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smoke on the water

Saturday was a nice day. rick didn't have to work so i got to spend some time with my new friend, Mr treadmill and take a shower without 2 children watching me. very rare thing for me these days. rick took Ethan out for awhile so i took my time getting ready and since it was date night, spent some extra time on the hair and makeup in preparation for later that night. right after i finish, rick calls and says hey, i told my friend from work we would go hiking with him and his family as soon as the baby wakes from her nap, OK? OK, so not my first choice for things to do considering my morning but, we are leaving Korea soon and have decided to try to make sure we get alittle history in while we are still here. i mean really, how often do you move to Korea? so Addison woke up and we went hiking. the family we went with apparently does this often because they were all decked out with hiking poles, gear and special backpacks. i liked it and thought that it was something i might like to do more of in the future. i mean everyone hikes in Houston right? so, it was fairly good temperature for this (about 45 degrees F) and Addison was strapped to rick in a snowsuit, making my experience much easier. the destination of the hike was pretty cool. All i really knew is we were going to the smokestacks. i have heard people talk about hiking there but i had not seen them yet. So, we drive the car off a road that is pretty hidden and brings back memories of going the wrong way up the mountain, park and then hike your way up to this huge stone smoke stack. its pretty high and i was nervous with Ethan trying to run around with the other little boy there. According to history, back in the day these stacks were used to signal when ships from Japan were coming to attack during war. They are strategically placed all over the island so you can signal from one end to the other. during the day they would send smoke up to warn the others, and at night it would be fire. i am guessing they got a lot of use over the centuries as the Japanese used to invade Korea for about 200 years whenever they got bored. the smoke stack itself was impressive and the view was amazing.It is said that from where we stood you could see part of japan if it was a clear day (which it wasn't). anyway, you could see all of okpo...

we continued to hike up into the mountains to a clearing to have a snack. in the clearing there was, of course, the obligatory exercise equipment which you find everywhere on the island, apparently even up on the mountains. so odd how exercise equipment is everywhere. even odder is the fact that the equipment seems to be used fairly regularly. Koreans are very into exercise i guess. from what I've been told, as a culture they believe babies should be chubby and adults should be thin. as far as I'm concerned, i get way more than enough exercise climbing the mountain to our house everyday, and so far, no one has called me largie. oh wait, i should back up... we moved when we returned to Korea.

the constant should we or shouldn't we was finally laid to rest when we returned to Korea on Tuesday and on Friday , we packed up and moved to the row houses. there are things we miss about the apt (forskin) but overall like it much better here. in fact we wish we could have been here from the beginning. not that the apt was bad, but this is a townhouse, giving us much more space on 2 levels and feels like a home. The only thing that truly has been a surprise to us is how steep the mountain is we live on. driving to it doesn't really give you the full effect of how it will feel pushing a stroller up it twice a day, but hey, the exercise is good. i have yet to make it up the hill without losing my breath. For this reason Mr treadmill hasn't seen the action he should yet. anyway, here's some pics of the new place:

later that night, date night, we went to the opening of a new bar in okpo called shamROCK to see some friends of ours band. the drummer in the band is an engineer for a different company but is from Maine and married to one of the friends i have made here. another friend of mine (another of the coffee moms) is actually singing in the band now and was making her debut. this was the first time going out together without the kids since we moved. very cool that everything is still within walking distance just a different direction your coming from now, so with both kids asleep and a sitter at the house we headed down that hill. the bar was very small and situated across from another newly opened bar called "bunny boiler", apparently a shout out to basic instinct fans of Korea. maybe there's some secret cult of people here that like that movie and opened that bar, i don't know, nothing surprises me here anymore. so we packed ourselves into the bar along with everyone else you always see in okpo. Rick kept saying "wouldn't even know your in Korea" (i think that what he said anyway because it was so loud inside) because it was such a diverse crowd but very few Koreans. its funny how the groups cluster together when you look around. oh look, its the American group, there's the teachers group, the Norwegians are over there, and don't forget the young Korean girls with unattractive men who could be there fathers, that group is always around. we noted that a Fire code at shamROCK is apparently not mandatory. as packed as it was, people just kept on coming and we struggled to find our place. band was good , beer was good (hoegarden on tap), separate bathroom for men and women (only sharing a sink this time) and after drinking 3 very quickly slammed beers which i am convinced were drugged due to the hangover i felt the next day, the baby sitter called. Addison will not sleep, calling for you she said, and apparently cutting yet another tooth. i think she checks the calendar and plans the event around date nights. the babysitter is a friend of mine recovering from a recent back injury so i didn't want her to have to walk the floor with the baby, so home we went. very big bummer, was just settling in, and now its raining outside. suddenly not so cool that everything is within walking distance. and oh, by the way, walking up the side of a mountain slightly drunk in the rain my sound poetic, but in reality it is a bad, bad thing, no matter what country your in. so rick is leaving to go offshore again this week but we believe he should only be gone about 8 days this time. i will do my best again to not lose my mind while he's gone and remind ethan that he is not indeed in charge with me when rick is gone like he likes to tell addison.

back blog

so right before we came home to Michigan for Xmas we had a very busy and fun weekend in Korea. on Friday we had the ship naming ceremony for the discoverer Luanda which is basically the celebration of finishing a ship. the ship has actually been named since the beginning but this is really just the official party to do it up right i guess. during the day there is a ceremony at quayside where the ship is moored. They wheel in a temporary stage, everyone shows up to watch, a few dignitaries give some speeches, and the lady sponsor for the ship (typically the wife of a client exec) cuts a line to drop the shroud over the name. That is followed by some photo ops, a tour of the rig for the dignitaries, and lunch (formal for some, Domino's for the rest of us). The ceremony takes about 30 minutes from start to finish, with the tour and lunch killing off the remainder of the afternoon (at least for those at the formal lunch, those of us fortunate enough to have pizza went back to work).





