I'll Miss My Cleaning Lady

She came in every week and cleaned the apartment and did our laundry. She even made sure I never ran out of kimchi. Cleaning ladies are very reasonable in Korea so unfortunately I'll be back to cleaning our house once we move back to the U.S.

This is the note she left along with her email address.

Things I Miss: Crazy English T-Shirts

I love to read Korean English t-shirts. Sometimes they are unreadable with just a bunch of letters. Sometimes they include words that don't make any sense. Some are downright obsence like seeing a child wearing a t-shirt with the "f" word on it. But most of the time I find them a source of entertainment.

Shopping with Hannah

I went shopping last week with a couple of my Korean girlfriends near Ewha University. We saw a bunch of girls in line so we went to investigate. The KPop group 2PM was signing autographs. I would have joined the line but they had cut it off. Popular Korean bands are booked almost every minute of the day. I was shocked to see the daily schedule these bands.

We also had ddukbokki for lunch. Instead of the usual red sauce this particular restaurant had it in all different colors. We got one in the traditional spicy red sauce and this one in a white sauce. They also had black sauce and yellow sauce.

The Goodbyes Have Started

I had my last chilbo (Korean enameling) class on Wednesday. I also asked my teacher (through my Korean girlfriend) to put together a chilbo kit so that I can continue doing chilbo upon my return home. I brought Curt (hubby) with me to pick up the supplies last Saturday. I wasn't sure what to expect but it was a lot more than we were prepared to carry on the bus. Curt had never been to the shop and he was so impressed with her talent that I had a hard time getting him out of there. He did buy something though.


She was shocked at how tall Curt was so I took a picture of the two of them and will email it to her.

These are the finished panels for my chest. She had it glued and packed when we came so I'll have to wait until we are back in the U.S. to take a picture of the completed chest.

We decided to take a taxi back to the apartment since we were loaded down with supplies. First my husband tried to hail a taxi and when that didn't work, I tried also to no avail. After a half hour my chilbo teacher came out (she had been with a student) and was shocked to see us still there.

She told my husband to hide against the building and we tried to hail a taxi. Available taxis kept passing us by and my teacher told me "lunchee" meaning they must be on their way to lunch. It was kinda funny that every available taxi was going to lunch. Finally, she told me to go hide with Curt and as soon as I walked away she was able to get a taxi.

We ran to the taxi door and she gave the driver our address and we said our final goodbyes again. Of course, the first time in the shop I was crying all over the place and she kept wiping away my tears with her fingers.

What started the tears in the shop is that she gave me one of her paintings.

This is a closeup. I was so touched by her generosity and I will miss her tremendously. I learned so much from her. Tomorrow is my last day at yoga and I'm sure I'll be a watering pot again.

Change Is Coming

After many emotional discussions between my husband and I, we are decided to return to the United States. It wasn't any one thing that was the deciding point but more of a decision that it is time. I miss my family. My grandson has gone from a baby to a toddler and my kids, even though they are grown, I think they still need their mama from time to time.

Since we decided to move back, we proceeded with implementing the move as quick as possible. We fly out of Korea on April 4th. I have completed my last maedeup and chilbo lessons, leaving my teachers with tears streaming down my face. I have a week left with my Korean friends but I also have to decide on what goes ocean, air or in the suitcases. The movers are coming on April 2nd.

Korea has forever changed this Midwest girl and I will never forget the time I have spent here. I have made many lifetime friends. I've had to endure some hardships which can come from living in a different culture but the good vastly outweighs the bad.

I still have a lot to say about Korea and the updates will continue. It's time for a new adventure!

Taiwan Part 2

The flowers were blooming all over Taiwan.

Most of the taxi driver's in Taiwan had some maedeup (Chinese knotting) hanging from their rear view mirror. I didn't notice until putting this picture into the blog that the driver was watching me as I took the picture.

We went out to dinner with some of Curt's (hubby) co-workers. We ate at a Thai restaurant that came with a cute puppy that made his home in our booth while we were eating.

He also spent some time watching us from the counter after we had finished eating.

This is a famous statue and she is there to protect the fishermen of Taiwan.

This is a dessert we had. The creamy part of it had not taste but the little brown things and the juice was very sweet.

Street vendor.

Lots of scooters.

The caption on this t-shirt cracked me up: When did you first discover you needed glasses. At least, it did make sense.

Squid drying in the sun.

A couple of dogs relaxing out in the middle of a street.

The roof of a temple.

This temple was really popular so I decided to venture in.

You lit some incense and brought placed it into a huge dish of sand across from these statues. Then you went and picked up a wooden thing and held it over the incense to capture some of the smoke. Then you brought it in front of the statues and waved it around and then bowed. There was a huge glass box in front where you then placed money. An older couple showed me how to do everything.

Another section of the temple.

Closeup of part of the roof.

Everyone drives scooters and they must start really young. Actually, her dad was in a local restaurant at the time picking up some take out food.

The last day I spent in Tainen, I took a taxi to a more remote section of town. After walking around for a while, I noticed that I had not seen any taxis. I waited and looked for a while and came across this police station. I walked inside and the two officers were instantly concerned that something was wrong.

I was able to tell then that I couldn't get a taxi and so they called one for me. They told me it would take six minutes. Then they sat me down in a waiting area where a bunch of old men were hanging out watching television and drinking tea. They made me some tea and had me sit with them until the taxi arrived.

I had given one of the officers the business card for the hotel and he came over to me when the taxi arrived. The two officers escorted me to the taxi, one patting my back as we walked. The other officer told the taxi where to take me. They opened the taxi door, closed it for me and waved goodbye. They were wonderful.

We went into a restaurant near the hotel but we left after looking at the menu. I kinda lost my appetite.

Funny sign I saw in a store.

Kimchi in Taiwan!

Seaweed potato chips. I wasn't brave enough to try them.

These turtles are made out of shells.

Our hotel was missing a few floors.

This sign is in front of the high speed train station.

The first sign we saw from these protesters caught our attention. This was in Taipei. It looked like they were protesting China's wish to rule Taiwan. We had to walk through them to get where we wanted to go and usually in Korea that is not a good idea. But they smiled at us as we walked by.

Lots of scooters.

This is the place to go if you want to by Taiwanese crafts. It is four levels and has everything. They didn't allow pictures once you entered the building.

I had also heard about the jade market in Taipei. I was not ready for how huge it was.

Tables everywhere and you have to bargain. Another good hint is to actually walk away and they will meet your price. It's not as cheap as I've heard jade is in China but I bought a few items.

More pictures from the jade market.

I found this box while waiting at the departure gate at the airport.

This is what I bought at the jade market.

These are some of the things I bought while in Tainen. It was a wonderful week. The weather was perfect and the food incredible. The next chapter of our life has already been implemented. I'll tell you in my next blog entry.