Pilgrimage - Take Two

We loved Bomunsa so much when we went with Joe's parents almost 2 years ago, and we really wanted to take John and Hannah there too.  Last time we went, it was in the fall, and perfect weather.  This time it was HOT and HUMID - but it was still a great day.  We got there quickly and got right onto the ferry out of Oepri. 

Last time we stayed in the car the whole time, but this time we decided to get out and walk around the ferry.  Joseph was so excited, if you can't tell.

Then we went up on the top deck for a better view.

Last time it was too late in the fall for birds, but this time we were SURROUNDED.

They were comin' in for the treats.

As we started the hike up to the temple, we could already tell we were going to be a hot sweaty mess by the time it was all said and done.  We stopped at a spring to get a drink.

 Along the path were the usual prayer rock stacks.

 Joseph told us he had to go to the bathroom, and Joe told him he'd better pray that he could hold it.  The next thing we knew, Joseph had made a "prayer" that he could hold it.

 Then Madelyn made one so she could make it all the way up. (nice Gatorade mustache)

 We made it to the main temple area, and enjoyed the familiar sights.

Hundreds of little jade buddhas. (the buddhas below are sitting on Korean roof tiles - it's hard to see, but some of them have writing on them - you can purchase a tile, write a prayer or wish on it, and then leave it at the temple, with the idea that it will eventually be used on the roof of one of the buildings there)

 Every face is different.

I always love the colors and details.

 Finding another spring.

 Last time we only did the main temple grounds, but this time we wanted to hike up to the upper part of the temple grounds. Way. Up. There.

 This is at the bottom of the staircase that goes to the top.  We're all smiling here, but there are 418 stairs to the top!

 Some of us needed a little help.

 Enjoying the view, and the breeze, about 1/2 way there.  (all the bottles are similar to the roof tiles - you can buy a bottles, write a prayer or wish on a piece of paper, put it in the bottle and tie it on)

 Looking down to the main temple area, and the town below (where we parked), and the seashore beyong that.

 Another view, closer to the top now, you can see how far we've come from the last view, where the dragon statue was (left middle).

 This was a tough hike for everyone, but we all made it!

 Buddha image carved into the rock face of the mountain - very well preserved.

 Another great lookout - time to relax (shoes off on the deck - that's the area for praying - this is supposed to be one of the top 3 places to pray in Korea for buddhists).

 Mission accomplished - headed back down - our legs are a little wobbly.

One more stop at the spring, where we drank and poured water over our heads - then we got slushies and icecream - and then we headed home.  Seriously, our favorite temple in Korea......but I'd recommend going when it's a little cooler;)



My Name is Mud

Joe's oldest brother John is here visiting us with his oldest daughter Hannah (John's wife Joanna is going to be flying in later this week), and we've got a fun week planned.  First up - Boryeong Mud Festival down at Daecheon Beach.  The website said, "Come celevrate with us!"  We didn't know exactly how to celevrate, but we assume it's similar to celebrating, so we went and celevrated;)

We went on the very last day of the festival, and we got there right when they opened.  We went straight to these mud stations, where we all painted ourselves up with mud.

Well, most of us did.  Madelyn didn't want to get muddy.  I (her mother) am telling her to get muddy, and she (the kid) is saying she doesn't want to - does anyone else see the irony in this?  Here's Madelyn pouting because she got a little mud splattered on her.

 And then Uncle John comes to the rescue!  He starts chasing her around, and before you know it, she's more than happy to get muddy:)

It was just pure, child-like fun to get muddy - it's not like you get many chances to do that;)  But when that stuff starts to dry, it gets pretty weird feeling.  Then, when you wash it off, you can still feel this kind of film on your skin, like the mud has gone down into every pore of your body.

 These are the mascots of the mud festival, Muddori and Mudsuni.  They're all over the place.

 We were literally walking in rivers of mud in some places.

Then we went to the children's area, which had huge blow-up slides, and obstacle courses that they called "hardships", hahaha.  (They had an adult area, which had some of the same stuff on a larger scale, plus a few other things.  It cost a little less than $5 for the adult area, and kids 12 and under couldn't get in - we just stuck to the kid's area, and that was great)

 A little later the kids were recruited for their musical abilities....or banging abilities.  Alex was TOTALLY into it - I wish I had a video of him, it was cracking me up:)

 While the three younger kids were drumming away, Cora and Hannah went and got in line to get painted with colored mud.

