Seoul City

Jordy fell asleep so we just held up his head!

-

Today we went on a tour of Seoul with a tour group. The base has all kinds of tours for only about 20 bucks. They provide transportation and a tour guide who actually speaks English! We went with Eric (friend from residency) and Robert (head honcho of the ER). Joe didn't sleep good last night, but did a good job of not complaining too much.

The first stop we went was the Seoul Tower. It is like the space needle in Seattle...kind of... At the top there is all kinds of locks all over the railing. Apparently they are what the teenagers put there to symbolize their love- and they throw the key over the side! There was also a big display of hearts with different designs on them. In the park surrounding the tower there was some guys practicing some sort of martial arts. It was pretty cool.



Next stop was some city street that had a lot of shopping. There was an Outback Steakhouse. We ate there, but it wasn't quite right.

Then we walked along this pretty waterway and arrived in some place with more shopping and roadside food places. There was actually a big pot of beatles and worms. It was quite disgusting. The tour guide said they are really good and salty. Uggggghhhh!

We went to the blue house (like the white house in the US, it is where the prez lives). It was the cleanest place we have seen in this country so far! It was a fun day- but we were pretty tired when we got back.

My first three shift in ER

I just worked three shifts in the ER and just have to say that there are so many whiny patients out there!

I don't think that there was really any true emergencies, just mostly primary care stuff.

There were so many coughs/colds that I wondered if these people have never been sick before. There was one guy who went to his primary care doctor and was told he had a cold two days ago, he then came to me today wondering why he wasn't better.

It was so annoying.... The hard part is that I am too nice...I have a hard time telling them to suck it up. I did give out less get out of work free slips today though. I think I was just sick of having to put up with this shit.

We still haven't found a car yet. I have been looking online and around base and no luck. I have been riding my bike to work and back. It isn't so bad in the morning, but in the afternoon it is all up hill and hot as hell. I arrive home looking like I just jumped out of the sauna- all red in the face and sweaty. Today Joe borrowed our friends car and came and picked me up. I was so glad.

I am supposed to not have to work tomorrow, but there is some training to do so I have to be there anyways...GREAT!! I am so thrilled. I am also supposed to take the test for my drivers license in Korea. Hopefully I will pass...

Pics from Korea

Here is jordy In the airport with his monkey leash on.

This is the main street by our apartment.

This is Joe infront of the front gate to Osan.


This is near the main gate. There is a big shopping area there. They even have a Baskin Robbins and a McDonalds.

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.

Only 364 more days to go...

We survived the journey here. Surprisingly Jordy did really well on the plane. On the long flight from San Francisco to Seoul, we were in the middle seats and no one was in the two seats next to us. We were able to lay Jordy down and let him sleep. Joe and I couldn't sleep though, so uncomfortable!

Once we landed we had a two hour bus ride to the base. We were greeted at the hotel by Trent and Eric, two of the guys I was in residency with. We got signed into the base and got checked into the hotel. Our room is pretty tiny, especially with all our luggage and crap. I was so exhausted from the trip, but as soon as I laid my head down, Jordy was wide awake! Thank goodness Joe took him out to the lobby for several hours to sleep. Poor Joe didn't sleep at all that night...

In the morning I went over to the hospital and got signed in there. They gave me a huge check in sheet of all the places I need to go for inprocessing...I actually had to sit down I was so overwhelmed. I didn't get any of it done yet....

Today we met with the housing office and went and looked at an apartment. It is 1.2 million won (1200 dollars per month). We can move in tomorrow. Negotiating the deal was the scariest thing I have ever done. At one point there were three Korean men yelling at eachother in Korean. I had no idea what was going on. The whole process is very confusing!

This is the living room of our apartment.

Kitchen

The apartment is about a ten minute drive off base. Joe is a little terrified about how far it is. It seems pretty overwhelming when there are no signs in English and crazy drivers everywhere. I hope we get the hang of things. Our car doesn't get here until mid- October, so I guess I will be riding my bike or taking taxis for a while!

