Packing? What packing?

We leave for the airport in about 24 hours.  Which means we are all packed and ready to go, right?  

Which means at least we are in the middle of packing, right...?  

I got a little sidetracked.  

I knew I didn't have a sewing maching back at my dad's and I just had to make these for the kids.  So, instead of packing last night, I was finishing up this for O. (I know I have to restitch a little of the hood....just noticed as I was taking the picture).

They are beach robes sewn out of beach towels I found at sale when I went shopping this week....the pattern is brilliant!  And, they work just as well as an after-shower towel/robe.

And the ties are just made for fancy knots.  

 I'm almost done the one for Z.  I'll show you that later.  When there are things like this to be done, packing will just have to wait.  Right?

immigration office

I have been in the process of trying to get a permanent resident visa - as a Korean adoptee, I'm supposed to be able to get this type of visa which would make it easier to do a number of things here, like open bank accounts, get discounts for O's kindergarten, etc.  So far, it has required an inordinate amount of paperwork and numerous trips to various administrative offices. 

The last visit to the immigration office was supposed to consist of an interview, where I would show off my knowledge of the Korean language, Korean history and culture.  Uh...Mr. Lee....I still don't speak Korean.  I know food though. 

So, he wants to me to cook something Korean for the interview.  He is serious.  

The morning of the interview appointment I make up kimchi jeon - kimchi pancakes that are a popular snack.  I cut them up into bite sized pieces, pack them in a glass container, and put some chopsticks in the bag with them.  

We go to the immigration office and take a ticket to wait to see the next available person.  Mr. Lee gives the man all of my paperwork.  As the officer is looking over the paperwork, Mr. Lee tells me I should give him the jeon.  I whisper out of the side of my mouth, "Really?" He insists, both with words and hand gestures.  Reluctantly, I take out the container and place it on the counter.  

Imagine going to the bank to apply for a loan.  Imagine handing one of the tellers an omelet as she is looking over your application papers.  That is what it felt like.  This was not handing over cookies or brownies...this was handing out cut up kimchi pancakes that are often packed into kid's lunches by doting mothers.  

The embarrasement.  Even more so when the guy behind the counter shooed them away with a flick of his wrist as he told me I could sit down and wait "Over there."  

I still don't know if my application went through.  Maybe I should have insisted he try one of the pancakes.  

But, I do know that my love affair with doing my nails has come back with a vengeance.  Check out the latest water marbling - this time with orange! Over a white base! Someone needs to stop me.  

On our way to school...hard to believe only one more week in June!

Kindergarten Open House

O's kindergarten open house was this morning.  He was so excited all week about having us come to his school and see what he does every day.  

Here we are modeling the official "Saemi kid" gym uniform.  

Here O. is with his lovely teacher.

Some of O's artwork.

Clay masterpieces.

Some singing.

Racing to see which parent-child team can eat Peppero sticks the fastest.  Don't think you would see this in the states. 

After reading Hansel and Gretel, each student got their own cardboard house to decorate.

As you can see, O. took this pretty seriously.

However, we soon discovered as we looked around the classroom, we were the only parents to "let" our child decorate all on his own.  This was also some of the only time that the dads were involved in the day's activities.   

Z.'s activities for the day involved getting teethers into her mouth...

and practicing some walking with dad's help.  

Sports Day

Bugil Sports Day...a wonderful riot of color and teamwork, as S.'s students showed the boy's school that girls could indeed hold their own!  Bugil has separate boys and girls schools, but the program that S. teaches in is special in that all the classes are taught in English and both boys and girls attend the same classes.  They are a part of Bugil, but separate.  The "Global Leaders Program" or GLP participated for the first time this year during the boys' Sports Day. 

The kids and I went up to see the second half of the festivities.  There was traditional Korean wrestling, where the GLP boys made it to the semifinals.  

There was tug-of-war where the 11th grade GLP team made it to the finals.  This was an especially big deal since our GLP team consisted of BOTH boys and girls.  Evidently the team that the GLP beat on the way to the finals was particularly disgruntled that they had been beat by a "bunch of girls."  Way to go GLP!

(I didn't get photos of the actual tug-of-war, but our team is in the sky blue on the left)

And there were speeches.  Long speeches in Korean where the students had to line up and stand very still.  For a long time. Without moving. At all. Which is when O. started looking at grass.

And because you need a close up of the GLP uniform, and a pic of the baby....

A couple of firsts

Ok, I'm just going to jump right in.  I kept thinking I should come up with a clever way to explain, excuse the long absence from the blog...but then I figured, what the heck, let's just pretend it didn't happen and post away.  

A couple of exciting firsts this week. Z. turned 3 months about a week ago, and figured out how to roll herself over this week.  No more blissfully putting her on the changing table and not worrying to bend down to pick up wipes that had fallen off.  No more putting her on the bed and nonchalantly walking into the closet to get changed. Now we have a baby on the move!  She hasn't quite figured out what to do once she's rolled over, but she's kicking her legs and moving her arms and becoming frustrated enough that we are worried she's going to figure out how to propel herself forward sometime soon.  Oh, let us get adjusted to the rolling first!  It's amazing how this time around I just want her to stay how she is; there isn't the same urgency to see what is going to happen next or to get her to the next milestone quickly.  I just want to hold on to how she is NOW, because I know how quickly it all went by with her big brother.  

And, speaking of oppa (what a younger girl calls her big brother, and a term of endearment with many couples, as long as the guy is older), he went to see Kung Fu Panda 2 this weekend with a bunch of our friends, who then all came back to our place for some Western style Chinese food.  This was the first movie that he did not ask to leave from in the first ten minutes because of it being too loud, or too dark, or just too scary to not know what was coming up.  He sat with popcorn in his lap, a soda in his cup holder and was mesmerized for the entire movie.  He laughed at the chase scenes, offered daddy popcorn, and wanted to set up a time to go again as soon as the movie was over.  He also wanted to know why the characters were speaking English if they were all in China. We will have to talk about suspension of disbelief before we see Cars 2.  

 

(I completely forgot to take any pictures from that night...it was a bit crazy with the baby and the cooking and the organizing tix for 12, but this is a contemplative O. during Bugil's Sports Day...pics and explanations of that to come!)

 

Artwork and baby stuff

It has been cold.  Frigid.  Freezing.  The snow that fell during Christmas is still covering the garden plots that line our walk to the doctor's.

But, O's artwork has injected some color into our snowy days...

as well as did some ridiculously cute baby gifts at a baby shower my friends held for me.  I didn't get any pics at the actual shower, but I couldn't help but take some photos when I got home. 

Thanks everyone!  It was such a nice afternoon and a perfect way to escape from the snow and cold outside.  More pics later!

PS Can you believe only four more weeks???

 

Busan in December

While S. was on winter break, we decided to check out Busan.  It is a very large city to the south, famous for it's beaches, bridges and traditional markets.  With an almost 4 year old and an 8 month pregnant mommy, we decided to stay in only one area of the city for a quick trip.  We chose Haeundae since it had both beaches and the aquarium.  While temperatures back in Cheonan were frigid, we got to enjoy some time on the beach building sand castles, digging for pirate treasure, and looking for shells.  After lunch and a nap at a nearby coffee shop, we went to the aquarium.  Then, a very tired crew headed back home on the KTX bullet train.  What a nice break from the snow and ice!

Good thing O. thought to pack some sunglasses!