 We came a few minutes later, Alex ran right up to the front of the line of waiting people, and this Korean lady grabbed him and started painting him.

 I felt bad that he had cut in line, and Madelyn was trying to too, but I told her we would wait at the back of the line.  Before I knew it, a different lady had come to the back of the line and grabbed Madelyn and Joseph, and took them to the front.

 I guess, as the only foreign kids in line, they were too irresistable;)  (Actually, the mud festival has turned quite the attraction to foreigners, and most of the time the foreigners outnumber the Koreans, but the day we went, there were hardly any foreigners there at all - we only saw a handful.  I don't know if it was because it was the last day or what).  Here they are all finished up.

For the rest of the day, we just hung out on the beach.  We rented this beach umbrella, lounge chair and mat. 

I was really proud of myself for talking the guy down in the price - I NEVER do that:)  We brought some sand toys, and everyone pitched in to make....

.....a bathtub?

Madelyn made her own .

Next to us, there were two Korean ladies making these.

 And that was our day at the mud festival. 

Best of all, the cost? FREE!.....except for the beach umbrella......and some sunburns (Re-apply, dang it, Re-apply!)  Oh, and my sweet brother-in-law bought me these.

Mud for my hands, my face, and my TEETH!  I tried the mud toothpaste - it's minty;)

One more thing - we went on a weekday, and this was my picture of the beach.

My friend went on the weekend, and this was her picture of the same exact place!

They had as much fun as we did, but I'm SOOOOOO glad we went when we did!
Stay tuned for a post from North Korea;)

I Don't Understand People

1. I took my kids to the breakfast buffet at Dragon Hill Lodge on base.  The buffet is free for kids who are 10 and younger.  Cora is 11.  I told the waitress that she was 11.  I was surprised when the waitress said, "She looks like she's 10. Why didn't you just say that she's 10?"  I just smiled and said, "Because that wouldn't be honest."  When she handed me the check at the end of our breakfast, the waitress said, "Thank you for your honesty".  She hadn't charged me for Cora.

2. Koreans like cold noodle soups - COLD NOODLE SOUPS!.  I don't understand using those three words together, let alone people who eat them.  There is a very popular cold noodle restaurant in our neighborhood.  The line is often out the door and to the street.  There are constantly traffic jams from people trying to get in and out of their parking lot.  I'm sure that people who go there don't understand how anyone could NOT like cold noodle soup, and clearly I just don't know what I'm missing.  I guess we will continue to scratch our heads at each other;)

3. The other day my friend posted on fb asking if anyone had a box of blue jello.  I had a good laugh when somebody commented, "You could just add green food coloring to a box of yellow jello."  She wasn't joking.  I'm sure that somewhere in the back of her brain she knows that green and yellow do not actually make blue.....at least, I hope she does.

4. I don't understand how single parents do it.  My hats off to them all.  It's really hard.  I'm so thankful to have Joe as my equal partner in raising our children.  When he was gone to Japan, I found myself crying, not for myself, but for those whose husbands will never come home again.

5. Every year they paint our pool with this really cheap blue paint, that bubbles and comes off in chunks by the end of the summer.  This year the paint seemed to be even worse, as it started to bubble as soon as they filled the pool with water, and they had to drain it and repaint.  But even though it isn't bubbling now, the paint rubs off onto your skin whenever you rub up against it.  This can't possibly be healthy, and people have been complaining.  So one Saturday night they drained the pool, and the next day on the base's fb page they posted this.  "Regretfully, we have experienced a technical irregularity in the condition code of the paint within the swimming pool. As a result, effective 1600 PM Saturday, 7 July 12, we will close the pool. The process will require us to drain the pool and conduct repairs. We apologize to all of our residents and their families for any inconveniences this may cause and will do our best to have the pool operational within the week."  Seriously, they actually said technical irregularity in the condition code of the paint.  I commented on the post and said, "Wow, that was a really fancy way of saying they used really cheap and crappy paint."  Yes I did;)  That was TWO weeks ago, and they have yet to fix it.

