Sunny Weekend in Seward

We took a weekend trip to Seward Alaska. We had a beautiful sunny day. One of the few I have seen this summer. Kevin, Rich, and I had a good time. We stayed at the Military Lodge in a motel. 

We took some friends with us on the boat. Rich dropped us off at Caines Head and Tammy and her daughter Taylor and I hiked the trail. We enjoyed lots of salmon berries and blueberries. We loved the hike in the sun, and the beautiful plants. We loved overlooking the bay. We wished we had brought along flashlights to explore the World War II bunkers that were built up there.

The guys went fishing in the bay, but didn't catch anything. We met up and all headed back to the harbor together. 

Rich, Kevin, and I went out for dinner and had some nice seafood.  Pricey, but good.

Sunday we went to church in Seward.  I played the piano, and they chose speakers from the audience!  I preferred the piano rather than being called up to speak. I think there were more visitors than members there. Kevin mentioned that he would like to live in Seward, but I believe he would die of boredom!

We then went out to Exit Glacier for a little walking.  It was raining slightly, but it was ok. The glacier is sure shrinking, and I think in 20 years it will be gone!

We had a contest to see who could keep one hand in the glacier river the longest. I lost after about 20 seconds. I really cannot take the cold!  It was so cold it hurt. Kevin and Rich held their hands in there about 4 minutes, and then after splashing each other Rich gave up, just before Kevin. Their hands were white!  

Kevin also had a good time smacking rocks into the ocean with a baseball bat. 

We saw whales and a seal. No bears or moose this time!

New granddaughter

Addison was born on August 11 at 3:59 PM. She weighed 6 lbs. 3 oz.  Mother, baby, and sister are all doing well.

Last Day in Korea

Photos Bottom to top

larvae Yummy!

Soldier checking our passports

Displays

One soldier who let us take his photo

amythest

lunch

view from hotel room

Bob the shoemaker
Our time is winding down quickly. We spent our last full day in Korea. Tomorrow we leave for the airport at 10:30 am. We ride the free shuttle from the hotel, and then our plane leaves at 4:30.  It is going to be a longgggggggggg day tomorrow. We will get to relieve Thursday twice!

Today we took a tour to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone).  We actually had to pay for the tour! After all those free tours in China it was a sacrifice to shell out the money!  But we just had to see it.  

We met the bus outside the gate of the military base and drove about an hour thru beautiful green valleys and rice fields. Reminded me of China.  Our tour guide was 27 years old, and single. Really cute guy! Reminded me of my sons!  But he certainly had some opinions of things. He told us that the Koreans don't like Japanese, Americans, or Chinese. I asked him who he did like and he said the Koreans like North Korea. He wants the North and South to get back together. I found that interesting. I haven't really found anyone that likes the Japanese, and after hearing of all the atrocities they have committed over the years I can understand that. 

We met a family of 4 who were there picking up their missionary. They had been at the temple yesterday, but we hadn't noticed them. They were in the later session. They are from Orem. Isn't it a small world?

We arrived at the DMZ that serves as a buffer zone between North and South Korea. It cuts the Korean Peninsula roughly in half crossing the 38th parallel. It is 155 miles long and about 2.5 miles wide, and is the most heavily armed border in the world. We stopped at a rest stop to use the bathroom and get a drink, and it was there that I tried a larve. I just had to do it so I could say I tried it. It was crunchy and nasty, but it wasn't moving like those grasshoppers that Adam, Mindy, Jake, and Kevin tried last year! Ha!

Korean Demilitarized Zone - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

We had a Korean military policeman come on and check our passports. I took a picture of his back, but then the tour guide told us we couldn't take pictures. As we left the border he said we could, so several of us took some out the window. Then they stopped us again and came on the bus to see who had taken the pictures. Nothing happened and we continued on. 

It started pouring rain, pouring! We went to a building and watched a film about it, then toured a little museum. We then went over, put on hard hats and went down the 3rd tunnel. It was a long walk down, and quite cold. At the "end" of where we could go was barbed wire and a cemented door. Wonder what was back there!  We then made the long trek back up the hill and out of the tunnel.

We made another stop to see another film and to have a look over to the North. We could not see very well because of the rain, and they would make you stand behind a line to take pictures so you really couldn't get a nice shot of it!  But we were there!

One more stop to see a few more displays, and then the bus ride back to Seoul. We stopped for a few minutes at a amythest factory. I found a necklace and decided to make it a nice gift to remember Korea by.

