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.