Finished --Picture Heavy--Traveling and 1st few days

 

I FINISHED LABELING THESE!

 

 

 

 

These are from today and go back to our travel!

 

 

Grandma's selling food on the side of road!  $5 for a pan of peas.

$5.00 for a few potatoes---everything is $5!

 



Flowers grow everywhere here---plus all the cars are tiny!

 

every night this upcoming week will have a live performance at the park down the road from us!

last night was opera singer, ballet, and 'famous' piano player

The crowd starting to gather.

 



really talented singer--I liked her better then the piano guy.

Didn't get pictures of the piano guy guys I was chasing Wheeler

returning home from Korea's 'wal-mart'

 

The view from our apartment to one side

the view from our front door--straight across.

The view the other way---we can see hiking trails in there -- just gotta find out how to get there. 

 

About 11:00PM Korean time--finally in Suncheon!

Plane landed and we are now in Korea!  We are in front of the airport in this one waiting for our bus.

 

 



In San Fran about to get on the plane to Korea---sorry so dark!

 

In San Fran waiting with our luggage for Aunt Jane, Uncle Jon, and baby EM!

So happy to be flying

 

 

 

First breakfast in Korea--yummy!

 

 

 

 

Can you see Lucas?  He is about 4 levels down --he has his hand in the air, but still kind of hard to see--that is our apartment

looking down at the playground at the bottom on our apartment--the kids and Lucas are down there!

No dryers in Korea---we don't have a hanging rake yet, so we put all our close like this to dry.

The computer just said something in Korea and I see my time is up---I am afraid I will loose all my progress if I don't save now!! I will finish later!

 

This is our apartment looking from the balcony in---it is laundry time--there are no dryers in Korea.

Looking down the street close to our apartment--

they kept telling us--Small town Small town--

this is not a small town to us! 

 

Our teacher brought us this ice cream cake--yum!

 

Lake City

A park near our house--lots of beautiful green trees, bushes, and plants everywhere!

 

 

The park at Lake City

 

This is walking down to a stage that sits on the lake at Lake Park-

See the people staring at us on the right--that happens EVERYWHERE!

People stare all the time--I still think it is funny.

Looking the other way from where Lucas is standing--we are on a bridge. 

This is at the elevator looking down our apartment hallway.

This is a picture looking out on rice fields. Not a great picture, but this was taken out the window on the way home from the embassey.

Larsons ARRIVE!

We are here!

WE can't get a phone until we get our immigration card, which should be today sometime. Mom email will have to do for a while longer till we get the card, find a cell phone, and get it all set up.

Everything is amazing here. We have just been exploring the area for a while. Right now I am sitting in a Computer "bar", just a small room with lots of computers--very comfortable chairs--for $1.-- I get 1 hour. (Plus there is a tank with live eels outside the door!)

Our flight to San Fran was fine, the landing was a little scary for me--we teetored side to side and bounced a few times, but the air crew seemed fine with it. While in San Fran we met up with Jon (my brother) and Jane and baby Em!! She is the cutest little thing--such chubby cheeks and she smiled at Lucas so cute!! We were all a little sick (colds, sinus problems, and such) so we didn't get to hold her :( Jon and Jane are such cute parents and it was SO fun to sit with them and visit. They stayed till around midnight (THANK YOU!) and then took off. We wondered a little, but decided to just find a place and sleep. NOTE TO AIRPORT SLEEPERS: do not choose by the front door (unknown to us). People coming and going, it was cold, and it got really noisy around 5:30 am. The girls sleep on a couple chairs, I put a bag infront of me and slept hunched forward, and Lucas and Wheeler found a nice soft (cement/marble) spot on the floor behind our bench and we slept for a few hours.

Got up--checked luggage -- found our gate and went to wait. 5 Egg McMuffins, and 3 drinks later (plus almost $30 lighter) we figured out they had switched our gate--so we had an hour before departure and we got to the right gate and waited. and waited---finally we loaded---and then waited and waited again.

The elevator that brings the food up ot the airplane wasn't working so we sat from about 11:00-1:30 while they fixed that---Wheeler and I got up and ran the hallway they use to load the plane (we were allowed to leave the airplane)--so that really wore him out!

