OK, so it's been forever since I have been on here and I know that my blog has been totally neglected. In my defense, the last few months have been pretty crazy. Hubby came home from Korea at then end of June just in time for our anniversary. I was very excited to have him home again but then things started to get very busy. We spent the 4th of July visiting my family and then the rest of July and August were spent frantically trying to figure out what we would do come the end of August when Hubby ETSed from the active duty army.
We were hoping that that Hubby would be offered a job outside of the military before the end of August but this was not to be so, we went for plan B - move in with my parents for a few months while Hubby continues the job search. We had to be out of our house on post on Hubby's exact ETS date and housing was less than flexible in helping us coordinate the move so it was a bit of a frantic month trying to make all of the arrangements.
Two days before Hubby's ETS, the Jonas Brothers came to pack up our house and prepare all of our things for storage. No, I am not kidding, that was the name of the moving company. The Irony was not lost on me and May agreed that it was a bit humorous. Thank God for little moments like that or I might have lost my mind. On a side note in case you were wondering, the army provides us 6 months of storage while we are "in transition." We continue to pray that Hubby finds a job before then. So anyway.... it took two days for the movers to pack up and then empty our house. It was quite the experience since half of the information that we had been told prior to moving day turned out to be wrong. For example. the moving company had told us that we needed to purchase our own washer bolts which we frantically ordered online with rush delivery to get them in time only to discover that the army had paid the moving company to provide them for us. AWESOME... NOT. This was just one of a laundry list of things that we were misinformed about. The movers made a complete mess of the house and one of the female packers even left used feminine products on my bathroom sink... yeah thanks for that. Can you say gross? I mean yeah I understand that she needed to use the bathroom but she could have picked up after herself. Whatever happened to common courtesy?
Needless to say we survived and after the truck left we packed all of the remaining items into our already pretty loaded down car. Choosing what to take with us for an indefinite amount of time and what to send to storage was not an easy task and we could only hope that we had chosen well. After living out of our suitcases for the last couple months I can say that we did OK but its hard not being able to have all of our things. After packing up the car we spent the night scrubbing the house down from the movers mess. I had cleaned the whole house prior to their arrival but after they left you could barely tell. Thank goodness for May who let me borrow her vacuum.
So that pretty much brings us up to the present. We have been living at my parents while Hubby job searches and I have been working as a substitute again. Hubby has become a "weekend warrior" with the reserves so he won't be completely done with the army for another few years. We are crossing our fingers and praying that a job comes along for him soon but we are trying very hard to be patient.... not always an easy feat. I am taking things week by week and at times day by day. I will try to update here more often but no promises. I miss all of you (friends who are reading this) so drop me a line and let me know how you are!
Monday, October 22, 2012
Sunday, April 22, 2012
Quilting and Cross Stitch
I can't remember if I mentioned this in a previous post but after I finished making my aprons back in September, I began a quilting project. I wanted to do something with Hubby's old uniforms that he had wanted to throw way because they were worn out or too stained to wear anymore. I stopped him from taking them to the trash and he was more than glad to give them to me for "craft purposes" lol. After surfing the net I found a couple of cool ideas including quilts and purses. I made the purse first awhile back and posted a photo here on my blog. The quilt has taken me a lot longer to complete partly because I often get frustrated with projects that are not "instant gratification." I got bored or frustrated and put it aside for months at a time. However, I finally have it finished! I know it isn't perfect but in some ways I think that just adds character to it and this IS my very first quilt so cut me some slack? I think this will be a cool keepsake since the uniforms that I used to make it were the ones that Hubby wore while he was in Iraq. I think it turned out pretty cool. The photo isn't the best... sorry!
Awhile back, I also completed and then framed a cross stitch project but I never posted it here so I thought I would now. I hadn't done cross stitch since middle school when I had done one project but this turned out great! I think the framing really compliments it too. Sorry for the glare from the glass on the photo...
Awhile back, I also completed and then framed a cross stitch project but I never posted it here so I thought I would now. I hadn't done cross stitch since middle school when I had done one project but this turned out great! I think the framing really compliments it too. Sorry for the glare from the glass on the photo...
Thursday, April 12, 2012
Korean Adventure Part 11: Heading Home - The Final Chapter
All too soon it was time for me to head back home to the States. The morning I left Hubby helped me repack my suitcase and I went with him to get his hair cut before it was time to head to the airport.
It took a taxi and a bus ride to get to the airport but we made it with time to spare. The airport had a touch screen map/FAQ kiosk just like the mall. I thought it was pretty cool. The airport there is huge! We had to use the map just to figure out where to check in. After checking in, Hubby took me to lunch at the airport Bennigan's. I thought it would be a safe place to go since they have Bennigan's in the US but the menu was in Korean so we had to ask the waitress lots of questions about what everything was and she only spoke a little English so it was a challenge. Hubby told me that he will be a lot more patient with people who don't speak English when he gets back to the US because he knows what it is like not to speak the language.
Saying goodbye was difficult but Hubby assured me that the next few months would go by quickly. A baby cried the entire way from Korea to San Francisco. It was a long flight but ironically it was actually two hours shorter than the flight going to Korea because of the way the wind blows.
I finally arrived back in San Francisco but was thankful that I had a long layover because I got stuck in the customs line for over an hour... even though I was towards the very front of the line. The system went down and the line was at a standstill for over 45 minutes. Couple that with tired and slightly annoyed passengers and you can imagine what standing in line was like.
Thanks to San Fran's poor signage, as I mentioned on the way there, I got a bit lost trying to figure out how to get to my connecting gate but eventually I found it and picked up some food while I was waiting to board. My flight was overbooked and I could have gotten a free travel voucher to give up my seat but at that point I just wanted to get home.
May was kind enough to pick me up when I finally arrived back home and she had already dropped off Bubbles, my fish, at my house. She is so thoughtful! I was glad to be back home but ironically just hours after I got back two tornadoes ripped through the town that I live in. Thank God they didn't get close enough to post to affect me but still.. nice welcome home gift from mother nature. LOL it figures. At least it happened AFTER I got home and not while I was trying to fly here.
I miss Hubby but hopefully he will be on his way home before I know it and then he will be getting out of the army so we will not have to deal with a year long separation again. I can't wait to see him again. Thanks for showing me Korea Baby! I had fun and I hope you did too :)
It took a taxi and a bus ride to get to the airport but we made it with time to spare. The airport had a touch screen map/FAQ kiosk just like the mall. I thought it was pretty cool. The airport there is huge! We had to use the map just to figure out where to check in. After checking in, Hubby took me to lunch at the airport Bennigan's. I thought it would be a safe place to go since they have Bennigan's in the US but the menu was in Korean so we had to ask the waitress lots of questions about what everything was and she only spoke a little English so it was a challenge. Hubby told me that he will be a lot more patient with people who don't speak English when he gets back to the US because he knows what it is like not to speak the language.
Saying goodbye was difficult but Hubby assured me that the next few months would go by quickly. A baby cried the entire way from Korea to San Francisco. It was a long flight but ironically it was actually two hours shorter than the flight going to Korea because of the way the wind blows.
I finally arrived back in San Francisco but was thankful that I had a long layover because I got stuck in the customs line for over an hour... even though I was towards the very front of the line. The system went down and the line was at a standstill for over 45 minutes. Couple that with tired and slightly annoyed passengers and you can imagine what standing in line was like.
Thanks to San Fran's poor signage, as I mentioned on the way there, I got a bit lost trying to figure out how to get to my connecting gate but eventually I found it and picked up some food while I was waiting to board. My flight was overbooked and I could have gotten a free travel voucher to give up my seat but at that point I just wanted to get home.
May was kind enough to pick me up when I finally arrived back home and she had already dropped off Bubbles, my fish, at my house. She is so thoughtful! I was glad to be back home but ironically just hours after I got back two tornadoes ripped through the town that I live in. Thank God they didn't get close enough to post to affect me but still.. nice welcome home gift from mother nature. LOL it figures. At least it happened AFTER I got home and not while I was trying to fly here.
I miss Hubby but hopefully he will be on his way home before I know it and then he will be getting out of the army so we will not have to deal with a year long separation again. I can't wait to see him again. Thanks for showing me Korea Baby! I had fun and I hope you did too :)
Korean Adventure Part 10: Other Activities and Attending the Movies in Korea.
Other than the major events that I have already discussed in various posts, Hubby gave me a tour of his base and we watched a bunch of movies that we borrowed from the post library. I got to see him participate in his bowling league twice while I was there and it was fun to meet his friends.
I also learned that there are members of the Korean army who work with the US soldiers and wear our uniforms. Hubby told me that they act as liaisons of sorts and are called Katuses. I thought it sounded like it was pronounced Patuses but when I googled for spelling I found it with a 'K' on wikipedia. They wear the US uniforms but with the Korean flag and have their name tapes in Korean with the American translation underneath in subtext. I thought this was interesting. Military service is mandatory for all males in Korea.
We also attended a movie off post one day which was an interesting experience. In Korea, going to a movie is slightly different than it is here. The movie theater itself was on the 14th and 15th floor of a building and the Koreans do not stand in line for tickets. Rather, you take a number and have a seat on benches until your number is called. When it is your turn, you go up to the counter to get your tickets.
The cashiers do not speak English very well so if you are American you ask to see the "book." Hubby loves movies so he is a pro at the whole "movie theater procedure!" They hand you a binder which basically has movie posters in it shrunk down to 8 1/2in by 11in to fit into the binder. You flip through it to pick out your movie and then point to it when you decide. We decided to see John Carter. They offered quite a few American movies and they are shown in English but they have Korean subtitles.
After choosing the movie you want to see the cashier asks you where you would like to sit and shows you on the computer where the open seats are. You actually have to sit in the seat you choose, like going to a concert. The seats are all the same price but I guess this prevents people from having to rush into the theater before the movie starts to find a good seat?
The theater offers popcorn in butter and caramel flavors as well as ice cream, and a variety of other snacks. There is also an arcade inside the theater and there were even a few stores! The actual theaters were on the second floor of the theater (15th? floor of the building?)
After the movie you have to be very careful about where you throw your trash. The Koreans are very anal about recycling and will yell at you if you don't do it right! I also want to mention that although Korea is in general a very clean country... there are very few public garbage cans. You will not see them on the streets. I have no idea what they do with it!
I also learned that there are members of the Korean army who work with the US soldiers and wear our uniforms. Hubby told me that they act as liaisons of sorts and are called Katuses. I thought it sounded like it was pronounced Patuses but when I googled for spelling I found it with a 'K' on wikipedia. They wear the US uniforms but with the Korean flag and have their name tapes in Korean with the American translation underneath in subtext. I thought this was interesting. Military service is mandatory for all males in Korea.
Attending the Movies
We also attended a movie off post one day which was an interesting experience. In Korea, going to a movie is slightly different than it is here. The movie theater itself was on the 14th and 15th floor of a building and the Koreans do not stand in line for tickets. Rather, you take a number and have a seat on benches until your number is called. When it is your turn, you go up to the counter to get your tickets.
The cashiers do not speak English very well so if you are American you ask to see the "book." Hubby loves movies so he is a pro at the whole "movie theater procedure!" They hand you a binder which basically has movie posters in it shrunk down to 8 1/2in by 11in to fit into the binder. You flip through it to pick out your movie and then point to it when you decide. We decided to see John Carter. They offered quite a few American movies and they are shown in English but they have Korean subtitles.
After choosing the movie you want to see the cashier asks you where you would like to sit and shows you on the computer where the open seats are. You actually have to sit in the seat you choose, like going to a concert. The seats are all the same price but I guess this prevents people from having to rush into the theater before the movie starts to find a good seat?
The theater offers popcorn in butter and caramel flavors as well as ice cream, and a variety of other snacks. There is also an arcade inside the theater and there were even a few stores! The actual theaters were on the second floor of the theater (15th? floor of the building?)
After the movie you have to be very careful about where you throw your trash. The Koreans are very anal about recycling and will yell at you if you don't do it right! I also want to mention that although Korea is in general a very clean country... there are very few public garbage cans. You will not see them on the streets. I have no idea what they do with it!
Korean Adventure Part 9: Gyeongbokgung Palace
Towards the end of my visit to Korea, Hubby took me to visit Gyeongbokgung palace in downtown Seoul. We arrived just in time to see the ceremony marking the changing of the royal guards. The guards were dressed in bright colors and carried weapons such as spears and bow and arrows. It was a very interesting ceremony to watch. They carried brightly colored flags and the royal orchestra played its very unique instruments as they marched along with the guards.
