This here's different rain than what we get in Ja-jaw.

It's raining. Just a consistent, relaxing rain. So relaxing that I don't even feel bad about not doing laundry. I mean, really... is it so important to get the laundry done that I need to trek through ankle deep water (drainage problem around building) with a huge bag, detergent, and an umbrella? Oh, no. It's not. **shaking head** Nor is it worth the risk of falling on something that's slippery and doing more damage to my ankle/leg. There. I've completely rationalized it all. ;)

We've only a few days left. I'm trying to savor each and every night that I am able to snuggle up to my husband. I keep reminding myself that it's only a matter of weeks before he's home and we head off to paradise. Well, Hawaii... but the landscape is pretty close to paradise.

Amazingly enough I haven't gained too much weight while here. I was eating like a pig, too! OINK, OINK, OINK. I was beginning to wonder if I'd picked up some kind of parasite. Hopefully not, but once I started having a glass of wine in the evening, the scale began to go higher. Alcohol really does slow down your metabolism. I think i'm going to give up wine altogether. HAHAHA... OK, so maybe not altogether, but only once or twice a month. Nothing tastes as good as feeling slender.

I met a young woman (22) at the playground the other day. She was adorable, but obviously legally blind. She said she thought I was her age! You don't need to laugh quite so hard. It's the nicest compliment I have received in a while. It just made my week. Even if she was blind, or flat-out lyin', I don't care. I heard the words. Which reminds me.... say something nice to someone. Preferably a stranger. I have heard way too much strident, negative, almost threatening stuff lately that I'm really focusing on passing along positivity. Where are peoples' manners these days? How hard is it to smile when you make eye contact with a stranger? Or to say excuse me when you bump into them? Just the smallest consideration can make a world of difference in someone's day.

Oh, and Happy Birthday to my Hotlanta Hottie. You rock! I wish I were celebrating with you. I hope your day is just as fabulous as you are. I want to be just like you when I grow up... even though I'm older ;)

Stepping stones to grace.

You should've seen the hilarious scene at the World Trade Center in Seoul yesterday. It went something like this: It's a beautiful day. People are bustling about one of the biggest malls in Korea. A woman is walking down a long, steep flight of stone steps, carrying a stroller when all of a sudden.... slip"ughnnn"bouncebounce"ughugh"bouncethump"ooooh"bouncebounce"ohshiiiiii"bounceslide "owwww"thump. She never let go of that stroller though! Now, that takes some grace to fall, bounce, and slide without letting everything go sprawling, except for that poor woman's dignity, right? I can only imagine if an English-speaking translator had been around we would have heard something along the lines of: "Wow! Did you see that woman fall and bust her butt?" or "HAHAHA... omigod, Kim and Lee.... check out the chick that just wiped out." It was funny, though. I mean, as humans we just can't help but laugh once we realize the person's still breathing. It's just comical to see the human body dancing of it's own accord, like a marionette, knowing the victim has absolutely no control.

Was I laughing, you ask? Hell no. The blood was flowing into my lower shin and ankle so quickly, it was all I could do to right myself, take a seat on the steps and try to get my breath. And not cry. Bruce was trying to help me halfway through the fall but he had his hands full with a very angry, very whiny, very much two year old child who was in the throes of acting like a twerp. Yes, I just said my daughter was acting like a twerp, and I'm not taking it back. She was. We had passed a kiosk of items in the COEX mall that had a cute little doll on a keychain. I was going to buy it for her... it was 3,900 won (the sign said so) but the woman wanted to charge me 6,000 won. I wasn't going for it. I'm onto their idea of the "tourist price". That's when the fit started. It continued for roughly 45 minutes. Non-stop crying and theatrics. I tried to explain that we would find a better doll. We tried distraction. We tried removing her from the scene for some fresh air. We tried ignoring her. She was on full-throttle tantrum mode though, so that's why Bruce couldn't save me from my own two feet. I really don't know what happened. One moment I'm thinking "Man, I wish she'd quit crying... I want some food.... chocolate, perhaps... and maybe some coffee.... hmmm, will I find a cute shirt in this huge place?.... how does her face get so red?.... there's got to be a chocolate shop.... what the........................"