in the evening a party is held at a nice hotel with entertainment, guest speakers, gift giving, food and drink. everyone dresses up and has a nice time. after a failed attempt to secure a babysitter for the kids, we wound up having one of the teachers from Ethan's school come by to watch them. i felt really comfortable with her and liked her right away which was good. more importantly the kids like her and she is good with babies. she is my age and is from Canada. i have this stereotypical belief that all Canadians are gentle people so this worked really well for me. rick and i both had difficulty getting ready for the party though because the only suit rick brought was from when he was 40 lbs heavier and the only dress i brought was very casual. luckily i have friends and between all of us i scored some shoes, jewelery, and a fancy wrap to wear which did the job just fine. for some reason, we had difficulty securing a taxi though. every time we called they just kept saying "no pick up from mijn tower" which is where we live. we were already running late so rick was really stressing out. finally we ran into one of ricks coworkers in the parking garage who was driving his car and hitched a ride with them. food was great, entertainment was even better and all and all a very good time. the gift provided to us was a hand carved Korean lantern which i think is awesome. also awesome was the Korean kids from a nearby group home, all developmentally disabled and all incredibly talented. they provided traditional Korean drumming, acting out a story with costumes that was mesmerizing. the coordination required to perform this was impressive and they were all very proud when introduced. the introductions also included personal information about each individual and their likes and dislikes. got alittle choked up, i was so impressed, and anyone who really knows me knows part of my heart lies here with this population of people. i will try to include some video from the ceremony along with some pics...





afterward we caught a bus back to the hotel by Ethan's school and walked home from there.


the day after this was the first annual kimchi making event for charity held by DSME at the shipyard. i took part in this and yes, learned to make kimchi. for those of you who don't know, kimchi is the staple in ever Korean meal. it is believed to having many functions including prevention of diseases, helping recovery (healing scars, lowering cholesterol), and is even believed to delay the aging process. in our apt we even have a separate fridge for kimchi (not the greatest smelling stuff ever). gimjang is a traditional Korean event in which kimchi is prepared for eomdong (the coldest months of winter). the main ingredients of kimchi are cabbage and radish. in addition, there is parsley, mustard leaf, garlic, green onion, ginger, anchovy sauce, rice stew, pickled fish and powdered red pepper. the cabbage is salted, cut in half and put aside for one night. the following day the cabbage is rinsed, and filled with a combination of the above ingredients that have been mixed to form a paste. each layer of the cabbage is pulled back and rubbed with this paste before placing in a container and allowing fermentation to occur which can be anywhere from a week to several years.





one of the English speaking Korean girls there told me that her family gets together and the women make a weekend out of making the kimchi. she is young and unmarried so in her family she is not allowed to actually make the kimchi, she is just there to observe. in her family it is also considered a way the mother takes care of her children by providing the kimchi and until you have a family of your own, you do not do it. her mother and grandmother do all the work and take pride in their results and their ability to provide for their families. I'm not sure if all Korean families are this way or just this one.

OK, things i learned while making kimchi:

i apparently have too soft of a touch with my cabbage and was frequently cued by the non English speaking Korean woman teaching me to slop the paste on more aggressively.

second, kimchi is truly nasty looking stuff and you would not want to be hung over and attend this event.

and finally, eating is part of this process and even though you are wearing a mask, gloves, and gown, I'm not so sure that this is the cleanest process ever. frequently, one of the Koreans would pull down your mask and try to feed you something. sometimes its pork, sometimes some kimchi pancakes, sometimes its unidentifiable. I'll admit, i went with it, even the kimchi we were making was put in your mouth, sometimes with chopsticks, sometimes not. what can i say, when in Rome...






afterward we had a buffet meal in the banquet room where we tried some rice wine and were provided with pictures of the day and a container of kimchi to take home, which was funny because since we all know it is tradition to give gifts in Korea, we were speculating on what the gift would be. of course jokingly we would say "its probably kimchi". and so it was.
well, Ethan loved the gift and enjoyed eating it frequently for snack up until we returned to MI.






the weekend didn't end there and on Sunday we celebrated Ethan's 5th birthday by going bowling and out for pizza. there are a couple of bowling alley's in okpo apparently and i was surprised at how small they are for one and that they are on the second floor. don't know why but this surprised me. also, what a shock, no woman's size bowling shoes would fit me. i was over it instantly and really didn't even blink when the man gestured to the men's shoes as my only option. there was a bowling league i think playing and they enjoyed watching us. also another couple with their son bowling and the mom celebrating her birthday on that day too. Ethan told her it was his birthday and she said it was hers too. she was Korean and used the same same but different phrase to describe this, which Ethan thought was really cool. pizza was at a restaurant called IL torro which has a Korean chef who trained in Italy and is said to make the best brick oven pizza in okpo. pizza was great and the only downer was having to change Addison on the floor in the cleaning room due to no proper bathroom. this happens alot and I've learned to adapt by always carring a big blanket with me.

we celebrated Ethan's bday again at his school on Monday with a pizza party(not IL torro) and cake for his classmates. Ethan was incredibly excited and enjoyed it to the fullest. his favorite girls at school gave him gifts and he graciously pointed out to everyone which gifts he liked and which ones he didn't. smooth huh, gonna have to work on that.

finally, we had Ethan's Xmas concert where Ethan and his class performed the little drummer boy in full costume. we practiced it for weeks and when he went up, he sang it beautifully. one of those memorable moments you have as a parent. afterward Ethan's teacher made a point to say in front of the other parents what a good reader Ethan has become. as Mrs Mann would say back home, Ethan was having a proud moment. anyway, merry Christmas. i feel caught up now.

