You Just Never Know

Hey All,

This past week I volunteered at the school and am in the process of getting a work visa to be able to counsel part time at the school as I mentioned before.  We spent a whole work day (950-1600) at immigration only to find out that there is still more information to collect.  The cool thing about that day was that we took a lunch break and I was able to experience a legit Korean restaurant for the first time.  Of course I didn't have my camera so I'll just have to tell you about it. 

Our driver, same man that took me to get my physical, the school secretary, another prospective school employee and I, went out to eat.  The driver and school secretary are both Korean and they picked where we ate.  Upon arriving we immediately had to take off our shoes and put them on a shelf.  I didn't have on socks so that was awkward, I was at least happy that I had painted my toenails the day before.  I don't know how comfortable you are with sitting cross legged on the floor with a cushion under you, for me it was not great.  People all over who were much older than me were very comfortable sitting and I was constantly having to move around to make myself comfortable for a few minutes before needing to move again.  My foot fell asleep sitting cross legged and my legs were too long and not flexible enough to fit under the low table.  I felt bad to have to stretch my feet under the table because we were eating and the secretary was sitting on the other side probably with my bear feet like right there.  The food was really good though so that was the plus :-)

Another experience was watching and listening to Koreans, Americans, Japanese, and Korean-Americans play the steel drums outside of base.  I accidentally came upon one of the school's community groups on my way back from coffee (actually I had a sweet potato latte) with the pastor's wife.  They explained that they had only just started practicing and playing on Monday so I got to hear, along with other random people, some various Caribbean sounding music.  The teacher shared with me that they were like the only group in all of Korea and how the drums were actually from Trinidad.  Even though it was a bit chilly outside it was nice to hear music that made you think of a warm place:-) Earlier in the week I accidentally had the perfect timing to go to another group's car wash.

Daniel and I also had the opportunity to go to a place near base that is supposed to be like "a home away from home" in that it is missionaries trying to create a homey/hang out atmosphere.  We went on the Saturday before Easter where they had lunch and did an Easter egg hunt and egg dying for adults.  I also went on Sunday where they were showing the "Passion of Christ" in the afternoon.  I want to get involved there to be able to meet people and possibly make some new friends that we can have over to the house and fellowship with.

Okay, that's life right now,
Camille

Another Year In, A Lifetime To Go!

Hi Friends and Family,

As most newly weds know going into marriage everyone and their mother attempts to offer advice on marriage based on their own successes and failures.  While I do listen to a lot of advice I'm going to be honest, I don't take it all.  The thing is we haven't really had a typical marriage.  By that I mean we could say typical for a military family but not typical for a non-military family and that is mostly who has attempted to advise me.  Then there is getting real advice from military families but them not being believers so advice can be more secular than I might like to hear or accept.  And so the saying goes, "Take everything with a grain of salt."

Just a little bit of perspective: Prior to even being married Daniel and I lived in different states with a 2 hour time difference doing our pre-marital counseling via Skype.  The longest time we were ever physically around one another intentionally was about 10 days (even though we were friends for several years and grew up in the same church).  After only 5 months of marriage Daniel left for 7 months.  In that 5 months I had moved to Colorado, where I knew only him, and couldn't find a job.  Then I was blessed with a job just as he left.  While he was gone his schedule for the majority of the time was working pretty much every evening (with an occasional day off), 8p-8a with a 2 hour time difference.  Then when he got back from that stint away he was only back 4 months before he was gone for another month to Texas.  He was back for about 2 months... Now, we live in Korea.  So yea...

The main points of keeping God first and communicating were not missed although they looked different with us being apart for a lot of time.  We thank God for technology because that has been a huge blessing!  So have all the prayers from you all so THANK YOU for taking the time to pray for us and with us :-)

Now we are in a time in our marriage where we are married and together and putting in the work looks differently than just Skype and phone calls.  We are in the same house but with different responsibilities to uphold for one another daily.  Only God knows how long this will last until we are on to the next adventure.




Ecclesiastes 3:1-8 (ESV)

¹ For everything there is a season, and a time for every matter under heaven:

² a time to be born, and a time to die;
a time to plant, and a time to pluck up what is planted;
³ a time to kill, and a time to heal;
a time to break down, and a time to build up;
⁴ a time to weep, and a time to laugh;
a time to mourn, and a time to dance;
⁵ a time to cast away stones, and a time to gather stones together;
a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing;
⁶ a time to seek, and a time to lose;
a time to keep, and a time to cast away;
⁷ a time to tear, and a time to sew;
a time to keep silence, and a time to speak;
⁸ a time to love, and a time to hate;
a time for war, and a time for peace.

Love you all!  Appreciate you all!
Camille

Ouch!