They dropped us off at Ichewon and we did a little more shopping, had lunch, and picked up our custom made shoes. We left a Book of Mormon with the shoemaker who was reading his bible when we walked in. We also left his business card with the missionaries. I found a charm from Korea for my charm bracelet and another coach bag!  Couldn't help myself!  Cathy can pick which one she wants!

We had a nice Korean lunch that had rice on the bottom and covered with vegetables and an egg. It was yummy. The soup was good too, but the little mini fish, leaves, and kimchi were not eaten! 

We headed back to the hotel and started packing for the trip home. Bonnie is so nice as to take a few things home for me so I don't have to drag them to Utah first!

We have really enjoyed Korea, and are so glad we made the stop here!  I can check this off my list now!  On to new countries!

Tuesday in Korea

Another exciting day in Korea!  

We got up and headed to the temple, via the subway. Only $1.00 each way for as many transfers as we need! It is getting easier to ride, and if we were here another month we would probably get the hang of it!

We had a wonderful session at the temple. We attended a Korean session, but were given headphones to listen to it in English. It was full too, but mostly women. It was about the size of the Alaska Temple. There was a beautiful Korean chest in there that had a sign that said it was given to President Hinckley, and then he donated it back to the temple. It was very beautiful in there.

We then went back to the same market that we went to yesterday. I wanted to get my sister a coach bag. To bad I didn't think of it in China, it would have been much less expensive.  I looked for some military stuff for Kevin, but she wanted a lot of money and I think I can get it cheaper at the base in Alaska. We had lunch at a small food stall. We both had noodles and some "California rolls". Kevin would have loved them! They pack you into these tiny restaurants and it is loud and busy, but the food is filling and tasty.  They cook it right next to the pedestrian road. 

There are a couple of beggars in that market that just break my heart. They have a little wagon that they push in front of them that holds a basket to put money on. They crawl along the ground and pull with their arms because they don't have legs. They have made these pants out of old tires that they drag along the ground on. And one of them has a radio that he plays. It is very sad. 

We headed home and near the base is the Korean War Memorial. We decided to take a tour of it. It is a huge building with lots of displays. It really helped me understand the war a little better.  Korean War - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia I can now understand why the Koreans don't seem to like the Chinese. Kind of like the Chinese not liking the Japanese.  Too bad we just can't all get along!

We went and had a pedicure when we got back to the hotel. We figured we have been walking hard on these old feet for a month and wanted them to look half decent when we got home. It certainly wasn't as cheap as China, but less than the states.  Not much less, but less.  Our time of pampering is about over! Soon we will be back to the real world, cooking, cleaning, working! Oh boy!

Monday in Korea

Bonnie and I have mastered the subways, or rather Bonnie has. I have always been a poor map reader, and Bonnie looks so good with her little granny glasses trying to read the map. So after trying to read it myself and passing the exit we should have gotten off on, I have decided to let her be the navigator! Besides that, if we stare at the map long enough some nice Korean person will come over and ask us if we need help. One nice girl was even going our way and took us with her. Everyone we have met has been so nice and helpful!

We even met a foreign woman named Vickie on the way home who is LDS! We got to talking and told her we stopped here to attend church and the temple, and she asked what temple, and well, there you go! Another Mormon in Korea!

We decided to head to a shopping area called Namdae Mun market area where there are over 1,200 different shops. The prices were quite disappointing compared to China!  A "coach" bag that we could get in China for $20 was $40, but when I told them I got it for cheaper in China they said how cheap China is and that things are better in Korea.

We did pick up some ties, a couple of t-shirts for Kevin, and some cool flashlights for Kevin too.

We stopped at a small restaurant and had some bibimbip (rice, egg, meat, vegetables, and sauce). The lady mixed it all up for us, and gave us some soup and kimchi. Yummy. We also had some steamed rice rolls with meat in them. These tasted like China.  We watched a man make this honey candy. That was cool. He took a small piece of what looked like honey candy, stretched and stretched it into thin spider like webs, wrapped it over nuts and packaged it. It was a little pricey, but will be good for the family to try.

We then had the bright idea to go to Costco (yes, they have Costco!) and buy some Tim Tams that the Aussie demonstrated at church yesterday. So, we hopped on another subway and headed there. We had another girl stop and help us, and a short walk after the subway stop we arrived! And the prices! Wow! A jar of nuts-$19.oo, Mangos-$18.00. We bought the Tim Tams and that was enough!  We did stop to have a berry smoothie and sat next to 2 women who were having a slice of pizza...and condiments on the side. Get this....hot dog toppings, onions, mustard, catsup, and relish, all mixed up together, and then they ate it with forks!  I don't know if they realized that it was for a hot dog, but they seemed to enjoy it! 