Okpo from above

Here is a view of Okpo from on top of the derrick on the ship I am working on at the shipyard.

Sightseeing in Okpo

On probably what was the last warm day here in Okpo we decided it is our duty to occasionally go somewhere sightseeing that is historic. rick chose this one and it is the Okpo Great Victory Commemorative park which was built in 1996. it describes the victory of the national hero admiral vi sun-sin who fought the Japanese invasion of Korea from 1592-1598. apparently he lead the torpedoing of 26 of 50 Japanese ships gaining victory for Korea. here are some pics, it really is a lovely place.

Our second sight seeing adventure, also chosen by rick, was a different experience altogether. on date night rick decided he would share with me the seedier side of Okpo that he has experienced with the work buddies he occasionally goes out with.

after a nice Korean style BBQ dinner and too much wine, we decided to go to a place called lounge. now depending on who you talk to, the pronunciation of this place is different. the women i know call it the lounge. the men who rick know call it "Loungie". like the street name thing here, restaurants/bars are pretty much the same. not many actually have names you use, they are all made up. for example, originally we were going to go to dinner at a place that is called "Micheal Jackson's". its not the name on the door, but the foreigners call it that because they give you one white glove to eat with (its a rib place).

so anyway, off to Loungie we went. i already knew about this place and that if you are a man and come unaccompanied by a woman, a Filipino woman with a lighted name plate worn around her waist will attach herself to you. rick nervously described this to me after it happened to him a couple of weeks before. apparently one of their goals is to get you to buy them a drink. all drinks you buy them cost 20,000 won (approx $18.00) no matter what it is. a shot, a beer, mixed drink, all the same. in return for this, they hang out with you, dance with you, whatever. the bar is making money because the drinks are so expensive and the men are happy to have the undivided attention of these women. rick lured me there saying they had live music and he knew i missed going to see bands play. plus it was close, very cold out and we were walking because we were drinking and because you walk everywhere here.

going into the door of Loungie was interesting. dark, Gothic looking place but in a good way. at the door before you can even get in are the women. about 7 or 8 of them, all wearing small dresses that as rick described it are "bad prom dresses", and all Filipino. broken English saying "haseyo" (hello in Korean) all at the same time giggling when you walk in. oh boy, i thought. thank god i was drinking.
i swear every man in the place looked at me when we walked in with the same look on their face. i was the only woman there besides the Filipino girls and everywhere came the look of guilt. i felt bad, like i was a reminder that maybe they were doing something wrong. not my intention, so we just found a place at the bar and hung out. i resisted the urge to ask rick which girl had attached herself to him last time and he did not offer it up. the girls became very excited when groups of men would come in and each quickly attached themselves to the men. big place, lots of pool tables and sitting areas. according to rick there are rooms in the back that you can pay for to go do karaoke in private for these woman. yes, this is what he actually told me .fortunately, i had just enough wine to believe him.

we stayed, watched the band( which wasn't half bad )and had a very interesting night by the end of it. i was thinking that maybe for my birthday i could inspire some karaoke singing from my husband. somewhere in my closet is an old prom dress. maybe I'll even buy a lighted sign that says "Lynn" and wear it around my waist. this could be a good stocking stuffer item. I can be hard to buy for.

anyway, here are some pics:

Happy Thanksgiving

How to work off those holiday pounds...

row house 41

a couple of weeks ago we found out that when the project manager leaves Korea in December, his row house will be offered to us. we suspected that this might happen but initially we were alittle disappointed because that meant that we would have to wait until returning from Michigan to move. never having been here in winter, we don't fully understand how cold it gets and if moving during that time would be hard. when you talk to people they say "oh it gets really cold but its a dry cold". these people are mostly from Texas. really cold Texas and really cold Michigan are really different, needless to say, we have no idea. so, i got very excited planning what i would be able to do when moving to the row house. Ethan, Addison and i started driving by after school and i would take us by the bakery and store we will pass on our way home and tell them about it. this particular row house has a very small backyard in comparison to some but i knew from a blog that ken"s wife used to do that there were some upgrades in the house like ceiling fans, a dryer (hallelujah)and that it was pretty large, as far as the row houses go anyway. we were pretty excited until right before Halloween we found out it was only 2 bedrooms. crushed. i was crushed. i get like that over things. i try very hard not to look forward to things unless i know they will happen. this to me was a done deal. crushed.
so i broke open the ever present wine, melted down for an evening and got over it. sort of. rick is a nice husband and doesn't like to see me melt down. the next day he called me from work and said, we can put Addison in with us if we have to. i will build you a room if i have to, we will make it work. we decided that before we got too carried away, we should probably see the place.
we have always been going back and forth on whether or not we wanted to move anyway so maybe we would see it, realize it wouldn't work and just stay where we are. the next day, ken, the project manager had said he might give us the keys to check it out that afternoon. well, it didn't end up happening that day and then we left for the weekend to go to Busan.
on Monday when we returned, rick called and said he had the keys and at lunch he would swing by and take me and Addison to see the place (Ethan was at school). i was very excited. in the meantime, Ethan's school called and said that we had to come and pick up Ethan because the school was closing for the week due to an outbreak of h1n1. the row houses are right by the school so we went and picked Ethan up on the way and took him with us.
the house was set up alittle different than the other one that i saw with a little more room. probably a little less modern looking though too. living room is a good size but the TV is old and rick says that our electronic equipment will not be compatible. the floors are hardwood, there is a half bath down stairs, a kitchen that is separate with a door leading into it, a dining room type area, a separate laundry room with the dryer(hallelujah) and then stairs going up. i was nervous to go upstairs. i thought i remembered from the other house that the rooms were small but i wasn't sure.
at the top of the stairs is the spare bedroom. twin bed, computer, table and some dressers. this would be Ethan's room and he went in and loved it. next to his room is part of the master bedroom with a door. in here is a king sized bed, nightstand and armoire. then leading thru an arch way is the rest of the room on the other side. i don't know how to explain this well but it is another room. it even has a separate door. the master bath comes off this room too. its like this is the master bedroom but they took the bed and moved it to the second bedroom and took part of the wall away and made an arch. like the arch in my basement at home going into the home theatre (if you've seen my house). i laughed. i actually laughed out loud. it was silly, all that worry about the bedrooms for nothing. this was almost too easy. I'm sure rick had a sigh of relief. i could think of many ways to block that arch to make the rooms separate. very easy fix.

