Arriving in Korea--flashback

We arrived in Korea on August 6th, 2015, after a very long flight from SLC (via San Francisco). 

 This was the bus they sent from the embassy to pick us up. We had 7 people and 12 pieces of luggage (plus 7 backpacks) so I think we scared them with our numbers. 

The kids loved having our own bus to transport us the hour drive to Seoul.

 This is the playground in Embassy housing, just a short walk from our house.

I love that they have a Korean-style gazebo at the playground.

 This was on our first Sunday, right outside our temporary housing. We are right at the edge of the military base, notice the barbed wire on the fence in the background. Comforting, right? 

 To get over the jet lag my goal was to keep everyone up until 8pm before they could go to bed. For the first time I heard my kids begging if they could please go to bed. I would try to keep them awake a little longer, only to start finding them all passed out all over the house. It took a good week or two before we were adjusted to the time zone (Which is 13 hours ahead of Florida time).

 Miya photobomb :) 

 This was our first venture off of the military base. We took the subway to Namdemun, and almost lost Ty on the subway. Don't you just love Miya's face? And Grant's for that matter.

 This is at another playground on base at the Dragon Hill Lodge. The little statues are supposed to be good luck and to help with fertility. 

 This is right outside the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. 

 This is also outside the U.S. Embassy--a very famous palace Gyeongbokgung. The Blue House (equivalent to the White House in the U.S.) is located behind the walls of the palace. The President of South Korea is Park Geun-hye, the first female president of Korea. She was elected in 2013 for a five year term. Her father served as President of South Korea back in the 60's and 70's. I love that we have a female president, so that my girls can see that there are no limits to what they can become. If you can dream it, you can work hard and achieve it.  

Everything is smaller here in Korea, as far as food portions go. I think the Sprite cans hold 6 ounces as opposed to the U.S.'s 12 oz. 

Seoul Foreign School-flashback to 1st day of school...

All 5 of the oldest kids attend the same international school. That means they all get to ride the bus together. I love that! I don't love how long the bus ride is (45 minutes on a good day, 1 hr. 15 when traffic is bad), but at least they are together when they are stuck in traffic.

Miya usually naps on the ride home, and sometimes they can't wake her up to get off the bus. 

Sometimes she gets off, and then lays down on the bench at the bus stop.

One day she walked in the house, yawned and stretched and said, "Good morning, Mom!"

Each flag represents where the students are from who attend SFS.

 This is at the meet-the-teacher day before school started.

 Miya was so excited to start Kindergarten! 

 Grant has an awesome teacher. 

Garrett's 1st male teacher--and he loves him! 

 This was walking through the sports field at the school. The school is very modern and state-of-the-art, but with some fun traditional Korean spots too.

 Kalia thinks she must stick her tongue out in every picture thanks to her big sis, Shayla.

 A traditional Korean-style building outside the school.

This bridge links the high school and middle school.

 1st day of school - August 13, 2015

Kalia misses her siblings during the day, and often asks if we can go get "the boys" at the bus stop.

 Ty was extra happy that the high school doesn't require uniforms like the rest of the school. 

He represented the Packers well :)

 Kindergarten for Miya

 Shayla in 7th grade.

She looks so cute in her uniform, but she doesn't love wearing it.

On the second day of school she came out of her room dressed in a white polo and khaki shorts. Garrett happened to be wearing the same combination that day, and she was pretty depressed about that. "I'm wearing the same outfit as my brother-- I look like a boy!"

 Grant in 3rd grade

 Garrett 5th grade

 Waiting for the bus

 Here they are all getting on the bus. They have a supervisor who rides on the bus with them. They call her "Supi," short for supervisor. She keeps the peace and helps the kids.

 After all of the kids were on the bus to school, I had myself a good cry. It was so hard to see Miya going off to school for such a long day. Then our social sponsor, Charlotte, took me on the subway to Myongdong, a fun shopping area. After a giant ice cream cone I felt much better.

 Koreans know how to do treats!

On the way home we picked up some Kimbap--Korean sushi rolls in the subway. Only 1500 won (less than $1.50) and so good!
The kids are settling in and doing so well at adjusting to a new school and well, a new country too.

Fireworks, dinner parties and cutie pies

 Well, a month has flown by, and we are now mostly settled in our permanent home. Can I get a sigh of relief? We have our very own Honda Odyssey so we can get around in style, and most of the pictures are hung on the walls. It feels so good to be settling in. Time to post a few pictures of our adventures in Seoul!

Last Saturday we went to the International Fireworks Show in Seoul with Kristina and Curt and crew, and Curt's parents who are in town visiting. The Embassy Association had organized a group, took reservations so I was under the impression that they would have a reserved area all laid out for us. We planned to walk from the base down to the Han River and watch the fireworks and then walk home, so that we wouldn't be stuck in traffic or anything crazy like that.

Well...because most of the 25 million people in Seoul had the same idea, we were walking along crowded sidewalks and through tunnels with a mass of humanity that made me claustrophobic beyond belief and scared to death that we would lose one of our kids or get trampled. Seriously on the way home we were packed so tightly in a tunnel, with people pushing and shoving around us that I was fearful of a stampede starting. Luckily we made it out just in time before I couldn't take it anymore. 

 I forgot my good camera, so I only had cell phone pics to document. The fireworks were beautiful, but so not worth it.

 The kids had fun laying on the blankets and steamrolling each other, and eating the snacks we all brought. I don't think they watched the fireworks at all :)

 Looks like fun, right? Next time we will just go to a park far away from the fireworks and just let the kids play.

 We had Sunday dinner together at our house and love our new house and having enough space for a big party. I think we had 23 people all together and didn't feel too crowded.

This is the kid table.

 The teenagers ate out in the backyard.

 And the adults got the formal dining room.

 My little movie star, on our way to the library. She just looked so cute I had to take a picture of her. She obliged by pushing her sunglasses up on her forehead and posing for me. 

So grateful I get to hang out with Kalia during the day!