The Battle

The Players

My Hair vs. Humidity

Round 1

My Hair: 0

Humidity: 1

I look like Monica in Barbados!

ps: Many have asked for a photographical evidence; will provide soon!

Around Town

McDonalds (House of Hamburgers) reigns supreme!

The road to our house. There are lots of produce trucks just pulled over to the side; people will stop their cars in the middle of the road to get out and buy some fruit! Driving here is CRAZY!

Directly in front of the main gate to the base - this is the shopping district where all of the Coach-ee bags and anything else you can imagine are sold. They also have a Baskin Robins, McDonald's, and a BMW dealership in here! Notice the cars facing every which direction. This is the most perilous part of the drive between home and the base.

Wimberleys on Display

I may have mentioned that Ryan and Will get a lot of attention around here - mostly Will because of his blonde hair and blue eyes. Today was epic - we were literally thronged with people all day wanting to take their pictures with the boys. I snapped this picture as we were walking; which was hard to do for all of the onlookers! This will probably be the closest I will ever come to experiencing Paparazzi attention! Ryan finally had enough and told a lady 'no more pictures today'. There was a group of young school children who were very excited to meet Americans. They kept daring each other to run over and say 'hello'. Heath responded, 'Hi. How are you?' They collectively replied, 'I am very well thank you, and yourself?' It was so cute to see how proud they were to use their English skills!

Korean Folk Village Visit

A traditional farm house

Ryan and Yuni - Lim and Jeong's youngest daughter

Jeong and I trying our hand at the acrobatic see saw

Folk dancers and drummers - performing harvest dance

Wishing Rock - you write your wish on a piece of paper and tie it to the 'chain' on the rocks

Today our landlords...I think we can now officially call them friends.....took us to the Korean Folk Village, which is a sort of historical amusement park about 30 minutes from our house. We saw traditional villages, farm houses, bazaars, museums that described Korean history and culture. We watched acrobats, folkdancers and drummers, a traditional wedding ceremony, paper making.......and so much more. We ate lunch at an outdoor market, and yes, Heath ate noodle soup. Our hosts were so gracious and insisted on paying our way for everything. I read in my Korean Culture Shock book that it is customary for the inviter (?) to pick up the tab. We have invited them to our house for Will's birthday party so hopefully we'll be able to make up for it! They are so proud of their heritage and eager to share it with us. It was a great day! We're going to 'Everland' in 2 weeks - they compare it to Disneyland.

Arizona, Here We Come!! (again)

In December we'll be headed back to Luke AFB in Phoenix, AZ for 3 years. Heath did his F16 training there in '99 and we spent a few months there for a requalification course last Fall. Despite my general preference for cool weather, we're totally stoked about this assignment, as it means (we hope) no deployments and somewhat of a regular family life. We absolutely love Flagstaff, which is about 1.5 hours north of us, and plan to spend a great deal of time there. Of course, nothing is in writing yet so this is all subject to change at a moment's notice! Gotta love the Air Force.

Assignment Time

Whew! What a relief it is to finally get an assignment and know where we will be moving in December!

Our House

After having visited several apartments, I am even more in love with our house!! We have so much room and privacy and a yard for Izzy. Our neighbors have been very welcoming, once they got over the shock of having Americans living in their midst. The language barrier is tough, but 'pointy talky' seems to be working on both ends. We have made friends with our landlords and plan to tour Korea with them. On Sunday they're taking us to a traditional Korean village - sort of like the Korean equivalent of Williamsburg, VA. Here are a few photos of our house and neighborhood.

Korea

I did it! I actually got in the car and drove myself and the boys through town to get to the base. I think it's worse as a passenger. We're already getting used to life here. Ryan is eager to speak to everyone so we're all trying to learn the language. He is coming up with new fears like monsters in the house, dinosaurs outside, loud 'bad guy' jets......I guess these are his clues that he is still a bit insecure about all the change. We're taking it day by day though and are looking forward to a fun Father's Day weekend. We ran into some friends last night and are planning a get together. It will be great to see familiar faces. Will slept from 8 to 7 last night so I hope that's the end of our 4am wake ups! Did I mention that it is full daylight by 4:30am? The neighborhood rooster doesn't really help, either......but the nighttime frogs create a great white noise. I don't even need his ocean sounds machine! Here are a few pics of the area .....these are from the neighborhood. (oh, and one of the 'option panel' on our toilet!) :) Love, Nat

We Made It!

We survived the flight! Let me take a moment, if I may, to brag about my boys....(hey, it's my blog, isn't it?) They were fabulous on the flight! All 11.5 hours. Ryan did not sleep a wink, thanks to the superior in-flight entertainment options on Singapore Airlines! Will stayed awake for the first 7 hours (ouch) but then napped for 3. He pretty much snacked the whole time though I never had to resort to suckers! Needless to say, we were exhausted when we arrived in Seoul, but the flight attendants called ahead and had help waiting for us at the gate. I was ushered through customs, had someone collect my bags, another to help clear Izzy (our dog), and two people to push my dog and carts to the arrivals terminal where Heath was waiting. It was great to see Heath and finally be reunited. Ryan was beside himself and Will recognized his daddy right away. We took a taxi/van back to Osan - about an hour and a half - and are now settling into our new life. The time change has not been as bad as I expected and the boys are doing great in their own rooms. (this is the first time Will and I have ever been separated!) I am, so far, finding Korea to be SO different from the USA, obviously. From the language, to the food, the shopping, the mannerisms, the DRIVING....what an adventure this will be! I'm nervous and excited, but mostly happy to be reunited as a family again and thankful knowing that I have all of you for support. I wish you could be here to share this with us. I'll try my best to keep updating the blog with thoughts, stories, and photos. I miss you all. Thank you for your prayers and wishes for our safe travel. They were almost tangible, as I felt so safe and confident. Keep in touch! Love, Nat

Fun at the park!

We're enjoying the beautiful weather here during our last week in CA! Papa took some great shots of the boys playing together.........okay, these are totally posed and I had to bribe Ryan to take them but they turned out so cute, don't ya think?!