in the meantime, ken, the owner came home for lunch and was able to answer questions. mostly, i wanted to know what furniture stayed and what would go. it was like the people who own the row houses decided hey, this house is for the project manager and his wife, lets knock out a wall and load it up with furniture. it is everywhere and i don't think that any 2 pieces match. its like 80's oak hell. i used to like oak too but this stuff is definitely dated. mom and dad, that old oak furniture that you've been trying to give me and rick since we got married, you should bring it when you come. i think it could find a home here. you know, maybe it is here, i wouldn't be surprised.
the master bathroom has the full sized tub for bathing the kids and also has a wood little room in it that is a sauna. side note: rick found out about the sauna beforehand when he talked to ken and found out that the place was only a 2 bedroom. apparently rick asked ken if he thought Addison could sleep in the sauna. we are hoping that ken knew that rick wasn't serious, i don't think he laughed though.
the icing on the cake is this. when i was asking ken what was staying and what was going he said, the only things that are ours is the oriental dresser thing downstairs and this. in the corner is this fold up, space saver, ultramodern, fat burning, i can use while Addison sleeps, answer to my sticky rice obsession piece of equipment known as a treadmill. beautiful. it was beautiful. it winked at me and said "come walk on me western woman and eat all the rice you want..."
while i was daydreaming, ken says to rick i think I'll just leave the treadmill for you, too much of a hassle to move. nice huh. its the little things these days. needless to say, upon returning from Michigan in January, we will be moving into row house 41 where Rick, Ethan, Addison, the treadmill and i will continue our Korean adventure.

halloween abroad

Friday was our celebration of Halloween here with a party at school immediately followed by trick or tricking up in the row houses. the party was outside in the school yard (75 degrees here) with fun stations where you could pin the nose on the witch and stick your hands in boxes of goo and spiders. your typical Halloween fun. they handed out maps as a guideline to trick or treat by so you would be aware of which houses were participating. we went together with a group of friends and headed up the hills to the row houses. the row houses are built up into the side of a mountain, have 2 levels, their own front door and a small backyard. it is about a 5 minute walk to the school from there and you pass a park, the admiral hotel, the bakery, foreigners club and little grocery store on the way up. it is the only area i have come across that is like a little neighborhood and did i mention, this is where i want to live. we are working on it...

so things on noticed on our trick or treating were as follows: the walk up the hill is moderately steep. doing this twice a day would guarantee a good work out for me. hey, i may even build a butt. come to Korea, build a butt. i could get a shirt that says that. next, its nice to have your own front door. people decorate and get to hand out candy for Halloween. the families live here. lots of bikes out front and scooters too. and last, you can garden here. little flowers in the front or back, feels more like home. i like it here, hope it works out.

anyway back to trick or treating. rick brought beer, which is standard in our neighborhood back home, but i wasn't sure if this would go over in Korea. it was fine so on we went. rick was really set on following the map because he is such an engineer. one of my jobs in life is to take the engineer out of him when possible so i encouraged him to deviate from the map. he was clearly shaken by this, but complied anyway. its like when we grocery shop, rick is the grocery list Nazi because if its not on the list, rick thinks we cant by it. his mind just does not work this way. some of the guys from ricks work dressed up in spooky costumes and scared the kids from up on the side of the mountain. it was cute. the wives handed out candy. some American candy, some Korean. trick or treating did not last as long as home and ended (according to the map) at the foreigners club. when we got to the foreigner's club we decided not to stay. the club is broken in two sections with a bar on one side and a restaurant on the other. there are dart boards and a pool table when you walk in and a small kids play room off to the side. i noticed that when we were coming up the stairs that most families seemed to be coming back down and here is why. you walk into the foreigner's club and Korean candy is spread over the pool table, next to an ashtray and some expat guy, smoking a cigarette who says "just take one kid" . trick or treat. hey he was trying right? the whole place is filled with men, drinking and smoking. not a good place for kids. rick and i would love to hang out kids free, but that is not tonight. so off we go. Ethan proclaims it one of the best Halloween's ever and rick tells him maybe we will come back next year...hey, you never know. if you would have told me last year that this year i would trick or treat with the kids in south Korea on the side of a mountain, well, you know. anyway happy Halloween everyone!!

