Seoul + Myeongdong

It's been a long day! We were up and out the door by 7:30. Big thanks to our awesome friend Vanessa for giving us a ride to the train station. We took the train from Pyeongtaek to Seoul station, about an hour away, then got on the subway two stops to Myeongdong. Kasey loved the six weeks he spent in Seoul last summer so he was excited to show me around.

Let's start with the train ride. I bought our tickets a few days ago online to assure we'd have seats once we got on. They don't stop selling tickets. Once they fill all the seats people will just cram in there and sit on the floor, stand in the corner, stand RIGHT next to your seat. Koreans don't really have a sense of personal space, when it's not awkward and you realize it's just a cultural norm for them it can be quite funny. They also use the trains to sleep so everybody is super quiet. Except for 1 1/2 year olds. We tried to keep her quiet with Sesame Street.

Check out that scowl. 

She's been doing that since day one.

ANYWAY

The train stations here (at least on weekends) are nuts. Besides the lack of personal space, Koreans always just seem to be on a mission and in a hurry to get there. There is a fast and slow lane on the escalator and everyone is in the fast lane. When an elevator (or train, subway, bus) door opens there is no waiting for the riders to exit first, its just a cluster of people trying to get on and off. The elderly will cut in front of a line to be the first on. A lady pushed me out of the way today to exit the subway and I'm not even mad about it. It's their culture, how they were brought up, and it's actually interesting to watch. 

Myeongdong was pretty quiet when we first got there around 10:00 but by afternoon it was just a sea of people. It was a really fun day and Kasey spoiled me with some Zara and H&M goodies and a delicious lunch for Mother's Day. He sure is the bees knees in my book.

Seoul station

Streets of Myeongdong before things got real.

All the money of the world.

Korean fashion is interesting sometimes.

Street food everywhere. I'm too chicken to try it because I haven't had my Hep A booster haha.

Kimchi ^ and I liked it! The dry salty seaweed..not so much.

Bulgogi

Hot bibimbop is my favorite so far. And that radish kimchi ^ was delicious! 

This picture doesn't do the crowd justice. It was pretty cramped but so fun. You know you're deep in Korea when it catches you off guard to hear English and you whip your head around to find the person. That only happened once today.

She was such a good little traveler today. I only had to change her on a bathroom sink and park bench once because I could NOT find a changing table anywhere. Oh and nurse her in a bathroom stall because yes I'm still nursing for nap time and no I couldn't find anywhere that there wasn't a million people. Neither of us really minded though. Plus, her dad spoiled her with a new pair of shoes too ;) 

Tomorrow will be our first day in our new ward here and we're excited to meet people. Happy Mother's Day weekend! 

Eisley + home sweet home + the 3 and 8 market

First off THANK YOU for all the sweet feedback on my first post! I love to know that you are all following our journey. I wish I could fly each of you here to experience this for yourself! So far we really love it here, so thanks for being so excited for us :)

The little lady who rules the roost.

She's recently learned to say bubbles, shoes, thank you and tries (so adorably) to sing along to twinkle twinkle little star. She also does the actions to patti cake, little bunny foo-foo, folds her arms during prayer and gives thumbs up by pointing her index finger. Her appetite is never ending and her favorite foods right now are avocado, black olives, cheese, raisins, pretzels and any fruit. When her dad crosses his eyes at her she tries to imitate by squinting aaaand it kills me. She is my little shadow around this big empty house and runs to her stroller when I ask if she's ready to go see daddy.

Our realtor showed us 5 different places before we made a decision. Each place had little things we liked but we ended up choosing this one because of the things it had to offer for Eisley. 

Our front door with a key pad. Most of the homes here have keyless entry. It's nice but usually causes a small panic attack when I "can't find me key." 

Our shoe room where we take off our shoes and store them in the cabinets on the left. We also store our stroller here.

Looking into our living room from the shoe room.

Disclaimer: our house is EMPTY except for a few things the Army has lent us. Our shipment of household goods is STILL in California and I'll update these photos when our stuff comes at Christmas time the end of summer. (hopefully)

The guest bathroom.

Looking out from the guest bathroom to the living room. There is a guest bedroom on the right of the bathroom but it's empty so it's not pictured.

Our balcony right off the living room is enclosed and the windows can be opened. This was something we liked for Eisley. She can play out here no matter what the weather is like. We can't wait to lay down some play rugs and foam mats and put all of her toys out here. We've also thrown around the idea of starting a small garden at the end of the balcony. 

Our kitchen looking in from the living room. 

The small oven! 

Our laundry room with a wonderfully big drying rack and big windows to air out.

Eisley's room.

Her walk in closet. This was another plus for Eisley, for obvious reasons. It's adorable, am I right?

The hall between E's room and ours has some pretty Korean decor.

Our room.

Our far wall is full of these cabinets with great storage. 

Each cabinet has a different arrangement of shelves, drawers and hanging space. OCD paradise.

I love our wall paper. (and my little sleepy girl)

Little vanity area in between our bedroom and bathroom.

Our bathroom.

The view from our laundry room.

There is a market in downtown Anjeong-Ri on the days that end in 3 and 8. The 3 and 8 market. My friend Christine, Eisley and I went to it today. It's like a farmers market back home x 1,000. Here's a photo dump of that :)

"Suicide road" that we live off of.

10,000 won = about $9.15 = too dang much for watermelon. I don't care how good it is. They'll be cheaper once they're in season. 

Live octopus anyone? They wrap around the man's hands when he's putting them in bags! Which means they'd wrap around my hand which means I'm NEVER getting them.

Dried fish for soups maybe?

This lady was so sweet. They take great pride in their produce.

I bought a cute little succulent from this man for 2,000 won which is about $1.83. 

Live sting ray...or something?

My succulent I bought! I'm trying to collect house plants to help purify the air in our home. So far I have this and a "mother-in-law's tongue" plant.

We're taking the train to Seoul tomorrow to explore and do some shopping for Mother's Day. I'll be sure and take lots of photos! We love and miss everyone back home.