY FREAKY. Just a little history...at the end of WWII Japan had occupied ALL of Korea so since the Russians and Americans won the war....we split the country into North (Communist Russia at the time) and South (American democracy) and those governments were established. The Korean War (1950-1953) was about the North wanting the entire country under the communist government. In 1953 an Armistice Agreement was put in place so technically we are still at war. Which is why Marc is stationed here today.
This is a ROK (Republic of South Korea) solider guarding that door. On the other side of it are North Korean soldiers. We are standing on the North Korean side here...very nerve racking!
Although the cease fire was signed in 1953, no peace agreement or treaty was signed, and as a result, fighting could conceivably resume at any time. This accounts for the extreme tension and hostility that remains in the DMZ to this day. This is a pic of the actual DMZ fence. In learning all this, I am amazed that this is a tour...we were in a hostile area!
Art...symbolizing the joining of North and South Korea with the train tracks.
This is the site where WWIII almost happened. I'll be honest, I didn't know North Korea was SUCH a huge threat until we got this assignment. Makes COMPLETE sense why we are here and how important it is to preserve the peace. BUT back in 1976 there was a tree here that was blocking the views on the DMZ so there was a joint effort to trim the tree and the North Korean's attacked and killed Americans and the South Korean's involved in the tree trimming. Otherwise known as Axe Murder Incident.
The "Bridge of No Return". It was used for prisoner exchanges at the end of the Korean War in 1953. The name originates from the fact that prisoners were given the choice to remain in the country of their captivity or cross over to the other country. But if they chose to cross the bridge, they would never be allowed to return.
The last time the bridge was used for prisoner exchanges was in 1968 when the crew of the USS Pueblo was released and ordered to cross into South Korea via the bridge. The bridge was actively used by the North Koreans up until the Axe Murder Incident in August 1976. 
The South Korean's have found 4 tunnels that the North Koreans have built. Infiltration Tunnel #3 was discovered on 17 October 1978 and it is almost the same size as the Infiltration Tunnel #2. It was discovered in an area 4Km south of Panmunjom within the DMZ. The tunnel is arch shaped, and about 30,000 armed troops could infiltrate through the tunnel in an hour. (According to Wikipedia, North Korea has the fifth-largest military in the world, China is first and US is second just FYI).Tunnel #3 is much more threatening than Infiltration Tunnels #1 and #2. It is very obvious that North Korea planned to use the tunnel not only for wartime purposes, but also for armed guerrilla infiltration during periods of turbulences in the South. SCARY!!! HOW MANY TUNNELS HAVE THEY BUILT THAT WE HAVEN'T FOUND YET?????
We couldn't take our cameras down into the tunnel. It was a very eerie feeling to be down in there...walking towards North Korea. I highlighted the dates throughout this posting to show you guys how RECENT this all is. Everything has happened in my parents or my lifetime. Again, I can't thank God enough that I am an American and have the freedoms and security everyday that Marc and all our service men and women provide for us!!!
After a two hour drive north our first stop was at the "Freedom Bridge". This is the closest point civilians can get to North Korea and a place where many Korean’s go to leave messages for their lost family members. Kinda sad.
We went to a museum and there were lots of North Korean items. I thought this was most interesting...EVERYONE, EVERYDAY has to wear a pin with a picture of Kim Jong Il...their dictator.
This is an example of a classroom in North Korea...notice the pictures above the board...Kim Il Sung (1st dictator appointed by Russia after WWII and father of current leader) and Kim Jong Il (second pic above the board and current leader). We were told that they have to worship both leaders, that this is the North Korean religion...so sad.
Then we went to Dorason Station. This is a train station that is functioning in the South but ends here at the DMZ. The tracks are there and the capability is there...but North Koreans won't allow it...yet. There is hope that it will someday connect to China and Russia train systems.
This is the sign leading North to Peongyang (North's capital) to South to Seoul (South's capital). ALSO, we got to stamp our passport here and this sign is what the stamp looks like.
JSA...Joint Security Area. This is where the United Nations and North Korea meet. Blue buildings are United Nation buildings and the others are North Korea. VERY FREAKY. Just a little history...at the end of WWII Japan had occupied ALL of Korea so since the Russians and Americans won the war....we split the country into North (Communist Russia at the time) and South (American democracy) and those governments were established. The Korean War (1950-1953) was about the North wanting the entire country under the communist government. In 1953 an Armistice Agreement was put in place so technically we are still at war. Which is why Marc is stationed here today.
This is a ROK (Republic of South Korea) solider guarding that door. On the other side of it are North Korean soldiers. We are standing on the North Korean side here...very nerve racking!
Although the cease fire was signed in 1953, no peace agreement or treaty was signed, and as a result, fighting could conceivably resume at any time. This accounts for the extreme tension and hostility that remains in the DMZ to this day. This is a pic of the actual DMZ fence. In learning all this, I am amazed that this is a tour...we were in a hostile area!
Art...symbolizing the joining of North and South Korea with the train tracks.
