Hello All! First of all, I know I owe a LOT of you a personal email, and that many have been anxiously awaiting a Blog update. We get our stuff next Wed, so after that I should be able to communicate back in my comfort zone again. I have my little Ipod touch which is OK for shooting off a few lines, but not for a long email and only if I am in a wireless hotspot (almost never) and Jeff has needed his computer for work all week so I have been incommunicado as they say. He is home this weekend though, so I will be able to get in a few updates 'cuz man, I have a ton to tell you....
The flights. Where to begin? Our first flight was 14 hours from Houston to Tokyo. FOUR. TEEN. HOURS. Ninth circle of Hell my friends. Teddy had a massive RPI 2 hours into it. An RPI for those of you without children or lucky enough to have kids with iron stomachs is a Random Puking Incident. This is where a perfectly healthy child ralphs all over themselves and others due to motion or because "something just didn't sit right". Our kids have them all the time. So Ted got some juice and Christmas candy as the flight took off and then topped it all off with an in-flight meal to make sure the mess was huge and up it all came with no warning ALL OVER HIM. This is why they don't allow knives on airplanes. Jeff was actually looking for an implement to end his life with. So I busted out the back-up clothes, washed him up with those hot, steamy towels and got the steward to swap out his seat cushion. Good as new almost.
Did I mention that we flew COACH? Yep, my fav company ever decided to recind their travel policy in November after we had already agreed to the move. Nice one. Thanks a lot, I appreciate that. Teddy's RPI actually helped us in the long run however because the plane was packed but I told the steward that I needed to put him to bed and was there an extra seat for Jeff somewhere else? Once you kid pukes ladies and gents, airline people pretty much live in fear that it will happen again and they will do ANYTHING you ask if you insinuate that it will help avoid another RPI. So with me across the aisle and Jeff sitting a few rows up, I was able to get the kids down for a nap. Not ideal, but better than nothing right?
The rest of the flight passed without incident but it was LOOOONG. Long as in 6 hours into it you realize you are not even half way done. Long as in you could watch the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy and still have time to twiddle your thumbs and be bored.
Got to Tokyo and were really excited to have almost 3 hours to stretch and unwind and run around before our 2 hour flight to Busan. Didn't happen. In Japan they have this awesome policy that if you have to switch terminals you should go thru security again. Not a small undertaking with 4 huge winter coats, 2 zoobie pet creatures, 4 backpacks, a ski sled, a fiddle and an American Girl Doll. Then we waited in the longest interterminal bus mob in history (I said mob, not line - apparantly the Japanese can't stand in line either...) then once we got to the other terminal we still had to take a little train to get to our gate so long story short we spent the entire time in Tokyo standing in line and stressing.
2nd flight was relatively short and only sucked because Sasha had her RPI so we had to change her and clean up and at this point I was like Really?!? REALLY??!?!
Flying into Busan though is definitely the way to go. We went thru customs and immigration incredibly fast and all 9 bags plus 2 car seats were right there for us. I called the international customs office and they said they were closing and that we could pick up the cats in the am so I asked him to feed and water them and make sure they were inside and he said OK.
We had a whole crew waiting for us, Mr Robert was there - He is our self-appointed guardian to the point that I was actually surprised that he didn't pick us up in Houston or Tokyo. Kidding. He did however come to get us on a holiday on his own time. He also gave the guys from Stop Korea the business. Neal told me later that he called him up and gave him the third degree alternating between "Are you sure it's handled, everything has to be perfect, do I need to do inspections?" to "You don't have do anything for Mr. Jeff, he is the most impressive foreigner."
Let's not get carried away there Mr. Robert - we need LOTS of help...
Drove in our motorcade (thank God so many came to get us - our stuff didn't even fit in 2 cars!) and dropped most of it in the apartment since It would never all fit in the hotel room. Checked in at the hotel and collapsed until Teddy woke everyone up at 3 am with the announcement "I'm done sleeping now!"
We went to Breakfast, looked around the Hotel and then went over to check out the new digs. Our apartment is great, more about it in another entry. Here's the kids at the Hotel:
Then I met a new guy - "Iron" from Stop Korea (these folks also warrant their own blog entry...stay tuned!) Who took me BACK to Busan to get the cats. It took us just under 3 hours and lots of walking here for this stamp and paying a fee to this guy to get a slip of paper and then taking the slip to another office in a different building ect. But we were able to get Mitzi and Max and bring them home. Not bad for a Saturday on a holiday weekend I thought. Thank God for Iron, I would have been completely helpless on my own. NO ONE here speaks English.
