Biking around Yeouido

This weekend we're supposed to be taking maternity pictures (pray that it doesn't rain). So tonight we went out with our bikes to scope out some good locations. I will be 31 weeks tomorrow. Only 10 more to go! Yes, I said that right- 10 more, not 9. We're aiming for 41 weeks of pregnancy. I'll write a post about it sometime on the baby blog. :)

Parking

I've mentioned this in a blog post before but one of the the things we had to get used to was how people park their cars here. It's madness! It's not uncommon at all for people to park their cars in neutral, double park someone, and just expect that the person you blocked in will push your car out of the way when they need to get through. It happens all the time. Or people will just leave their doors unlocked and leave the keys in the car. Yeah right! Almost every car has a cute little plate in their front dashboard with their cell phone number on it so they can call you if your car can't be moved out of the way. Here's a picture of the madness that is parking in Korea:

this is only a small glimpse of how crazy it can be

You can see another crazy Korean parking lot in the following post:

http://findusinkorea.blogspot.com/2011/07/blog-post.html

Cherry Blossoms

 We've been hunting for cherry blossoms lately. Every year there is a Cherry Blossom Festival in Seoul. Last year we made a special trip to Seoul from our small town just to see the cherry blossoms. Unfortunately, just like the states the weather is hard to predict and they were off on the predictions of when the trees would start blooming so we missed it. This year we live in Yeouido- the place where the festival is held. That's made it very difficult to get around our area over the last week because of the massive crowds of people, street vendors, and everything else you can imagine. But it's fun to watch everything come alive. We've been on the hunt for some good blossoms and they are finally starting to come out. These pictures were taken right by our school:

 

 Make sure to watch at around 30 seconds as the lady passes by with 3 dogs in a stroller.

Lunch for a week

Our school made a lot of changes in March. One of those changes was that they stopped serving us lunch. Now we get a daily meal allowance of 5,000 Won (~$4.40). Thankfully, a cell phone company called KT is very close (5 minutes walking) so now we go there for lunch. Here's what a week's worth of Korean cafeteria food is like.

This is the building we go to for lunch. It's a cell phone company
called KT. On the 4th floor they have a cafeteria that is open to
the public.

  Monday:
-White rice
-Jaeyook Bokum- Spicy Pork and Kimchi Stirfry
-Lettuce leaves to wrap the jaeyook bokum in (on this particular day we happened to find little bugs on some of the leaves- not typical)
-Namool- soybean sprouts
-Kimchi
-Rice
-Soondooboo Jigae- Spicy soft tofu soup
-Gochujang- spicy red pepper paste
                                                          

Tuesday:
-White rice
-Dooboo  Gooee- Fried Tofu with red sauce/chives
-some kind of spicy soup that had liver or something in it- yuck!
 DotoriMok- spicy acorn jelly salad
-Kimchi
-Sigumchi Namul- Korean spinach salad kimchi- really vinegary. I took one bite and could hardly swallow






Wednesday was a National holiday in Korea because it was election day. Over 300 seats in the Senate were up for grabs. Unfortunately our school did not take the day off, even though all of the schools in the area were closed. We had to order in lunch because the KT cafeteria was closed.


Thursday:
-White rice
-Chapchae- stir-fried noodles with vegetables
-Nakji bokkeum- spicy octopus salad (I only got this for the picture)
-Kimchi jigae- Kimchi soup with soft tofu
-Kimchi
-Gochu Kimchi- hot pepper with spicy red sauce (I only got this for the picture)




 Friday: I was rushing and forgot to bring my camera with me. We had white rice, kimchi, ddang kong- peanuts with sauteed soybeans; Miyeok Chomuchim- seasoned fresh seaweed; andTteok mandu-guk- rice cake and dumpling soup

Since I missed Friday, I took a picture of Monday's lunch.