After the change of the guard, Hubby and I went through the gates of the palace and discovered that there would be a free English speaking tour in five minutes. I picked up a brochure on the palace and began reading it while we waited. It was strange to see the tall buildings of the city looming right outside of the palace walls. Looking the other direction it was cool to see how the palace roof was built to follow the line of the mountain behind it. The early Koreans believed that their architecture should flow with nature.
It was a freezing cold day and it was very windy so I think our tour guide cut the tour slightly short but it was still informative. We learned many interesting facts about the palace, Korea's history, and the kings who had lived/ruled there.
The palace itself was very colorful and elaborate. There were figures that I would call gargoyles everywhere to ward off evil spirits and there were small figures on the eves of every roof top. There were dragons painted onto the ceilings and pottery on display inside the rooms.
The palace had an elaborate chimney system to heat it and seemed very architecturally advanced for the time period. We also were able to see a rounded sundial that was invented under the rule of King Sejong. It is supposedly much more accurate than a flat sundial. Our tour guide read the time for us and it turned out to be about 20 minutes different from the time according to our watches. She told us that the sundial is actually more accurate for the actual time in Korea according to the sun but that Korea conformed to the western time zones and that is where the 20 minutes were lost. King Sejong also invented a water clock so that he could tell time on cloudy days or when it was raining. We didn't get to see it but it seems like he was pretty smart!
The back part of the palace grounds has a beautiful garden but since we were there in the winter everything was brown. Hubby was able to go when the weather was nicer and things were still green. It was still pretty though even in winter. It must be very beautiful in summer. Over the back wall you can see a blue roofed building. We were told that it is the Blue House where the Korean president lives.
After walking around for a bit after our tour and having a quick lunch we went to the museum next door to the palace and walked around learning about Korean culture. It was interesting and it gave us a chance to warm up!
Afterwards we visited a small courtyard outside of the museum that had statues representing the Korean new year. I was born in the year of the tiger. I was excited to find this out because I love tigers. My mom was born in the year of the dog which I find hilarious because she hates dogs! Hubby was born in the year of the ox. When were you born?
When we finished looking at everything, Hubby took me a few blocks away to a market area where we shopped for souvenirs. There was so much to look at and there were a lot of interesting things for sale although some seemed over priced. We walked around and had a good time exploring the shops until we found a couple of things to buy and headed back to the train for the trip back to Hubby's post.
After the change of the guard, Hubby and I went through the gates of the palace and discovered that there would be a free English speaking tour in five minutes. I picked up a brochure on the palace and began reading it while we waited. It was strange to see the tall buildings of the city looming right outside of the palace walls. Looking the other direction it was cool to see how the palace roof was built to follow the line of the mountain behind it. The early Koreans believed that their architecture should flow with nature.
It was a freezing cold day and it was very windy so I think our tour guide cut the tour slightly short but it was still informative. We learned many interesting facts about the palace, Korea's history, and the kings who had lived/ruled there.
The palace itself was very colorful and elaborate. There were figures that I would call gargoyles everywhere to ward off evil spirits and there were small figures on the eves of every roof top. There were dragons painted onto the ceilings and pottery on display inside the rooms.
The palace had an elaborate chimney system to heat it and seemed very architecturally advanced for the time period. We also were able to see a rounded sundial that was invented under the rule of King Sejong. It is supposedly much more accurate than a flat sundial. Our tour guide read the time for us and it turned out to be about 20 minutes different from the time according to our watches. She told us that the sundial is actually more accurate for the actual time in Korea according to the sun but that Korea conformed to the western time zones and that is where the 20 minutes were lost. King Sejong also invented a water clock so that he could tell time on cloudy days or when it was raining. We didn't get to see it but it seems like he was pretty smart!
The back part of the palace grounds has a beautiful garden but since we were there in the winter everything was brown. Hubby was able to go when the weather was nicer and things were still green. It was still pretty though even in winter. It must be very beautiful in summer. Over the back wall you can see a blue roofed building. We were told that it is the Blue House where the Korean president lives.
After walking around for a bit after our tour and having a quick lunch we went to the museum next door to the palace and walked around learning about Korean culture. It was interesting and it gave us a chance to warm up!
Afterwards we visited a small courtyard outside of the museum that had statues representing the Korean new year. I was born in the year of the tiger. I was excited to find this out because I love tigers. My mom was born in the year of the dog which I find hilarious because she hates dogs! Hubby was born in the year of the ox. When were you born?
When we finished looking at everything, Hubby took me a few blocks away to a market area where we shopped for souvenirs. There was so much to look at and there were a lot of interesting things for sale although some seemed over priced. We walked around and had a good time exploring the shops until we found a couple of things to buy and headed back to the train for the trip back to Hubby's post.
Wednesday, April 4, 2012
Korean Adventure Part 8: Celebrating Saint Patrick's Day
Koreans don't celebrate St. Patrick's Day but soldiers do! Hubby and his buddies wanted to go out to celebrate on St. Patrick's Day. We started off the celebration by going out for dinner. We left the post around 4:45 and took a taxi to downtown Uijeongbu. Once downtown we walked to a Korean pizza place called Mr. Pizza. Yeah, I know, really original name. It was around the corner from Mr. Doughnut.
One pizza is about $30 in Korea which is crazy but again I think all American food is higher priced. They had a bunch of specialty pizzas but Hubby had to explain to the waitress that I only like cheese on my pizza and nothing else. I know, I am boring. Hubby's buddies ordered a pizza with a bunch of different toppings but were surprised to find corn on the pizza when it was delivered. Who knew corn could be put on pizza? Hubby said he thought the pizza was made with goat cheese but I couldn't tell and I am very picky. Two interesting things to note about eating out in Korea are 1) you don't tip the waitress and 2) she won't come over every five minutes to see if you need anything. Instead, there is a button on the table that you press when you want service.
After dinner we walked around downtown Uijeongbu a bit. They have all sorts of statues and art in the plazas and all of the store fronts were colorful and lit up with neon signs. There was so much to look at I was a bit overwhelmed. I didn't know where to look first! I almost tripped over an uneven sidewalk because I was trying to look at everything and wasn't watching where I was walking.
We went to a flea market area and looked around for awhile. There were vendors selling everything from shoes to food and everything in between. One of Hubby's buddies wasn't wearing green and we kept giving him grief so he decided to buy a green Yankees hat. He didn't realize until after he had paid for it that the back said "New Yuck" in stead of New York. Ha ha... the Yankees suck anyway.
The boys wanted to start drinking but most of the bars were still closed. Eventually they found one and we trekked up to the second floor where it was. In Korea, they cannot build out so they build up instead. Each floor of a building can be a different store, restaurant, etc. We sat at a table by the window and people watched as people walked by below.
Hubby pointed out a barbershop that we could see from the window that had two barber poles out front. Apparently in Korea, two barber poles means that they offer haircuts with a happy ending. Who knew? Hubby said that they were told this info when they were in processed so that they would not get themselves in trouble.
Eventually we ended up at a bar called Radio Clock where we spent the remainder of the evening. The Korean bar tenders were very friendly and the soldier's explained to them that it was St. Patrick's Day. They took song requests all night and would look up any song that you asked for. I heard a Korean version of a Rhianna song and a J Lo song which was interesting. Hubby played darts and we had a good time until we decided it was time to head home.
One pizza is about $30 in Korea which is crazy but again I think all American food is higher priced. They had a bunch of specialty pizzas but Hubby had to explain to the waitress that I only like cheese on my pizza and nothing else. I know, I am boring. Hubby's buddies ordered a pizza with a bunch of different toppings but were surprised to find corn on the pizza when it was delivered. Who knew corn could be put on pizza? Hubby said he thought the pizza was made with goat cheese but I couldn't tell and I am very picky. Two interesting things to note about eating out in Korea are 1) you don't tip the waitress and 2) she won't come over every five minutes to see if you need anything. Instead, there is a button on the table that you press when you want service.
After dinner we walked around downtown Uijeongbu a bit. They have all sorts of statues and art in the plazas and all of the store fronts were colorful and lit up with neon signs. There was so much to look at I was a bit overwhelmed. I didn't know where to look first! I almost tripped over an uneven sidewalk because I was trying to look at everything and wasn't watching where I was walking.
We went to a flea market area and looked around for awhile. There were vendors selling everything from shoes to food and everything in between. One of Hubby's buddies wasn't wearing green and we kept giving him grief so he decided to buy a green Yankees hat. He didn't realize until after he had paid for it that the back said "New Yuck" in stead of New York. Ha ha... the Yankees suck anyway.
The boys wanted to start drinking but most of the bars were still closed. Eventually they found one and we trekked up to the second floor where it was. In Korea, they cannot build out so they build up instead. Each floor of a building can be a different store, restaurant, etc. We sat at a table by the window and people watched as people walked by below.
Hubby pointed out a barbershop that we could see from the window that had two barber poles out front. Apparently in Korea, two barber poles means that they offer haircuts with a happy ending. Who knew? Hubby said that they were told this info when they were in processed so that they would not get themselves in trouble.
Eventually we ended up at a bar called Radio Clock where we spent the remainder of the evening. The Korean bar tenders were very friendly and the soldier's explained to them that it was St. Patrick's Day. They took song requests all night and would look up any song that you asked for. I heard a Korean version of a Rhianna song and a J Lo song which was interesting. Hubby played darts and we had a good time until we decided it was time to head home.
Korean Adventure Part 7: A Few Words About Restrooms
For this post, I want to pause for a moment to tell you about my experience with bathrooms in Korea. Over the span of my trip I experienced the full range of restrooms from elaborate to well, lets say minimalistic. Of course I encountered many "normal" restrooms while I was there too but these two particular restrooms left a lasting impression on me.
Most Hi-Tech Toilet Ever
When we were at T.G.I.Friday's at the Coex mall I went to use the bathroom and discovered the world's most high tech toilet. Attached to the side of the toilet was a controller with a bunch of buttons on it giving the user several options including, bidet spray, seat temperature control, water sounds, etc. I was a bit intimidated. I just wanted to use it real quick and get out. I mean seriously a warmed toilet seat and a butt wash? No thank you.
Most Hi-Tech Toilet Ever
When we were at T.G.I.Friday's at the Coex mall I went to use the bathroom and discovered the world's most high tech toilet. Attached to the side of the toilet was a controller with a bunch of buttons on it giving the user several options including, bidet spray, seat temperature control, water sounds, etc. I was a bit intimidated. I just wanted to use it real quick and get out. I mean seriously a warmed toilet seat and a butt wash? No thank you.
On the flip side....
Where's The Toilet?
One of the days that we took the train we stopped to use the restroom in one of the train stations. I had used other bathrooms in the train stations without incident so I wasn't expecting anything out of the ordinary. The restroom itself was beautifully decorated with tile and floral art. There was a line but it was moving fairly quickly. Two women before me went in and then it was my turn. I walked into the stall, shut the door, and promptly asked myself "Where's the toilet?" Answer - there wasn't one. Instead, there was what basically amounts to a porcelain coated hole in the floor with a lever next to it to flush. "OK", I thought to myself, "how does this work?" I was not amused but I braved the situation any way and managed not to make a fool of myself. Below is a picture of what this "toilet" looked like. I was too stunned to take my own photo and regretted it later but apparently I was not the only one who was shocked by these bathrooms because I found someone else who blogged about it. I borrowed the photos on this page from them but I will include the link to their blog at the bottom of the page should you want to read about their experience!
The soap was also a bit odd in that it was not liquid soap but a bar that was more or less attached to the wall. I am not sure how sanitary this is but I guess soap is soap. Here is what it looked like.
Most bathrooms also have a call button that you can press for help... I wonder if anyone has ever pressed it.
I discovered later that in bathrooms with these traditional toilets, there is usually at least one stall that has the western toilet symbol meaning that it does have what I would consider a "real" toilet but hey I wanted to experience Korea right? Well I guess using a traditional Korean restroom was just part of that adventure!
If you think this is as odd as I did. Feel free to check out this person's blog on the Korean bathrooms too. I borrowed the photos from them. http://www.shenventure.com/2011/05/21/encounters-with-seouls-public-toilets/
Korean Adventure Part 6: North Seoul Tower
One of the other adventures that Hubby took me on was a trip to see North Seoul Tower. It was a bit like going to the empire state building as you can go up to the top of the tower to the observatory and have a view of the entire city.
To get to the tower we had to take the train to Seoul and then catch a city bus which brought us to the base of the tower. Hubby's train pass worked on the city bus too which is kind of cool and we paid for my fare with change. It wasn't very expensive. When we arrived at our stop we got off and proceeded to the base of the tower. traffic is not allowed up to the base so the bus dropped us off a the bottom of a HUGE long hill. Have I mentioned how Korea is full of steep hills and stairs? We paused a few times as we hiked up the hill to take photos of the city. The higher we climbed the more we got a birds eve view but of course the real view was from the top of the tower. We looked around at the base of the tower for a bit where they had a stone overlook and a pavilion of sorts and then went into the tower itself to buy tickets for the observatory.