Hello Everyone,

I write to you with my body aching in a couple of places.  Mostly my calve area and upper arm area.  The calves hurt from a hike Daniel and I went on 2 days ago (which is what this post is about) and my arms hurt because I decided to then the next day do a workout at the school with some other ladies... why!?!

Daniel and I greatly underestimated the intensity of the hike that we went on the other day.  He had a day off and the weather was nice and I asked the day before if we could please go hiking.  I had a bottle of water for each of us and we headed to Gyeryongsan National Park which is like 90 minutes from where we live.  We get there and Daniel immediately goes to the visitor center to get a map and they did have one in English for us to use.  Of course the measurements are in kilometers and Daniel was trying to convert it in his head as we went along but as far as trying to time it, it was hard to take into account the 3 inclines to peaks and then the path being ridiculously rocky and more...

It took us about 4 1/2 hours to hike the 6 miles (9.6km) from the parking lot around, up over, back down, up over, back down, and up over, and back completely down to the parking lot.  We both ran out of water at about the 1/2 way point and that was pretty awful.  I'm not proud of this but I was literally whining like a child at one point because I was pretty done physically and emotionally.  My legs were shaking and we still had like 1/2 of the hike to go.  Daniel said that his legs started shaking too about an hour after mine which told me that this hike was not for me.  If something effects Daniel physically then it is too much for me, LOL.  The fact that he called it "a good workout" at the end means that for me it was military boot camp.

Daniel kept making comments like, "we're almost there," "I can see the bottom,"  "that's the top right there," etc. but most of what he said was inaccurate and so I got an attitude and told him to stop saying those things to me.  From my perspective he was speaking matter of fact and I believed him but "the top" came 2 times after the first top, "the bottom" he saw was not actually the bottom and almost done meant like another 1 1/2 hours.  (It is a pet peeve of mine with anyone in general who speaks like they know something when they are really only speculating, it was just that much worse because I was tired and thirsty).  He explained that when he says we're "almost done" he is thinking of how Jesus said that he would be back soon like 2000 years ago...  While I appreciate the reference at the time of that hike I just glared at him.

So anyway, this particular ROK hiking trail was not quite what we were used to back in Colorado.  This was our first hike here and while we have done some pretty intense hikes back in the States there is usually some sort of safety railing in very dangerous areas if you are on a trail.  Here they had safety railings at certain points but at some of the most dangerous spots there were none.  Daniel and I were literally looking at places with gaping holes one of us could have fallen through in the rail and then areas where you could easily slide down the mountain if you miss-stepped.  I had to laugh at times at how bad it was.  I wanted Daniel to take pictures to which he responded, "Nah man, I just want to get out of here." 

On the way down from the last peak I got excited for a second because going down is usually so much easier and I feel accomplished.  This was not the case.  Like 7/8 of the way down were these awful imbalanced rocky steps with no railing that I slid on multiple times and rolled my ankle on like 3x (not badly just uncomfortably).  It seemed never ending...  I could see on so many of the stones where other people had slid because of the skid marks on the surface.  Some of the stones were loose but Daniel was in front of me most of that time and would warn me before I put my weight on it.  When we were on the peaks there were medal stairs that were easier to walk on however they were really steep and uneven, anyone with a fear of heights would have blacked out easily. 

Maybe I should invest in one of those camel pack water bags and walking sticks if I'm going to be hiking here in Korea...


Job 12:7-10
⁷ But ask the beasts, and they will teach you;
    the birds of the heavens, and they will tell you;
⁸ or the bushes of the earth, and they will teach you;
    and the fish of the sea will declare to you.
⁹ Who among all these does not know
    that the hand of the Lord has done this?
¹⁰ In his hand is the life of every living thing
    and the breath of all mankind.

Onward and upward...

 

Up, up, and up.

Here we are at the top, or at least one of the tops... :-\

Looks "blah" compared to the view a clear sky would provide. 

Candid going down the steep medal stairs from one of the peeks.

 

Candid going up the stairs (exhausted and unhappy is what you're seeing here :-P)

 These stairs were no joke :-O

A waterfall, probably more intense in the spring or summer.

Genesis 1:9-13
And God said, "Let the waters under the heavens be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear." And it was so.  God called the dry land Earth, and the waters that were gathered he called Seas.  And God saw that it was good.
And God said, "Let the earth sprout vegetation, plants yielding seeds, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth."  And it was so.  The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed, and fruit trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind, on the earth."  And it was so.  The earth brought forth vegetation, plants yielding seed according to their own kinds, and trees bearing fruit in which is their seed, each according to its kind.  And God saw it was good.  And there was evening and there was morning, the third day. 


