China's Yuppers and Nopers

This was our first meal in China. Fatty meat and vegetables and a few unidentifiable globs of who knows what...but guess what??? It's a YUPPER folks. Chinese food is yummy! If you don't eat anything that has a face you should be o.k. At least that is my motto.
You can eat like a King on $5 a day in Beijing!



O.K. the following pictures are all from a "grocery store". It was a really unique and cool experience. This "store" was right next to our hotel. In the store there were a bunch of vendors, some selling bread, some selling meat, some selling Chinese booze. There was a small section within the store that looked like a regular grocery store with toiletry items and what not.
We looked around, were amazed at what we saw...(and smelled) and we drove everyone crazy with our camera flashes.
Anyhow, let's get on with it shall we?

Here is an example of something I wouldn't eat unless maybe I was absolutely starving. These were alive and wiggling folks and it's like bulk food. "Hey honey, can you go to the store and buy some jumbo meal worms? Yeah the big ones...you know what I'm talking about, and make sure they are nice and fresh"

NOPER

Do I even need to comment?

(((((Noooooooper)))))


We decided to focus our energy on a section that looked like bulk candies. Both of us went crazy filling our bags with colorful enticing treats. In the end I think we spent a whole whopping dollar.

This is tuckahone cake. It's not cake, it's not even sweet. It's like a flavorless fruit leather wrapped in Styrofoam like rice. Mmmmm....... NOPER!

This looks like it could be good. All colorful and pretending to hide something sweet.

Spoofer! It was some weird semi-dried fruit...again ...Not sweet.

NOPER

Same as tuckahone cake but with bird seed all over it. NOPE nope noper


Noper
These are all along the same line. I guess the Chinese love bland jelly stuff, or tart dried fruits. We were hard pressed to find anything sweet. It was a bit of a dissapointment

I'd have to say that this is the closest to being a yupper. Looks good right. They call it peach pastry...but it's just fruit leather without any sugar. All of it is the same ol' stuff.

This would have been good if it weren't a huge seed with a tiny bit of sticky fruit around it.
Noper


Well, this post is getting lengthy so I'll sign off for now. We have more Chinese Yuppers and Nopers and other funny experiences. I'll get around to sharing it someday.

Korean Fan Death

(Warning Reads: Danger: Lethal Appliance

Do not point at face while sleeping. Must open all windows. Will cause DEATH)

I interrupt the silence to bring you none other than "Korean Fan Death". This is a REAL and SERIOUS issue folks. Tens of Koreans die every year because of fans....(Yes, I am talking about those oscillating machines that keep us cool on hot days.)

This is taken from wikipedia.org Fan Death

South Korean government position:

The Korea Consumer Protection Board (KCPB), a South Korean government-funded public agency, issued a consumer safety alert in 2006 warning that "asphyxiation from electric fans and air conditioners" was among South Korea's five most common seasonal summer accidents or injuries, according to data they collected. Also included among the five hazards were air conditioner explosions, and sanitation issues, including food poisoning and opportunistic pathogens harbored in air conditioners. According to the KCPB:
"If bodies are exposed to electric fans or air conditioners for too long, it causes bodies to lose water and [causes] hypothermia. If directly in contact with [air current from] a fan, this could lead to death from [the] increase of carbon dioxide saturation concentration and decrease of oxygen concentration. The risks are higher for the elderly and patients with respiratory problems. From 2003 [to] 2005, a total of 20 cases were reported through the CISS involving asphyxiations caused by leaving electric fans and air conditioners on while sleeping. To prevent asphyxiation, timers should be set, wind direction should be rotated and doors should be left open."

Check out what's up in the R.O.K hizza!!!!!

This puts a big ol sloppy smile on our faces! 6 inches down and more to come! This is a gigantic YUPPER! It may well shut the penisula down for the lunar new year!

The Korean slopes are getting REAL snow....I don't know how they are going to handle it!

YIPEEEEE!

Why the dry spell????

Did your mother every say to you, "If you don't have anything nice to say...don't say anything at all." ? I guess that is why this blog has been so quiet lately.
Every year I send out our family Christmas letter and it has been our tradition to do a totally goofy family photo to send with it.
I have done that for the last 11 Christmas's or so...but this year Andy had to write our Christmas letter (as you can see in the previous post) as I could not muster the energy or enthusiasm to do so.

