The Roberts in Korea

Eric Clapton

Last Tuesday, January 23rd, Ryan enjoyed an exciting mini-adventure.  Ryan, his friends Jaeyoung, George Zickefoose and others embarked on a journey to Seoul to see Eric Clapton in concert!  At 3:15 pm we all left work, jumped in taxis and headed for the KTX train station.  We boarded a 3:58 pm train to Seoul and arrived in Seoul at 4:47 pm.  We walked to Bennigan's, a nearby restaurant that serves Western food, and ate dinner.  We left Bennigan's at 6:15 pm and headed down, down, down numerous flight of stairs to the unseen world of the Seoul Subway.  The subway is an extremely elaboarate layout of underground trains and tracks that serves  to transport people throughout the city of 14 million people.  The volume of people in the subway halls and on the trains at the 6:00 pm hour was mind boggling to me.  It was like the mass of people that exit Bronco stadium after a football game TIMES TEN!

We found our way on to the correct subway train (thanks to my Korean friend Jaeyoung) and rode for over an hour standing in a tightly packed subway car.  The subway car was so packed full of people that at times when the door would open there seemed no room for a single individual to get on, however they stepped on and pushed into the crowd.

After many subway line changes and many more packed cars we finally arrived at the concert destination--The Olympic Hall.  We got there, found our seats and enjoyed an  incredible night of music by Eric Clapton and his band.  It was a wonderful concert that ended at 10:45 pm.  We exited the hall and descended back into the subway for a 40 minute ride to the Express bus station (the last KTX train runs at 10:45 pm so we planned to take a bus back to Daejeon).  We arrived at the bus station, had a little time for a snack and then boarded the 12:10 am bus to Daejeon.  We arrived back in Daejeon at 1:45 am.  I taxied home to my apartment and was in bed by 2:00 am reflecting on the concert outing.  (I couldn't reflect long because I needed to get to sleep.  I had a 6:30 am meeting at work--I only slept three and a half hours!  Oh well--"If you're gonna be dumb you gotta be tough").  It was a grand adventure, a great time with friends and worth the loss of a little sleep.

A Week

We just finished up the first full week of the new semester.  It was a very full but relatively normal week of work. I find it a little strange that I am using the word "normal" to refer to our week here in South Korea.  A year ago I don't think that the word "normal" would have ever been attached to the concept of our family living and working in a foreign land on the other side of the globe.  Maybe there is no normal day anywhere for each of us.  Each day is a gift to be lived out in the uniqueness of its specific time, place and people.  I hope each one of you are enjoying, to the full, the gift of life today.

A few snapshots of our week include a picture of us walking back to our apartment after Sunday lunch.  Today was a beautiful day in South Korea.  We went to a church held on the TCIS campus and then we walked to a "dongas" restaurant.  At the restaurant they serve all types of breaded meats like, breaded pork cutlet, chicken, beef, and many others.

The other night as we were walking home we saw this truck  loaded down with steamed crabs.  Back home in Boise I might swing by the store and pick up a baked chicken or a pizza for dinner but....a steamed crab?

The Christian churches here in South Korea are all easily identified in the evening by the lighted red crosses at the tops of their building spires.  This is the view from our apartment building window.  The small red dots in the pictures are the red crosses of the  many churches in this part of the city.  I have counted over twenty crosses that are visible from our apartment window.  There are many facets that make up the beautiful gem of South Korea--and none of them are even close to normal.

Earthquake

It was a quiet Saturday evening.  The girls were both getting ready for bed and Dina and I were sitting in the living room reading when suddenly the room began to shake.  Dina and I both looked at each other.  It wasn't huge--it didn't rattle any dishes or knock any pictures off the wall--it just shook the building a little.  Initially I dismissed it in my mind as someone moving furniture in the apartment above us but then I quickly realized that they would have needed to drop a grand piano above us to shake the building in that way.  It was an earthquake--a little earthquake. 

For us foreigners on the 9th floor of an apartment building you might say it "shook us up" a little.  Minutes later my cell phone beeped with a national warning text message, unfortunately it was all written in Korean.  On the text message I could read the date, the time and the numbers 4.4--it was an earthquake of 4.4 magnitude.

An earthquake took place on the Eastern edge of the Korean Peninsula at 8:56 p.m. on Saturday, January 20, 2007.  The earthquake caused no significant damage.  For more info on the earthquake see this link.

The Korean Adventure continues!

Ice Skating--Oops

Last Thursday, Becca, Sarah, and some friends (Alexandra, Korte, Abby, Emily, Anna and Ben) spent the day at the Komdori Land outdoor ice  skating rink.  Sarah and Becca had a blast!  They laughed (and fell), twirled (and tripped), spun (and sprawled), pirouetted (and plopped), and slid (and slammed) their way through a frosty, fun-filled afternoon.  Sarah and Becca both took some pretty hard spills on the ice.  Over the last few days they have both been complaining of sore bottoms and other miscellaneous bumps and bruises.  Sarah hurt her right arm on one of her trips to the ice and the hurting didn't  stop when the skates came off.  In fact, her arm continued to bother her throughout the weekend.

On Tuesday, we decided to have Sarah's arm looked at by a doctor here in Korea (yet another adventure).  Our school nurse wrote out a note in Korean for us to give to a taxi driver.  The note was the address to a doctor's office.  Upon arrival at the office the receptionist greeted us at the door with a smile (our nurse called ahead) and escorted us to the examination room.  After a quick x-ray the doctor concluded that Sarah's arm was not broken but she did injure it.  The doctor prescribed a splint and recommended that she rest her arm for two weeks.

