Peking Duck

A friend of mine that lives in my building was organizing a trip to Beijing. She invited me to go and of course, I hesitated. I was a bit “traveled out” and didn’t want to leave the tight ship that I run. It just so happened that this friend and the organizer of the trip is from Taiwan and speaks Chinese. Jim told me I just had to go; it was the chance of a life time. (I find we say that a lot to each other these days.) With his optimistic encouragement, I took a deep breath, told her I was “in” and then walked away with “buyers remorse” (a trait all of my sisters and I have) wondering why in the world I had committed myself to this trip.
Day 1:
The night we arrived, we went for Peking Duck (a famous Chinese dish of duck roasted in an open flame). In our search for the restaurant where we had reservations, we turned off down a dirt road, a kind of side alley. The uneven road sloped this way and that and the neighborhood consisted of small cinder block houses with tin roofs. It was dirty and reminded me of the time I had spent in the Dominican Republic. Eventually, I noticed spray painted stick figured pictures of ducks on one of the cinder block walls. I gulped and winced. We certainly weren't planning on eating here??? I noticed a puddle of “something” on the ground, that couldn’t possibly be water. "Ew", I thought to myself, wondering how I was going to get out of this hole. I’d been in some pretty scary places in my life and I wasn’t about to eat here. I just happened to say that out loud and every one in my group seemed to be oblivious to our surroundings. They completely ignored me and walked in. I admit, I felt a bit uncomfortable.
Yes, I ended up eating there. Believe me, I ate very cautiously. Surprisingly, no one got sick and the place was full of foreigners. Posted all over the particle board walls, kind of like make shift wall paper, were pictures of famous people who had eaten there. Does it surprise anyone that Al Gore’s picture was there?

**All of my pictures of China are from Mindi Morris, a friend and fellow traveler. Thank you Mindi!

Out to Lunch?

During the past few weeks I have gained 15 pounds. I eat constantly--even during the night. Unfortunately, I have not been able to enjoy my "binge". I have been nauseated and absolutely exhausted.

To you, my loyal readers, who have stayed with me through my "timeout"--I have an announcement to make: We are expecting our sixth baby on December 30th! Yeah! Thanks for staying with me.


Kind of a bummer I've gained half of my "allotted" pregnancy weight in the first six weeks, huh?

"It'd Be Nice If You Could Pull Me Into Town"

When we shipped our minivan to Korea, we included a brand new boxed and "never-been-opened" giant size trampoline. We had super high hopes that it would safely fit on the roof and provide some outdoor exercise for our five children. I’ll admit I had my doubts. When Jim lugged it up to the roof with the help of a friend my children sat inside with their fingers tightly crossed. It took about two minutes for them to see that it was clearly impossible for our “dreams” of a yard to be realized. Disappointed, I was expressing my woes to a friend, who just happened to know someone who might want a giant size trampoline and who had a giant sized yard to put it in. This “someone” did want our gigantic trampoline and she was willing to make a trade. Her husband had bought three scooters, one right after the other in a quest to find the perfect scooter. She was pretty unhappy about the three scooters sitting in the garage taking up all that space. She was willing to trade one of her husband’s scooters for our trampoline, a mighty generous trade on her part. If you remember back to those first dark and cold days when Jim and I shared the minivan, you’ll know that we were both happy to make the trade as soon as possible.
Our scooter has been great! It’s practical and has saved us a ton in gas money, parking fees and tolls. But, I have to admit that my favorite part of owning the scooter is “date night.” Once a week, Jim and I hop on the scooter and discover Seoul. We’ve been lots of fun places and the lights and sounds are all the more real out there in the open air. Just last week we went antique shopping in Itaewon and we discovered our new favorite restaurant, Tai Orchid. Itaewon is not my favorite part of Seoul. It’s got a lot of Bars and a real “adults only” feel to it. In spite of its trashy nature, we have been back because of its great antique shops and good food. Itaewon has a reputation of catering to the tourist and in doing so it has lost the class and style of Seoul. In Itaewon I saw the slums and the homeless of Korea for the first time.

What could it be?

Just as I was settling in and feeling at home this guy pulls up and completely demolishes the

apartment building across the street from me.

The demolition was followed by a parade of dumptrucks that where loaded up with rubble. I wondered to myself, "Could I be so lucky? Maybe there will be a new public park built or a neighborhood swimming pool." Of course behind my wishful thinking was a frown of reality--I knew deep down what this meant: dirt, noise, traffic and the big question, "who/what will be my new neighbor(S)??" And all this, just when I had my neighborhood down.

Those big mean trucks worked hard but the construction workers have put them to shame. I've never seen a building go up so fast. In keeping with the spirit of the dry cleaner (also across the street) they work hard and they deliver.

So far, it looks like an apartment building. It's definitely not a pool or a park, (sigh). How high they will build remains a mystery and so does they way they wander around on beams of suspended metal 40 feet up like they are tightrope walkers. I've been tempted to call OSHA several times. One thing I do know: a hammer banging on metal can be very loud and annoying-especially after three hours.

James turns four!

I have to admit that until James was born, I never played an April Fool's prank. On the day that he was born, we called and announced the great news to our family. A common response was, "nice joke". We weren't joking.

