Puppies say "woof woof " and Kitties say "mew mew"

Hope this clip makes your day, as it did mine.

Exploring the Pyeongtaek Market

I've posted about the open air market before.  It comes to Songtan (the town we live in) on days ending in "4" or "9."  I've been several times but not as much as I would like because of it being winter but now that it is getting nice out, I hope to do more shopping in the open air market.

Last week we explored the market in Pyeontaek (a nearby city, about a 15 minute train ride).  It's bigger than our market and we just thought it'd be fun to check it out.  It's similar but just a lot more stands, larger quantities of most things and much of it is "covered". I took some pictures and thought I'd post to give you a taste of the Korean market.

Pictured above are bins of grains and dried beans....It's cheaper to buy them in the open market (and you can find a slightly larger variety I feel like than what you can find in the stores) but you DO have to wash everything well AND watch out for stray rocks, debris and things like that.  Also, none of it is "quick cooking" so most requires soaking overnight and longer cooking times (which is probably healthier in some ways, although not as convenient).

Another interesting aspect in living here is that I'm forced to learn to identify things by sight (rather than by label).  I haven't learned Korean yet (and even if I learned to READ the symbols I'm not sure I'd know what the words for various foods and grains etc would be).  SO I do a lot of looking and running home to look up online whatever I saw to figure out what it is.  I'm still learning and there are a LOT of things at the market that I have NO IDEA what they are or how to even find out what they are and I'm not sure I'd even want to know what some things are.....But one of these days I'm going to ask one of the Korean ladies at church who speaks some English to take me to the market and explain to me what things are and what to buy/what not to buy.

Kimchi, seaweed and sprouts of some kind (I think...your guess is as good as mine!)

Deep fried whole chickens

Not deep fried (raw) whole chickens on ice and in bags (Jeni and Renee, this is what I was telling you about).  And a pile of hearts/livers next to the vendor. I haven't worked up the nerve to buy chicken or meat that has been sitting out all day at the market yet....although I guess it wouldn't totally suprise me to find out that is where the meat I buy at the store comes from either, it just "feels" better. 

Fish Market section

Live fish, eels, octopus, flatfish and some other thing we couldn't identify

Any idea what these are (above)?  They look like squishy, live, fat worms in water...Let me know if you know what they are!  Curious.

And wanna guess what's pictured above?

Can you guess now?  Chicken feet!  Lots and lots of chicken feet.

Long day at the market....I think my boys look ready to head home!

Anyway, I thought you might enjoy some pictures from the market.  Overall, I enjoy the open market and am looking forward to going more this summer....Although there are a lot of interesting differences not found in a typical Cub Foods or Trader Joe's in the states, it is an adventure and that's what life's about, right?

Soccer season

In Korea, the sports seasons are totally different than in the States.  For example, right now is soccer and volleyball season.   It just feels wrong to me to have soccer in March but maybe that's just me.  It has been warming up here though and I'm told the next few weeks should bring spring....This weekend is supposed to be in the 60s!  Don't hate me Upper MidWesterners, just come visit me in Korea and you can have 60s and sun in March too.

Wednesday we went to ICS (one of the schools in the area that I've posted about before) to support the team and cheer them on....Steve is trying hard to connect with the youth at the school and has been doing a lot over that way these past weeks. 

Today was a school holiday for another one of the schools (on base) so Steve spent almost the entire day hanging out with students.  He went to several other soccer games, went out to lunch with a few, went out to dinner with a few and had some good conversations.  He got home, helped give Caleb a bath and put him to bed and then ran out the door to go teach English this evening.  He is one busy guy these days!  I'm glad he had a good time connecting and spending time with the youth today but I'll be glad when he gets home at 8:30 tonight and I can actually see him! 

Tomorrow he gives his testimony at a men's breakfast and then in the evening we are having all the youth over to our house for a big dinner and game night (we do this at least once a month).  Two of the girls from the youth group are going to come over and bake with me in the morning and I'm excited to get some time  around them as well.

have you seen these in the States?

I was shopping at a store today and found this funny....maybe they have them in the States and I just never noticed before?  Either way, it's funny.

You won't believe this

You won't believe this.  I could hardly believe it and I saw it in person.  Only in Korea.

So you have all seen those "claw" machines at restaurants or arcades, right?  The ones where you put the quarter in and get three chances to lower a mechanical claw down using a joystick and try to pick up a prize (typically stuffed animals or balls or candy of some sort or another)? You know what I'm talking about, right?

Well the other day we were walking down the street in Pyeongtaek with some friends of ours (Mark and Anna) and we saw one of those machines sitting out along the street.  Anna (who had walked past it before) told us we had to check it out. 

It is a little bit hard to see through the glass in the picture but in this game you are playing for live lobsters.

Oh yes, that's right.  There is a claw arcade game for which you try for live lobsters on the side of a street in Pyeongtaek, South Korea.  True Story.  Been There. Done That. Took a Picture.

As we say often around here, "Oh Korea."

I'm Back

I promised I'd be back and so here I am.  I really enjoyed my "techi timeout." It was good to be away from the computer and it was surprisingly easier than I expected.

Most notably this week:

- Caleb (FINALLY) broke through one of the molars he has been working on for well over a month now....I think right around Christmas I noticed them bothering him and all the bruising started in January.  The other side is still pretty ugly but I'm sure any morning now he'll wake up feeling better.

- Steve preached his second ever sermon ("A Call to Personal and Family Worship").  You can check it out here:  http://www.songtanbaptist.com/2011/03/06/a-call-to-personal-family-worship-sermon/ 

- I read the book "Crazy Love" by Francis Chan.  If you haven't read it, I'd highly recommend it! It's a quick, convicting and inspiring read.  I also found a desk (in the dumpster by our apartment building) that I set my sewing machine up on and I started curtains for Caleb's bedroom.

- I enjoyed my two guys and am feeling increasingly content in our new home.  South Korea is different than I expected and has a lot of quirks and a lot of things I don't love but I think it is going to be a good fit for us in these next years.  It's an adventure and I know we'll look back on these years with fond memories (and a lot of laughs....)

And the winner is...

And the winner of our little Korean giveaway is....drumroll please,

DAN SCHMIDT

No, this was not rigged by my husband.  The random number generator landed on comment number 5.

Thanks to everyone who left a comment! It was fun to read and hear from some of you!