This is the site where WWIII almost happened. I'll be honest, I didn't know North Korea was SUCH a huge threat until we got this assignment. Makes COMPLETE sense why we are here and how important it is to preserve the peace. BUT back in 1976 there was a tree here that was blocking the views on the DMZ so there was a joint effort to trim the tree and the North Korean's attacked and killed Americans and the South Korean's involved in the tree trimming. Otherwise known as Axe Murder Incident.
The "Bridge of No Return". It was used for prisoner exchanges at the end of the Korean War in 1953. The name originates from the fact that prisoners were given the choice to remain in the country of their captivity or cross over to the other country. But if they chose to cross the bridge, they would never be allowed to return.The last time the bridge was used for prisoner exchanges was in 1968 when the crew of the USS Pueblo was released and ordered to cross into South Korea via the bridge. The bridge was actively used by the North Koreans up until the Axe Murder Incident in August 1976.
The South Korean's have found 4 tunnels that the North Koreans have built. Infiltration Tunnel #3 was discovered on 17 October 1978 and it is almost the same size as the Infiltration Tunnel #2. It was discovered in an area 4Km south of Panmunjom within the DMZ. The tunnel is arch shaped, and about 30,000 armed troops could infiltrate through the tunnel in an hour. (According to Wikipedia, North Korea has the fifth-largest military in the world, China is first and US is second just FYI).Tunnel #3 is much more threatening than Infiltration Tunnels #1 and #2. It is very obvious that North Korea planned to use the tunnel not only for wartime purposes, but also for armed guerrilla infiltration during periods of turbulences in the South. SCARY!!! HOW MANY TUNNELS HAVE THEY BUILT THAT WE HAVEN'T FOUND YET?????
We couldn't take our cameras down into the tunnel. It was a very eerie feeling to be down in there...walking towards North Korea. I highlighted the dates throughout this posting to show you guys how RECENT this all is. Everything has happened in my parents or my lifetime. Again, I can't thank God enough that I am an American and have the freedoms and security everyday that Marc and all our service men and women provide for us!!!20 January 2008
This and That
Nothing too exciting has been going on the last couple of weeks. Our family has been going NON STOP since October so to have NOTHING going on has been kinda nice...but weird. Ana just last week asked when we were going on the bus, to a hotel, to an airplane! I asked her if she was ready for a trip and she said, "Yes"! I told her our next trip was to Texas. Amazing how the time has flown!
We did manage to make our traditional New Year's Dinner...late...but better late than never! We had the Bremer's come over to celebrate on the 5th of Jan...so we had only 5 days without black-eyed peas so only 5 days of bad luck! :) We found a Russian New Year's dish that was YUMMY...it's a keeper and a new staple for our New Year's Dinner.
The Commissary (our military grocery store) just got these kids carts! This has been the best thing for Ana since her first bite of bananas! :) However, she is a RECKLESS driver and everyone in her way gets PLOWED down. I spend majority of my shopping time "clearing the aisle" and have forgotten SOMETHING every time since these carts came! But she's pretty cute!
SNOW! We got our first major snow fall and it was so fun!
Dan Crow has 95 songs published with the Walt Disney Music Company. His songs have been sung by Winnie the Pooh, Bambi, Dumbo and Milo and Otis. He was nominated for the cable TV industries prestigious ACE award for his work on Welcome to Pooh Corner on the Disney Channel. And he was HERE, at OSAN AB to perform for our little ones. He was wonderful and we had a great time with him! Thank you Dan!
We did manage to make our traditional New Year's Dinner...late...but better late than never! We had the Bremer's come over to celebrate on the 5th of Jan...so we had only 5 days without black-eyed peas so only 5 days of bad luck! :) We found a Russian New Year's dish that was YUMMY...it's a keeper and a new staple for our New Year's Dinner.
The Commissary (our military grocery store) just got these kids carts! This has been the best thing for Ana since her first bite of bananas! :) However, she is a RECKLESS driver and everyone in her way gets PLOWED down. I spend majority of my shopping time "clearing the aisle" and have forgotten SOMETHING every time since these carts came! But she's pretty cute!
SNOW! We got our first major snow fall and it was so fun!
Dan Crow has 95 songs published with the Walt Disney Music Company. His songs have been sung by Winnie the Pooh, Bambi, Dumbo and Milo and Otis. He was nominated for the cable TV industries prestigious ACE award for his work on Welcome to Pooh Corner on the Disney Channel. And he was HERE, at OSAN AB to perform for our little ones. He was wonderful and we had a great time with him! Thank you Dan!04 January 2008
Happy 2008!
You just can't explain how special your college best friends are and the bond that we have as sorority sisters! Felicia and her husband Pete have been here with us for the past week and it was a blast! 
We started New Year's Eve at the Officer's Club. Fun...but we wanted to show them the downtown area as well!
This is a "Korean Special...The Kettle". It's served in a kettle and it glows! :) It's made with SoJu (Korean liquor), 7-Up, and the energy drink is what makes it glow! Very fun!
Then it was off to our favorite little hang out bar that we make it to once a month or so (our Cheer's bar)...called Jumi's! This is Jumi, the owner, and she is wonderful.
