September 3, 2012

Hello from the other side of the world!
Yes, it is Monday afternoon here so I am going to go ahead and post while I have time.
First off, last Wednesday, Francis received word through a coworker that his 6 week trip to Korea would be cut to three weeks. Upon talking to his boss (who had not heard this), they discovered that this was indeed true. So we spent the better part of our week adjusting flights and generally deciding our course of action. We will now be in Korea from September 1-29. But wait, you may say, that is four weeks, and you are correct. We decided to take a week for vacation. Despite all the stress the change caused, I think it worked out for the best. I will now be back to Texas in time for The State Fair and HSU homecoming, as well as my mom's birthday: all things I always look forward to.

In other news, on Friday, William pooped on the potty for the first time. It was a fluke because I was changing his diaper, he started to push and so I stuck him on the potty to avoid another diaper change. He was so proud of himself when he got to flush the potty. We may have to start potty training soon if he gets that excited!

Saturday morning we left our house at 6:30 (after a taxi mix up) and started our 20+ hour trip to Suwon, South Korea. All told we had a taxi ride, two plane rides and a bus ride to get here. It was exhausting. On the plus side we got to see my parents and my in-laws in DFW airport between flights and say goodbye. When we got back through security, they were calling William's name over the loudspeaker. Turns out we had never entered his passport info for Korean Air so they needed to see it before we boarded. Not a big deal, but boy did it get our adrenaline pumping as we raced across the terminal!

The plane ride to Korea was less than what was desired. It was no fault of Korean Air, William just didn't want to sleep. Despite the lights being low or off, William wanted to visit with every passenger on the plane. He was pretty good for the first 8 hours (of 14), but eventually he really needed to get and stay in his seat. This is when he started to scream both from exhaustion and frustration until we landed in Incheon. It was downright unpleasant. Then at the hotel during the night, he screamed and cried all night because he wanted to play and explore...Not surprisingly after a huge breakfast, he passed out for 3 hours. I hope he sleeps better tonight, because Francis and I need the rest!!!

Our hotel is beautiful. The room is large and has plenty of space for our 6 suitcases and other junk. So far I am very impressed.

I am super proud of myself as I made my first adventure out into Korea by myself with William. Where did I go? McDonald's. Hey, give me some credit. I was trying to get William fed and go to a place where I was pretty sure I could read the menu. It was a 20 minute walk from the hotel (and it is a bit hot outside). I kept thinking I had gone the wrong way (one of the spots I went down looked like an alleyway), but just as I was going to turn back in despair, I saw it!!! After pantomiming with the cashier, William and I ate while everyone in the place stared at William and his blonde hair. We're not in Kansas anymore! I was warned this might happen, though, so it didn't phase me. After lunch we walked back (I didn't get lost), and I found a store near our hotel where I bought some breakfast items and a hairbrush to replace the one I forgot. The lady rattled off something in Korean which I quickly realized meant that they don't provide bags, so I had to carry all my stuff back to the Hotel. Glad it wasn't far because I looked like a fool!

Here are the things I've learned in the past 6 hours about Korea:
1. Korean is written in syllables with each symbol being a combo of vowels and consonants.
2. With the right amount of hand gestures and head nods, you can get fed, even if it isn't exactly what you thought you wanted.
3. Everyone here has flip covers for their cell phones like we have for our tablets and e-readers. So they flip it open to answer, close it to talk, and flip it open to hang up. Interesting.
4. Only special Korean cell phones work in Korea (they use a different cell system). To get my phone to make calls, I will have to rent a different one or buy a pay as you go phone.
5. There are no high chairs for babies (at least there was not as McDonald's). People use their strollers or sit the baby in their lap.
6. Sidewalks are not really for pedestrians. Cars and carts can park there and Scooters or Three wheelers can drive there. The curb is just a figment of your imagination. Good news is that the sidewalks are super wide so you can move out of the way as long as there isn't too much foot traffic.
7. No one here seems to carry plastic bags. After my experience at the super market, I looked around. Not a single one could I find.
8. You separate your food, your paper goods and your plastic even at fast food restaurants. That was new for me. So glad they had pictures!
9. The term fast food does not mean the same thing here as it does at home. I passed a Pizza Hut, a bunch of quick sandwich shops and some pizzarias, as well as some quick Korean BBQ on the way to the "closest" fast food place (McDonald's). The only fast food places listed in Suwon are McDonald's, Burger King and Popeye's. Rather limiting, if you ask me. 
10. They must purposefully hide the buttons for the cross walks so that I can't find them. I had to j-walk a bunch today unless a local was there to press some obscure spot to make the light turn. I still haven't figured out what they did!
11. Everyone LOVES William's blonde hair. More than one little old lady kissed their hand and touched his head. A bunch of other women stopped and said "Hello!" in English to him and then smiled and said something pleasant sounding to me in Korean. I can't complain though, because he loves the attention.

I know I learned more, but I will have to leave it for another day. I am going to try to nap before William wakes up. One last thing before I go. I let William turn out the light in the bathroom a minute ago. I celebrated by saying, "Good job! You did it!" Clear as a bell he responded, "I did it!" It made me so happy to hear that!!! His first three word phrase! He's growing up so fast!