6. Something that is very much a normal part of society here in Korea are mogyoktangs or jimjilbangs.  They are large, gender-segregated, public bathhouses.  I don't understand wanting to take a bath with a bunch of other women.  I'm sorry, I just don't.  Many of my friends have been to the bath houses, and I've yet to hear a single one of them say that they didn't LOVE it.  Completely naked, having their ENTIRE bodies scrubbed down by little old Korean women, until they are soft and pink all over.  Relaxing and invigorating all at the same time, so they say.  I know they don't understand my reluctance to try it out.  I'm too prudish I guess;)  Plus, I RELISH a good hot bath, but it is ME-time.  I'm selfish.....I want it all to myself.

7. A while ago, one of my friends got into a fender-bender.  If you get into an accident here, you want to call the American MP's, for translation purposes, as well as legal protection (for reasons which will be apparent in my next sentence).  The Korean police showed up first, at this particular incident, and one of them actually asked my friend to blow into his hand so he could see if she was drunk.  Yep, his hand.  Luckily, my friend is no dummy;)

8.  I don't understand people who join the Navy............JUST KIDDING MOM!!!:)
9. I could easily do a whole post on this subject, but I'll try to keep it short.  I really don't understand........that is, I am bothered by.........you see, I am deeply concerned about the new trend of, what I consider, soft-core porn "literature" that's being produced and sold, particularly to women.  I'm not talking Harlequin romance-type books, I'm talking about.....well, I don't think I need to start naming titles.  But here's the thing - reading sexually explicit material, even in SMALL doses here and there, is very dangerous!  "Over time your body becomes conditioned to self-stimulation and gratification. It’s not just a preference. It’s physiological. The lust cuts a literal pathway in your brain tissue that’s kinda like a rut. A rut you better be prepared to get stuck in. While at first a little bit of erotica might give you a taste for your spouse, overtime that rut reminds you how great you are at self-stimulation and how powerful your imagination can be."  Dannah Gresh  One defense/justification that I keep hearing women use is that when they read the sexual parts, they think of their husbands, so it actually helps their relationship with them.  Sorry, but even if you're THINKING about your husband, it's NOT your husband that is stimulating you - it's the book.....it's yourself.  Self-stimulation in ANY form is not okay, and will eventually damage your relationship.  And really, are you looking to just be turned on, or would you rather have a deeper, even spiritual, intimate connection with your spouse?  You can't have the latter with self-stimulation.  "The landscape is cluttered with shiny things masquerading as pathways to authentic intimacy..." Julie Sibert  Another defense/justification is that the book (or movie) is actually a really amazing and moving story, and the sex parts are insignificant to the whole of the book, or that's not what the book is really about anyway.  That reminds me of the joke that people read Play Boy for the great articles.  I guess it could be true.  After all, even Farenheit 451 was published in Play Boy
[stepping off soap-box now]

10.  I don't understand why I feel like I have to have 10 things in order to complete my list of things...

Yes, I Smell Like a Man

Joe had a six week training course he had to attend in Okinawa, Japan.  It was hard having him gone that long.  Separations are never easy, whether they're one week or one year, and we've done them all - luckily, not often.  I get into bad habits, like staying up way too late at night.  I do various things that remind me of him thoughout the day, like playing a certain song he always listens to.  I may have even used Joe's body wash a time or two, even though it makes me smell all manly;)  We got through it.

It wasn't exactly fun for Joe either.  Lot's of homework every night, a tiny little, run-down dorm room, and no home-cooked meals.  One nice thing that happened, though, was he discovered that we had friends there, who we had lost contact with.  They not only took him to church each week, but made him a few goodies, and took him sight-seeing a few times.  THANK YOU to the Tucketts!!!  I'll let Joe tell you about his adventures himself.

Joe here.  Japan was hot and muggy, more than I expected, even more than Korea.  There were a LOT of things to do and see over there. They have some really cool war sights, and underground command posts from World War II that I wanted to see, but just didn't have enough time.  I did get to go snorkeling at a place call Mida Point with my friend, Jared.  People say that Okinawa has some of the best snorkeling and scuba diving in the world.  It was really amazing.  The picture below isn't at Mida Point, but it's near it. 