This Monday is a Korean holiday, Chusek, kind of like our Thanksgiving. Joe asked our realtor what they ate for the holiday and he said something that sounded suspiciously like dog. Joe tried to clarify what he said and at one point started barking and panting to signify he meant an actual dog. The realtor laughed and assured us it was not a dog, but rather some sort of rice cake... It was really funny!

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 Videos

Another Video!


I realized that I only have videos on here with Jordy having a screaming fit. He really does not cry every second of the day, contrary to what Joe will tell you. Jordy does some really cute tricks. This is his dancing that we call Baby River Dance.

Jenn came out to visit us before we left the country and Jordy warmed up to her pretty quick. He then was always trying to give her Jordy Kisses, which she found gross. We were all jealous with how many Jordy Kisses he gave to her, since he is usually very stingy with them.

We leave on Monday. It will be nice to have everything all done. It is so stressful moving from place to place and not having a regular place for everything.

'Hood workout

In my quest of sexiness, I found a great blog called phit-n-phat. She also has really good videos on youtube about exercise and motivation and stuff. The lady's name is Corinne Crabtree. She used to be a whale, but now is freaking hot! Hopefully someday soon I will be down the path to hotness!

On her videos she talks about the "hood workout". She does a power walk around the neighborhood for 4 minute intervals. The she stops and does "power moves". There are several of these; suicides, push-ups, hopping up on the curb, pop squats, etc. Then after these she resumes walking for another 4 minutes, then repeats.

Joe agreed to go with my on this 'Hood Workout. We started out from my mom's house and got half way down the block when it was time for the first of the power moves. Joe started out doing them, then stopped. He said that the "spectacle factor" was too high. He just kind of walked away from me while I was doing the moves.

We walked all the way to the end of the neighborhood, stopping every 4 minutes. At the end of the block I stopped in one yard to do these, when I heard clapping and hooting coming from one of the houses. Joe was horrified to even be seen with me! He started to walk away.

I really didn't care if I was jeered at or heckeled! I am trying to lose weight not win a coolness contest (which I would lose anyways).

When we got back (after a solid 34 minutes of doing this) Joe explained to my parents what I had been doing. They were also pretty horrified that I would do this outside! So I guess I am on my own next time!

Check out the Phit-n Phat Site, it is really inspirational! http://phit-n-phat.typepad.com/
To see the 'Hood workout look on youtube!

Homeless!!

If only we could ship Jordy to Korea...that 12 hour plane ride is gonna be a killer!

All the moving was too much for Jordy, he finally crashed in our empty place.

We officially moved out of our place. I was pretty sad to see all of our stuff go. Thank goodness the military does all the work for us. On Friday we had three women come and pack up all of our stuff. They packed the entire house in about 5 hours. Then on Monday three guys came and moved all the stuff out, packed it into a truck, and away it went.

Since then we have been staying at my mom's house. It is really nice to have some extra help with Jordy. He loves grandma and grandpa.

Last week I finished residency!! Hooray, it has been a really long three years... Now that I am a "real" doctor, I am allowed to work for extra money. Over this past weekend I did some moonlighting in rural Nebraska. It was a pretty good deal, 3500 for 48 hours of call. And they let Joe and Jordy and I all stay in a house that the hospital owns. In addition I got a call from one of the staff there asking what kind of food we wanted in the house. When we got there the fridge was stocked with everything I had mentioned. Plus they even got Jordy a birthday present! I couldn't beleive it!

It was a crazy weekend; we flew one guy out with an acute MI, nearly coded one lady (she survived), did surgery on a 20 month old boy, removed a toenail, sewed up a head, knee, and arm.... It was a lot of fun and really confidence building.

