Korea Update

All,

So far I have learned we are terrible bloggers.  It is more work than you think.  Living in a different country has been quite an experience.  Transition is the name of the game.  We hope to get the blog update during Christmas 2011.  I owe everyone some recipes from our time in Korea.  We have said hello and goodbye to many friends in Korea this year already.  Thats what I mean by transitions.  People are always on the go.

Its been a fast year.  We have been gone for 12 months.  As I said, it is difficult to get everything done we want to and keep up with friends in Iowa, Korea, California, work, play, school, etc.

The weather has turned and we are getting ready for our first full winter in Korea.  Kaitlee has been with us for the past couple of months and soon it will be time to say goodbye to her.   She is heading to California and then off to Fort Jackson for boot camp.  What are the odds that a Jackson and a Lee (Stacy's) maiden name would have a daughter who would join the army and then.... Go to basic training at Fort Jackson and AIT Training at Fort Lee?

Kaitlee starts basic training on February 22, 1 day before Grandma Jackson's birthday.  We are excited for her as she starts this new journey.  We are proud of Kaitlee and happy with her choice.  We could have either sent her to college to wrack up some debt and maybe be an Occupy Wall St protester after her Graduation... but she decided to Join the Army, see the world and learn a skill.  Its what made America and many people successful in the past and we trust it will be a good decision for her.  There is always time for college... she will get an education in life and have a chance to serve her country as well as mature a bit before deciding what she wants to be.... Again, Kaitlee we are very proud of you and the maturing that has already taken place in your life.

Lunar New Year

Hello Blog Followers...

So I lured you to the blog with Lunar New Year as the title.. I had the wonderful opportunity to spend the lunar New Year on an all expense paid vacation to..... Taiwan.  Fireworks going off all night and not much going on unless you know Chinese.  Stacy and the girls were surprised... The Korean folks are a little bit more tame than the Chinese when it comes to lunar new year. I'll just say.. my first Korean vacation was spent away from the family.  Taiwan was a nice balmy 60 degrees but I missed the family.  That is my job though.

Relocating Internationally has proven more daunting than I imagined.  Everything is going great.. it all just takes more time.  We are trying not to be ugly americans and I think overall we are doing a good job of that.  Ugly american = upset American that is culturally insensitive and clueless. 

I have had my moments.  For Example..
Why is a house rental contract 2 years... but a cable contract 3 years?
Why is a visa 1 year when you have a two year work contract?
Why don't the phone company folks understand that their government only issues 1 year visas...even though the phone company wants you to have a two year visa to get a phone.

I have learned that a D-8 visa entitles you to one cell phone and only one cell phone.  You can't put your 9 year old's phone in your name and while Korean children get a 12000 won plan with 60 minutes free per month.....American kids pay 12000 won for 0 minutes.

Stop signs are optional unless there is a camera.  Speed limits are a suggestion unless the GPS system tells you it is a real camera.  Pedestrians have no right of way....

 Two months are already gone... we are getting familiar with where things are... Here is a picture of Stacy scoring some of the finer things in life... Its kind of a game to find out how cheap you can get a bottle of Log Cabin Syrup.... The record is about $7.50 for a 24 oz bottle so far in Namdaemun Market.

Score... Syrup and Italian Dressing

Claudia and her friend Gracie at Namdaemun... Everyone likes a sucker...

First month in Korea

Hello blog followers....sorry for the delays, but we finally got our internet up and running at the apartment.
It is hard to beleive that we have been here for almost three weeks.  The girls started school at GSIS on January 10th and are loving it.  Kamela is in first and Claudia is in third, we could not have hand picked
a better teacher for Claudia, Ms. Cooper you rock as she would say.  Mark is hard at work getting everything done at the office as they will be moving to a new office in May.  I have been here at the apartment unpacking and getting things in place.  As a family we have been attending the Nations church at the school and have made many friends already.  I attended a womens bible study last night and really enjoyed it.  Kaitlee is still in Iowa having test done at the university and we hope to have some answers as what is going on when she comes to visit next month.  We all miss her very much and can not wait to have her here for a while.  My goal is to post at least once a week.... we will see what happens.  I  hope to have some pictures posted of the Lunar Newyears celebrations that will be coming up next Thursday-Sunday.....All take care

Arriving at Incheon Airport

We arrived in Seoul on Wednesday January 5th.... Our plane was one hour early which was good for getting off the plane a little quicker.. but our transportation from the airport to our hotel was not available until 7:30.  We made our way through customs and then visited the McDonalds for our first meal in Korea.

 
The girls explored the airport while I braved the freezing cold to secure our spot in line.  You have a funny way of loosing your place in line if you don't gaurd it... Even though I was guarding the line I still had to get after one person who was a line jumper.

The 12000 won bus ride turned out to be quite an adventure.... we had 13 bags for 4 people... the bus folks tried to tell me I could only have 1 bag per person....I pleaded ignorance and loaded the bags myself and jumped on the bus... It was quite a journey but 1:30 minutes later we arrived at the hotel.

Iowa Vacation

The picture above is of a Bald Eagle from Iowa.  We were able to stop along side the road and get some pictures.  We will share more from our time in Iowa.  We seen many deer, some alive, some not! 

This was on a cool foggy morning.  Its neat to see how the trees get covered in frost and snow.

Countdown to Korea

We are just 2 short days from departing for Korea!  Our family is excited about the transition and we are eager to get settled.  December has been a blur!  With Vacation, Family Pictures, Christmas, New Years we are now ready for final preparations.

It looks like the weather will cooperate with our departure and we will leave from Des Moines Iowa.  We will travel to Chicago's O'Hara Airport.  We have a direct flight to Seoul so there should be few problems with Airport Transfers.  We have a Red-Eye Flight that will get us into Seoul on Wednesday Morning.

I'm Mark and my wife Stacy and our daughters Claudia and Kamela will be joining me for this professional journey to Korea.  Stacy and the children will also be posting and we hope that their classmates in California will follow them on this journey.