The soft pastels of the spring flowers are slowly by surely giving way to some vibrant hues. The kids and I spied this massively huge butterfly taking a drink outside of our apartment. Ok, it is hard to tell how big this guy was, but let's just say we thought it was some wierd Korean incarnation of a hummingbird. Children's Day is a national holiday in Korea and most everyone gets the day off. The month of May is known as a family month because, in addition to Children's Day, Parents' Day is celebrated. On Parents' Day we gave Jack's mom money (something Jack insisted she wanted more than anything else) and she promptly turned around and gave the kids more than half of what we gave her because she said she wasn't able to see them on Children's Day (she'd been ill). I was a bit dumbfounded and wanted to insist that she keep the money all for herself, but Jack said to just let her do what she wanted to do. To tell you the truth, I wanted to give her a gift instead, but she'd probably save it and regift it for someone else, anyway. Well, back to Children's Day...the point is to spend time with your kids (consequently, in a Parents' Day survey, the majority stated that what they wanted most--more than gifts, etc.--- was to spend time with their children; Jack's mom was still not feeling well, but enjoyed our brief visit). It was fabulous--full of activities with the kids, and the weather was more like summer.
On campus, the university hosted an event for professors and their families living in the university housing. The event started out with a picnic lunch of kimbap and Capri Sun. Ronan ate his kimbap with gusto. We were the only ones who did not bring a picnic blanket or pad--oops. People invited us to share, but the kids preferred the bench. Note the belly; this is why mommy needs to do running/pilates more regularly (I'm working on it...).
The volunteers of the apartment association and the management ajeossi were there to sign eveyone in and pass out kimbap, juice, and raffle numbers.
Inside the gym, the games began at 12:30. Jack and a bunch of kids got a head start by hula hooping. I can't imagine why Jack needs to place his hands over his manboobs; maybe it helps keep the momentum going.
Oliver tried to hide himself in the parachute. Really, he is an enthusiastic participant in sporting events. Really. I swear.
The games started by dividing those gathered into two teams: red and blue. We were on the red team and tied ribbons wherever we could on our bodies, etc. Below, our men's team gets off to a shaky start. Let's play 'guess who didn't jump high enough so we lost this round.' Picture's worth a thousand words.
Our kids' team pulled us back up into a competitive running position. Despite the fact that the kid on the left looks like he's gonna get caught by the rope, he jumped at the last minute so that the team got in two good jumps. Look how high my baby's jumping!
Below, Oliver and Ronan wait with the other kids for the relay race. It took a while to get us organized. The kids, 10 and under, had one part to play, then the moms, then the older kids, then the dads. The younger kids squiggled through a tube and handed the relay baton to the moms, the moms moved across the floor on their bellies on a skateboard-like thingy and handed the baton to the older kids who climbed over some things and went through hoops then handed the baton to the dads who flipped over onto a mat, went under the parachute, and sprinted to pass the baton to the little kids. It seemed quite complicated initially, but once we went through once it made sense.
Oliver had to be fed through the tube. He made it through pretty fast but seemed a little lost once he emerged.
Once I yelled at him to go go go! he ran towards me and, guess what, I got to be the first to skateboard my way across the floor. Yay me.
I debated about whether or not I should post the following photo, but, heck, if I can post pics of Jack manhandling his manboobs, I can post pics of me turtling across a gymnasium. Luckily, we have no photos of me falling as I tried to run off of the skateboard to hand the baton to the kid waiting on the other end.
Ronan was a little rock star. At first, we were a little worried because he seemed a little out of it. I just pictured him being handed the baton and just sitting there. The event helper, I suppose, was giving him a little pep talk, but he seemed oblivious. Meanwhile, the other kid was jumping up and down, anxious for his turn to get through the tunnel...
But, once Ronan was handed the baton, he sprinted through that little tunnel and beat his competitor by a long shot.
Run, Ronan, run!!! I love this look on his face, when he realized he was ahead of the other kid. He looks like an Olympian headed for a sure victory. The other kid's like, "drat, foiled again!"
