so thursday. thursday wasn't much exciting. the usual feed birds, feed us, internet, feed us, feed birds, internet, dinner, internet, coladas, canasta routine. **i forgot about frappes! 2 different flavors of ice cream, frozen coffee, chocolate syrup, sprinkles, whipped cream. not much sleep for the night due to caffeine overload. but oh so good!** friday will be much better...ATM Caves is on the calendar! so instead i'll just expound on belize itself.
it's gorgeous here. and wide open. i've already said it once but this is just such a welcome change from crushed in korea of the gray/yellow/green skies depending upon what crap is in the air that day. so much space to raise children & let them run. as a child, i grew up in the country with plenty of room for running. and oh did i hate it. we were too far out from everything & it was miserable. but i see the logic of it now. perhaps at some point i'll have a yard for running. although by that point i don't think i'll have any little enough to enjoy it.
it is dirty here. in the towns. people are litter bugs & there is dust & dirt everywhere. probably wouldn't work for my family of allergy fiends. claritin has worked for me while i've been here but my allergies are basic compared to 1 and littlest. mold & mildew flourish in this tropical atmosphere.
the heat is cloying and oppressive. humidity sits on us like heavy blankets. air conditioning is essentially unheard of. although the atm chamber at the bank has AC. you also have to slide your card to get in. i guess they don't want to pass out AC for free. i've been sweating since i got here. i'm growing accustomed to sweat running down my back & my front. and i seriously appreciate the shower at the end of the day. and cold water splashed on my face in the interim. nothing beats it.
bugs bite frequently. deet is nasty stuff but keeps the ticks & squitoes away. there's a strange bite on my foot-right in the perfect position to be irritated by my tennis & hiking shoes. finally got smart enough to put coconut oil on it last night & the itchiness has subsided immensely. haven't spotted any ticks on my self yet but sister has found a few. no clue if there is lyme disease carried around here or not. probably, as everything else seems to be.
there is poverty here. education is privatized & very expensive, which i gather leaves quite a few people out in the cold. reasonably certain the 2 night-time security guards here cannot read. it's sad, really. but it is a developing country so perhaps at some point things will be better & there will be more hope.
there is a mishmash of people here. many of the groceries are chinese. there was honey at the market with a german's name on it as the bottler. many american ex-pats everywhere. and the belizeans are black and brown. mayan ancestry shows in high cheekbones & foreheads. mennonites & amish walk the streets in long sleeves, long pants, straw hats. the only woman i've seen had on long sleeves & a black bonnet. i didn't see her lower half but i assume it was clad in a skirt.
when we entertained the idea of south korea, people said "why korea?" and i got quite a few "why belize?" when i entertained the idea of vacation. people should stop asking why & just do what they can do. once in a lifetime opportunities should not be passed up. fear should not keep people chained to their couches, cowering from what the world holds. americans in particular seem to stay walled in by fear and trepidation. been there, was that. it took me (thirty-something) years to venture out of my bubble. don't wait too long...life has a habit of passing us by.
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Showing posts with label vacation. Show all posts
Wednesday, April 21, 2010
Monday, April 19, 2010
belize! - day three
so...wednesday. things are possibly starting to run together due to 1-the lack of watch or cell phone with the time on it & 2-the nightly pina colada ritual. i figure i'll be back to the real world soon enough & will have enough time checking then that i shouldn't worry about it right now. so long as the birdies get fed at 8 & 3, we're good.
wake up, feed the birds (what time?...just making sure you're paying attention). head off to the market & post office. things are SO inexpensive here! we got what would probably have been about $60 worth of produce in the US or the commissary for about $15. amazing. fruit & veggies for the birdies. we then hauled it all home & made parrot salad. it involved large knives & cutting boards & a steamer. easy, mind-numbing work. chop, chop, chop. gracie took some pictures. that alleviated some of the numbness. for about 20 seconds. then back to work.
wednesday was also mouse cage cleaning day. (i think that actually happened BEFORE marketing. but like i said, it's all running together.) it is usually mondays but since SOMEONE had the audacity to disrupt the schedule with an airport arrival on monday, mouse cleaning got moved to wednesday. know how you move mice from cage to cage without getting bit? pick them up by their tails! there's a fantastic picture on facebook with me in my mask. CASA has its own mouse colony for when there are raptors in residence-no running off to the pet store or field here! just head for the mouse room! there are about 10 grown or juvenile mice & then about 10 babies of 2 different litters so varying ages. mice-meh. can't get real excited about them.
then it was lunch time & then a little later feed the birds (again) time & then we got to jump in the (air-conditioned HALLELUJAH!) peregrine fund truck to see some orange-breasted falcons. took a LONNNNNNNG ride on bumpy roads to a mountain. found what may have been some slash & burn farming right near where we parked the truck. that was quite mood-dampening. then followed long-legged & fast-walking yeray UP the mountain to a sink hole void of falcons. continued (puff, puff, gasp, wheeze) following him to another hole with a female on a nest with 3 eggs. he had a fancy-schmancy scope he let us look through. it's so amazing to me that these birds nest on the walls of cliffs. she was a pretty thing & we saw her move around a bit which was interesting. the going back down was much easier than going back up. natalie, of the not-as-long-fast-legs led the way. i was in the middle & felt as if i were going to be run over at any minute. we all made it back down safely & got back on the crazy bumpy road back home.
ate serendib for dinner...sri lankan food in belize? of course! i mean, i had to go to korea to try indian & thai, why not come to belize for sri lankan? it was pretty good. nice & spicy. didn't care much for the dessert-wattalapan, i think. it was advertised as coconut custard but seemed more like pumpkin pie. pumpkin, in my book, is nasty. no thanks. i tried to like it but just couldn't.
after sri lankan, headed back home for more canasta & coladas. we were hoping for tamarind daiquiris but there seemed to be a shortage of tamarind juice that night, so we stuck with old faithful. and it was just fine.
wake up, feed the birds (what time?...just making sure you're paying attention). head off to the market & post office. things are SO inexpensive here! we got what would probably have been about $60 worth of produce in the US or the commissary for about $15. amazing. fruit & veggies for the birdies. we then hauled it all home & made parrot salad. it involved large knives & cutting boards & a steamer. easy, mind-numbing work. chop, chop, chop. gracie took some pictures. that alleviated some of the numbness. for about 20 seconds. then back to work.
wednesday was also mouse cage cleaning day. (i think that actually happened BEFORE marketing. but like i said, it's all running together.) it is usually mondays but since SOMEONE had the audacity to disrupt the schedule with an airport arrival on monday, mouse cleaning got moved to wednesday. know how you move mice from cage to cage without getting bit? pick them up by their tails! there's a fantastic picture on facebook with me in my mask. CASA has its own mouse colony for when there are raptors in residence-no running off to the pet store or field here! just head for the mouse room! there are about 10 grown or juvenile mice & then about 10 babies of 2 different litters so varying ages. mice-meh. can't get real excited about them.
then it was lunch time & then a little later feed the birds (again) time & then we got to jump in the (air-conditioned HALLELUJAH!) peregrine fund truck to see some orange-breasted falcons. took a LONNNNNNNG ride on bumpy roads to a mountain. found what may have been some slash & burn farming right near where we parked the truck. that was quite mood-dampening. then followed long-legged & fast-walking yeray UP the mountain to a sink hole void of falcons. continued (puff, puff, gasp, wheeze) following him to another hole with a female on a nest with 3 eggs. he had a fancy-schmancy scope he let us look through. it's so amazing to me that these birds nest on the walls of cliffs. she was a pretty thing & we saw her move around a bit which was interesting. the going back down was much easier than going back up. natalie, of the not-as-long-fast-legs led the way. i was in the middle & felt as if i were going to be run over at any minute. we all made it back down safely & got back on the crazy bumpy road back home.
ate serendib for dinner...sri lankan food in belize? of course! i mean, i had to go to korea to try indian & thai, why not come to belize for sri lankan? it was pretty good. nice & spicy. didn't care much for the dessert-wattalapan, i think. it was advertised as coconut custard but seemed more like pumpkin pie. pumpkin, in my book, is nasty. no thanks. i tried to like it but just couldn't.
after sri lankan, headed back home for more canasta & coladas. we were hoping for tamarind daiquiris but there seemed to be a shortage of tamarind juice that night, so we stuck with old faithful. and it was just fine.
Sunday, April 18, 2010
belize! - day two
really it's 6. i just can't get caught up!
so tuesday.... tuesday is birdie cage scrubbing day. i don't guess there's much that can be said to glamour that up. soap & water & scrub brushes & brooms. guess a working vacation can't be all vacation.
tuesday afternoon was a birdie surgery. a cattle egret (korea friends, think of the white birds we see all over the rice paddies) had come in - a week or so before i did - with an injured wing & some of that foam stuff you spray to fill in holes in your house all over his feet. natalie managed to get the foam off with tweezers, scissors & lots of patience but his wing still needed some attention. the veterinarian they use was coming out to the clinic to try to pin the wing. unfortunately, once he was sedated, they could feel around & find that the injury was much more serious than they thought and the decision was made to go ahead & put him down. it was kind of sad.
i did not even try to observe the surgery as i did not want to fall out on the floor & be in the way. so i spent the afternoon reading/sleeping in the hammock until it was time to feed the birds. i had agreed to do it in case the surgery wasn't over when it came time for feeding. everyone got food & clean water.
once natalie was done, we went into town for some pina colada supplies (that damn song has been in my head ALL.FREAKIN.WEEK.). and came back here for pina coladas & canasta. yeray, who works for the peregrine fund (click it to read about it) documenting orange breasted falcons in central america, joined us for coladas & canasta. he invited us to go hiking with him on wednesday to hopefully see a falcon or two and possibly some eggs. with that in mind, we went on to bed with plans to hop out of bed in the morning so we could get all of our work done in order to be able to play in the afternoon!
so tuesday.... tuesday is birdie cage scrubbing day. i don't guess there's much that can be said to glamour that up. soap & water & scrub brushes & brooms. guess a working vacation can't be all vacation.
tuesday afternoon was a birdie surgery. a cattle egret (korea friends, think of the white birds we see all over the rice paddies) had come in - a week or so before i did - with an injured wing & some of that foam stuff you spray to fill in holes in your house all over his feet. natalie managed to get the foam off with tweezers, scissors & lots of patience but his wing still needed some attention. the veterinarian they use was coming out to the clinic to try to pin the wing. unfortunately, once he was sedated, they could feel around & find that the injury was much more serious than they thought and the decision was made to go ahead & put him down. it was kind of sad.
i did not even try to observe the surgery as i did not want to fall out on the floor & be in the way. so i spent the afternoon reading/sleeping in the hammock until it was time to feed the birds. i had agreed to do it in case the surgery wasn't over when it came time for feeding. everyone got food & clean water.
once natalie was done, we went into town for some pina colada supplies (that damn song has been in my head ALL.FREAKIN.WEEK.). and came back here for pina coladas & canasta. yeray, who works for the peregrine fund (click it to read about it) documenting orange breasted falcons in central america, joined us for coladas & canasta. he invited us to go hiking with him on wednesday to hopefully see a falcon or two and possibly some eggs. with that in mind, we went on to bed with plans to hop out of bed in the morning so we could get all of our work done in order to be able to play in the afternoon!
