Too long in between...

OYE.  

I apologize for the gap between posts.  Since our vacation...life has just seemed boring haha.  I know, you're probably thinking...bored in KOREA.  How is that possible?  We are near rounding our third and final year here (around October time frame), and it is safe to say that we will be VERY ready to say our goodbyes to Korea.  I'm already getting excited about where our next possible duty station could be but we won't find that out for probably another 4-6 months :/.  Patience is virtue :o).

Things here have been good.  The weather has been extremely unusual for the summer.  We had heat indexes over 109 F (which I think they had said was the hottest consecutive days in 100 something years).  Not to mention the 70-90% humidity.  YUCK.  Typically we have a monsoon season but it seems to be hitting later this year, having rained quite a bit these last few weeks/days.  Nonetheless, we are ALL ready for Fall.  Air conditioning in Korea is a 'tower'..there are no vents, central air, or circulation of any type for that matter.  This gets tricky when it tends to be very sticky in your house, even causing food to become spoiled, soggy, and stale.  The air conditioner, which is SO incredibly weak and only works if you're standing within 15 ft. of it costs anywhere from $200-$1000/month, depending on how you use it.  YES, up to $1000!!  Fortunately the Army knows this and gives us utility allowance.  

I know I've already posted pictures of this I believe last year but here are a few shots a friend of mine took at the largest fish market in Seoul.  Around this time of year, it is pretty busy.  The warmer waters here bring in quite the amount of fish and seafood.  Believe it or not, out to Korea's West coast, China, North Korea, & South Korea all fish incredibly close to each other and often bicker because of 'crossing each other's lines'.  They have similar issues on the East Coast with Japan as well.  

So after long, careful consideration...Michael and I have decided to go on ONE more trip while we are over here.  It took a while to decide between Tokyo and yet another cruise.  We decided on the Asian cruise out of Singapore.  It goes from there to Malaysia, then to Thailand, and back to Singapore.  So, it's short but we figured it'd be kind of sad if we didn't see any of the orient before leaving next year.  I've traveled to Japan for work but he hasn't so we are still a little bummed about not getting to go to Tokyo but vacation schedules just won't allow that.

Here are a few snapshots of where we'll be headed in February (and no, these countries are only 1 degree from the Equator so there is NEVER a winter.  In fact, it is best to go in the 'winter' months :o) )

Singapore:

Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia:

Phuket, Thailand:

We hope everyone is doing great :o)

Love & miss all of you!!!  I promise next time I will have more updated pictures.  We just need to get out more, haha.

<3

M & B

Traveling around the Eastern Mediterranean

Bonjourno!

Found ourselves saying that often, as well as "gratzi" all throughout our trip (or at least in the Italy part).  We got home around noon on Thursday, about 14 hours later than we were supposed to...but we'll get into that later on :).  We are still adjusting to the time change but I can already feel that it was much easier to adjust to coming home rather than leaving home to Italy.

Our flight out was great, besides the length of course.  It was a 2 hour-ish flight from Seoul to Beijing.  Had a 3 hour layover on the way out, followed by a 10 hour flight into Rome.  The experience in Beijing was good but different.  Because China is communist, although not a radical communist, they still block a lot of things as far as the Internet and what not.  For example limited Google searches, no email checks, and definitely no Facebook.  However, Skype did maintain a decent connection.  But in order to get the "free'' WiFi we had to scan our passport in so they could monitor our use.  Weird, huh?  I guess I didn't fully realize how spoiled we are and they freedoms we have!

We met Mike's parents at the airport in Rome & went to our hotel for our first Italian dinner (consisting of pizza & pasta, of course) and then went to sleep.  The next morning we took a QUICK, very Italian, taxi ride to the port and boarded the ship.

Stop 1:  Sicily (Messina), Italy

Holy cuteness, is all I have to say.  I loved, loved, LOVED Sicily.  It had so much old charm to it.  The whole time I kept thinking of Mom because I know she'd love it here.  In Sicily we booked an excursion through the boat and went to a city called Taormina, then to the active volcano (not actually in it :) ), went to a family vineyard that produces wine, olive oil, and olive spreads and completed a wine tasting with fresh cheeses and meats (AWESOME), and then we finished up at a jewelers house to have appetizers and just enjoy the view, really.  These are just some of the pictures but needless to say I would definitely visit Sicily again!

