Laugh Out Loud

These things are true: 
Today has not been my best Korean day. 
I do my best to stay positive on the blog, and it is usually very easy. 

But today...A person delivering a previously ordered product hung up on me not once, not twice, not thrice, but four times because he couldn't understand me (and I couldn't get the clue,"An-yah-say-oh...Shelby Crockett. Seongbuk-dong. Delivery...!?")

No matter. This isn't my first lost-in-translation rodeo. 

I thought absolutely nothing of bundling up my child, driving down to the Multicultural Center, handing my iphone and proof-of-payment receipts to a bi-lingual Korean stranger and directing them to explain what I could not.  All the while, my kid ran around the lobby exclaiming "hot!" to all that he encountered as he passed out animal crackers to each and every plant. Totally normal.

But we got it done. Hang up on me all you want, but delivery is tomorrow at Noon. Take that, Korea.

Maybe that's why the following facebook post from a local Korean Magazine made me laugh out loud. It may be totally lost on you, dear reader, but this is my cathartic blog entry and so here we go... (I was going to write "this is my cathartic blog entry and I am in charge"--harsh! Like I said, it's been that kind of day).  Anyway, I found myself "liking" every other comment because, well, this is our life!

It's just what I needed to make today "funny."  Thank you, 10 Magazine!

10 Magazine

You know you've lived in Korea too long when.... (please finish the sentence.)

3Like · · Share

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  박다안 you say Aishiii instead of shit

  
  
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  Moony Holiday Tea when somebody bumps into you say sorry you look at him/her with a face expression like "what the...did you just say sorry?"

  
  
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  Lauren Donnison You crave kimchi jiggae for breakfast

  
  
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  Ian Woodcock No food is complete unless it includes garlic.

  
  
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  Hayley Wong you say 'yaa!' to everyone and everything!

  
  
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  Hilary Dumas When you say "This is no" and other ridiculous grammar modifications in your daily speaking.

  
  
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  Michele Farley-Photography You no longer remove your coat when you go indoors...

  
  
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  Ashley Cheeseman You raise two fingers (in a V) every time a camera is pointed at you

  
  
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  Daisy Larios Preciado You stop using articles when speaking english

  
  
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  Paul Surette You think nothing of raising one leg and then the other at the urinal so that the cleaning lady can mop the floor.

  
  
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  Joseph Eleazer Spitting, smacking while chewing and other barbaric etiquette by Western standards doesn't bother you so much.

  
  
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  Andy Hume you keep asking people their age, and when they answer you ask, "Korean years or American years?"

  
  
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  Rick Michael Dysinger You have a female President and you remember when women didn't work.

  
  
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  Brooke Yay you are comfortable putting on makeup in the subway mirrors, and openly taking pictures of yourself

  
  
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  Colin Owen Griffin You refer to yourself as an ajumma or ajeossi...

  
  
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  Michelle Buenavista You use scissors to cut pork and beef at barbecue:p

  
  
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  Stephane Mot you absent-mindedly answer in Korean to your rice cooker or house alarm each time they tell you something

  
  
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  Michelle Grover you make sure youre not wearing holy socks in case u have to take off ur shoes...

  
  
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  Dee-Ann R. Mesias when you visit other countries and notice other Koreans on the street.

  
  
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  Laura Stansfield Facebook and CNN( not to mention 10 Magazine ) are your lifelines to the English-speaking world...

  
  
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  Jeff Mixson everytime you meet somebody you give a thumbs up and enthusiastically tell them they are handsome

  
  
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  조나 Always do things very fast!

  
  
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  Laura Stansfield You know the streets, shops, and restaurants of Itaewon like the back of your hand...

  
  
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  Gregory Defraize You miss kimchi sometimes

  
  
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  Gregory Defraize Or when you land at Incheon and feels like going back home

  
  
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  조나 Cooking rice with beans.

  
  
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  Diana Lim using ㅋㅋㅋ in chat and text messages... ㅋㅋㅋSee Translation

  
  
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  Angelina Foss ask "What's your Blood type?"

  
  
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  Gavin Rua you don't notice the drunk businessmen holding hands

  
  
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  Derek Iwanuk You start to become used to ice cold water coming from public faucets when you wash your hands.

  
  
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  Jkea Pains you answer this question

  
  
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  Chad Geib You know who Stephen Revere is

  
  
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  Patrick J.Cloutier When you eat 오징어, 멸치 and 미역국 for breakfast and you are the first one to finish! ㅋㅋSee Translation

  
  
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  Daisy Larios Preciado you say kkk on facebook in place of hahaha or lol and are too lazy to say ㅋㅋㅋ and all your american friends think you are referring to the KKKSee Translation

  
  
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  Laura Stansfield You can't remember your last phone call and get asked out on dates via KakaoTalk...

  
  
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  Sheeninagans Kelly when you look at your cornflakes and think wow this really is a weird thing to eat for breakfast

Tomorrow is going to be a good day.