Survivor,
Camille

I Don't Think That Was Chicken... :-/

So, I'm forever wanting to go to a different restaurant and try things.  Daniel likes to stick to places that he has found food he likes and will get familiar dishes even if we explore.  Today we tried a new restaurant that was still Thai food, which we both like, but just a different place.  Daniel as usual stuck with a familiar dish but I as usual tried something different and I this time I regret it. 

I chose to get curry puffs for an appetizer and then for my lunch I got the chef's recommended chicken something.  The curry puffs were pretty good and even Daniel seemed to kind of like them.  He initially didn't want to try them and looked at them with suspicion but wound up eating 2.  When our meals came out I was the one looking suspiciously.  Back in the States we joke about eating cat when we go to Chinese restaurants but rarely is that the case.  Here it really is no joke to say I think that I'm eating dog because that is a dish that some Korean people genuinely partake in and enjoy. 

I don't know what kind of meat I was eating but it did not look or taste like chicken to me.  Daniel tried a couple of bites and he agreed that it was probably not chicken.  It was dark meat but there was so much of it stuck together it didn't seem to be possible that it could have come from a chicken thigh and leg.  Afterward my stomach was making a lot of noise in disagreement with the foreign thing I just ingested.  It didn't hurt or anything like that it just keeps talking and bubbling. 

We both agreed that we don't want to return to that restaurant.  It could very well have been chicken and I might be being dramatic but I genuinely don't think that it was... :-/
---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
I would like to say for the record that I am not against consuming dog meat and no one else should be able to tell another country what meat they should or should not eat.  Unless someone is a vegetarian there should be no conversation whatsoever about the consumption of dog meat as if it is worse than any other meat consumption.  In the West we mainly eat cow, pig, chicken, & turkey but who are we to tell another culture that eating any other meat is wrong?  I know that they have a dog rescue here for dogs that were going to be eaten and I have a problem with people in other countries adopting dogs from here to save them from being eaten.  How ethnocentric of us!

Many of the dogs that are eaten here are a particular breed for the purpose of eating, just like with cows.  Who are we to say that eating a pig is okay but not a dog?  So even though I hope I didn't eat dog I am not opposed to people eating dog.

http://www.slate.com/articles/news_and_politics/frame_game/2002/01/wok_the_dog.html

1 Corinthians 10:23-27
²³ “All things are lawful,” but not all things are helpful. “All things are lawful,” but not all things build up. ²⁴ Let no one seek his own good, but the good of his neighbor. ²⁵ Eat whatever is sold in the meat market without raising any question on the ground of conscience. ²⁶ For “the earth is the Lord's, and the fullness thereof.” ²⁷ If one of the unbelievers invites you to dinner and you are disposed to go, eat whatever is set before you without raising any question on the ground of conscience.

Suwon Hwaseong Fortress

Hello Precious People,

  

Daniel and I headed up to Suwon today again but this time actually made it and explored.  We walked around the fortress which we were told is 5.74km around.  Of course we started with going up some steep stairs and then after that we went up and down and straight to get around the whole thing.  I thought that it was pretty cool overall, nothing super special but just nice to be out and about experiencing a culture different from our own.  

We went up...

...and up...

...then we got to the top.

This is the walking point at the top where we started.

Here you can see the mountains in the background, then tall apartment buildings, then some lower level housing and buildings, then part of the wall, and then more building and housing within the wall boundaries.

They had a spot to be able to try out archery but only at certain times so we didn't try.

 

This guy seemed pretty "meh" at archery.  (1000x better than I would be I'm sure) He was hitting the grass in the distance, not the targets.

 

"Watch your head"

I liked it there.  Good exercise and decent views.  Now, the air wasn't the clearest but it is Korea after all.

So, I saw this in the bathroom.  As usual I have no idea what all it says but I'm fairly certain it has something to do with hidden cameras and people recording under girl's skirts. :-\

We'll probably head back here again because there were several other things to do.

Hope you enjoyed,
Camille

Korean War Museum

Hey Loves,

 

I enjoy museums but it's not quite as enjoyable when the details aren't in English.  Most of the things in the museum had a brief English description but it was obvious that if I knew Korean then I would get more information.  I still enjoyed the history and seeing the artifacts that are so much older than the USA.  I know that if the Native American's history had been better preserved and documented we might have more history but we all know that tragic story. 

 

The cool things about Korean history is that it is so well documented and known.  We saw the history going back to the AD hundreds.  I just think that is so amazing :-)  I know that there are other places that go back even further but I am currently here and not there so I am just taking in what I can while I can...  What's weird is the controversy/confusion about the Korean War that is more recent than any other battle.  N. Korea says that USA started it; S. Korea says that N. Korea started it (???).  

 

I thought that this was pretty.