Outback, Costco, McDonalds, and the pool at the Westin

These are a few of our favorite things in Busan. The family and I went to Busan on Saturday morning and came back Sunday evening for a little get away. It is roughly a 3 hour drive as guided by Mappy (4 hours with the stop at McDonald's in Jinju, I had the Bulgogi burger set with a spicy shrimp burger to share, while E had a Chicken McNugget happy meal and Lynn had the cheeseburger set) with traffic from Okpo to Busan, or the part we went to at least. Busan is a giant city and we went about 3/4 of the way through it to get to the Westin Chosun on Hundae beach.The hotel was very nice as was the room we stayed in (although it had two single beds, which is somewhere between a single and full size in the US). It was pretty much what you would expect from a Westin in the United States, a few nice restaurants, an overpriced gift shop, and some swanky banquet halls. The Fitness center for this place was phenomenal. Two floors, glass walls overlooking the beach, indoor pool and separate men and women's spas. The men's looked like a seen from Gung-Ho. Ethan and I took our shoes off (you had to at the door) and headed in. At first, standard locker room. Very nice, but nothing out of the ordinary. They did have a room full of message chairs and a big screen TV overlooking the beach which was pretty cool (however it was Korean CNN on, so that was out). Then we found the Gung-Ho room. It was this huge room (also with windows overlooking the beach and big screens) with four or five small pools (may be hot tubs with no bubbles, didn't find out) with naked Korean men getting in and out of them. My first thought was about whisking Ethan out of there as fast as possible., which I did with him asking questions the whole time back out. I am not exactly sure what a fancy Korean spa totally entails, but I am sure I will not find out first hand. We did enjoy our time at the pool though, even Addison. We were all given our standard issue Westin Chosun swim cap (even Addison, no exposed hair in the pool) and went for a swim. This was the first place I have seen Koreans taking pictures (normally it is just us, you don't take photos at Meijers back home) but everyone was on vacation here so they were snapping away as well. One of their favorite things to take photos of was Ethan believe it or not. I had people come up to me on the beach on numerous occasions asking to take their picture with him (Your boy is beautiful, OK I get photo with him?). I should start charging 5000 won a photo and just turn this into a side business in Busan. While in Busan we also got an opportunity to eat at Outback steakhouse (no rules, just right!), pretty much like in the states, no bloomin' onion though, but the steaks were good (real Australian beef) and they had Fosters on tap (Australian for beer if you are in America, otherwise not). We also enjoyed the buffet at the hotel, lots and lots of food, both American brunch style and Korean food as well. You could have a waffle with kimchi on it if you so desired... This was our American food weekend, as we also hit McDonald's on the way out of town (more mcnuggets, a big mac, and a bacon/tomato burger, plus spicy chicken strips to share). That should hold us until we come back in 6 weeks, since I don't eat McDonald's twice in 2 months in the states and I ate it twice in two days this weekend. We also went to the aquarium in Busan, which was very cool. Big shark tank you walk through, various other tanks, and a glass bottom boat ride where you can feed the fish (Lynn and E did this one, I stayed with Addison and watched the feeding of the sea otters). It was a pretty neat aquarium all told, and Ethan seemed to enjoy it quite a bit. The last highlight of the weekend, especially for Lynn, was the trip to Costco! That's right, just like back home they have a Costco here (and our membership card works too!) and we finished off our trip with a shopping trip. They have many of the same things as home (Kirkland brand products, some of foods, diapers, household products, clothes, etc.) and some were new to us (either Korean or European products as well). You could buy ramen noodles by the case (just in case you need 400 packages of Ramen), Kimchi in ten pound bags, and they were serving samples of pork belly in the meat department (not bad, but not my favorite). My favorite item at Costco though had to be the Soju. That is right, they sell beer, wine, and liquor like back home. A 12 pack of Miller Lite was $20 (I passed on that) a fifth of Jim Beam was $25 (that came home with us) and you could get a 4 LITER bottle of Soju (60 proof instead of the regular 40 proof) for $8. 4 Liters! Water is not that cheap. That is essentially like buying vodka at $1.50 a bottle. A bottle of white zin (Beringer again) was $15, I could have bought 8 liters of Soju for that. I started to actually think of how much things cost in terms of Soju for a while (That package of cheese is 8 liters of Soju, the bag of shrimp is 12 liters of Soju). I almost bought it because it was so cheap, but then I remembered that cheap does not mean good and I would just have a bigger bottle of sweet potato vodka that I don't like at home. We ended up coming away with baby products, frozen foods (hamburgers and pizza as well for a taste of home), cereal and a few snacks and a big overstuffed floor blanket for the Addison to play on at the apartment. All in all, not a bad trip to Costco to end our mini-vacation...

I once was lost but now I'm found...

I'm back. After 12 days at sea working three different shifts (6AM-6 PM, Noon-midnight, 6PM-6AM) I am now back on shore and returning to my regularly scheduled 7-6 workday. I have discovered a few things about working offshore. If the internet is severely hampered (it was) and the entertainment system is not functional (it is directv, which they won't get until the Gulf) there isn't anything to do other than work. Not necessarily the best way to spend a couple of weeks, but I did learn a lot about being on a drillship. I also met a lot of people with interesting job titles like toolpusher, deckpusher, roustabout, roughneck, and camp boss. Not exactly manager and director, but there is a hierarchy none the less. On the drill floor, the tool pusher is in charge, the Drillers work for him, the Assistant drillers work for them, then the derrick hand, and finally the roughnecks. The toolpusher reports to the OIM, who reports to the rig manager (who is on-shore). There were about an even number of our operations personnel (all from the South, except for the bastard mechanic who was a Penn State fan and ruined the game for me) and personnel from the shipyard on-board. While pretty much every one I met was new to me, the names were very familiar for the Koreans. Mr. Kim and Mr. Lee, were there, as well as Mr. Park and Mr. Jeoung. Actually, many of them were there. It is impossible to have a meeting in Korea without at least one Mr. Lee and one Mr. Kim there, usually multiples. A typical meeting involving five Koreans will have a total of three Mr. Kim or LEe (two of one, one of the other) one Mr. Park or Jeoung, and a wild card (maybe a third Lee!). I had a meeting today with four Koreans in it, the attendees were D.H. Ryu, C.S. Kim, Y.H. Lee, and C.Y. Kim. Two Kims and a Lee. PAr for the course. They all go by initials as well, as no one (possibly including their families) can pronounce their first names. It gets really fun when you get into reporting structures and three levels of management are all named Lee or Kim, so T.G. Kim needs to check with Y.K Kim who then calls D.G. Kim. If you are ever in a meeting here without a Kim or Lee, you have somehow left Korea and need to find out where you actually are now. Anyway, on to the previously mentioned photos that would not load on my 56K connection on the Inspiration.