So got the cats home, set them up with food, litter ect and then gave them both a bath since they had to sit in their kennels overnight. Here is Mitzio, pissed off but clean:
I made it back to the apartment at around 2 to find that Jeff had made the truly interesting decision that the kids did not require a nap that day. After an epic day of travel and getting up at 3 am. Hmm... OK. So when we went to the Home Plus store an hour later Teddy went into shut-down mode. This is his sleep state where not even picking him up and shaking him will wake him up. It's like moving a 35 pound pliable mannekin around. We put our jackets down and plopped him in the cart
The whole food shopping thing is a whole nother topic. I'm not ready to talk about it yet and I may need you all to hold me. We are still on the company meal ticket and have been eating out so I haven't needed to cook yet. Wed our stuff comes and we have to move so I can probably milk this until Thurs eve at which time I may have to suck it up and cook something. Which means shopping for that something. See, now I have to take a break and go rock in a dark corner...
On Sunday we went walking and explored a little park between the Hyundai Hotel and the Hyundai Department store. It's small but beautiful. The kids love taking the different paths.
It has been cold enough this week that the pond is frozen over! Sunday was nice though. Not so cold that walking around was miserable.
Here is a view from our Hotel window of that little park. The big building on the other side is the Hyundai department store.
This is a little stream that runs from the top of the park all the way down to the little pond. The kids love it.
On Sunday we went to the grocery floor of the department store (can't talk about it) and tried to get lunch. NOTHING here is normal or easily recognized. OK they have Udon noodles here, but mixed with what?!? So we got some experimental lunch. Pointed to things that looked OK and edible. Teddy loves food on a stick and his meal was kind of the Korean equivalent of a corn dog, so he was pretty happy. The kids have been AMAZING. Trying new things, embracing the process, open minded. I feel undeserving of such great little companions in adventure. They tried baby octopus!
This dish was actually doughy tube shaped things in a spicy bean paste. Not bad, not tasty, just really, really weird. Koreans are into gooey, gelatinous textures and femented food. ?????? I don't get it. And to be honest, I'm not sure I want to get it.
We walked from the hotel back to our apartment. The side streets are full of street vendors selling everything from sweet cakes to housewares to smelts. Here is a vendor with a tank of live ones that he will bread and fry for you right there on the spot. In case you are walking and get a hankering for a handful of crunchy little whole fish? Everywhere you look is a little reminder that you are "not in Kansas anymore".
So that's all for now. Coming up: School and work, our apartment, the guys from Stop Korea, Americans vs Everyone else in the world, and a trip to Costco (dear Lord, let them have pretzels!)
The flights. Where to begin? Our first flight was 14 hours from Houston to Tokyo. FOUR. TEEN. HOURS. Ninth circle of Hell my friends. Teddy had a massive RPI 2 hours into it. An RPI for those of you without children or lucky enough to have kids with iron stomachs is a Random Puking Incident. This is where a perfectly healthy child ralphs all over themselves and others due to motion or because "something just didn't sit right". Our kids have them all the time. So Ted got some juice and Christmas candy as the flight took off and then topped it all off with an in-flight meal to make sure the mess was huge and up it all came with no warning ALL OVER HIM. This is why they don't allow knives on airplanes. Jeff was actually looking for an implement to end his life with. So I busted out the back-up clothes, washed him up with those hot, steamy towels and got the steward to swap out his seat cushion. Good as new almost.
Did I mention that we flew COACH? Yep, my fav company ever decided to recind their travel policy in November after we had already agreed to the move. Nice one. Thanks a lot, I appreciate that. Teddy's RPI actually helped us in the long run however because the plane was packed but I told the steward that I needed to put him to bed and was there an extra seat for Jeff somewhere else? Once you kid pukes ladies and gents, airline people pretty much live in fear that it will happen again and they will do ANYTHING you ask if you insinuate that it will help avoid another RPI. So with me across the aisle and Jeff sitting a few rows up, I was able to get the kids down for a nap. Not ideal, but better than nothing right?
The rest of the flight passed without incident but it was LOOOONG. Long as in 6 hours into it you realize you are not even half way done. Long as in you could watch the entire Lord of the Rings Trilogy and still have time to twiddle your thumbs and be bored.Got to Tokyo and were really excited to have almost 3 hours to stretch and unwind and run around before our 2 hour flight to Busan. Didn't happen. In Japan they have this awesome policy that if you have to switch terminals you should go thru security again. Not a small undertaking with 4 huge winter coats, 2 zoobie pet creatures, 4 backpacks, a ski sled, a fiddle and an American Girl Doll. Then we waited in the longest interterminal bus mob in history (I said mob, not line - apparantly the Japanese can't stand in line either...) then once we got to the other terminal we still had to take a little train to get to our gate so long story short we spent the entire time in Tokyo standing in line and stressing.
2nd flight was relatively short and only sucked because Sasha had her RPI so we had to change her and clean up and at this point I was like Really?!? REALLY??!?!
Flying into Busan though is definitely the way to go. We went thru customs and immigration incredibly fast and all 9 bags plus 2 car seats were right there for us. I called the international customs office and they said they were closing and that we could pick up the cats in the am so I asked him to feed and water them and make sure they were inside and he said OK.