Once we had our tickets we got in line to go out to the top. We were forced to have our picture taken which they would try to sell us later but they superimposed the background on so it to me it wasn't even a "real" photo. What a joke. I was not about to buy it. Then they made us watch this video projected onto the elevator doors as we waited in line. Once inside the elevator we were instructed to watch a video screen on the ceiling which played a video trying to make you think that you were flying through the roof.
At the top we were able to walk around and see the city of all sides. It was cool to see everything from that perspective. The distances to various cities around the world were posted on the glass windows. Supposedly San Francisco was only 9040.09 km away. LOL... I couldn't see it. They also had the distance to Chicago and Los Angeles posted.
The bottom floor of the tower is home to the national Korean teddy bear museum. Who knew that they likes teddy bears as much as we do? I thought teddy bears were mostly an American thing since they were named after Teddy Roosevelt? We didn't go in but it was still interesting to note.
When we exited the tower we were just in time to see a show taking place right outside. There was a group of traditional Korean dancers/musicians and when they finished there was a reenactment/demonstration involving traditional Korean fighters. They were dressed like samurai but I know that is Japanese. I don't know what the Korean version is called. I took a bunch of video clips but here are just a couple as an example.
To get to the tower we had to take the train to Seoul and then catch a city bus which brought us to the base of the tower. Hubby's train pass worked on the city bus too which is kind of cool and we paid for my fare with change. It wasn't very expensive. When we arrived at our stop we got off and proceeded to the base of the tower. traffic is not allowed up to the base so the bus dropped us off a the bottom of a HUGE long hill. Have I mentioned how Korea is full of steep hills and stairs? We paused a few times as we hiked up the hill to take photos of the city. The higher we climbed the more we got a birds eve view but of course the real view was from the top of the tower. We looked around at the base of the tower for a bit where they had a stone overlook and a pavilion of sorts and then went into the tower itself to buy tickets for the observatory.
Once we had our tickets we got in line to go out to the top. We were forced to have our picture taken which they would try to sell us later but they superimposed the background on so it to me it wasn't even a "real" photo. What a joke. I was not about to buy it. Then they made us watch this video projected onto the elevator doors as we waited in line. Once inside the elevator we were instructed to watch a video screen on the ceiling which played a video trying to make you think that you were flying through the roof.
At the top we were able to walk around and see the city of all sides. It was cool to see everything from that perspective. The distances to various cities around the world were posted on the glass windows. Supposedly San Francisco was only 9040.09 km away. LOL... I couldn't see it. They also had the distance to Chicago and Los Angeles posted.
The bottom floor of the tower is home to the national Korean teddy bear museum. Who knew that they likes teddy bears as much as we do? I thought teddy bears were mostly an American thing since they were named after Teddy Roosevelt? We didn't go in but it was still interesting to note.
When we exited the tower we were just in time to see a show taking place right outside. There was a group of traditional Korean dancers/musicians and when they finished there was a reenactment/demonstration involving traditional Korean fighters. They were dressed like samurai but I know that is Japanese. I don't know what the Korean version is called. I took a bunch of video clips but here are just a couple as an example.
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| North Seoul Tower |
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| View of Seoul from the observatory |
Korean Adventure Part 5: Coex Aquarium
It was my spring break, but unfortunately the army doesn't have "spring break" lol so Hubby did not have the week off while I was visiting but his unit was kind enough to let him work half days. This worked out really well because I hate to get up early and hate to be rushed to get ready so I was able to sleep in and then get ready while poor Hubby went to PT and then the office for a bit. He came home at lunchtime and then we would decide what to do for the day.
One day we decided to go to the Coex Aquarium in Seoul. The aquarium is inside the Coex mall and we had to take the train to get there. The train took us right to the mall entrance. I could not believe how big this mall was. I think it was only one floor versus out two story ones but it was very spread out and had lots of high end stores. Many of the stores were chains that we have here in the states. Some stores had workers out front greeting guests. Everyone was very friendly. We walked around the mall for a bit but we had no idea where the aquarium was inside it. We didn't mind because it was interesting to walk around and see the store fronts. Hubby said he thought the stores were expensive but we didn't go into any of them so I am not sure how the prices compare to stores here.
Eventually we came to a mall directory. But, it was not like any mall directory I have EVER seen here in the US. It was very high tech. It had a touch screen menu where you could select the language that you wanted and then select where you wanted to go. We used the search feature to find the aquarium and when we selected it, the screen drew a line from where we where to the aquarium highlighting our route. It also offered us textual instructions on a turn by turn basis. I was impressed. Why don't we have that technology here!! When I mentioned this later in the week to a few of Hubby's coworkers, I was told that you can actually download an AP to your phone that helps you to navigate the mall too. Very cool.
We found our way to the aquarium and paid the entrance fee. They had fish native to Korea that I have never seen before but they also had some small reptiles like lizards and iguanas, seals, sharks, turtles, beavers, and believe it or not - monkeys and bats. I have no idea why they had monkeys and bats inside the aquarium but they did. They also had an interesting modern art section. Some of the photos from the modern art area are below...
Throughout the aquarium they also had fish living in pseudo lamp posts. See below.
There was also an exhibit in the aquarium where you were supposed to stick your hand into a shallow pool of water. The fish in the pool would come to the person's hand and eat off the dead skin. I was kinda grossed out. I'm not too sure that is sanitary but when I mentioned it to Hubby's coworkers I was told that all of the nail salons in Korea have these fish. Hubby said it is a win win situation because you lose the dead skin and the fish get fed but I wasn't about to try it. I did not get a picture from this but to give you a visual I found one of the Internet.
Overall I enjoyed the aquarium. It was very interesting and I got to see things I would never see here in the US. Afterwards, Hubby and I decided that we were hungry so we set out to find a place for dinner. Hubby had heard that there was a T.G.I.Friday's at the Coex mall and I was thrilled at the prospect of American food so we used the cool interactive directory again and headed to the restaurant.
We made it to Friday's and sat down to peruse the menu. It was much different than the menu at the Friday's here. There were no hamburgers or anything like that on the menu and many of the dishes were a lot more elaborate than what is on the typical Friday's menu here. Some of the dishes even came with Kimchi, a disgusting type of cabbage that is major staple in Korea. The restaurant was also very expensive compared to Friday's in the states. I guess American food there is like going out to a foreign restaurant here. I was happy to pay though since it was food that was recognizable!
One day we decided to go to the Coex Aquarium in Seoul. The aquarium is inside the Coex mall and we had to take the train to get there. The train took us right to the mall entrance. I could not believe how big this mall was. I think it was only one floor versus out two story ones but it was very spread out and had lots of high end stores. Many of the stores were chains that we have here in the states. Some stores had workers out front greeting guests. Everyone was very friendly. We walked around the mall for a bit but we had no idea where the aquarium was inside it. We didn't mind because it was interesting to walk around and see the store fronts. Hubby said he thought the stores were expensive but we didn't go into any of them so I am not sure how the prices compare to stores here.
Eventually we came to a mall directory. But, it was not like any mall directory I have EVER seen here in the US. It was very high tech. It had a touch screen menu where you could select the language that you wanted and then select where you wanted to go. We used the search feature to find the aquarium and when we selected it, the screen drew a line from where we where to the aquarium highlighting our route. It also offered us textual instructions on a turn by turn basis. I was impressed. Why don't we have that technology here!! When I mentioned this later in the week to a few of Hubby's coworkers, I was told that you can actually download an AP to your phone that helps you to navigate the mall too. Very cool.
We found our way to the aquarium and paid the entrance fee. They had fish native to Korea that I have never seen before but they also had some small reptiles like lizards and iguanas, seals, sharks, turtles, beavers, and believe it or not - monkeys and bats. I have no idea why they had monkeys and bats inside the aquarium but they did. They also had an interesting modern art section. Some of the photos from the modern art area are below...
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| Fish living in a toilet... yes that is a real fish! |
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| Close up in case you didn't believe me |
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| Fish in a fish shaped sink |
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| Fish in the fridge |
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| Fish in a washing machine |
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| Close up of the fish |
Throughout the aquarium they also had fish living in pseudo lamp posts. See below.
There was also an exhibit in the aquarium where you were supposed to stick your hand into a shallow pool of water. The fish in the pool would come to the person's hand and eat off the dead skin. I was kinda grossed out. I'm not too sure that is sanitary but when I mentioned it to Hubby's coworkers I was told that all of the nail salons in Korea have these fish. Hubby said it is a win win situation because you lose the dead skin and the fish get fed but I wasn't about to try it. I did not get a picture from this but to give you a visual I found one of the Internet.
Overall I enjoyed the aquarium. It was very interesting and I got to see things I would never see here in the US. Afterwards, Hubby and I decided that we were hungry so we set out to find a place for dinner. Hubby had heard that there was a T.G.I.Friday's at the Coex mall and I was thrilled at the prospect of American food so we used the cool interactive directory again and headed to the restaurant.
We made it to Friday's and sat down to peruse the menu. It was much different than the menu at the Friday's here. There were no hamburgers or anything like that on the menu and many of the dishes were a lot more elaborate than what is on the typical Friday's menu here. Some of the dishes even came with Kimchi, a disgusting type of cabbage that is major staple in Korea. The restaurant was also very expensive compared to Friday's in the states. I guess American food there is like going out to a foreign restaurant here. I was happy to pay though since it was food that was recognizable!
Monday, April 2, 2012
Korean Adventure Part 4: Korean Fashion
The Korean idea of fashion is very different from the way that we dress here. Riding the train I got a very good idea of how the average Korean dresses.
Men: The Korean men love to wear skinny jeans. Not the older men, they mostly seemed to wear dockers, but the younger generation. More than once I wondered how they even got those pants on! They seemed much too tight! When I expressed this to Hubby he said you would put them on "very carefully" lol.
Women: Korean women do not show ANY cleavage because it is considred taboo there. This is pretty much the exact opposite of how American women dress. However, while breasts may be taboo, showing off anything below the waist seems to be entirely ok. The women wear booty shorts ( and by booty I mean BOOTY, the leg of the short seemed almost non exisitent!) or very short skirts. If it is cold they wear leggings or tights underneath but very little is left to imagination. When it is cold, the women seems a little top heavy because they wear big puffy jackets and then the have their skinny legging covered legs. Even the young elementray school girls that we saw on the trains wearing uniforms were sporting ridiculously short skirts. Hubby remarked that if we had children, he would not want his daughter wearing a skirt that short, uniform or not! The women also like to wear platforms shoes and shoes that have bling on them or sparkle.
Both men and women seemed to love brightly colored neon sneakers!
Men: The Korean men love to wear skinny jeans. Not the older men, they mostly seemed to wear dockers, but the younger generation. More than once I wondered how they even got those pants on! They seemed much too tight! When I expressed this to Hubby he said you would put them on "very carefully" lol.
Women: Korean women do not show ANY cleavage because it is considred taboo there. This is pretty much the exact opposite of how American women dress. However, while breasts may be taboo, showing off anything below the waist seems to be entirely ok. The women wear booty shorts ( and by booty I mean BOOTY, the leg of the short seemed almost non exisitent!) or very short skirts. If it is cold they wear leggings or tights underneath but very little is left to imagination. When it is cold, the women seems a little top heavy because they wear big puffy jackets and then the have their skinny legging covered legs. Even the young elementray school girls that we saw on the trains wearing uniforms were sporting ridiculously short skirts. Hubby remarked that if we had children, he would not want his daughter wearing a skirt that short, uniform or not! The women also like to wear platforms shoes and shoes that have bling on them or sparkle.
Both men and women seemed to love brightly colored neon sneakers!
Korean Adventure Part 3: Riding The Train
Riding the train is the easiest and cheapest way to get around in Korea. Not only do you not have to worry about the crazy and sometimes frightening way that the Korean's drive, but you don't have to worry about traffic. Almost everything that you would want to go to in Seoul is accessible by the subway. Hubby took me to Seoul several times and no matter how far into the city we went, the fare per person was never more than around $3.50 and that was the most expensive trip. Most were less. Hubby is very proud of his train navigation skills and steered me though line transfers with ease. It was a definite experience and I got a taste of what it is like to be an average person in Korea. Many Koreans use the subway as a form of every day transportation.
Each time we took the subway we would have to take a taxi to the train station. It was only a five to ten minute ride depending on traffic. Hubby had us use Nogyang station most frequently because it was closer to post but there is also a station in downtown Uijeongbu. Below you can see a picture of the entrance to the station complete with really neat bronze horse statues.