Picture of my morning commute to work from

my bike. Tough to see all the people in front of me but they are there...

Various views of the shipyard, including the 3600 ton (7.2 million pound) crane...

the pediatrician

the day finally came when i had to take one of the kids to the doctor and on this occasion it was Addison. she has had a very runny nose lately and isn't sleeping well so i decided to make sure there was no underlying infection. luckily i have friends who have children here because rick's company had suggested i take the kids to the foreigners clinic down the street. the foreigner's clinic is not that foreign to me because when rick and i first came, we got sick and i went there for medical attention.
the clinic is nestled in between stores, bars, restaurants and the like on the main road out of town which some people call 14. it literally reads "the foreigner's clinic" so you really cant miss it. i was instructed to get there at 10 am when they open or i would wait all day. the clinic is connected to a small hospital of some sort that is on the top floor of (of course) a high rise building. i know this is because people come in and out of the elevator that is located inside the clinic hooked to iv poles and just stroll around. they go walking down the street, talking on cell phones, shopping, etc... we have even been told not to be surprised when you go into a bar and there are people with the iv poles in there. rick always says "its something i cant get used to, the sight of the people with the poles" . it makes it look like some sort of disaster has occurred and medical care is just all over the place. I'm not sure the thought process that goes along with it, is it "i have time on lunch, i think i could use an IV today, alittle pick me up.."
anyway, i was told that they spoke American at the clinic and the care was good. when i went, i had Ethan and Addison with me and basically wouldn't let Ethan touch anything and kept the shade on Addison's stroller covered. it didn't look like a clinic, they did not speak English and it was packed with people who were sick standing way too close to each other. i started thinking about how different people have different ideas of what makes medical care good. is it good because it is fast. is it good because it is cheap? my idea of good medical care is way more complex than that but i decided to stick it out anyway, i was pretty sick and we were already there.
when we were called into a little examination type room by a young Korean girl who had a hard time pronouncing my name, it looked like something from the 50's and it was clear that OSHA regulations were not followed here. no gloves, no hand washing and I'm pretty sure all of the instruments were used back to back on patients. the doctor sat behind a desk and you are more or less presented to him. this is Lynn Walker, then some talk in Korean with a motion to sit down on an office type chair. the doctor was not a happy looking man, spoke very little English asked me a few questions then had the assistant take my temperature. that was my good medical care. he said something like " no antibiotics or antivirals. pills and a shot". to which i replied "no shot" and he said "OK" and they directed me out. i paid at the desk with a credit card (we had gotten there the day before so i had no money or how to convert yet) and walked out with a Korean prescription for who knows what and was pointed past the iv pole patients on the street to a bldg 2 doors down (next to "the love house" bar) which i understood to possibly be a small pharmacy. Fortunately , the pharmacist was a happy Korean man who spoke and wrote some English. he explained that for 5 dollars i had received some Tylenol, an antihistamine and a vitamin to be taken for 3 days conveniently packaged in little bags by day (which i cant read). i took them, stayed sick and basically had to wait for the illness to run its course. so ,needless to say, very pleased that i didn't have to take Addison to the grumpy Korean doctor in the dirty clinic.

the pediatrician's office, on the other hand, was a happy place, well equip with kids toys, very organized and like walking into a huge birthday party because of the amount of children there and the noise. it was so loud i felt overstimulated. Addison was absolutely delighted. she loves loud kids (wonder why) and thought this was great even though her nose was running and she looked flushed. the nursing assistant spoke alittle English and was good at getting the answers she needed by having me point to things. you don't really realize how a language barrier can effect your care until you actually come across it. like your birth date. i wrote out 4-6-09 for Addison and they did not understand it. they put their month/day/year in a different order so they didn't know what i meant. she just pulled out a calendar and I pointed. much more efficient. Made me think of all the times at work i have done therapy on non English speaking patients. she also let me know when i would be called since pronouncing Addison in Korean may or may not be decipherable to me so that was helpful. i liked the pediatrician. he had a smile on his face the whole time and had small delicate hands like a woman. he used hand santitizer and cleaned his equipment. he was very gentle with Addison and she liked him too even when he took out this medieval looking torture instrument to examine her ears with. he said she had a common cold, ears were clear, little cough but prescribed some medicine to help her sleep so she would get better. i felt relieved but had figured it was probably the case. the main reason i took her was to get some experience with the doctor on a non urgent basis so if i needed him in the future i would be prepared. i left happy and the nurse gave me a card so Addison's chart would be easy for them to find. all and all, a good experience. makes me worry less about the future.

when we left i took the presciption to the pharmacy with the English speaking pharmacist but he said he didn't have what i needed and instructed me to a pharmacy that would. i was disappointed because i feel comfortable with him but being a little pharmacy, i can see how he might not carry everything. so i went to the big pharmacy and discovered that no one there speaks any English at all. i waited awhile for the script and when i got it, the pharmacist struggled to explain to me but couldn't. he kept showing me this little spoon and saying 5 ccs, no 2.5 ccs 3 times. he had given me 2 bottles of different colored liquids and 6 packets of some white powder. same, same but different right? i left feeling dazed and felt i had wasted my time because i didn't know what it was. rick was convinced that we could translate the script using the iPhone. ever since he came home, Addison has been sleeping with us because she's sick. she likes to poke her daddy and pull on his nose while he sleeps. needless to say, rick is looking for her to get better for many reasons.