Despite the valiant efforts of those on our team, like Ronan and Oliver and Dahin, who totally rocked (and no thanks to those, like me, who totally wiped out and had to crawl in defeat), we lost to the blue team by a long shot. Ouch.
After cheering on our team for hours, Jack and the kids stew in our defeat. Ah well. We gave it a good try. Luckily, there were no prizes that actually coincided with victory, so it was like there was no 'real' winner. : )' We won a storage box as a raffle prize and all the grade school kids got a bottle cooler while the preschool kids got picnic mats. It was very well organized and a lot of fun.
I ponder in the bathroom, "Perhaps it was the frequent potty breaks that spelled disaster for the reds..." Hmmm. Well, at least the bathroom smelled better than the gym. That was one stinky gym.
We had a little bit of a break between the games on campus and the barbecue in the evening. Each apartment building has two or three lines of apartments. We met with those in our building line who either have a 1 or 2 at the end of their number (e.g. 101, 102, 201, 202...) We signed up to bring salad. Other building lines did something similar, although each group had its own style. I was grateful that our group was very laid back and not the group that wore nametags. I was pleasantly surprised to see the presence of beer and wine, as well, so I rushed inside our place to bring out some of our wine and extra beer. Woo-hoo!! That's what I'm talking about...
The kids ate first so that the parents could actually enjoy themselves later. : - ) Not only was their pork galbi and samgyeopsal, but their were hotdogs and sausages as well. The kids were in meat heaven.
Dahin's looking at her dinner companion like, "What are you doing? You're posing for the camera while you could be eating? Oh well, more for me..." The little blue mats with the bunnies on them are the mats the boys got at the gymnasium. We've discovered that, when the kids go on picnics at school, they are supposed to bring these mats. Glad we have some now, although they've already gone on their spring picnic at school. Oh well; next time.
Jack gallantly helped with the grill. He was the only guy who actually helped with the grill initially and over an extended period of time. I was pretty proud. It was good he did it as well as I am notoriously bad at the grill. When I actually did try to help, I burned a few pieces. Oops. I attempted to cover up for it by implying that I did it on purpose; "I like the burnt bits." The other women looked at me as if I were nuts.
It was fabulous getting to know the other neighbors. It was pretty segregated, though. The women sat together and the men sat together. I preferred the women's table, however, since the focus of the men's table seemed to be to get drunk. The other women were pretty funny, especially my neighbor on the right in the above photo. She's an artist who had an art opening today with her husband (who is a professor in the fine arts dept at Seoul National). She went to college in Germany and was refreshingly loud, funny, and a little brash. I totally enjoyed spending time with her. The woman a bit in the back of the photo with a child on her lap is a mom of twin girls. It's funny that there are two sets of twins in the same line.
Oliver's companion in the photo below formally announced that she is Oliver's girlfriend at the event in the gym. I asked her, "So, are you Hyunmo's girlfriend? She said, "You mean Oliver? Yes, he's my boyfriend." Well, scandal of scandals, she is a whole two years older than him! Usually, she has Oliver get things for her from our place, like juice and popsicles. Oliver will ring the bell and when I open the door he'll say, "Um, can I have two popsicles please?" and the little girl will be peaking around the corner. Pretty funny. Yes, true love. Although you can tell that there is no way she is sharing her soda.
One of the moms, apparently, is a master maker of things like bread and rice cake. She brough out a huge rice cake (ddeok) that we all shared. It was still warm and so, so fresh.
Dahin demonstrated her new two-wheeling skills and the reason why she has boatloads of fresh bruises and scrapes on a daily basis. I think seeing other kids her age and younger riding around without training wheels pushed her over the edge into 'okay, I'm ready to take these training wheels off' mode. She started practicing by taking the training wheels off Oliver's bike (they never stay on properly anyway) and then Jack decided it was time to take hers off so she would stop doing that. She's become quite the pro at riding around the premises.