After paying, the machine spits out the ticket. They are made of plastic almost like a credit card, although a bit thinner plastic) and mine were always bright orange or neon yellow. ( I have a picture of one below but it doesn't say the station that we used because I borrowed the picture from someone else.) You have to pay a 5 won deposit to get the ticket but you get this back at the end of the day when you cash in your ticket at a return machine. I would compare this to states which require you to pay an extra 5 cents on each can or bottle of soda/beer that you buy in order to encourage you to recycle and then give it back to you when you return the empty ones. You don't have to return it but you lose your 5 cents if you don't. I thought the plastic was a definite upgrade to the paper that we get here in the states but I guess Americans don't like to be hassled with paying the deposit and then having to return the card at the end of the trip. I didn't find it to be a big deal and as I mentioned earlier, Hubby has a re loadable card that he just puts money on every now and then when it gets low so he doesn't have to worry about trading in the card each trip.
Ticket in hand, the next part of the fun was to go through the turn styles and up to the platform. Most of the stations didn't actually have turn styles but just lanes that you walked though. Each time you had to lay your card over the "T money" pad as you walked though and it would deduct the amount of the fare from your card. Sometimes when we transferred we had to go though another one of these to get to the proper platform for our next train but since we had always selected our destination station when buying my ticket, it was always loaded with enough money for each one that we had to walk though.
Each time we took the subway we would have to take a taxi to the train station. It was only a five to ten minute ride depending on traffic. Hubby had us use Nogyang station most frequently because it was closer to post but there is also a station in downtown Uijeongbu. Below you can see a picture of the entrance to the station complete with really neat bronze horse statues.
After going into the station Hubby would take me to the ticketing area. Everything is done electronically. The machine has language buttons at the bottom of the screen so the first thing you have to do is select English. Then you touch the "Single Journey Ticket" option. (Pictured below as the number 1 although in the picture nothing is in English.)
Hubby rides the rain frequently so he has a re loadable card that he uses but each time we went somewhere we would have to buy a ticket for the trip and return for me. After arriving at the station screen after selecting single journey, Hubby would pull out his subway map and look for the station that we wanted to go to that was closest to our destination. Most of the time Hubby had researched this before we left. See below for a picture of what the subway map. We rode several of the lines!
After deciding what station we wanted to go to, Hubby would scroll through the menu, select the station and then feed in the appropriate amount of won (Korean currency).
*Side Note: 1,000 Won is equal to about $0.88 in US currency so it is better to use the Korean currency even though many vendors will take dollars. The vendors will charge you the same amount even if you use dollars and then exchange them in to make the profit in the exchange. It's not a huge difference but it does add up over time.
After paying, the machine spits out the ticket. They are made of plastic almost like a credit card, although a bit thinner plastic) and mine were always bright orange or neon yellow. ( I have a picture of one below but it doesn't say the station that we used because I borrowed the picture from someone else.) You have to pay a 5 won deposit to get the ticket but you get this back at the end of the day when you cash in your ticket at a return machine. I would compare this to states which require you to pay an extra 5 cents on each can or bottle of soda/beer that you buy in order to encourage you to recycle and then give it back to you when you return the empty ones. You don't have to return it but you lose your 5 cents if you don't. I thought the plastic was a definite upgrade to the paper that we get here in the states but I guess Americans don't like to be hassled with paying the deposit and then having to return the card at the end of the trip. I didn't find it to be a big deal and as I mentioned earlier, Hubby has a re loadable card that he just puts money on every now and then when it gets low so he doesn't have to worry about trading in the card each trip.
The inside of the train itself looks a bit different than some other trains I have ridden. They have seats lining the sides and the straps to hang onto if you are standing in the aisles. Once or twice Hubby and I sat down next to an older Korean person only to have them get up and move. Hubby said that some of the older generation do not like the Americans very much. We also got a lot of stares but mostly people were nice. During rush hours the train gets VERY crowded! On one train ride a tiny Korean lady grabbed my butt hard and pushed me out of the way instead of saying excuse me! I thought this was a bit rude but Hubby said that is normal. Riding the train was an adventure!
Monday, March 26, 2012
Korean Adventure Part 2: Visit to the DMZ
The morning after I arrived in Korea, Hubby had booked a tour for us to see the DMZ. For those who have no idea what the DMZ is, the abbreviation stands for demilitarized zone and is the border between north and south Korea. We woke up early and walked across post to meet the bus. We were in a hurry because we were afraid that we were running late and we would miss it. Unfortunately, Hubby made me hurry to get ready for nothing because he had misread the information on his print out and we arrived at the meeting point half an hour early. Oh well, at least we weren't late. I found myself wishing for a cup of tea not just because the caffeine wakes me up a bit but because I was freezing. I was used to mid 70's weather and in Korea it was mid 40's. It actually reached 50 later in the week but that still felt darn cold. Not helping matters was the fact that it was very windy. Thank goodness we were able to wait for the bus inside!
Finally the bus arrived and we hopped on. I snuggled next to Hubby to warm myself up. The bus made a few stops on other posts nearby to pick up other passengers for the tour. Unfortunately attention was drawn to me every time we entered a new post because the guards came on to check ID's and when they got to mine, we had to go through the whole "rejection" process that I talked about in my last post. We totally held up the bus. It was a bit embarrassing.
After picking up all of the passengers for the tour, the bus drove us the hour and a half or so trek north to the DMZ. I kept myself entertained for the ride by looking out the window and discussing what I was seeing with Hubby. There were lots of statues being sold at the side of the road and in the daylight I could see how colorful all of the signs were, even without the flashing neon lights that had been on the night before. At one point, we were stopped in traffic when I spotted something that stunned me. There was a building with a massive red swastika painted on it. It took up most of the top half of the building. Horrified, I turned to Hubby and whispered, "Why is there a huge swastika on that building?!" Hubby shushed me a bit. It's not a swastika he whispered back. Apparently in Chinese, the symbol that we know as a swastika actually stands for peace, hope, and happiness or something along those lines. This is ironic seeing as we understand its meaning to be the exact opposite. The longer I was in Korea, the more I saw it everywhere. They were even selling souvenirs sporting it. Hubby asked me if I wanted one. I didn't. For me it was unsettling to see it posted everywhere when it is so taboo in our culture. I guess this really says something about the meaning that we read into things. Seeing it everywhere made me a bit uncomfortable even though it probably shouldn't have after I learned the meaning that the Koreans were using.
When we arrived at Camp Bonifas, where the DMZ is, the bus had to pull over and wait for an escort. Not only do they check ID's going onto this post but a military escort is also required. This wasn't really surprising and I actually appreciated the added security. Camp Bonifas is home to the United Nations Command Security Battalion and while there are soldiers there from many countries, we were escorted by a US soldier. He told us that soldiers who are assigned duty at this post are hand picked and have to go through an extensive interview process. Each soldier on this post is armed but seeing as they stand face to face with the enemy on a daily basis this is a good thing.
We were escorted to an auditorium where the soldier in charge gave a brief about the DMZ and it's history. I was surprised to discover that the conflict between North Korea and South Korea really hasn't been going on that long. We were also required to sign a paper stating that we would follow the rules presented by our guide and that we would only take pictures when instructed it was OK to do so. The paper also stated that at no time were we to engage the North Korean soldiers in any shape or form. This included waving, pointing, and basically anything that would even acknowledge their existence. When I tell people this many have asked me if I was afraid or nervous but I really wasn't. I felt pretty safe and I am not sure if it was just that I trusted the soldiers on duty or that I was with Hubby but either way, I wasn't very worried.
I want to pause for a moment here to tell you that also listening to the brief was a bus load of marines. Sitting in front of us was one particular guy that I found obnoxious from the start. He was listening to music on giant headphones and had the volume turned up so loud that Hubby and I could hear it. He never turned it off throughout the entire presentation. How rude is that? We paid to go on this tour and I felt as if he really didn't want to be there.
After the brief we got back on the bus and were escorted to the DMZ area itself. We were not allowed to take pictures during this part of the tour because it would be a security risk if the North Koreans were to discover how the area is fortified on the South Korean side. However, when we reached the unloading point, we were not allowed to get of the bus. The idiot marine who was disrespectful during the presentation had taken pictures. We were not allowed to get off the bus until they spoke with him on the other bus. I am not sure if they just made him delete the photos or what happened. I do know he was allowed to take the rest of the tour but I have very little respect for this individual.
We unloaded the bus and were given a tour of the area. We actually stood on the South Korean side and were able to see the North Korean headquarters right in front of us. The line between the two countries actually divides the four buildings that sit between the two "headquarter buildings." There was a North Korean soldier patrolling on his side and while our guide was telling us about each building, he actually got out a pair of binoculars and checked us out.
We went into the building where the peace talks take place and were told many stories. The North Koreans are always trying to "one up" the South Koreans. We were told that each side used to try to bring a bigger and bigger flag into the meeting room to the point where the flags would not even fit anymore so they had to have a "talk" just to determine how big a flag each side was allowed to bring. Supposedly this was the longest talk on record and lasted an entire day. It is known as the "battle of the bladder" because each side saw leaving the table as a sign on weakness so neither side got up to eat or even use the restroom. At the end of the day they finally agreed that the flags could only be as big as the Joint Security Forces flag that you see on the table in the picture below. North Korea however, made the base of theirs slightly fatter and the tip slightly more pointed just to "one up" again. The soldiers in the solid green uniforms in the photo are ROK (Republic of Korea - South Korean) Soldiers. They guarded the room while we were inside.
We boarded the bus again and were driven to on outlook point where we were able to get off the bus and take a look at the view into North Korea. From this vantage we could see the "Bridge of No Return" where POW's were exchanged after the war and allowed to pick a side. Once they chose they were not allowed to change their minds. We could also see the city of Kijong-dong also known as Propaganda Village. North Korean used to blast messages over the DMZ using a PA system from this "village" encouraging South Koreans to defect and telling them how great North Korea is. In actuality, this city is not even a city. The buildings are all hollow shells and no one lives there. The flag flying above the city weighs 600 lbs. An effort by North Korea to have bragging rights for having the largest flag.
There is a village on the South Korean side too although we were not able to see it. It is called Tae Sung Dong and is actually inhabited. The people who live here farm the rice fields on the Korean side of the DMZ and are protected and subsidized by the government. They are not subject to taxes and if they are unable to see all of their crop the government buys whatever is left over so they have a guaranteed salary of about $80,000 a year. It's not a bad gig if you are a farmer but you must live in the village for a specific number of days to qualify and there are some other rules. Only women can marry into the village. This is a rule that the governor of the village is seeking to change though because he was blessed with two daughters. So far, his petitions to the government have been denied.
As we drove back to the starting point of the tour our guide pointed out white boxes at the side of the road. "See those?" he asked us. Then he explained that inside each of the boxes is a phone. They are for North Koreans who may want to defect and who have managed to make it that far over the border without being caught by the North Korean gurads. Along with the the phone there are instructions on what to do if they have made it to the box. The phone rings directly to the South Korean headquarters and if anyone calls, soldiers are dispatched immediately to pick them up. Our guide told us that the phones in the boxes have never been used. But there are they just in case.
The tour of the actually DMZ was concluded but the bus brought us to another overlook spot where we could see into North Korea and then to a place where we could see a tunnel built by North Korea as a way to invade South Korea. We were able to actually go down into the tunnel but we had to bend over in half in order to fit through it. Thank goodness we were required to wear helmets because I kept smacking my head against the wall. We were not allowed to take pictures but it was kind of creepy but of course the tunnel is blocked off at the point where it becomes North Korea. I asked Hubby how North Korea intended to fit an entire army down the tunnel when we could only go through it bent over in a single file line. He told me that the North Korean soldiers are very short and skinny because they are highly malnourished.
The last part of the day was when the bus stopped at a Korean restaurant for us to have lunch. The food was terrible but those of you who know me, know that I am a VERY picky eater. The main dish was a shredded beef with vegetables but the spice on the meat was disgusting. I also discovered that I am hopeless with chopsticks! One of the side dishes served was apples which were good and one of the women that Hubby works with, who was on the tour too, joked around about using the chopsticks as a stabbing tool. This is in fact exactly what we did and we ate the apples that way making the guys laugh. I also managed to eat the white rice that was served although I used a serving spoon to eat it because I was much too inept with the chopsticks!
After lunch, the bus drove us back south towards the various posts stopping at each one to drop off passengers. Unfortunately ours was the last stop so we held everyone up with the ID check each time. When we got back to Hubby's post we went to the provost's office to see if we could get my ID registered but they claimed not the have the capability which made little sense. Oh well, it figures.
*Stay tuned... more posts on my Korean adventure to follow!