I kept hearing all my attendings in my ear "Don't let that diabetic fool you, he's having an MI" Dr. Harrison kept screaming, "Get the ESR and CRP" Dr. Smith said, "She's allowed to have a few seizures with all that dementia" Dr. Malloy said. Dr. Hall looked over my shoulder as I read the EKG and said, "Get this guy out of here!" It really amazed me how much I have absorbed in the few years I have been here. This weekend for the first time I really felt like a competent doctor, I knew I could handle anything they threw my way. For that thank you to all my wonderful attendings and teachers.

We leave for Korea in one week. My best friend Jenn, is coming to visit on Wednesay. It will be fun to have no work or stress for a few days before the packing and chaos begins. I am just pretty anxious to get settled...all this moving around is killing me.



Make a Smilebox scrapbook

moving...Operation Stork Attack Update.

Tomorrow the movers come and take all the boxes away. I am pretty overwhelmed to be leaving our first real home. This is the home that Joe and I bought and called ours. We started a family here. This is where I looked forward to coming home to after every hard day at work. It is hard to leave.

Joe right now is at the gym. I am not allowed to work out since the surgery was just yesterday. Actually I am a little glad to have an excuse not to work out. I have fallen a bit off the wagon on operation stork attack, but vow to start again with new vigor and determination.

The movers came!

On Friday bright and early, the movers came and packed up all of our stuff...and even some stuff we didn't want to be packed. I left some of Jordy's clothes out, they got packed. Joe left some DVDs, they got packed. I took a shower after they left and realized I had no towel...I blotted myself dry with one of Jordy's bibs.

Earlier in the week we drove down to St. Louis and dropped our car off to the shipping place. It should arrive in South Korea on October 20th. That is a long time with no car! At least it is warm weather, so I won't be hiking back and forth to work in the snow! The drive down to St. Louis wasn't too bad, we used my dad's Magellan. It was nice to not have to navigate. But when we were driving to our hotel, it randomly announced in the middle of some street that "You have arrived." There was no hotel in sight. Luckily we were able to spot it about two miles down the road.

While we were in St. Louis getting gas, Joe saw some guy putting a gun into the trashcan. He jumped in the car all freaked out demanding that I drive away fast- I interrogated him right there as to what we getting away from. He told me I suck as a getaway driver

As if this whole week wasn't stressful enough, I had surgery today. I had a little mass on my right cheek, just under the skin (pre-auricular mass, likely a parotid tumor). It had been there for years, and I never worried about it. Then I told one of the attendings at work about it, and she sent me right away to ENT. He said that the natural history of these things is for them to be stable in size for years, then suddenly increase drastically in size, turn into cancer, etc. So he thought, and I agreed, that it needed to come out.

The procedure didn't take long. I came home wearing a huge pressure dressing over my right ear. I seriously look like I am trying to direct air traffic. It really hurts having my ear mashed down so hard. I have to go back tomorrow, and have my ear muff removed, and the drain underneath it. I was really worried that I would have a huge scar on my cheek, but my ENT guy is also a board certified plastic surgeon so hopefully it will turn out pretty!

This next week will also be a busy one. Monday they come and take away all the boxes. Then this week is my last week of clinic. I am working at a ER in rural Nebraska Saturday and Sunday. Then Jenn comes next week! Also my little man will turn 1. I can't believe it!

7 days and counting...

Only 7 days until the movers come to pack up all of our stuff. Even Jordy is feeling the heat.

I am feeling so overwhelmed. I keep coming up with more stuff that I can't live without for the next year....what about the shampoo that I have been stockpiling for the last three years, my heating pad, my wok- yes I know I haven't used it in the last three years, but we will be in Korea. Maybe I will need to make stir-fry while we are there. You just can never be too prepared.

Since the movers already took the stuff that will go to Korea, the movers coming next week will be moving all this stuff to storage. So literally, we will not be seeing it for one year!

Joe seems surprisingly calm. Blissfully playing on his PSP....if he could only catch a glipse of the inner workings of my mind, he wouldn't sleep for the next month!