 -White rice with soybean sprouts
-2 different types of green kimchi
-fried egg
-red spicy sauce with chives
-Miyuk Gook- seaweed soup

As you can see, Korean food is very spicy and very red! Unfortunately for me (Ashley), I don't eat pork, seafood, or spicy food. I've managed to survive in Korea for almost 2 years despite those 3 things being in almost every Korean dish. When I tell Koreans that about myself, they seem shocked that I can eat anything here. Fortunately for Taylor, he's not as picky as me!

Yangjae Flower Market

Last weekend we went to Yangjae Flower Market in Seoul.

This says "Oh! Happy Day" in Korean- literally O! Haepee Dae-ee

Does anybody know what these flowers are called? We left with these and a few tulips that unfortunately never bloomed. These are one of my new favorite flowers! 

Mr. Potato Head

One day I walked into to Taylor's classroom and said something about Mr. Potato head. I can't remember the exact conversation. But his kids have been calling him that now. First they wrote "Hello, I am Mr. Potato Head" on the board, but I think he re-wrote it.

Come on Korea, it's not winter anymore!

This is ridiculous...everyone back home is having amazing weather. It's April 3rd....this should be Spring!!

Relax!!

I don't wanna brag, but- okay, yes I do- my husband is the best. He's the best husband is already the best father. We've been trying to establish certain routines before our baby is born- things like praying over him, reading, and singing to him. A number of studies have been done that prove if you read/sing to your baby the same piece repetitively during the last few months of pregnancy, the child will recognize it after he/she is born. So several times a week, Taylor has been reading "Goodnight Moon" to our baby. I read him "The Runaway Bunny." I've been asking Taylor to select one song to play over and over. My hope is that if the baby is fussy, Taylor can always play that song and it will soothe him because it's something he recognizes from before he was even born.

Yesterday he came up with a playlist. He said he's gonna play 3 songs. If the first song doesn't settle the baby, for sure by the time we get to the 3rd one he'll be quieted down. That's the daddy logic behind all this. The playlist?
1. There is None Like You- Shane and Shane
2. Your Grace is Sufficient- Shane and Shane
3.I'm A Lover of Your Presence- Bryan and Katie Torwalt

He went through the lineup last night and by the end of it, I was sleeping! Check out this video to see an example of the music relaxing baby effect:

http://loveyoubabytothemoon.blogspot.com/2012/04/from-crying-to-asleep-in-2-minutes.html

Goodbye, Bailey

On Saturday, March 24, my beloved Bailey dog was put to sleep. :( I got a call from my mom that morning in tears saying they were going to have to put Bailey to sleep. For over a year now, she has been having hip problems. When I came to visit in December, she was essentially walking on 3 legs, not putting any weight on one of her back legs. Recently I guess her other back leg gave out and she couldn't really move. My mom said they were having to carry her outside to go to the bathroom. Poor baby. It was time for her to dog. For a purebred dog, she lived a long life. We got her when I was around 14 or 15 I think. She was MY dog! My dad bought her for me. That meant she was my responsibility. My mom was sure to emphasize that to me. Bailey slept in my room with me and I took care of her until I went away to college. Then I gave her over to the family.

Before I had Bailey, I thought Boxers and all similar-looking dogs were really ugly. I'm sure some of you still feel that way. :) But she totally changed my mind. I don't have any pictures on the computer from when she was really little, but she was so cute! Because of Bailey my love for Boxers grew and we found ourselves fostering 2 boxers at 2 different times in our first year of marriage with the Tulsa Boxer Rescue. I think Boxers will always be a part of my life. I truly believe they're one of the most loving, playful, kid-friendly dogs.

this is the oldest picture I could find on my computer of Bailey
taken in 2004

our foster dog, Bo, on the left, and Bailey on the right
you can tell she's quite a bit older

these pictures were taken from when we came to Kansas
for a visit with our foster dog in 2009

 

2009- moving my stuff from Kansas to Oklahoma before our wedding

It will be weird not to see her when I visit Kansas the next time but I'm not too sad because I know she was in a lot of pain. Goodbye, Bailey. You will be missed and forever loved.