Our first trip to the Korean ob-gyn

This past Tuesday, Patrick and I went to visit the Korean ob for the first time. I can say that I was a little nervous throughout the day as we awaited out appointment. Going to the OB doesn't bother me in more. Once you have had one child, your insecurities and privacy kind of fly out the window. So my fear didn't include the appointment itself but the fear of going to a Korean doctor, checking in at the clinic where the nurses don't speak English, fear of the rooms being not so private and very dark and dreary, and the fear that we might be expecting twins. (I had been having way to many dreams about twins so that was a legitimate fear :) )

The doctor's office turned out not to be so scary after all. We are using Seoul Women's Hospital here in Taejon that many of the other ladies at TCIS have used. The hospital just moved into a building last week. The lobby was nothing like I expected. It was very clean, very wide open and had beautiful chandeliers hanging from the ceiling. It was a very pleasant place to be. Though it was very difficult to check in and tell them who we were and who were supposed to see, the almost hour wait didn't seem to unbearable. It also helped that a friend of ours from TCIS had an appointment after me so that helped calm my fears when there was another English speaking person to talk to who had been there before.

I thought I would share how a doctor's visit to the Korean OB is different from the USA. Some of it was better, some strange, and others quite comical.

1- The building that houses our doctor's office will be the building that we will go to for check-ups, delivery and recovery. It is called a 'hospital' though it is nothing like the hospitals in America.
2- Never in America would the nurse every think about weighing a pregnant women (or anyone for the matter) next to the check-in desk in the lobby. Boy to do I miss that HIPPA policy :)
3- Each OB had an office and exam room that was connected to the lobby. You would enter into their office, sit at their desk to talk, and then move behind the dividing wall to the exam room.
4- Dressing for an exam does not include the fancy medical gowns that open in the back. In Korea, they provide a skirt and slippers. I had socks on an walked across the exam room in them but was quickly instructed to put on the slippers. Gotta love Asian culture.
5- The exam chair was quite comfortable and moved like a dentist chair. Much nicer than the cold tables in the states.
6- Korean technology in ultrasounds allowed us to here the baby's heartbeat at just 7 weeks! Amazing! I don't know how anyone could say that this is not a life.
7- Despite the high technology in Korea, the lab has a little further to progress. To give a urine sample, I had to walk diagonally across the lobby the restrooms holding an obviously used before cup with no lid and then had to walk back across the lobby to deliver my sample to the lab tech. Once again, that would NEVER happen in the US!
8- When they drew blood, though they had all the similar tubes we have in the states for samples, the tech drew blood with a real syringe and then squirted it into individual tubes.
9- I forgot the mention the lack of forms I had to fill out to see the doctor. I think I told them my age, if I was married and had other children and that was it. Nothing to sign or extensive histories to fill out. (Yes mom, I did make sure the doctor knew my allergies.)
10- An insurance card was not need today. We will save our receipts and file later but our bill for a doctor's visit, ultrasound, and lab work was $98. I was told this is the most expensive visit besides the delivery.

Though it is very different here, I know we will get good care. I am not worried anymore. I really like Dr. Park and the office staff seems very nice. It is not home and comforts that I know but this baby will arrive with as much love and care as in the states.

Below is a picture of Zachary and his little baby brother or sister. We have been trying to explain to him that he can't jump on mommy's belly anymore but at least now he can tell you someone is inside. He is quite proud of this picture.
A photo of our ultrasound. The little white elongated shape in the black oval area is our ONE little bundle of joy. It doesn't look like much now but it is our precious sugar bean #2.

Pickles

I never thought that when we moved to an Asian country that I would find that Koreans have a fascination with pickles. I guess because they like so many things that are fermented like kimchee it is understandable. I giggle every time we order pizza because it comes with a package of pickles. We recently got a Papa Johns here in Korea. I was anxious to see if you would get the signature jalapeno pepper or pickles. Can you guess? Yep- no pepper, just pickles.

What makes me laugh/cringe/and maybe these next nine months gag a bit is the common side dish the Koreans create at Costco. Costco here serves similar things as back home, the big slices of pizza, salads, smoothies, ice cream, hot dogs with a little twist. One pizza option is bulgogi pizza and you can also buy a bulgogi or chicken bake, kind of like a calzone. That's not the funny part. Whatever you order comes with a package of relish, the hot dog make since but it was really funny to me when we got it with the pizza. As I look around the Costco restaurant, I notice that we are the 'ones that don't belong' not just because of our looks but what is missing from our plates. A Korean plate includes a side dish made from the package of relish, chopped onions that are supposed to go on top of the hot dog, mustard and ketchup. UGH! Maybe one of these days it might become a pregnancy craving but for now I am staying far away. Just another way that Korea surprises me. :)

Tacky you're an odd bird!

