First Birthday Party

Apparently first birthday's are a big deal here in Korea. It's like a mini-wedding. Or a Bar-Mitzpha. Or a Quincenaera. First birthday's here are called "Dol"s. They're a big deal because babies didn't use to make it to 1 year. The daughter of our Pastor (Andy) and his wife (Hyun-jin) was turning 1! So we had a perfect chance to see what all the fuss was about.

Sienna and her mother looked like Princesses! They were all dressed up for the occasion.

The decorations were pretty elaborate too.
Sienna will never be so spoiled again in all her life! haha

Father and daughter, the perfect combination.

One of the things they do at a baby's first birthday is foretell their future. It's tradition that the baby is shown a tray of various things and the child picks one out to see what their life will be like.

On the tray their was:
Microphone - she'll be an entertainer
Money - she will be wealthy
String - for long life
Computer mouse - she'll be a computer major
Pencil - she'll be a scholar
Bowl of rice - she'll have her needs met (food, shelter...)

Being shown most of them and having no interest, Sienna chose the microphone! She'll be an entertainer! I'm almost surprised they didn't put a Bible on the tray though... ^^

We all had a great time dressing up and celebrating Hyun-jin and baby Sienna--who is a baby no more! I love birthdays. <3

Death in the "family"

Babo died last night. He had "distemper" and the last stage was seizures. We woke up to him barking uncontrollably and seizing, and there was nothing we could do for him except try to keep his body from flailing everywhere... So we wrapped him in a blanket and made him as comfortable as possible and watched him die.

It was so strange. I've never seen the life in something leave it... I've never seen something alive become lifeless. It was strange. And sad. It seems to happen so quickly...

House Party!

On Saturday we had our official House Warming Party! We invited all the people we loved to come spend the night with us celebrating our new home in Korea. ^^ S.J. and Gloria brought their Wii, and later the guys came up with group games for us to play together! The party was so fun!

Here are some pictures from the night:

S.J. playing the Wii... everyone else chowing down^^

Spending time with Joo-hyung before the party got too crazy

Minkey & Hyun-jin playing the Wii!
They were definitely the most entertaining to watch... hehe

We had champagne for a roommate toast to celebrate our new "life" together! :D

Eli, Tharine, and me <3

Puppies!

So a few weekends ago, the three of us girls decided we'd been thinking about getting a dog long enough. Our friend volunteers at the local dog shelter, so we decided to stop by and see what there was to see.

There was an overabundance of shitzues and poodles... both of which I hate. (I'm sorry, but I'm into cute dogs. hehe) But there were a few cute ones! There was a large puppy we called One-Eye (for reasons you can guess) that we wanted to take, but the lady said that he would grow to be bigger than a Jindo (which is the white Korean dog as large as a Great Dane)... so we decided it wouldn't be the wisest thing to do.

So we decided on one... and then another! We were talked into it. ^^;

Both are mixes. The boy, Ba-bo (Korean for "silly"), is a Pomeranian mix--and I don't like those dogs either... but he's cute. The girl, Noo-na (it means "older sister," it's what Korean guys call an older sister or older female friend), is a Che-something. We couldn't understand the lady.


As of right now, they are both sick. Babo is very sick... and the vets don't seem to be very good here. People in Korea definitely think of their dogs as toys instead of living things. ~.~

New Apartment!

The new apt is everything I could have hoped for and more. *^^* I love living with Eli and Tharine!

Here are some pictures of our place for your viewing pleasure:

Living room with a wall of window <3

Our giant kitchen!
Complete with an oven AND a washer... hehe

My room! 2 walls of windows <3

We have the most amazing view overlooking the
Southwest side of Daegu and the mountain range

There are two more bedrooms besides. We're right next to downtown and in a safe area. I don't mind spending another year under these conditions. ^^