Back to school night

Wow, is back to school night a bit more involved here.  It lasted two hours and we met with Grant's 3rd grade teacher Mr. Dumelie, who is originally from Canada and has been teaching in California for the past few years.  We then went and met with all the specialist.
Drama
Music
Library
PE
Art
Korean
He has one or two of the above specials every day.
His Korean class is just for those third graders who aren't native to Korea.  There are only three boys in his class  and his teacher is great.  Here was one of his first projects, to write his name in Korean.

Craigs list & fire/police

So apparently craigslist is a big deal here in Korea so we thought we would give it a whirl.  Turns out tons of people come and go from the Seoul area, most are turning out to be students and teachers.  We have recently acquired an iPod speaker doc, shelf unit and a love seat.  The nice part is everything is in great shape and all the electronics are 220v with two prong Korean plugs, which I'm telling you are hard to find at times.

So during my most recent journey to Incheon to pick up the love seat and shelf I noticed that the fire trucks, and many police cars, drive around with their overhead lights on all the time.  Not sure if it means they are going on a call, since they stop for lights and no one moves out of the way, or that is just how they do it when they drive around.  But one of the fire trucks caught my attention.  It seems that the saying, "What do cops and firefighters have in common... they all want to be firefighters" isn't always true.  Apparently this fire crew wants to be dog handlers.  K9 cops rock!!!

The Korean letters translated are nine trillion.  119 is the emergency number here like 911 in the states

Our first day trip

We hooked up with another couple, Jessica (teacher at Chadwick) and John (another trailing spouse as I am).  this weekend and headed off to an island called Deokjeokdo.  Had to hop a passenger ferry at 8:30am from the port of Incheon.  It was about an hour sail and boy was it interesting.  There were bikes, coolers, SCUBA gear, fishing poles, people and BEER.  Folks were drinking beer left and right on the ferry ride over.  John and I weren't sure what was going on but it was way to early for us.  Once we arrived we grabbed a wild cab ride around the island and arrived at Seo Po Ri Beach.  The beach was empty as can be when we arrived but by the time we left, 3:00, it was quite busy.  Had a great time and will definitely go back.  Grant took his new friend Yusuf and John and Jessica have a little boy named Finn. The kids loved the water, much warmer than we expected, and we spent all day in the sand.

Beer Festival

Now don't get to excited, as myself and others did.  Long story short.  Free admission, tons of food, entertainment and beer at the Convention Center here in Songdo.  Walked over with a group from the school and purchased our 10,000 won voucher.  Voucher got you 5 domestic beers, or 3 imports.  Imports weren't imported from very far.  Heineken was the best they had.  After putting down a few CASS, which are very local and very warm, a god came from heaven and arrived with this....

May have been warm but was worth it.  Well almost, cost 10,000won (approx. $10 US)

The streets of Korea

Oh my... what an adventure I had yesterday, Thursday.  Lets start with a photo to give you an idea.

Yes, that is a car with a fancy GPS guidance contraption.  I had to venture to Incheon to see a physical therapist at INHA University Hospital. (whole other story that I'm not going to get in to)  

When I went Tuesday it was the crazy subway and taxi ride I wrote about earlier.  Well friends of ours, the Camerons, who are both staff at the school, said take the van, we don't need it.  I figured a 15 minute drive vs, 1 1/2 hours on bus, taxi one way, I'll drive.  Good thing I got my international drivers license before we left.

Surprisingly it wasn't to bad.  No wrong turns, got there on time and didn't seem to make anyone angry.  So all in all it was a success.  After school I ran another family back there and that run I started to fit in with the local drivers a bit more.  I'm going to have to take it in small steps.

On another note we had another "Firsts" in Korea.  G and K were at a new playground next to our complex and I walked up to get Watson.  As I was walking through our complex I saw one of the Korean neighbor girls.  She smiled at me and then her eyes lit up and she started yelling, "Watson, Watson, Watson" in here broken English. I still have people jump to the side, hug the wall and pray they aren't going to be........ Well I don't know what they are thinking, as we walk by, but the kids and some of the adults are starting to take a liking to him.  And I'm pretty sure he is loving all the attention.