Finally the bus arrived and we hopped on. I snuggled next to Hubby to warm myself up. The bus made a few stops on other posts nearby to pick up other passengers for the tour. Unfortunately attention was drawn to me every time we entered a new post because the guards came on to check ID's and when they got to mine, we had to go through the whole "rejection" process that I talked about in my last post. We totally held up the bus. It was a bit embarrassing.
After picking up all of the passengers for the tour, the bus drove us the hour and a half or so trek north to the DMZ. I kept myself entertained for the ride by looking out the window and discussing what I was seeing with Hubby. There were lots of statues being sold at the side of the road and in the daylight I could see how colorful all of the signs were, even without the flashing neon lights that had been on the night before. At one point, we were stopped in traffic when I spotted something that stunned me. There was a building with a massive red swastika painted on it. It took up most of the top half of the building. Horrified, I turned to Hubby and whispered, "Why is there a huge swastika on that building?!" Hubby shushed me a bit. It's not a swastika he whispered back. Apparently in Chinese, the symbol that we know as a swastika actually stands for peace, hope, and happiness or something along those lines. This is ironic seeing as we understand its meaning to be the exact opposite. The longer I was in Korea, the more I saw it everywhere. They were even selling souvenirs sporting it. Hubby asked me if I wanted one. I didn't. For me it was unsettling to see it posted everywhere when it is so taboo in our culture. I guess this really says something about the meaning that we read into things. Seeing it everywhere made me a bit uncomfortable even though it probably shouldn't have after I learned the meaning that the Koreans were using.
When we arrived at Camp Bonifas, where the DMZ is, the bus had to pull over and wait for an escort. Not only do they check ID's going onto this post but a military escort is also required. This wasn't really surprising and I actually appreciated the added security. Camp Bonifas is home to the United Nations Command Security Battalion and while there are soldiers there from many countries, we were escorted by a US soldier. He told us that soldiers who are assigned duty at this post are hand picked and have to go through an extensive interview process. Each soldier on this post is armed but seeing as they stand face to face with the enemy on a daily basis this is a good thing.
We were escorted to an auditorium where the soldier in charge gave a brief about the DMZ and it's history. I was surprised to discover that the conflict between North Korea and South Korea really hasn't been going on that long. We were also required to sign a paper stating that we would follow the rules presented by our guide and that we would only take pictures when instructed it was OK to do so. The paper also stated that at no time were we to engage the North Korean soldiers in any shape or form. This included waving, pointing, and basically anything that would even acknowledge their existence. When I tell people this many have asked me if I was afraid or nervous but I really wasn't. I felt pretty safe and I am not sure if it was just that I trusted the soldiers on duty or that I was with Hubby but either way, I wasn't very worried.
I want to pause for a moment here to tell you that also listening to the brief was a bus load of marines. Sitting in front of us was one particular guy that I found obnoxious from the start. He was listening to music on giant headphones and had the volume turned up so loud that Hubby and I could hear it. He never turned it off throughout the entire presentation. How rude is that? We paid to go on this tour and I felt as if he really didn't want to be there.
After the brief we got back on the bus and were escorted to the DMZ area itself. We were not allowed to take pictures during this part of the tour because it would be a security risk if the North Koreans were to discover how the area is fortified on the South Korean side. However, when we reached the unloading point, we were not allowed to get of the bus. The idiot marine who was disrespectful during the presentation had taken pictures. We were not allowed to get off the bus until they spoke with him on the other bus. I am not sure if they just made him delete the photos or what happened. I do know he was allowed to take the rest of the tour but I have very little respect for this individual.
We unloaded the bus and were given a tour of the area. We actually stood on the South Korean side and were able to see the North Korean headquarters right in front of us. The line between the two countries actually divides the four buildings that sit between the two "headquarter buildings." There was a North Korean soldier patrolling on his side and while our guide was telling us about each building, he actually got out a pair of binoculars and checked us out.
We went into the building where the peace talks take place and were told many stories. The North Koreans are always trying to "one up" the South Koreans. We were told that each side used to try to bring a bigger and bigger flag into the meeting room to the point where the flags would not even fit anymore so they had to have a "talk" just to determine how big a flag each side was allowed to bring. Supposedly this was the longest talk on record and lasted an entire day. It is known as the "battle of the bladder" because each side saw leaving the table as a sign on weakness so neither side got up to eat or even use the restroom. At the end of the day they finally agreed that the flags could only be as big as the Joint Security Forces flag that you see on the table in the picture below. North Korea however, made the base of theirs slightly fatter and the tip slightly more pointed just to "one up" again. The soldiers in the solid green uniforms in the photo are ROK (Republic of Korea - South Korean) Soldiers. They guarded the room while we were inside.
We boarded the bus again and were driven to on outlook point where we were able to get off the bus and take a look at the view into North Korea. From this vantage we could see the "Bridge of No Return" where POW's were exchanged after the war and allowed to pick a side. Once they chose they were not allowed to change their minds. We could also see the city of Kijong-dong also known as Propaganda Village. North Korean used to blast messages over the DMZ using a PA system from this "village" encouraging South Koreans to defect and telling them how great North Korea is. In actuality, this city is not even a city. The buildings are all hollow shells and no one lives there. The flag flying above the city weighs 600 lbs. An effort by North Korea to have bragging rights for having the largest flag.
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| Kijong-dong |
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| Bridge of No Return |
There is a village on the South Korean side too although we were not able to see it. It is called Tae Sung Dong and is actually inhabited. The people who live here farm the rice fields on the Korean side of the DMZ and are protected and subsidized by the government. They are not subject to taxes and if they are unable to see all of their crop the government buys whatever is left over so they have a guaranteed salary of about $80,000 a year. It's not a bad gig if you are a farmer but you must live in the village for a specific number of days to qualify and there are some other rules. Only women can marry into the village. This is a rule that the governor of the village is seeking to change though because he was blessed with two daughters. So far, his petitions to the government have been denied.
As we drove back to the starting point of the tour our guide pointed out white boxes at the side of the road. "See those?" he asked us. Then he explained that inside each of the boxes is a phone. They are for North Koreans who may want to defect and who have managed to make it that far over the border without being caught by the North Korean gurads. Along with the the phone there are instructions on what to do if they have made it to the box. The phone rings directly to the South Korean headquarters and if anyone calls, soldiers are dispatched immediately to pick them up. Our guide told us that the phones in the boxes have never been used. But there are they just in case.
The tour of the actually DMZ was concluded but the bus brought us to another overlook spot where we could see into North Korea and then to a place where we could see a tunnel built by North Korea as a way to invade South Korea. We were able to actually go down into the tunnel but we had to bend over in half in order to fit through it. Thank goodness we were required to wear helmets because I kept smacking my head against the wall. We were not allowed to take pictures but it was kind of creepy but of course the tunnel is blocked off at the point where it becomes North Korea. I asked Hubby how North Korea intended to fit an entire army down the tunnel when we could only go through it bent over in a single file line. He told me that the North Korean soldiers are very short and skinny because they are highly malnourished.
The last part of the day was when the bus stopped at a Korean restaurant for us to have lunch. The food was terrible but those of you who know me, know that I am a VERY picky eater. The main dish was a shredded beef with vegetables but the spice on the meat was disgusting. I also discovered that I am hopeless with chopsticks! One of the side dishes served was apples which were good and one of the women that Hubby works with, who was on the tour too, joked around about using the chopsticks as a stabbing tool. This is in fact exactly what we did and we ate the apples that way making the guys laugh. I also managed to eat the white rice that was served although I used a serving spoon to eat it because I was much too inept with the chopsticks!
After lunch, the bus drove us back south towards the various posts stopping at each one to drop off passengers. Unfortunately ours was the last stop so we held everyone up with the ID check each time. When we got back to Hubby's post we went to the provost's office to see if we could get my ID registered but they claimed not the have the capability which made little sense. Oh well, it figures.
*Stay tuned... more posts on my Korean adventure to follow!
Saturday, March 24, 2012
Korean Adventure Part 1: One Long Flight
Up until now, I have refrained from telling you exactly where Hubby is but I have decided to tell you in order to tell you about my visit to see him. Since June, Hubby has been stationed in South Korea and I was lucky enough to be able to visit him for spring break. It was amazing to see him!
My trip was not only awesome because I got to see Hubby, it was also very educational. I learned and experienced many things that I never would have here in the USA. This was definitely a once in a lifetime trip. I have so much to share about my trip that I have decided to publish a series of posts about my experiences there. I hope you enjoy them.
My trip was not only awesome because I got to see Hubby, it was also very educational. I learned and experienced many things that I never would have here in the USA. This was definitely a once in a lifetime trip. I have so much to share about my trip that I have decided to publish a series of posts about my experiences there. I hope you enjoy them.
One Long Flight
Let me begin by saying that traveling to Korea is one LONG trip. I was lucky enough to be driven to the airport by May so I didn't have to leave the car at the airport. She must really love me because I had to get up at 3:45am in order to be ready on time to leave for my early flight and with two little boys I am sure that she had to get up quite early as well. Unfortunately, the airline was behind schedule checking in passengers, surprise surprise, so I had to wait in line for over an hour before I got to the front of the line to check in. I was pleasantly surprised to discover that when you fly internationally you get to check one bag for free ( I was expecting to have to pay a baggage fee.) However, the guy in front of me pitched a fit when he got to the counter because they told him that his bag was five pounds over the limit and that he would have to pay a $70 fee. The ironic thing is that the fee for having a second bag is only $50. Why is it more expensive to have one bag just slightly over weight but you can have two equally heavy bags for less money? Doesn't make much sense to me! After I finally got checked in I headed for my gate and got there just in time to board. At least I didn't have to sit around the airport terminal forever.
Four hours and some change later, I arrived in San Francisco where I was meeting my connecting flight. Of course, after finding the gate, a real challenge in San Francisco since they have terrible signage, I discovered that my flight was delayed 30 minutes because they needed to clean the plane. Again, surprise surprise. Traveling used to be fun but now I find it more of a pain than anything else.
After finally boarding the plane in San Francisco, I settled in for the longest flight ever. I was excited because I would be seeing Hubby soon but I had a 12 hour and change flight ahead of me first. I got stuck with a middle seat between two Korean guys but at least I was in the front of the plane. The guy to my right spent most of the flight reading Harvard business school papers and talking to the guy to his right in Korean. He did not once acknowledge my existence. The guy to my left was my dad's age and he was pretty friendly but did not want to turn off his phone. He put it in the seat pocket after pretending to turn it off and it actually rang during takeoff. I hoped he would not cause us to crash. The disapproving flight attendant made him shut it off at that point but he turned it back on before we landed. When he fell asleep, I realized that getting to the bathroom during the flight was going to be a challenge. Oh well.
After take off the flight attendants came around with customs forms. There were different forms depending on if you were American or Korean. The flight attendant smiled at me and assumed I as American. Haha, good guess seeing as most of the people of the flight were Asian. The airline showed a couple of movies during the flight including One Big Year and Footloose and I read three novels, yes three. I also slept for a bit but the flight dragged on forever. I found myself checking the clock several times only to discover that very little time had passed - like five or ten minutes LOL. The last two hours were the longest. I could not wait to be back in Hubby's arms!!
When the plane finally landed I could not wait to unbuckle my seat belt! I grabbed my purse and my carry on bag and headed to the baggage claim. Oddly enough, as we excited the plane, all of the male passengers had to show their passorts again even though they had already been checked twice previously. I thought this was odd and I am not sure why they did this. I was one of the first people off of the plane but as luck would have it, my luggage must have been THE last suitcase off of the plane. I have lousy luck.
I finally collected my luggage and exited through customs to find Hubby waiting for me. He had been waiting awhile since it took me forever to find my luggage and because I had been delayed but we were very happy to see each other nonetheless. I quickly went to use the ladies room after Hubby bought us two bus tickets to get us three quarters of the way to his post.
We boarded the bus and I snuggled up next to Hubby. I was just happy to be by his side...even if my journey hadn't quite ended yet. There was so much to look at out of the bus window. The downtown areas in Korea look like a combination between New York and Las Vegas. They do not have room to build out so everything is built UP instead. Each floor of a building can be a different store or restaurant. They have flashing neon lights everywhere and every sign is crazy colorful. There is no such thing as a boring black and white sign. I didn't know what to look at first. In between the towns there were some areas that seemed run down but it could just seem that way because it is still winter there and everything looks lousy in winter.
An hour or so later the bus dropped us off at Uijeongbu station (a train station in the town the post is located in) and we hopped into a cab to take us the rest of the way to post. I hadn't really noticed the bus driver driving crazy but being a passenger in the cab was interesting to say the least.
