Wonderful fellowship in Korea

On Saturday we really had no definitive plan for the day.  Shop the markets, go hiking, do more touristy castle visits...oh what to do...but we were glad in the end we had planned it that way because after meeting brother Wang kun Pang in the morning, we ended spending the day leisurely strolling the Seoul zoo with the children and getting to know this kind man.  He goes to the Seoul assembly.

silkworms for a snack anyone?

These were the neatest ice cream cones I have ever seen...shaped to look like an elephant trunk, with ice cream on both ends!

making masks with leaves

Audrey found a friend

Sunday we met brother Pang again, this time at the Korea Assembly.  We had such a nice time of fellowship, and encouragement.  They also spoke very good English!

The outside of the building.  

Eating lunch

lunch was sweet beans and rice, and a spicy curry type stew, both were very different in taste from the Japanese versions

the women sat apart from the men, not sure why?  I am not sure if I committed a terrible faux pas by sitting in the main area or not...and it was too late before I realized it

They wanted to make a heart, to show love.  This is definitely not American nor Japanese...Korean are very different in many ways.

Our kids were the main attraction

All tuckered out in the taxi on the way home.  It was a long day..we left at about 8:30, and did not get home until about supper time.

We decided to try to fly home on Monday morning.  We headed back to Osan Air Force Base to catch the flight out that afternoon.  But, after making roll call, checking our baggage in, and waiting to board, with 4 antsy children no less..they cancelled the flight.  They said there was hazardous material on board and it was not safe.  After wasting a whole day sitting around waiting for this flight, we had to head back  into Seoul with 4 very hungry, cranky, children.  And it was understandable, I was too!

Thankfully the next morning we caught this C-5 back to Yokota...
C-5's are massive, they transport tanks in them and other large military equipment.  Though maybe not the most comfortable, relaxing flight...it was free, so who am I to complain!

Sleeping conditions were ideal, though very loud, no windows made it pitch black

Selfie with daddy...

I really hope we get a chance to go back here, though a nice country, the people and friends that were made, make the return trip very appealing!

DMZ day 2

The number 1 thing I wanted to do here in South Korea was head up to the demilitarized zone on the border with North Korea.  In one particular spot you can go to where the North/South have their meetings and actually stand in North Korea.  Unfortunately you have to be 10 years old to see that place called the JSA, but we saw what we could with our kids.

in front of an old bullet ridden train used in the war

Audrey was photographed CONSTANTLY here

they were all waiting their turn for a picture with her

where POW's were exchanged after the war.  Note the barbed wire fence.

There was barbed wire everywhere

Pyeongyang!  This is the last train station before you get to the north...

Our view of North Korea...we could see 2 towns, but you couldn't get great pictures of them.

We also went down to see the tunnels that North Korea has dug to the South.  But alas all those photos were lost...

all tuckered out

For dinner we met up with an old high school friend of Andrews for dinner.  Anthony Lichi.  He works for the Navy and are currently stationed in Soeul.  This photo was taken very near their house.

They have great views of the city.

8 kids on a white couch, what could possibly go wrong?

Thankfully nothing!

We had a wonderful evening with this family, hope they make it to Japan soon!

Spring Break in Korea

For spring break this year Andrew and I decided to try our hand at Space A.  Space A is a nice perk the U.S military gives its service members.  If there is a military flight flying somewhere with room on it for passengers they will open up its seats and let you fly for free.  The problem with this is its very unreliable for the most part.  Flight schedules are only posted 72 hours in advance and flights are cancelled or postponed regularly.  Since Japan is so close to Korea, flights go to Osan regularly, so we tried our luck, and caught a flight out without too much difficulty.  It was wonderful to drive a mere 10 minutes to the airport terminal, and catch a flight!

Walking to our plane at Yokota.  This was actually a very nice passenger plane with 156 seats available, and only about 20 were used.

Upon landing in Osan, about 1 hour outside of Seoul, we headed to the Yongsan Army Base in downtown Seoul.  Probably the most startling thing about the drive into the city that night was the sheer number of neon crosses that we passed.  Literally dozens.  Christianity is huge in Korea, and with Japan being very godless this was a wonderful sight to see

Our first day in Seoul brought us to the Korean War Museum.  I really knew very little about this war, and this museum was excellent.  One of the best I have ever been to.  We all really enjoyed it, especially Tommy who is my military historian.

Very new and modern museum

monument depicting 2 brothers who fought against each other in the war, reunited on the battle field

the military equipment was very hands on , and the kids LOVED it

Kim Jong Ils car which was captured in North Korea near the end of the war

The Bible.  From a fallen Australian

The names of the fallen are inscribed in several corridors 

The kids were more popular here than in Japan!  People wanted pictures constantly, and were quite pushy about it

From the museum, we headed to the Changdeokgung Palace.  The crazy names of these places had me all confused and we ended up going to the wrong palace.  I had wanted to go to the Gyeongbokgung Palace, but frankly they all sounded the same and this is where we ended up.  It was quite lovely, but I would have to say the Japanese definitely have a slight edge on the Koreans in attention to detail.  The Japanese would never let dirt be the ground in a palace...there would be stone or moss to cover it...but maybe I am just prejudiced.

Very Asian architecture

the throne room

Plum blossoms

cherry blossoms

Adding Seoul to my Starbucks city collection!

Korean BBQ time!  Korean food was amazing!

The feast.  We cooked our meat, put it in a piece of lettuce with salt, rice and a spicy sauce...delish!

All the other little sides were pretty spicy, and mainly were pickled vegetables, but we all devoured it, and vowed to come back!

It was a long day...but really fun!