Photos of our home

While it is certainly not Better Home and Gardens ready, our home is shaping up. My goal is to live totally without clutter. I still have a couple of boxes of papers to weed through, but, for the most part, I want zero extra stuff we don't need. I already showed shots of the kids's rooms, so here is the rest (for the most part). Above, the boys hang out and do their computers on the futon in the living room. Jack's uncle got us a console for the tv, so we're set (well, except for a dvd player and a stereo; oh, and a computer that works).

Another angle on the living room, looking onto the dining area and kitchen. We have the clothes drying racks inside (by fridge) for the time being, but when the weather warms up significantly, we'll stick them in the outer corridors.

My beloved washing machine--I can't tell you how amazing it is, after all these years, to have our own washing machine! Olivers's eczema has almost disappeared. I attribute it to not sharing a washing machine with others and having to wash our clothes in machines that have residue from other people's clothes and/or detergents.

Our kitchen, starring our two-door fridge. Love it, love it, love it. It wasn't cheap, but, considering the fact we've never had a fridge this big or even one we could call 'ours,' this one is awesome and worth every little won.

Oliver in mommy and apa's room. The bed we also got from Jack's uncle. I'm not too into used beds, but the mattress was practically new. The bed frame is a little wacky, but it'll do until we can buy a new one that suits us. It beats sleeping on the floor. I just can't do that everyday. Jack picked out the curtains in our room and the living room. They're sparkly--a little tacky, faux-Indian chic, but I really like them.

Spring Time!

Wow--it is so amazingly beautiful here with all the flowering bushes and trees. I think I took flowers, etc. for granted while living in Oakland and, having gone through the latter half of a cold winter, I am really excited about spring. Besides the fabulous cherry blossoms, there are many other trees sprouting flowers. This is such a beautiful time of year. I (being a semi-pessimist) am reminding myself that it's brief and that, soon, the flowers on the cherry blossoms will be replaced by leaves on the trees and then we'll be in summer; hot, hot summer (ugh). But, thinking positively, I am really relishing the site of the flowers. I took some shots as we walked from our home to my office. The campus is really gorgeous right now.

This is a mountain slope right behind our home--ah...spring!

Above is the trail that I take to my office. It gets pretty steep, but it's fun to walk to work.

MT Time

I experienced a very Korean tradition. It's called "MT," or "Membership Training." Every department, I believe, at every university has an MT at least once a semester. For the spring semester at the traditional music department, the professors go with the students as 'chaperones.' The 'training' is really just a chance to party and get to know those in your department better. I didn't really know this before going, but discovered, very soon, that it's not training in the English-implication sense of the word. Instead of thinking of it as a waste of time, I actually think it was a great idea and I was glad I went. I spent a lot of time talking with my colleagues and graduate students, and got to be around the undergraduates in an informal context. Above, my T.A., Ji-young, starts the party.

I didn't spend the night, although everyone else did. I thought spending the night there would be too disruptive to the kids right now, so I stayed the day and returned to Seoul on a bus that night. Eulwangni is in Incheon, a little island off the coast near Seoul where the International Airport is located. There are beaches everywhere and many, many seafood restaurants. Above, the kayageum professor Yi Ji-young and I spend some time together before braving the cold on the beach where the students were playing games.

While it wasn't freezing, it was in the 50s. Despite this, students took off their shoes and played games right by, and in, the ocean.

Me, on Eulwangni Beach.

I guess, for one of the games, if you lost you got dumped in the ocean. Brrrr. It happened about 3 times during the time I watched the students play games that included a version of tag and a wierd many-legged race type of game. The student who got dumped above, didn't seem to mind. She asked the guys to only get her pants wet since she brought an extra pair of pants but not an extra sweater.

Students and Professor Yi pose for the camera below. It was a lot of fun and the first time I got to see a beach since leaving the Bay Area. The smell of the salt air and sound of the ocean was very, very nice.

Three-legged race? Ha! I'm not sure what the rules were here, but it seemed the point was to join as many legs together as possible and try and go faster than the other team.

After the beach games, students divided themselves into three teams to make three different types of food: kimbap, bokeum bap, and shabu shabu (again, excuse the sloppy romanization, but don't have time to think too much about it). After resting in the room for a while, I went to the room where the students were gathered and they grabbed me and had me try all the different foods they prepared. It was fun, but a little difficult to get away. Meanwhile, the other profs and grad students were waiting for me so we could go get dinner separately...