According to Hubby, red lights are optional in Korea. They are more of a suggestion than a rule. This makes for a bit of a scary ride. The Korean drivers also LOVE to use their horns. This is probably related to the optional red lights but I think part of it is also just that they like to use it. Also, the Korean cab drivers watch TV while they drive. They have little TVs in the front of their cabs next to their GPS or in some cases instead of a GPS. Here, we are not even supposed to text and drive because it is too dangerous. How can watching TV while running red lights be safe???? Hubby said that a lot of soldiers who have cars in Korea have gotten into accidents. I am glad that he doesn't have one there!
As the cab driver made his way to post I looked out the window at the store fronts we were passing. One particular coffee shop caught my eye. The sign boasted "1% rare coffee, exotic tea, and bakery." 1% rare coffee? Haha so ummm not rare at all? I had to laugh. Hubby told me that there are a lot of idiosyncrasies like that in Korea because they try to use English but not all of them really understand it.
After the short cab ride we arrived at the post and the cab dropped us at the front gate. Very few taxis are allowed on post. We walked into the office where pedestrians have to check in and show an ID. Korea has DBIDS on each post but even though I am registered here on post in the US (our post has been talking about starting DBIDS for over a year and half - don't get me started on how they pushed us to get registered and now still don't have the system up and running), the registrations are not reciprocal. This means that even though I have a military ID, getting on post was a bit of a challenge. Hubby had to explain to the guard each time that I was visiting. But the guard would always try to scan my card at least twice to make sure. Each time he was rewarded with an annoying beep beep beep - rejection noise. They never wanted to believe us. Then we had to go though the process of giving him all of my information before I was allowed to go through.
We were staying in a barracks room for the duration of my stay which was nice because we didn't have to pay for a hotel but ironically we were not allowed to stay in Hubby's room. Instead, he was given keys to an empty room in another building. The reasoning? They thought the other building was safer. The downside of this arrangement was that the bed was ridiculously hard and Hubby had to go to his room every day for clothes. The room we were staying in also had no Internet so we ended up spending most of our time in Hubby's room and just going to the other room to sleep.
After dumping my suitcase in the room, Hubby took me to dinner on post at a restaurant called Mitchell's. I had finally made it but after dinner I was to tired to do much but fall asleep in Hubby's arms.
*Stay tuned... more posts on my Korean adventure to follow!
Four hours and some change later, I arrived in San Francisco where I was meeting my connecting flight. Of course, after finding the gate, a real challenge in San Francisco since they have terrible signage, I discovered that my flight was delayed 30 minutes because they needed to clean the plane. Again, surprise surprise. Traveling used to be fun but now I find it more of a pain than anything else.
After finally boarding the plane in San Francisco, I settled in for the longest flight ever. I was excited because I would be seeing Hubby soon but I had a 12 hour and change flight ahead of me first. I got stuck with a middle seat between two Korean guys but at least I was in the front of the plane. The guy to my right spent most of the flight reading Harvard business school papers and talking to the guy to his right in Korean. He did not once acknowledge my existence. The guy to my left was my dad's age and he was pretty friendly but did not want to turn off his phone. He put it in the seat pocket after pretending to turn it off and it actually rang during takeoff. I hoped he would not cause us to crash. The disapproving flight attendant made him shut it off at that point but he turned it back on before we landed. When he fell asleep, I realized that getting to the bathroom during the flight was going to be a challenge. Oh well.
After take off the flight attendants came around with customs forms. There were different forms depending on if you were American or Korean. The flight attendant smiled at me and assumed I as American. Haha, good guess seeing as most of the people of the flight were Asian. The airline showed a couple of movies during the flight including One Big Year and Footloose and I read three novels, yes three. I also slept for a bit but the flight dragged on forever. I found myself checking the clock several times only to discover that very little time had passed - like five or ten minutes LOL. The last two hours were the longest. I could not wait to be back in Hubby's arms!!
When the plane finally landed I could not wait to unbuckle my seat belt! I grabbed my purse and my carry on bag and headed to the baggage claim. Oddly enough, as we excited the plane, all of the male passengers had to show their passorts again even though they had already been checked twice previously. I thought this was odd and I am not sure why they did this. I was one of the first people off of the plane but as luck would have it, my luggage must have been THE last suitcase off of the plane. I have lousy luck.
I finally collected my luggage and exited through customs to find Hubby waiting for me. He had been waiting awhile since it took me forever to find my luggage and because I had been delayed but we were very happy to see each other nonetheless. I quickly went to use the ladies room after Hubby bought us two bus tickets to get us three quarters of the way to his post.
We boarded the bus and I snuggled up next to Hubby. I was just happy to be by his side...even if my journey hadn't quite ended yet. There was so much to look at out of the bus window. The downtown areas in Korea look like a combination between New York and Las Vegas. They do not have room to build out so everything is built UP instead. Each floor of a building can be a different store or restaurant. They have flashing neon lights everywhere and every sign is crazy colorful. There is no such thing as a boring black and white sign. I didn't know what to look at first. In between the towns there were some areas that seemed run down but it could just seem that way because it is still winter there and everything looks lousy in winter.
An hour or so later the bus dropped us off at Uijeongbu station (a train station in the town the post is located in) and we hopped into a cab to take us the rest of the way to post. I hadn't really noticed the bus driver driving crazy but being a passenger in the cab was interesting to say the least.
According to Hubby, red lights are optional in Korea. They are more of a suggestion than a rule. This makes for a bit of a scary ride. The Korean drivers also LOVE to use their horns. This is probably related to the optional red lights but I think part of it is also just that they like to use it. Also, the Korean cab drivers watch TV while they drive. They have little TVs in the front of their cabs next to their GPS or in some cases instead of a GPS. Here, we are not even supposed to text and drive because it is too dangerous. How can watching TV while running red lights be safe???? Hubby said that a lot of soldiers who have cars in Korea have gotten into accidents. I am glad that he doesn't have one there!
As the cab driver made his way to post I looked out the window at the store fronts we were passing. One particular coffee shop caught my eye. The sign boasted "1% rare coffee, exotic tea, and bakery." 1% rare coffee? Haha so ummm not rare at all? I had to laugh. Hubby told me that there are a lot of idiosyncrasies like that in Korea because they try to use English but not all of them really understand it.
After the short cab ride we arrived at the post and the cab dropped us at the front gate. Very few taxis are allowed on post. We walked into the office where pedestrians have to check in and show an ID. Korea has DBIDS on each post but even though I am registered here on post in the US (our post has been talking about starting DBIDS for over a year and half - don't get me started on how they pushed us to get registered and now still don't have the system up and running), the registrations are not reciprocal. This means that even though I have a military ID, getting on post was a bit of a challenge. Hubby had to explain to the guard each time that I was visiting. But the guard would always try to scan my card at least twice to make sure. Each time he was rewarded with an annoying beep beep beep - rejection noise. They never wanted to believe us. Then we had to go though the process of giving him all of my information before I was allowed to go through.
We were staying in a barracks room for the duration of my stay which was nice because we didn't have to pay for a hotel but ironically we were not allowed to stay in Hubby's room. Instead, he was given keys to an empty room in another building. The reasoning? They thought the other building was safer. The downside of this arrangement was that the bed was ridiculously hard and Hubby had to go to his room every day for clothes. The room we were staying in also had no Internet so we ended up spending most of our time in Hubby's room and just going to the other room to sleep.
After dumping my suitcase in the room, Hubby took me to dinner on post at a restaurant called Mitchell's. I had finally made it but after dinner I was to tired to do much but fall asleep in Hubby's arms.
*Stay tuned... more posts on my Korean adventure to follow!
Sunday, February 26, 2012
A New Outlook on What it Means to Be Chrisitan
In previous posts, I have mentioned that I have become more interested in religion and have begun some self exploration in and about how I feel about it. At Christmastime, my younger sister lent me some books which she thought I might be interested in. Two of these books were Captivating by John Eldredge and The Shack by William P. Young. I really enjoyed these books and there were some ideas addressed in them which I found particularly interesting. I thought I would post about a few of them in case anyone may be interested in the topics and picking up one of these books too.
Captivating, is about the soul of a woman. It discusses God's creation of the woman's soul and the parts of God's own self that woman embodies. The book talks about Adam and Eve as the embodiments of the first man and woman. It suggests that men have an innate need to be heroes, to be leaders and women have an innate need to be nurturers. This is not to say that women cannot be leaders, and men cannot be nurturing but that we are naturally wired to be predisposed to certain feelings. As a soldier's wife I believe my husband really is a hero in more ways than one but even if he was a business man doing a desk job somewhere I don't think I would feel any differently. Before we were married he used to call me his princess and that made me feel special in many ways. I think every girl wants to be some one's princess and he really made me feel like one. The book also talks about the story of Adam and Eve and about the portrayal of Eve as the cause of man's exile from the Garden of Eden. The author points out that although Eve is the one who eats the apple first, Adam just stands there and does nothing. He fails in his role as Eve's protector and therefore is equally to blame for their exile. He doesn't even protest when Eve offers him the apple as well. I like the fact that Adam and Eve are equally to blame for man's downfall. It's an interesting book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the roles of men and women and it is enlightening in how it explains the hearts of women.
The Shack, is a very different book. This book does not set out to be a text on religion. Rather, it is a story about a man whose daughter is murdered and how he learns to come to terms with her loss. The main character has a religious experience in which he meets God. God is embodied in three people, rather like the trinity. One of the three is a black woman who loves to cook, one is an Asian woman who loves to garden, and the third is a middle eastern man who goes by the name Jesus and loves carpentry. The main character is uncomfortable at first with the idea that God is a woman. She doesn't fit his stereotypical image on Jesus or God as a white man with a beard and long white robe. I like the idea that God could be someone other than the stereotypical image. In the book, God also tells the main character that he does not care for the institution of religion at all. He thinks religion creates rifts between people because they put to many rules on each other and use them to exclude each other. There are a few ideas in the book that I don't entirely agree with but some of the ideas are intriguing. It's worth reading if you are interested in viewing God and religion from a different perspective.
Captivating, is about the soul of a woman. It discusses God's creation of the woman's soul and the parts of God's own self that woman embodies. The book talks about Adam and Eve as the embodiments of the first man and woman. It suggests that men have an innate need to be heroes, to be leaders and women have an innate need to be nurturers. This is not to say that women cannot be leaders, and men cannot be nurturing but that we are naturally wired to be predisposed to certain feelings. As a soldier's wife I believe my husband really is a hero in more ways than one but even if he was a business man doing a desk job somewhere I don't think I would feel any differently. Before we were married he used to call me his princess and that made me feel special in many ways. I think every girl wants to be some one's princess and he really made me feel like one. The book also talks about the story of Adam and Eve and about the portrayal of Eve as the cause of man's exile from the Garden of Eden. The author points out that although Eve is the one who eats the apple first, Adam just stands there and does nothing. He fails in his role as Eve's protector and therefore is equally to blame for their exile. He doesn't even protest when Eve offers him the apple as well. I like the fact that Adam and Eve are equally to blame for man's downfall. It's an interesting book and I would recommend it to anyone interested in the roles of men and women and it is enlightening in how it explains the hearts of women.
The Shack, is a very different book. This book does not set out to be a text on religion. Rather, it is a story about a man whose daughter is murdered and how he learns to come to terms with her loss. The main character has a religious experience in which he meets God. God is embodied in three people, rather like the trinity. One of the three is a black woman who loves to cook, one is an Asian woman who loves to garden, and the third is a middle eastern man who goes by the name Jesus and loves carpentry. The main character is uncomfortable at first with the idea that God is a woman. She doesn't fit his stereotypical image on Jesus or God as a white man with a beard and long white robe. I like the idea that God could be someone other than the stereotypical image. In the book, God also tells the main character that he does not care for the institution of religion at all. He thinks religion creates rifts between people because they put to many rules on each other and use them to exclude each other. There are a few ideas in the book that I don't entirely agree with but some of the ideas are intriguing. It's worth reading if you are interested in viewing God and religion from a different perspective.
Saturday, February 25, 2012
Big Blessings in Small Packages
I believe that babies are a gift from God. Actually I believe that lots of things are gifts from God. I believe that God answers prayers... even if not always in the way that we hope. As a little girl I prayed to God to send me a man, not just a boy, but a man that would love me unconditionally and who I could love unconditionally back. A little over a year and a half ago, I married the man that God sent to fulfill that dream.
In the time that I have been married alone over a dozen of my friends have given birth to little ones. This doesn't even count the ones who had babies before our wedding. Last year, May was blessed with Spain and I have enjoyed every moment of watching him grow up and bond with his older brother Alex.