The flight wasn't much fun, but the kids were AMAZING! Wheeler slept for 75% of it and the girls were perfect. The flight was FULL--everyseat taken! The girls and Lucas sat in one row and I was across from them--we switched around a few times, but it was fine. They played movie after movie, but only one or two were interesting for the girls. The flight was smooth, but everytime they served food it got bumpy--go figure!

We got off the plane, got our luggage, exchanged some money and bought bus tickets---so we jumped on the bus about 20 minutes later and after a VERY FAST and crazy bus ride we arrived in Suncheon an hour before our schedule---plus the driver decided he didn't want to stop at the normal stop so we had to get off at the bus station. My boss, and Her Boss (my big boss), picked us and all our luggage up and about 15 minutes we are in our apartment. My boss, Ann, is very nice and sweet. She is a little ditsy --but Lucas says in Korea she isn't ditsy, just when she speaks English.

I didn't feel well most of the flight --I guess just airsick, and I still get a little dizy when I turn my head to fast, lots of traveling in the last few days!

We arrived in our apartment to find they had "redone" our apartment--everything has new flooring (linolium) and wallpaper--a pretty blue color. They also took the bathtub out! :( Oh well. The biggest problem was we didn't have hot water and the light in the girls room didn't work, but the maintance crew is very quick with any problem we have, and everything is up and going this morning.

We feel asleep right way only to wake up around 4:30 (well Wheeler and I). I honestly am not sure how many days we have been here or how day it is!? We have spent our first couple day walking around our town, finding some food, grocery store, and just "exploring". It is a very nice area and we like it alot.

People stare at us and the woman love Wheeler. He is getting a lot of attention here.

Prices are pretty much the same as in America, but more expensive then we were expecting. Apples are $8 a bag, Watermelon is $16, and so on. Fruit and meat will be eatten sparingly. Seriously our house payment in american will be our food budget in Korea--it is expensive!! BUT the grocery store has free samples everywhere and people on the end of each lane trying to get you to buy what they are selling---some have microphones, others yell, most just bow at you while you walk past. Electronics aren't cheaper either :( a Lap Top will have to wait till at least next paycheck if not later.

We are stared at alot and an older woman already came over and felt Sedona's hair, then spanked her bottom (lightly) a few times and was on her way. Sedona had the funnest look on her face.

There are walking paths everywhere here and it is a very easy to navagate area. The drivers are crazy and hopefully I can upload some video or pictures sometime soon...I forgot the camera charger at my moms house :( The drivers honk at each other and drive super close to each other.

Ann took me to get my health checked and she told me that she thinks she is the best driver--Honestly if I was in a high speed chase I would want a Korean driving--they can get in and out of the tightest spots! Plus their cars "ding ding" if they are getting to close to something/someone.

Anyway--my time is going fast-- I told Lucas if I wasn't back in an hour to come and find me---ha ha ha---really I am ok!

I feel totally safe here and people are very "helpful" even if they don't know what you need---The only think not safe are the crazy drivers!

MOM: Can you please mail us that charger & battery (just normal mail, don't worry about sending it faster).

Really this is great and I really like it here!

Love to you all--

Amy

PS: to save time I am just going to post this on the Blog word for word.

Whats in the Luggage?

One short flight from Denver to San Fran

One LONG layover

One LONG flight to Korea

One year

Five people

Five checked bags

Five Carry on bags

One small apartment

The question is----what do we pack?

Here is some background on me personally.  I like stuff, I collect stuff, I hide stuff, I buy stuff cause it is on sale (even if I might not use  it), I take other peoples stuff, I am sentimental about stuff.  We don't have money so when I find a great deal on something (like a coat that will fit my daughter in 5 years) I buy it and store it.....it is 'poor mentality'. You don't know if you will have the money later so you better get it now....

My house was a nightmare to pack.  I am not a candidate for 'Hoarders'  well my scary room was, but I have stuff and packing it all took forever.

We have a house that is 2000 square feet, a shop about the same size, 3 silos-medium sized, and a 3 car garage (which store our stuff for our acre of land).  Somehow in the last (almost) 8 years I have filled it with stuff (not to mention the 100 years worth of family stuff that was still in the house, the shop, the silos, and some in the garage)

WHICH makes packing for one year really hard.

Plus we are

1. Hikers

2. Homeschooling

3. Have small children

4. Will be there for all kinds of weather

5.  Have a small apartment

6. AND I am really hoping we can find a way to Pack Lucas's Banjo into our Checked Luggage

(the neck and base come apart--it could work!)