My ankle and shin are pretty swollen. Bruce thinks I sprained the ankle, but I keep telling him I didn't. The swelling is not convincing him though. It really doesn't hurt that bad, but the bruise is going to be impressive.

We managed to make it through the COEX Aquarium with Alyssa. I've got some great pictures of that. I can't wait to show y'all the one of the warning sign that was posted by several of the open tanks. Whoever designed it must've had a sense of humor. They seem to have lots of dangerous, arm-eating species over here.
Once we got home and put our sweet, wouldn't-trade-her-for-five-bucks, angel to bed, Bruce and I came to the conclusion that it was NOT our best day. But, as I told him, even if I had to have a day like that, I wouldn't want it to be with anyone but him. He agreed.

Today. Well, today we're sticking close to home. Maybe a haircut. Maybe some groceries. Maybe some laundry. Maybe a good book and a nap. Definitely some wine.

It's been a week.

We went to Seoul last Sunday, but didn't make it to Lotte World. What we did instead was to become professional navigators on the KoRail. **rolling eyes** We chalked it up to a run-through for our "real" visit to Seoul, which may be this weekend or next weekend. We're just playing it by ear. Y'know, sometimes it comes down to just saying "OK! LET'S DO IT!" Kind of like jumping off the cliffs at Percy Priest Lake, it takes a crazy moment of nerve once you know what you're really getting into. The visit was fun, though. We walked amidst the street vendors, tourists, and locals on the busiest streets I've ever been on. It was an absolutely gorgeous day, too. There was a nice breeze, beautiful skies, and it was about 75 degrees. We shopped, we ate at a Korean BBQ restaurant... which is not like American BBQ... and we stopped at a chocolate shop. That place was a rip off. I consider myself somewhat of a chocolate connosieur and this place has lots to learn about chocolate. It was mediocre. That's it... just mediocre. I bought a box of nine individual chocolates which I picked out myself, two smoothies, and a small bag of chocolate cookies. **Darnit, I cannot remember the name of that place!** The first time the girl rang it up it came to 16,000 won, then she looked at me.... the sucker-of-an-American, and it was like a lightbulb went off in her head. She punched a couple more buttons and the final tally was 34,000 won, which is roughly $35. I crossed my eyes, shook my head, and said "Say what?" All the prices were posted, with the exception of the chocolates. Turns out they were $2 A PIECE!!!! Yes, I KNOW!!! Crazy, right? That's $18 for nine measley little pieces of chocolate. Lindt isn't even that much and they actually know what they're doing! I think she gave me the "tourist" price. So anyway... I paid, sat down with my much lighter wallet and thought "these had better be euphoria-inducing chocolates". They were not. I'm actually growling as I type this. I know I should just let it go, but I can't stand it! ARGH!! The thing about it is that I didn't eat any of the chocolates there, so I had no clue at the time as to how badly I'd been ripped off.  I just sipped my ice cream smoothie and brought the chocolates home. You can only imagine my disappointment when Bruce and I finally got the munchkin to bed and we snuck off to our room to indulge. I was so disappointed by the third piece. BUT, if that's the worst thing that happens on this trip then I'll probably be fine. No permanent scarring... just a deeply inbedded traumatic incident at the hands of an egotistical chocolatier.

My wonderful, fantastic, sexy husband is on pass for today. **laughing** The pass didn't count for much considering he's at work this very moment. Supposedly, he shouldn't be gone long, but in case you don't know ONE of the ARMY's mantras it's: Hope for the best and prepare for the worst. So I'm not really making concrete plans for today. Tentatively, we're going to get Alyssa's haircut and do a couple of errands on post. I also want to go to the "Ville" to go back to the shop with the sweetest little man. I did some comparison shopping in Seoul and some of the same trinkets cost over 200% more there. I really have no clue if all this stuff is going to fit in my suitcase!