:)sbc

Toy Story

After the day is done and Natey is upstairs dreaming, Kyle is busy downstairs setting the stage for the next day's toy adventure.

The displays are detailed and intricate, not to mention putting some otherwise forgotten toys back on center stage. The only thing more fun than watching Kyle design and build (or is he playing?!) is watching Nathan discover it all the next morning.

I think my mom is right--Kyle is very much a kid at heart.

:) sbc

The DMZ

To start our little Christmas "staycation," we toured the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ). I am so glad we went, but it is something I don't care to repeat anytime soon. It's a strange mix of tragedy, posturing, counter-posturing, and denial. Everywhere you look (or are allowed to look), you see two things: CCTV cameras and evidence of the North one-upping the South:

Flagpoles
In the 1980s, the South Korean government built a 323 ft tall flagpole with a 287 lb South Korean flag in Freedom Village. The North Korean government responded by building what was then the tallest flagpole in the world at 525 ft with a 595 lb North Korean flag in Propaganda Village, in what some have called the "flagpole war." The flagpole was superseded as the world's tallest, following the construction of the flagpole in Baku's National Flag Square at 531 ft. Both flagpoles have recently been topped by the Dushanbe Flagpole in Tajikistan, at 541 ft.

If we were told once, we were told a thousand times--do not verbally or non verbally engage any military personnel from the North. No talking. No smiling. No waving. No thumbs up, no thumbs down, no middle finger. Any conduct would likely be captured on camera and used in propaganda that the North creates to show their people. Propaganda Village in North Korea can be seen from the DMZ...only it's not a city at all, it is home to no one and the buildings are only facades with a little light bulb here and there. Kyle summed it up well: the whole place is just spooky.

We started with a briefing at the Joint Security Area (JSA) Camp Bonafis, named for Captain Arthur Bonafis who was killed in the 1976 Ax Murder Incident inside the DMZ (which was, I kid you not, a conflict with the North over a poplar tree).

Next, we went to the conference buildings that span the actual border between North and South, and came face to face with Members of the Korean People's Army (KPA).

Then we ventured onto North Korean soil. These pics are awkward because we were asked to not get too close to the South Korean Military Policemen. (Everyone was pretty jumpy.)

Kyle on North Korean soil

Me on North Korean soil

The South Koeans only reveal half their body to face North, leaving the other half protected by the building. This gives the North less of a target should shots be fired.

Then we went to the Bridge of No Return, where prisioners of the Korean War were released and allowed to choose which country to reside, never to return to the other side. The stories of the people who left their family behind to make a better life in the South with the hope of one day reuniting were sobering.

The tour ended with a visit to the third tunnel of aggression, which is not for the faint of heart (or tall people). Between the helmets we had to wear, the water dripping on us and the constant crouching, a camera just wasn't part of our effects. It was eerie and cramped and weird to keep being reminded that through this tunnel the KPA could launch a full attack on Seoul in 90 minutes.

Entrance to tunnel

It was quite an experience, and We are thankful for freedom!

:) sbc

At Home for the Holidays

Don't get me wrong, I missed my family, Kyle's family and our friends like crazy over the holidays--a time in our expat adventures that we usually spend in Michigan. I have to admit, though, it was easier than I anticipated. It was fine with me not to have to pack, fly for 14 hours straight with a toddler, unpack or be jet lagged and then turn around and do it all over again. And it was truly a joy to spend 12 straight days together with Kyle on vacation. Since I was lax about posting in the latter half of December, I thought I'd give you a little pictorial round up of our fun...

Christmas packages began to arrive to our delight...

We love to get mail!

 

We decorated the tree...

Christmas all over the globe!

We had the AWC Holiday lunch...

The AWC Board

We took our snacks standing up...

Standing on the coffee table is a new favorite pastime

We woke up at our own pace...

Pre-coffee stare

 

We went for little walks...

Cuties

We made coffee runs...

Coffee!

We woke up Christmas morning...

Let's do this, Santa!

We played with our new stuff...

Puzzles and blocks and animals, oh my!

We played with Daddy's new stuff...

A few sizes too big

We cuddled...

Love

We met new dogs in the neighborhood...

Look up at the doggy!

Dog barking at Natey (and Pete)

We reluctantly posed for pictures....

Nate and Daddy

We took off running...

Here I go!

We weathered a snowstorm...

The beginning of the storm

We played some more...

Checking email :)

And we rang in the new year...

The annual Bupp calendar

Here's to a great 2013!

:) sbc

The Lynn Cookie

This is totally random, but you know how when you get to the end of a batch and that last cookie is void of chocolate chips?

Mmmm, cookies

We call that the Lynn cookie. Lynn is my mom's best friend and basically my second mother--and that's her favorite cookie of the batch. Miss you, Lynn!

Lynn, I would save this for you, but it would be gross by the time I saw you :)

:) sbc