When I taught first grade in NC one of the best parts of the year was the penguin play. As homesickness has set in this winter I have thought a lot about missing the penguin play experience. Yes I love my job now but there is so much of the 6 year old in me that will never leave. Many times over the past few weeks I have replayed penguin play phrases in my head (sad I know).

So to help cure my Tacky the Penguin withrdrawal I decided to check out Tacky the Penguin from the library. ( I don't know why in all the books we brought it was not one of them!) It took me awhile to get Zachary to let me read Tacky to him but tonight he asked for it. I think he and I are going to put on a two-man show penguin play :). He is pretty good at the 'perfect penguin' part and we are still working on the hunters. I think Bitz would be proud!

The future star of the play!

It's like a hat daddy!

Pictures to be saved for Zachary's wedding slideshow someday :)

Playing with snow

One of my favorite parts about my job is the flexibility I have to go visit Zachary in the ELC. I have become the unofficial room mom for his class. This week I had the chance to take snow into Zachary's classroom. We made the snow that we usually put on our Christmas tree for the kids to play with now that they have a memory of what snow really is. They didn't really want to play in the goopy mess very much but I think they had fun. We made really tall snowmen, shapes with cookie cutters and then each of them made their hand print in the snow to take home.

I am so thankful for the ELC and the opportunity I have to teach and still be a part of Zachary's life each day. These kids are so much fun that I didn't want to go back to my class!

Waffle Fest

Waffle Fest 2008 has begun! Patrick and I decided that if we can't stay out at night that we would bring the fun to us. We have started inviting the single teachers into our home for a waffle dinner. We have a variety of toppings to enjoy so these are not your ordinary toaster waffles! Our largest crowd so far has been 13 people. Zachary loves being the center of attention. He is the only kid at these parties and enjoys all the 'playtime' he gets from them, especially the male teachers. He has gotten very good at saying, "welcome to waffle fest!" as he opens the door.

Jon Tam had his first waffle at waffle fest!

The pile of shoes at our door during waffle fest!

My boo-boo

A couple Sundays ago Zachary got his first big, fat lip. He fell on top of his toy bus. Ouch! He was a brave boy and let us put lots of cold ice packs on his lips. Praise the Lord he didn't knock out any teeth! Mommy's big worries.

I'm going to be a big brother!

So by now everyone has heard the news that we are going to have another baby. It is funny how we couldn't keep the secret very long this time. I guess when you have been waiting for such along time for God to open that door, you just can't help but share the good news. :)

Here is the video I promised of Zachary talking about wanting a baby sister. Enjoy!

Our new Korean friends

A frequent Korean pose in pictures. You make a heart with your arms to show love. Zachary is trying too :).

Over Lunar break (our week off to celebrate Chinese/Lunar New Year) we had to opportunity to have some new friends over. Back in December I spoke at Jina's university and I had been telling her and her friend Sunny that we would have them over for dinner. We finally got it worked out for them to come over. They enjoy American food and wanted to try some homemade. Jina loves the mashed potatoes that we have at school so I made sure to make some for her. We had a good time talking with each other, learning about how Korean's celebrate lunar new year and exchanging Korean and English terms. We hope to get together more often to help each other learn English and Korean. I enjoyed branching out of our TCIS world even though Jina works at school, it is still not our little American bubble.

We also had the opportunity to visit with our bridge family that the PTA sets up for us. We were invited to their home where we had a homecooked Korean meal. They made bulgogi, which we all really enjoyed, and sweet and sour shrimp. We had a good time getting to know them and learning new things about Korea that even the TCIS community didn't know. Mae (the mom) will be taking me out to HomePlus to show me how the coolr rice machine works to mix two different kinds of rice. We are very thankful for our new friends and are so excited of what will come of these relationships.

Thailand Days 4-10

If you couldn't figure out from the lack of a new post that our time in Thailand got pretty busy, then let me tell you how busy it got. Patrick ended up getting sick and was pretty much bed ridden for 2 days straight and not 100% on the 3rd day. This caused for me to try and watch Zachary as well as help out with the Family Education Conference Children's Program. I was very thankful that this year we were just observing and didn't have a set job in a classroom so it gave us a little more flexibility.