Friday, April 16, 2010
belize! - day one
it's thursday...i've been here 3 1/2 days. i can't figure out if it seems like more or less than that! and i've not been blogging like i meant to so i have to hurry up & catch up before more adventures happen!
the country is beautiful. so much more wide-open than korea with its buildings stuck on every spare patch of land that doesn't have a rice paddy. and so green! even in the dry season, it is green. again-better than korea that is still struggling to wake up from the cold cold winter.
so, monday. i got a wake-up knock at 4am. needed to be at the airport at 5:30 and with the unpredictability of dorchester rd. traffic, we wanted to leave 45 minutes early. we left 40 minutes early. good enough. the atm was uncooperative so that took a few minutes. and we finally made it to the airport. and i had checked in online & the curbside guy was fantastically high spirited for 5:30 am...sang me the "brandy" song as he tagged my bags. flight was early getting into atlanta & i had plenty of time to make my connection. flight into belize was about 3 1/2 hours & the water coming in was SO green. this internet here is awful so i'm not even going to try to upload pics. check my facebook-there are plenty there! upon arrival, customs was easy & she gave me a break on the duties for the donated supplies i was delivering. and then i got outside & natalie was nowhere to be found! so i sat. in my jeans in belize. whoo hot. and a taxi driver used his phone to call my sister who was running late! sheesh. what is new? there was a mixup on the pickup so she was late. but then she was there. it was a bit of a drive. i fell asleep.
upon arrival, it was about birdie lunch/dinner time. so we fed them. they get birdie salad, except for the egret who was in residence at the time. more about that & the birdie salad later. we then went fishing, belize/staples style. belize style means using a wine bottle with a hole punched in the bottom & filled with cat food/parrot food & then sunk in the river (we also used lines with small hooks baited with masa). staples style means we had no patience and didn't catch any fish. oh well. the water was nice.
on the way back, we decided to put gas in the truck. only 1 gallon, since everyone uses it. but we were going to use it that evening so we figured we'd put a gallon. $10 belize. exchange is 2-1. yeah, that's expensive! they have full service gas stations here. so we stayed in our truck & told the guy what we wanted. and then when he was done, the truck wouldn't start! agh! we waited a few minutes. it still wouldn't start. so we got a push out from the pump so we wouldn't disturb business. and then we walked home. and then that evening, we walked back out again. all the way to san ignacio. where we had some drinks & met an ice cream guy who makes guiness ice cream? perhaps we will see him at the market saturday. and then we walked all the way home because the taxis wanted $7 belize to take us home & sorry dude but we're on a budget! and then we fell down in our beds with mosquito nets so we could get up & feed birdies on tuesday.
the country is beautiful. so much more wide-open than korea with its buildings stuck on every spare patch of land that doesn't have a rice paddy. and so green! even in the dry season, it is green. again-better than korea that is still struggling to wake up from the cold cold winter.
so, monday. i got a wake-up knock at 4am. needed to be at the airport at 5:30 and with the unpredictability of dorchester rd. traffic, we wanted to leave 45 minutes early. we left 40 minutes early. good enough. the atm was uncooperative so that took a few minutes. and we finally made it to the airport. and i had checked in online & the curbside guy was fantastically high spirited for 5:30 am...sang me the "brandy" song as he tagged my bags. flight was early getting into atlanta & i had plenty of time to make my connection. flight into belize was about 3 1/2 hours & the water coming in was SO green. this internet here is awful so i'm not even going to try to upload pics. check my facebook-there are plenty there! upon arrival, customs was easy & she gave me a break on the duties for the donated supplies i was delivering. and then i got outside & natalie was nowhere to be found! so i sat. in my jeans in belize. whoo hot. and a taxi driver used his phone to call my sister who was running late! sheesh. what is new? there was a mixup on the pickup so she was late. but then she was there. it was a bit of a drive. i fell asleep.
upon arrival, it was about birdie lunch/dinner time. so we fed them. they get birdie salad, except for the egret who was in residence at the time. more about that & the birdie salad later. we then went fishing, belize/staples style. belize style means using a wine bottle with a hole punched in the bottom & filled with cat food/parrot food & then sunk in the river (we also used lines with small hooks baited with masa). staples style means we had no patience and didn't catch any fish. oh well. the water was nice.
on the way back, we decided to put gas in the truck. only 1 gallon, since everyone uses it. but we were going to use it that evening so we figured we'd put a gallon. $10 belize. exchange is 2-1. yeah, that's expensive! they have full service gas stations here. so we stayed in our truck & told the guy what we wanted. and then when he was done, the truck wouldn't start! agh! we waited a few minutes. it still wouldn't start. so we got a push out from the pump so we wouldn't disturb business. and then we walked home. and then that evening, we walked back out again. all the way to san ignacio. where we had some drinks & met an ice cream guy who makes guiness ice cream? perhaps we will see him at the market saturday. and then we walked all the way home because the taxis wanted $7 belize to take us home & sorry dude but we're on a budget! and then we fell down in our beds with mosquito nets so we could get up & feed birdies on tuesday.
Wednesday, March 24, 2010
oh korea
so i made it to the hospital today. just another stop in a long line of c.f.'s that occurred all day today. to include completely losing my shit, quitting school, broken closets & an apparent hep a vaccine shortage. such is my life.
journeyed out to good morning hospital to find the usual mess in the parking garage. managed to pull into a space forwards-big no no around here if your car is bigger than a matchbox-and just prayed i'd be able to get back out. met with my friend sunny at the information for foreigners desk who discovered that there was no hep a vaccine to be found at the hospital. of course there isn't. she did, however, make several phone calls to locate me a vaccine & found some at another hospital but sorry, there is probably no english department. greeeaaaat. chalk up another c.f. to the day.
she then escorted me upstairs and down a long line of chairs filled with staring koreans to the family doctor who spoke very good english but apparently thinks i'm going to BALI, not BELIZE. whatever. they both start with b? after determining that i weigh...oh, wait, i'm not saying that on here...a certain number of kilograms and figuring out that chloroquine must be taken for 2 weeks ahead of the trip & 4 weeks after & 3 pills at a time & so that makes...uh...24 pills, yes., and then repeating back the instructions for taking the pills, i had to walk back down the road...no, how do i say that?...hallway! full of chairs full of staring koreans to the desk. and paid a little bit (take THAT american effed up healthcare! and, no, i don't think obama-care is going to fix that problem) and then got my prescription & a map from my friend sunny for the other hospital with no english department, sorry, and my chloroquine to be taken 3 pills a day one time a week for 8 weeks that only cost me a little bit at the pharmacy across the road from the hospital, i went back to the parking garage to discover answered prayers as i could back into one space so i could drive forward out of the parking garage! yay! but now i have to go to no-speaky-engrishy-hospital. argh. did i mention that i was alone? going i knew not where?
but i had a map! from my friend sunny! and i found paris baguette & then as i passed the hospital, discovered that it WAS the hospital, and drove down some little roads (sorry adjashee with a cart that i followed for 5 minutes) and snagged a parking spot without a camera and then relocated the hospital on foot & yes, there is no english department, but we can say second floor! and i went to second floor with still no english but a text message on the phone (thanks, ladies at 1's office!) that got me a hep a shot! which wasn't cheap. guess 3rd time wasn't the charm. or maybe it was but for korea, not me. and i found my truck again on the 1st try and there was no parking ticket sticker on the windshield and i actually had the gps so i could get myself home again thank the Lord.
and the closet door is still broken, and my shit is still lost, and i still quit school, and there is still a hep a vaccine shortage in korea. but at least i got MY hep a vaccine and some chloroquine. and yet another step on the way to belize is down. less than 3 weeks. feet are still cold.
journeyed out to good morning hospital to find the usual mess in the parking garage. managed to pull into a space forwards-big no no around here if your car is bigger than a matchbox-and just prayed i'd be able to get back out. met with my friend sunny at the information for foreigners desk who discovered that there was no hep a vaccine to be found at the hospital. of course there isn't. she did, however, make several phone calls to locate me a vaccine & found some at another hospital but sorry, there is probably no english department. greeeaaaat. chalk up another c.f. to the day.
she then escorted me upstairs and down a long line of chairs filled with staring koreans to the family doctor who spoke very good english but apparently thinks i'm going to BALI, not BELIZE. whatever. they both start with b? after determining that i weigh...oh, wait, i'm not saying that on here...a certain number of kilograms and figuring out that chloroquine must be taken for 2 weeks ahead of the trip & 4 weeks after & 3 pills at a time & so that makes...uh...24 pills, yes., and then repeating back the instructions for taking the pills, i had to walk back down the road...no, how do i say that?...hallway! full of chairs full of staring koreans to the desk. and paid a little bit (take THAT american effed up healthcare! and, no, i don't think obama-care is going to fix that problem) and then got my prescription & a map from my friend sunny for the other hospital with no english department, sorry, and my chloroquine to be taken 3 pills a day one time a week for 8 weeks that only cost me a little bit at the pharmacy across the road from the hospital, i went back to the parking garage to discover answered prayers as i could back into one space so i could drive forward out of the parking garage! yay! but now i have to go to no-speaky-engrishy-hospital. argh. did i mention that i was alone? going i knew not where?
but i had a map! from my friend sunny! and i found paris baguette & then as i passed the hospital, discovered that it WAS the hospital, and drove down some little roads (sorry adjashee with a cart that i followed for 5 minutes) and snagged a parking spot without a camera and then relocated the hospital on foot & yes, there is no english department, but we can say second floor! and i went to second floor with still no english but a text message on the phone (thanks, ladies at 1's office!) that got me a hep a shot! which wasn't cheap. guess 3rd time wasn't the charm. or maybe it was but for korea, not me. and i found my truck again on the 1st try and there was no parking ticket sticker on the windshield and i actually had the gps so i could get myself home again thank the Lord.
and the closet door is still broken, and my shit is still lost, and i still quit school, and there is still a hep a vaccine shortage in korea. but at least i got MY hep a vaccine and some chloroquine. and yet another step on the way to belize is down. less than 3 weeks. feet are still cold.
ohhhhh myyyy
tomorrow is my appointment at the byeongwon for a shot & hopefully a script.
here we go again with medical in a foreign country.
i'm not sure if it's a good thing or bad thing that i was able to identify myself to the lady on the phone & she knew who i was.
shoes are waiting for me in the states.
sunglasses will hopefully meet me there.
and i've definitely got the cold feet.
oy.
here we go again with medical in a foreign country.
i'm not sure if it's a good thing or bad thing that i was able to identify myself to the lady on the phone & she knew who i was.
shoes are waiting for me in the states.
sunglasses will hopefully meet me there.
and i've definitely got the cold feet.
oy.