In January, another friend of mine welcomed a third child into her wonderful family. Unfortunately I didn't know about it until recently due to the fact that Hubby was home and to the fact that her husband was home on leave as well. I thank God that they were able to be together for the birth of their new daughter. I had prayed that the timing would work out for them. Yet another prayer that God answered with flying colors.
I wish that I could say that the circumstances under which I discovered that this good friend had given birth to her daughter were just as happy but unfortunately the news was accompanied by the news that the baby was sick and in the hospital at only one month old.
My heart went out not just to my friend but also to her entire family; to my friend as a mom who was in the hospital with a newborn, to her husband deployed overseas unable to help his wife or child, to their other two young children who now had to cope without the every day attention of either parent until their newest sibling could come home. Trying to imagine myself in any of their shoes was heartbreaking. Luckily both parents have family in the area who stepped up to help with the older children and to provide emotional support.
I didn't want to overstep my welcome but I reached out in the only way I know how. First with words and an offer to listen and chat, and secondly with dessert. I know it sounds silly but somehow, for me anyway, a friend and some sweets always seem to make a bad situation seem a little bit better.
I was fortunate enough to be able to visit mom and baby twice during their three week long hospital stay. I was afraid to hold the baby for fear of hurting her but my friend assured me that she wasn't quite that fragile. Holding this tiny baby girl in my arms I was completely enthralled with her. She is absolutely beautiful and she was so happy, smiling at me and making happy noises despite the fact that she was not feeling her best and had an IV tube attached to her tiny arm. It was such a privilege just to hold her for that short time until she decided she was hungry and wanted her mom back. All I could think about was how this new little life was a blessing from God to every life that she touched. Her parents are incredibly lucky.
Many people have been praying for this little girl so that she would recover quickly and be able to go back home to the rest of her family. These prayers were fulfill this week and I am happy to be able to say that my friend was able to take her home earlier this week.
In times such as these I often feel a bit of what I call "baby envy." These small bundles of joy are such wonderful gifts and it is difficult not want one of my own. Hubby and I have decided to wait a bit before we start our own family so that we can enjoy time being a couple first. A time will come when we are ready to have a baby of our own but until then I feel blessed to be able to share in the job of welcoming my friends' children. To those of you who are blessed to be the parents of these children, thank you for letting me share your joy.
In the time that I have been married alone over a dozen of my friends have given birth to little ones. This doesn't even count the ones who had babies before our wedding. Last year, May was blessed with Spain and I have enjoyed every moment of watching him grow up and bond with his older brother Alex.
In January, another friend of mine welcomed a third child into her wonderful family. Unfortunately I didn't know about it until recently due to the fact that Hubby was home and to the fact that her husband was home on leave as well. I thank God that they were able to be together for the birth of their new daughter. I had prayed that the timing would work out for them. Yet another prayer that God answered with flying colors.
I wish that I could say that the circumstances under which I discovered that this good friend had given birth to her daughter were just as happy but unfortunately the news was accompanied by the news that the baby was sick and in the hospital at only one month old.
My heart went out not just to my friend but also to her entire family; to my friend as a mom who was in the hospital with a newborn, to her husband deployed overseas unable to help his wife or child, to their other two young children who now had to cope without the every day attention of either parent until their newest sibling could come home. Trying to imagine myself in any of their shoes was heartbreaking. Luckily both parents have family in the area who stepped up to help with the older children and to provide emotional support.
I didn't want to overstep my welcome but I reached out in the only way I know how. First with words and an offer to listen and chat, and secondly with dessert. I know it sounds silly but somehow, for me anyway, a friend and some sweets always seem to make a bad situation seem a little bit better.
I was fortunate enough to be able to visit mom and baby twice during their three week long hospital stay. I was afraid to hold the baby for fear of hurting her but my friend assured me that she wasn't quite that fragile. Holding this tiny baby girl in my arms I was completely enthralled with her. She is absolutely beautiful and she was so happy, smiling at me and making happy noises despite the fact that she was not feeling her best and had an IV tube attached to her tiny arm. It was such a privilege just to hold her for that short time until she decided she was hungry and wanted her mom back. All I could think about was how this new little life was a blessing from God to every life that she touched. Her parents are incredibly lucky.
Many people have been praying for this little girl so that she would recover quickly and be able to go back home to the rest of her family. These prayers were fulfill this week and I am happy to be able to say that my friend was able to take her home earlier this week.
In times such as these I often feel a bit of what I call "baby envy." These small bundles of joy are such wonderful gifts and it is difficult not want one of my own. Hubby and I have decided to wait a bit before we start our own family so that we can enjoy time being a couple first. A time will come when we are ready to have a baby of our own but until then I feel blessed to be able to share in the job of welcoming my friends' children. To those of you who are blessed to be the parents of these children, thank you for letting me share your joy.
Friday, February 24, 2012
A Taste of Spring
The weather this week decided to give us a small taste of spring and it was just what I needed to get me out of the winter blues I was feeling due to the events discussed in my pervious post. Wednesday dawned gorgeously sunny after sleeping in (a luxury that I get on days off). It actually got up to about 80 degrees. I washed off my front porch and cleaned the table and chairs out there in prepartion for spring. They were coated with a thick layer of grime thanks to the wind, rain, and dust we have been blasted with in the past few months. All I wanted to do was to be outside and bask in the warmth of the sun. I sat on the porch in my freshly cleaned chair and just enjoyed being outside. I picked up a novel for awhile and for a few hours I was distracted from the list of things that have been weighing on my mind. It was energizing. I felt my mood had been lifted 100%. Even after that sun began to set behind the trees I felt good. I can't wait for days like that every day, for spring to arrive for good. Today we were back down to 60 instead of 80 but I can live with that for now. Wednesday's sunshine was just what I needed to recharge my batteries and take a fresh new outlook on life. Don't we all need that once and awhile? Sometimes it's the little things like a sunny day.
Floods, Fires, and People Who Know Nothing
I realize that I have been radio silent for awhile but the last few days of January and the month of February has been full of mishaps and frustrations. In an effort to keep myself from ranting too badly I decided to wait to post about them until I could laugh about them a little.
Floods
I guess January went out with a bang or should I say a burst. A burst of water that is. Where I live, it seems like we either have no rain or torrential downpours. There doesn't seem to be such a thing as "gentle" or light rain. The rain began a few hours before I went to bed. It was heavy but I wasn't overly concerned because there were no severe weather listings on my go to weather source, weather.com, or on the news.
Apparently that changed in a hurry after I decided to go to bed. I awoke around 2am to the sound of a storm right on top of my house. The thunder boomed so loud that every picture on my wall seemed to rattle and I feared they would fall off and come crashing to the floor. The lightning lit up my room eerily and cast ghostly shadows around my bedroom. I lay awake listening to the storm and found myself unable to go back to sleep. I had a nagging feeling that something was wrong; something other than the possibility of my pictures falling off the wall.
I dragged my butt out of bed and threw on a a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeve T-shirt. Walking around the house, nothing seemed out of place but the nagging feeling remained. I grabbed my Tablet and pulled up weather.com to see what they were saying about the storm. That's when I noticed a warning about an approaching torrent of golf ball sized hail.
I had left the car parked in the driveway because it was covered in bird poop and I was hoping the rain would wash it off. Worried about hail damage I decided I had better pull it into the garage. I grabbed a coat from the closet, pulled up the hood, and grabbed the first pair of shoes that I could see. I realized my outfit probably looked ridiculous but at at two in the morning I didn't think anyone would notice. I grabbed the keys and rain out into the pouring rain.
I stepped out of the door, right into a freezing cold puddle. Ugh... Awesome. I slogged my way down to the driveway. It was completely flooded. My driveway points downward on a hill towards my house and at least a foot of water was swirling and gurgling around the garage door. The grate that is supposed to drain the water just could not keep up with the downpour. In that instant a sinking feeling told me that there was probably water in the garage... The nagging feeling that something was wrong told me I was right.
I stood there for a minute trying to decide what to do. I still wanted to pull in the car. I figured that the water in the garage was probably less than the water on the driveway and I really did not want hail dents in our one year old car. I also wanted to know if water was in the garage because if so I would need to rescue some boxes we have stored in there because our garage had never flooded while the basement had in the past.
I opened the garage door. Water had already leaked inside and the boxes and furniture were wet but when I opened the door the problem had become ten times worse. All of the water that had been pooled on the driveway rushed in with a vengeance. I quickly pulled in the car and shut the door to prevent any more water from getting in. The water covered my shoe but at least it wasn't up to my ankle like the driveway water. I turned on the light and began trying to "rescue" our stuff. The basement was still dry, go figure, so I moved everything there. Everything was soaked. Speakers, boxes, a desk, our Christmas tree, and a really nice refrigerator my parents had given us. CRAP.
I have no idea how I did it; how I moved everything into the basement myself. I even managed to move the fridge. There was no way I could lift it over the step up to my basement doorway. I pushed it over to the the door and pulled it towards me into the basement onto its side. Later I would wonder where I found the strength to do this alone. I am chalking it up to one of those things where you gut a surge of adrenaline under pressure and can do super human feats.
I shut the basement door and decided to hope for the best until morning. Only problem was when I went to lift the garage door to go back into the house, I realized that when I had closed it, it had somehow become locked. I have no idea how this happened since you have to physically turn a knob on the outside to make it lock but maybe the pressure of the water coupled with the force of the door closing triggered it? I have no idea.
So there I was. Trapped in my garage and I was beginning to panic. I was soaking wet and I took several deep breaths to try to keep myself from freaking out. OK, you can figure this out. I said to myself. I pulled up as hard as I could...the door barely budged. Did I really think that was going to work? No, but in my state of panic I was hoping for a miracle.
I was completely trapped in the garage. To make matters worse... It was by this time 3 in the morning, still pouring, I was soaking wet, freezing, and I realized that the windows in the basement had been nailed shut. On top of that, I had pulled the car into the garage so no one would even think to look for me. They would assume that I wasn't home. AND, my cell phone was in my bedroom. I hadn't though to grab it since I was just going to be running out to pull in the car.
Panic rising I prayed out loud again and again, "Dear God, please help me to get out of this garage!" I didn't know what to do. I found the directions to the garage door tapped to the door. Unfortunately they only explained not to let children play with it. Not how to unlock it from the inside. Go figure. They didn't even show to to take it apart. I briefly considered running the car through it. I knew it would damage the car but I had to get out of the garage. I pulled at the door desperately trying to get it to open. Eventually I figured out that the bar of the locking mechanism could be bent. I was able to bend it just enough to force it up one notch which allowed the door to to open enough for me to crawl out under it. Unfortunately this also meant crawling through a foot of water so now I was really really really soaked and freezing cold.
From the outside of the garage I put the door back down all of the way and trudged back inside hoping for the best and deciding to let the rest be until morning. By this time it was about 3:45 am. I had a doctor's appointment in just a few hours time.
I stripped off all of my soaked clothes and left the sopping shoes at the door. I needed a shower. I was covered with mud thanks for the fact that I have no grass and so the dirt had flooded onto the driveway with the water. I took a quick shower and crawled into bed for a few last hours of sleep.
The next morning after my appointment (which I had walked to) I opened the garage to discover that the water inside had completely receded. But it had left a a wet muddy mess in its place. I pulled the car back onto the now drying driveway. Thankfully, the rain had stopped.
I spent the majority of the day dragging wet cardboard to the curb and trying to dry things out and clean up the mud. My back was not thanking me for my efforts. It took three days for the garage to dry out completely. Then came the task of moving everything back into it from the basement.
Thank God for Helpful Neighbors
I began moving things back into the garage but the fridge was blocking the way of moving anything large. I could not budge it an inch. I have no idea how I moved it in the first place. I needed help. With Hubby gone I wasn't sure who to ask. I finally opted for my next door neighbor. The neighbor across the street had essentially shut the door in my face when I had gone to bring over a batch of congo bars to welcome them to the neighborhood but thankful the couple next door is really nice.
I knew the soldier's wife was on a trip away from home and I felt bad asking for his help but I didn't know anyone else who I felt could help me move my ridiculously heavy fridge. I sheepishly knocked on the door and asked if he would mind giving me a hand. A bit to my surprise he enthusiastically ran out to help. He didn't even hesitate. God bless him. He helped me move the fridge back, although he admitted it was heavy and even offered to help me with everything else. I took him up on the offer to move a few of the heavier boxes and thanked him several times. I brought him a plate of cookies the following day.
It wasn't until a few weeks later that I felt confident enough to plug the fridge in to see if it still worked. Thank goodness it does.
Crisis averted I hoped that would be the worst thing I would have to deal with for awhile. Unfortunately a week later the garage had water again. At least this time it only made it a few feet inside so it didn't get anything important wet a second time.
