Tues, Mar 18th through Sat March 22nd, 2008

Quick Overview:

John and I caught colds a couple days before we left. John and I got the bad variety type, but the kids were all coughing, too. Joy was the least affected and is fine now. James improved after the first flight, and is well now, too. Jesse worsened after the first flight and is still fighting it off. He seems to be on the mend now. We adults have not fared quite so well. I continue to struggle with a nagging cough, but am thankful that my ears are mostly clearing out from the flight. John had a difficult time breathing last night but has done better today now. Both John and I are very tired!!! However, we have not been given a chance to catch up from jetlag....they've been keeping us jumping since arrival. So pray that God power-surges our sleep!!!

Tuesday, March 18th:

We made it onto the first leg of our journey (Chicago to San Francisco) without any major disasters. We discovered how hard it actually is to be carrying a loaded down backpack plus pulling a heavy carry-on, plus trying to assist the kids in their loads, which they quickly tired of. By S.F, we were either using the luggage carts.or pulling both ours and Jesse's/Joy's. James was trouper and did most of his own. It was just getting dusk. In fact, it had remained light the whole flight since we "followed" the sun west. The kids had a hard time understanding that they needed to try to sleep since it was still light out. However, eventually they crashed...!!! James remembered flying before, but not the younger two. They had a lot of fun discovering things. You should have seen the look on their faces when I told them that I was going to take a nap and that they could get up and walk around the airplane!! No surprise here, but they quickly captured the affection of the airline sterwardesses! God provided well for us being able to sit together...originally we weren't seated together. However, people were great about swapping. On the big hop over, we got the whole row to ourselves at bulkhead. I ended up on the floor, able to stretch out and sleep for 4 hours, while John used a couple seats. Much more comfortable than sitting and trying to sleep!


Wednesday, March 19th:

We arrived early...7:15pm. So the big hop was cut down to ~12.5 hours instead of 14. John had forgotten where he put our contact information. He tried to call Kendra in S.F. but she was uanable to find it. Then he remembered that he'd put it in the luggage. However, when he checked for it there, he still couldn't find it. We spent about 2 hours getting through customs and then finding an internet cafe in the airport. James got stuck in an elevator since we had 3 carts and only 1 fit in at a time. We caught him again on the way back down, but he was quite teary-eyed! We finally made contact at 10:30pm and got to our hotel room by 11:00pm. Everyone takes off their shoes at the entry way before continuing into the house. There is a special space of tile for this, and then the rest of the rooms are in laminate flooring (except tile in bathroom). We made it to bed by midnight, but did not sleep very well even though we were soooo tired. Our bodies were on 10am CST! We were also sleeping in our clothes because they did not want to unpack and carry everything in, and I did not think to pack one bag with something for all of us (which has been what we've needed!!)

Thursday, March 20th:

We were picked up promply at 9am. James got left by the elevator again! He was the first one out, and the doors shut before John could get the luggage out. When we got back up to pick him up, he was in tears again. He has since learned how to hold the "doors open" on them!! It turned out to be a short 3 hour drive from Seoul. We arrived in Seosan and then kept going. We weren't sure what was happening until we reached the school 20 minutes later where we found out that we are actually staying and John is teaching in Daesan, not Seosan!! As it turns out, Seosan is rather large...it's Daesan that they were talking about that is remote...which is where we are. Seosan is a 20 minute drive from here. If Seoul~Chicago, then Seosan~Peoria and Daesan~Edelstein!! It is mountainous and beautiful! We have not yet gotten to the coast, so will tell you that later. Upon arrival to the school, we were given a tour, met John's teaching assistant (very nice!!!), and were introduced to the principal and vice-principal. Then, they escorted (walked) us to a nearby restaurant where we were treated to a full course, traditional Korean meal. AHhhhhhhh!!! Very, VERY GOOD!!! Just eating their food started clearing out my sinuses and ears! We sat on thin cushions on the floor IIndian style. They cooked the bulgogi (beef) in front of us in a pit dropped in the center of the table. Then, all around were numerous small dishes full of different leafy vegetables, spicy and not-so-spicy dippings, and a plate of lettuce. They showed us how to place a bite of bulgogi onto a leaf of lettuce, add toppings, wrap it up, and then ENJOY!! They gave the kids forks, but otherwise everyone had a spoon and chopsticks. John said I scored a big hit when they asked if we could use chopsticks and I was able to pick them up and demonstrate. They clapped and cheered! Then, we were told that they did not have an apartment for us yet, and that we had to go out apartment shopping! So, we did! By now it is 3pm. We didn't understand the "shopping" part, since they just took us to one and all we needed was to "accept" it. It is very nice...3 bedrooms! The drawback being that it is out of town and a 20 minute walk from the school. After "finding" the apartment (#803-kids liked that!), Tong Won (John's assistant teacher, who is also our main English contact) took John back to Seosan for his physical. Others took me back to the school to pick up and transfer the luggage back to our new apartment. Afterwards, they took us on into Seosan again to meet up with John at a department store where they bought groceries, toilet paper, ect for us. This took a while since there were 4 others with us and 3 carts between us. The people were Tong Won, her boyfriend Sai Won(who carried her purse!!!), a lady for finances from the school (Mee-heh), and her teenage daughter. After the department store, we were taken to an appliance store where we picked out refridgerator, toaster oven, hot water maker, washing machine, sweeper, hairdryer, etc. Rather, we "agreed" with their purchases!! They have good taste. After finishing with everything, it was ~8pm and we were about dead on our feet. But, they insisted on taking us out to eat supper. Since John had told Tong Won he liked pizza, guess what we had?! Mr. Pizza...WOW!!!!!!!!! SOOOOOOOOO much better than any pizza I've ever eaten in my life!!! The crust was stuffed with cream cheese! We took pictures to post later(we're on hotel computer right now). We arrived back at our apartment at 10:30pm. Again it was midnight before getting to sleep because we had to open luggage to find blankets and such. We did not even bother with the air mattressess, but slept on the blankets.