Saturday, March 6, 2010
5...
...weeks until we are done with auri's alphabet. i think we need to rearrange the alphabet cause the end of it sucks from a food/animal standpoint. maybe we could mix it up a little bit so all the suck letters aren't at the ass-end.
...weeks until i'm on an airplane back to (momentary) civilization & then (awesome) foreign hiking/scenery/new experiences. and mosquitoes/tarantulas/tiger attacks. i can't decide if i should be excited or freaked the hell out. which reminds me, i must call the byeong-won for some shots & drugs. great. hopefully it won't be an arm & a leg. especially since "someone" needs a new 500,000 won orthodontic appliance. esh.
...weeks until i say goodbye to a good friend. the military will be taking away my gym partner/therapist/Godly inspiration while i'm off on my adventure. we're trying to stuff everything into every weekend before then. this military life thing sucks.
so. to summarize, two out of three things suck. quick! someone give me some stuff that doesn't! oh, wait! i think THAT baby is actually taking a nap at naptime. that doesn't suck. so now we're even.
...weeks until i'm on an airplane back to (momentary) civilization & then (awesome) foreign hiking/scenery/new experiences. and mosquitoes/tarantulas/tiger attacks. i can't decide if i should be excited or freaked the hell out. which reminds me, i must call the byeong-won for some shots & drugs. great. hopefully it won't be an arm & a leg. especially since "someone" needs a new 500,000 won orthodontic appliance. esh.
...weeks until i say goodbye to a good friend. the military will be taking away my gym partner/therapist/Godly inspiration while i'm off on my adventure. we're trying to stuff everything into every weekend before then. this military life thing sucks.
so. to summarize, two out of three things suck. quick! someone give me some stuff that doesn't! oh, wait! i think THAT baby is actually taking a nap at naptime. that doesn't suck. so now we're even.
Wednesday, March 3, 2010
yes! or...no!...or OMG I'M DOING WHAT?
so...what's that over there? over there on my counter? that's right...$1900 worth of paper. paper that will get me to BELIZE!
come april, i'll be running away for TWO WEEKS. leaving it all behind for another foreign country. apparently i've gotten brave over the past couple years.
so i'll leave behind a kitchen full of groceries & recipes, a pile of schoolwork (maybe, maybe not. but we'll let the kids think i am) and all of the sundry other things that are here, in this country, and not in THAT COUNTRY. IN BELIZE. cause that's where i'm going and all.
blue hair is out until i'm headed back to korea. it's been nixed by she who keeps the mosquito net. in favor of we would like to keep our pretty little gringa heads, please. i guess maybe she has a point.
i guess i'll try to blog more. or at least about the trip. you know, the one to BELIZE. cause i'm going there. in like 5 1/2 weeks. OMG. IS THIS REALLY ME?
come april, i'll be running away for TWO WEEKS. leaving it all behind for another foreign country. apparently i've gotten brave over the past couple years.
so i'll leave behind a kitchen full of groceries & recipes, a pile of schoolwork (maybe, maybe not. but we'll let the kids think i am) and all of the sundry other things that are here, in this country, and not in THAT COUNTRY. IN BELIZE. cause that's where i'm going and all.
blue hair is out until i'm headed back to korea. it's been nixed by she who keeps the mosquito net. in favor of we would like to keep our pretty little gringa heads, please. i guess maybe she has a point.
i guess i'll try to blog more. or at least about the trip. you know, the one to BELIZE. cause i'm going there. in like 5 1/2 weeks. OMG. IS THIS REALLY ME?
Sunday, June 21, 2009
continued!
see! i'm back! whoo hoo!
wednesday-everland. korean disney world-ish? more walking up & down mountains. who knew that korea isn't flat? if we didn't before, we do now! lots of rides & a huge roller coaster & lunch out of the cooler & feeding birds out of our hands & boo the monkey house was closed! probably because it was late & dinner time. baby rides & big rides & a helicycle thing that had no electricity-leg powered! which, isn't so great the day after a mountain climb. but we made it around. and we did the safari with lions & tigers & bears, oh my. and a water ride with rapids but ponchos on the boat so we didn't get much wet. except for where the water sloshed in anyway but then there were dryers at the end so you could dry off! yay korea! lots of junk food in the form of ice cream & churros. but that's what vacation is for, right? and home late at night for 1 & nallie to fall into bed as they had DMZ trip in the morning. i, however, had the day off!
(yes, yes, stay dry on the water ride! so fancy!)
thursday-nallie & 1 headed for the DMZ while i stayed home to hold down the fort. haha, get it? ok. i'm a dork. still recovering from tourist-zilla. they got up at some ridiculous hour to head for seoul to get on a bus. they said it was kind of creepy. there were some pictures. maybe i'll go someday. no kids allowed so it's been kind of difficult to get up there. possibly i could go alone since i'm all brave these days & stuff. the kids & i stayed home & hit the water park for a bit. still no stinkin baby pool. at this rate, i won't get to use it til next year! it was kinda quiet since after the water park, littlest & i came home for a nap & biggest & middlest went to hang out. and then everyone came home all at once & it got very loud. and then we all went to bed so we could get up & go again in the morning. see why i'm so tired?
(glad you two are taking this so seriously. but it does look rather like an amusement park, doesn't it?)
wednesday-everland. korean disney world-ish? more walking up & down mountains. who knew that korea isn't flat? if we didn't before, we do now! lots of rides & a huge roller coaster & lunch out of the cooler & feeding birds out of our hands & boo the monkey house was closed! probably because it was late & dinner time. baby rides & big rides & a helicycle thing that had no electricity-leg powered! which, isn't so great the day after a mountain climb. but we made it around. and we did the safari with lions & tigers & bears, oh my. and a water ride with rapids but ponchos on the boat so we didn't get much wet. except for where the water sloshed in anyway but then there were dryers at the end so you could dry off! yay korea! lots of junk food in the form of ice cream & churros. but that's what vacation is for, right? and home late at night for 1 & nallie to fall into bed as they had DMZ trip in the morning. i, however, had the day off!
(yes, yes, stay dry on the water ride! so fancy!)
(glad you two are taking this so seriously. but it does look rather like an amusement park, doesn't it?)
and finally friday. sigh. friday? already? GEEZ. friday was seoul day. we took the metro up and then climbed.another.mountain. this one was more like a hill. but sore calf & quads made it feel like a mountain. we at lunch at the base of the namsan cable car-more bibimbap except cold this time. seaweed. {{shudder}} except for that it wasn't bad. then cable car'd to the tower. same old, same old except this time with nallie! yay! went up in the tower & checked out the 360 degree view of seoul. still awesome. really? a city is THAT big? that may explain the traffic.... came down for some ice cream. the ground got mine as it jumped off the cone & onto my shirt before hitting bottom. people laughed. sigh. i got more ice cream. it was good. then onto a bus that was supposed to take us to the metro so we could go to cheongye stream-it's a riverwalk type thing. but no one listens to me & my stellar navigation skills so we ended up in an old people park where they played gate ball & some board game & slept on four wheelers. that's what i want to do when i grow up-sleep on a four wheeler in a park. then the boys found a little league park while the girls tried to figure out where the heck in street-sign-less korea we were. and of course we weren't where we meant to be. backtracked to a metro station & finally found the stream after some hot dogs & smoothies (most fruit is the english word written in hanguel. except strawberry. that is something like dalgi). walked down the stream/riverwalk and found a world refugee day thing at the end. that would feature angelina jolie that evening! or the next. we weren't quite sure. and lots of police. LOOOOOOOTTTTTTSSSS of police. geez. nallie & i decided that that night was a good night for the sauna. so we all got back on the metro & nallie & i got off at the next stop because we SWORE that's where the sauna was. except it wasn't? but it was where all the protesters were. hence the huge police presence. but apparently it wasn't an anti-american protest because then it would have been scarier. still not sure what they were protesting. wandered around and around and around the station trying to locate the missing sauna. FINALLY got talked into visiting the information desk. where the lightbulb went on! if you're looking for the DRAGON HILL SAUNA, you might want to check at the YONGSAN station (yongsan is dragon hill in korean...duh). that was nice. hopped back on the metro, found the sauna & then had some chinese food in korea-yum! nallie was all excited about "igo kogi" (no meat) cause she finally got to use it. it was good food. and then we headed for the sauna. yay! had a bath & then a scrub/massage with a helicopter moment & then checked out the whole ginormous sauna & met some lost koreans. americans showing the koreans how to sauna? huh? that was cool. found a sleeping room with some yos (flat floor mattresses) & little rectangular pillows. slept in a room full of strange women & woke up butt-crack of dawn to hop the metro again for pyeongtaek. took nallie to emart for some last minute stuff & then back on the train again. and that brings us back to the beginning of the first post.
(the only pic you'll get of the sauna. stolen from miss jet lag. did you really want to see nekkid old ladies?)
