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.