How to work off those holiday pounds...
Thursday, November 26, 2009
Friday, November 6, 2009
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.
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.
Wednesday, November 4, 2009
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!!
Tuesday, November 3, 2009
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...
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...
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