We rode the subway ($1.00) back to the hotel, and crashed for a rest! All that walking and shopping! Whew!

We then headed out for dinner. We found a place that served bulgogi, and split one between us. It has one dish of meat and onions all cooked, and then lots of other small dishes with things like kimchi, soup, vegetables, garlic, dates, and squid.  I don't think Bonnie was very impressed! She took one bite of meat and that was enough for her. It was a lot like eating at the Korean place in Provo that I went to with my parents and Andrea and Norma.

On the way home this older man stopped us and offered to make us a pair of shoes. We decided to go into his shop and check it out.  He convinced us to do it, kept calling us sister and explaining that he believed in God. Very interesting man, and his wife was there too. She didn't speak much English, but he made up for it with his stories. He carefully measured our feet. We chose the style out of a book, and he was going to make them for us. We will go back and check out the shoes on Wednesday evening. We don't have to buy them if we don't like them. Another adventure.

We are heading to bed, and getting up early to go to the temple!

Later!

Church in Korea

Photos from bottom to top

Subway going to church

Up the alley to church

The church building

The temple

Heading back to the hotel after the temple

Another exciting adventure in going to church today. Bonnie and I had tried to find a church on base, with no luck. LDS.org listed an English speaking branch in another area with some directions, so we decided to try our luck on the subways and go. We made it thru the first subway to and down to the connecting subway when we came upon two young men, and a young lady all dressed up and looking like they were heading to church. We kind of hung around them until I noticed the tell-tell signs that they were LDS, and then I popped the question were they going to church? And they were! And they were our new best friends. They very kindly welcomed us to follow them, and we were off onto the subway again. We got off a few stops later and began the short walk thru alleyways to the church. They all knew each other, and the guys are dentists with the army, one is leaving Korea in the next few days, and the other is just beginning his tour.
We enjoyed all three meetings and there were probably about 60 people there of all nationalities there. The talks centered around The Plan of Salvation, where did we come from, why are we here, and where are we going? Excellent talks. There were many missionary couples who are called specifically because they are former military, and can help out on the bases. There were also "regular" young missionaries. The relief society teacher is a kindergarten teacher from New Zealand.
After the meetings they had a "linger longer" dinner. It was fantastic with both Korean and American food. I can't imagine all the work that went into preparing it for everyone, and it was so nice to have a meal. We were able to meet and talk with other people. I talked to one lady with 5 kids from Bountiful whose husband is teaching buisness at a university. She initially did not like living in Korea, but after going home for her grandpa's funeral came back and has decided it is ok, and she will make the best of it, especially since her husband bought her an American dryer! They are still only cooking with a toaster oven, which she finds hard because you can't fit in a cookie sheet. Small world, but when I said I was from Alaska she mentioned knowing Merlyn Chamberlain!
After the dinner this zealous Austrailian announced that there would be a special treat after dinner and to save our cups. He demonstrated how to eat Tim Tams. He picked up this chocolate square cookie and loudly said," First you say, "Struth the Crikie, You little Ripper, Tim, Tam" then you bite off one corner of the cookie, then the other corner, then dip it in hot chocolate, suck up a drink, and then stuff the cookie in your mouth." It was pretty funny, and delicious! We are heading to Costco tomorrow to get some! Yes, they have Costco here!
We then followed our new friends back to the subway and on to the Temple for a look around. Bonnie talked to the guy at the gate and found out that they both new Mont Mahoney, he is from Alaska. I don't know him. The temple was beautiful, but hard to find. Good thing we had new friends.
We took the subway back to the hotel with our friends, they were heading that way, and said goodbye.

So glad we were able to attend church in Korea, and China! So glad we met some new friends to help us! It is marvelous to have our church all over the world, and to be able to be studying and learning the same thing here, as we would back home.

Korea and some last photos of China

Photos from bottom to top
Our group from Alaska
The cave we visited
More friends from Alaska that taught in another city
Our last hotel in Shanghai the night before we left

Bonnie and I said goodbye to our friends in Shanghai. Some were staying to go to Beijing, and others were on the plane with us as far as Korea, and then on to home. Bonnie and I stayed in Korea, and found our way to the bus and then took a taxi from the bus stop to the Hotel on the military base.


We have found out that we can't buy anything from the commisary or AFFES, so we are stuck with eating fast food, unless we leave the base, which we intend on doing.


Our last day we toured a fantastic cave, a pearl factory, and then took a flight to Shanghai where we had free time to do some last minute shopping! Spend it!


We are heading out to find a church this morning. Going to take the subway.