Stop 2: Athens, Greece

Athens was definitely a historical place, great food, great views..but probably a place I wouldn't visit a second time.  As you guys know Greece has a whole is in a big financial crisis.  Surprisingly, that didn't affect the visit, but it was clear by how bad the economy is really doing.

Our tour in Athens consisted of taking a drive and seeing all the sites..eventually leading to walking up to the Parthenon.  That was quite a sight, as well as plenty to learn that I had no clue about!  They are completing a lot of restorations of it so I tried to get some shots of it without all the 'stuff' in the way.  

I'm not sure if any of you have eaten a Gyro but O.M.G. it was so good.  Of course I had to get grape leaves and bakliva, too :).  Only here once!

Stop 3: Kusadasi (Ephesus), Turkey

Now, when we first booked this cruise, Turkey was the only location we were "iffy" about.  But we were so pleasantly surprised!  Turkey was a close, close second to my favorite stop.  The one really great thing I loved about it here was that they were so proud of their culture and so rich with culture.  Now Turkey is if not 100% Muslim then awfully close to it but it didn't interfere at all with our tour (considering we went to some very biblical-based stops).  

Our tour consisted of visiting the house of the Virgin Mary, where she was said to have spent her last days.  We collected holy water from the house fountains in a personalized container the tour provided.  We thought that was really neat.  We also saw the prayer wall.  Next, we went to the Ancient ruins where we saw the first National Theater, National Library, and so much more I can't even name (or remember :P ).  Our tour finished with visiting a famous Turkish rug shop.  This company, rather owner, has personally made rugs for President Bush, the White House, the Prince of Monaco..and so much more.  In fact, a few U.S. State Senators were on business the day before we came and bought a ton of rugs from him.  In case you are wondering they are SO expensive, like ranging from $500-90,000.  Yes, $90,000.  We ended up buying a smaller one but I haggled them in HALF :)  I think I have a bit of Jewish in me.  LOL.

Stop 4: Crete (Souda), Greece

Crete, I think Greek's largest island, was really neat & laid back.  We toured a very large plantation that grew pretty much everything.  Crete is said to have one of the most healthy and best diets in the world, so it was cool to be able to sit in on how they make their dishes and then actually get to taste them :).  After the walk through the gardens (by the way Nana you would've loved it!), we went to Chania town.  If you google it, it is the cutest little town full of cafes, shops, and tons of other stuff to do.  Crete was a nice, relaxed way to end the touring on the cruise.

That wraps up the cruise.  We had a great, great time and it is always so tough leaving the boat.  It really is my idea of the best vacation...and that was my 7th cruise haha.  I should be VIP by now :).


After we got off the ship it was time to tour Rome.  We spent the next day touring all over seeing famous monuments like the Colosseum, the Vatican & Sistine Chapel, the Trevi Fountain, the Pantheon, the list goes on!  Here are a few shots we got...

I could show pictures & write for a long, long time but I don't want to bore you!  Hope that you enjoyed the post, sorry it took so long to get it together.  Earlier I mentioned how lovely 14 hour delay we had coming back.  Our flight from Rome back to China was smooth.  We had a 5 1/2 hr layover in Beijing, long, but no big deal.  Well, we boarded & waited on the tarmac for 2 HOURS before they cancelled it because of weather.  The airline was accommodating, however, they sent us in a bus and HOUR away from the airport to stay in a disgusting hotel overnight.  We woke up at 3:30 AM the next morning (got to the hotel the night before at 11 PM).  Needless to say we didn't sleep for over 2 days.  It was a treasure, haha.  That satisfied my needs to never go to China again.  Talk about an experience where you are 100% out of your comfort zone.  But I guess that is just the adventures of traveling.  Before all the delays, I bought a Beijing magnet because I collect them from each country we visit.  I contemplated if I really deserved a magnet because we were just staying in the airport.  BOY WAS I WRONG.  :)  I earned that thing!

We love you guys & will chat with you soon!

Mom's visit!

Phew...