(the only pic you'll get of the sauna. stolen from miss jet lag. did you really want to see nekkid old ladies?)it was the fastest week ever. i miss having someone to play with. now it's back to the real world of work & laundry & summer reading books. there is something to look forward to, though. i won't get into that now. and if you already know, keep your mouth shut!
back to my real world before that baby of mine destroys something. she has just handed me a golf club & asked me to play. guess that's my hint.
banni-who tried to finish this post last night but then had to go out with 1 for father's day & then came home & fell asleep. who also thinks that while she will never be a full-fledged hiker, probably won't say no if asked to climb another mountain. once she recovers from this one, of course
back to my real world before that baby of mine destroys something. she has just handed me a golf club & asked me to play. guess that's my hint.
banni-who tried to finish this post last night but then had to go out with 1 for father's day & then came home & fell asleep. who also thinks that while she will never be a full-fledged hiker, probably won't say no if asked to climb another mountain. once she recovers from this one, of course
fastest.week.EVER.
for realz.
so nallie was here. and by here, i mean, she was here for a week & then we rode a train for 3 1/2 hours & got to the airport & got her checked in & then she walked through the gate of no return & i rode a train back for 3 hours & i'm assuming by her facebook status update that she is finally home but apparently atlanta customs snagged her bag or something cause they are stupid. but we already knew that, being as how we are world travelers now or something. that would be one thing i DON'T miss about the states. stupidity. here things are weird or half-assed because they are & have been for 40 million years & there is no lateral thinking. there? things are stupid because they are & people are lazy & don't give a rat's ass. i don't miss it.
anyway. recap. sort of in a nutshell because who wants to read the longest post ever about someone else's vacation? hmm...maybe PEOPLE WHO NEED TO COME OVER HERE & EXPERIENCE IT FOR THEMSELVES? hint, hint aunt jo & uncle joey. and whomever else may like to see a little slice of asia. room is free, people!
saturday-train to the airport ALL BY MYSELF without getting lost. and dragged natalie out of the crush of not-round-eyes and stuck her on a bus for 3 hours to get home. and i was supposed to keep her awake on the trip as there is no time for jet lag on a 1-week-other-side-of-the-world-vaca but i kind of stink at staying awake on busses myself so i failed at that job. and then we got home. and that was saturday.
(setting myself up to get killed over posting this picture of miss jet lag 2009)
sunday-pyeongtaek market! and city busses. and lots of yuck things. but lots of cool things. and flowers and clothes and shoes and veggies and fruit and cacti and donuts and stuff. OH! and lunch at the indian restaurant which required a quick telephone translation because our waiter's english didn't quite extend to whether or not there was chicken stock in some of the food. but it was good. and spicy hot. and chai tea as usual.
(thanks to miss jet lag 2009 for the pic. i know the label is misspelled. sometimes my fingers don't work right)
monday-hwaseong fortress wall in suwon. and katusa snack bar for lunch. but not necessarily in that order. ksb was the usual. not such a fan of the korean food. ramyun & mandu will usually suffice and did monday. nallie had dulsot bibimbap (hot veggies & rice). i think she liked it. no gyeran. that wall was seriously huge. and true to tourist-zilla form, we walked all the way around it. which included 4732 steps (WITH A STROLLER, nonetheless). oy. and in the seedy part of town (apparently the wall had a hole in it? which required we walk through a market area. and a bar area. gulp.) we stopped for a drink in a convenience store. apparently the store was very convenient to the drunk korean who availed himself of nallie's butt for a minute. yikes! and then we climbed all those steps. and then climbed back down. and who freakin knew that suwon is SO BIG? geez. and convenience store snacks for dinner because it was late & please don't force me to eat korean food twice in one day. but this store had no butt grabbers. thank goodness. however, there was that one incident at the little waterfall area where i accidentally flashed some korean teenagers all in the name of a picture. and i don't mean northern flash. oops. and the picture didn't come out that good anyway! geez.
(betcha thought it was gonna be a waterfall picture, didn't you? nope. this is suwon from atop the fortress wall. way atop. that was the theme this week.)
tuesday-ahh, tuesday. and a mountain. for real. gyeryongsan national park. about an hour's drive away. yes, I DROVE. that gps is a handy little bugger, that's for sure. we hiked up a mountain. and then walked along a mountain ridge. about 1/2 mile up. the ajeema squad that we traded leads with halfway up the mountain applauded when we motioned that we were headed up. if only we knew why. at one point, we thought we had reached the peak so we sat down & had lunch. and it was pretty. and then we discovered that HAHA it wasn't the peak. there's more climbing to do! and then suddenly we were at the peak & there was this ridge. and breath-taking steps & rocks & a korean very surprised to find americans on the mountain! and a soju dance party waiting to happen (but it didn't, for us at least. boo.) on the next peak & more climbing & 6 hours & 8.2 kilometers later, we were down. and i'd never truly climbed a mountain before. apparently we are part mountain goat. that was handy. and words can't describe the top of that mountain. i've tried. they can't.
(the peak before the steps. and the korean ice cream man...only, he didn't have ice cream? only sticks? took this picture. not the best for scenery but LOOK we're on a mountain!)
and i've decided that i'll go ahead & break this into 2 posts. in case someone needs a potty break or a kid needs fed or something. i promise i'll finish this one. right now MY kid needs to go to bed. i'll be back in a bit.
so nallie was here. and by here, i mean, she was here for a week & then we rode a train for 3 1/2 hours & got to the airport & got her checked in & then she walked through the gate of no return & i rode a train back for 3 hours & i'm assuming by her facebook status update that she is finally home but apparently atlanta customs snagged her bag or something cause they are stupid. but we already knew that, being as how we are world travelers now or something. that would be one thing i DON'T miss about the states. stupidity. here things are weird or half-assed because they are & have been for 40 million years & there is no lateral thinking. there? things are stupid because they are & people are lazy & don't give a rat's ass. i don't miss it.
anyway. recap. sort of in a nutshell because who wants to read the longest post ever about someone else's vacation? hmm...maybe PEOPLE WHO NEED TO COME OVER HERE & EXPERIENCE IT FOR THEMSELVES? hint, hint aunt jo & uncle joey. and whomever else may like to see a little slice of asia. room is free, people!
saturday-train to the airport ALL BY MYSELF without getting lost. and dragged natalie out of the crush of not-round-eyes and stuck her on a bus for 3 hours to get home. and i was supposed to keep her awake on the trip as there is no time for jet lag on a 1-week-other-side-of-the-world-vaca but i kind of stink at staying awake on busses myself so i failed at that job. and then we got home. and that was saturday.
(setting myself up to get killed over posting this picture of miss jet lag 2009)sunday-pyeongtaek market! and city busses. and lots of yuck things. but lots of cool things. and flowers and clothes and shoes and veggies and fruit and cacti and donuts and stuff. OH! and lunch at the indian restaurant which required a quick telephone translation because our waiter's english didn't quite extend to whether or not there was chicken stock in some of the food. but it was good. and spicy hot. and chai tea as usual.
(thanks to miss jet lag 2009 for the pic. i know the label is misspelled. sometimes my fingers don't work right)monday-hwaseong fortress wall in suwon. and katusa snack bar for lunch. but not necessarily in that order. ksb was the usual. not such a fan of the korean food. ramyun & mandu will usually suffice and did monday. nallie had dulsot bibimbap (hot veggies & rice). i think she liked it. no gyeran. that wall was seriously huge. and true to tourist-zilla form, we walked all the way around it. which included 4732 steps (WITH A STROLLER, nonetheless). oy. and in the seedy part of town (apparently the wall had a hole in it? which required we walk through a market area. and a bar area. gulp.) we stopped for a drink in a convenience store. apparently the store was very convenient to the drunk korean who availed himself of nallie's butt for a minute. yikes! and then we climbed all those steps. and then climbed back down. and who freakin knew that suwon is SO BIG? geez. and convenience store snacks for dinner because it was late & please don't force me to eat korean food twice in one day. but this store had no butt grabbers. thank goodness. however, there was that one incident at the little waterfall area where i accidentally flashed some korean teenagers all in the name of a picture. and i don't mean northern flash. oops. and the picture didn't come out that good anyway! geez.
(betcha thought it was gonna be a waterfall picture, didn't you? nope. this is suwon from atop the fortress wall. way atop. that was the theme this week.)
(the peak before the steps. and the korean ice cream man...only, he didn't have ice cream? only sticks? took this picture. not the best for scenery but LOOK we're on a mountain!)and i've decided that i'll go ahead & break this into 2 posts. in case someone needs a potty break or a kid needs fed or something. i promise i'll finish this one. right now MY kid needs to go to bed. i'll be back in a bit.
Monday, April 20, 2009
since i'm already here...spring break! v.1
we decided to take a mini-vacation & head to seoul for a few days. would have enjoyed a more exotic/adventurous locale but as we are a little unsure of our (ok, 1's) employment status in a few months, figured we should stay close to home & well within a miniaturized budget in case we need to get the heck out of dodge anytime soon. so off to seoul we went.
we tried to be adventurous & left the truck home. 1 always gets way too pissed off having to drive to seoul & i'm too much of a chicken to do it so we took the subway all the way up, all the way around & then all the way back. not too shabby but for the lack of seating (maybe next time we'll reserve a seat on the "real" train) & that one time on the way home when the train stopped & everyone got off. more on that later.
we left on wednesday afternoon & got there wednesday early evening.
and we took stellan with us to let his family know that we are praying for him in south korea.
we tried to be adventurous & left the truck home. 1 always gets way too pissed off having to drive to seoul & i'm too much of a chicken to do it so we took the subway all the way up, all the way around & then all the way back. not too shabby but for the lack of seating (maybe next time we'll reserve a seat on the "real" train) & that one time on the way home when the train stopped & everyone got off. more on that later.
we left on wednesday afternoon & got there wednesday early evening.
and we took stellan with us to let his family know that we are praying for him in south korea.
view from the window-"backyard" of the hotel
pretty flowers on the way to the hotel
cherry blossoms! love them!
middlest was in desperate need of some haircare & the salon up there beats out here & osan's by a mile. 2 hours later (and after much griping on middlest's part about how long it was taking), we emerged with straight, washed, trimmed, pretty hair. spent the evening hanging around the hotel. had some dinner & went on up to the room. biggest & middlest has their own room (what was that i said about a budget?) & were loving that. 1 & i put littlest to bed & went downstairs for some grown up time. the waitress sucked. that was the highlight. yippee.
thursday morning i had a massage appointment. still not an american style massage but getting closer. what is the korean obsession with massaging in group & with the lights on? i think that is one thing i will never get used to! after that and some breakfast, we went exploring. first we went here:
it was neat. but we decided that if you've seen one palace, you've seen them all (1 has seen more
than one. i trust his judgement).
than one. i trust his judgement).
the architecture was beautiful,
and apparently blogger really dislikes me. and won't let me upload anymore pics. it may be that it dislikes my fancy camera & its huge images but whatever. it's messing with me-has been since last night. so spring break will be continued in the next post.