 

In case you wanted to see what "drum" looks like in Korean.

 

It seems that all war museums have this type of stuff outside of them.

Yea this kind of thing too.

These apparently have the names of all the people that died throughout Korean war history.  There are like a hundred of these things filled with names...

Here is a zoomed in image of the huge tablet above.

This is chain armor that was worn under clothing.

A model war ship...

Another model war ship.

These were old time ID badges, now they have cards.

 

 

Love ya lots,

Camille

A Korean Hospital and Typhoon Drill

Hey Guys and Gals,

I got to experience a couple of new things this past week here in Korea.  First was how school's do a "typhoon drill."  I don't know what I was expecting but it was not what happened.  I was thinking there would be more to it for some odd reason.  All the students, staff and faculty simply came down to the basement and sat in the gym...  Yep.  That was all :-\

About my visit to the hospital though, now that I found very interesting.  I have the opportunity to work part time here at an international school as a counselor.  They are in the process of getting the work visa I need to be able to work here and a part of that process was getting a physical.  Thank God there was someone else that I met before going through the process as well so we were together on our trip to the hospital.  I would like to just say that the last time I had a physical was several years ago and if I recall correctly they pretty much just took my temperature, checked my blood pressure, checked my reflexes, and took like my height and weight.  This experience included most of that and so much more.  Had I known I would have brought my camera or phone to take pictures.

First we arrived at the school expecting the lady that typically we go through to take us to the doctor.  It was actually like a school van driver that took us and neither of us had ever met this older man before.  We are chit chatting about various subjects on our way to the hospital.  We get to where we need to be and our "guide" gets to hustling us right along.  We are each given a sheet that we are supposed to write our names and birth dates on.  Then the lady and our guide get to talking and she writes random numbers separated by hyphens at the bottom of the page, it looked something like "13-1-2-5-6-7".  What we learned were the numbers were the stations that we needed to go to for the medical staff to check various things. 

Our first station was having our temperature taken and teeth checked.  Second was to give a urine sample.  I want to pause here to share that I have had to give urine samples a few times back in the States for internships and jobs.  That being said this experience was nothing like that with the exception of peeing in a cup.  Typically I have had everything taken away and the water is turned off in that particular single person bathroom, plus I've had where the toilet water was blue. This was just a regular bathroom where other people were also and I had all of my stuff with me.  The cup was not the typical plastic cup that you screw the top on, it was like a large Dixie cup and we were given plastic pipette (had to look that word up) to suck the urine into.  I about freaked out because my pee almost dripped on my hand.  Then I had to place my sample on the test-tube rack with other people's samples.  Next, I had my blood taken by someone not wearing gloves and then I thought of it later and didn't see her open that needle up so I got a little freaked out for a second but it was too late at that point.

After that I went to the next station for a chest x-ray, yep.  Never had one before and was shocked at how thorough this physical was at this point.  My next station took my blood pressure, checked my eyes for color blindness, took my height and bust size.  Not sure what the bust measurement was about but I conceded.  The final station was to have my sight and hearing tested, that was the loudest beep sound, not at all subtle.  Lastly was the consultation with a semi-English speaking Korean doctor.  He basically asked if I had any medical issues to report and I just said, "no," because I am healthy and if I'm honest I don't think that if I would have had a medical problem he would really know what I was saying.

So yea, that physical was REAL! LOL

Miss ya, Love ya,
Camille

Cars

Hey All,

Daniel and I decided to go and do something this past Sunday so we headed down to Seoul to go to a museum there.  On the drive down I took pictures of the cars to share with you all.  Not any big deal I realize but something different none the less.  So of course they have a ton of Kia and Hyundai, like every other car it seems, but they have some other car brands that are unfamiliar.  Plus they have some different license plates and decorations and such...

So a lot of cars have these weird little foamy looking things in these spots on them.  I have no idea what they are for...?  Decoration maybe?

Here is a car with the pink foamy things...?

 

Update 3/20/16... The spongy things on the side of the car are not purely decorative.  They are to prevent doors from being banged into since cars are parked so closely here (pretty smart actually).

 

Never heard of this brand...

Not familiar with this brand either...

So this is apparently like the most luxury of the Hyundai brand.  I thought it was the Genesis but I guess it's this...

I think that it's weird that even though this is their car brand and we are in their country the lettering on the car is not in Korean...?

Here you can have a front tint so there are some super dark looking cars...

Another unfamiliar brand...

This is a Kia...?

I thought it was interesting that this was along the highway on our drive down to Seoul :-)

I'm guessing that this says something like "pizza" LOL

Still hate these tolls...  These lane go from this to 4 lanes on the other side... MADNESS!

 

Not my best post I realize but just showing y'all some of Korea.

 

Love,

Camille