Chuseok

I'm so proud of myself. I wrote Chuseok in Hangul at work on the board from memory and only spelled it with a J-sound and was a little off on the -eok sound. Not bad for 2 months!
Here's a few pics of the view from our friends' apartment- you've seen the lack of view of our place, now see what it's like to be in a real high-rise apartment with a view of the Hangang River. And their place is like 3 times the size as ours. But who could afford the utilities there?
My office had the Chuseok party Tuesday night and we played volleyball and BBQ'd hamburgers and hot dogs- they wanted the American food. So I asked what the ROK military officer in our office what they were going to do for us gringos (I have the term written down at work, but they call us Yankees and the Korean words for 'big-nose') and they just take us out to a Korean restaurant. I called my counterpart a 'slacker' and then had to explain what it meant! He laughed and thought it was funny. He likes the words I teach him- slacker, heckler, etc. And I'm going to ask for an F-4 ride before I leave here. I'll puke my guts up, but what a ride!
Tabitha's party was today and Julie took this picture of Tabitha with two classmates. I had to obscure their faces, since I didn't ask their parents' permission and I wouldn't like it if someone put my kid on the Net without my permission. But their dresses are so pretty. We need to find some for the kids that don't cost $70 each. I saw them on base for that much. So we hopefully can find traditional Korean clothing for less.
I love the gooey rice cakes they have everywhere. Man, those are good. It's rice and something else all mashed up and has a sugary middle. Just a short bike ride away to the E-mart to get some, too.
I guess they're going to open up Kim Jong Il's job- I'll put in a resume and send a get-well card to Kim. I could run that country a lot better than he could.
And the approval came through today for me to stay one more year and get a small bonus. So we're going to be here until 2011. We'll have to fly home every summer Space-A now. That's fine. We'll miss the US if we stay away too long, but Korea has been a lot of fun so far.