Sunday, June 4 - Thursday, June 8

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Sorry no pictures this time. I guess I was too busy or simply forgot to bring my camera, and you'll find this blog to be basically a list of the things we did during these days. Not too exciting, but possibly interesting to those of you enjoy hearing lots of simple details.

On Sunday, we tried to get out for a short while to give the kids some exercise outside of the house. We took the subway (first time for the kids), and walked a short while until we gave up and took a taxi the rest of the way to the park (I'll have to get the name from my sister-in-law). Devinn is a heck of a guy when it comes to walking places. When I say this, I mean he is not the easiest kid to take out. Every few steps he would collapse on the ground (very much unacceptable to Korean people), and I would have to cajole him to start walking again. I think because of the fact that we have carpet in the U.S., our kids assume they can just flop down on any floor anywhere and roll all over the place. It can be pretty embarrassing here in Korea. I don't see too many Korean children doing such things, but they've been trained from an early age that the floor is a dirty place. Actually, in the home, no one wears shoes to keep the floors clean. Also, the (wooden) floors are wipes several times a day to spot clean, and cleaned thoroughly EVERY day. It's just outside that they are worried about being dirty. Another interesting point about Korean cleanliness is this: two years ago when we came to Korea for the children's first birthday (떨잔치) the air pollution was pretty bad in Seoul (it's a huge city, so it's to be expected). However, I have noticed a huge difference since then. The air is much fresher. We noticed that street cleaners are out quite frequently, and we even saw a truck that goes along the sides of the streets cleaning the railings! We can also see many signs of concern for the environment in how paper is conserved, and recycling is evident.

Anyway, to get back to the point, at the park, we saw many beautiful ancient buildings and lovely gardens. There was a place for children to ride bikes and roller blade. There were trails and ponds. It was very nice. The children enjoyed it very much. We also observed a long train of men with large camera surrounding a beautiful woman as they all walked up to an ancient building. She must have been a model or movie star. Seoul, being the largest city in Korea, is where you may see someone famous any time. I think that it was my second time ever, but it's still fascinating...even if I didn't have a clue who she was. Later, We took the taxi home and the kids ate because they were famished (no wonder they were so crabby).

On Monday, I visited the E-Park again to discuss the possibility of some work with them. I met some very nice people and we had lunch. Nothing much to say yet about that. I arrived home late that day, so the kids had some enjoyable time bonding with their relatives here.

Tuesday was memorial day here in Korea. Many offices were closed, my sister-in-law was home both Monday and Tuesday, and so was my nephew. We enjoyed playing together. I took Devinn out shopping in the afternoon. Sabyl was too tired, so I took Devinn, but he's the more difficult one to take out, if you remember what I said earlier. We bought contact lens cleaner, and then we went to the local market and bought some fruit, toys, and snacks. I got the kids some shorts for about three dollars each, and then we stopped by a smaller market to buy milk. It was nice to get out, but next time I'll go when they're in preschool.

Wednesday was my busiest day this week. I first dropped the kids at preschool, and then I rushed to the subway, put money on my transit card, got on the train and stood like a sardine for about 30 minutes until I got onto the next train, which was not as full. I went to the dentistry school to meet my student who is a professor there. We had an enjoyable meeting and I was able to continue to practice my skills as well as learn more about Korean culture and life. After that, I bought a pair of sandals in the subway for about 10 dollars, the thong type with the strap between your big toe and second toe (which I never have liked but thought, "what the heck, they're cute"). In the afternoon, after picking up the kids, Keon's aunt (his mother's sister) stopped by to play with the kids. She is very friendly. She brought them to the play room with my nephew and they had a very nice visit. That evening, the kids went to bed early, and I tutored two students that evening for an hour each, and then went directly to bed. It was quite a long day.

Today (Thursday) I didn't have to go anywhere, so I went to swimming class with my mother-in-law. Man am I out of shape. I had to take breaks about every other lap. I think I did pretty well, though, and in time I will improve. I have to work on the breast stroke and have no clue about the butterfly (I look like a dying, flapping fish, so I didn't even try today, but maybe next time), but the back stroke and front crawl??? I forgot the name right now... are my best strokes. When I got home, the key was not in its usual hiding place, and I could not locate it, so I sat in the hallway until I could get a family member's attention. It gave me time to rest after swimming. When I finally got in, I ate lunch and continued writing this blog. Maybe I'll have more to say later because I'm going to pick up the monkeys in a few minutes. That's all for now, folks!

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