Why?

This was my encounter on the way home from church; we go to church off base, about a 5 minute drive. As I headed home on Sunday, the car in front of me stops, and begins to honk the horn. I can see that he's honking at a man just sitting in the middle of the road! This isn't normal people!! He's sitting there, legs crossed, talking about something, very loudly. Why is he there? Why don't his people tell him to get out of the street? What in the world is he talking about? Others (Koreans) just walk by him and pay him little attention. The man in front of me (an American) and I are just wondering if he's ever gonna move! As it turns out, he didn't. We barley had enough room to hug the side of the road (most roads are little as it is), and go around him. I stopped to take a picture, he wasn't phased by it a bit! Only in Korea, which people call "the land of the not quite right".

Korean-American Festival 2008

So, here's a little taste of the culture we experience any time we walk off of the base! This was a festival, to honor the "friendship" we as Americans have with the Koreans. This first picture is right outside of the base, this is what we call "downtown".

This man sits outside of the gate (the gate that goes onto the base), and sells "Rolex" watches along with hats and some wooden jewelry. He's funny and always speaks when you walk by. He likes to dance! He was trying to balance the umbrella....never a dull moment around here!

Just wanted you to know that this is the only blond Korean I've ever seen! He was making these little things...not sure what they are called. Kinda like a funnel cake on the outside and some jelly filling on the inside...not bad. We got some, and gave them to one of the Korean maintenance men in our apartment....he was grateful.

There was a lot of food.....very little we dared to try....but, we did get the kids some cotton candy!

One of the many souvenir shops

My precious kiddos!

A hog being roasted....Jordan was really interested in this...he kept wanting to go see it, and asked where the other part of the pig was.

unknown cuisine

Jannah with the Thai women; not really liking the clasped hands....not sure what that means in their culture!

more Korean entertainment

Jamison and Mommy

Bemjamin's Tol

Our friends John and Laurie, who have 3 children, ages just the same as ours just celebrated their son's 1st birthday, and did it Korean style! In Korea, a child's first birthday is a huge celebration, and it's called a Tol. From what I understand, it consists of praying, wearing special outfits, and eating food and cake. The outfits they are wearing are called Hanboks, which are worn on holidays or special family gatherings. The party was at a group home, run by Korean Christians that helps those in need. Laurie and her family visit this home often, and in lieu of giving gifts to Benjamin, they asked everyone to bring rice for the home. Oddly enough, this home was in the middle of rural rice fields. For those of you who didn't know, rice is a staple food here, and it is eaten at every meal.

Benjamin-the birthday boy!

Benjamin, Jannah and Faith

The cuisine consisted of watermelon (a favorite fruit in Korea), kimchi, bulgogi, baked potatoes, fruit, corn, rice cakes, ghimbap, and chapchae. It was a great American/Korean combo!

Faith and her Mom (Laurie)

Jordan could NOT wait to hit the pinata, or "pinato" as he called it. He also wanted to take the firetruck home with him! I think we should have a "pinato" at his next birthday party :)

The man playing the saxophone was our entertainment for the event. The man on the right is the preacher of the home, he did most of the talking. We didn't understand much, except for "hallelujah", which he said in every sentence!

4/9 Market

This was the scene at the Market. It was quit an experience! On every day that ends in 4 and 9, there is an outdoor market selling just about anything you can imagine.........or not! We ventured out and saw some things we recognized, and some things we did not! Ms. Bonnie was amazed at everything, she is getting some Korean culture under her belt :) Umbrellas and people everywhere! As you can see, we do not look like the majority of the people. That in turn provokes many stares, and strangers touching the children. They like to touch the kids face and hair. Jannah and Jordan do okay with it, I think they are used to Koreans touching them and saying things they DO NOT understand!

Hats and hair accessories, we got some cute things for Jannah; but couldn't look long, because Jordan had to go potty. I got a little spastic, because I had no idea where to go. There's not a bathroom in every store like there is in the States. We did make it to an area with no people, and took care of the problem! After going potty, we did some more looking.

Fish, oh the smell of dead fish! Jordan was so excited about all of the fish, he couldn't keep his hands off of them!

This is the yummo fruit. The strawberries are the BEST! We did buy a fruit that was new to us. It was small and yellow on the outside, tasted just like honeydew; I am going to have to find out what it was.

Grandma and Jannah; they had been looking at produce.

Eggs anyone? This is how they are sold. 30 eggs cost 5000 won, which is about $5.

Yes, this is some type of bug! They have been cooked and ready to eat..........no, we did not try any!

Korean Restaurant

Our friends Tad and Teal took us to a Korean restaurant, this was quite an experience! First off, we had to take our shoes off upon entering, which is Korean custom. We then got to sit on the floor, very interesting considering we had a little guy who thought he could run all over the place! As soon as we sat down, dishes of food were placed all around us, the grills were turned on, and we had to start grilling our Kalbi. Kalbi is short ribs that have been marinated in sesame oil, soy sauce, sugar and garlic. While the meat was cooking, we ate soup. We were given two bowls, we were to all share. Koreans eat behind one another, no big deal I guess! The other dishes at our table were garlic, rice, kimch'i (cabbage, radishes or other vegetables pickled with garlic, chili pepper and ginger, then fermented in huge jars buried in the ground), noodles of some sort, chili paste, marinated beets, and many other things..............can't remember them all!

After the meat is grilled, you pick it up with chopsticks (Greg and Jannah are good at this) and top it with any of the toppings. I chose rice and a chili paste, it was very good:) Jannah likes the wraps as I call them, and Jordan really likes rice. Greg says he must have some Korean in him, because he could live off of rice alone.

This is the finished product! The Korean way is to put the whole thing in your mouth!

Produce Anyone?

The Koreans may have another name for it, but I call this a produce truck. These are all over town! Each truck has a loud speaker that blasts what is for sale (in Korean, of course!) There are tangerines, bananas, eggs, persimmons, rice cakes and some things that are unrecognizable! They eat some strange things around here! This was taken down the street from our apartments. We were on our way to eat when I saw the truck, I asked Greg to pull over, because I wanted some Korean strawberries. The kids devour them in no time at all, they are sooooooooooo good, very sweet and juicy! This pack of berries cost 6000 won, which is a little over $6.00.