The FEC is a conference that AERC (Asia Education Resource Consortium) puts on for homeschooling missionary families. The conference was so much bigger than I could wrap my mind around. We had over 200 kids in the children's program from 7 weeks old to 18. Not only did we have this many kids but many of them have never been in a 'classroom' setting with other children, not even in Sunday School because of the areas they live in. What a challenge! But what these kids lacked in classroom knowledge they made up for it in Biblical knowledge. Some of the little ones could put me to shame. Sadly, I don't have any pictures from the conference. Once I get some from some of the helpers who are in the states. I will post a bit more.

The public transportant in Thailand is not what I call 'safe' and would highly be banned in the United States but is very normal here. Needless to say, Zachary thouroughly enjoys no carseat in Asia. Below is a picture of the street behind us as we are riding in a 'songtow.' The ride truck in the picture is what we are riding in. Yes, we are in the back of a covered truck sitting on benches and holding onto a bar on the ceiling. The back is WIDE open. If the truck is full, people actually ride on the back. Patrick got to experience that one night but came inside when I insisted because Zachary wanted to join him.

Zachary's favorite form of transportation was the 'tuktuk.' it is pretty much a glorified motorcycle that has enough room for three people in the back. The sides are open so you get to enjoy the lovely smell of all the fumes and exaust from cars around you. We had to buy Zachary his own little 'tuktuk' to play with because he loved them so much. (Think our child is becoming a true 'third culture kid'? When he comes home to the states in the summer, I don't think his friends will know what half the things are that he plays with.)

A highlight of our time in Thailand was getting to have dinner with some friends of our who serve in Cambodia. We were thankful for the "short" walk (haa haa-maps are deceiving) to the delicious Miguel's mexican restaurant and the "short" (haa haa) wait for our food so we had plenty of time to spend with the Strongs. It amazes me how we move to Korea, travel to Thailand to spend time with friends from home who live in Cambodia! It really is a small world!

Friday night of our trip we went to dinner with the AERC staff. We ate at a beautiful Thai restaurant on the river. We had 'traditional' Thai instruments to serenade us at dinner. Most of the music was Thai but somehow "Happy Birthday" ended up in the mix.
Zachary enjoyed is tropical fruit plate :)
I did enjoy some Thai food while I was there. Here is my Cashew Chicken. I also enjoyed the mango sticky rice. Yummmmmmm.
The AERC staff at dinner. From left to right- Karen- Phillippines, Chiyon- Phillippines, Shelly- China, Martha- Phillippines- our director, Kate and Chris- China


From left to right- Shaunda- China, Earl-Malaysia, Jan- Thailand, Moira-Singapore, Regina- Taiwan
The AERC staff is an enjoyable crew. They instantly made me feel like family and brought me into the world of consulting. Many of the consultants will not be returning next year due to furloughs or retiring or moving on. We will miss them and value all they have done for AERC. In Asia, Zachary seems to be royalty wherever we go. He is given things all the time and is potted, picked up, and admired. Sometimes it gets to be a big bother and he even has a hard time with it and doesn't always like to be touched. The staff at our hotel really enjoyed Zachary. Every morning or evening when we would walk by the desk, they would say hello to him. Of course a trip would not be complete for Zachary if there was not a play ground somewhere. In the mall connected with our hotel there was a huge playground with an enormous ball pit that he could play in as long as he wanted for 20 baht (less than $1.00). You can imagine his enjoyment with the huge ball pit. I don't think he has ever seen this many balls in one place in his little life span.

We had a great trip in Thailand. Thanks for all your prayers!

Videos of Thailand

I have wanted to add some videos of our trip. I didn't have the internet power or time to wait where we were. Check out the elephants taking a both and near the end doing Zachary's favorite part. :) The second video shows them playing soccer, Zachary's other favorite part. And here is some proof that the elephants DID paint those pictures.

Thailand Day 1, 2, 3

The past six months have been pretty incredible. I am now in my 3rd new country in six months. Never thought I would be a world traveler like this!

Our trip began with a three hour bus ride at 6:30 in the morning to get to the airport. We had a 6 hour flight to Bangkok and then an hour flight to Chiangmai. Zachary was so excited about the bus ride and the plane. Though his excitement quickly faded away.

About halfway through the flight Zachary said "all done with airplane" but there wasn't much we could do about it. Guess he doesn't like th elong trips either. Just wait till we fly home!

Our hotel is very nice. Much more spacious than a Korean hotel. It is connected to a mall so we have been there alot. Starbucks is right outside so Patrick is thrilled!

Here is the view from the restaurant where we eat breakfast.

