Eh, couldn't resist the whole Wizard of Oz quote there and yes, there is no place like home but slowly I am starting to adjust to this whole WAAAAAAAAY outside my comfort zone thing here. It's definitely a culture shock, don't get me wrong. It's NOT America. lol But the more I actually get out into it and the more I find things that ARE familiar and comforting, the better it is.
Admittedly, food is an adjustment. South Korea is a predominantly pork and seafood eating culture and those are two things that are no-no's in John's book (though seafood has never really been something I've picked up on myself, to be honest) so dinner gets tricky to figure out and probably will for awhile until we get used to a whole new way of cooking again which basically means cooking on the stove for the most part as there is no microwave here and there isn't much of an oven either as it isn't much bigger than the size of a toaster oven. It MIGHT fit a small pizza. lol
Adjusting to the whole laundry thing is interesting too. The washer is both a washer and a dryer and it takes a LOOOONG time to wash and dry clothes BUT on the plus size, they really seem to get clean though I do wonder about using the washing stuff John has here. I would prefer to use the clean and clear stuff or maybe even look into something like Charlie's like some moms I know use (especially those moms who have cloth diapered little ones).
One of the first things I had to find though was a stain treatment thing which I did find, at Costco's which was a NIGHTMARE to go into, especially on a Sunday. Yikes. Sam's Club in La Crosse and Costco's in Middleton do NOT compare AT ALL to the Costco's here. Here it is PACKED! It is INSANELY packed! And there are these escalator like things all over and that is how people get from one floor to another. Note: I hate, despise, LOATHE escalators. I'm terrified of them. Don't ask me why, I just am. I hate them and I try to avoid them whenever possible. I hate getting on them; I hate being on them, and I hate getting off of them. *shudder* I will, nine times out of ten, take the STAIRS over an escalator and would have last week if I hadn't walked SO much and was SO tired and my legs were just screaming at me for making them walk more in the last few days than they had walked the last four months before that. The ones at Costco's were a little easier to deal with, they were more like an inclined moving sidewalk (yes, I hate those too) so that wasn't AS BAD but still, I do NOT LIKE ESCALATORS. Therefore, between that and the overall crowded condition of the place, I do not plan to go there again anytime soon. I'll probably send John by himself instead. Yes, I'm mean. Then again, the plan in all honesty is to just go once a month to get those things we need to get that we just cannot get around here and those things that are in bulk that will therefore hopefully last at least half, if not a full month. So that's my plan. Last week, we needed something to treat stains on clothes (an absolute NECESSITY when you have a preschooler) and that was where we decided to go looking for it. Hopefully, we won't need anymore anytime soon because man, that was NOT cheap. Then again, things brought over here from the US typically are not cheap.
So yeah, I'm slowly adjusting, getting to know the surroundings and getting to know people as well. I've met up with a mom a couple of times and Natalie gets along really well with her little girl so that will be something we'll keep up with and it gives me a chance to get to know the area even better. One of the nice things about where we live is that it is in a ideal location where it's just walking distance to many place (though with the subway, just about everything is within walking distance) and as I become more comfortable with going outside with Natalie on my own, I'll be able to tour more of the places and get to know more things. Unfortunately, some of the concern is language as I can't speak Korean and my understanding of it will be next to impossible with the hearing issues I have but all I can do is try and the best way to deal with boredom is to get outside and do things. That will also help get some of this weight off too.
Not that there isn't anything to do indoors. True, the apartment is small. It is a studio and therefore, it is just one room. But, we honestly do not have that much here. It is mostly just our clothes and some toys for Natalie and really, she doesn't need much else at this point (though I'd be willing to bet she'd LOVE to have a scooter) and storage hasn't been too bad. It would be nice to get another laundry basket or two (or at least a hamper) but other than that, we've been dealing. Not that a larger place wouldn't be nice. I mean, we are two married adults and it would be nice to be able to have intimate relations without worrying about being caught in the act by a three year old waking up to go potty. But at this point, that's about the biggest downfall of all three of us being in one room. John's gone most of the day, there are a couple of days a week I get out, and at night we all have dinner and go to bed. Natalie sleeps well when she is asleep so I could watch TV if I wanted to but there's also the option of finding things to watch online or watching one of the episodes of Star Trek Voyager as I managed to get ahold of all seven seasons of that before I left. And with the computer, I can use my headphones at least so that doesn't even disturb anyone. All in all, it hasn't been too bad so far though, I'll admit, there was a few days when I really considered just buying a plane ticket for myself and going back home but I think for the moment at least, that feeling is gone.
