Author: Faith

Korean Stuff Giveaway!

I mentioned last week that I was going to have a small giveaway and here it is! I wanted to find a way to say ‘thank you’ to everyone who stuck out my blogging absence during our trip. It’s nothing spectacular, just a few random cute things I picked up in Korea.

Cute overload: (clockwise from the left): pencils, decorative tape, coin purse, ID-I’m different! gum, and a cellphone dongle/keychain (which is actually Japanese but oh well).

AND, this good-sized plastic tote. These were everywhere in Korea and I thought they seemed pretty handy for shopping or storing projects. This one has a zipper and a side pocket (I stuck the pencils in there so you can see the scale).

Well, that’s it. To enter, leave a comment on this post by midnight next Thursday and I’ll pick a winner at random.

Thanks again for reading!

Yangdong Folk Village

While we were driving around the Korean countryside we stopped by Yangdong Folk Village. Over five hundred years old, it’s a functioning traditional village and the seat of two prominent Korean families. It’s also where N and I first got to know each other; we both lived there for a summer as part of a university study abroad trip way back when.

It was great to be back to the village. It was over ten years ago that we were there and it was even more better than I remembered it. Living there for a summer was a pretty amazing experience–we lived in an traditional compound with three houses (one for the girls, one for the boys, and one for our professor and his family), held our classes outside on the traditional wooden porch, washed our laundry by hand, taught classes at the local elementary school, and bathed outside using camping showers (except for when we could hitch into the next town to go to the bathhouse).

E outside the compound where we lived during our study abroad trip.

Us back where it all began.

The houses we lived in were at the top of a steep hill. I remember the walk being a bit of a pain but the view was/is spectacular.

I love the traditional houses.

The fields were golden with rice almost ready to harvest. When we lived in the village N and some of the boys helped plant rice (and had some leeches stick to their legs).

It was great to stroll around the village and down memory lane. The summer I spent in the village really cemented Korea’s place in my heart (and introduced me to my wonderful husband-to-be!)

E and Buddha = Besties

Well, we’re home (more or less). E came down with a cold the last few days we were in Korea and while he was super good on the flight home he threw up when we landed and hasn’t been feeling well since. Last night was rough because in addition having trouble sleeping due to jet lag and being sick there was a crazy loud rainstorm that kept E (and us) up for half the night.

And then this morning E threw up a few more times and I woke up having caught E’s cold. So yeah, we’re home but not quite up to speed yet.

But…um…PICTURES! There are numerous Buddhist temples around Pusan and we managed to cram in visits to four of them while we were there. These are from our visit to Beomeosa.

There was a festival going on while we were there and the courtyard was full of people praying with the monks and writing down the scripture. The monks would chant a syllable, bow, and then write it down and the worshipers would follow along with every step.

E decided to get in on the chanting/bowing action. He was actually following along and saying the chant which was pretty cute. A bunch of Korean tourists took his picture.

E’s favorite part of every temple visit was seeing Buddha. He loved peeking inside the temple at the statues.

E and Dylan befriended a puppy.

Some of the many statues.

Wandering the grounds.

I really enjoyed visiting the temples. They each had a different feel to them: some were bustling, some were serene but all of them were gorgeous.

Mystery Solved

Today’s our last full day in Korea. We’re going to try and squeeze in one last expedition out this morning and then come back to my in-laws’ house so we can put E down for a nap and I can put my Tetris skillz to good use and cram significantly more into our suitcases than they held on the trip over. (Wish me luck.) And in a weird bit of time-traveling after spending 16+ hours in transit we’ll arrive in Salt Lake a whole 5 minutes before we left Pusan, local time-wise.

I feel badly that posting was mostly nonexistent for most of this trip–I really should have brought a card reader with me so I could have posted photos. But on the plus side I have a ton of stuff to post about next week and even a small giveaway of a few things I picked up in Korea so check back next week.

In the mean time I saw this great article in the NY Times. It’s a feature about the family who lives in the pyramid at the top of Seattle’s Smith Tower. I’ve always wondered what it was like inside the top of the building every time I’ve driven past it. It turns out it’s awesome.