I bought a coat in New City the other night. It's taken a turn for the chilly here and there's nothing like realizing you don't have "appropriate" clothing **wink, wink**. It's an awesome grey jacket. Kind of modern-biker-cool-woman style. It's form-fitting with a collar that can be turned down or flared out. It was a Large! It stumps me that I can wear a size 2/4 jeans and a Large in a form fitting jacket. It's not the chest that's tight, but the shoulders. Call me quarterback Claire... lol. I'm just built like a strong American, not a slim, petite Korean. The jackets still cool, though, no matter the size on the tag.

To veer off subject for a moment... I am in pain. Motrin's not working. Aleve's not working. Tak-Sen (a Korean pain killer) ain't workin' either! I need to see my doctor. After eight weeks I shouldn't be in anymore pain. Things are not right, either. I mean... something's jacked up. Bruce and I had a little heart-to-heart the other night (I am sen-see-tive about my body, and he's definitely not a dumb man) and he finally told me that "No, they're not right. They need to be fixed." I thought so, too, but chalked it up to the brain-washing of the doctor telling me, wide-eyed, "OH, they're great". No. They ain't great. They're jacked up. It looks like the left one is herniating AGAIN and the right one, in NO shape or form matches it. All due to the fact that BOTH surgeries were not done correctly. Bruce and I came to the conclusion, after much discussing, that we had not had unreasonable expectations, but rather unreasonable results. Unacceptable. If that doctor wasn't sure he could deliver on his work, then he should have NEVER accepted me as a patient.  It makes me mad because if they had done what they were supposed to do (the first time), and used the available, approved tools (hello Alloderm), which were approved because I sent ALL medical records and a personal letter to my insurance company.... not them, as they were supposed to do, I stayed on top of every step so that things finally got taken care of, then things wouldv'e turned out much differently.  Oh, and did I mention they wanted to bill my insurance for the second surgery? That right there was flat out unethical. It was their mistake. OK... I'll stop. I'm just really upset that I worked SO hard to lose weight so that I'd like my body, only to have deal with the pain and disappointment of TWO reconstructive surgeries that did not have the results that I was told they would have. I have honestly suffered at the hands of an imcompetent team of supposed professionals, who in the beginning were SOOOOOO reassuring that it would all just be GREAT. Hmph. This is NOT the end of this story. One more thing... that severe pain that I had... y'know the one that the "hand doctor" tried to prescribe the suicidal-feeling-inducing Neurontin for since my doctor was on vacation, yet again? Yeah, well, when my doctor (with 47 years experience) finally saw me and said he hadn't EVER seen anything like that... I got online the other day, and within 10 minutes.... yes, 10 minutes... I found what it was. It's called Mondor's syndrome. Now gee... how hard would that have been for him to just try to look up? I think I was just a billing opportunity to an insurance company for that office. Makes me wonder if they charged my insurance company for the Alloderm. Hmmm.... I'm going to check into that because that stuff is expensive and they did NOT use it on me.

Well, I've got a 2.5 year old telling me it's her turn on the computer. Ugh, what's with all this sharing stuff? I feel like turning to her and saying "NO! MINE! ALL MINE!" That's a little childish, though, isn't it? I think I'm supposed to be doing something along the lines of **rolling eyes** "setting an example", so I'm signing off.

Come see Ha Me da (that's Thank You, phonetically, in Korean)

Kimchi and Soju

We went to New City tonight. I bought a cute shirt! I tell you what... it was hard, and I mean hard, to communicate with the sales lady as to whether or not they had a dressing room. Resorting to a game of charades seem to be the only answer, but I finally got my question across. Once I saw it, lol, I realized we are so spoiled in the US. Every store we go in has anywhere from 2-20 dressing rooms. Thing thing that I stepped into was no bigger than a space-saver corner shower, complete with an alarmingly confusing door handle that (I think) let out onto the street. It was all cool though. Super cute tunic to wear with some leggings. There's no tax added here either, so what you see on the pricetag is what you pay. I like that. No surprises.

