TGBKA: Christmas 2015

Despite how "behind" I always feel, we seem to make the event lovely and memorable. Christmas Day was glorious! We started when we felt like it (read: the kids let the parents sleep in!!!), we ate cake for breakfast (it is Jesus' birthday you know), we sipped on coffee (because nothing of substance happens in our house until a cup is downed), and we opened our presents. Before we got started in the kitchen, we played some board games as a family. Then Sweet Baboo took The Elder to Walking District while The Wee and I got the place ready for guests. Here is the day in photos:

The Wee got the very hat she was eyeballing! Her sister distracted her while I made the purchase. It was a team effort!

Hand warmers are all the rage this year. At least, in our house they are!

Because... are your hands really warm if you're not shoving them in odd spots inside your stuffed animals?

Sweet Baboo got a little stool to sit on when he comes home and needs to take off his boots. 

This was a big deal. In Korean homes, you do not enter until your shoes are removed. In our lease, we have agreed to not wear shoes that have been worn outside in the house. But when Sweet Baboo comes home, with his arms full of Army stuff, and boots laced up to his shins, the removal process has been tedious. We got him a stool to make the process a bit easier, and he was thrilled!

The big dilemma this year was Mal vs Evie.

When the Descendents movie came out earlier this year, The Elder and I were hooked. I'm so glad that I have an excuse for watching cheesy Disney movies; but if you've known me long enough you'll know that my love for Disney movies, television shows, soundtracks, theme parks, etc. runs deep. (When Sweet Baboo and I were dating, I had over 150 Disney soundtracks on cd... and those were filed next to their DVD or VHS movies in my room. It's amazing he found me "adult" enough to date!)  

When Disney started merchandising the movie, The Elder was deep in her own quandary. The dolls were $25 each, and earning enough money to get just one doll would take her a month. Doubling down on that effort seemed to take an eternity to a 10 year old! I advised her to put the dolls on her Christmas list, and she wasn't getting that she could ask for both. Rather, every time we went to the Post Exchange (PX) she would stare at both dolls and say, "Mal or Evie? Evie or Mal? Which one should I ask for?" Sweet Baboo and I loved that she was absolutely tormented over this. She didn't feel like she could ask for both. And when she opened both dolls, her first words were "but that was a lot of money!" We chuckled and told her that we had saved our dollars to get them both for her. She was very thankful and loved the gifts.

I got the coolest gift by far! Who wouldn't want a Christmas Bunny hat/scarf/gloves combo?

And I rocked that crazy thing to the mail room the next day. It was most definitely appreciated!

The Wee got a Mickey Mouse Tool Set. 

She immediately went to work around the apartment.

This is the year that The Elder wanted clothes and jewelry as much as she wanted toys. Our little girl is becoming a little lady.

She is so excited that she gets to wear dangly ear rings. And her daddy got her a pretty purple jewel inside of a white gold heart necklace. 

Then, Sweet Baboo took The Elder to Walking District in search of the fleece lined pants that he was in deep desire of owning, but I was incapable of getting for him. To our surprise, Walking District was a-buzz of activity on Christmas Day! The Wee and I stayed behind to get food cooking.

I was treated to fairy dancing!

I almost burned down the apartment.

The Lounge was peaceful

We learned Life lessons (like pay the $100K for college so you can get paid more in the game).

For the record: I stomped the family at Life. My net worth at the end was $4.9 million. Sweet Baboo ended up with just under $4 million. Of course, we both paid the $100K for college at the beginning. The girls didn't spend the $100K, and ended up with just under $1 million and $1.2 million. Later that night, I played Life against some of the Soldiers. We all went to college in the game, and I still won. #winningatthegamecalledlife

We had a great crew over!

Some people were excited to come over when we gave them the invite. Others thought they wanted to stay in their barracks room and sulk... while drinking. We respected both decisions, but made sure the drinking sulkers knew they could come over if they changed their minds. We had some mind-changers, and I'm glad to have brightened the Christmas day for many geo-bachelors.

Wii-U was played by many

Silly hats were modeled. Just because.

And passed around to other models.

Soju was consumed, games were played, and laughter abounded. 

I say this every year, but it's absolutely true: This was the BEST Christmas ever.

TGBKA: Unit Adopt an Orphan Event, the Big Day!

In my previous post, I discussed all of the many projects I have already taken on in Korea. And I honestly couldn't feel more appreciated! For a person who deeply appreciates words of affirmation, I thrive on positive feedback. I also thrive on thoughtful and constructive criticism, so the words don't have to be all about how amazing I am. Words are powerful, and the use of them (or the neglect to use them, or even the fake use of them) is noticed. But I digress. I keep hearing how much I am appreciated here, and it only makes me want to work harder to keep the praise coming.

