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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.