After that was dinner at Two Two Chicken. We had some Garlicky Chicken, Spicy Chicken, and Kimchi with Sausage and Tofu, which was spiiiiiiiiicey. I loved it, though. We also bought a bottle of Soju, and the only comparison I can make of that to something American is maybe moonshine. It started out sweet but with each following shot it got sharper... like a warning. Considering we were also enjoying a bottle of Cafri, which is a Korean beer, we left there feeling light-hearted and craving some ice cream. We didn't dare drink the whole bottle of Soju so I brought home the leftovers.

Tomorrow we are going to Lotte (Low Tay) World, which is supposed to be about the equivalent of Disney World. That means we've got to get up early. **sigh**. It's going to take about two hours to get to Seoul and we've yet to figure out the subway. I'm sure it's going to be an adventure.

Grumpy, Sneezy, and Sleepy

We are sick... and bored. I'm popping Zicam like it's candy, and I've got Alyssa on some baby cough medicine. Last night she was able to sleep by herself, but the night before she had to sleep with Bruce and I. Needless to say, he and I didn't sleep too well. We both got smacked in the head and kicked in the ribs at various intervals throughout the night. She also belted out some pretty bossy demands in her sleep, too. Poor Bruce had to get up at 4:30, while Alyssa and I slept until 7:30. So last night we kept it simple and decided to stay on post for dinner. We're feeling a little better today, but I don't want to be an inconsiderate mom and expose all the kids at the park to her cold, so it's going to be a bubblebath and video day.

Today was supposed to be Bruce's early day... home around 3:15... but NOOOOOO, something of course has come up and he may not be home til six or seven. I am not happy about it. **groan** Seriously, I'm pouting. I know how the Army works, and it's not a surprise, it's just bad timing. Things keep coming up and we've not been able to do a lot of what we wanted... and I'm allowed to pout every once in a while! Anyway, pouting is better than poking someone's eye out, which is what I really want to do.

On a sidenote: I've got pain. It's radiating from under my right armpit and breast and I'm out of painkillers. I rationed those suckers out like you wouldn't believe. I actually have two left, but they are "reserve". I'm taking Aleve but it's not cutting it. I get angry when I think about it because I tried to tell my doctor and his nurses several times that something wasn't right in the area. But as I'm sure some of you can commiserate with me on this, they don't always listen. I'm stuck here without any options in seeing a doctor for the next three weeks, so what's a girl to do? OH, I know... buy some wine! YES... why didn't I think of that before??? Tsch, tsch... yes, I know that makes me sound like an alcoholic, but don't accuse me of being in denial. I completely embrace the fact that I am going to use alcohol to numb my pain. Watcha got for that? Any better ideas? (and to that nurse in Augusta who actually rolled her eyes at me when I tried to tell her about the pain several weeks ago: this bird's for you!)

That's about it for today. Maybe tomorrow I'll feel like a different dwarf.

Bugs. South Korea's got 'em.

We'll start with spiders. There are spiders everywhere. They are in the stairwells, walking around on the ground, hanging out on the lightposts at the park.... everywhere. The one exception is Bruce's apartment, thank goodness. I've only seen one tiny thing running across the floor and he didn't last ten seconds. South Korea's got some spiders of a different caliber, though. These are NOT American spiders. What we are used to in the States is on a much smaller scale. Now granted, we DO have the dangerous spiders, brown recluses and black widows, but I have no clue about the poisonous potential of some of the creatures I've seen over here, which only adds to the fear factor. They are BIG. **body wracking shudder** I treat each and every one of them with respect and give them a wide berth of space.

In general it's just neat to see the difference in species in everything over here. The pigeons are bigger. The blackbirds have white area's on their chest and wings. The beetles are almost decorated.... I saw one the other day that had purple wings and polka dots! The moths look different than what I've seen in the US. There are lots of praying mantises... which "a lot" to me means that I've seen four so far, so comparitively speaking that's a lot. I also saw one of those (ugh, gag) bugs that has pinchers on it. The pinchers were almost as long as the body itself.