One of my projects came to an end this past weekend and my heart is kind of sad about it. Earlier this month we went to the orphanage to meet the orphans the units in Area 1 adopted. This past Sunday, we got to spend the afternoon as a big group on post with our orphans. Here is how the day went in photos:

The whole gang from B Co that showed up to show Ae Jin some love.

When most of the people here are either single Soldiers, or they are geo-bachelors, the time can drag on. I loved seeing so many faces want to take time out of their weekend to come support this wonderful event, especially since it was completely out of their own pockets. What a fantastic group of Soldiers I get to work with!

Before we got to spend time with the orphans, they put on a little talent show for us!

The little girl in pink is 19 years old. I'll let that sink in for you... every orphan at Noah Rehabilitation Center has an incapacity that keeps them from being adopted, and later in life they will probably not leave NRC.

When Ae Jin came out, we got first hugs!

She spotted us from the stage before we saw her. I noticed her because she was wearing a red jacket (surprise, surprise... the red), and she was waving with all of her might at us. My heart jumped for joy at her excitement!

Before they opened the buffet line, two orphans were asked to cut the cake. Ae Jin was one of them!

They were given a small sword and told to smile for the camera, turn, and cut.

After dinner, we had to wait for everybody else to finish their food.

We were the second table to get to go through the food line, so we finished our meal relatively quickly. In waiting, cell phones were brought out and games were played. At one point The Wee showed Ae Jin the Elf Yourself App on her daddy's phone. That brought many laughs (we each took a selfie to contribute to the craziness).

We finally got a half decent (at it's best) cup of coffee.

The military does not move without a half decent cup of joe first. So when we were dining at a facility on post that didn't immediately have coffee on hand after a meal, Sweet Baboo and I were a little freaked. But one brave soul went into the kitchen and asked what was up. He was offered a single cup of coffee, and made the mistake of walking by our table. Sweet Baboo and I jumped up and immediately interrogated him as to the whereabouts of the source of the caffeine fountain. Eventually, we were able to order a cup. Glorious.

We taught Ae Jin about hand slaps...

...because nothing breaks down cultural differences like hitting each other.

She understood it was a game, and loved playing it! 

She even made her way around the room and taught some of her friends from the orphanage the new game. We may have started something that the orphanage isn't going to appreciate, but fun sure was had!

There was a magic show... and The Elder levitated!

The show was only about 30 minutes, and some of his tricks were easily figured out, but I'll admit to being stumped by a few of them. The Wee was seriously concerned about the safety of her big sister, and The Elder was visibly relieved when she got off the bench.

Lots of selfies were taken

And lots of photos from "back home" were shared.

Have you ever had that moment when you realized that your children had more in common (generationally) with your coworkers than you do? Yeah, these guys were a hoot to watch! And Sweet Baboo and I realized that we are officially the "seasoned" couple.

We gathered around Santa for a photo op!

Poor Ae Jin had to wait close to two hours before she was allowed to open her gifts. We weren't allowed to let her have them until after we saw Santa. But then we got a framed photo to give to her, one to take back to the company, and I got to keep one. The guys were able to sweet-talk themselves into getting a print (and some of them even got a frame as well!)

Presents were opened!

Ae Jin's list was so short that she basically knew what she was getting right away. She asked for a music album, some comic books, and that was it!

She got gifts she wasn't expecting, and she loved it!

Ah, boy bands. An international love of teenaged girls worldwide! So tossing a poster of a girl's favorite boy band into the pile of presents is almost always a win.

More group photos were taken.

More presents were opened (and appreciated)...

...and loved!

The comic books were not easy to find; she had the first year's books 1-4, but wanted any of the books between 5-10. I could only find book 5, and book 1 from the second year. I was so nervous that I would be disappointing her by not getting 6-10.

She didn't even have the slightest hint of disappointment. She had all hugs for The Elder.

I'm pretty sure she thought The Elder was responsible for picking up the books. And I don't even care. I was seriously choked up by the response to the presents. All of my anxiety over not coming through to my standards melted away and I was reminded of just how simply Ae Jin lives. She loved getting any one of the gifts, but was very thankful for every one of them!

We snuck in a quick family photo with Santa

Though I love the one with the entire group better. In fact, it may be the one I keep with the other annual Santa photos rather than this one.

Speaking of boy bands, we decided that the guys who joined us were forming one...

They don't sing. You don't want them to dance. But boy do they look like an international sensation! We had Korea, America, and American Samoa represented. And they were seriously posing like they needed to be put on a poster somewhere.