7. Crafters/art people

8.  Religious people 

Hiking: We are taking our backpacking packs as our carry ones (I am taking Wheeler's baby backpack carrier).  We have packing into those pretty down--we can use every inch, and since we aren't taking sleeping bags we will pack stuff for the plane instead of sleeping bags.

Homeschoolers:  I am finding good pinterest links to free homeschooling stuff, and scanning into our computer homeshooling books (we will convert them to CD's and just take those to print out over there). We are trying to loose a lot of the weight of the books 

Small Kids:  The girl where given a small box to fill with their favorite toys.  Wheeler has some in there too.  They each are taking a favorite stuff animal and blanket.  We won't have a lot of space in the apartment so toys will have to be small.

Weather:  We are packing our poncho's, will will buy umbrella's there, and Clothing is pretty easy---we are arriving just in time for Monsoon season.  The tempature is similar to where we live, but we are surrounded by water and humidity in 60-80% in summer--so it will feel hot and sticky to us!  

We are going to be buying winter clothes in Korea (except Lucas since his arms are so long).  Lucas will have to pack clothes for every season since he is so tall.  So clothing will be kept to minimal and more/warmer layers will be bought as the weather turns colder.

Small apartment=creative space savers.   I have been reading blogs on living in small spaces.

This is our apartment looking towards the front door-loving the pink walls!

See the kitchen to the left?

Not sure what is to the right---I am thinking it is the 2nd bedroom

They don't use walls or doors much that I can tell

This is from the front door--looking into the bedroom

The door on the left is the bathroom

We have a bathtub!  Most apartments have a shower attached above the sink in the bathroom with

a drain in the floor--when you shower everything gets wet!  You set your TP outside the bathroom door so it does't get ruined when you shower

The Kitchen--a full fridge=awesome, not all apartments have that

Notice no oven (only stove top) and no dishwasher.

Banjo=I want to pack it because when else will Lucas have this much time to play it?

Plus they are not common in Korea so we can't just buy one.

Crafter/Art People= lucky for us Korea has lots of art supplies and craft things.  Lucas will pack a sketch pad and some pencils for the plane ride, but we will buy things there---we will have to find a place to store it. They have airbrush supplies there, mostly for painting nails--who knows  maybe Lucas will start a new business.  I also packed away all his Oil Paint stuff, so looks like we will invent in some of that over there.  I have my face-paint stuff in our luggage ready to go.

Religious people:  Being LDS, we attend church services for about 3 hours on Sunday, which can be really boring in English at times, let alone in a language we don't know.  I will be bringing some church books to study while I 'attend' church. 

I feel most sorry for Pepper because I feel she might take longer to learn the language and be bored to tears every Sunday--I might "home church" them for primary.  We will see. 

I WISH this was our luggage

I have packed 'everything' (with in reason) that I would like to take, which leaves us one checked bag for all our clothes and shoes---ha ha ha!  Looks like I need to rethink what to take.

Plus our carry on's are full of things to do on the long flights--gotta rethink that too!

I have read a TON of blogs on what to pack, and what not to pack, but I still feel ill prepared! 

I will maybe do one of those cool pictures that shows exactly what we are packing--

But don't plan on it!  :) 

If  YOU had to pack a year into a suitcase and a carry on 

(and a purse/diaper bag) 

what would you pack?

Break glass in case of emergency.

I know many people are worried about us moving to such a "scary" country.

Not that S. Korea is scary, but how close it is to N. Korea is scary.



A few good things to note:

We live super south.  We do not live close to N. Korea.

We are close to a military relocation area if we had to leave the country

There are lots of American Service men/woman in S Korea.

We have emergency credit cards ready to use (I called the companies, we are good to use them internationally) with more then enough to fly us all out on the first flight out---IF we had to

I have already signed up with the emergency contact info website that will send me instant info if immediate departure is needed.

I have tried too--and will continue to--contact the LDS mission President--they have a very successful evacuation plan in place.

We will register with the Embassy as soon as possible.

And we will live in Faith.

--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------


My personal feelings on N. Korea.

North Korea is a small country with very limited resources, very poorly taken care of people, and lots of problems.  There are not many other countries that would be willing to back them up if a war came to be.  China is the closest, but I feel the last thing China wants is another 25,000,000 people to take care of.