See you next week!

Photographic Evidence

So…I still haven’t found a card reader that will let me download photos from my camera but I have a few pictures N took on his phone.

The first morning we were here E excitedly tore around the house exploring and chasing his cousin Dylan and ran smack into the corner of a table which left the lovely mark you can see on his cheek. It’s healed over now but for a few days everywhere we went concerned ajummas would worriedly point it out to us in case we hadn’t noticed it before. You know, because they’re helpful like that.

These photos were from the Jagalchi fish market which is always an amazing place to wander–so amazing in fact that when my camera was acting up and refusing to work the first time we visited I wheedled N into stopping by yesterday so I could take some photos myself.

It’s about 10am here and we’re getting ready for a car expedition to one of the local Buddhist temples. I love meandering around temple grounds and snapping photos of E so it should be fun.

Letter: Month Thirty-Five

Dear E,

As I write this long-overdue letter you’ve finally fallen asleep in the next room here in Korea. You quickly realized that you are quite able of climbing out of the portable crib we brought along for you and I had to keep putting you back to bed over and over. After the eighth time I finally gave up and lay down on the twin bed with you so you could relax. You had gotten used to sleeping in the same room as your cousin Dylan and with him having left for home today you didn’t want to be alone. You’re usually not one for cuddling but tonight you nestled into my side and stared into my eyes until your blinks became longer and longer and finally you were asleep.

I know I should focus on what happened in September but our trip to Korea is what’s on my mind right now (since it’s um, still happening and all). It has been great to see you take so much in stride. When I think about how little you still are I’m amazed at how well you’re behaving. It’s true that you have your struggles, but those are mostly related to you not getting as much sleep as you’re used too and that’s on us, not you.

But so far you’ve loved riding around in the car with Grandma, Grandpa, Uncle Ken, and Dylan and seeing the sights. You especially love all the Buddhist temples we’ve visited with their brightly painted eaves and lovely statues. At one temple we went to the courtyard was full of people praying by bowing and chanting in unison and you enthusiastically joined much to the delight of everyone who saw you. The sight of your tiny bum in the air as you bowed to the ground cracked me up.

But before we left on our trip some other things happened too. I tried to cram in some end-of-summer fun and so we took you to the state fair and to ride a train up in the canyon. You had a lot of fun at both of those outings.

Your dad and I also left you at home overnight with a sitter for the very first time. We had a last-minute chance to go to a music festival in Las Vegas so your friend Jenna came and stayed with you over the weekend while we were gone. It was so much fun to spend time away with your dad but you were always in the back of my mind. I could practically hear Jenna rolling her eyes at me over the phone when I called a couple times a day to check up on you. But you did wonderfully with her like I thought you would. And when we came back you seemed to have aged at least a month in the two days were away.

Maybe it’s because I’m thinking more and more about the baby girl we’re going to have in January but you seem to be growing so quickly lately. You pick up new phrases every day and every day you seem to get a bit more adamant about doing things on your own.

When you were a newborn I had a hard time imagining what you would be like as you got older. But now I know you so well that I can see you in my mind’s eye at five, at twelve, at thirty…I know there will be ups and downs and plenty of surprises but I’m grateful that I have a front-row seat for the show because I know it’s going to be amazing.

Love,

Mama

Birthday Dinner

We’re having a great time here in Pusan but sadly I haven’t figured out a way to download pictures from my camera yet.

But before we left I uploaded some pictures of the birthday dinner N treated me to while we were in Vegas. It was the first time I’d been to a schmancy French restaurant and it was delicious.

Mussel soup

Basil langoustine fritter

Roast Chicken Thai-curry style

The most adorable selection of tarts EVER

I’d like to think that the hours I’ve invested watching Top Chef adequately prepared me to fully appreciate the food which was delicious. I don’t think I embarrassed myself but then again I did keep whipping out my camera to take photos of the food which is pretty tacky. (I told myself that since it was Vegas no one cared–they’ve probably seen a lot worst.) I just wanted to document the occasion because it was such a rare treat.

Hopefully I’ll located a memory card reader and have some pictures to share sometime soon!