Merry Christmas To Me

Ok, I know it's not even December yet.  And that I got a very expensive birthday present and told my sweet husband not to spend money on me for Christmas.  And that I bought a pricey plane ticket home anyway.  And that I also bought two pairs of boots in the last two months (it's cold here!).   But...I've been talking about getting an internet phone since we got here.  And the kiosk at the PX had a big sign out today saying that the iPhone 4 is FINALLY here!  So, merry Christmas to me.

Part of my motivation in wanting an internet phone, I admit, is that it's pretty darn convenient to be able to access the interwebs from just about any location.  I've become quite dependent on email and Google, and would be sad without Netflix, and Pandora and ChinesePod and a couple of my favorite blogs.  But a not-insignificant part of my wanting a fancy phone is that I'm afraid if I don't go ahead and get one, by the time I get around to it the technology will have passed me by so completely that I won't be able to figure out how to use the thing.  I think I may have made my purchase just in time--the girl at the kiosk rolled her eyes just a bit when I asked her how to unlock the touch screen.  (This is understandable--Junie is only two but she already has it figured out.)  And while I have successfully loaded the ChinesePod and Pandora apps onto my phone, I haven't yet discovered how to turn it off.  But who really uses that function anyway?

So.  Any tips, favorite apps, etc.?

Family

Dinner at Kyoungmin Unnie's new ah-pah-tu last night.  We called to see if we could just stop by and say hello, since Unnie recently got back from the field, and because we hadn't seen her husband and daughter since they've been in Korea.  Mike was the one talking to Unnie on the phone, but I'm pretty sure the conversation went something like this:

Sweet husband:  Hi Noonah! (guys call older sisters or close friends/relatives "Noonah," gals use "Unnie")
Sweet Unnie:  Michael!  How are you?
Sweet husband:  Good!  You're back from the field!  Annie and I want to come say hello, have you eaten?
Sweet Unnie:  Yes
Sweet husband:  Ok, we'll just stop and grab something for the two of us on our way over
Sweet Unnie:  Don't do that, I have "pap" (rice, or a generic term for food).
Sweet husband:  Are you sure?  [thinking, yes!  homemade Korean!]
Sweet Unnie:  Of course!
Sweet husband:  Ok, we'll be there in a few minutes.

So sweet Unnie cooked for us, delicious dubu kimchi with side dishes and fruit for dessert, and we played with 2-year-old Junie (I'm not sure that's how she spells it) and chatted with Unnie and her husband.  I gave Unnie a "housewarming bucket" with some basic kitchen and cleaning supplies--which probably would have been more useful had I been able to get it to her when she first moved in, and they gave Mike and me hats (it's cold here!).  I'm continually thankful for family.

Happy Thanksgiving!

So much to be thankful for.  We hope everyone had a great Thanksgiving!

Artillery

I know you've probably heard about North Korea firing artillery at a South Korean island yesterday; if not, this BBC article has some good background.

Just so you don't worry too much--we're fine here.  It looks like this was a more or less isolated incident; South Korea returned fire, but since then it's just been rhetoric flying back and forth--in itself, not at all unusual.  Things are busy for both of us at work, and I'm really hoping this doesn't ruin my Thanksgiving dinner party (especially since I've been cooking ALL DAY), but at this point, it's all precautionary.

And anyway, I work four floors underground, and the armor on Mike's tanks is pretty thick.

An Afternoon at Soyo Mountain

As Mike has already told you, we had the opportunity to spend an afternoon at nearby Soyosan last weekend.  Mike had just gotten back from the field, so exploring the great outdoors wasn't really at the top of his "that sounds fun" list, but he was sweet enough to humor me.  He made sure we were prepared:  canteen, extra warm clothes, moleskin for blisters, muscle rub, scissors, knife, cell phones, and snacks.  Who knew a two-hour hike required so much preparation!?

I think we missed most of the fall colors by a couple of weeks, but it was still a beautiful hike.  Granted, most of the time I was busy trying to keep up with my sweet and more-in-shape husband, but stopping to take pictures did provide a good excuse to fall behind.

Most of the leaves had already fallen, but there were a few trees that still had some gorgeous color.

These exercise machines are too funny!  On this one, you stand on a platform that twists around.

Trying out the features on the new camera...

There were several of these rock stacks in the park; Mike said people build them as kind of an "I was here" memorial.

