Everland

We went to Everland yesterday. It is the Korean Amusement Park, basically it is a gigantic rip of Disneyland. They even have a version of It's a Small World.

Jordan's favorite part was the petting zoo. Joe couldn't go into the Butterfly Garden. Actually he did go in,but had to run out almost immediately. Too many butterflies fluttering around his head. For my mom's sake, I won't post those photos (she has a crippling fear of butterflies).

"Cold is when your shampoo freezes"

Joe's Stepdad, Reese, always says "You don't know cold until your shampoo freezes". And up until very recently I didn't know that kind of cold...sadly I do now.

In Korea they don't have heaters like we think of heaters. There is no such thing as forced air. Our heater is actually under the floor. It takes at least three days for the house to warm up, and heaven forbid that you overheat it b/c then you will be roasting the next three days while it cools down.

In the bathrooms the floor isn't heated. To make matters worse, the drains do not have J-pipes in them. I didn't give a rat's ass what this meant until someone explained that this means there is no water seal locking in heat and keeping out mosquitos (as we experienced in the summer). Long story short- our bathrooms are freezing!!

I have an embarassing confession- I have only been showering about once per week! Before you judge me would you want to? As soon as I open the door to the bathroom, cold air smacks me in the face. The tile in there is so ice cold I have to walk on towels otherwise my feet my freeze to the floor. Then it takes at least 5 minutes for the hot water to kick in, then for 30 seconds it is showering bliss with warm water. Then the water turns back to ice. Meanwhile while I am dodging icicles being shot at me from the shower head, I try to squeeze out some shampoo only to realize that the shampoo is frozen. It is seriously like a slushee!

I did my best to wash up, but seriously I was so frozen I didn't care. I jumped out and vowed to never go back. So what if I am known as the stinky doctor at work- maybe less people will come in on my shift!

Korea Update

We have survived almost two weeks here!

Our stuff that we had shipped over arrived. We finally have internet in our place, and a working phone. Last night we went and got cell phones. The only thing we are still missing is a car! Our is arriving October 20th, but I am working on buying a used car. It is really hard to find one- they sell almost once they are posted online!

We are adjusting to live in Korea. There are some small but significant differences. First off I finally figured out that we don't have a garbage disposal in our kitchen. It looks like there is one, but I could never find the plug. Finally I asked my friend Trent who taught me how to use the contraption. All the food goes down the drain and catches in this little netted trap. Then you put this lid over the trap and it centrifuges all the food particles down to a dry lump. Then you take the dry lump out to the trash pile. At the trash pile they have these yellow bins that you put all the food stuff in. It is really gross.

They recycle everything here. We have to separate all of our trash. I still haven't quite figured out where to put the dirty diapers? Having to work so hard to throw things away really makes you realize how much trash you create!

The next thing that is really different is the laundry. The property manager assured us that we did have a washer and a dryer, but in the laundry room was only one machine. Turns out that it is both a washer and a dryer. I assumed that once it was done washing a tumble cycle would then start. I was wrong. What happens is it washes the clothes, then heats up like an oven. Then it proceeds to bake your clothes for about three hours. Sometimes they turn out good, sometimes they are still damp. Out on our patio is a clothes rack for hanging the clothes to dry. I am using it quite frequently.

All of the appliances sing- whenever they are done with anything it sings a little song. Jordy really enjoys it!

I start actual work on Tuesday. Kind of scary since I will be all alone for three days because our flight commander is gonna be gone! I guess I will survive (hopefully the patients will too).

On Friday I picked up all my chem warfare stuff. They have two separate bags- training stuff and real world stuff. On Monday I get to go practice wearing everything, gas mask and all. I am sure I will be drenched in sweat by the time we are done!

Since we have been here I haven't been able to work out at all! I am so exhausted from the time change. I am starting to adjust. Jordy has done better than Joe and I. He is adjusted to the time. Hopefully by the end of this week we will be all settled and in a routine. It is hard for me to change my schedule all the time.