I've been forgetting to take my phone with me, but I'm going to start from now on so that I can get some pictures of these little critters. I'll post them after our trip.


Today we are going to go to the park, have lunch with Bruce, go to the library, and then out to dinner tonight. Yesterday was a very quiet day since the Koreans were celebrating Chuseok. From what I understand it's like our Thanksgiving. So we just relaxed here. Then in the afternoon Bruce took us up to see his office since he needed to check some emails. That was interesting and impressive. I'd describe it all, but you know how the saying goes.... "I'd have to kill ya." Rest assured that it's all very top-secret, high-tech, dangerous, and that the safety of our Nation depends upon it. (Yep, I'm giggling at the complete exageration I'm making here.)

I realized I was coming down with a cold yesterday: runny nose and an itchy throat. I'm taking Zicam and just hoping it knocks it out before the cold has a real chance to develop. Alyssa's showing symptoms, too. I can't give her Zicam, though, so I'm just praying her little system is more resilient.

The story of the sad little cabbage donut... and other happenings.

As magical as being in a new country can be, there's nothing like laundry to remind you that the mundane chores do not go away. So, I'm doing laundry this morning. On a positive note, I'll get it all done in half the time since there are two washers and dryers.

Bruce was up at O' dark thirty (3:15 in civilian time) this morning and we won't be seeing him 'til later tonight, so I'm trying to figure out what to do with "the kid". We can't leave post. Well, actually we can, we just can't get back on. We can't go shopping without Bruce. I'm not even sure about the library, but we're going to check it out. So, at this point we've got the playground and the library. Hmmmm.... or Toy Story I &II on DVD. It's really overcast right now, and Bruce said it was going to rain today so we might just pop some popcorn and cuddle up together.

I am really surprised that it's not as expensive as I thought it would be here. I bought a box of 25 Fererro Rocher chocolates last night for $4. I had a coupon, but not with me, so I'm going to dig it out and get another box. Seriously, that box would have cost at least $10 in the US. Street food is super cheap here, too. We've been to New City twice now and it amazes me how inexpensive everything is. We bought what we thought were donuts, five in total, only to find out three were stuffed with cabbage and veggies. That was a tragic taste-bud moment. We made it all the way back to post and were sitting at the playground while Alyssa burned off the last of her energy when we decided to try them. My mouth was watering just anticipating the sugary sweet goodness I knew was about to come, only to bite into it and discover.... cabbage? Oh, yes. Cabbage. Thank goodness two that we bought weren't suffering from an attempt to mix dinner and dessert in one bite. Overall, their sweets lack sugar. I haven't tried enough though, so maybe I should withhold judgement.

Last night we went to Pizza School in New City for dinner. It was $12 for all three of us to eat. We bought a large Deutsche Bite Pizza, which was as odd a mix of flavors as it sounds. We, as Americans, eat some pretty boring pizza it seems. Here though, they throw on anything. Our pizza last night had hot dogs, corn, and even some applesauce on it.... I think. We never could determine what that flavor was in the last couple of bites. When we left there I bought some candies from a street shop. It looked like marzipan, but it sure didn't taste like marzipan. Bruce and I tried it after putting Alyssa to bed. We both took a bite out of one and didn't even finish the piece. Why bother when you've got 13,000 won worth of Dunkin' Donuts sitting right there beside you? We learned to buy backup sweets after the cabbage donut incident. Ugh. Which brings me to the waistline issue. I did soooo good the first week. Didn't gain a pound. But now I'm making up for it. Oh well. It's South Korea! AND I brought stretchy pants!

Proper playground etiquette... I'm gonna let my "bitch" flow.

I am coming to the realization that I don't play well with others.... at least not when they don't know how to play the right way. I also realize that I am very protective of my adorable and sweet two year old daughter. She may not be able to kick that seven year old girl's ass, but I can (at least in theory).