Tuesday, August 26, 2008
not the funniest trip log ever...maybe that's a good thing?
this trip was relatively uneventful compared to the last. we started off at the airport...all 19 of us. yes, 19. 2 of dd1's friends showed up & they were being teenage girls & some of the other passengers were staring at them like "dear God, please don't let those children be on our flight. please!" there were no SNAFU's at checkin (unlike last time) probably b/c 1-we didn't have a dog & 2-baby had a paper ticket this time! no SNAFU's at security either although there were a lot of tears. and they didn't have to call our name over the loudspeaker to make us get on the plane. we were on time, hassle-free & paying attention!
trip to atlanta took less than an hour. i think we all fell asleep. i was stuck in the hell between not enough sleep & too much to not affect me sleep. ugh. i usually only get about 2 hours before a trip like this. this time i got about 4 1/2. i learned my lesson. i'll just take a short nap next time.
atlanta was easy. our gate was where it was supposed to be. although we were dismayed to learn that since all our miles went to delta for the 1st trip, we couldn't upgrade on korean air. thanks for telling us! and there were quite a few babies so we couldn't get bassinet seating which meant no bulkhead seating. which meant all 5 of us were confined to a regular row of seats. no sleeping on the floor this flight!
the 1st issue arose 30 minutes into the flight. dh's tv broke. not sure what happened to it-just quit working. dh & dd1 were playing a game & they shut the thing off to takeoff & it wouldn't go back on. they tried to fix it but no such luck. so we traded seats a couple times so he could watch my tv.
2nd issue arose at dinner (lunch? breakfast? no clue what meal that was). apparently someone got confused about our special meal needs & assigned gluten free for all 4 of us. not that big a deal. except when the special meal is FISH. i don't/can't eat fish either. it's not an allergy. it's an issue with getting it down. i'm the queen of food phobias & the smell & taste of fish do me in. i was having issues smelling it while my family was eating it. bluch. so for brunner, i had 3 pieces of honeydew melon, 2 pieces of pineapple & a stale plastic tasting rice cake. yum, yummy, yum. i was quite discouraged. so i ate most of a bag of trail mix i brought along. what a piggy.
along came issue # 3 with the next meal. i pulled off the foil to find...you guessed it...FISH AGAIN! agh! between the 2 meals i ate the ham off a sandwich that was our snack, a package of peanuts & some more trail mix. sheesh. it seemed to be the exact same meal as earlier but maybe the fish was cooked differently? dh very nicely asked the flight attendant if maybe i could trade for a regular meal. we had to wait for them to finish serving all the normal, non-problematic people to see if there were extras. and there was! so i had some rubbery chicken (probably cause it had been heated like 2 hours before since i had to wait until last), corn, rice & peas. oh and potato salad. it was the best food ever. unless you count the hospital food i ate after delivering dd1. yeah, it would be a close competition between the 2.
there was a guy across the aisle from us who drank the whole first half of the flight. he was pounding budweisers left & right. guessing that was his first international flight. it's ok to have a drink or two. but you get so dang dehydrated up there just flying that you don't want to do anything to make it worse. he passed out before the 1st meal-much to the dismay of the korean lady trapped in the window seat. she was already apparently ill from the smell of all the budweiser (i can't stand the smell of beer either) & now she's trapped in the corner of her seat b/c he is passed out halfway into hers. she looked relieved when they woke sleeping beauty up to eat & she got her seat back. and you know when you drink, you have to pee alot. seems like everytime i turned around he was bugging the guy in the aisle seat to get up so he could go. i think i would have just told him to take the aisle seat in hopes that when he passed back out again, he would fall in the floor & quit invading my space! after he ate, he did pass back out again & the poor korean lady was pressed up against the wall again. at least she was a little korean lady so she could scoot away from drunk drooly guy.
the guy behind us was snoring so loud. snoring makes me crazy-ask poor dh. he makes the littlest snore & gets an elbow in the side. example: i went on a disney trip with my family years ago & we stayed in one room. i slept in the bathroom b/c my dad wouldn't stop snoring. it's just occurred to me that i sleep in some strange places. anyway, it was so loud that my headphones weren't helping drown it out. i was contemplating going to the bathroom & "tripping" over his foot so he'd stop. or maybe accidentally pushing me seat back really fast to squish his legs. i controlled myself though. barely. and on second thought, some of the snoring may have been coming from drunk drooly guy. wherever it was coming from-it was making me nuts.
i spent a good portion of the flight walking around with auri. she likes to scream on airplanes, apparently. loudly. and continuously. so up & down & up & down the aisles we went. i talked dh into taking her on a walk one time hoping i could read some of the jenny mccarthy autism book i had bought for the trip. he made one round & was back-i didn't even get to read 2 pages! and i'm a pretty fast reader! sigh. we had a coloring book, a mini magna doodle, a pooh bear, a tv with giraffes on it, a baby doll, assorted vehicles & boobs. they all held her attention for a .2 seconds & it was off to screaming again. she finally fell asleep for the last 3 hours or so. and slept in my lap this time so we didn't have to hunt down a handy patch of floor. i'm glad she wasn't the only screamer on there so i didn't feel too bad. apparently she is used to round eyes now b/c she wouldn't talk to any of the asian flight attendants that kept trying to play with/talk to her. wasn't having it. great. she'll have to get over that pretty soon i'm thinking.
airport was almost a breeze. apparently our visas weirded them out b/c they are set to expire in september & i put that our visit was for 365 days. yippee for language barriers. they finally let us all through after dh explained that auri doesn't have any other form of id b/c she is too little. we found all our luggage in record time & breezed through customs (mainly b/c we weren't bringing in any cows or fire arms). we located the money exchange & bus ticket kiosk. managed to get all 7 bags & 1 car seat & 1 stroller under the bus when it finally arrived. auri & i slept most of the 2 hour trip. our friends came to pick us up at the bus station & home we came. it was nice to walk into a clean house. it was weird b/c it smelled the way i remember it smelling when i got here last year. dh went & picked up the dog. i went to bed somewhere around 11 i think. auri got up & moving at 4:15 this morning & i have been up ever since. she went back down for a nap b/c she had a really bad case of the screamies.
dh has gone off for work. the big kids just got up so i'm going to make a grocery list since i have to buy the whole store since i was gone for a month. great.... today will be a busy one. please send non screamy baby vibes. i don't think i can handle any more of that today.
trip to atlanta took less than an hour. i think we all fell asleep. i was stuck in the hell between not enough sleep & too much to not affect me sleep. ugh. i usually only get about 2 hours before a trip like this. this time i got about 4 1/2. i learned my lesson. i'll just take a short nap next time.
atlanta was easy. our gate was where it was supposed to be. although we were dismayed to learn that since all our miles went to delta for the 1st trip, we couldn't upgrade on korean air. thanks for telling us! and there were quite a few babies so we couldn't get bassinet seating which meant no bulkhead seating. which meant all 5 of us were confined to a regular row of seats. no sleeping on the floor this flight!
the 1st issue arose 30 minutes into the flight. dh's tv broke. not sure what happened to it-just quit working. dh & dd1 were playing a game & they shut the thing off to takeoff & it wouldn't go back on. they tried to fix it but no such luck. so we traded seats a couple times so he could watch my tv.
2nd issue arose at dinner (lunch? breakfast? no clue what meal that was). apparently someone got confused about our special meal needs & assigned gluten free for all 4 of us. not that big a deal. except when the special meal is FISH. i don't/can't eat fish either. it's not an allergy. it's an issue with getting it down. i'm the queen of food phobias & the smell & taste of fish do me in. i was having issues smelling it while my family was eating it. bluch. so for brunner, i had 3 pieces of honeydew melon, 2 pieces of pineapple & a stale plastic tasting rice cake. yum, yummy, yum. i was quite discouraged. so i ate most of a bag of trail mix i brought along. what a piggy.
along came issue # 3 with the next meal. i pulled off the foil to find...you guessed it...FISH AGAIN! agh! between the 2 meals i ate the ham off a sandwich that was our snack, a package of peanuts & some more trail mix. sheesh. it seemed to be the exact same meal as earlier but maybe the fish was cooked differently? dh very nicely asked the flight attendant if maybe i could trade for a regular meal. we had to wait for them to finish serving all the normal, non-problematic people to see if there were extras. and there was! so i had some rubbery chicken (probably cause it had been heated like 2 hours before since i had to wait until last), corn, rice & peas. oh and potato salad. it was the best food ever. unless you count the hospital food i ate after delivering dd1. yeah, it would be a close competition between the 2.
there was a guy across the aisle from us who drank the whole first half of the flight. he was pounding budweisers left & right. guessing that was his first international flight. it's ok to have a drink or two. but you get so dang dehydrated up there just flying that you don't want to do anything to make it worse. he passed out before the 1st meal-much to the dismay of the korean lady trapped in the window seat. she was already apparently ill from the smell of all the budweiser (i can't stand the smell of beer either) & now she's trapped in the corner of her seat b/c he is passed out halfway into hers. she looked relieved when they woke sleeping beauty up to eat & she got her seat back. and you know when you drink, you have to pee alot. seems like everytime i turned around he was bugging the guy in the aisle seat to get up so he could go. i think i would have just told him to take the aisle seat in hopes that when he passed back out again, he would fall in the floor & quit invading my space! after he ate, he did pass back out again & the poor korean lady was pressed up against the wall again. at least she was a little korean lady so she could scoot away from drunk drooly guy.
