Wicked!

I have been wanting to see the show Wicked for some time now. I even read the book this past December and was so excited to see that it was in town... Well in Seoul (4 hours away). Brandon and the kids decided to give me a ticket for Mother's day and so I invited a friend to go with me. We took the fast train (1 hour 45 min.) up to Seoul on Friday night and took the subway to the theater. The theater was right outside of the subway exit. We only had to walk about 50 feet. It was so awesome! What a great performance. It was by an Australian team and so it was in English(bonus)what an experience! The costumes were amazing and I could just go on and on... We then took the subway to the closest stop to the temple and stayed over night at the temple. Here they have an area attached to the temple where there are dorm room type areas that you can rent for $10 per night if you are going to be doing temple work. So we slept there and had a session on Saturday morning. We then went to a touristy area in Seoul called Itawon where there are some amazing eating places. I was so excited to be able to see that there was a Thai restaurant there where I could have some Pad Thai. Yum! There was also a English book store that sold new and used books. Yay! A place to find books where we don't have to wait for Amazon to come through. Cheaper?... No! Not really, about the same but in a place where if we are in the area a quick was to get a few new books for both the adults and the kids both.

Samsung Lions

We have a new couple in our ward who so happens to belong with the Samsung Lion's baseball team here. Mitch Talbot was playing professional ball in the states and became a free agent last year and was signed here. I have become good friends with the wife Julie and she is just about to have a baby and will be leaving to go home next week. They won't know if they will be here next year but before she leaves she wanted to let our family come to one of Mitch's games that he was pitching in and last night was the night.

We had VIP seats and the works. The moment we sat down we had drinks in front of us (unfortunately it was coffee). Then we were were given two coupons for a free large bucket of chicken. Spicy! And yes we are getting used to the spicy stuff here and we are liking it. After the game one of the Korean teammate's wife told us that the chicken comes not spicy too. We just laugh because we don't know and no one asks because I don't think that they know how to ask, and it is just normal for us. I now know what it is like for the immigrants who have moved to my country not knowing a thing and trying to survive. It just becomes pretty humorous and we just try to go with the flow, we never know what we are going to be getting even when we are told that it isn't spicy.


It was pretty interesting to see how another country watches the games. They have these big clapper things and pound them all night long. Our seats were great too. Braxton and Brandon had front row tables just off from home plate. and Isaiah and I were right behind. Unfortunately the Lion's lost this game, and it was hard to tell what the score was because we couldn't read the sign and if you weren't paying attention after they scored you never knew who's score you were looking at. I was good just to figure out where the strike, out and ball numbers were.

The boys even scored with a signed ball from Mitch and his friend Brian Gordon who is also another pitcher on the Lion's team. Fun night! Nice way to start our holiday weekend!

Officially a Weeblo and Armed Forces Day

Last weekend we had a busy schedule. We began with heading over to Braxton's crossing over ceremony. And then to finish off the day at the Armed Forces Day here on post. They opened up a section that we had never seen before. It was fun but it was a hot and tiring day. The boys were thrilled just to be able to climb all over and in the military vehicles. They even had a bull ride that the boys had to try out. Fun, Fun, Fun!

Donghwasa Temple

We took the boys to a small Buddhist temple close by that has a tradition of every night around dusk playing music before they pray to Buddha. It was pretty fun to be able to see it. This is such an interesting time of year here. It is Buddha's birthday on Memorial Day this year and everywhere we go we are seeing the lotus blossom lanterns in Buddha's celebration. Very pretty grounds at this temple and Braxton's favorite part was the little waterfalls and so that is why I added a picture in there.

$20 Find

Brandon found this cute desk for $20 from a guy who was getting rid of it at work. It is Korean made. We gave it to Isaiah because he doesn't have any shelves and needed a bigger desk to work on. Now he has a big art area where he can make anything which he loves. He also has more room to store more things. I am thinking of painting the white areas a different color, but until I have time to even think about what I want to do with it or find out where to go and buy supplies for it (here in Korea there aren't any yellow pages as to where you can find anything, you just have to walk in a store and look at what they are selling and remember where it is the next time you need it). So as for now it will just stay this way for a while.

Hanji and Paper Mache

I have started taking some of the craft classes that are offered here, and I am really enjoying to learn new things. I was approached by a lady in our branch about taking a doll making class. She had told me that it was going to be offered at a Army base about 40 minutes away, and that the class was only offered once a year and they may not offer it again next year. It was also going to start at 2pm, the exact time that the boys get out of school. I told her what my problem was and she decided to change the time. Well, I was enjoying the class and on week two of the class I was offered a long term sub job for a first grade class for the rest of the school year. It wouldn't start for another three weeks and asked the lady in our branch what she would prefer that I do. I really wanted to take the class, but I didn't know how I would be able to finish. She asked me if I could come an hour early to class and stay an hour after to see how far we could get. I was also taking a hanji class that she also teaches in Daegu and for a few weeks I would be able to come an hour early to those to work on my dolls. Well with that said, I still wasn't going to be able to finish my dolls, but she decided to take my dolls home and help me to complete them. What a wonderful lady!
You can see at one point I had made an attempt to make the face of my doll and it looks quite a bit like an alien. My instructor quickly helped me get them back on track. Everything on this doll is made out of some sort of paper (including toilet paper)except the wire inside and the little tassel that is hanging from the girl dolls hanbok. What a fun and tiring project, but they are keeping me busy. I am starting another hanji class next week and the project are getting more difficult as we are learning new techniques.
I am exhausted after my long days back to school and 1st graders are suck a different breed from what I am used to, but taking my classes is a time for me and I am going to continue to take them as long as the boys will let me, because they have to come to my hanji classes, but they do get to benefit there too as everywhere on post they can watch American TV.

Rain Gutter Ragada

Last weekend Braxton had a great time at scouts. He was able to make a boat with his dad and float it in a rain gutter ragada. He is just so handsome in his uniform. He didn't place, but he still had fun! Wahoo! Braxton!