Of course Sarah's first question upon walking out of the doctor's office was, "Can we go ice skating again when I get my splint off?"

Wildlife in Korea

There isn't much wildlife here in Korea.  The other day we were walking through the nearby Hannam University campus and I spotted a magpie and this squirrel with pointy ears.  The squirrel is simply called a Korean Squirrel.  They are commonly found in parks and wooded areas and are distinct in that they have long hairs that grow straight up off of their ears. 

We spotted this other "squirrel" the other day in the Lotteria fast food restaurant (a Korean version of McDonalds).  This  creature puts the "squirrel" in squirrelly.  Dina got a little startled as the squirrel go too close. 

Magpies are very common here in South Korea, in fact they are considered the Korean National bird.  There are statues and pictures of Magpies all over Daejeon.  In Idaho I used to chase the Magpies away from our back yard as they were eating the dog's food right out of her bowl!  In Korean culture a magpie is considered good luck--a bird that delivers good news and invites good people (with their chirping and cawing).  So, think of us here in Korea the next time you see a squirrel or hear the chattering caw of a Magpie.

Winter

Winter is upon us here in South Korea.  Here are some shots of our most recent snowfall.  As most of you know, we do not have our own car here in Daejeon.  We taxi everywhere.  At times it would be nice to have a car.  Yet at other times, like now--it is nice not to have to worry about scraping the windows or driving  on the slick roads.

So far this week, since Ryan's parents left Daejeon, we have done a whole lot of nothing.  We are still on winter break and don't return back to school/work until Monday, January 15.  We have run some errands, visited with some friends and done some odds and ends but for the most part we are just reading, relaxing and hanging out together.  Today we spent most of the afternoon around the dining room table playing cards.  Normallacy is nice once in a while.   Tomorrow we plan to "spend a little time at the office"--making sure that we are ready for the second semester and the students that come along with it.

A Good Visit

We got a phone call yesterday from Mom and Dad Roberts (Leona and Robin--a.k.a Grandma and Grandad) that they arrived safely back "home" in Helena, Montana.  We had a great visit with them here in South Korea.  We are so glad that they came to spend some time with us.  We had a wonderful time hosting them here in our new "home."  We showed them around the city, rode in taxis, took the subway, went uptown and downtown, took them to an amusement park, fed them Korean food, carted them off to Seoul, transported them via the bullet train, made them  walk nearly everywhere, introduced them to our Korean friends, and endeavored to give them lots of "wow'' experiences. As we put them on the plane to come home they said that they had the "time of their lives."  We hope so.  It was our privilege to share a little bit of our life adventure with them and more than once hear them say--"WOW!"

COME VISIT US!!

New Year's Day Excursion

Last week, while Mom and Dad were visiting us, some friends from school called and invited us to accompany them on a New Year's Day trip to a nearby lake.  We were thrilled to be able to tag along on this excursion to a lake just minutes outside the city of Daejeon.  The group of us loaded onto a couple of vans and 20 minutes later we emerged from the towering buildings and never ending asphalt of the city into the beautiful and scenic countryside of South Korea.

It was nice to get out of the noise of the city and to breathe some of the cool, clean winter air.  We didn't do much really--we just took it in--exploring the  water's edge, throwing rocks into the lake and just admiring the distinctive Korean landscape.  We enjoyed our time as we walked across a large bridge that spanned a portion of the body of water.  A few of us even took some rocks out to the center of the bridge with us and dropped them....watching them fall (3 seconds) to the water below.  (Was this legal you ask?  I didn't see any signs prohibiting this behavior.  Or should I say that I couldn't READ any signs prohibiting this behavior.)  Anyway, we had a good time at the lake.

Sidebar thought:  Last year, New Year's Day 2006, I would have never guessed in a million years that I would spend New Year's Day 2007 at a lake in the countryside of South Korea.

Second sidebar thought:  I am just glad that I didn't spend New Year's Day 2007 in a Korean jail for throwing rocks off a bridge.  :)

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!

Christmas Break

Wow, it is hard to believe that Christmas Day and New Year's Day have come and gone already.  We are enjoying our Christmas Break.  It has been a great time as we have had Ryan's parents, Robin and Leona Roberts visiting us here in Daejeon, South Korea.  Robin and Leona flew in from Montana on Thursday, Dec. 21 and  have been having the time of their lives.  We have been keeping them busy with many activities and adventures. 

We have taken them out to many different Korean restaurants and they love the food.   It was great to celebrate Dina's 29th birthday (+12 years) with them along with Christmas and New Year's Day.  We have taken them shopping, sight seeing, and Norae bonging.  Last weekend we all jumped on the KTX bullet train and headed to Seoul for the weekend.  In Seoul, Robin and Leona visited the Seoul Tower, the Yoido Full Gospel Church, the Korean War Memorial Museum and a Korean musical program called Nanta.

It has been a busy and fun time having Mom and Dad Roberts here--lots of walking and taxi cabs.  Robin is getting pretty good at some Korean words and Leona has the Korean money figured out and has been spending some Won on Korean souvenirs.

Today, we didn't do any sight seeing but we had a great time.  Robin and Leona love football and today was a treat as we were able to connect with the FOX  network this afternoon (remember it is Jan. 2 for us) on the computer and watch the Fiesta Bowl.  What an amazing football game.  GO BRONCOS!!

Happy New Year to all of you, our precious friends and family.