Life in South Korea

Now we are settling into life in South Korea, while battling the effects of jet lag.  In fact, this entry is written by flashlight during the wee hours of the morning when Denisa can't convince her body that it is time to sleep.  Mark is sleeping well, but has vowed never again to eat airplane food since his stomach has been complaining about it.

We should introduce our hosts for the next two and half weeks.  Our nephew, Brian, works for a large oil company and is on a multiple year assignment here in Dong-gu, South Korea.  We are enjoying spending time with his sweet family.  That would include Brian's wife Alexia, and their children Katrina, Camden, and Cole.  There will be lots of photos on this blog of all of them in the days to come, but this silly one is the only one so far with everyone in it.  Just for future reference, Brian is not a pirate, Alexia doesn't usually wear bow ties, Katrina doesn't really have a mustache, and Camden is not on safari.  Cole does look like himself, but the sun was just too bright to open his eyes.

They live in the Huyundai Foreigners Compound in a bungalow, which we found is another name for a single family house.  We also found that this is quite unusual, as most people in the cities of South Korea live in tall apartment buildings.  They are so lucky to live across the street from the English-speaking school that the two older children attend.  This is our view of the school taken from the porch swing on their front deck.

The youngest son, Cole, goes to a pre-school that is a short walk from home.  The school was once a two-story residence in a beautiful grove of bamboo and tall trees.

That walk to school takes us right by the fruit and vegetable stands that tempt us every day to buy fresh produce.

Alexia had told us that the fruit in South Korea is big and very good, and now we have witnessed it for ourselves.  The apple on the left  is bigger than usual, but it is dwarfed by the bae on the right.  We weren't familiar with the bae fruit, but it is an overgrown cousin of the pear.  Sweet and very juicy, it has now become one of our favorite fruits.

Walking a different direction from home takes us straight up a steep hilly city street.  A couple turns later brings us to a shopping area with local stores and restaurants.  Our favorite stop is to see the breadman.  If we walk here shortly after 10 a.m., we can buy warm bread that is a delicious mid-morning snack.

Living in the foreigner's compound provides a manned gate at every entrance and neighbors that are also ex-pats.  These neighbors are employees of several different corporations from all over the world, so it is a wonderful multi-cultural experience to live there.  We are getting to experience South Korea, but we are also meeting their new friends from all over the globe.  Inside the compound, English is the common language, but many other languages are also spoken here.

They even have started an English church service, where a sermon is streamed from a large Texas church to South Korea.  The name of the church at the foreign compound is "Bloom"--short for "bloom where you are planted."  We attended church there while we were visiting, complete with a chili pot-luck afterwards.  Church services are held in the activity center of the club house.  The multi-purpose room is reserved for church on Sunday mornings, and it was a new experience to worship in a room with a disco ball overhead.