Kidzania

Ok I am catching up on old posts. This is from our second playdate with Grace. We went to this place called Kidzania. I had heard of it from some other kids in Seoul and we had been looking forward to checking it out. It lived up to its stories - Netta loved it and I must admit it is a fun place. It is like an amusement park but is set up like a small version of Seoul. A lot of the businesses in Seoul have mini versions of themselves set up here. So Seoul Milk and Paris Baguette as well as many others are here. The basic idea is that kids can do jobs and take classes. There is a TV studio where the kids do the news show. Netta was the cameraman because she doesn't speak Korean and it was so fun. She got to use a real camera. They then make a DVD of the performance for the parents. Kids get paid for doing jobs and they pay money for classes. Netta took a cooking class and spent some of her "money" there. Kids also get to open bank accounts, have ATM cards and credit cards. Nothing like creating consumers from an early age. But it was so fun for Netta to get to do grown up things. In the picture above you can see the kids ready to make donuts in their hair nets and all.

Here Netta is working in a hotel. They are cleaning the room and preparing it for visitors. They wore little blazers as uniforms and the room was kind of mini sized - so cute.
Here is Netta working at the fire department. They drove the kids in a small fire truck through the little streets with the siren on and all. Netta got to ride shotgun!
Here is Netta fighting the "fire" - it was in an old hotel and they got to shoot real water at the "flames".
The triumphant fire fighters.
Olive in the little fire truck. It was kind of a hard day for Olive as none of the activities were geared towards littler ones. She kept wanting to go where Netta was but couldn't. Also her leg was not quite working right yet so there was a lot of carrying for me.
Netta being a cheerleader. She didn't really want to do this but ended up having fun. They practiced and then performed on the soccer field - they did a routine to "Oh Mickey". Very cute...

Here is Netta with Grace and Irene. They are sweet girls who both speak English very well. Netta likes them - it was a fun day!!!
Here is Netta's list of things that were there:

recording studio
fire department
beauty shop
Mr. Pizza
Cheerleading squad
soccer team
dentist
bank
Paris Baguette
Italian food place
Dunkin Donuts
Baskin Robbins
Deok place
Korean Airlines
Lotte Hotel
Exterminator
Construction site
Archaelogical site
house painters
Hospital
pharmacy
E-Mart
Kyobo Book store
clock tower
police station
court house
movie theatre
acting theatre
jail
car wash
car making studio
car mechanic
gas station


It was a bit of a pricey day but fun!

And we never could have done it without Korean friends as they really helped us navigate the whole thing.

Bye for now!

Netta on Ice

When Pauline was here we tried to go ice skating with Netta. We ended up in an enormous bookstore and we never actually found the skating rink that we had read about on the internet. But while we were looking at books we met a little girl named Grace. She took our phone number and called the next day to make play date with Netta. So we went back to the bookstore and met her after Pauline went home. We ended up going ice skating with her. She knew where the rink was and showed us the way. Netta had a great time and after hanging on to the side for a short time to get her balance she was off skating and having fun. Poor Olive wanted to skate but with her leg still healing it didn't seem like the best plan. So Olive and I waited for Netta and Grace and ate cookies. It was a lovely day and has led to more fun play dates with Grace and her friends. They are really sweet and she is quite a kid. Very brave to call us and spark up the friendship.

In fact the next post will be about our next day with them..... Something to look forward to......

Songwhangsa Temple

Hi I am finally back weeks later to finish blogging about our trip with Pauline. On our last day in the village we tried to go to Songwhangsa Temple which is one of the three jewel temples in Korea. It was snowing and the mountainous road was closed so we turned back when the driving got treacherous and headed to the hot springs. We spent a lovely afternoon in the warm water and then tried the temple in the morning before we had to leave to go home. We made it and it was worth it - so beautiful.
We even got to hear the bell being rung. What a lovely sound - John recorded it and will be able to use it in his work.
Amazing icicles hanging from the temple walls.
Olive got kind of sad and cold but perked up when Netta carried her out. Netta was quite a trouper as the going was a bit icy and steep.
This is the river that we walked by on the way up to the temple. So amazingly beautiful.
This huge stone was remarkable. Netta is in for scale. (I wish I could figure out how to turn these photos - sorry)
Olive feeling better.
Lots of lovely, white, fresh snow.
Detail of paintings on the main temple hall. Inside were large golden statues of the buddha - lovely.
Netta and Olive "feeding" the statue.
It was hard to leave this beautiful, peaceful place but the rental car was due back so off we went.
Here are a few more images:



Here are some shots of tunnels from our drive home- Korea is so mountainous that there are lots of tunnels to drive through. They entertained the kids on the long drive - especially with Pauline counting when we went in and when we went out.

That is the end of our trip with Pauline - she left the next day - we still miss having her here. It was a great visit - thanks Pauline!

Nagan village

So here are more photos from Nagan Village.




Here is when the snow fell.
The girls with their snowperson.
A swept path with footprints.
This is the iron worker in the village. We bought a knife from him and now every time I use it I think of watching him placing it in the fire and then hammering it. It is heavy and sharp.

Our Min bak

Blanketed in white - so amazing on the thatched roofs.
The snowy wall.

Netta's snow angel. Nice - huh?
The snow woman with the ginko leaf hat. There is a 600 year old ginko tree in the village - maybe this leaf came from that tree.
Icicles hanging from thatch.
Such a beautiful place.

Naganeupseong Village

These pictures are from our first day at the village.
There is a wall surrounding the village as it was a fortress during the Joseon Era. We arrived after a night in Suncheon City. The first day of driving took longer than we thought it would and so we stayed in a love motel in Suncheon and set out for the village in the morning. It was a lovely when we arrived and we wandered for awhile and then found a Min Back ( a stay in someone's house).
Netta, John and Olive climbing the stairs to the wall.
Some of the carvings on the way into the village. Very silly.

A pond in the village.

Just a few more photos

Olive with her new subway toy. Netta chose this great subway car for Olive. It makes some annoying sounds but it is very authentic and has already been played with a lot.
Olive building and Netta reading.
That's it - the vacation photos are up next.

quick christmas post

Here they are the cutest, happiest Christmas girls in Korea. We had a great day and the girls enjoyed all the lovely things brought over from loved ones at home. These dresses from Nana Rene and Grandad were a big hit - so incredibly cute.
Christmas cake - this is what Koreans do for Christmas - eat cake. We had to get one to be a part of the experience here but just when we had finished ours our neighbor (at least we think it was our neighbor) showed up at the door with an extra one from their party - so now we have 2 - well actually only 1 1/2 now. John and Netta tried to find the neighbors and offer some of our baked goodies in return but ended up knocking on someone else's door and so they got the goodies.
Netta - very happy about the Christmas Cake.
Paper dolls with Pauline. fun fun
John with Dino the amazing knitted dinosaur that Pauline brought for Olive.

It was a wonderful day. Thanks to all at home and I will try to post more details of our last couple of days soon.