Happy Halloween

Happy Halloween from our little Pumpkins!!  The girls will Trick or Treat tomorrow during our neighborhood Halloween Party.  Morgan will dress as a mermaid and Molly as a U of M cheerleader.   School doesn't recognize Halloween, but they are celebrating Pumpkin Day and were able wear orange & black today.  Look for more pics tomorrow.  Enjoy your holiday!

Family Tradition

I'm not sure how many generations have made the infamous "Sliders" recipe, but I know at least 4 for sure.  My Grandmother made them, my Mom still makes them (& the best), now I am making them with our daughters.  For those of you unfamiliar with "Sliders", they are a homemade noodle, almost like a dumpling, in chicken stock.  Perfect on a cool Fall day!  

Morgan loves helping out in the kitchen and Molly is beginning to test her culinary skills too!

   

Not My Day

Mark was away on business so I took it as the perfect opportunity to take his larger vehicle to Costco to stock up.  I loaded Molly in and we were off.  While pulling into the parking spot, I nicked the front bumper of the car on the pillar close by.  There was black and yellow paint all over the corner of the car.  OK, not really a huge deal, but I wasn't sure how Mark would handle the news.  I decided it could wait and Molls and I made our way through Costco.

Just as I was turning into an aisle, a nice elderly woman bent down to pick something up and I bumped her in the head with my shopping cart.  In my defense the carts at Costco are HUGE.  But maybe I should be wearing my glasses.  The woman wasn't hurt and I couldn't for the life of me think of the Korean word for "I'm sorry".  But she smiled and said OK, OK.  

I eventually talked to Mark about the car and he was not concerned.  But it's a good thing I remembered the Korean word for "I'm sorry" because I needed it later that night.

While on my way to pick up Mark from the subway station I "bumped" the car in front of me.  I wasn't on the phone or fiddling with the radio.  I wasn't even moving.  Traffic was at a stand still but began creeping forward.  The car in front of me stopped and I didn't.  The driver was OK and so was his car, but he insisted on taking a picture of my license plate number and the sticker on the windshield with Mark's cell phone number on it.  I told him "my husband."  He asked, "Korean?"  I said, "No, American".  The guy drove off without any further investigation.  I immediately called Mark to fill him in and sure enough the guy tried to contact him, but didn't speak good English.  Mark had his secretary call the guy back to translate and figure things out.  As soon as she mentioned GM Daewoo legal team, the guy backed off.  Basically he was trying to screw the crazy American epxats.  

Good thing everything happens in 3's.  I don't think I could take another mishap.  I have however started wearing my glasses more often.  

Monkeying Around

Morgan has been practicing on the Monkey Bars at school for several weeks now.  From what I can see she is definitely improving.  Here are a few pictures I snapped of her this week.

Like Father, Like Daughter

Mark has been notorious for sticking his tongue out while concentrating on certain tasks.

 

That's OUTRAGEOUS!!!

I expect to pay a premium for imported goods at the market, but some prices are just plain robbery.  I pay about $2.75 for Goldfish crackers and macaroni & cheese, $2.25 for taco seasoning packets, $6.00 for cereal and Wishbone salad dressing, $10.00 for ricotta or  grated parmesan cheese .  My eyes about POPPED out of my head today when I saw a small 8-10 pound turkey for $50.00.  But that's not even what put me over the edge... $20.00 for a jar of Artichoke hearts, $18.00 for Phyllo dough, $60.00 for a fresh pumpkin!!!  Get real!  I can't imagine being that desperate to pay those prices.

Hat Party

I've been invited to the Melbourne Cup luncheon in early November, put on by the Australia New Zealand Association (ANZA).  Think Kentucky Derby.  Its meant to be a really fun afternoon with friendly betting, giveaways, and lots of bubbly.  In preparation for the luncheon, today ANZA had a Hat Party.  They gave away more than 50 gorgeous hats and I was the lucky winner of the one below.  Enjoy the self portrait and expect many more pics from the Melbourne Cup.  

 

In true Korean Style

Mark and I went out with friends on Saturday night for dinner.  The plan was for us to drive to their house and then take a taxi to the restaurant.  Before we left the house, Mark noticed my hiiiigh heeled shoes and said are you sure you're going to be OK in those.  I replied yes, that since we weren't walking anywhere I would be fine.  

