Settling In and Fun Discoveries

Slowly but surely, my feet are starting to find footing in this unfamiliar place. We have been blessed with good people beyond anything hoped or prayed for prior to our arrival. Our sponsoring officer and his wife have gone above and beyond to make sure that we felt welcomed and knew where to find anything we might need. They have picked us up from the airport, introduced us to their friends, driven us here, there and everywhere, let us use their car and even took us to church. We are very grateful to have someone 'adopt' us like family. Before the big move, that is one theme we heard from others who have been stationed here previously: the military community in Korea is like family. I guess when everyone is in the same boat, you tend to cling to one another a little more tightly.

Not only have we been placed with welcoming coworkers of Noa, our realtor, a local Korean, has quickly become very dear to us. The rental system here is a little different: you work with a realtor to find a home and they continue to be there for you, no matter what the problem. Basically, they are the go-between for you and the landlord; any repairs or issues that might arise go directly to the realtor and he takes care of it. When everything is written in a different language and you don't even know how to turn the heat on because you can't read Korean, the person that comes to your rescue is much appreciated. He has been at our house every day since we moved in to check on or fix something. When I was having a particularly bad day last week, he brought me flowers. I don't know all the cultural customs, but I do know that this is going beyond his role as our realtor and for that, I am very grateful.

Flowers from our Realtor

Now that we have a home and we've moved in as much as we can at the moment (the rest of our things hopefully arrive by the end of the month), we have been able to explore our immediate area. This weekend has held many nice surprises. As suggested by our friends, we stopped by to see "The Egg Lady". Not quite sure of the official name, since of course it's written in Korean, but it's a local corner store that does say 'Organic' (in English) on the door so we at least know that much! It seemed to be a great find: 30 organic, local eggs for less than what we saw in the grocery store and lots of other goodies like rice, produce, honey and such. The Egg Lady does not speak English so we were able to practice our three Korean words and lots of gestures! As is a very common custom here for strangers to give children candy, gum or food, she gave NJ a package of rice cakes and we were on our way. Definitely a place I'll be visiting often for our small essentials, as long as I can navigate my way on these Korean roads!

Our package of eggs from The Egg Lady

On the same day, we were able to also stop by what had been described to us as a Korean Target. Little did we know that Lotte Mart would be so much more than that! Here everything is built upward, so the whole store consists of seven stories, with the top four floors being the parking garage. Every shopping floor has something different to offer: First floor for groceries; Second floor for everyday necessities, like a Wal-Mart; Third floor for clothing, like a Macy's. They also have what looked like a spa/nail saloon, photo developing shop and a food court. In the food court I found a glorious discovery: for less than $4, you can sign your child up for two hours of childcare, where they are supervised to play in a large indoor playground. I was sad that it was after all our shopping that we saw this, but NJ still was able to enjoy a little time with the other kids, while I could actually enjoy a dinner alone with my husband!

NJ at Lotte Mart's Play Area, taken through the parent's 'peek window'

Today our new friends took us to the local market, where everything from produce to fish to, of course, kimchi is sold. What an exciting experience to see so many fresh fruits, vegetables and lots of things I didn't even recognize!

 Produce at the Farmer's Market

 NJ sees what he likes!

 Cooking breaded fish

 Lots of Kimchi and other food I don't know!

 NJ practicing on his learner's chopsticks

 SUCCESS!