So It's Friday today and not sure what the weekend holds for us.  We are thinking a day trip to a local island and beach. There is a beer festival starting tonight, just a few blocks away.  I'm sure myself and a few of the other dads will be walking that way.

Just a day

Not much new to report today.  I took a trip to Incheon by subway yesterday.  Once I arrive I had to grab a taxi.  I have to say the Taxi drivers here are the nicest I've ever met.  So my 10 minute ride from the subway station cost me 3,700 won.  (approx. $3.70 US).  So I give the guy a 10,000 won bill, since I already knew what was coming, and he gave me change.  He handed me 6,000 back in cash and was digging for the 700 ($0.70) change.  In the states my $10 would have been gone and never to be seen from again.  I told him not to worry about it and I think he may have been offended.  (I don't think tipping is done anywhere around here)  

My second taxi ride for the day was a bit farther.  Driver quoted me 10,000 won.  As we were driving down the street we hit 10,000.  He said, "Guess I was off a bit", shut off the meter and drove me another five minutes to my destination.  10,000 won upon arrival.  What more can I say then WOW!!!

The weather is turning a bit.  On 78 degrees today with a great breeze.  Apparently yesterday was the "last day of heat" and now we move into the comfortable weather until November.  Guess it gets really cold then.

Hope everyone is doing well.  If you have questions about anything please feel free to leave a comment and I will get to them shortly.

Until then,

Cheers (as many of the teachers around the school say.  I'm digging all these new phrases :-)

So a bit about Korea and time. I get up Sunday morning, it happens to be before everyone else so I take Watson out for a walk and swing by the pastry/coffee place about 7:00. They are just opening and only 1/10th of the daily treats are out. Okay, no biggie.

Monday, today, I drop grant off at the bus, take Watson for a walk and figure I would venture to Incheon on the subway to a home goods store. I have a parents meeting at 12:00 so I figure no problem. I get there by 8:45, no wrong turns and a keen sense of direction, just to discover they don't open until 10:00.

I walk around the area and nothings open. Seems that things don't get rolling around her until 9:30-10:30. Good thing to keep in mind on my next adventure out.

However I did make it to the Incheon Culture and Arts Center. Pretty cool and there were parks on both sides to walk around.

Sunny Day

Movie quote....  Name it if you can, and no Mike it's not Die Hard 3.

Peach: [yawns] Morning. It's morning, everyone! Today's the day! The sun is shining, the tank is clean, and we are gonna get out of...
[beat]
Peach: [gasps] The tank is clean.
[yells]
Peach: The tank is clean!

So we looked out the window this morning and it is no longer gray, foggy and misty, it is clear, blue sky and the sun is everywhere.  With all the windows in our flat it made me
think of the above quote so I had to share.

Here is more on Watson.

He is happy to be here but still suffering from a bit of jet lag.  A couple of tosses of the kong, after doing the 5 flights of stairs, and he is paste.

The three of us took him for a short walk last night and I had to run in to the store.  Kelly waited outside with Watson.  When I came out I was following a nice Korean couple.  They stopped at the door way to check their bag and the man looked over at Kelly and smiled.  He took two steps, looked down, saw Watson laying there, jumped, let out a scream like an award winning horror flick scream, and i'm pretty sure I saw pee drizzle out of his pant leg.

It took his wife a minute to calm him down and then he seemed okay.  Oh man did we laugh, after we were out of ear shot of course.
  
Needless to say he has gotten many double take looks but also many people who come up and want to pet him.  As Rob put it, Japan survived King Kong and Godzilla so I'm sure Korea will survive Watson.

Again thanks to all that helped get him here, we really appreciate it.