Saturday, March 21, 2009
Wednesday, March 18, 2009
Yes, I'm alive.
And, not only am I alive, but I have both my computer AND the internet connected! The computer took a little bit of figuring out because of the change in currents here, the plug thingies are pretty weird looking but a co-worker of John's stopped by the other night and gave me a plug that would work with my computer and with the outlet here. Woo-hoo! And internet was even easier. Thank goodness for Wi-fi; I was able to connect to that pretty quick. So I am here, in Ilsan City, South Korea, on my computer and on the internet.
I won't lie though, it's all been VERY overwhelming. It's a big city and we're near the downtown area. I'm still suffering a bit from jet leg and get tired at odd times here. Natalie does too though she's actually holding up right now which impresses me. Then again, she actually slept in a little bit today and by sleeping in, I mean she didn't wake up until 7:30 in the morning as opposed to around 6am. Since we're all sleeping in one room, this has not really helped the rest of us get any sleep and having some alone, ADULT time has also not been easy (though one good thing to that I guess is that I probably won't get pregnant anytime soon). I'm hoping that eventually she'll be able to hold off on sleeping until around 8 or 9 pm giving John and I some time to ourselves. But it does require that we get dinner done pretty soon after he gets home which requires actually knowing what we're having for dinner in advance and so far, it's been by ear each night.
The apartment is VERY small. I would be willing to bet that it is smaller than the livingroom of the last place we lived. If it's over 300 square feet, I would be surprised because I cannot imagine it being much over 10 feet by 15 feet. The bed fits both John and I at least but it's hard, just slightly softer than sleeping on the floor would be. Natalie sleeps on the couch.
Some good things though (besides being able to get online here). The water pressure here is REALLY nice, the water stays hot, and I'm able to find a lot of my favorite shows in English on the TV here. Though I will say this, watching Dora in Korean where they emphasize the English rather than the Spanish is just a little on the ironic side, to say the least. But even a lot of those shows are in English and Natalie doesn't seem to care about the ones that aren't. She was quite happy watching Thomas the Tank Engine in Korean. Commercials though, are a bit strange and I've yet to find the closed captioning though the English shows do have Korean subtitles (and usually have the actor names in Korean as well).
One of the big things to get used to is how people react to Natalie. She is a BIG TIME oddity. American children are not common here and one with blue eyes, I'm guessing, rarer still. She REALLY attracts attention. In fact, in one place we stopped at, one of the servers took out her cell phone and was trying to get pictures of her! They also come up to talk to her and to touch her which can be a little unsettling. And many people say she's pretty or has pretty eyes. We stay here too long, she's going to get a big head!
The plane ride here wasn't too bad. It was my first time on a plane and I was very nervous but it definitely could have been worse. We got to the airport early enough to get through security and all that with few issues (other than Natalie having a breakdown when she had to leave the car AND when she had to take off her coat and shoes) and got to our gate with little time to actually have to sit and wait. Getting to the gate took a little longer because I was specifically trying to avoid escalators (I HATE them with a passion). Natalie, on the flight to San Francisco was VERY excited to watch the plane go up (meanwhile my stomach was flopping around like a fish) but was out cold five minutes later. Still, once my tummy settled down, it was nice to see all of the scenary below. It was a clear day and the view was VERY nice. We flew over Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, and California before finally landing in San Francisco. Having only been in two of the above states, it was very different for me.
Getting to the gate in San Francisco took about an hour (again, stupid escalators and it took a while just to figure out WHERE to go) but then we had a little over an hour before boarding took place. So we took the time to sit down and relax (Natalie spent her time looking out the window). Since she slept most of the way to San Francisco, she wasn't quite willing to go back to sleep when we got on the plane again. She was up for the first four hours and was a bit of a pill too as she did NOT want to stay buckled in. There was DEFINITELY some turbulance going on too which was VERY interesting, to say the least. But fortunately, I knew what it was and I wasn't too freaked out. Still, it was over 12 hours of flying and the shades were down most of the time, not that I could see all that much anyway as just about everytime I looked outside, there were clouds below. It was light out all the way to Seoul, where we landed. The sun set just a little bit before our arrival and it didn't really get dark until after we had been there about an hour. That in itself was disorienting considering that it was light out when we first flew out of Chicago and when you consider that we didn't land in Korea until around 4am Chicago time, that was ALMOST 24 hours that we had light out which definitely didn't help my body figure out what time it was.