We stayed out until 10 pm. While I still don't know my neighbors super well, at least we all know each others' names and children now. I can honestly say that this is the first time I've lived somewhere where I know my neighbors. It's a good feeling.
The soft pastels of the spring flowers are slowly by surely giving way to some vibrant hues. The kids and I spied this massively huge butterfly taking a drink outside of our apartment. Ok, it is hard to tell how big this guy was, but let's just say we thought it was some wierd Korean incarnation of a hummingbird. Children's Day is a national holiday in Korea and most everyone gets the day off. The month of May is known as a family month because, in addition to Children's Day, Parents' Day is celebrated. On Parents' Day we gave Jack's mom money (something Jack insisted she wanted more than anything else) and she promptly turned around and gave the kids more than half of what we gave her because she said she wasn't able to see them on Children's Day (she'd been ill). I was a bit dumbfounded and wanted to insist that she keep the money all for herself, but Jack said to just let her do what she wanted to do. To tell you the truth, I wanted to give her a gift instead, but she'd probably save it and regift it for someone else, anyway. Well, back to Children's Day...the point is to spend time with your kids (consequently, in a Parents' Day survey, the majority stated that what they wanted most--more than gifts, etc.--- was to spend time with their children; Jack's mom was still not feeling well, but enjoyed our brief visit). It was fabulous--full of activities with the kids, and the weather was more like summer.
On campus, the university hosted an event for professors and their families living in the university housing. The event started out with a picnic lunch of kimbap and Capri Sun. Ronan ate his kimbap with gusto. We were the only ones who did not bring a picnic blanket or pad--oops. People invited us to share, but the kids preferred the bench. Note the belly; this is why mommy needs to do running/pilates more regularly (I'm working on it...).
The volunteers of the apartment association and the management ajeossi were there to sign eveyone in and pass out kimbap, juice, and raffle numbers.
Inside the gym, the games began at 12:30. Jack and a bunch of kids got a head start by hula hooping. I can't imagine why Jack needs to place his hands over his manboobs; maybe it helps keep the momentum going.
Oliver tried to hide himself in the parachute. Really, he is an enthusiastic participant in sporting events. Really. I swear.
Our kids' team pulled us back up into a competitive running position. Despite the fact that the kid on the left looks like he's gonna get caught by the rope, he jumped at the last minute so that the team got in two good jumps. Look how high my baby's jumping!
Below, Oliver and Ronan wait with the other kids for the relay race. It took a while to get us organized. The kids, 10 and under, had one part to play, then the moms, then the older kids, then the dads. The younger kids squiggled through a tube and handed the relay baton to the moms, the moms moved across the floor on their bellies on a skateboard-like thingy and handed the baton to the older kids who climbed over some things and went through hoops then handed the baton to the dads who flipped over onto a mat, went under the parachute, and sprinted to pass the baton to the little kids. It seemed quite complicated initially, but once we went through once it made sense.
Oliver had to be fed through the tube. He made it through pretty fast but seemed a little lost once he emerged.
Once I yelled at him to go go go! he ran towards me and, guess what, I got to be the first to skateboard my way across the floor. Yay me.
I debated about whether or not I should post the following photo, but, heck, if I can post pics of Jack manhandling his manboobs, I can post pics of me turtling across a gymnasium. Luckily, we have no photos of me falling as I tried to run off of the skateboard to hand the baton to the kid waiting on the other end.
Ronan was a little rock star. At first, we were a little worried because he seemed a little out of it. I just pictured him being handed the baton and just sitting there. The event helper, I suppose, was giving him a little pep talk, but he seemed oblivious. Meanwhile, the other kid was jumping up and down, anxious for his turn to get through the tunnel...
But, once Ronan was handed the baton, he sprinted through that little tunnel and beat his competitor by a long shot.
Run, Ronan, run!!! I love this look on his face, when he realized he was ahead of the other kid. He looks like an Olympian headed for a sure victory. The other kid's like, "drat, foiled again!"
