It's the little things....

Most apartments in Korea have roof top access. They serve as a place to grow plants, do laundry, and dry seed weed (I learned this the other day when I went up to dry our sheets and had to share the line with one of our neighbors.) We've started really enjoying going on the roof. It's quiet, calming and has a good view. I especially like going up on Saturday mornings because I usually see a handlful of older Korean ladies watering their plants or hanging clothes. One guy even has a dog run rooftop dog run.

Donna visits the Peninsula

Janny's mom visited Korea last week. We had a great time. It was so fun to see her. We got to show her all our favorite restaurants and sites. Donna is a great explorer as well. Everyday she would come home with some great story about who she had meet and what she had done. Donna loved Korea and Korea loved Donna. Here's some highlights:She's here!
We prepared her a Korean care package equipped with a Dust Storm protection mask, travel books, and maps.
Donna prepares for her first bite of Kimchi- it's a big moment in anybody's life.
I'm not kidding Donna made friends everywhere she went- instantly. These ladies saw us in a parking lot, gave us candy and tissues, and then started hugging Donna. Our friend Curtis is in the background giggling.

Donna strategically placing a coin on this rock for good luck.

Hello Again

We're alive! We have our computer back, and Janny has finally shaken her month long sicknesses. Here's the final tally from the Dust Storm- pink eye twice, two colds, 2 week long mouth ulcers. She's always boasted about her incredible white blood cells...Chinese dust appear to be her kryptonite. In any event, we will try to keep the blog updated.

Rough Week

Sorry we haven't posted in awhile- it's been a challenging week. I'm going to update you and complain a little bit. First, our computer crashed. Trying to figure out how to get it repaired or totaled has been a little difficult.

Next- last Saturday Janny woke up with the left side of her lip swollen. The swelling went down by the afternoon, but she developed two large blisters on the inside of her mouth. On Sunday, some canker sores were added to the mix. She then developed huge bumps on the back of her tongue. Her tongue looked like a bullfrogs back. She has only been able to eat rice all week. We went to the emergency room one night and the doctor didn't even look inside her mouth and handed us some ointment. One of our coworkers mentioned she may have contracted it from the dust storms. ...Dust storm? Apparently, every spring Korea and Japan get smothered by "Yellow Dust" from China. Winds carry dust from the Gobi desert across China picking up pollution from Chinese cities and bringing to Korea and Japan. The dust is toxic and causes 1.8 million people in Korea to get sick- Janny apparently one of the casualties. We think the pollution and heavy metals in the air caused her multiple mouth ulcers.

On Friday night I woke up about 4 in the morning with the flu. I was up most of that night doing flu things. We went to the hospital the next day to get Janny's mouth looked at and some medicine for me. I got a shoot for my throat- not sure why. Janny got some more ointment.

Icing on the cake- The new school year started the first week of March. We graduated our older classes and got brand new ones. Our director added more classes to our schedule- about 40- 40 minute classes a week. In the morning, Janny has 5 and 6 year olds who don't know any English. I have 4 year olds. The kids are really cute but require a lot of energy- energy we were clearly lacking last week.

It's Sunday morning now. I feel a little better and Janny's mouth is slowly improving.

Backaches in Korea

My chronic backache flared up last week so I went to a chiropractor who came highly recommended by a friend. He is a nice man who speaks little English. The first session took about an hour, he did a basic back adjustment and a painful deep tissue massages. The next session was heavy on the Chinese medicine and took about two hours. ...I am struggling to explain the experience, but at times it was really funny, really painful, and... it seemed to have helped my back. Janny gets headaches from time to time so... she gave it a try and I asked in broken Korean if I could take pictures.Janny after session one.
This is cupping. Not real sure what it does. Wikipedia probably has some answers. He explained in broken English that darker bruises are worse- like most bruises I suppose.


He told us we have bad blood: solution- get it out. He made tiny pricks with his pricker machine and stuck the cups on it. It's that simple- no more bad blood.


The evidence of stagnant blood- I guess. Does this picture quiet all you nay-sayers about cupping treatment?
Our doctor pours alcohol on Janny's back in preparation for the fire treatment, a most unusual and dangerous muscle relaxant.





Janny's legs couldn't take the heat and were a little sweaty by the end.
"I think I'm dead..." Janny after fire treatment.
Not quite done yet... Doc. prepares for medieval neck adjustment.

Absolutely haggard after session two, Janny posses with her new friend. I wish we new his name.
These giant hickeys last a couple of days.

Not Janny- that's Gwyneth Paltrow with cupping bruises. Gwyneth believes in it and so do we.

Our Day with Michael

Our break was great... we slept in, walked around downtown, read, worked out and met the sweetest Korean man at the gym. He came up to us just as we started our workout and said, "I will take you to a temple." He didn't pose it as a question so we just looked at each other and said, "Sure, what time?"

Michael ended up taking us to two different temples. The first one had a giant statue of Buddha and different temples spread out around it.




There were colorful lanterns all over, I loved the them

The second place he told us would be about a 30 minute hike, but we'd have to hurry before it was dark. He pointed up to the top of the mountain and said "We climb that," as he walked ahead of us. It was seriously straight up. The only thing that kept me going was all the little, old, Korean grandmothers I saw on their way down.




Once we got to the top it was incredible! You could sense how sacred the area was.



When we got to the bottom Michael offered to take us out for Ox blood soup... fortunately, the plan changed and we had some other soup with strange seafood instead. After dinner we thought we were heading home, but instead Michael wanted to show us his office. We think he's a Korean IRS worker. We sat at his desk and had tea... a little awkward but still great. We were the only people in the whole building just drinking tea at 9pm on Saturday night. At one point Ryan asked, to break the silence, "So is this where you type?" ...great question Ryan. "Yes, I type right here. This is my desk."

We got back in the car and thought for sure we were headed home, but then Michael asked if we might be able to meet his wife and son first so that his son could practice speaking in English. As much as we wanted to take a hot shower and go to sleep, we couldn't say no. This day was too good. We sat on the floor of Michael's bedroom eating Korean rice cookies and talking with his son Justin. It was so cute, and a little awkard since Michael and his wife were sittlng there watching us ask questions to his son, who we had just met.

...definitely one of our favorite Korean days so far.

Lunar New Year: Welcome the Year of the Rat

We have five days off from work due to Lunar New Year. Today was New Year's Day and most Koreans spent the day with family. We spent it at Starbucks. Janny started the Year of the Rat with a notable success. Early on in our relationship I submitted a mandatory reading list to her. My mandatory assignments never really seem to work. She had not crossed off any books on the list...... until today. She finished her first book and has already started on her second.
On Friday, our director gave us New Year's presents- dress socks. I guess its customary to wear something new on the first day of the year, so he got us some socks- very thoughtful. Check them out