Getting Ready for Christmas!

Christmas will look a little different in our house this year. We didn't bring any holiday decorations with us at all since space was at a premium. And there aren't any fresh Christmas trees available here so we bought a fake one this year. It smelled like plastic when we took it out of the box, but the upside of the fake tree is that we got to set it up already and we won't have to vacuum as much. We bought some ornaments from the BX and presto: we are ready for Christmas!

Josh likes to take pictures with Mommy's camera, this one didn't turn out too bad:

Josh then became obsessed with the ornaments and developed a "pattern" of them.

He was quite overprotective of them and wouldn't let us put them on the tree for awhile.

It took some negotiating...

Here's Maddie and her very first Christmas tree:

Happy Thanksgiving!

We hope everyone had a wonderful Thanksgiving. This year we celebrated 3 times! The first was with Ainsley's co-workers on Sunday.

The second was with Andrew's kindergarten.

Finally, for the actual day, we drove up to Seoul and stayed at the Dragon Hill Lodge and had Thanksgiving dinner with practically everyone we know in the country. I'm not kidding. It was really nice not having to cook!

Here we are enjoying our Thanksgiving feast with the Bliss family. We had a HUGE group of people and despite making a couple of reservations for the max of 20 people, they only set up tables as big as 8. Luckily, we were together in one huge room. Later that night, we put the kids to bed and stayed out in the hallways talking until late.

We also walked around a shopping area called Itaewon and explored the Army post. We ended up only staying one night. The five of us were in one room and that is too many sleepers in one space! The kids slept great but Ainsley and I were up all night listening to them giggle (Andrew), talk (Josh) or kick (Madeline) in their sleep! We plan on going back for more exploring and for a two-room stay.

Joshie and one of the many giant Santas around the hotel.

Snow!

We woke up to snow this morning! The kids were so excited. Here is a picture from inside the house. By the time we ventured out in the afternoon, most of it had melted.

Everland!

Hold onto your hats boys and girls, this is going to be a long post, but WELL worth the read.

On Veteran's Day, we went to Everland, the Korean version of Disneyland. It's a total knock-off of Disney, but MUCH more entertaining. Just like a lot of things you'll hear about in Korea, it was "not quite right." Here is the map/brochure where some things are lost in translation:

The slogan reads: "Romantic Christmas with your lovers"

One of the more blatant rip offs was "A Small World." Same idea as the States, small boats take you on a tour around the world with kid music in the background. Except, it wasn't the most politically correct ride.

This is Germany:

This is Japan:

"South Africa":

The USA is football players, cheerleaders and cowboys:

We make lots of new friends when we go out. Mostly people wanting to touch the babies. There was the gaggle of preteens practicing their English on Andrew while waiting in line for a ride, and plenty of people who want to take pictures of the kids. This lady wanted a group photo of all the kids and her together, so I made sure to snap one too.

One of my super favorite things was the staff uniforms. This is the man in charge of grounds keeping. He was using his leaf blower and wearing this animal hat. He also had a tail. These animal hats were a big item in the souvenir shop and to me looked like a dead animal perched on one's head, but hey, to each their own.

We decided to eat the the Burger Cafe America for lunch. Items on the menu include shrimp stick, pizza roll (pizza rolled up into a stick), and my personal favorite: Chicken doughnuts! Of course, I had to order this, and it tasted like chicken nugget with a slight shrimp aftertaste.

Ainsley got a hamburger which looks like it has black sesame seeds on the bun. It turned out to be spicy. And, the ketchup, not quite right, tasted like the ketchup in England, it was really sweet. And, there is quite a selection of meats and other odd things on a stick. That's what I am going to get next time for sure.

Then there was the parade. So great. Most of the dancers/characters were Russian, some were Korean, but ALL wore blonde wigs, it was pretty goofy.

And the music was a cross between Christmas and techno. Here is a snippet for your viewing pleasure.

Let's not forget that even though it's only November 11th, it's the holiday season and what would a theme park be without Santa himself passing out candy from a Halloween jack-o-lantern. Here's the big guy, he, too, is not quite right:

He asked Joshie where he was from and Josh said, "Um, my apartment building."

We all had a great time. There are some truly great things about Everland, like baby care stations. They are small buildings made especially for moms and babies. There is a room of changing tables, a high chair, crib, and place to nurse. Why there aren't more of these in the States is beyond me. The Koreans really love babies, even men come up to Madeline to coo and cluck over here. The men are just as nurturing as the women are in this aspect, it's neat.

Here's our group:

And, they are big on waving the hands here in Korea. From the parking attendants at EMart to the employees at Everland, everyone's got a special wave. Watch for yourself as they say goodbye:

Want to see more pictures? Check them out at: http://aaoreilly.shutterfly.com/action/

(password is Korea)