We arrived at our friends and headed out for the night.  It started with us walking down a short but steep slope of road.  We needed to get out to the main road to catch a cab.  Then someone decided it would be quicker to take the subway.  We needed to get on a bus and go a few blocks to get to the station.  No problem!  This was my first bus experience and I can say we all survived.

We unloaded from the bus and proceeded to walk to the nearest station.  If you're not familiar with subways let me tell you that there are several flights of stairs that lead to several different platforms.  Needless to say my feet were killing me.  

We had to switch trains at one point witch required more stairs, but at least we were able to sit down on this train.  We arrived at our station, and walked up several more flights of stairs onto the main road.  We then walked several blocks to get to our restaurant.  (Sortino's, by the way, is a great little Italian place.  If you come for a visit we will have to take you there.)

My feet enjoyed the break during our meal and were even happier that we took a taxi back to our friends' house instead of way we came.  

I don't know how the Korean women do it.  They wear heels all the time.  Somehow they are able to navigate the steep hills and uneven pavement with more grace than I could manage. 

   

"Molly do"...EVERYTHING

Our Little Miss Molly is Little Miss Independent!  She wants to be a BIG girl like her sissy, mommy, anyone.  Everything from drinking from a cup, washing her hands, taking the stairs.  Its great that she is learning and is curious, but the constant battle about things that aren't safe or just plain messy, is getting a little old.

   

Smarty Pants

Morgan's friend came over today wearing Sponge Bob Square Pants socks, and said he is the smartest person in the world.  Morgan replied, "Actually, he's a sponge." 

That's our girl!!

This time last year....

Mark and I were in Shanghai on our look/see visit.  Wow!  Time really flies.

Fashionista!!

What more can I say about a purple & black dress paired with sparkly red dress shoes and a pony tail for playing soccer?  Nothing except that Morgan picked it out all on her own.

  

Time Out

Tonight at dinner, Morgan asked if I know "Adam and Eve, from the Bible, the one about God."  I told her "yes", not personally of course. Well she went on to tell me about the apple and the snake, how the snake said to eat the apple, but God said not to.  I asked "what happened when they ate the apple?"  She replied that "God was sad and disappointed.  Then they had a time out."

Dinner just keeps getting more and more entertaining every day.      

Socks

Morgan LOVES knee socks!!  When we were in the US this summer and I was shopping for Morgan's school things, I picked up a package of 2 pair of white knee socks.  Morgan loves them and wants to wear them every day.  They come home filthy dirty from the playground and are not easy to keep white and crisp.  Recently I was out shopping and found the perfect solution.  Two pair of gray/black knee socks.  One pair is argyle the other stripes.  She loves these too and they coordinate perfectly with her uniform.

  

Beamers, Mercedes, & Bentleys...Oh My!

BMW's, Porsches and Mercedes are common sights in Seoul.  But in the last two weeks we've seen a Ferrari, Lamborghini, Lotus and Bentley driving around town.  Our neighbor across the street owns a Mayback (apparently the most expensive car in the world.)  Can you say WOW?!?!  I can't imagine taking the risk of driving (or parking) either of those vehicles in this city knowing how everyone drives here.  I can only imagine the insurance costs.  

Some other "unique" vehicles we've seen have been a corvette, a mustang convertible, a hummer, and a Ford Expedition with a Bobby Jones Ford-Augusta, GA sticker on the back.  All "black-market" imports.  

Most people drive Daewoo or Hyundai vehicles.  Everything here is about status and money.  The more you have, the better you are.  Your car says a lot about you.  Most people here are driven in big black sedans.  You can imagine how they feel about me in my small little Matiz.  Small SUV's are also popular.    

Hanbok Day

This week Morgan's school celebrated Korean Week.  There was a different activity each day to help the kids learn more about their host country.  They've sampled foods, seen Tai-kwon do and other performances and today was Hanbok Day.  Hanbok is traditional Korean outfits worn now for weddings and during national holidays.  As you can see from the pictures below these outfits are quite colorful.  The kids and faculty all dressed in Hanboks or Tai-kwon do outfits today and then took part in some traditional Korean activities.  Enjoy the pics! 

With her good friend Ryan.  He's from PA.

Decorating a spinning top.

Printing her name in Korean characters.

Banging the Gong!

Morgan's Class!  Her current teacher (permanent sub) is on the left in the yellow.  The Assistant Teacher is crouched down on the left.  Her actual teacher (who will start at the end of the month) is on the right.  