ARGH!!!! I just can not relay to you, on here, just how mad I was yesterday at the playground. It's going to get really offensive here in regards to language, like a bad case of Turrett's... so consider yourself warned. (got in trouble for the language. It's been edited)

What is the deal with lazy women who can't "supervise" their kids? It's no wonder the little sharts behave the way they do, considering their mothers are too lazy to shut their pie-trap, get off their enormous butts, and actually exert some energy to walk around and see why every single child coming within two feet of their kid is crying. There were actually two kids, or should I say demons, that were terrorizing the other children. One was a boy, maybe about eight, that was hitting, shoving, kicking and biting. Yes, biting! When I saw him knock the crap out of a two year old, who promptly hit the ground from the sheer force of it, I finally said to the two women sitting about three feet away "WHO'S KID IS THAT?!" They just kind of shrugged their shoulders non-chalantly and kept chatting. No suprise there considering the little brat that shoved Alyssa on the slide belonged to one of them. Oh, and that little hellion's name just happened to be Alyssa, too, which caused my Alyssa to look scared when the mother started yelling at her daughter "COME ON ALYSSA!!! It's TIME to GO!!!" I thought Alyssa might cry for a moment when she thought she might have to go somewhere with that woman. Only one woman seemed to have her act together and actually "parented" her kids. I wished I'd chatted her up more, but maybe she'll be back. Anyway... the aforementioned little girl kept running UP the slide and knocking kids out of the way. One of them literally fell off the side, and thank goodness it was only about a three foot fall from that point. When she shoved Alyssa at the top of the slide (about eight feet up) I said "DO NOT push her!" The little brat responded with "Oh, it's OK". To which I said "NO, it is NOT ok. We do not push people." She just stared at me. But if you know me, I'm not intimidated by any little seven year old twerp, and I won that staring contest.

So, I told Bruce about what had happened because I like getting his opinion on dealing with anger-inducing situations. He's amazing at keeping his cool in any circumstance and I have become a calmer person from just being around him and seeing him in action. You want to know what he said? Well, get ready for this... he said "Stop repressing yourself! Just let your "bitch" flow." HA! Really? OK. But I'm not sure how to channel my "bitch" in this situation. Maybe something like approaching the lazy twit of a parent and saying "HEY, you watching that brat of yours? No? Then consider you might burn 50 calories by actually getting up and observing your eight year old biting a two year old." Hmmmm... don't think that'll go over too well. How about "My two year old may not be able to kick your eight year old's butt, but I have no problem doing it myself if you won't supervise the little terrorist-in-the-making you seem to be raising."? I just don't think that's going to win me the Miss Congeniality Award, either.

I'm not in the mood to try to come up with something politically correct. Especially if you consider the fact that these women probably wouldn't relate to it anyway since they aren't teaching their kids appropriate playground behavior to begin with. It's just laziness! And before anyone says "Oh, kids will be kids. Just lighten up", I'd put money on the fact that that person is raising a little bratty kid, too.

So, I think what I'm going to do is to continue to supervise Alyssa, and if something should happen I'm going to LOUDLY say "Who does this child belong to?!?!", while pointing directly to the child.  I'll make sure I have everyone's attention at this playground! Then should the child be claimed, I'll give a double dose of embarrasment and being loud again say, "Why don't you come over her and have a little discussion on how to behave on the playground". I have no shame in being loud, either. It leaves less room for someone to misconstrue anything I say. There'll be more witnesses, too, should the mom be a smart-ass and underestimate my supressed-redneck-bitch ways.


**Just an end-note. Please don't forget that I have been on both ends of the weight spectrum. I am not judging these women for being overweight. I am passing judgement on their lack of disciplining and monitoring their children. Their weight just becomes the target when I see a possible connection between their laziness and their children's behavior. I have a flat, white-girl booty and would actually consider it a compliment if someone said I had a fat ass.

Jet lag, Juicy girls, and a Brazilian buffet.