We are loving the warm weather. We are getting to wear shorts and flip flops while it snows back in Taejon. :) Zachary loves the pool! Ok so mom and dad do too :)

On Sunday we went to the elephant camp. We watched the elephants take baths in the river. Zachary was highly intrigued. He didn't like it when they came close. We were right next to them. I guess since we are in the potty training stage he was pretty fascinated when the elephants went 'poopoo' in the water. It was all he could talk about until he saw them play soccer ;).
These are the poop catchers. They use the elephant dung to make paper.
The elephant show was pretty fascinating even without the fancy lights and music that would happen in the states. Zachary intently watched the show the whole time. But loved when they played soccer. Those elephants can kick!
Patrick and I loved to watch the elephants paint. This was abosolutely amazing. We just had to buy some pictures. They were too neat.

To finish out our day, we went to the butterfly and orchid farm. I think Zachary enjoyed the butterflies more than the elephants.

The orchids were beautiful and just went on for rows and rows! Our conference starts tomorrow so stay tuned for more fun in Thailand.

Getting ready for Thailand

In about 5 days we will be heading off to Thailand for Family Education Conference. We have been preparing Zachary for our trip by telling him about the airplane, riding an elephant, and swimming in the pool since we will be going to warmer weather :). Our friend Ellen taught Zachary to say hello in Thai. I think he does a pretty good job and hopefully will be cute enough to help barter prices WAY down :).

Look Mommy, a tree!

So can you guess what this is? In the states you would never see celery this big. The tops would be cut off. I never realized it grew to be this huge maybe that's why I could never find it here because I didn't know what I was looking for. :) One of our friends found soem celery for me and brought it over the other night. To Zachary it was a tree, to Patrick a bouquet of flowers. Ok, I know you are not supposed to play with your food but this was WAY too funny!

"I make a wormman!"

Please forgive me if you don't like potty stories but this one was quite funny.

Before I tell you the story, let me give you a little background. One of Zachary's favorite shows is "The Backyardigans." There is an episode where the characters take "Sherman the Wormman" back to his home in the heart of the jungle. A worman is pretty much like a worm but they have spots and talk some kind of jibberish. Here is a picture of the characters and the wormmans out of Zachary's book.

So to the story.

Zachary has been potty training over Christmas break. Today he sat down to go potty expecting to go #1. Well, he was quite surprised when he stood up and he had gone #2. He looked up at us and said "Look, I make a wormman!"

Can I have one mommy?

Mr. John has a motorcycle and he let me ride on it. I'm ready for my own now don't you think?

So we don't have to add a whole new post- her are my new pjs that daddy loves- NFL sports teams! :) Go 49ers!

Body World

Patrick Skinnybones

Muscleman John
This week went to play at Body World with some of our friends from school. Body World is an indoor play area at the Science Expo Park here in Taejon. Sadly we had to choose between 1 adult free or Zachary free so our cost to get in was 3,000 won (a little more than $3.00!) So expensive! :) I'm not quite sure if we will be able to afford to go back. hee hee (Some parts of Korea I just love!)

Back row- Silas and Sarah

Front row- Zachary, Nina, Jamie, and Jonathan

To enter body world, you walk through a giant nose!
The downstairs part tells you all about your body. It has hude body parts for you to explore like an 'ear drum' to bang on, an eye with a camera to see what things look like in your eye, tast buds to jump on the tongue, and even a slide through the esophagus and stomach. It's fun and educational but we can't read any of the information because it's in Korean.
Upstairs is a GIANT play area. Here are three VERY fast slides. Some of the little ones were afraid but the parents sure enjoyed them!

There were two other rooms to play with a connection through a tunnel that is up in the air.


One room had more 'toddler' like activities that Zachary and Nina felt more comforable with. Zachary loved to jump on the large plush shapes. He was pretty scared of some of the big things and definitely wouldn't go down the fast slides.

We were very surprised that he braved the zip line contraption. The neatest part was when the handle bars slide back up to the top all by themselves. Very cool! You will see that Patrick enjoyed the zipline as well. Please excuse the sideways videos but to get the full person it had to be done.

When we left Body World, there were these funny looking animals to sit on. We thought they were like hte coin operated rides at the stores back home but these were even better, they actually moved! They moved at a very slow pace but were so funny. I thoroughly enjoyed them. We had never seen anything like this before. Leave it to the Koreans to create something new and wacky.

Body World was so much fun. I know we will go back, probably a couple more times over break :). Who can beat $3.00 for the whole family for a day of fun?!?!