Landing in Seoul was very interesting. Natalie and I had to take a train (basically a subway) just to get to the baggage claim. John did NOT warn me of that at all but I guess he didn't have to do that when he flew in since he came in through Japan, not San Francisco. But we made it to the baggage claim, got all of our bags (they all arrived there safely) and after a little bit, figured out we needed to go through one more door in order to get to John. He was very happy and relieved to see both of us make it there okay.
The rest of the evening was pretty adventuresome but I'm going to take off for now, I'm getting kind of beat here. The time change has been a bit difficult to get adjusted to and I still get tired during the day.
I won't lie though, it's all been VERY overwhelming. It's a big city and we're near the downtown area. I'm still suffering a bit from jet leg and get tired at odd times here. Natalie does too though she's actually holding up right now which impresses me. Then again, she actually slept in a little bit today and by sleeping in, I mean she didn't wake up until 7:30 in the morning as opposed to around 6am. Since we're all sleeping in one room, this has not really helped the rest of us get any sleep and having some alone, ADULT time has also not been easy (though one good thing to that I guess is that I probably won't get pregnant anytime soon). I'm hoping that eventually she'll be able to hold off on sleeping until around 8 or 9 pm giving John and I some time to ourselves. But it does require that we get dinner done pretty soon after he gets home which requires actually knowing what we're having for dinner in advance and so far, it's been by ear each night.
The apartment is VERY small. I would be willing to bet that it is smaller than the livingroom of the last place we lived. If it's over 300 square feet, I would be surprised because I cannot imagine it being much over 10 feet by 15 feet. The bed fits both John and I at least but it's hard, just slightly softer than sleeping on the floor would be. Natalie sleeps on the couch.
Some good things though (besides being able to get online here). The water pressure here is REALLY nice, the water stays hot, and I'm able to find a lot of my favorite shows in English on the TV here. Though I will say this, watching Dora in Korean where they emphasize the English rather than the Spanish is just a little on the ironic side, to say the least. But even a lot of those shows are in English and Natalie doesn't seem to care about the ones that aren't. She was quite happy watching Thomas the Tank Engine in Korean. Commercials though, are a bit strange and I've yet to find the closed captioning though the English shows do have Korean subtitles (and usually have the actor names in Korean as well).
One of the big things to get used to is how people react to Natalie. She is a BIG TIME oddity. American children are not common here and one with blue eyes, I'm guessing, rarer still. She REALLY attracts attention. In fact, in one place we stopped at, one of the servers took out her cell phone and was trying to get pictures of her! They also come up to talk to her and to touch her which can be a little unsettling. And many people say she's pretty or has pretty eyes. We stay here too long, she's going to get a big head!
The plane ride here wasn't too bad. It was my first time on a plane and I was very nervous but it definitely could have been worse. We got to the airport early enough to get through security and all that with few issues (other than Natalie having a breakdown when she had to leave the car AND when she had to take off her coat and shoes) and got to our gate with little time to actually have to sit and wait. Getting to the gate took a little longer because I was specifically trying to avoid escalators (I HATE them with a passion). Natalie, on the flight to San Francisco was VERY excited to watch the plane go up (meanwhile my stomach was flopping around like a fish) but was out cold five minutes later. Still, once my tummy settled down, it was nice to see all of the scenary below. It was a clear day and the view was VERY nice. We flew over Illinois, Iowa, Nebraska, Colorado, Utah, and California before finally landing in San Francisco. Having only been in two of the above states, it was very different for me.