the guy behind us was snoring so loud. snoring makes me crazy-ask poor dh. he makes the littlest snore & gets an elbow in the side. example: i went on a disney trip with my family years ago & we stayed in one room. i slept in the bathroom b/c my dad wouldn't stop snoring. it's just occurred to me that i sleep in some strange places. anyway, it was so loud that my headphones weren't helping drown it out. i was contemplating going to the bathroom & "tripping" over his foot so he'd stop. or maybe accidentally pushing me seat back really fast to squish his legs. i controlled myself though. barely. and on second thought, some of the snoring may have been coming from drunk drooly guy. wherever it was coming from-it was making me nuts.
i spent a good portion of the flight walking around with auri. she likes to scream on airplanes, apparently. loudly. and continuously. so up & down & up & down the aisles we went. i talked dh into taking her on a walk one time hoping i could read some of the jenny mccarthy autism book i had bought for the trip. he made one round & was back-i didn't even get to read 2 pages! and i'm a pretty fast reader! sigh. we had a coloring book, a mini magna doodle, a pooh bear, a tv with giraffes on it, a baby doll, assorted vehicles & boobs. they all held her attention for a .2 seconds & it was off to screaming again. she finally fell asleep for the last 3 hours or so. and slept in my lap this time so we didn't have to hunt down a handy patch of floor. i'm glad she wasn't the only screamer on there so i didn't feel too bad. apparently she is used to round eyes now b/c she wouldn't talk to any of the asian flight attendants that kept trying to play with/talk to her. wasn't having it. great. she'll have to get over that pretty soon i'm thinking.
airport was almost a breeze. apparently our visas weirded them out b/c they are set to expire in september & i put that our visit was for 365 days. yippee for language barriers. they finally let us all through after dh explained that auri doesn't have any other form of id b/c she is too little. we found all our luggage in record time & breezed through customs (mainly b/c we weren't bringing in any cows or fire arms). we located the money exchange & bus ticket kiosk. managed to get all 7 bags & 1 car seat & 1 stroller under the bus when it finally arrived. auri & i slept most of the 2 hour trip. our friends came to pick us up at the bus station & home we came. it was nice to walk into a clean house. it was weird b/c it smelled the way i remember it smelling when i got here last year. dh went & picked up the dog. i went to bed somewhere around 11 i think. auri got up & moving at 4:15 this morning & i have been up ever since. she went back down for a nap b/c she had a really bad case of the screamies.
dh has gone off for work. the big kids just got up so i'm going to make a grocery list since i have to buy the whole store since i was gone for a month. great.... today will be a busy one. please send non screamy baby vibes. i don't think i can handle any more of that today.
Friday, August 22, 2008
ahh...america
things i have missed: (some) american tv (the guide channel, ace of cakes), olive garden (oh, yeah, zuppa toscana), chic-fil-a lemonade (yes!), sonic slushies (although it still hasn't been checked off my list!), publix grocery stores (clean! & well stocked!), friends (sniff, sniff...who's up for a move?).
things i haven't missed: american "manners" (ahem...lack there of), american tv commercials (c'mon y'all! i know AFN commercials are terrible but at least those people aren't advertising people. who makes these damn things?), american drivers (WTF! are you TRYING to get into an accident? agh!).
and exactly how have 3 weeks passed already? i told 1 last night that it seemed the 1st week just chugged by soooo slooooowwww & this one is just flying. i'm trying my damnedest not to think about it b/c if i do i might lose it. i think the hardest part is leaving littlest's baby friends. they play so well together & it's so cute to watch them. hopefully by time we make it back they'll still be friends.
baby friends, big girl friends, the foods i'm used too without having to show my ID, family 15 minutes away instead of a 15 hour flight. i'm starting to think this is going to be harder the 2nd time around.
things i haven't missed: american "manners" (ahem...lack there of), american tv commercials (c'mon y'all! i know AFN commercials are terrible but at least those people aren't advertising people. who makes these damn things?), american drivers (WTF! are you TRYING to get into an accident? agh!).
and exactly how have 3 weeks passed already? i told 1 last night that it seemed the 1st week just chugged by soooo slooooowwww & this one is just flying. i'm trying my damnedest not to think about it b/c if i do i might lose it. i think the hardest part is leaving littlest's baby friends. they play so well together & it's so cute to watch them. hopefully by time we make it back they'll still be friends.
baby friends, big girl friends, the foods i'm used too without having to show my ID, family 15 minutes away instead of a 15 hour flight. i'm starting to think this is going to be harder the 2nd time around.
Thursday, August 14, 2008
whatever, dude
sometimes i just have to wonder about people. several people, in fact.
1-we were supposed to go visiting this weekend. but stayed out a huge chunk of the night &, though we made it to church in the morning, that was about all we could accomplish. i have been going & going since we got here & just couldn't go anymore. and, yes, we had made plans to go visiting but my whole self just stopped. and we get asked why we didn't call. but i am quite certain that our phone numbers are saved in several phones so why didn't anyone call us? whatevs.
2-why do some people have to keep intruding on my/our lives? just go away. i'm not interested in craziness. and if you think that i'm going to allow your crazy into my daughter's life? wrong again, pal. please do crawl back under your rock. your friends the worms miss you.
and completely unrelated but i love the olympics. however, tonight it seems that the broadcasting this year is crap. it might help if i tried watching without a computer on my lap. ya think?
1-we were supposed to go visiting this weekend. but stayed out a huge chunk of the night &, though we made it to church in the morning, that was about all we could accomplish. i have been going & going since we got here & just couldn't go anymore. and, yes, we had made plans to go visiting but my whole self just stopped. and we get asked why we didn't call. but i am quite certain that our phone numbers are saved in several phones so why didn't anyone call us? whatevs.
2-why do some people have to keep intruding on my/our lives? just go away. i'm not interested in craziness. and if you think that i'm going to allow your crazy into my daughter's life? wrong again, pal. please do crawl back under your rock. your friends the worms miss you.
and completely unrelated but i love the olympics. however, tonight it seems that the broadcasting this year is crap. it might help if i tried watching without a computer on my lap. ya think?
Monday, August 11, 2008
end of 1st week & 2nd weekend
i believe i'm the ONLY person on the planet who can some 1/2 way around the world & get a massage & the MASSAGE THERAPIST (emphasis as i was "schooled" on the proper terminology during my session) is from the country i just came from! actually, he was only 1/2 - from his mother - but it was still quite funny. and we talked the whole time as it was quite obvious i wasn't going to relax enough to fall asleep. not sure what the deal is with that.
got left alone thursday afternoon/evening as 1 took all the chillun to his mama's house to fix up the money pit. drank a good portion of a bottle of wine (scuppernong/muscadine variety...dang, that's good. owing to the vast quantity i consumed apparently) while waiting for C to come get me for our girls' night out. it was only the 2 of us as other people have to work or don't have babysitters. we did have fun though. went to the karaoke place so i could hear C sing which is always a treat. had a few more drinks. ugh. guess that's what a vacation is for? maybe?
friday night went to a mexican restaurant with the family, uncle j, jo & alan. it was nice. littlest seems to really like spicy cheese dip. she just kept dipping & licking her chip. yuck-o slimy chip when she was done. she is just as rotten & wouldn't stay in her high chair. but she's forgiven b/c she is pretty dang cute.
saturday afternoon was a get together at mom's house. it was great fun & plenty people came. it's crazy that we all have kids! carrie came with twins bryce & brandon. last time i saw them was when they were little fellas. they will be 4 next month. she looks great & is such a good mama. belynda came with all 3 of hers-amy, cody & eric. they are all huge too & amy just turned 13. somehow we all had kids in august-i was just a year late. and belynda came bearing a gift! a sewing machine! hip hip hooray! i'll bring it in for a check up this week then set about figuring out how to bring it home. yay! Bff & h came with the other princess who just crawled in & out & up & down. she & littlest were sharing cups again. we'll teach that baby how to use a straw cup yet! and matt & bobbie lynne came with their girls who are both just so tall & pretty. the yard was full of kids as neighbors came too & i just know i'm leaving someone out but hopefully i'll be forgiven? C & cliff & li'l cliff were supposed to come but family showed up so they had to miss. can't have it all, i suppose. aunt n came in from columbia & unca j showed up with his friend cori. the tree swing claimed cori as its daily victim...hopefully her ankle will be ok.
saturday night we left littlest with grandma & grandpa, much to her dismay. middlest & biggest stayed over at matt & bobbie lynne's house. went out with aunt n, uncle j, bff & h & another couple. got called home on littlest's account but while enroute were called again & told to go back as littlest had finally crashed out after crying for 1 1/2 hours. we had a great time out & about, much alcohol was consumed (is this a theme?) & even hit the "awful waffle" where i was threatened numerous times with a ketchup bottle for "throwing c's" at bff's h. i know that makes no sense but it was hilarious at the time. still is, although i'm sure they don't think so. it's almost over, guys!
today managed to make it to early church with everyone intact. went to brunch with the inlaws this afternoon & came home to say goodbye to aunt n. 1 took off with biggest & littlest, middlest stayed home & i took a nap! tomorrow is health department (again), tv guy, stove guy & i'm not sure who or what else. i shouldn't have taken that long ass nap since it is now 1am & i'm not anywhere near ready for bed. good to be back on schedule. snort.
oh for...
first off...my truck was making crazy noises when i got into it for the first time since being back. it has been driven while we've been gone. my mom drives it & a few people have borrowed it-most recently a friend of mine while her car was in the shop. so, i made it an appointment & took it up to the shop. they did about $1000 worth of work on it-most of it covered by warranty (the one time we bought an extended warranty-pshew!) & i got it back yesterday. and i only had to pay $50 deductible. and when i was driving it last night, the check engine light came on! agh!
well, littlest had a shot appointment this morning. 45 minutes from where my mom lives. so i drove my check engine light truck all the way out there. and the lady says "oh, i tried to call you! the nurse is out sick!" and it really isn't her fault as the only # she has for me is the IP phone which did come with us but is still packed. so i made the trip for nothing with $4/gallon gas. agh.
drove back into mom's town & took my truck to the shop again. had bff come pick me up. the service lady was all "it's probably just a code that needs to be cleared. we'll put it on the machine". somehow i didn't think so but whatever, we waited. lady comes back & tells me it is an O2 sensor which is covered under warranty but i will have to pay another $50 deductible. i tried to argue that but it didn't work. 6 hours later, i have my truck back & i'm light another $50. on the way home from church, the light flickered again. agh.