And they snuck in a group photo with Santa as well.

On the way home, Sweet Baboo mentioned to me that he didn't want that to be the last we saw of Ae Jin. In fact, since we weren't able to get everything off of her very short Christmas list, he wants to keep searching for the other books and take them to her (one per month) so we can develop a relationship. The girls excitedly agreed.

The following day, I bumped into one of the Soldiers who also attended the lunch with us. He said that some of the guys in the barracks saw the framed photo that we got to take home, and were bummed that they didn't get to go. They were asking if I could set up more time to go to the orphanage so they could give time and talent as well.

The whole situation warmed my heart and made me feel like I am already making a difference here. First, I know that the Soldiers who are here without their families are going home to a very quiet room. They are missing the giggles (or cries) of their children, they lack the routine of having to provide by day and getting to participate in family life by night. Many of them spend their spare time drinking and partying; that just has to get old at some point... right?

Some of the single Soldiers have approached me and asked if the FRG can include them, and my answer is "of course!" They have excitedly pointed out some service projects that they would love to participate in (serving food at the soup kitchen, handing out jackets to children in foster homes, gathering stuff for unwed mothers who have been ousted by their families, etc.). Their desire to serve this area beyond their call of duty in the uniform gets me all choked up and ready to hug each of them. I hear some in leadership positions complaining that these very Soldiers are lacking motivation and desire to do more than the bare minimum, I kind of wonder if living beyond the next "night out on the town" may be just what they need. I intend to find out!

TGBKA: It All Started on Day 3 in Korea...

It was bound to happen. In fact, I know of a group of friends who were throwing down bets on how long it would take before it would happen. And to be honest, I kind of feel like I deserve that pot of dough because I even shocked myself when I accepted a volunteer leadership position less than a week after arriving in Korea. Here's how it all went down:

Upon first entering Camp Casey, we were greeted with a bombardment of signage on post. Each one had lovely morsels of information about the goings on that would occur over the next couple of months. Not wanting to miss a single thing, I (slightly) annoyed Sweet Baboo as I took iPhone photographs of every sign that grabbed my attention. Then I hounded him for further information with every step deeper into the installation. I swear that at one point, he was about ready to do an about-face (turn around... for you non-military speaking folk out there) and send me back to the airport. But he did the best he could with what little energy he had for my unabating need to get involved with the local community. And then he introduced me to his immediate boss.

Within the first five minutes of the conversation, I had produced my enthusiasm, my starry-eyed love for adventure, and my photographs of every. single. banner. and asked how we could make this happen. Sweet Baboo's boss, we'll call him Mr. Amused, got equally excited and told me that I had his full backing on anything I wanted to sign up for in the name of the office. Sweet Baboo groaned.

It's not that Sweet Baboo minds, per se, that I get involved. It's that my need to be involved is so strong, my love of giving back to the community in which I live is so deep, my admiration of those who have a story to tell and are willing to take the time to tell it is so unwavering that I sometimes (read: every single time) get tunnel vision and forget that other things in life exist. Like eating. And sleeping. And, well... everything. Life's too short (if you ask me) to miss a single thing this world has to offer you, and I only get 2 years to experience this community. So I want to get started now.

These banners are the first thing you see when you walk on Camp Casey. And I was salivating when I saw the magazine they publish monthly!

The first thing on the agenda: Area 1 Christmas Tree Decoration Contest. Sweet Baboo and I had already discussed the electricity situation here, and I had packed enough Christmas lights to make Clark Griswold question my sanity. I didn't have a plan in mind just yet, but I wanted to figure out if Sweet Baboo's company had signed up, and if not could we do so? I asked Mr. Amused. He was disinterested until he read that the winner of the contest won $500 (goes to the unit funds) and Commander's Cup points (don't ask me... I don't pay much attention to those. But I do know that there are some Commanders out there who care.) Mr. Amused asked the CO of their company if we could sign up; a dope deal was made, and I was given the green light.

The next hurdle was to come up with a theme for the tree. I didn't bring any of our breakable ornaments from the States. I opted to have them go into storage. We usually have two trees: one "memory tree" with fragile ornaments that are chosen specifically based on the big things that happened that year, and one "medal tree" that holds all of the finisher's medals and winning medals from the entire family's athletic life. I left the "memory tree" behind, and only brought the medal tree and ornaments. And I didn't want to sacrifice our own tree at home in the name of setting up a tree at the post's club. So I decided to go with a theme. And this is what we came up with:

General Frosty T. Snowman complete with snowflake lights on, around, and under the tree. (That's a Christmas light present down there, too!)