Call me idealistic, but I hope one day the North will just change.  I see it happening more like the Berlin Wall coming down then WWIII.  One day the wall was there, the next day people were tearing it down.  That is what I think will happen.  The boarders will be open,  and knowing the USA, we will hopefully step in and help set up a successful government and give aid, then withdraw from South Korea totally.  I know some people will laugh at this, but that is how I hope it will come to pass.

Plus I really think that if something were to arise the US has more control over the situation then we know.

The best way I heard N. Korea described is as a chihuahua barking at pit bulls. The Pit Bulls keep an eye on it, but mostly it is annoying.

Learning More - you can too (said over-enthusiastically)

As I have stated before I have a habit of learning as much as I can---
So as you can image I am searching any and everything website for helpful information.

Here are some I have found

PS: the ones that people write that are teachers might have bad language -I didn't check everything to edit out the "bad" ones!  so ye be warn'd! (dd you know warn'd doesn't come up as misspelled?  Guess pirate talk is grammatically correct!)

This site is a great place to ask questions and get answers--this one is about watching DVD's from Home in Korea.....
http://asktheexpat.blogspot.com/2009/06/bringing-american-dvds-region-1-to.html


This next site takes you to a link of LOTS of things to do in our area!  Looks like our weekends are ALL booked!

http://www.tripadvisor.com/AllLocations-g1074107-c2-Attractions-Suncheon_Jeollanam_do.html


This is a good "visitors Guide"
http://www.gwangjuguide.or.kr/2010/09/suncheon/


This site has some beautiful pictures of different places in Korea!
This makes me so excited!
http://lovesouthkorea.tumblr.com/page/8


this is a personal blog of a woman who visited Suncheon for a few days!
http://catbirdinkorea.wordpress.com/category/asia/south-korea/jeollanam-do/suncheon-bay/


This one is suppose to be a link to a hospital, but the discussions are mostly about a school---BUT what I did like was at the top there is a map with some areas outlined that when you scroll over it --you  are told (mostly in English) what is located there--Libraries, schools, hospitals, and more---looks really helpful!
http://wikimapia.org/4473035/Sunchon-South-Korea-s-Hospital-%EC%88%9C%EC%B2%9C%ED%95%9C%EA%B5%AD%EB%B3%91%EC%9B%90-Suncheon


Looks like Suncheon is getting some international attention right now -- a huge garden is being open that is ground breaking (pun intended) in the world of biodiversity and other stuff I have no idea about
http://article.wn.com/view/2013/04/01/A_walk_through_Suncheon_s_British_Garden_Prime_Minister_s_Of/#/video


This guy hasn't posted since 2011--and looks more about the whole area I am in and not just the town.
http://briandeutsch.blogspot.com/search?updated-min=2011-01-01T00:00:00%2B09:00&updated-max=2012-01-01T00:00:00%2B09:00&max-results=50


So I am SURE I am the only who will.has actually read through all these---but there you go!

Meet the Adventurers!

Grand Canyon  2013

Mesa Verde 2013

 THE ADVENTURES

Like the Avengers  but no superpowers, extreme money, or fancy costumes!

Sedona, Arizona 2013

Since my hubby trucked for years I will be using our trucker CB names--So Meet

Lucky Luke

My wonderful, good-looking, strong, and though few know it--good hearted husband.

He can be ornery, but he is pretty amazing!  Some fun facts about Lucas--

He has a super soft spot for babies and animals

He is totally loyal

He is totally spiritual

He can wiggle his ears (individually) and his hair

He is a great teacher

He doesn't put up with any manipulation--he will call anyone out who tries to do it

He is brutally honest--never ask him a question you don't want 100% honesty on

He is able to cut to the chase

He can stand his ground with anyone

He treats the poorest person the same way he treats the richest person

He does not get star struck with anyone

He can hold a conversation with anyone

He doesn't have to talk to anyone for days and still be ok with life

He loves fishing, camping, 4-wheeling, and backpacking

He is mechanically minded and can build just about anything

He works out almost every day and is still in as good as shape as he was when we met

And really the list could go on and on and on

 

Lady Lovebug

Me---I am the mom of the group and the one that has pressing forward with this Korea adventure since we decided to do it. I guess this is my mid-life crisis!

Some facts about me

I would rather make a plan then go through with a plan

I love face painting

I love storytelling (mostly reading books to children under the age of 8)

I am horrible at keeping a house clean

I might fall down the stairs or run into things more than your average person

I have really scary dreams --- often.