We have a lot of unfinished posts for this blog sitting in "draft" mode. I aim to be funny and lighthearted in my writings but since I haven't been feeling funny or lighthearted in "real" life I have stopped writing all together. I just can't "fake" it .....and Andy is just way too busy with working 16 hours a day and working on his Master's degree to contribute to this blog.

So that is a loooong explanation for the "dry spell". I can't promise when I'll be back to my funny old self again. I have literally been sick this entire year and in spite of trying everything to get better I am still sick. I don't cope well with all the pollution and grime. We are counting the days to when we get to come back to the States. We still don't know what our next assignment will be so everything is up in the air as far as our futures are concerned.
As you can imagine that is not a comfortable place to be in....but that is the military life in a nutshell.

We are thankful for so many things in our life so I don't want to gripe and complain.

We have a lot of great posts coming up if I can get my "funny" back...such as China's yuppers and nopers, driving in Korea, Korean fashion, Korean ski areas...and much much more....

Merry Christmas everyone!

Merry Christmas

We are in Korea. What a different type of Christmas. We miss family and friends and are extremely homesick. It's snowing like crazy back in the states and we miss boarding in the awesome Pacific NW. We will enjoy a mellow celebration opening a few gifts then visit Everland to view Christmas decorations. We have great hope for the future and can't wait to see where we are going next.

I would tell you what we've been up to this year but you can read it in the other blog posts.
We pray everyone has a great Christmas and next year is the most blessed year yet.

Andy, Sherry, Chicane Pence

Happy Thanksgiving! It's all about the small things....

It is Thanksgiving today and we are in Korea without an oven. All is well though, because we bought a turkey and some sides which will be eaten with cousin in Seoul on the weekend.
Cousin has an oven. Oh how lucky to have a cousin with an oven...and that is just one of the many things we are thankful for this year!

Here are some other things we are thankful for! Friends and Family.

I am especially thankful for my dear sweet buddy Amber! Yes, YOU girl! For my birthday Amber bought me a sprout growing container and some seeds. I LOVE sprouts and have been very sad these last several months to go without them. All I have found in Korea have been bean sprouts....not the same!
I've got them growing good and well now and eat them everyday! One of my favorites foods is a little something I invented called....wait for it.....wait for it.....

"The Yummy Goodness!"

Yep and it may look and/or sound gross but everyone who has tried it has liked it! And it is oh so healthy! Here goes:
Slap down a tortilla and slather some hummus on it (in my case...home made because why would Korea be cool enough to have hummus?)
Put in the microwave for about 45 seconds,
Then put a scoop of cottage cheese on it as well as some of those delicious sprouts (again...home grown....see prev parenthesis) and top it of with....wait for it......home made hot sauce....(that I smuggled in to the country)....so sue me!

I've been missing, dare I say desperately, this wonderful meal since I arrived in this ingredient barren land. But now I am happy again...thanks to Amber! Yummy goodness will most likely be my thanksgiving dinner tonight!

I am also thankful for my cousin Jamie who (knowing that we don't have an oven) sent a baked goods care package. Oh my goodness....cookies and banana bread! Girl...you caused some serious marital discord when Andy thought it was all for him! I would show you pictures but we ate it too fast.

I am thankful for my sister who skypes us every other day. She keeps me posted on everything so that I don't feel quite so left out of family matters. Plus I get to talk to our nephews quite a bit which is awesome!

We are thankful for health, adventures, one another and a military income during our economical down turn.

Thank you Lord for all your blessings!

Paying the Rent

Well, it's that time of the month. How would you like to take a trip with me to pay the rent?
Are you ready....it's quite a hassle so hang on for the ride!

1.) Both Andy and I go to the ATM machine on base and max out our withdrawal limits. Our Korean rent is equivalent to paying our home mortgage.

2.) Take the stack of 20 dollar bills into the base bank and exchange them for 100 dollar bills (you get a better exchange rate this way.)

3.) Take your 100 dollar bills into the money exchange right outside the base's main gate. Trying not to get robbed on the way!

4.) Since the Korean Won's highest bill is 10,000 won (comparable to a $10 bill) we have to pay our 13 million won rent in these small bills.

5.) Hurry across the street to our realtor to give her the hugmongus stack of money, which in turn she will give to our landlord.


6.) Here is Kay counting the money and giving me a receipt.

Yes, we go through this rigmarole every month as does every military family that lives off base.

You have to pay in cash...it's the only way they will accept rent.

Isn't this the craziest thing you've ever heard?