We had roasted clams, oysters, and other types of shell fish (hermit crab, maybe?). We had a little raspberry wine with dinner. It was very good. We kept debating if and when we should return to check on the students. The Chair thought we should just let them be for a while, since the students might not like us hanging around too much. So, we took our time at dinner.

When we returned, Yi Ji-young and I decided to see what the students were during. They were playing a trivia game about Seoul National University. Two people sat up front and, if they answered correctly more times than the opponent they go to sit while the loser had to stand in front of everyone and sing. Well, lo and behold, the students (well, actually, my T.A.) called Yi Ji-young and I up to the front to play the game, too.

I actually got two of the three right, which meant that Yi had to get up and sing.

When I had returned to my seat in the back and through all was well and done, my T.A. called me to the front, anyway, to sing a song. Despite my initial embarrassment, it was fun.

Now I can say that I definitely know what 'membership training' is. I plan to go again next spring.

Papa John's, Korea

Yes--it tasted SOOOO good. The kids were craving pizza, but when Jack's cousin asked if he could order pizza for us I shot right up with a "Yes!" I think I wanted it more than anyone. I love Papa John's. I haven't had it since living in Bloomington (we didn't live near a Papa John's in Oakland; besides, the Bay Area is a place where independent places reign supreme) and I didn't realize how much I missed the garlic butter dipping sauce. It was so worth it.

New Baby

Jack's cousin, Brad, has a new baby! Wendy, Brad's wife, gave birth to their baby girl last week. She is so adorable! We were able to spend some time with Brad and his mom at their apartment before visiting Wendy at the hospital. I promised Wendy I would not post any 'I'm in the hospital and haven't bathed in days," photos of her. I'll wait until she's fully recovered. At Korean hospitals, they don't allow women who have just had babies to bathe. I'm not sure how long, but it had been a week and Wendy had still not been allowed to shower. Yikes! They also make her eat miyeok-guk (sea mustard soup) over, and over, and over again. And (one more thing), she gets to move to a recovery home where she and the baby can rest for two weeks while people take care of them. While the other parts--no bathing, etc.--aren't so fun, I would have loved to have something like a recovery home where people would just take care of me and let me rest. She won't be done recovering from the birth until the end of this month.

Jack and Dahin with cousin Brad.

Jack's sister Eun-young (left) and Brad's mom, the new 'halmoni.'

Boys at Preschool

Our computer at home crashed so I'm having to do this rushed post before heading home for the evening. Soon, we will have a decent computer at home.

The teachers sent pictures home of the boys at preschool. I wrote a note asking them to send me some jpegs and they did. Oliver, I think, is being a little more social than Ronan. Ronan's a little quieter, in general. The one thing that has surprised us is how well they've adjusted. I feel a little embarrassed now thinking about when I told the head teacher, "You know, they are going to cry a LOT since they've never been to preschool or to any type of school outside the home." But, no problem. Not a tear or hesitation. In fact, Ronan whined on Saturday, "Why can't I go to school today? Why?" As if being home with the family and without structured time was akin to torture.

There are children there all the way from babies to 6 year-olds. They keep the different ages separate except once a day when all the kids are allowed to interact. The boys, in Korean age, are six. It feels a little wierd saying, "Six," when asked how old they are. The reason for this is that Koreans consider kids to already be one year old when they are born. You don't turn a year older on your birthday. but on the first day of the lunar new year (or solar new year, these days). So, at the new year, the boys turned "6" in Korean age becsuse this is the year, in American age, that they turn 5 (although they don't turn 5 until July).

Preschool Time

The boys LOVE preschool. We were so worried about sending them and just knew they would cry. But, on the first day, when the bus came to pick them up, the boys just got on the bus and sat in their seats as if it were what they do everyday. The school provided us with backpacks and a lunch dish for the boys. We send them to school every morning with these things as well as a set of chopsticks and a spoon. The boys are eating really well at school, and Oliver has discovered that he loves "spicy kimchi." The school also provides us with a book in which the teachers can write notes to us about their day. I love that we can hear little tidbits, like Ronan singing a pop song during lunch, or Oliver mastering drumming. Today, they learned how to play an hourglass drum called the changgu. The teachers taught them the spoken syllables used to teach the rhythms. The teacher wrote in Oliver's book that Oliver picked it up really quickly. They sent us a printout of some pictures the teachers took of the boys today--Oliver and Ronan playing drums and eating lunch. I'm going to ask them if they can send me the photo files via email so that I can post them here. They are really cute! After the bus drops them off, the boys head home for a snack. Ronan's favorite is a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Oliver likes fruit.