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Monday, July 22, 2013

Beef and leaf.... and rain.

No surprise. 
It's raining here.
 Actually, I'm not really complaining because it miraculously didn't rain for 3 days in a row! We were actually able to go outside, go swimming, leave our windows open etc. 
Plus, raining in Summer tends to reminds me of Germany so it's not all bad. 

Moving on.

After a particularly stressful last week, I told Chad that if he wanted me to remain relatively sane he better get me out of the house this weekend. 
He knows what's best for him.
I could in no way stand another day cooped up in a humid house with two sweaty children (one day of which we had NO water pressure followed by another day of which we had NO water, both days with a crabby, teething baby and a toddler suffering from cabin fever... you see where I'm going with this?)
As a result, I may have sent a text message to Chad saying something along the lines of...
'come home or die.' 
It may have been followed by another text saying something like...
'if you don't take me out to dinner I'm going to break up with you.'

This may or may not have happened.

Either way, Chad came home promptly, helped me get the kiddos dressed and loaded in our air conditioned vehicle for a little ride to our local Beef & Leaf. (I won't tell you what I surely said when Chad proposed we walk there from our house... sometimes I can't believe this guy.)
Anyways, we didn't know what to expect but I figured we were in for a treat when we had to take our shoes off before being escorted to a back room where we got to sit on the floor for dinner. The people were wonderfully kind and the food was really good. It was a little pricey (69,000 WON, approx. 66.00 USD) for an entire beef spread and all the accouterments plus 1 Fanta.
Anyways, you pay for the experience so all in all it was money well spent.

The next day... equally hot and humid... drove us to our local "mall." 
It's 10 stories of insanity but they have a Baskin Robbins and Dunkin' Donuts so we were happy.
And because we filled ourselves with junk food all day Saturday we decided we needed some exercise and spent Sunday at the pool. It was quite an enjoyable weekend.

However, with all this rain... I'm pretty much guaranteeing Chad will be getting more crazy texts from me this week. 
It's the humidity talking.
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I forgot to mention that two weekends ago we did a 'Fun Run.' Two words that do not belong in the same sentence if you ask me but no one asked.
I kind of had to participate because Chad's unit needed ten registered people in order to get some flag.
Well isn't that convenient?
Oh and I have NEVER blurred anybody's face out on my blog before but since I don't know these people and they are soldiers here in Korea, I decided it's probably best. OPSEC, people!!(Never heard of it? Go here).
Beef & Leaf (the leaf is the lettuce in case you're wondering)

I wasn't that crazy about the kimchi here. Bummer. Ava was down for some though.
Fruit Bingsu and Mochi
Chad's tasting platter from Dunkin' Donuts. It's no wonder Rhett would not nap.
Splish and Splash Park on base
Oh... about 5 minutes before Rhett decided to climb up the slide and bust his lip open and get a bloody nose. 
I included this picture only because I found it fascinating that here is a little restaurant... and across the street is a good ol' charcoal grill. The cook from the restaurant has been coming out to stoke her BBQ for the last 30 minutes or so. 
Am I the only person that finds this interesting?
Yes?
Okay then.
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Oh and here's a new face to my blog. Pokey! My brother's beloved childhood dog. Pokey *curiously* ended up in our shipment from California and has since joined us in Korea. He's ready for adventure.
Uncle Matthew isn't happy about it.
I think he's just jealous.


"Once a year, go someplace you've never been before." - Dalai Lama

Monday, July 8, 2013

Humidity, Yaki Mandu & Patbingsu

So I wish I could say we've been out exploring and doing all these wonderfully fantastic day trips but I would be lying. We are surviving. Indoors mostly. Barely.
The humidity sucks. That is no exaggeration. Actually I'm being kind.
I thought Louisiana in June was humid. Texas in August. Virginia in April. Summer in Germany while pregnant.
No.
No place prepares you for Korea's summer humidity surrounded by rice paddies in the middle of monsoon season.
In the morning when Rhett comes running into my arms for his first hug of the day and there's that awkward skin to skin friction thing that happens.... it hurts. Badly. Feels like my epidermis is being torn away. Again, I'm not exaggerating today.
Last night after a particularly hot and stressful evening I told Chad I couldn't take it anymore and to turn on the A/C. It was glorious while it lasted.
Today, however, we are back to our energy saving ways and mustering through our no A/C days.
Besides sweating 24 hours a day, here's what we've been up to...
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Walking around our new neighborhood...
Rice Paddies... lots of them.
We spent our 4th of July... can you guess? Indoors! The festivities on post were cancelled due to weather (was a bit premature since the weather was HUMID but fine) so I made a dinner of veggie spring rolls and thai noodles. No oven required.
The weekend before that we had a short visit with friends...
And visited 'The Last Saturday of the Month' Festival in the Ville (closest town). 
Our friends also introduced us to the deliciousness below. Pretty much the only way to counteract the Korean humidity is to consume an entire bowl of Patbingsu. It's ice cream meets shaved ice topped with fruit, red beans, crunchy cereal bits, etc etc. 
The fruit one was my favorite but we tried the original (below) just for good measure.
We also all shared a giant Strawberry Mochi. 
We found all these goodies at the Baskin Robbins in Pyeontaek. 
Afterwards, the boys shared a bulgogi burger from McDonalds.
And some of our other favorites that we've tried so far include the Bulgogi Ramen (or Ramen in general)...
Steamed mandu...
the cucumber kimchi...
and the spicy yaki mandu that will make you sweat more than you already are... 
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Hoping to get out a little this weekend weather permitting... if only to get me some patbingsu.
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