I have been waiting SO long to write this blog post, waiting for Mom's arrival.  We had such an amazing week, experiencing the differences in Korean weather, expensive shopping districts, the "knock off" shopping districts, varied cuisine from Turkish to Korean, and even seeing the reason why we are here...the DMZ & North Korea.  

Waiting for mom to arrive in the airport built up SO much anxiety, but the best kind :o)  I had to work and right when we got off we jetted to the airport.  It was a bunch of emotions picking her up but I was so overwhelmed with happiness.  

She took a TON of pictures while she was here but here are just a few that summarizes our/her visit...

One of the neat things about her visit was that I was able to see things I had either not seen in over a year OR was experiencing for the first time with her...one of the things being to tour the largest palace in Seoul- Gyeongbukgong palace.  It is a palace that the King(s) once lived on long ago.

Our tour guide is the woman in the pink/blue traditional Korean dress.  She was really good and spoke really good English, which made the tour much more enjoyable (ha ha).

One great highlight to the visit was hiking Seoul Tower (Namsan).  It is quite a ways up there but was so beautiful and throughout your whole walk you get peeks of Seoul.  Thankfully, the cherry blossoms were still in bloom and she got to see the amazingness of them in person besides in pictures.  Pictures can't capture how amazing they are!

On our way to begin the hike...downtown Meyongdong 

We are so close!

One of the neatest parts about the trip was our trip to the DMZ.  It was so informational and gave me a whole new appreciation for why Mike is serving here and the risks we take each & every day living here.  Here are a few pictures & I'll explain more in detail what they mean underneath them...

This picture sort of begins the tour.  Right past this building is a look-out point, looking at the DMZ...beyond that, North Korea.

This was taken with a South Korean soldier at Dorasan station.  Dorasan station used to connect North and South Korea but was closed not too long ago because of confrontational issues.  It is now restored and open for tourists.  This soldier had only 8 months left of his 2 year mandatory service in the ROK (Republic of Korea Army).  He was excited :)

This picture serves a TON of significance.  The U.S. Army (on the left) is telling us about the significance of the room and of the South Korean's pose.  From where mom and I are standing, we are actually IN North Korea.  The room goes past the North Korean "line".  The room is a U.N. room used to hold peace talks, which is rarely used these days.  The South Korean soldier has to stand at attention with his fists clenched for 6 hours a day, for 2 years.  They are wearing sunglasses (both in and outdoors) so they do not get into staring matches with each other, having caused previous issues in the past.

If you stand too close to the Korean guards, they will smack their heels together and put their fist in the air, fearing it could cause potential distractions if a North Korean were to act in any way. 

The S.K. soldiers at the DMZ are the tallest, largest, and are triple black belts amongst the people that serve in the army.  The white-ish building straight across is North Korea.  Typically, their soldiers stand outside too but since it was raining, I guess they just decided to stay into their little roof.  If you notice, the South Koreans by the blue buildings are standing half behind the wall and half out.  This is because if any shootings were to break out, they would have a quick reaction time.

If you direct your attention to the soldier by the doorway, he is looking at us with BINOCULARS.  Just to keep tabs and I guess make sure nothing weird was happening?  It was intimidating but awesome all at the same time.

This is what we call "propaganda city".  Some of you might have heard of this.  That is the largest flagpole in the world, which the North constructed to "out-do" South Korea's.  The flag alone weighs 600 lbs & is speculated to take around 60 soldiers to take down.  It is called propaganda city because no one actually lives in the "city".  The buildings are hollow with speculations of the windows & doors being painted on.  The U.S. soldier told us everyday they hear the propaganda on loud speaker from there, announcing things to a village that doesn't even exist.  TOO weird!

The most annoying Korean pose that literally everyone does here, including my friends and their children BUT this is my first time doing it and Mom convinced me lol!

View of Seoul while we were riding the subway.  It was such a great, clear day and we explored everywhere!

I could post & post about our visit.  It was by far my best week in Korea so far.  I learned & experienced so much and laughed even more while doing it next to my mom.  Even though it was SO hard to see her go I write this with a smile on my face and memories that will last forever!  

Hope this blog helped you learn a few new things about our "home", Korea :o)

Love you all!!