Now, every April first is James' birthday and part of the celebration is "my joke". This year, his pre-school had asked me to send in a small scrap-book of his life. This was the last picture in the book.

During Christmas we were in limbo. Homeless. Somewhere in the middle of nowhere, yet right in the middle of an international move. I remember feeling like I had been lost in some kind of vacuum out in space as I sat on the airplane and imagined where in the world I was. I still wake up sometimes and look out my window at all of the unfamiliar sights and feel a bit of panic. I’m so far away! From what? I guess from familiarity. This experience has taught me how much my nature longs for the familiar.
Needless to say, we had a very small and simple Christmas-our suitcases were bulging with necessities and I was so overwhelmed that poor Santa Clause got locked out when he stopped by, if he stopped by at all. I pretty much ignored the fact that five small children would expect him to come no matter what our circumstances. On Christmas morning, James, being the magic age of three, opened his brown Mater Slippers (Disney’s "Cars"), threw them across the room and sobbed, “I wanted McQueen slippers”. His two other toys were broken by noon and every picture I have of James on Christmas morning is a most pathetic sight. Even this Scrooge vowed to mend my ways after my eight year old sighed, “I guess Santa thinks we were pretty bad this year”.
As James birthday approached, I pulled my bootstraps up to my armpits and set out to find some kind of familiar birthday bash booty. I had to smile when I saw this photo of his birthday. I hope what is said about children being resilient is true. But, if not, I always fall back on the Abraham Lincoln philosophy, “a little hardship makes for strong character”.

Happy Birthday, James! And for those who are confused by the cinnamon rolls for birthday cake, it’s not from lack of a cake mix. My children never want cake. They always conjure up some other kind of goodie, like pie or….cinnamon rolls.

To finish off our party for James, we hiked the mountain just as it was getting dark. I wanted the children to see the lights of the city. This sight never ceases to amaze me, no matter how familiar the city becomes.

Snow? Popcorn?

When I was a senior in high school, my English class studied a poem that impressed me. I was stumped by the author's use of the word snow. I think (but I’m not sure) that this is the poem we studied:

New feet within my garden go

New fingers stir the sod;

A troubadour upon the elm

Betrays the solitude.

New children play upon the green,

New weary sleep below;

And still the pensive spring returns,

And still the punctual snow!

Emily Dickenson

Can you guess what the snow was?

I’ve learned that Korea is famous for its Cherry Blossoms, and rightly so. I’ve never seen anything like it.
"I looked out the window and what did I see?

Popcorn popping on the apricot tree.

Spring has brought me such a nice surprise.

Popcorn popping right before my eyes!"

Oh, These Are The People In My Neighborhood

My first neighbor: "Speedy Delivery"

In Korea, every purchase has the option of free delivery (groceries, furniture, appliances, dry cleaning...you name it) and motorcycles rule the road...they don't have to stop for red lights or pay tolls, they can pretty much park and ride anywhere.

Neighbor #2: "Tan Treats"

This little battery operated tan cart is full of yummy nummys. Anything from hot sausage sticks to cold yogurt. You can find a tan cart on nearly any street in my town. What I find most

endearing about this neighbor is the outfit that matches, right down to the tan hat (can you find hers?)

Neighbors #3 and #4: "After School Hogwan"

The typical Korean child spends at least three hours a day (after school) in some kind of tutorial academy or "Hogwan". We have two brand new "hogwans" on our block. Some of the most common hogwans are math, English, and piano. It is not unusual for a Korean child (six and up) to study more than six hours a day outside of school.

Neighbor #5: "The Wheat Shop"

A fellow bread maker and friend of mine introduced me to this shop that sells whole wheat. It's right around the corner from me! Who knew? Someone once told me, "you can buy anything in Seoul." That may be true, but the trick is finding it.



Neighbor #6: "Mr. Clean"

Right across the street from me is a dry cleaning shop. Every morning at 7 a.m. Jim and I hear him slide his big metal gates to open his shop. During the day when I go out I see him bustling away in his shop, ironing or loading up deliveries. Around 11 p.m, when I am snug in bed, once again I hear the big metal gates. This time they are closing. He is as consistent as the waves of the sea, day in and day out. Everyday, but Sunday. He never works on Sunday.










Neighbor #7: "Sew Nice Mending"

I'm stuck when it comes to mending. I often look the other way during laundry when I see the dreaded hole in the knees. I pretend they're not there but...
So, I figured the dry cleaner did such a nice job on mending up my dolls he could handle the painful job of patching my children's jeans and sewing on a few buttons. He was nice and accommodated me at first, then he started to catch my drift: five children = too much mending. On the day that I took yet another stack of clothes into his shop, he shook his head and pointed me to the end of the street. Around the corner, just a few feet from my front door, is a tailor.
She didn't seem to mind my stack of work. Here's a picture of her sewing table. Can you find it?

Neighbor #8: "Soedaemun Sobongso"

Sobongso in Korean means fire station. We live right up the street from a fire station. Sobongso is one of the first Korean words I learned. It was really useful when it came to getting me home in a taxi.



















Neighbor #9: "Presbyterian Church"

There are two Christian churches on my block. I often see the parking lots full.

Well, these are the people in my neighborhood,
The people that I meet when I walking down the street.
Yes, the people that I meet each day.
(Thank you Sesame Street)