I am to the point of stress level that I can not concentrate on any task. While I am at work listening to whiny patients I am really thinking about how we have to drive to St. Louis on Wednesday and drop the car off to be shipped to Korea. While I am on the phone coordinating this drive to St. Louis I am thinking about what I will need for my moonlighting shift in rural Nebraska....I can hardly fall asleep b/c my mind is racing in circles about stuff that needs to be done. It is a endless circle. I just need to stop!

My sister was supposed to come up and see us, but then wasn't able to get the time off of work. Then with the car needing to go to St. Louis I thought we would be able to see her there, since she is working there now. But turns out she will not be in town anytime in the next month, and infact got a new job in Kentucky, so getting to spend time with her is a negatory. I guess that she will not get to see our little monster unti he is in his terrible twos, and she will really wonder what on earth we were thinking when we had kids!

To be honest I am a little glad to be leaving this base. It is so lonely without the rest of my classmates here. It is almost like I am invisible at work. Our program director even took me off of his email list, so I don't get any of the group emails. I am constantly lost and hearing stuff through the grapevine.

Hearing the guys in Korea talk about how sweet our jobs will be is pretty exciting. We (Trent, Travis, Eric, & me) will all be working in the ER together! Allegedly we only work 3 twelve hour shifts per week. It sounds too good to be true! I will wait and see before I get too excited...

We have Renters!

Hooray!! We found someone to rent our place. I hope it all works out. In preparation of getting the place ready for renters, I wanted to paint over the trees...

For those of you who don't know, I have two huge palm trees painted on the main wall in the entry way. I chose to do this b/c it is a huge wall- two stories high, and I didn't want to paint the whole thing. Mostly to avoid climbing a ladder and scaring myself silly, not to mention that Joe would have no part in it- seeing as he is afraid of heights.

So I found these trees, palm trees to be exact, on QVC. Now I know what you are thinking, QVC? But I assure you, I am not turning into my mother! These trees are called tatouage, and they have a whole line of things such as trees, vases, flowers, all kinds of stuff. They boast that you can have a custom painted look, and when you tired of them you can paint right over them....

THEY LIE!!

We primered the area with a good coat of primer. Then two coats of white paint later we were horrified to realize that although the tree was covered and not a speck of green was shining through, you could see every bump of every frond! It looked like our wall was embossed with a huge palm tree! I was so mad....

then we got a call that our place had rented, to the people that really loved the trees!

Damn it!!

So off to Menards ("save more money at Menards"), and bought a little sander. My dad spent about an hour sanding our wall. At one point I thought that he was going to sand a porthole right over to our neighbors house.

But alas, after over an hour of sanding, Joe then slapped on two more coats of paint, and VOILA!
A brand new wall.

We only painted up to the line that was even with the lower ceiling of the living room, now I can only focus on that damned line where we painted, and where we didn't....that damn line...

I talked briefly about breaking down and painting the whole wall, Joe told me to never speak of painting again...I think I agree.

Four Thousand Dollars!!

Yesterday while at work I got an urgent page from Joe. Since he hardly ever pages me at work, I immediately called back.

He said that a UPS man showed up at the house with an URGENT Letter for me. Since it was so URGENT he opened it. Inside the envelope was a check for 4 thousand dollars made out to me!

Joe was all excited!

I said to shred the check! There is no way that I am randomly gonna get a check for that amount without expecting it.

Then I remembered earlier in the day I got an email from "Eric Johnson" saying "you should have received my check by now." I just deleted it and thought it was junk mail.

My mom and Joe did some investigating. They called the bank the check was from. They said the routing number was bad. They said there were several checks floating around like this.

When I got home I got another email for "Eric Johnson", Here is what it said:

Hello ,

how are you doing today ? am glad to inform you that the payment as now been delivered to you Via ups....

All you have to now is now is go ahead and have the payment cashed and take off your own money fior the Item and have the remaining balance send to my Shipper today Via Money Gram money transfer. and don't forget to take deduct the transfer charges before sending the money.