Getting to the gate in San Francisco took about an hour (again, stupid escalators and it took a while just to figure out WHERE to go) but then we had a little over an hour before boarding took place. So we took the time to sit down and relax (Natalie spent her time looking out the window). Since she slept most of the way to San Francisco, she wasn't quite willing to go back to sleep when we got on the plane again. She was up for the first four hours and was a bit of a pill too as she did NOT want to stay buckled in. There was DEFINITELY some turbulance going on too which was VERY interesting, to say the least. But fortunately, I knew what it was and I wasn't too freaked out. Still, it was over 12 hours of flying and the shades were down most of the time, not that I could see all that much anyway as just about everytime I looked outside, there were clouds below. It was light out all the way to Seoul, where we landed. The sun set just a little bit before our arrival and it didn't really get dark until after we had been there about an hour. That in itself was disorienting considering that it was light out when we first flew out of Chicago and when you consider that we didn't land in Korea until around 4am Chicago time, that was ALMOST 24 hours that we had light out which definitely didn't help my body figure out what time it was.
Landing in Seoul was very interesting. Natalie and I had to take a train (basically a subway) just to get to the baggage claim. John did NOT warn me of that at all but I guess he didn't have to do that when he flew in since he came in through Japan, not San Francisco. But we made it to the baggage claim, got all of our bags (they all arrived there safely) and after a little bit, figured out we needed to go through one more door in order to get to John. He was very happy and relieved to see both of us make it there okay.
The rest of the evening was pretty adventuresome but I'm going to take off for now, I'm getting kind of beat here. The time change has been a bit difficult to get adjusted to and I still get tired during the day.
Wednesday, March 11, 2009
Last post written in the US!
And probably the last one for a little while, at least until I get settled in. Leaving in about an hour for the airport and will then be flying out after that. Really nervous about it all and haven't been able to get much sleep. I have some HUGE butterflies in my stomach. But hopefully, it will all go well without any snags.
Monday, March 9, 2009
Just 48 hours to go...
...well, give or take a few hours since I would have to be at the airport between 5 and 6am but yeah, flight leaves Wednesday morning so not too long from now. I'm starting to panic a little and I'm worried I'll forget something. I've already realized I've forgotten a few things in La Crosse including Natalie's spring jacket. grr. So, not sure what I'm going to do about that, probably have my sister ship it out to me. *sigh*
Anyway, I'm in Chicago now, staying with my brother and his wife and kids. Not sure what the plans are for the next couple of days but I know I do intend to finish up the little bit of packing that still needs to be done and be ready to take off. I'm still hoping the federal tax return gets in before then, I could use the money.
Not much else going on though right now, just getting ready to leave.
Anyway, I'm in Chicago now, staying with my brother and his wife and kids. Not sure what the plans are for the next couple of days but I know I do intend to finish up the little bit of packing that still needs to be done and be ready to take off. I'm still hoping the federal tax return gets in before then, I could use the money.
Not much else going on though right now, just getting ready to leave.
Friday, March 6, 2009
We have a baby!
Keira Faith Annalee was born last night at 11:26PM by cesarean. She was 5 lbs, 10 oz and 19 1/4 inches long. She's VERY little! Things definitely didn't go as planned but the big thing was getting the baby out okay and considering everything my sister had gone through with this pregnancy, she's definitely grateful to have a healthy baby. This one will be her last though as she also went through with the tubal after the cesarean was done. If I get a chance and the internet is still up and running, I'll post pictures later but I need to get them on my computer and edited a little first.
Thursday, March 5, 2009
So now, I'm waiting for my sister's in-laws to come and get me...
...and take me to the hospital. Hopefully I'll get there before the baby is born. She's now been induced to things are back on track as far as moving forward. Don't ask me why she got induced, I really don't understand it either. All I know is that they all got impatient with the water breaking and no contractions for a good six hours so rather than wait for the contractions to actually start, they induced. So, we'll see when the little one will make her appearance and hopefully I'll get some pictures!
I'm just kind of hoping that all of this baby stuff going on doesn't get Natalie into wanting me to have a baby because I really don't think I want anymore. Then again, it has been awhile since I've been around a newborn so we'll see what that ends up doing. It would be kind of funny if I ended up getting pregnant not long after arriving in Korea (though really, that's NOT the plan!).
Oh, and if you don't get any updates after this one, more than likely it will be because the internet was disconnected and I didn't get back home in time to update before that happened. Just to warn you all in advance and if that IS the case, more than likely you won't get an update from me until after I get to Chicago which won't be until Sunday. So consider this your potential cliff-hanger...
