Monday, July 28, 2008

Squatters


What the? These things aren't just for the men.
I have no idea how the women here use these. There are about 6 of these to2 "European" (regualar) toilets in any given bathroom off the base. It's crazy. You see business women with really nice clothes on go in one and then come out looking just as good as when they went in. The public bathrooms are dirty, too. And the toilet paper. You have to remember to get some off the wall by the sinks before you go in or you're out of luck.

Let's just say that things are VERY different here!

And no M isn't going, he's trying to figure out where to stand.

Sunday, July 27, 2008

Korea and Misadventures



I've finally managed, with some help (thanks April), to sign in and post new blogs.

If you don't know what true boredom is, try living in a hotel for 5 weeks with 3 small kids and only a few stuffed animals. The kids start turning on themselves!

It rains almost every other day here, and when it isn't raining, the humidity is about a 1000%. Burger King has an indoor playground, so I have been there almost every day. I can't even force myself to eat their food anymore!

We have only had 2 crisis since we have been here. One we had to go to the ER. The other forced the tooth fairy to exchange dollars to won (the Korean dollar).

M (aka Stinker Boy) loves the pool. There is an outdoor pool at the high school, which is right across the street. They have a pool slide that has seen many many years. He thinks it is great fun to go down the slide and have daddy catch him. His foot slipped on one of the stairs and his chin had the misfortune to land on one. He cried all the way back down the stairs and to the edge of the pool where Ammon was waiting. Once Ammon got out of the pool, he stopped crying. Ammon took him to the first aid station and they suggested taking him to the ER. I got the joyous job of taking him there. The docs said the derma bond wouldn't hold the skin together like stitches would, so M got 3 stitches. I think he was showing off because he didn't shed 1 tear the whole time they were stitching him up - not even when they put the shots in to numb it. Of course none of this stopped him from jumping right back in the pool once we got back to pick up Ammon and the girls. He also thought it was a lot of fun to tell people who were looking at the big bandage on his chin (mommy was being a little over protective), "I got stitches, dude!"

I think every mother would panic if they were to see their child with blood running out of their mouth. a6 did that to me. Her 2 bottom front teeth were loose and the new ones were already coming in. Ammon was flipping the kids over his back in the pool (yes, the same one M had his accident in). Ammon flipped a6, then he flipped M after she started swimming to the side. She came up out of the water screaming and holding her mouth. When I got to her and took her hand out of the way, blood was running down her chin. It took 2 minutes (about a lifetime) for her to calm down enough to tell me what happened. Her teeth had caught on the pocket of Ammon's swimsuit, and when she flipped the rest of the way over, it pulled them out. So again I had to make a trip to the first aid station. This time with people stopping me every five feet to ask if the was ok. Luckily we didn't have to go to the ER this time, but we still had to fork out some money!

I'm sure we will have more mishaps, but we should have a lot of fun times, too!
Next time, we'll talk about squatters, and no I don't mean people who live on your land!