I collect things--papers, pens, books, pictures, crafts, but I know where most everything is

I have a degree in Communications and Theater

I start lots of projects, but rarely finish them

I may have a few controls issues

I gather way to much information when learning about something I find interesting

I think my dream job would be a children’s storyteller or an idea person for parties

I spend too much time on the computer

I don’t like my food to touch on my plate

I LOVE pizza

I have a bad habit of losing things—keys, money, important papers, and more

I still get so excited about stuff I can’t sleep at night

Squirt

 

My 7 (almost 8) year old daughter, Sedona

She does have great eyesight.

She has an amazing Remembory (memory and remembering)

She is so tender hearted

She like to do things correctly

She has been dancing since she could walk

She can be ditsy sometimes

She talked in full sentences before she walked

She loves to hike

She loves to Ride her bike

She is very in tune with others feelings

She is outgoing and loves meeting people

She is a year ahead in most of her school work

She day-dreams a lot

She has been student of the month two years in a row

She is an old soul—just like her dad

She brings such happiness to all of us!

 

Firecracker

My 5 year old, Pepper

She loves to have fun

She loves to listen to grown ups talking and (quote) "to get all the news"

She loves to tell hard luck stories

She is nervous but excited about moving to Korea

She says little sayings that are not common for 5 year olds

She is really tough and can almost take down Sedona

She is tenderhearted and hates to disappoint people

She does the cutest ballet dances

She is almost always "sunny" (which means she was good at school--sunnys are only given to the best behaved kids)

Her teachers love her--and so does everyone else--all the kids parents tell me "oh you are Pepper's mom, my child just loves her"

She has this don't mess with me walk that I LOVE!

Her bellybutton is half white and half brown (birthmark)—totally cool

She loves to ride her bike

She lives up to her name and nickname, but we wouldn’t want it any other way  

She brings so much love and happiness to us

Little  Man

My almost 2 year old, Wheeler

He broke his nose a few days ago  :(

He loves to eat

He talks a lot, but only about 10% is understandable

He is very hit and miss with strangers

He has a lot of toys but would still rather mess up whatever project anyone else is working on

He does the cutest baby talk to babies smaller than him

He won't let me cut his fingernails and they are like razors!

We use to call him squealer Wheeler because he squealed like a girl/still does sometimes!

He love the Tractor Song I found on youtube and a Korean car cartoon I found

He LOVES his sisters.

He has a cutest smile and wonderful facial expressions

He hates to be ‘Stuck’ and freaks out a little when he is stuck.

He likes to wear socks and shoes—which were some of his first words

We started to teach him sign language since he wouldn’t talk and he learn the words as fast as the signs and now he rarely signs the words

He wants to be outside as much as possible

He Loves Tractors

He has a low voice for a baby, but a piercing scream

He is stubborn--to this day he will not call Sedona by her name, only by the name Pepper  When we say--"NO her name is SEDONA"--he shakes his head no and says "no PEPPER!"  Like we are idiots!

One Step Forward ... Two Steps Back

I found out on Monday--I think Monday---that my Apostilled diploma was not stapled correctly so I am having to redo it--which means I am now about a week behind in getting our Visa's.

So now the game begins--

Updates from 5/14/2013 in RED

Do I....

1.  Change everyone flights two weeks further--which will include now paying for ANOTHER flight since Wheeler will be over two by that time....NOPE

2.  Fly myself to San Francisco and pick up my Visa in person.....NOPE

If we fly to Korea as planned we can....YEP

3. Have all of us (or just me) go to Japan and get my visa--which would take 2 days. YEP

4.  Hope that my visa gets to my home address and then mailed to me before school starts....nope since I have to mail in my passport to get my visa--this won't work!

PLUS--

I am still waiting to hear from the director of the school if we can stay in the apartment or if we will have to rent a hotel room!  We have to rent a hotel! :( 

All of these options cost money--and since I don't get paid for the first month I am working I am actually a little worried!

BUT I know that it will work out!


UPDATE  5/14/2013

SO Since I have never flow internationally before--or gotten a visa--I didn't know you had to send in your passport to get a visa---THAT won't be happening since I kind of need my passport to fly to Korea....

I COULD chance it and send it in, but I am not sure I am not daring!!