Despite the valiant efforts of those on our team, like Ronan and Oliver and Dahin, who totally rocked (and no thanks to those, like me, who totally wiped out and had to crawl in defeat), we lost to the blue team by a long shot. Ouch.
After cheering on our team for hours, Jack and the kids stew in our defeat. Ah well. We gave it a good try. Luckily, there were no prizes that actually coincided with victory, so it was like there was no 'real' winner. : )' We won a storage box as a raffle prize and all the grade school kids got a bottle cooler while the preschool kids got picnic mats. It was very well organized and a lot of fun.
I ponder in the bathroom, "Perhaps it was the frequent potty breaks that spelled disaster for the reds..." Hmmm. Well, at least the bathroom smelled better than the gym. That was one stinky gym.
We had a little bit of a break between the games on campus and the barbecue in the evening. Each apartment building has two or three lines of apartments. We met with those in our building line who either have a 1 or 2 at the end of their number (e.g. 101, 102, 201, 202...) We signed up to bring salad. Other building lines did something similar, although each group had its own style. I was grateful that our group was very laid back and not the group that wore nametags. I was pleasantly surprised to see the presence of beer and wine, as well, so I rushed inside our place to bring out some of our wine and extra beer. Woo-hoo!! That's what I'm talking about...
The kids ate first so that the parents could actually enjoy themselves later. : - ) Not only was their pork galbi and samgyeopsal, but their were hotdogs and sausages as well. The kids were in meat heaven.
Dahin's looking at her dinner companion like, "What are you doing? You're posing for the camera while you could be eating? Oh well, more for me..." The little blue mats with the bunnies on them are the mats the boys got at the gymnasium. We've discovered that, when the kids go on picnics at school, they are supposed to bring these mats. Glad we have some now, although they've already gone on their spring picnic at school. Oh well; next time.
Jack gallantly helped with the grill. He was the only guy who actually helped with the grill initially and over an extended period of time. I was pretty proud. It was good he did it as well as I am notoriously bad at the grill. When I actually did try to help, I burned a few pieces. Oops. I attempted to cover up for it by implying that I did it on purpose; "I like the burnt bits." The other women looked at me as if I were nuts.
It was fabulous getting to know the other neighbors. It was pretty segregated, though. The women sat together and the men sat together. I preferred the women's table, however, since the focus of the men's table seemed to be to get drunk. The other women were pretty funny, especially my neighbor on the right in the above photo. She's an artist who had an art opening today with her husband (who is a professor in the fine arts dept at Seoul National). She went to college in Germany and was refreshingly loud, funny, and a little brash. I totally enjoyed spending time with her. The woman a bit in the back of the photo with a child on her lap is a mom of twin girls. It's funny that there are two sets of twins in the same line.
Oliver's companion in the photo below formally announced that she is Oliver's girlfriend at the event in the gym. I asked her, "So, are you Hyunmo's girlfriend? She said, "You mean Oliver? Yes, he's my boyfriend." Well, scandal of scandals, she is a whole two years older than him! Usually, she has Oliver get things for her from our place, like juice and popsicles. Oliver will ring the bell and when I open the door he'll say, "Um, can I have two popsicles please?" and the little girl will be peaking around the corner. Pretty funny. Yes, true love. Although you can tell that there is no way she is sharing her soda.
One of the moms, apparently, is a master maker of things like bread and rice cake. She brough out a huge rice cake (ddeok) that we all shared. It was still warm and so, so fresh.
Dahin demonstrated her new two-wheeling skills and the reason why she has boatloads of fresh bruises and scrapes on a daily basis. I think seeing other kids her age and younger riding around without training wheels pushed her over the edge into 'okay, I'm ready to take these training wheels off' mode. She started practicing by taking the training wheels off Oliver's bike (they never stay on properly anyway) and then Jack decided it was time to take hers off so she would stop doing that. She's become quite the pro at riding around the premises.
We stayed out until 10 pm. While I still don't know my neighbors super well, at least we all know each others' names and children now. I can honestly say that this is the first time I've lived somewhere where I know my neighbors. It's a good feeling.
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