One of the decorative gates in the park

Statues outside of the Buddhist shrine

Rest break.

Getting back to the flat road was definitely a relief.

And after all that exercise, yummy Korean food!

I think we'll have to wait until the memory of all of those stairs--and the resulting sore muscles--fades a bit, but we'll probably try out one of the other three hiking paths once it gets a little warmer.

Update From Mike

Hello family and friends! I apologize for my lack of due diligence with this blog site. My dad calls this "Annie's blog" and questions why my name is even a part of it, haha. Hopefully I can buy myself some time with this entry...

It's been such a hectic past month! I can't believe it's already been

a month since I've taken command. It's been one of the most challenging and rewarding experiences I've had in the Army thus far. The Company leadership (First Sergeant, Platoon Leaders and Platoon Sergeants) are extremely professional and competent, and the soldiers are really great. I'm humbled daily as I stand in front of formation, privileged to lead these men. I just returned from two weeks of tank gunnery training. Now let me just say that the Army is a daily grind. There's nothing like a group of Army soldiers getting together and complaining--we have a lot to gripe about.  However, it's those few incredible times where we experience something unique that pulls us back for more. Gunnery is one of those times. There's nothing quite like being in a tank when it's slinging steel down range.

Just being a part of a crew when the 120mm main gun recoils and shoots

a round directly into the center of a target 2500m away is truly amazing.  Both of my crews shot distinguished (the highest qualification) and we all celebrated with a victory cigar provided by Mr. Babin (thank you!). Kyoung Min Noonah was also at the same training site and bought me lunch every day that I wasn't at the range. It's so great having family here, and I'm glad I can be at a place to help her out if she needs it. Her husband and daughter come to Korea at the end of November--please keep them in your prayers. Jean Anne and I had lunch

with Uncle Paul a couple of weeks ago, which was great. He invited us

to come to the class he teaches at Yonsei University-we're hoping to get a chance to go in the next couple of months.

Speaking of family and friends... I MISS THEM! I miss my parents,

uncles, aunts, and cousins. AND I MISS MICHELLE!!! I still can't fully

comprehend how my sister is so much cooler and more talented than I

am. I'm sorry to say I won't be making it back to the states for the

holidays, but you all will definitely be in my thoughts and prayers.

Please keep my cousin Emily in your prayers. Here's a video that Uncle

Dan put together explaining her situation:

Aside from that, not much else is going on. We're enjoying Korea,

especially Seoul. Jean Anne and I hiked up Soyosan, the mountain close

to Camp Casey, the other day. I'm sure she's going to put up some

beautiful pictures, but don't let her entry fool you. We climbed over

1000 steps! I kid you not! My thighs were burning!!! Was it beautiful?

Sure... but it was not the easiest of hikes. I'm not the biggest fan

of walking to begin with, and those stairs were no joke.

Please continue to keep us in your prayers... I will try to publish

 entries more frequently.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OlCvi1hOuyc

Small Victories

One of the things studying Chinese taught me is that it's no use beating yourself up for not being perfect--instead, you have to just celebrate the small victories.  You greeted your neighbor appropriately?  Great!  Understood the convenience store clerk when she told you the amount you owed?  Fantastic!!  Decoded the recording played in the elevator?  Making progress!!!  Told your coworker that you like to wash your dishes on the subway?  Meh, keep trying.

I have to admit, I've been really frustrated with my slow progress in learning Korean.  Even knowing that it won't just come by osmosis, that it's going to take a lot of work; I've lived here for four months now, and still mess up simple phrases and misunderstand sentences even when I know all of the words that make them up.  And it's frustrating!  But I keep reminding myself that's it's a marathon, not a sprint.  I do, after all, work in little America, live part of the time in little-er America, and spend most of my day in an English-speaking environment.  Even the Korean soldiers who work in the room next to ours speak to us in English (and usually pretty darn good English--there's the maintenance guy who calls me Sir and uses a lot of the point method, but some of the KATUSA soldiers read college textbooks in English).

But baby steps beat just hanging out on the couch.  I worked up my courage today to call my favorite take-out place and order, instead of going over to the other apartment building.  (Should I be embarrassed that the lady not only knew who was calling, but what floor I live on?  I am a pretty frequent customer.)  The conversation went fine, and I'm going to celebrate my dinner!  Even if it did arrive with two rolls of kimbap that I did not intend to order.