Problems with translation: Korean letters are symbols and are very complicated because they don't just read left to right, they also stack on top of each other ,which we found out while trying to translate. There's rick and i ,laying on our stomachs on the bed trying to translate what we are suppose to give our daughter. this is what we came up. "edisue" means Addison. we are suppose to give edisue something in the morning, afternoon and night. not much else is written. what could it be? the liquid, the powder, which liquid, who knows? i had to the break the news to rick that edisue was not taking the cocaine looking powder medicine mixed with the red and yellow liquid without alot more explaination.

so after dropping Ethan off at school, i visited my friend the English speaking pharmacist. he is my most important go to man right now, the man who can help keep the kids healthy. i brought him the goods in a plastic baggie and said "i don't know what this is or how to use it, its for the baby, can you help me?" he explained to me that they were suppose to write the prescription name and dosage on the bag for me and he didn't know what they gave me. the pharmacy number was on the bag so he called them and had them look it up on the computer. he had a hard time telling me what the white powder was but said the yellow is an antihistamine to dry up the runny nose, the red is cough medicine (although she has no cough) after alot of struggling, the basic idea of what the powder is is that it is for the small intestine to promote a healthy digestive tract due to possible bacteria stemming from the cold in her nose. its like activia in powder form i guess. go figure huh? anyway, the powder and cough medicine were put aside and i am researching whether or not the antihistamine would be a good idea or not. before i left, i thanked the pharmacist profusely which made him smile and laugh (all Korean men smile and laugh at me, i am very funny here) and he said, this is hard for you, taking care of your kids in Korea? i just thought, you have no idea.

so I'm keeping busy. not necessarily by choice, but it seems to be passing time. Addison cut not one but 2 teeth (yeah!!!) and Ethan informed me that when he grows up he is going to marry Addison so they can live together. very innocent thought but scary since we will probably be moving south....(sorry to all my southern friends:))

Tomorrow is a big day for all the house moms in okpo because a Starbucks is opening. its such a big deal plans were being made all morning to go there directly from school drop off tomorrow a.m., which I'm alittle confused about because nothing opens in okpo before 10am, i mean nothing. with rick still lost at sea, we have been forced to explore with the car without him which is an experience within itself. i am not very good with directions and don't pay too much attention to where I'm going unless i have to. luckily, rick is good with directions and for assistance with my current situation, so is Ethan. the only problem with Ethan is that he isn't always consistent with his accuracy on telling right from left so our recent trip to the exercise park went like this. "ethan, do you think you can help mommy get to the park." "i know how to get there mom, daddy showed me" so I'm driving along and I'm trying to concentrate on where I'm going. side note probably not mentioned before that will make more sense as to why its hard to get places besides my topographical orientation problem. the streets have names that are like 50 letters long and make no sense with sometimes more than one name on it, not consistent with anything. so everyone has nicknames for the streets but not every group of people use the same name. so if i am talking to one group i may say "is it on tree street?" and they may say yes, or they may say "whats tree street?". most people know where dunkin donuts and baskin Robbins are so alot of times you will receive directions from there. rick and i have our own name for streets so if he tells me where to go i understand. when we first arrived and would walk or drive around rick would quiz me and say "where are we" or "which street is that". the ladies i know don't call the streets by the same name so i have a hard time with their directions. they will say things like "belly dancing is across from the shoes store", and i dont know where the shoe store is so... anyway, this is why it was difficult for me to get the park because you look up at the street names and it tells you nothing. sometimes you can remember landmarks but they are written in Korean and everything is bold and busy looking and it all honestly looks the same. they are trying to be so eye catching with all the colors and lights that you just tune it out because it is so overstimulating. if someone put up a plain white sign with black writing it would be in such contrast to its surroundings that everyone would probably notice it.

so we are driving down ski slope (called this for obvious reason due to its steepness) and i know i need to turn soon but i don't know for sure which way. Ethan's in the back going "turn left" and I'm going "i think its right" and he's going "this way mommy" (which i cant see him because he's in the back seat and pointing) cars are riding up on me, i could be heading for a one way street for all i know, Addison is grunting in the backseat (she grunts, i think, because she thinks this is talking. very unlady- like i know but when you look at her when she's doing it, she beams this beautiful smile at you that you cant help but love) and i decide to go right, which is the correct way, and Ethan says "see mommy, i told you i knew where it was" . by the time i get anywhere i feel like i need a drink.

with Halloween next week i have been helping out with party plans at the school and making gift bags for the kids. i decided i was suddenly really crafty after reading an easy to do article on the Internet and now spend way too much time gluing things together. there is alittle party at the school outside (still in the 70's here) and then trick or treating up at the row houses. the row houses are built into the side of a mountain and are duplexes connected to each other in rows. they have very small backyards which make them desirable to alot of people but are much older and smaller than the high rise apts all over okpo. we go back and forth as to whether or not we want to live in one, currently we think it might be a good idea. we are on a waiting list for one so we don't know if the option will even be there but we have reason to believe it might come up in December. we went to a BBQ a couple of weeks ago at one of the houses and i got a chance to take a look at the inside. they are smaller than our apt but they are not as old looking as i thought. i definitely had a more homey feel than you get in the apts, which of course is appealing to me. the pros that i noticed were: separate dryer (not all have this but many do) which would significantly cut down on my laundry time, backyard with a grill (room for blow up pool for kids), ceiling fans (absolute addiction of me and rick), alot of kids live there (good and bad), free gym at the admiral hotel, park in walking distance, very close to the foreigners club (serves American/British dinners (dont order a hamburger)and has a bar and kids play room. hosts fun things like Mexican night and trivia parties. we go about once a week) and bakery(which is called an epicurean or something which i always think is a hair salon) , close to school. cons: smaller and older, up on a hill making stroller questionable, farther from the shipyard meaning rick might be taking the car, we have to move, and I'm sure there are more but nothing immediate comes to mind. we are leaving to come home DEC 12th until Jan 2nd so the timing might be hard too. i don't know, it changes from day to day with me.