Next weekend we are going to take a tour of Seoul with the military tour group. I am looking forward to seeing the big city.

Our last day...

We are headed to South Korea (map shows North Korea, sorry only map I could find)

Today was our last day in the "states"... I kept help but look back over our last three years here. So much has changed in those years.

We moved to Omaha Nebraska, a place I had never even thought about moving before. I was lucky enough to have a wonderful husband who supported me without any doubt and moved out here with me. Joe and I bought a huge house, backed out of the deal, then bought a condo. I started residency and wondered what the hell I was thinking and wanted to quit. Joe encouraged me right till the very end.

We started a family, first two dogs, then our precious son Jordan. He changed our lives in so many ways, mostly good...I do miss sleeping in. But it is entirely worth it getting up to play with Jordy before anyone else is up. I treasure everyday with him because he changes so quickly. He looks at everything with amazement and wonder.

Joe worked for Best Buy and then Pay Pal. We were fortunate that we could survive on one income and Joe decided to stay home with our Jordy. Then we found out we were headed for Korea...

At first we didn't know what to think. Then we decided it would be best to embrace this adventure. When I had Jordan I was a little scared that my traveling days would be over, but then a few months later we are ready to fly off to Korea, see China, and hopefully Japan too. It is amazing how everything works out.

Joe and I have also changed as individuals and as a couple as well. Being alone out here we have really learned to depend on eachother. I know that Joe is there for me unconditionally. I can depend on him and he will always be there. Joe and I have a wonderful marriage and I feel so lucky to have him. After seven years I still wonder how he puts up with me...

Our cell phones are shut off, our mail forwarded, our place rented, our bags packed. It is just me, Joe and Jordy and the open road/sky... After a long trip we will arrive in Korea and start a new chapter of our lives...

Jordy 11 months old!!

I can't beleive that Jordan is already 11 months old! It has gone by so fast, I feel like we hardly got to enjoy him as a baby... He runs around the house and picks up interesting things, and carries them around until he finds something else interesting, he then leaves the old item right there and picks up the new item with fervor. He then will wander around babbling excitedly. We call him the collector.

Operation Stork Attack has lost some of it's gusto. I did manage to lose, and maintain a 5 lb weight loss. Things sadly though, are not the same. I need to get motivated again. Here I am with my friend who works for the Bellevue police department. I couldn't get my hair right that day...

The movers came and took our stuff to Korea, we still have some stuff in our house, but not much. The movers will come again at the end of August and take all the remaining stuff to storage. We still need to find someone to rent our place...hopefully someone will want it.

Another Day at Work...But Better

Today I am at the med center once again. This time for happier business- I am inducing one of my favorite pregos. It is already 4pm and she was 3cm one hour ago. Hopefully this will be done and over with in a few hours...I can't wait to see the little baby!

I was here all day from 7am till now. I worked on getting my stuff in order for Korea. The Korean Consulate said that Joe and Jordy need to have visas to stay there. Before I can get the visas, I need to have my orders done. Before I can get orders done, I need to jump through all sorts of hoops from the military. I still have two remaining anthrax shots (the last one still hurts!), dental screening, 9mm training, and countless other things to do. It seems like they would make this process a little easier since tons of people in the military do this all the time. I wish they would just give me a list in logical order of what to do. So far for this process I get random tidbits from the other guys that are going.

Thankfully we still have a little time to get all this done.

We are off to California this Thursday. This will be a short trip, just the 24th-28th. We are going for Joe's mom & stepdad's anniversary party. They have been married for 25 years, and apparently still like eachother enough to celebrate this milestone. In this day and age it is quite remarkable to stay married to someone that long and still tolerate eachother! I hope that Joe and I fare as well.

Jordy is as cute as ever. It is hard to be away from him for so long while I am at work. Two days ago he pulled himself up to standing while I was sitting on the couch. I then picked him up and sat him next to me on the couch, which then prompted him to roll off the couch- I barely caught him before his head hit the deck. Joe also did a dive across the room to get him. Jordy thought it was hilarious with a full on laughing fit! He is so much fun!