1 is trying to get the house wrapped up for renters. it needs painted inside (lots of light colored dirty walls), the carpets need cleaned & we need to hire a lawn service. yes, i have a money tree in korea, let me just get that wired for you. he was a real butthead about it earlier. he gets tunnel vision & if something/one gets in his way, he can get ugly. i got in his way. he got ugly. i'm not happy with him. there is a "for rent" sign in the yard. the market is crap so we're stuck with this for now. agh.
upside? everyone is doing great here; middlest got her hair semi straightened & loves it; littlest is having fun with baby friends, we went to little gym as a guest & they are giving us a mini package for while we are here which is fun; i think i'm going out tomorrow night, maybe friday night (with butthead) & possible saturday night (with butthead & friends) - we haven't had a date or kid free time in a long time so that is awesome; my bff who works for an airline might fly down friday & go back saturday just to see ME; and i have a massage appoitment tomorrow! yippee yahoo!
well, littlest had a shot appointment this morning. 45 minutes from where my mom lives. so i drove my check engine light truck all the way out there. and the lady says "oh, i tried to call you! the nurse is out sick!" and it really isn't her fault as the only # she has for me is the IP phone which did come with us but is still packed. so i made the trip for nothing with $4/gallon gas. agh.
drove back into mom's town & took my truck to the shop again. had bff come pick me up. the service lady was all "it's probably just a code that needs to be cleared. we'll put it on the machine". somehow i didn't think so but whatever, we waited. lady comes back & tells me it is an O2 sensor which is covered under warranty but i will have to pay another $50 deductible. i tried to argue that but it didn't work. 6 hours later, i have my truck back & i'm light another $50. on the way home from church, the light flickered again. agh.
1 is trying to get the house wrapped up for renters. it needs painted inside (lots of light colored dirty walls), the carpets need cleaned & we need to hire a lawn service. yes, i have a money tree in korea, let me just get that wired for you. he was a real butthead about it earlier. he gets tunnel vision & if something/one gets in his way, he can get ugly. i got in his way. he got ugly. i'm not happy with him. there is a "for rent" sign in the yard. the market is crap so we're stuck with this for now. agh.
upside? everyone is doing great here; middlest got her hair semi straightened & loves it; littlest is having fun with baby friends, we went to little gym as a guest & they are giving us a mini package for while we are here which is fun; i think i'm going out tomorrow night, maybe friday night (with butthead) & possible saturday night (with butthead & friends) - we haven't had a date or kid free time in a long time so that is awesome; my bff who works for an airline might fly down friday & go back saturday just to see ME; and i have a massage appoitment tomorrow! yippee yahoo!
Tuesday, August 5, 2008
first 3 days
cause friday doesn't really count as a day since it lasted 47 1/2 hours & only ended just after we finally reached charleston. so i can't count it.
saturday we woke up bright and early since littlest decided she was done sleeping & needed to go stomping all over granny & papa's house. how someone so little can make that much noise is beyond me. it was useless to get her to stop. and we really did try. 1 went to the house to...well, i'm not sure what he intended to do but i think it involved a good bit of bs'ing around with buddies. i left middlest & biggest with their granny & took off for some stores with littlest, bff & the other princess. she is huge! and so awful cute. when i left, she was brand new, barely cleaned off in a polka-dot sleeper and fit just right into my arms. not so much anymore. and littlest went to bff's h like it was nothing. crazy kid. guess she knows good people when she sees them-so long as they aren't related to her, she's good! cause she won't have anything to do with granny, papa, grandma or grandpa. just won't. unless it is by force & then it is barely tolerated. hopefully that will get better. i'm sure it will...just in time for us to leave.
saturday night we had a get-together at granny & papa's. lots of people came & littlest had the other princess & li'l cliff to play with. funny how she is the oldest but the littlest. apparently she & li'l cliff were on the outs as she pushed his chunky self right down on the floor. 2 hands, 1 step & plunk, down he went! i missed the sight. my girl knows how to take care of herself! but he was up & at em not 2 seconds later so no worries. the other princess cruised all around in her (what else?) princess walker until it came time for night night & down she went on a bedroom floor with some blankets. and slept until time to go home! why don't i have a baby like that?
sunday morning was supposed to be early church. ahem. not so much when you wake up 10 minutes before it should start. whoops. we did make it to late church & then lunch with grandma & grandpa & uncle j (not to be confused with unca). then 1 & uncle j disappeared to the house again (more bs'ing) while all 3 of the younguns & i headed for old navy. maybe it's the weekend but i don't know...old navy seemed a little empty. weird. we did manage to get a few things for next year when it turns cold. and then back to granny & papa's for dinner before packing our stuff again to head for grandma & grandpa's.
today littlest & i slept in-since we were up all freakin night, why not? grandma was up with the big kids & 1 went to the house again. grandma, biggest & middlest went to the old gym & jump place this afternoon & i did laundry (whoo hoo!). after dinner, littlest & i went to the house to go through more stuff (didn't i do this 10 months ago?) & there was another baby party. li'l cliff's neighbor showed up with her parents & a bottle of wine. that girl knows how to travel! and K brought her baby down. he's so cute! today was the first time i got to meet him. they leave in less than a week for family & then in the new year off to italy. middlest will go spend the night tomorrow. i'll go visit the other neighbor-A- when i drop her off.
big tragedies so far-my truck is acting up. so it is at the dealership awaiting a "look at" in the morning. hopefully warranty covers it. cross your fingers. didn't plan to spend my vacation money on a truck. grandma & grandpa do not have a working television & olympics start this week! whatever will i do? tv does have a warranty so hopefully that will be resolved as well.
and littlest still won't sleep. sigh. one of these days i'll get rest again. i should be asleep right now during the 5 minutes that her eyes are closed. but then when would i get to internet? sacrifices, sacrifices....
saturday we woke up bright and early since littlest decided she was done sleeping & needed to go stomping all over granny & papa's house. how someone so little can make that much noise is beyond me. it was useless to get her to stop. and we really did try. 1 went to the house to...well, i'm not sure what he intended to do but i think it involved a good bit of bs'ing around with buddies. i left middlest & biggest with their granny & took off for some stores with littlest, bff & the other princess. she is huge! and so awful cute. when i left, she was brand new, barely cleaned off in a polka-dot sleeper and fit just right into my arms. not so much anymore. and littlest went to bff's h like it was nothing. crazy kid. guess she knows good people when she sees them-so long as they aren't related to her, she's good! cause she won't have anything to do with granny, papa, grandma or grandpa. just won't. unless it is by force & then it is barely tolerated. hopefully that will get better. i'm sure it will...just in time for us to leave.
saturday night we had a get-together at granny & papa's. lots of people came & littlest had the other princess & li'l cliff to play with. funny how she is the oldest but the littlest. apparently she & li'l cliff were on the outs as she pushed his chunky self right down on the floor. 2 hands, 1 step & plunk, down he went! i missed the sight. my girl knows how to take care of herself! but he was up & at em not 2 seconds later so no worries. the other princess cruised all around in her (what else?) princess walker until it came time for night night & down she went on a bedroom floor with some blankets. and slept until time to go home! why don't i have a baby like that?
sunday morning was supposed to be early church. ahem. not so much when you wake up 10 minutes before it should start. whoops. we did make it to late church & then lunch with grandma & grandpa & uncle j (not to be confused with unca). then 1 & uncle j disappeared to the house again (more bs'ing) while all 3 of the younguns & i headed for old navy. maybe it's the weekend but i don't know...old navy seemed a little empty. weird. we did manage to get a few things for next year when it turns cold. and then back to granny & papa's for dinner before packing our stuff again to head for grandma & grandpa's.
today littlest & i slept in-since we were up all freakin night, why not? grandma was up with the big kids & 1 went to the house again. grandma, biggest & middlest went to the old gym & jump place this afternoon & i did laundry (whoo hoo!). after dinner, littlest & i went to the house to go through more stuff (didn't i do this 10 months ago?) & there was another baby party. li'l cliff's neighbor showed up with her parents & a bottle of wine. that girl knows how to travel! and K brought her baby down. he's so cute! today was the first time i got to meet him. they leave in less than a week for family & then in the new year off to italy. middlest will go spend the night tomorrow. i'll go visit the other neighbor-A- when i drop her off.
big tragedies so far-my truck is acting up. so it is at the dealership awaiting a "look at" in the morning. hopefully warranty covers it. cross your fingers. didn't plan to spend my vacation money on a truck. grandma & grandpa do not have a working television & olympics start this week! whatever will i do? tv does have a warranty so hopefully that will be resolved as well.
and littlest still won't sleep. sigh. one of these days i'll get rest again. i should be asleep right now during the 5 minutes that her eyes are closed. but then when would i get to internet? sacrifices, sacrifices....
Saturday, August 2, 2008
good morning USA!
so it's 6:19am here which means that it is 7:20pm my brain's time & me, littlest & 1 are up. which is about normal for us if it was 6:19am our brain's time. so, anybody ready for a story? cause i might have one!
the korea to US flight wasn't horrible. it wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible. i will tell you, however, if we were running a contest between airlines, delta would NOT win the prize for best service between US & korea. i'm very happy that we are flying Korean Air back home in 3 1/2 weeks. i've only had 2 experiences with the overseas flight & i know everyone can have an off day but just based on those experiences, i know which one i would pick.
since we were the the airport 47 hours early we got all checked in & then went to find our gate & stuff & have some food. we forgot airport food = expensive. yikes. but we sucked it up & then got on the plane. we got to get on first b/c of littlest. and we had bulkhead seats for the bassinet so more leg room...yay!
the flight attendants weren't as friendly as on last year's flight. and...let's face it...some of them were kind of dumb...and rude. we requested that they bring the bassinet after the dinner service. and then had to request it several more times before it showed up. but before it showed up, the flight attendant was all "i have to go find it...every plane is different". um, ok. so if God forbid something happens, are you going to be able to deploy escape slides since they might be different from the last plane you flew? ugh. excuses. and then she brings the darn bassinet & tells 1 "you'll have to help me do this-i don't know how!" what! you big dummy! whose job is this? argh! they get the thing stuck to the wall only to find out that littlest is not having anything to do with it. sigh. all that for nothing. and then when we wanted them to come take it back (after I took it off the wall), they wouldn't. even though littlest pushed the call button 1874 times. maybe that's why they seemed to not like us?