This place is great. It seems Alyssa is finally getting over the jet lag that threw her for a loop. I felt like she had been inhabited by a body snatcher when she started telling us it was time for a nap. That is no way, shape or form my daughter. She was up at 4am this morning, and I was too. I finally gave up trying to sleep at 5am. I hopped out of bed, made us some breakfast, and coffee.... and then realized we had nothing to do. So after staring at each other for ten minutes we began playing with her stickers. I'm working on not being a control freak but it just drives me up the wall when she places five stickers on top of each other. I kept trying to tell her there were plenty of pages for all the stickers to have some "breathing" room, but that's just not her style. I finally realized this and let her happily put them wherever she wanted. At least there'll be plenty of pages left for coloring, and my habit to control is subdued.

We went out yesterday to walk around and check out the "Ville". We bought Alyssa a beautiful little silk dress from the sweetest man who kept telling us he had no girls. Almost every adult Korean we passed had to smile and wave at Alyssa. They must really love kids over here. The people are so very polite... well, except for the "juicy" girls that seemed to glare at me. But that was probably only due to the fact that I looked fabulous (oh yes, I did) and the handsome man on my arm was one less customer. I just smiled warmly. They're probably miserable living that sort of life. I heard that a lot of them are from the Phillipines and were tricked over here under the guise of having a shot of making it in the entertainment industry. Sad and tragic, but moving on.... we then went to eat at a Brazilian Barbecue Buffet. I don't know what was Brazilian about it, but it was delicious. There were six different meats included in the meal. It was $25 per person, but you don't tip over here, and considering the whole experience it was well worth every penny. They would bring around one style of meat about every three minutes... sizzling hot, and absolutely tasty. There was top sirloin, bottom sirloin, steak, sausage, garlic beef, and chicken with the crispiest skin I've ever, ever had. It was a wonderful evening to walk home, too. The weather is pretty warm during the day, but pleasantly cool in the evening.

Today we are doing a little laundry, going to get me a cheap cell phone in case I need to call Bruce during the month when he's at work, and then off to do some more sightseeing after Alyssa's nap. Tomorrow we are planning on going to Osan to do a little shopping. Bruce says we'll have to get up early, but considering Alyssa and I are waking up around 4am, we've got it covered. Now dragging his butt outta bed is another story. He's claiming we are waking him up several times throughout the night, but I had to remind him that everytime we wake him up we are already awake!

Pain on a plane

We've made it to South Korea! That fifteen hours in the plane was sheer hell though. At one point, I tried to get the time off my phone so that I could take a painkiller but since it wasn't registering Eastern Time, I asked the man sitting next to me for the time. I was thinking we'd been on the plane for six to eight hours, so when he said four o'clock I really thought I might cry. My brain just couldn't come to terms with the fact that only three hours had passed and I had 12 more hours trapped in a seat made for short legged people, with a squirmy and demanding two year old, who by the way, had decided all of a sudden that she wasn't interested in being entertained by any of the cool Disney movies they offered. But alas, that damn plane finally landed, and we made our way through the Seoul International Airport. By the time we got through customs and met up with Bruce, I had been awake for about, oh... a day and a half. Then we began our three hour bus ride to his base. Needless to say, I slept like a baby last night. I never even moved when Bruce got up to go to work this morning, but Alyssa and I both woke up around 6:30. I put a movie on for her after breakfast, then I enjoyed some hot coffee, and began unpacking, organizing and cleaning.

Bruce came home with perfect timing and took Alyssa to get us some lunch. So, now she's had a good nap, I've had a shower.... and oh, it's a good hair day since his shower rocks with jack-hammer like pressure.... and now we're about to go outside for the Labor Day Festival they're having. I'm just so excited I could pee! He's got off until Wednesday, so that's going to give us a chance to have some fun, do some sight-seeing, and get into a nice little rhythm.

I can't wait to try some of the different foods here. While waiting for our bus at the airport, I went to a little "French" cafe/coffee shop which had a display of some of the tastiest-looking meals I've seen in a while. Much of them had some sort of seafood in them, plus noodles or rice. My stomach is growling just remembering those display meals. OH, and the sushi I'm going to try! I am going to try it all! It's a good thing I brought all those stretchy, yoga-like pants 'cause I have a feeling I'm not going to be counting every calorie for the next month.

More to come soon.