Welcome sign to the city of Uijeongbu, taken through the bus window.

We have now been in country for 12 days! We spent most of this last week looking for an apartment. It is a bit of a tedious process involving waiting for real estate agents to pick us up at the gate and show us various properties. But we persisted and we think we hit just the right combination - Hooray! However (this move seems to be full of "however"), the current tenants, who were supposed to vacate this week so we could move in next Monday, are now in some sort of monetary dispute with the landlord and the rental agency. Real estate transactions in Korea seem to have some interesting aspects which, of course, we don't understand at all. So, we are keeping our fingers crossed that all will turn out well and there will be no delays - we will post progress when it is made.

Layden got to spend Saturday hiking on beautful Dobangsan mountain, a part of Bukhansan National Park. This park is located at the edge of Uijeongbu. His hiking buddy is Rob, the son of dear family friends. Rob is here for a year teaching English. He was a great source of tips, hints and tricks for getting around in South Korea and we are looking forward to more ventures under his guidance.

The water pouring in sheets off the roof of the restaurant is typical of monsoon downpours - but the hike went on as soon as the rain lessened.

The park is full of temples, statues and the sound of bells. Here is a golden Buddah and a temple wall with a fierce-looking guardian. Below is a turtle. Sarah doesn't know exactly what these are yet, but she is anxious to expand her knowledge of art history and find out.

Goodbye Louisiana.....

 Real swamp alligator - one of our last impressions of Louisiana!

Hello South Korea!

We left Louisiana on the evening of July 6th and arrived early in the morning (3:40) of July 8th. Somewhere during the long and tedious flight over the Pacific ocean we lost the 7th - our anniversary - and a lot of sleep. But we did not lose our Dash cat - he made it through several security checks and customs with no problems, though he is quite annoyed with us, especially since he has to stay in the kennels until we get settled.

Pictures of us IN the airport have mystically vanished into cyberspace, but here is the Incheon airport, though it had a lot less people in it at 4 a.m.

The US base in Seoul, Yongsan, has everything a military family could want - good housing, great PX, big commissary, library, pools, fitness centers, arts & crafts, gift shops, hospital, vet clinic and more - all inside the gate with the city of Seoul literally at the doorstep. Very convenient. We, however, are not there. Layden has been assigned as the Deputy Division Chaplain for 2nd Infantry Division. This unit is headquartered at Camp Red Cloud, which is in the city of Uijeongbu, north of Seoul. Very charming but it is NOT convenient. Very tiny PX - more like a shoppette. Itty bitty commissary. Tiny library - well, you get the picture. And there is no on-post housing. So, we have spent the last few days getting over jet lag, getting registered in the ID system, and house hunting. Most of what is available to Americans here is in high-rise apartment blocks. Nice but on the small side, with little kitchens and tiny bathrooms. We will keep you posted on this part of the adventure. We are looking forward to getting out of Army lodging and into a place of our own.

The view from Army lodging looking out at the city of Dungducheon. Among other things you can see an elevated train rail, a bus, a few hazy mountains, a pedestrian with an umbrella, and a lot of rain.

It is interesting to be in a country where we are truly illiterate in the language - can't even read the alphabet! Many Koreans do speak some English, but the accent can be hard to understand. Traffic here is really aggressive and sort of crazy - we don't have a car here yet so we have been going by bus, which I think is a great way to travel. The local currency is called Won, and about 1200 of them make one US dollar. That means our monthly rent is calcualted in the millions!

This is about $16.00




It is monsoon season here, which means days that are hot, muggy and hazy (tho' not to compare with Louisiana) or very very rainy. Day 2 here was so rainy that there was flooding in Seoul. We have already had the chance to try Korean food and we like it! And we have made our first market purchase - BIG Korean
pears. They are crispy and have a slightly spicy flavor.

Yummy!