Fire
After the flooding issues I had pretty much had it and wanted to hide out from everyone. I just didn't feel like being social. I was relaxing on the couch one night watching TV when all of the sudden, I smelled something burning. It smelled like burnt pizza. It was 11:30pm. I hadn't even used the stove to cook dinner. I searched the entire house including the basement and garage for the source of what I assumed had to be a fire. Everything seemed normal. In an effort not to freak out I called May. I am so thankful to have her. Who else could I call at absurd hours of the night? She told me to call the housing office and have them come out to look at it. Something burning it not something to mess around with and I agreed with her.
In an effort NOT to bore you to tears I'll make a long story shorter and tell you that I spent at least an hour on the phone trying to get a hold of somebody and then it took an hour or so for that somebody to come out to my house. Needless to say it was 2:30 by the time the guy had left my house... He couldn't even find anything wrong. Fortunately the smell has dissipated and I felt OK knowing that he had checked everywhere. At least he had smelled it too when he arrived so I knew I wasn't crazy. He told me it had probably been cause by the fog. Fog causes burning smells?
People Who Know Nothing
A few days later I was trying to gather our tax paperwork. After going through it with Hubby we figured out that we were just missing two documents and that both happen to be from companies that he used to have student loans with; loans that we had paid off last year and should be getting a tax deduction for. Hubby had called both of these companies while he was home on leave to request the appropriate forms but I wasn't surprised that they had not followed through. Feeling bad that Hubby has little time to deal with this stuff and because of the time difference overseas, I offered to call the companies to request the forms again.
One company had an automatic request system. No problem.
The second company however was less than helpful. The first representative told me that my husband was nowhere to be found in the system and that I must have the wrong number. Taking a deep breath I told her that this number was on every single statement and letter that we have concerning this particular loan including the letter we received to confirm that the account had been paid off. She asked me if I was sure. No, I thought to myself, I'm just looking at it. I read her what the letterhead said but she still insisted our account did not exist as a past or present customer. I asked to speak to another representative. The jerky woman who clearly knew nothing informed me that I could but they all work from the same system. She then put me on hold... for 20 minutes.
I was getting more than annoyed. I hung up and called back. This time I got a different representative. This woman could not find us in the system either but after putting me on hold twice and having me give her our information time and time again she finally found the records. I had been on the phone for over 45 minutes. I then asked her if she could please send us the required tax form. She informed me that she couldn't because I was not authorized to do anything on the account. Seriously? I didn't even ask for any info. I PROVIDED all of the info. All I wanted was for a tax form to be sent to the address they already had on file. She told me that if I faxed a copy of my POA that I could call back in a week or two to request the form again. It's a good thing that I wasn't taking to her in person. I might have decked her one.
Poor hubby had to call because I was to pissed to deal with the situation and did not want to wait two weeks just to "request" the form. He was told that we have to wait a minimum of 17 days just for the request to be processed.
So, in conclusion... it has been a rough month. Did I mention that the DVD player in my bedroom stopped working and the TV in our living room seems to be on the blink? Sigh... hurry home Hubby. I miss you :(
Floods
I guess January went out with a bang or should I say a burst. A burst of water that is. Where I live, it seems like we either have no rain or torrential downpours. There doesn't seem to be such a thing as "gentle" or light rain. The rain began a few hours before I went to bed. It was heavy but I wasn't overly concerned because there were no severe weather listings on my go to weather source, weather.com, or on the news.
Apparently that changed in a hurry after I decided to go to bed. I awoke around 2am to the sound of a storm right on top of my house. The thunder boomed so loud that every picture on my wall seemed to rattle and I feared they would fall off and come crashing to the floor. The lightning lit up my room eerily and cast ghostly shadows around my bedroom. I lay awake listening to the storm and found myself unable to go back to sleep. I had a nagging feeling that something was wrong; something other than the possibility of my pictures falling off the wall.
I dragged my butt out of bed and threw on a a pair of sweatpants and a long sleeve T-shirt. Walking around the house, nothing seemed out of place but the nagging feeling remained. I grabbed my Tablet and pulled up weather.com to see what they were saying about the storm. That's when I noticed a warning about an approaching torrent of golf ball sized hail.
I had left the car parked in the driveway because it was covered in bird poop and I was hoping the rain would wash it off. Worried about hail damage I decided I had better pull it into the garage. I grabbed a coat from the closet, pulled up the hood, and grabbed the first pair of shoes that I could see. I realized my outfit probably looked ridiculous but at at two in the morning I didn't think anyone would notice. I grabbed the keys and rain out into the pouring rain.
I stepped out of the door, right into a freezing cold puddle. Ugh... Awesome. I slogged my way down to the driveway. It was completely flooded. My driveway points downward on a hill towards my house and at least a foot of water was swirling and gurgling around the garage door. The grate that is supposed to drain the water just could not keep up with the downpour. In that instant a sinking feeling told me that there was probably water in the garage... The nagging feeling that something was wrong told me I was right.
I stood there for a minute trying to decide what to do. I still wanted to pull in the car. I figured that the water in the garage was probably less than the water on the driveway and I really did not want hail dents in our one year old car. I also wanted to know if water was in the garage because if so I would need to rescue some boxes we have stored in there because our garage had never flooded while the basement had in the past.
I opened the garage door. Water had already leaked inside and the boxes and furniture were wet but when I opened the door the problem had become ten times worse. All of the water that had been pooled on the driveway rushed in with a vengeance. I quickly pulled in the car and shut the door to prevent any more water from getting in. The water covered my shoe but at least it wasn't up to my ankle like the driveway water. I turned on the light and began trying to "rescue" our stuff. The basement was still dry, go figure, so I moved everything there. Everything was soaked. Speakers, boxes, a desk, our Christmas tree, and a really nice refrigerator my parents had given us. CRAP.
I have no idea how I did it; how I moved everything into the basement myself. I even managed to move the fridge. There was no way I could lift it over the step up to my basement doorway. I pushed it over to the the door and pulled it towards me into the basement onto its side. Later I would wonder where I found the strength to do this alone. I am chalking it up to one of those things where you gut a surge of adrenaline under pressure and can do super human feats.
I shut the basement door and decided to hope for the best until morning. Only problem was when I went to lift the garage door to go back into the house, I realized that when I had closed it, it had somehow become locked. I have no idea how this happened since you have to physically turn a knob on the outside to make it lock but maybe the pressure of the water coupled with the force of the door closing triggered it? I have no idea.
So there I was. Trapped in my garage and I was beginning to panic. I was soaking wet and I took several deep breaths to try to keep myself from freaking out. OK, you can figure this out. I said to myself. I pulled up as hard as I could...the door barely budged. Did I really think that was going to work? No, but in my state of panic I was hoping for a miracle.
I was completely trapped in the garage. To make matters worse... It was by this time 3 in the morning, still pouring, I was soaking wet, freezing, and I realized that the windows in the basement had been nailed shut. On top of that, I had pulled the car into the garage so no one would even think to look for me. They would assume that I wasn't home. AND, my cell phone was in my bedroom. I hadn't though to grab it since I was just going to be running out to pull in the car.
Panic rising I prayed out loud again and again, "Dear God, please help me to get out of this garage!" I didn't know what to do. I found the directions to the garage door tapped to the door. Unfortunately they only explained not to let children play with it. Not how to unlock it from the inside. Go figure. They didn't even show to to take it apart. I briefly considered running the car through it. I knew it would damage the car but I had to get out of the garage. I pulled at the door desperately trying to get it to open. Eventually I figured out that the bar of the locking mechanism could be bent. I was able to bend it just enough to force it up one notch which allowed the door to to open enough for me to crawl out under it. Unfortunately this also meant crawling through a foot of water so now I was really really really soaked and freezing cold.
From the outside of the garage I put the door back down all of the way and trudged back inside hoping for the best and deciding to let the rest be until morning. By this time it was about 3:45 am. I had a doctor's appointment in just a few hours time.
I stripped off all of my soaked clothes and left the sopping shoes at the door. I needed a shower. I was covered with mud thanks for the fact that I have no grass and so the dirt had flooded onto the driveway with the water. I took a quick shower and crawled into bed for a few last hours of sleep.
The next morning after my appointment (which I had walked to) I opened the garage to discover that the water inside had completely receded. But it had left a a wet muddy mess in its place. I pulled the car back onto the now drying driveway. Thankfully, the rain had stopped.
I spent the majority of the day dragging wet cardboard to the curb and trying to dry things out and clean up the mud. My back was not thanking me for my efforts. It took three days for the garage to dry out completely. Then came the task of moving everything back into it from the basement.
Thank God for Helpful Neighbors
I began moving things back into the garage but the fridge was blocking the way of moving anything large. I could not budge it an inch. I have no idea how I moved it in the first place. I needed help. With Hubby gone I wasn't sure who to ask. I finally opted for my next door neighbor. The neighbor across the street had essentially shut the door in my face when I had gone to bring over a batch of congo bars to welcome them to the neighborhood but thankful the couple next door is really nice.
I knew the soldier's wife was on a trip away from home and I felt bad asking for his help but I didn't know anyone else who I felt could help me move my ridiculously heavy fridge. I sheepishly knocked on the door and asked if he would mind giving me a hand. A bit to my surprise he enthusiastically ran out to help. He didn't even hesitate. God bless him. He helped me move the fridge back, although he admitted it was heavy and even offered to help me with everything else. I took him up on the offer to move a few of the heavier boxes and thanked him several times. I brought him a plate of cookies the following day.
It wasn't until a few weeks later that I felt confident enough to plug the fridge in to see if it still worked. Thank goodness it does.
Crisis averted I hoped that would be the worst thing I would have to deal with for awhile. Unfortunately a week later the garage had water again. At least this time it only made it a few feet inside so it didn't get anything important wet a second time.
Fire
After the flooding issues I had pretty much had it and wanted to hide out from everyone. I just didn't feel like being social. I was relaxing on the couch one night watching TV when all of the sudden, I smelled something burning. It smelled like burnt pizza. It was 11:30pm. I hadn't even used the stove to cook dinner. I searched the entire house including the basement and garage for the source of what I assumed had to be a fire. Everything seemed normal. In an effort not to freak out I called May. I am so thankful to have her. Who else could I call at absurd hours of the night? She told me to call the housing office and have them come out to look at it. Something burning it not something to mess around with and I agreed with her.
In an effort NOT to bore you to tears I'll make a long story shorter and tell you that I spent at least an hour on the phone trying to get a hold of somebody and then it took an hour or so for that somebody to come out to my house. Needless to say it was 2:30 by the time the guy had left my house... He couldn't even find anything wrong. Fortunately the smell has dissipated and I felt OK knowing that he had checked everywhere. At least he had smelled it too when he arrived so I knew I wasn't crazy. He told me it had probably been cause by the fog. Fog causes burning smells?
People Who Know Nothing
A few days later I was trying to gather our tax paperwork. After going through it with Hubby we figured out that we were just missing two documents and that both happen to be from companies that he used to have student loans with; loans that we had paid off last year and should be getting a tax deduction for. Hubby had called both of these companies while he was home on leave to request the appropriate forms but I wasn't surprised that they had not followed through. Feeling bad that Hubby has little time to deal with this stuff and because of the time difference overseas, I offered to call the companies to request the forms again.
One company had an automatic request system. No problem.
The second company however was less than helpful. The first representative told me that my husband was nowhere to be found in the system and that I must have the wrong number. Taking a deep breath I told her that this number was on every single statement and letter that we have concerning this particular loan including the letter we received to confirm that the account had been paid off. She asked me if I was sure. No, I thought to myself, I'm just looking at it. I read her what the letterhead said but she still insisted our account did not exist as a past or present customer. I asked to speak to another representative. The jerky woman who clearly knew nothing informed me that I could but they all work from the same system. She then put me on hold... for 20 minutes.
I was getting more than annoyed. I hung up and called back. This time I got a different representative. This woman could not find us in the system either but after putting me on hold twice and having me give her our information time and time again she finally found the records. I had been on the phone for over 45 minutes. I then asked her if she could please send us the required tax form. She informed me that she couldn't because I was not authorized to do anything on the account. Seriously? I didn't even ask for any info. I PROVIDED all of the info. All I wanted was for a tax form to be sent to the address they already had on file. She told me that if I faxed a copy of my POA that I could call back in a week or two to request the form again. It's a good thing that I wasn't taking to her in person. I might have decked her one.
Poor hubby had to call because I was to pissed to deal with the situation and did not want to wait two weeks just to "request" the form. He was told that we have to wait a minimum of 17 days just for the request to be processed.
So, in conclusion... it has been a rough month. Did I mention that the DVD player in my bedroom stopped working and the TV in our living room seems to be on the blink? Sigh... hurry home Hubby. I miss you :(
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