Pyeongtaek

We live in a little community referred to as Pyeongtaek. Obviously, this is our first weekend in our little community, so our exploration has been minimal thus far. However, we decided to venture out a bit and take a little walk to a local playground. It was a fun experience. The playground itself was nothing fabulous, but filled with little Korean children and their parents. It took a bit for them to warm up to us, but once they did, it was difficult to pull away to go home. The people enjoyed watching our children playing. A few stopped to watch as the girls were giggling on this spinning apparatus. At one point, Mya got off and Claire kept spinning. A gentleman held out his arms to lure Mya towards him. I was a bit torn as he was very much a stranger, but I've learned that the Korean people think of us as an extension of their families. Thankfully, Mya resisted, which eased my burden a bit. Another little Korean lady was there with her granddaughter. The lady kept smiling and talking to us in Korean as though we understood. We tried to understand what she was saying by her glances and pointing, but I am thinking we didn't quite get there as she said the same thing on several different occasions. Chris was trying to learn a bit of Korean, but I think I may need to dive in myself. I've heard "unja" many times when looking at our girls that curiosity is taking its' hold. I did meet a lovely American momma with her husband and two smaller children. She was a teacher, as is her husband, and they happen to go to the same church that we will be attending today. It was a nice surprise on our little day adventure. She told me about some great spots for kiddos and invited us to tag along. I will be taking the next step on this little friendship fostering expedition and giving her a call for next Saturday fun. On our return trip home, we stopped at a local grocery store. Of course, we knew very little, but it was fun to explore. I have learned from some of my students that seaweed tastes great. It is served very frequently in many different forms here, but my students spoke of seaweed (sort of in "chip" form) with salt. I will give that a try and decide for myself. I will say that I've become a bit more adventurous in the food tasting realm. I buy sushi everytime we go to the commissary and on my latest stop there, I picked up this avocado roll. It was interesting. Not my favorite, but light and healthy.

avocado wrap

random building, most of which look the same. however, notice the dunkin donuts on the bottom. they are everywhere!



probable reason #1 people were staring: wellies  in 80 degree heat with no rain in sight?



probabe reason #2 people were staring: is this how you go down slides in america?



mya going down the slide



a public waterfountain with two separate sides and 6 spouts. people were actually washing their faces, drinking from the hoses, while others were filling up big 5 gallon water jugs.



spinning fun





 




on our way out of the playground, mya stopped to admire this bike. before we knew what was happening, the lady pulled her kiddo from the bike, put mya in and began pushing her back and forth. everyone just smiled.

 



Before we settled into our house, we spotted a small bike with training wheels at the BX. Claire took that sweet ride around the store and thought we should take it home. However, we decided to hold off until we got our house. Sadly, when we went back, the bike was not there. We even asked to check the backroom. Yesterday, Chris ran into the back area to pick up our propane tank for our new grill when much to Claire's delight, he also came out with a shiny, new, pink bike. Claire was so excited. She wanted to look and touch it in the trunk of the car. It was all she talked about yesterday.



 


all smiles as she tests out her new wheels. this is the deck in the back of our house. we have a large deck that wraps from the back of our house around to the side where our front door is located. it is perfect for a little bike riding, grilling and entertaining.

 

Claire had her fun and Mya had hers. I bought a small pool on clearance at Target before we left. We inflated it yesterday and Mya jumped in sans water. What a funny kid.