Jared also drove me around the island a lot, just looking around.  It is very green and lush - LOTS of jungle.

The military has several very nice recreational camps there also, right on the beach, where families can stay for pretty cheap in these little bungalos.  (Ruth here - I really wish that we had been able to go over there for a week and stay with him, but it just didn't work out:(

Jared also took me to see the aquarium there, which is the 3rd largest aquarium in the world (or so I was told), and they are the only aquarium that has ever been able to keep whale sharks alive in captivity - the tank they keep them in is HUGE! 

We also saw a dolphin show that was for free.

The food was really good, and I even discovered that I like Japanese curry.  (Ruth here - I've been trying to get Joe to like curry for years!)  It's wasn't my favorite dish, but it was good.  They have all sorts of dishes that you can order with curry.  At one restaurant called Coco's, a curry house, they had curry ranging in spicy-ness from 1 to 10 - the higher the number, the darker the curry sauce, and the spicier it is.  One of the guys in my class got a 3 and was sweating profusely.  I wanted to see what it was like to try the spiciest one - I only had so much time in Japan, and I didn't want to work my way up to it, so I decided just to go for broke.  It was definitely the spiciest thing I've ever had, and I was sweating a little, but I ate it all and like it:)  (Ruth here - I think my kids really liked this story, because they love the show Man vs. Food, and it was like a real-life episode with their dad!)

One of my favorite foods over there, oddly enough, was a taco rice dish that is very popular in Okinawa, which doesn't seem Japanese at all, but it was really good.  They also had a bunch of A&W eateries around - not on the base, but just out in town.  You can't find rootbeer anywhere in Korea, which doesn't make my kids happy.

It was fun and interesting to be there, but I am sooooo glad to be back with my family!

Cake Walks are Rigged

We've been listening to Junie B. Jones books on CD whenever we drive in the car - Madelyn got them at the library.  Even though this series first came out in 1992, you can tell it's from a perspective of somebody who went to elementary school before then.  She talks about "moon-walk tents" - if you grew up in the 80's, you'd know that's what we used to call bouncy-houses.  She also talks about oh-so-stylish high-tops.  Those were the days;)

In one of the books, Junie B's school has a carnival, and she participates in a cake-walk.  I was reminded of an annual affair at my own elementary school, and the cake-walks we had.  It occurred to me how different cake-walks are today, compared to when I was a kid.  We would have about a dozen cakes, maybe two dozen cakes - and that was for a school with a few hundred children.  You were indeed lucky if you won one of those cakes, and it was very exciting.  At a cake-walk these days, you are more likely to see cupcakes and cookies...a lot of them...enough so that every child participating can walk aways with a little something. 

When did it all change?  When did cake-walks become rigged?

You see the same kind of thing happening everywhere now.  Sports teams, where every child gets a trophy.  At the scout derby every boy gets a made-up award, like "Best Angry Bird's car" because they decorated their car with an angry bird - Seriously?  At school they avoid competitive games, even at Field Days....and when there is a competition, with an actual winner (gasp), they are sure to give everyone some kind of peace offering, and repeat over and over, "EVERYONE is a winner!  There are no losers."

As a parent, I know how difficult it is to see your child fail and feel disappointment, but things have just gotten way out of hand.  We can't be afraid of letting our children feel badly.  It is OKAY for children to fail!  It is OKAY for children to feel disappointed!  And we are doing them a disservice when we try to shield them from it.  We need to teach them, and give them the tools to deal with failures and disappointments. It's in learning to deal with the smaller failures and disappointments as a child that they learn to deal with the bigger ones as an adult.  Not only that, but we need to teach them to be happy for other people's accomplishments, and not jealous.

There are going to be a lot of kids out there who grow up, interview for a job one day, not get the job, and think, "You mean, they don't hire EVERYONE?!"  No.  No, they don't.

Of all the cake-walks I ever participated in, I only remember winning a cake one time.  I think I turned out okay.  I never really liked cake all that much anyway;)