oh and i forgot to talk about dinner. i ordered gluten free meals for me (littlest didn't have her own seat so she didn't get one...we shared). it's just easier to order gluten free than to try to explain wheat allergy. well, apparently saltine crackers are gluten free now? i really don't think so but if so, i'm mad that someone didn't tell me b/c i love saltine crackers! anyway, they brought the food thing around & we tell them that i ordered a gluten free meal. :um, we already gave out all the special meals. you weren't tagged." um. the lady at the desk confirmed it for me. so...where's my food? they scrounge around & find my meal (apparently all airplanes are different?) & it wasn't horrible except for the whole saltine cracker thing which kind of makes me worry about what other gluten/wheat product was in there. we'll have to watch littlest's face. greaaaaaat.
and littlest. oh, littlest. littlest didn't want to sleep in the bassinet & couldn't sleep on me or 1. poor little thing kept waking up every 2 minutes b/c she wasn't comfortable. so if you were on the korea/atlanta flight yesterday & walked past the bulkhead seat & saw some crazy woman lying on the floor? that was me. i felt like an idiot but at the least the baby got some sleep. b/c we all know that a sleepy baby is a screamy baby & that is not so good on an airplane.
finally got into atlanta at about 7pm last night. i swear, it was like the friday that wouldn't end. we woke up at 7 our friday morning (after me only sleeping 3 hours-think i was excited?), finished packing & cleaning, ran a few last minute errands, hopped a bus for 2 hours, sat in the airport for 4 hours, got on a plane for 14 hours & it was STILL friday when we landed! agh! had to navigate atlanta airport to go through passport control & find our baggage. all. 5. bags. ugh. and a carseat. but the carseat never showed up! and time is ticking down to "oh, crap, we're gonna miss our connection" time. i finally asked the baggage handler guy & he points way across the baggage claim area & tells me the stupid carseat is over there. why? why would the carseat be way over there? i mean, it's pretty much in the next county! wtf? & if you must put my carseat way the heck over there, where is the sign telling me where it is? agh! this was after i had to wait 20 minutes to get my gate checked stroller. b/c apparently they put all the (7) gate checked strollers way in the back of the plane. b/c that makes sense-to put stuff people need in the back behind all the other stuff so they have to wait for all the other stuff to be pulled out before they can get their stroller. and there was this poor lady with a 3 month old all by herself waiting for her carseat (gate checked) & stroller (gate checked) & carseat base (baggage checked so, you got it, in the next county with no sign!) & 2 big bags. so we (i) was trying to help her out by pushing her buggy through customs & all b/c i felt bad for her & after all that, they didn't give her a boarding pass in korea so she had to go get that before anything else. she probably missed her flight, poor thing. finally pass through customs & no one can tell us where to dump our bags so they will get on our next flight. finally get that sorted out & then RUN through security. and did i mention that we have 2 laptops in carry ons that have to be taken out of bags to go through the scanner? and 3 other carry ons? and 3 kids? and a stroller? AND IT'S STILL FREAKIN FRIDAY! and here, let me draw you a diagram...
T.....A.....B.....C.....D.....E
that's how the concourses line up in atlanta. and, in case you didn't know, E is where the international flights come in. and we had to go to B. in like 20 minutes after the biggest landing/baggage/customs debacle that ever was. and that is 20 minutes til takeoff. and you know, they close the doors way before then! biggest kept saying it was like home alone when they are hauling butt through the airport. so we huff & we puff & we race all around & get to our gate that says the flight is going somewhere other than charleston. oh crap. we missed it. but, oh, no, we didn't miss it! says the nice fella at the gate! the flight has been moved! to T concourse! and we have 35 minutes to get there! does no one make announcements in airports anymore? to tell us where to go? and, yes, we could have looked at a monitor thing but who has time for that when their carseat is being held hostage? !%&*(%^$^@. and off we went again. and we made it. and finally took off & finally landed (yes, still on friday!) in teeny tiny charleston airport to see 3 friends, one granny & 2 grandpas (my mom is at a conference & won't be home until tonight) & 5 bags & 1 carseat. and we came to a house that has air conditioning! and granny cooked up a bunch of food & then littlest was sleepy (about 12:30 at this point...finally, saturday!) & so i laid down with her to put her to bed & woke up at about 3 when 1 came in. oops. didn't mean to be antisocial.
and i'm home! (but 1 says we aren't home, we are visiting as home is now in korea) & i'm so excited to see everybody & do stuff & EXTREMELY HAPPY that the friday that wouldn't end finally is over. but that also means we are 1 day closer to going back. and that part is sad.
the korea to US flight wasn't horrible. it wasn't great, but it wasn't horrible. i will tell you, however, if we were running a contest between airlines, delta would NOT win the prize for best service between US & korea. i'm very happy that we are flying Korean Air back home in 3 1/2 weeks. i've only had 2 experiences with the overseas flight & i know everyone can have an off day but just based on those experiences, i know which one i would pick.
since we were the the airport 47 hours early we got all checked in & then went to find our gate & stuff & have some food. we forgot airport food = expensive. yikes. but we sucked it up & then got on the plane. we got to get on first b/c of littlest. and we had bulkhead seats for the bassinet so more leg room...yay!
the flight attendants weren't as friendly as on last year's flight. and...let's face it...some of them were kind of dumb...and rude. we requested that they bring the bassinet after the dinner service. and then had to request it several more times before it showed up. but before it showed up, the flight attendant was all "i have to go find it...every plane is different". um, ok. so if God forbid something happens, are you going to be able to deploy escape slides since they might be different from the last plane you flew? ugh. excuses. and then she brings the darn bassinet & tells 1 "you'll have to help me do this-i don't know how!" what! you big dummy! whose job is this? argh! they get the thing stuck to the wall only to find out that littlest is not having anything to do with it. sigh. all that for nothing. and then when we wanted them to come take it back (after I took it off the wall), they wouldn't. even though littlest pushed the call button 1874 times. maybe that's why they seemed to not like us?
oh and i forgot to talk about dinner. i ordered gluten free meals for me (littlest didn't have her own seat so she didn't get one...we shared). it's just easier to order gluten free than to try to explain wheat allergy. well, apparently saltine crackers are gluten free now? i really don't think so but if so, i'm mad that someone didn't tell me b/c i love saltine crackers! anyway, they brought the food thing around & we tell them that i ordered a gluten free meal. :um, we already gave out all the special meals. you weren't tagged." um. the lady at the desk confirmed it for me. so...where's my food? they scrounge around & find my meal (apparently all airplanes are different?) & it wasn't horrible except for the whole saltine cracker thing which kind of makes me worry about what other gluten/wheat product was in there. we'll have to watch littlest's face. greaaaaaat.
and littlest. oh, littlest. littlest didn't want to sleep in the bassinet & couldn't sleep on me or 1. poor little thing kept waking up every 2 minutes b/c she wasn't comfortable. so if you were on the korea/atlanta flight yesterday & walked past the bulkhead seat & saw some crazy woman lying on the floor? that was me. i felt like an idiot but at the least the baby got some sleep. b/c we all know that a sleepy baby is a screamy baby & that is not so good on an airplane.
finally got into atlanta at about 7pm last night. i swear, it was like the friday that wouldn't end. we woke up at 7 our friday morning (after me only sleeping 3 hours-think i was excited?), finished packing & cleaning, ran a few last minute errands, hopped a bus for 2 hours, sat in the airport for 4 hours, got on a plane for 14 hours & it was STILL friday when we landed! agh! had to navigate atlanta airport to go through passport control & find our baggage. all. 5. bags. ugh. and a carseat. but the carseat never showed up! and time is ticking down to "oh, crap, we're gonna miss our connection" time. i finally asked the baggage handler guy & he points way across the baggage claim area & tells me the stupid carseat is over there. why? why would the carseat be way over there? i mean, it's pretty much in the next county! wtf? & if you must put my carseat way the heck over there, where is the sign telling me where it is? agh! this was after i had to wait 20 minutes to get my gate checked stroller. b/c apparently they put all the (7) gate checked strollers way in the back of the plane. b/c that makes sense-to put stuff people need in the back behind all the other stuff so they have to wait for all the other stuff to be pulled out before they can get their stroller. and there was this poor lady with a 3 month old all by herself waiting for her carseat (gate checked) & stroller (gate checked) & carseat base (baggage checked so, you got it, in the next county with no sign!) & 2 big bags. so we (i) was trying to help her out by pushing her buggy through customs & all b/c i felt bad for her & after all that, they didn't give her a boarding pass in korea so she had to go get that before anything else. she probably missed her flight, poor thing. finally pass through customs & no one can tell us where to dump our bags so they will get on our next flight. finally get that sorted out & then RUN through security. and did i mention that we have 2 laptops in carry ons that have to be taken out of bags to go through the scanner? and 3 other carry ons? and 3 kids? and a stroller? AND IT'S STILL FREAKIN FRIDAY! and here, let me draw you a diagram...
T.....A.....B.....C.....D.....E
that's how the concourses line up in atlanta. and, in case you didn't know, E is where the international flights come in. and we had to go to B. in like 20 minutes after the biggest landing/baggage/customs debacle that ever was. and that is 20 minutes til takeoff. and you know, they close the doors way before then! biggest kept saying it was like home alone when they are hauling butt through the airport. so we huff & we puff & we race all around & get to our gate that says the flight is going somewhere other than charleston. oh crap. we missed it. but, oh, no, we didn't miss it! says the nice fella at the gate! the flight has been moved! to T concourse! and we have 35 minutes to get there! does no one make announcements in airports anymore? to tell us where to go? and, yes, we could have looked at a monitor thing but who has time for that when their carseat is being held hostage? !%&*(%^$^@. and off we went again. and we made it. and finally took off & finally landed (yes, still on friday!) in teeny tiny charleston airport to see 3 friends, one granny & 2 grandpas (my mom is at a conference & won't be home until tonight) & 5 bags & 1 carseat. and we came to a house that has air conditioning! and granny cooked up a bunch of food & then littlest was sleepy (about 12:30 at this point...finally, saturday!) & so i laid down with her to put her to bed & woke up at about 3 when 1 came in. oops. didn't mean to be antisocial.
and i'm home! (but 1 says we aren't home, we are visiting as home is now in korea) & i'm so excited to see everybody & do stuff & EXTREMELY HAPPY that the friday that wouldn't end finally is over. but that also means we are 1 day closer to going back. and that part is sad.
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