Jumi passed out sparklers for New Year's and 3...2...1 Happy New Year!!!
Pete and Felicia's New Year's kiss!
Can't leave out the "Flower Lady"...she got her New Year's kiss too!!!
Great game of darts for the boys...
A little silliness!
Good Friends, Good Times!
Happy 2008 from Songtan, Korea!!
We started New Year's Eve at the Officer's Club. Fun...but we wanted to show them the downtown area as well!
This is a "Korean Special...The Kettle". It's served in a kettle and it glows! :) It's made with SoJu (Korean liquor), 7-Up, and the energy drink is what makes it glow! Very fun!Then it was off to our favorite little hang out bar that we make it to once a month or so (our Cheer's bar)...called Jumi's! This is Jumi, the owner, and she is wonderful.
Jumi passed out sparklers for New Year's and 3...2...1 Happy New Year!!!
Pete and Felicia's New Year's kiss!
Can't leave out the "Flower Lady"...she got her New Year's kiss too!!!
Great game of darts for the boys...
A little silliness!
Good Friends, Good Times!
Happy 2008 from Songtan, Korea!!THE PUZZLE!!
Our puzzle that we do on Christmas every year has CONSUMED Marc for the past week! It has been quite the love/hate relationship.
This is Marc after hours of working on it. He would go to bed and toss and turn and I'd ask what was wrong and he'd tell me "puzzle pieces are in my head"! OBSESSED!
Thank goodness for Pete! He helped Marc this past week and it became quite the goal for BOTH of them! Some days seeing Korea got put on the back burner because this goal to finish the puzzle was bigger than ANYTHING else on the agenda!
Pete soon felt Marc's pain and the bonding got intense...
"Good puzzle piece find solider"! (I'm telling you, it got FREAKY!!)
DONE! Mission accomplished! Can we have our husbands back now?
This is Marc after hours of working on it. He would go to bed and toss and turn and I'd ask what was wrong and he'd tell me "puzzle pieces are in my head"! OBSESSED!Thank goodness for Pete! He helped Marc this past week and it became quite the goal for BOTH of them! Some days seeing Korea got put on the back burner because this goal to finish the puzzle was bigger than ANYTHING else on the agenda!
Pete soon felt Marc's pain and the bonding got intense...
"Good puzzle piece find solider"! (I'm telling you, it got FREAKY!!)
DONE! Mission accomplished! Can we have our husbands back now?Pete and Felicia's Visit
Felicia is one of my best friends from college! She made a deal with me when I married Marc that she would visit ANYWHERE we were stationed! She just married a wonderful man this past Oct. (it was their wedding that I went back to TX for) and the two of them came here to visit for the past week.
Of course the night they fly in it snows and was crazy cold! That set the tone for the entire visit!
They had stayed awake the entire trip to Korea on the plane so they slept through the night and didn't miss a beat! Hardly any jet lag and they were ready to go to church with us the next morning.
I took Felicia to one of my shopping areas here called E-Mart. It's sort of a department/grocery store. Crazy foods and people watching is always fun!
Yep, you can buy your own live octopus and fry it up just the way ya like it! Yum! BUT I do have the say the bakery is wonderful!
The girls played princesses!
This is one of our favorite restaurants that we take everyone to.
We love Thai food and this is one of our favorites. We like to say we are going to go get "Pwucked Up" for lunch/dinner...kinda funny!
And what visit isn't complete without the Korean BBQ at Sam Il's? But this time we did it right...we sat on the floor! I have to say I was SOOOO happy that this is my LAST visit here!!!
NEW side dish...some sort of fish head thing...Pete is such a good trooper!
Happy Girls!
Of course the night they fly in it snows and was crazy cold! That set the tone for the entire visit!They had stayed awake the entire trip to Korea on the plane so they slept through the night and didn't miss a beat! Hardly any jet lag and they were ready to go to church with us the next morning.
I took Felicia to one of my shopping areas here called E-Mart. It's sort of a department/grocery store. Crazy foods and people watching is always fun!
Yep, you can buy your own live octopus and fry it up just the way ya like it! Yum! BUT I do have the say the bakery is wonderful!
The girls played princesses!
This is one of our favorite restaurants that we take everyone to.
We love Thai food and this is one of our favorites. We like to say we are going to go get "Pwucked Up" for lunch/dinner...kinda funny!
And what visit isn't complete without the Korean BBQ at Sam Il's? But this time we did it right...we sat on the floor! I have to say I was SOOOO happy that this is my LAST visit here!!!
NEW side dish...some sort of fish head thing...Pete is such a good trooper!
Happy Girls!We went to Seoul these past couple of days and Pete and Felicia did the DMZ and I STILL haven't done it, you can't take kids under 10 and Marc was working...hopefully in the next month! We went to the Korean War Museum and did lots of fun shopping at Itetawon. Last night we had a FABULOUS dinner at the Seoul Tower! Seoul was just beautiful at night with all the lights! It was a wonderful visit and we are SOOO looking forward to more great memories together in Texas!
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