Watson

Long story but I'll keep it short.
Watson left CA at 3:00am Korea time and landed at 3:23pm Korea time.
Had to be at cargo shipping company's office at 5:00pm.
Was there 5:15.  Paid fees waiting for last of paperwork.
5:30 Quarantine department's computer dies, may be fixed by 6:00 but dinner break is 6:00-7:00 so maybe not.
Came back at 5:55, paper work is all there, Customs office now closed for dinner, and customs hadn't cleared him.
Me, friend who took us to airport, his son and Grant are starving.  Drive to Terminal and grab dinner.
Meet the Brazilian youth soccer team (12 year olds in training for the pros)  Very cool, they are playing in a tournament in Korea this week.
Back to cargo office at 7:10, still no customs paperwork.  Cargo guys rides with us to customs, works his magic and gets paperwork stamped.
Back to cargo office, 7:45.  Get forms for warehouse.
Cargo guys leads way to warehouse on the other side of cargo terminal.
Go inside give lady forms, she asks for money I give it to her and she disappears with paperwork.
Go outside and walk into huge!!! warehouse.  Guy on forklift comes out of elevator with enormous crate and Watson.
Happy reunite.
Stuff in car, drive home, back by 8:45.  Tired

First Day of School

Hooray, well I guess that depends on who you are.....

Today was the first day of school for Grant at Chadwick International.  It was also Kelly's first day with her new students, all 15 of them.

Ready to go!!!!

First official bike ride to school

We made it, only about a 12 min ride

Grant appears to know where he is going

Quick stop by Mom's room to say "good morning "안녕하세요 

Yep, 3A Mr. Dumelie is your teacher.  He is from Canada and it's his first year teaching at Chadwick

Dude is ready to go.  And this is his friend Finn in the back ground

So after school today, which was a half day and over at noon, Grant and I went out for a lunch of his choice.  We made it to a restraunt in Dream City that we had no idea what it was called.  Had to take our shoes off, sit on the floor and no one spoke English.  Ordered bolgogi (not sure spelled right) and we loved it.

Whats that buzzing sound?

We spent the weekend getting things all ship shape around the flat.  Kelly worked her magic on the den and playroom and I have a great place to do my bills, research and watch cartoons, while Grant is totally set up in lego land/playmobile central with toys galore.

Since we have been hear we keep hearing this very loud buzzing sound.  We were all sure it was a bug of some sort but could never find one.  Well....... as Grant and I were constructing a very complex lego boat in lego land we heard the sound quite close, and discovered the source hanging on our screen door.

Holy Cow!!!! it was huge.

So today is the last day of summer vacation for Grant as school starts tomorrow.  He and I spent the afternoon taking an adventure on our bikes and then playing with all of the toys in the playroom.  Kelly promises to be home by 5:15, especially since the last bus for the night leaves school at 5:00.  Early to bed and first day of school pictures to come tomorrow.

WATSON UPDATE-
Thanks to Rob he left Portland Sunday afternoon and is spending the evening at a pet hotel in San Francisco.  He then departs CA at 11:00am on Monday morning Portland time and arrives at 3:00pm Korea time on Tuesday, about an 11 hour flight.  Grant and I will be waiting at the airport for him with a ride from one of our new Chadwick friends.  I'm sure he will be quite happy to get out of that crate.  I will keep you posted on his progress.

Dude... What's that on your tongue?

It's Friday of week two in Songdo South Korea.  Kelly is wrapping up meetings at school as the kids all arrive for their first day on Tuesday the 16th.  I was in the room this morning helping her adjust some desks and at least three other teachers came by the room to look at her marvelous setup.  Many compliments came her way as she has a great knack for putting together a fabulous classroom.  Way to go Kelly.

After that I helped at Kids Camp and joined them on an outing to the convention center where there were some of the biggest bouncy houses and inflatable play structures I've ever seen.  There was a cool magic show and ice cream treats for all.  Way cool.

On a side note.  Watson is due to fly out from Seattle Washington on Monday the 15th and arrive in Incheon South Korea on Tuesday the 15th at 8:50pm.  Look out Korea, the biggest dog you've ever seen is about to arrive.  (PS... Thanks to the BPA for helping fund his trip and to Rob for dog sitting these last two weeks and making the drive to Seattle.)

Now that's a cold Popsicle

Our stuff has arrived

Kelly left Grant and I early this morning to head for school, she has a classroom to get ready for next Tuesday.  G and I took the Chadwick bus and headed in for breakfast.  (The school has been great.  They have provided breakfast and lunch for all the new teachers, spouses and children over the last two weeks.  An no it hasn't been kimchi, fish or rice.  Okay maybe rice here and there.)

After breakfast G headed off for his Kid Camp and I went to help Kelly work on the room.  She is making great progress.  