I'm just kind of hoping that all of this baby stuff going on doesn't get Natalie into wanting me to have a baby because I really don't think I want anymore. Then again, it has been awhile since I've been around a newborn so we'll see what that ends up doing. It would be kind of funny if I ended up getting pregnant not long after arriving in Korea (though really, that's NOT the plan!).
Oh, and if you don't get any updates after this one, more than likely it will be because the internet was disconnected and I didn't get back home in time to update before that happened. Just to warn you all in advance and if that IS the case, more than likely you won't get an update from me until after I get to Chicago which won't be until Sunday. So consider this your potential cliff-hanger...
She's been admitted...now we're just waiting...
To be honest, I'm not sure if I'm even going to be in the delivery room. She has her husband there which kind of surprises me considering what he's been putting her through but I guess I shouldn't be surprised really. I just know that if it were me in her situation, NO WAY. Then again, my husband would have to consider himself lucky if he were still ALIVE if he pulled something like this. So I guess we'll see what happens.
On standby!
Got a call from my younger sister. She's 37 weeks and a couple of days pregnant now and has been showing signs of early labor but nothing had really been moving beyond that. Well, she called to tell me she thinks her water broke at the chiropractor's office after an adjustment and she's now on her way to the hospital to see if it was in fact the amniotic sac that went. So now, I'm just waiting to hear if she's been admitted and hopefully I'll get to go over there and help. I have the babysitter on the way just in case!
Wednesday, March 4, 2009
Packing...YUCK!
That is what I'm doing these days. Packing, packing, and yet even more packing. I just packed the two main suitcases but I'm sure I'll move things around from there to the extra one and back until I have it all just right. So far, it is mostly clothes which kind of scares me. I still have the rest of the stuff to pack. Yikes!
Because it is warming up, not as much of the winter stuff is going and more spring stuff is and trying to pack the winter stuff is NOT easy. It's bulky and big and it is NOT going into the totes all that easily. So I don't know what I'm going to do about that except to maybe buy another tote before the week is out.
I have Sunday to get this all done and that still includes finishing my scrapbook and transferring files from the computer to the laptop so I can FINALLY get that all ready and sell it to the person I have been planning to sell it to.
In the MEANTIME, my sister is working her way into labor. She went in this morning and was told she's in early labor so she could go at ANY TIME. So we've got ticking time bombs all over the place here.
Bleh, I need a nap.
Did I mention my sinuses are congested and I'm on my monthly? Fun times all around. *sigh* Better get back to work, the little one is out with her adopted granddad so I need to use the time wisely. I may not have internet as of Friday so we'll see what happens as far as me keeping everyone posted. The next time you hear from me, I might be in Chicago.
One week left before take off. Actually less than that when you consider the flight is at 8am.
Because it is warming up, not as much of the winter stuff is going and more spring stuff is and trying to pack the winter stuff is NOT easy. It's bulky and big and it is NOT going into the totes all that easily. So I don't know what I'm going to do about that except to maybe buy another tote before the week is out.
I have Sunday to get this all done and that still includes finishing my scrapbook and transferring files from the computer to the laptop so I can FINALLY get that all ready and sell it to the person I have been planning to sell it to.
In the MEANTIME, my sister is working her way into labor. She went in this morning and was told she's in early labor so she could go at ANY TIME. So we've got ticking time bombs all over the place here.
Bleh, I need a nap.
Did I mention my sinuses are congested and I'm on my monthly? Fun times all around. *sigh* Better get back to work, the little one is out with her adopted granddad so I need to use the time wisely. I may not have internet as of Friday so we'll see what happens as far as me keeping everyone posted. The next time you hear from me, I might be in Chicago.
One week left before take off. Actually less than that when you consider the flight is at 8am.
Monday, March 2, 2009
Why can't anything in my life come easily?
It just really seems that things have to keep pushing me and pushing me and pushing me until I finally break. I'm about to that point already. I just want things to FOR ONCE go right without problems, without a lot of snags but it NEVER happens that way. Something is ALWAYS complicated and I'm SO TIRED OF IT!