Friday, March 21st:

John had to be at the school at 9am. We have yet to use the alarm clock since we are waking up before it, anyway. John co-taught his first classes today. His orientation has been "post-poned." He loved it! I'm so glad! He will only be at this one school! I spent hours in the kitchen cleaning all the cupboards, counters, and flooring throughout the apartment. I was just going to start unpacking by 2:30pm when John came home and said that they changed their minds about the apartment. They'd talked and wanted to know if we would stay at a small house just behind the school instead.. The space is a little smaller...only 2 bedrooms, but it is right there at the school and in town, so no 20 minute walk just to get into town and then having to walk back out with groceries. It is an old 100-year old house, and will take more to heat/cool than the apartment would. However, since the school owns this house, they do not have to pay for the apartment, and so we get the extra money each month instead! That should be enough to cover the heating costs in the winter. Sooooo, we go back to the apartment, get 1 hour to re-pack all the luggage and separate out 1 suitcase for tonight. Then, they brought us to a hotel to spend the night. They say the house by the school should be ready for us by tomorrow at 11am. They already started re-wallpapering it. The bathroom is 1/4 the size of ours there at home...You take a shower standing right by the toilet. There is a drain there. And you don't keep toilet paper in the bathroom or it will get wet! Outside the house is hard packed clay dirt and and sparse greenery right now. We're up on a hill (imagine that!!) and at the end of a street across from the school. We thought the apartment/house would already be furnished with old things. Instead, they went out and we bought all the stuff together. All we had to do was make a list of what we though we may need...they were a good help thinking of things, too. The financial person, Mee-heh, had some things at her home that she is giving us, too. Tong Won's boyfriend, Sai Won, said that Korean people are very giving. We've been very careful not to mention something we don't really need because otherwise they would get it for us!! After grocery shopping, when we tried to pay, they wouldn't let us, stating that this time was their treat. They are also filling up our oil tank for the house the first time for us.(Like an LP gas tank.) We got here to the hotel by 6pm. Our luggage is still in the apartment. We don't understand why we couldn't have just stayed there another night (especially for me to at least enjoy all that cleaning for just a little bit! :)), but the hotel is nice, too. The floors are heated. It's a good thing since there are no chairs to sit on and I've been sitting here for quite awhile now! It's amazing how much warmer you feel all over when your feet are warm! That's why they sleep with the mattresses on the floor.

Saturday, March 22nd:

We are just waiting to be picked up from the hotel at 10:30am to move into the house if it is truly ready.

General:

It is so nice here! Everyone, from the airport to the school, has been very helpful and kind. People take time to help you out. Everyone is so respectful of each other. The bowing really grows on you (no pun intended!) and they smile a lot. They are not very good with English, but we can still communicate with gestures and such. We spend lots of time translating what each other is trying to say, merely to come to understand that all they needed to tell us was something that could have been said in mere moments! It's enough to make me anxious to start learning Korean! Everything is so different and even though we don't understand everything with the housing and such, we feel well taken care of. We hope this gives you a small picture of some of what has been happening with us. They said that the kids can go to school every morning from 9-noon and eat lunch in cafeteria as long as Mommy is with them...so I get to go to school and learn right along with them! Then, any further homeschooling we'll do in the afternoon. John already had a school-lunch meal and said it is very good! He could not eat it all.

We'll find out how today goes...hopefully a little less busy, but I'm not holding my breath...we have to move, get cell phones, and get a computer yet. I don't know what we'll get today or what will be later. As long as we don't have a computer, we can always use the school's computer to at least continue to email. That's nice!!!!!!!

We'd love to hear from you!
John & Wanda Kinsinger
James, Jesse, and Joy