We're Here!

So I promised a lot of people that I'd start a blog when I moved to South Korea and I've successfully put it off until now :) Lucky for you!

The plane ride went better than expected, a little sleep deprivation but overall the kids did great.  They didn't complain about their ears hurting like I was worried about or get too crazy.  They lived on snacks for most of the 24+ hour trip because they wouldn't touch the food served to them on the plane.

We live in the Hyundai Foreigners Compound.  It's a gated facility for expats consisting of several apartment buildings, bungalows, HFS (hyundai foreign school) and a clubhouse.  It's fenced and has guards stationed at the entrances for security. There are a few playgrounds throughout the  compound, the one in the picture below is just down the hill from the building we live (Y block).  You can see the building in the background if you look closely.

The boys are thriving here.  They go school 3 hours/day monday through friday.  Their teachers are wonderful and they are learing a lot.  I haven't heard any complaints of missing Texas.  I honestly think Jackson had a harder time when we moved from our house on Monteith to the one on Owens Creek :)

We recently went to the Ulsan Whale festival which celebrates - you guessed it - Ulsan's whaling history.  It can be a bit controversial because whale fishing isn't exactly smiled upon now - - we didn't eat any whale.  Overall it was a nice family outing learning about its history.  We flew rockets, participated in the parade, and did some cool sand crafts.

Church here is very different.  The ward we are in is non-English speaking so that's been a little difficult.  The closest English speaking ward is about 1 1/2 to 2 hour drive.  I'm sure we'll make the drive at least once--maybe every Sunday after that if it suits us better.  For some reason I got very emotional being there. It was hard to sit through sacrament meeting where I didn't understand a single word spoken.  Here's an interesting fact - the missionaries here can't shake women's hands.  I made that mistake and was quickly told that it's not done here.  In fact, I don't think any of the men here shake hands with women.