Morgan learning a fan dance.

Here is our little Hanbok Princess!

Notice anything unique in this pic?  It's Morgan!  Blond hair really stands out in a crowd like this.

Here is the whole elementary school in their Hanboks in the courtyard of Seoul Foreign School.

 

Just because

Morgan cheering along with her Bella Bella Cheerleader DVD.

Looking cute in Mom's slippers.

Sisters!

So grown up!

Molly's long hair.

Double Parked??

No problem!!  Just call the cell phone number posted on the windshield of the car that is blocking you.  The owner will stop what they are doing (shopping, eating, business meeting) and come move their vehicle so you can get out.  Or....if you are in a parking garage with "organized" double parking, you simply push the vehicle out of the way.  No kidding!  I found myself blocked in yesterday after shopping.  The attendant in the garage came over and pushed the offending vehicle aside.  These cars are left in Neutral for this very reason.  

Salsa Anyone???

And I'm don't mean for your nachos!!!  In my search to find a dance class for Morgan, I came across a studio that teaches Latin ballroom dancing.  The You Can Dance studio is currently offering beginner Salsa lessons.  Mark was willing to give it a go, so we convinced our friends to join us last night to try it out.  

We had a really nice dinner outside at Gecko's Garden.  Our meal was fantastic, and we were able to enjoy our dinner and the weather on their terrace.  Then we headed over to the dance studio.  There were about 30 people attending the lesson, and we were broken up into Beginner 1 and Beginner 2 levels.  We learned the basic Salsa step and a few complicated turns too.  It was fun!  We smiled and laughed and had a GREAT time!  

We didn't realize they were going to make us switch partners throughout the night.  Finally Mark made a comment about wanting to dance with his wife.  The instructor said, "Oh, I forgot to mention that if you are a couple you can stay together."  This was about 10 minutes before the lesson ended.    

My Little Car

As promised, here are pictures of my Matiz.  It's cute, yes!!  And it gets the job done.  Even if I do have to talk her up our BIG hill.  She zips in and out of traffic, eases into parking spaces and saves us money.  (I only fill up about every 2 1/2 weeks and get discounts in parking garages and toll rodes.)  

A Closer Look

I took Molly and Sadie for a walk yesterday and brought the camera along too.  I wanted to show you some of the very different styles of houses within our neighborhood.

(Remember, you can click on each picture to make them larger.) 

Some are just so modern, like this one here.

This is one if just so unique.  I think I'll need to climb a little higher to get a better pic.

This is a Korean  restaurant called the Green House on the slope of the BIG hill towards our home.  We haven't tried it yet, but it seems to be popular and busy.

Here is a row of museums, galleries, cafe's and shops.  No its not raining.  But the asian women are very conscience of their skin and go to extremes to stay out of the sun.

If you go up this hill and curve around to the left, there is a really nice playground at the top.

Stairs and more stairs.  There are sets of stairs all around our area to take you from level of the mountain to the next.  They can be a lot quicker than going around on the roads.

She Could've Been a Contender!!!

Let me preface this by saying this looks so much worse than it really is.  

Molly woke up on Thursday morning with a little red dot on her eye lid near her eye brow.  No doubt a pesky mosquito bite.  The mosquitoes are so bad here.  The girls have nets around their beds to keep them out and we have mosquito repellent machines that run in their room.  After all of that, they both continue to be eaten up by the little buggers.  

So, Molly seemed fine all morning.  But when she woke up from her afternoon nap, her eye was swollen and it kept getting worse.  I was afraid to put anything on it because she was rubbing her eye and I thought she would rub the cream into her eye.  I finally decided to call our neighbor, a registered nurse who also subs at the school when the school nurse is out.  (How convenient for us.)  She suggested waiting until Molly was asleep to apply some Cortisone cream, since she was least likely to rub it then.  She wasn't too concerned but said if got worse or was oozing, we should go to the clinic.  

Fast forward to Friday morning, when this picture was taken.  She woke up and her eye was completely swollen shut.  Mark and I decided to take her to the International Health Clinic which was closed for the holiday.  We kept an eye on her for the day and it did eventually get better.

Today is Saturday and Molly's eye looks much better.  It wasn't swollen shut when she woke up and the red puffiness is down quite a bit.  Our little "Bruiser" is going to be OK.