John has moved to our new place. It's a STUDIO APARTMENT. I couldn't even have a roommate in college because living in such close quarters with someone else about drove me insane and I have to spend the next up to two years in a studio? The other option is to find a place of our own but there are a couple of problems with that including the need for up to 5 million won for the deposit. To put that simply, that's about two months of John's salary. And while there is a housing allowance, I'm not sure how much of the rent would be covered with it (because even with the deposit, we would STILL have to pay rent!). One of the HUGE reasons for going over there was because housing was going to be covered. I could handle a one bedroom. But a studio? Not having a place to go when everything is overwhelming for me is NOT good. It's going to be like a pot on high with the lid on. I'm going to blow up at some point. I'm almost to that point now. I'm very burned out having played this single parent thing for almost four months. I don't know what to do and I'm FURIOUS with John about this. He just NEVER considers my mental capabilities. My ability to cope with stress has been SEVERELY compromised since the murder. And having gone through what I've been going through the last four months is NOT going to help. And I haven't even gotten on the plane! Why does he do this to me? Sometimes I think he likes pushing me to see how much I can handle before I completely have a mental breakdown. I really do. *sigh*
So, in other news, the baby is still hanging in there. My sister will be 37 weeks on Tuesday and so far, so good. So, we'll see if she makes her appearance before I leave on Sunday for Chicago. I'll be spending a few days there with family before I finally fly out of O'Hare on Wednesday the 11th. It's not a happy situation I'll be leaving either. She is going through with the divorce as her husband has decided that he prefers the other woman. It really sucks for her but I think eventually, she'll be better off. Unfortunately, his parents are sticking their noses where it don't belong and are trying to get my sister AND her husband to terminate their parental rights and turn the kids over to them. Which I think is SO wrong especially since one of the kids isn't even their biological grandchild and the adoption was never completed. They seem to think though that they are better suited because they have a house and cars and money and can take the kids to Disneyworld and garbage like that. I think things could get VERY ugly before it is all over with.
So that's pretty much it in a nutshell. Did my taxes today finally (but hey, a full month before I did them last year and MUCH earlier than I did my state which was pretty late) and hopefully, the refund will show up before I leave. Could really use the money.
John has moved to our new place. It's a STUDIO APARTMENT. I couldn't even have a roommate in college because living in such close quarters with someone else about drove me insane and I have to spend the next up to two years in a studio? The other option is to find a place of our own but there are a couple of problems with that including the need for up to 5 million won for the deposit. To put that simply, that's about two months of John's salary. And while there is a housing allowance, I'm not sure how much of the rent would be covered with it (because even with the deposit, we would STILL have to pay rent!). One of the HUGE reasons for going over there was because housing was going to be covered. I could handle a one bedroom. But a studio? Not having a place to go when everything is overwhelming for me is NOT good. It's going to be like a pot on high with the lid on. I'm going to blow up at some point. I'm almost to that point now. I'm very burned out having played this single parent thing for almost four months. I don't know what to do and I'm FURIOUS with John about this. He just NEVER considers my mental capabilities. My ability to cope with stress has been SEVERELY compromised since the murder. And having gone through what I've been going through the last four months is NOT going to help. And I haven't even gotten on the plane! Why does he do this to me? Sometimes I think he likes pushing me to see how much I can handle before I completely have a mental breakdown. I really do. *sigh*
So, in other news, the baby is still hanging in there. My sister will be 37 weeks on Tuesday and so far, so good. So, we'll see if she makes her appearance before I leave on Sunday for Chicago. I'll be spending a few days there with family before I finally fly out of O'Hare on Wednesday the 11th. It's not a happy situation I'll be leaving either. She is going through with the divorce as her husband has decided that he prefers the other woman. It really sucks for her but I think eventually, she'll be better off. Unfortunately, his parents are sticking their noses where it don't belong and are trying to get my sister AND her husband to terminate their parental rights and turn the kids over to them. Which I think is SO wrong especially since one of the kids isn't even their biological grandchild and the adoption was never completed. They seem to think though that they are better suited because they have a house and cars and money and can take the kids to Disneyworld and garbage like that. I think things could get VERY ugly before it is all over with.
So that's pretty much it in a nutshell. Did my taxes today finally (but hey, a full month before I did them last year and MUCH earlier than I did my state which was pretty late) and hopefully, the refund will show up before I leave. Could really use the money.
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