We had a whole crew waiting for us, Mr Robert was there - He is our self-appointed guardian to the point that I was actually surprised that he didn't pick us up in Houston or Tokyo. Kidding. He did however come to get us on a holiday on his own time. He also gave the guys from Stop Korea the business. Neal told me later that he called him up and gave him the third degree alternating between "Are you sure it's handled, everything has to be perfect, do I need to do inspections?" to "You don't have do anything for Mr. Jeff, he is the most impressive foreigner."
Let's not get carried away there Mr. Robert - we need LOTS of help...
Drove in our motorcade (thank God so many came to get us - our stuff didn't even fit in 2 cars!) and dropped most of it in the apartment since It would never all fit in the hotel room. Checked in at the hotel and collapsed until Teddy woke everyone up at 3 am with the announcement "I'm done sleeping now!"
We went to Breakfast, looked around the Hotel and then went over to check out the new digs. Our apartment is great, more about it in another entry. Here's the kids at the Hotel:
Then I met a new guy - "Iron" from Stop Korea (these folks also warrant their own blog entry...stay tuned!) Who took me BACK to Busan to get the cats. It took us just under 3 hours and lots of walking here for this stamp and paying a fee to this guy to get a slip of paper and then taking the slip to another office in a different building ect. But we were able to get Mitzi and Max and bring them home. Not bad for a Saturday on a holiday weekend I thought. Thank God for Iron, I would have been completely helpless on my own. NO ONE here speaks English.So got the cats home, set them up with food, litter ect and then gave them both a bath since they had to sit in their kennels overnight. Here is Mitzio, pissed off but clean:
I made it back to the apartment at around 2 to find that Jeff had made the truly interesting decision that the kids did not require a nap that day. After an epic day of travel and getting up at 3 am. Hmm... OK. So when we went to the Home Plus store an hour later Teddy went into shut-down mode. This is his sleep state where not even picking him up and shaking him will wake him up. It's like moving a 35 pound pliable mannekin around. We put our jackets down and plopped him in the cart
The whole food shopping thing is a whole nother topic. I'm not ready to talk about it yet and I may need you all to hold me. We are still on the company meal ticket and have been eating out so I haven't needed to cook yet. Wed our stuff comes and we have to move so I can probably milk this until Thurs eve at which time I may have to suck it up and cook something. Which means shopping for that something. See, now I have to take a break and go rock in a dark corner...On Sunday we went walking and explored a little park between the Hyundai Hotel and the Hyundai Department store. It's small but beautiful. The kids love taking the different paths.
It has been cold enough this week that the pond is frozen over! Sunday was nice though. Not so cold that walking around was miserable.
Here is a view from our Hotel window of that little park. The big building on the other side is the Hyundai department store.
This is a little stream that runs from the top of the park all the way down to the little pond. The kids love it.
On Sunday we went to the grocery floor of the department store (can't talk about it) and tried to get lunch. NOTHING here is normal or easily recognized. OK they have Udon noodles here, but mixed with what?!? So we got some experimental lunch. Pointed to things that looked OK and edible. Teddy loves food on a stick and his meal was kind of the Korean equivalent of a corn dog, so he was pretty happy. The kids have been AMAZING. Trying new things, embracing the process, open minded. I feel undeserving of such great little companions in adventure. They tried baby octopus!
This dish was actually doughy tube shaped things in a spicy bean paste. Not bad, not tasty, just really, really weird. Koreans are into gooey, gelatinous textures and femented food. ?????? I don't get it. And to be honest, I'm not sure I want to get it.
We walked from the hotel back to our apartment. The side streets are full of street vendors selling everything from sweet cakes to housewares to smelts. Here is a vendor with a tank of live ones that he will bread and fry for you right there on the spot. In case you are walking and get a hankering for a handful of crunchy little whole fish? Everywhere you look is a little reminder that you are "not in Kansas anymore".
So that's all for now. Coming up: School and work, our apartment, the guys from Stop Korea, Americans vs Everyone else in the world, and a trip to Costco (dear Lord, let them have pretzels!)
AWESOME Commentary! Thanks so much for the up-date, and the promise of more to come. Are we having fun yet?
ReplyDeleteYour large, white, over-size, four lagged child is now completely with the program here in Dog Heaven. He and Geek are really enjoying each other.
We Love You All!!!!
Mom and Dad
Oh my word!! Sounds like our flights were the same. Lucy vomited all over heself in the plane too! I was mortified as the smell spread to the seats behind!!
ReplyDeleteNone of them slept in the plane however and just when we arrived in Seoul, Gaby fell asleep into the same mode as your son and was impossible to wake up so we had to half carry him/swap him in the pram with Lucy, put him on the luggage etc. Awful, I could have kissed the hotel room floor when we arrived in Busan!