Below is the Information you are to send the money to...

NAME----CHRISTOPHER CAJUMBAN
city-----ROSEMEAD
STATE---CALIFORNIA
ZIPCODE--91770

I wrote back instructing him to fornicate himself with a metal pole.

This is obviously a scam. I hope that everyone who reads this will not fall for such a scam.

I actually saw it on Oprah about a year ago, and while I was working in Valentine there was some girl who fell for it. The scam is they send you a check. Then you deposit it, and wire some money back to them. After they get their money, your bank tells you that the check didn't clear and you owe them the money, plus any returned check fees.

It is really sad that someone would do this!

No TV??!

So in preparation of getting ready to go to Korea, we are shutting things off.

First to go was the house phone (but you can still call the same number- we got Vonage!). Getting rid of the house phone wasn't painful since we had vonage, and we still had cell phones.

Now the next step, cancelling Direct TV. Now this one is gonna hurt. The official day is August 10th. The countdown begins. Joe has already started staying up nearly 24 hours a day to watch tv nonstop.

I am kind of looking forward to a life without television. There was one week when we lived in California that I demanded we not watch tv for one week. I remember that week as so much fun- Joe and I did all kinds of fun things; played cards, listened to old CDs, and the most exciting thing was we talked! Joe looks back on that week as one of the worst weeks ever! He is such a couch potato!

After the tv goes off we have to mail back the boxes. I am sure Joe will dress in black and say a small eulogy. I will try to capture the moment on film for everyone to enjoy.

This afternoon we have some people coming to see the place. Hopefully they will like it. I think it would actually be perfect for them as they need daycare for their daughter and there is one right across the street. Also the wife works for a local business right down the street. Hopefully we can dazzle them into taking it!

Jordy Bug

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

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.

The best meal Joe ever ate!

A few months ago I made this and Joe declared "this is the best meal I have ever eaten!" Just thought I would share it. I got it from a magazine (Family Circle).

Korean-Style Short Ribs (appropriate since we will soon be there)

Ingredients:
1/2 cup low-sodium soy sauce
1/2 cup packed light brown sugar
2 tablespoons sesame oil
2 tablespoons rice vinegar
2 tablespoons minced fresh ginger
4 cloves garlic crushed
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
5 pounds beef short ribs
3 tablespoons cornstarch
1.5 cups shreded carrots
3 scallions
1 tablespoon sesame seeds
3 cups cooked white rice

Blend soy sauce, sugar, oil, vinegar, ginger, garlic and red pepper in bowl.

Place ribs in 5 quart slow cooker, add sauce. Cover and cook on high for 6 hours or low for 9 hours until meat is tender.

Transfer ribs to a platter, skin and discard excess fat from liquid. Combine cornstarch and 3 tablespoons water. Blend with liquid in a saucepan. Bring to a boil over high heat and cook for two minutes. Stir in carrots. Top ribs with sesame seeds. Serve with cooked rice.

Overwhelmed...

Okay so this last week has sucked.

The people who agreed to rent our house are having problems with the lady we hired to be the property manager. I keep getting calls of the she said, he said variety. Finally the people backed out b/c they can not work with our property manager and they were making a big deal over wording in the lease agreement. So they are out. I was up last night worried about finding new people. I got it listed on two websites and put up fliers around base temporary housing. Hopefully we will get someone in time.

The homeowner's association meeting was last night and apparently the builder of our complex has or is about to file for bankruptcy and will no longer be completing the units in our complex. There are several units (over 20) that are empty and they are possibly going to sell that at drastically reduced pricing- bring down our property value. Bottom line we may never be able to sell this place. We weren't really planning on that anytime soon- but it is bad news anyways.

On Monday the movers are coming to get the stuff for Korea. We have spent much of the last week getting that pile of stuff together. I have no idea how much itweighs, but hopefully that pile will be less than 2400lbs or else we will have to pay for some of it to be shipped.