I did my best to keep General Snowman from looking too creepy. I'll admit, his face haunts me. But check out his rank: he's a 1-Snowflake General!

Did you know that Koreans (at least the ones I spoke with... and I spoke with a lot) do not know what mesh ribbon is? I searched over two dozen stores between here and Seoul and could not find a single employee who knew what the heck I was trying to purchase. So we went with lace. It didn't form as well as I had hoped, but it is what it is.

As soon as the CO met me, I mean literally five minutes after meeting me, he asked me to be his FRG Leader. Sweet Baboo was nowhere to be found (he was at his office, working). I was wandering the Company HQ, trying to get my NEO packet completed (more on that later), and he asked me to fill the position. When I hesitated, he asked the girls to talk me into it. So after discussing it with Sweet Baboo over dinner that night, we decided that I should absolutely take the honor that his CO offered me.

And in taking that role on, I took the (unspoken) permission from Sweet Baboo to find half a dozen more projects to get involved in. I found out about these two cultural events because I was "in the know" now that I was an FRG Leader. And I had the full backing from the CO to get his company as involved as I wanted with the happenings on post. So I signed us up for four shifts of gift wrapping at the Camp Casey PX.

We take gift-wrapping quite seriously!

Wouldn't you want these awesome elves to wrap your Christmas presents?

This is a fundraiser for our FRG funds. In taking over, I was able to find out that the company didn't even have a bank account, let alone any funds for activities. So I needed to get us involved in earning some funds (until I make my way around post and ask the typical organizations to donate money to us).

I got on the battalion FRG Steering Committee. I found out about upcoming training exercises, official Korean holidays that would affect Sweet Baboo's schedule, and upcoming potlucks.

There aren't many families here, but the ones who are happen to have adorable children!

I joined the battalion Spring Ball Steering Committee, where I sit around with a bunch of higher ups (and a couple of awesome wives) and help to plan the spring ball! I'm super excited about this one!

I helped to decorate Sweet Baboo's office for their Christmas party. Again: way too many lights and an exponential electricity bill make for a poor Spunky Soul. So I shared the bounty.

This Christmas is brought to you by your Chain of Command. Keeping it festive!

But the best project I have signed the unit up for so far is the Unit Adopt an Orphan event. It has seriously touched my heart. Any interested unit can sign up to treat a local orphan to an American Christmas dinner, and a night of entertainment (on post). The unit is expected to purchase their orphan a gift, and pay for the orphan's dinner the night of the event. In an effort to "break the ice", there is a "meet and greet" at the orphanage the week before. The girls and I attended the meet and greet, along with a Soldier from the unit, and a KATUSA (Korean Soldier who is attached to a US unit). The KATUSA was our translator.

The group of volunteers who represented their units in the meet-and-greets!

We went to Noah Rehabilitation Center. This particular orphanage specializes in taking in children who are disabled in some way. They say the children are rarely ever adopted, and some children never leave (even when they grow to be adults). 

Meet Ae Jin! 

Ae Jin was very shy at first. I could tell that she wasn't quite comfortable with having five strangers sitting with her, asking her lots of questions. But after about ten minutes, (and one big hug from The Elder), she warmed up to us. Ae Jin is 20 years old, and we are told that she may never leave NRC. She loves to dance, and was even on the orphanage's competition team! They won Nationals last year, which is a very big deal for them.

I am very glad that our KATUSA came with us. He was able to find out which band she liked best so we could shop for her Christmas presents!

Ae Jin's only request for Christmas was a Korean comic book. I'm not sure of the name of the one she particularly wanted, but I took a photo of the cover:

She got very excited when she spoke of her love of reading this book. And it's a book. I had school books that were thinner than this thing! She has the first four books in the series, I'm hoping we raise enough money to get her the final six, though she has only asked for the 5th one.

Our time with her was short, but this visit was only supposed to be for us to break the ice. As we left, Ae Jin gave each of the girls several more hugs, and even gifted me with one! I was touched, and honored that she warmed up to us. She is a very sweet young lady, and I can only hope that she is as excited about Sunday as we are.

As we left, we snapped a few more photos of the orphanage, and headed back to the bus:

Dogs in the woods right next to the orphanage!

The girls and me with our KATUSA. He was a wonderful help!

This was really taken after we got off of the bus and headed to the orphanage. We basically had to hike a mountain to get there. Not really. But it was really steep.

So that's it so far! Today was our 1-month anniversary on Pen, and I'm not slowing down any. Though I guess I should stop long enough to finish my Christmas shopping. More importantly, I hope to have a million photos of the actual Christmas dinner with Ae Jin to share this weekend!