At 11:45 I headed off for the bus to take the quick ride back to the apartment, or "Flat" as many of the other teachers call it.  Low and behold I went to the right bus stop, got on the right bus, and made it back to the flat in under 30 minutes.  This is a new record for me.  As I made the turn around the corner of the building I see a moving truck.  Yeah!!!!!!  No island time here.  They say they will be there between 1:00-2:00 and they were her at 12:30.  Two hours later all 2320 lbs of stuff we shipped from Portland is unpacked, and gracefully stacked in our 1900 square foot apartment.  Grant came home and what a smile on his face, he was happy to see his toys.

Pictures of the flat to come soon.

Ready and waiting to move our stuff in.  Crown Moving Co. came through. 

Just a quick photo of G&K from our walk through Central Park Saturday

Not sure what to do. Follow-up

Well this is what the "Bing Bong Bing" was all about.  And yes, the wind is still blowing this afternoon, 33+ Kph (20 mph)

First weekend

Sunday the 7th of August was our first day with nothing scheduled or work related to do.  We slept in, had breakfast and went out for a walk.  Weather was nice, about 30 degrees Celsius (86 degrees F) with a breeze.  We headed off and checked out some of the parks near by and an area called Dream City.  After our outing Kelly and Grant headed to the playground down below our apartment and I attempted my first meal.  See below for more details.

This is a big open park with a pond and walking paths across the street from our apartment

Grant and Dad checking out the fish below.  The building to the left of 306 in the distance is ours.

Mom checking out the goofs above

Lunch in Dream City.... The dude loves noodles.

After a hot walk we (Grant) needed to cool off in the fountain at our complex

I'm sure he is laughing at Dad, no way am I going to show you what I looked like

The apartment is plumbed with central vac system.  It's very cool and Grant was a great helper and cleaned up while Dad attempted dinner and Mom got some school work done.

For the cooks of you.  This is the Oven/Broiler/Microwave Combo Unit.  Took me an hour to figure out the directions in Korean and had to call a friend over to walk me through it.  So our stuff from Portland still hasn't arrived and I attempted burgers and very little else.  Lets just say we didn't starve and no one needed to head out and find McDonalds.

And that was our first relaxing day in.... 

Not sure what to do. Part 2

So we have had three more similar announcements in the last few hours.  Still didn't know what they are about until Kelly got an email from the school indicating a Typhoon was on it's way.  Little did we know we were in a hurricane zone.  Guess we know what the "bing bong bing" was all about.  It's not suppose to be to bad, we just have to keep the windows closed.
http://www.wunderground.com/tropical/tracking/wp201111.html

Not sure what to do

So we are standing in the kitchen and all of a sudden we hear a "bing bong bing" come across an intercom in our new apartment, or flat as many of the other teachers call it.  The attention tone is followed by an announcement of some sort, all in Korean.  It goes on for about 60 seconds and Kelly and I say to each other, "I'll bet it's in English next".  We were wrong.  Nothing further from the intercom.  Do we worry?????  We will see. (Hopefully it wasn't an evacuation notice for an approaching tsunami. ;-)

Our place

This is our building.

This photo was taken from our living room window.

Our first steps at Chadwick

Our first look at Chadwick International.

 The elementary school takes up just a small chunk of  the 17 acres the entire campus sits on.  The high school, middle school and sport fields take up the rest.

 Kelly at the beginning of the school tour.  Nervous but very excited

Full size Olympic sized turff scoccer field 

Great places to read, I'm sure this is where I will find Grant quite often

What more can we say.  Grant is in heaven.

We have arrived

Long day, no sleep but we made it to South Korea safe and sound at
6:38 PM local time.

Boarding Asiana 271 to Incheon

We are on the plane. Next post from Korea

Safe in Seattle

This was for all the duck fans.
Boarding time for Asiana flight to Incheon is 2:10pm, departure 2:40.  

And we are off

Six checked bags, two carry-ons and three personal items. It took a bit longer to check in and security was slow. As we walked to the horizon terminal we hear "Hevland party, this is your last call, final boarding".  We walk on the plane, which was the U of O duck plane, and we got the evil eye from all the passengers.  Bye bye Portland, Seattle here we come.