i have decided to take a class here during the week if it is okay to bring Addison(which i heard it is). the class is belly dancing and a few of the woman here already go. my goal is to start this next week and make it there at least once a week. i here it is a great workout so i guess we will see.

rick is now working 6pm-6am on the ship and looking forward to coming back. he should be home by Halloween but we are not sure. talking to him (which is getting harder and harder with poor reception) is interesting with his vocabulary consisting of alot more profanities than i remember. something about those off shore guys...

next week i am volunteering at Ethan's school in his classroom cafe to teach the children to make grilled cheese and possibly read a Halloween book. tonight as i talked to rick on the phone i managed to wear the baby in the Bjorn until she fell asleep, make Pb&j (remembering to cut into a heart shape), pack a lunch, put away dishes and dodge Ethan who was riding around me with his bike. i even made sure i sat down with e and taught him how to make the letter n for noisy nick of letter land and read books. over all i am holding my own, just not sure how long it will last.

so plans for next week: Halloween bag assembly with friends on Monday, belly dancing on Tuesday, volunteer at school on Wednesday, obsess over row house versus no row house on Thurs, Halloween party and rick's return on Friday and plan for a weekend away with family to replace the one we missed soon. keep it busy to prevent loss of sanity....

Still no sign of the Lido deck

or the disco, pool bar, or casino after five days here. But there is a pool, however it is a moon pool and if you end up in there you become the subject of a safety investigation. After 5 days here I can tell you it feels like 5 years. This is groundhogs day. Every day looks exactly the same as the one before. 6 AM meeting, breakfast, work on rig floor, lunch, more work, dinner, 6 PM meeting, a little more work, hit the gym, surf the net (more like paddle boat the net), bed. Rinse, lather, repeat. There is a gym on the ship (some free weights, some cardio equipment, nothing special), a cinema (not functional yet), game and hobby rooms (also not functional, being used by the catering staff to sleep in), and of course the galley (serving 4 meals a day, on the 12's and 6's!). Other than that the house portion of the ship (where we are at when not on the rig floor) contains cabins (2 per room, private bath) offices, the bridge, and the helideck. Nothing too exciting here either, 7 stories, lots of stairs, signs labeling everything including lights (ML-005-1303D is the one in front of me) and power outlets (ML-005-1526A). If it is on the ship, it has a sign with a number attached to it or above it. This is also not like a regular ship (other then the obvious 220 foot drilling derrick in the middle of it). It is heavily ballasted and dynamically positioned so it never moves. I mean the thing does not rock, sway, bob, or any other adjective you can come up with to describe motion. It also really never moves. Your view never changes from day to day, it is like being parked in the ocean. Kinda weird but you get used to it after a while. For everyone who thought living closer to work or even sleeping in the office occasionally, BAD IDEA!! You do not want to live where you work, it means you are always at work. They can page you at any time for any reason. You have no excuse to ever be late (I got caught in traffic coming up the flight of stairs from my cabin to the conference room doesn't work), and you really never go home. There is no beer on board either (except for Flite, the NA version of Hite (Crisp and Fresh!)) since you are always at work. The food is decent in a dormitory way, I wouldn't feel great if I paid for it but since it is free it will suffice. It is American food as well so that is kind of a treat in the respect that I haven't had it in a while. Anything fresh is from Korea, but they still make American meals out of it (mexican day, pizza, fried chicken, real hot dogs!) so it is not just like home but close. The people from Transocean on board are the drilling crew from the States who will work the rig once it gets back to the Gulf of Mexico next year. They are predominately from the south, Texas, Alabama, Louisiana, "in between Louisiana and Alabama, Mississippi- God's country". I have therefore acquired not one but two new nicknames, Detroit (obvious), and Dodge (from my previous engineering life). Also every time something doesn't work on the rig floor they refer to it as a Dodge as well ("must be a dodge"), apparently Dodge doesn't have the best quality rep in the business (it may not be because of me though, because another guy told me a story about a ship where they had a piece of equipment that always broke down so they referred to it as the dodge truck, like "dammit, the dodge truck is broke again" over the radio). Also, I have discovered that the big three are Ford, Chevy, and Dodge, since the only vehicles that matter are trucks. At least it is better than being referred to as Wisconsin (happened to Lynn) and having people ask you about the Steelers ("I thought you were from Pittsburgh")...

Lost at Sea

I am currently serving a 1-3 week stint out here, at least potentially. I have no idea really. One of the guys who rode out to the ship with me had this bit of advice "the first thing I do when I go the ship is figure out what I need to do to get off the sip and go home. Then that becomes my top priority". Me: "I have no idea what I need to do to go home". Him: "you have a problem then". Therein lies the question of how long I will actually be here. So if you were tuning in for this weeks episode of "The Walker family goes to Busan for the Fireworks", you will now be treated to the mini-series "Tricky at sea" (my wife loves it when Rick refers to himself in the third person, especially when Rick refers to himself as Tricky). Anyway, I have only been here for about 36 hours, of which 28 have been working and 5 have been sleeping, so there will be more of this to come as I get settled in and find my way around here. What I do have though is a little photo recap of life at the shipyard which I was going to share a few days ago before I got the call from my boss to head out for this baptism by fire. Anyway, on to the photos. OK, I have given the photos exactly 1 hour and 8 minutes to upload, still no dice. That post will have to wait until I return from sea. Which brings me to the internet issue. First off, no access to the fantasy football site (blocked by firewall). Secondly, the internet is UNBELIEVABLY SLOW. It has been described by everyone exactly the same way (which is the absolute truth as well). Imagine your home internet, then invite 250 people over to split the bandwith with you, as well as an entire phone system. LAN, wireless, doesn't matter. G-mail takes 10 minutes to load, and skype dropped my call 4 times in 2 minutes. It wouldn't surprise me if this post didn't go through until Saturday actually...