Daejon Saturday and Sunday

We went to Daejon this weekend where Terry's family is. It's a 3 hour drive in a small car and 2 dogs. Sammy is jerk at any time so you know we had an interesting trip. Sammy bit Mikey twice in one day and today he even bit me. Of course, I got bit trying to keep Sammy from eating his own puke in the floor board of the car. That dog as never gotten car sick until TODAY. Guess you could say I started it. I threw up friday night from a horrible migraine. Saturday morning, Lillian threw up since she wouldn't eat enough friday night OR it could have been the chicken and rice "soup" Terry's mom LEFT out all night that we didn't know about. Lillian was too excited and wanted to play friday night and just wouldn't listen to us that she had to eat. So, we know she didn't feel well from the meds BUT the chicken and rice didn't help matters. THEN Jessica threw up after breakfast-she ate the "soup" too. Don't know what was up with us but we're the only ones that got sick. AND to top it all off....saturday night Terry's family (more like his mom) said if we were hungry there was chicken in the kitchen we could heat up. I thought okay. While in the kitchen I saw this huge pot on the counter and looked in it. There was the chicken that was left over from the NIGHT BEFORE from DINNER! THAT was the chicken we could eat! Plus, the rice cooked in the chicken juice was STILL sitting on the stove! I told Jessica DON"T eat it and don't let the kids eat it! I even told the kids to only eat fresh fruit or cereal with milk for breakfast the next morning! I explained why and I thought Muriel was going to puke from just hearing the chicken had been sitting out all night and all day! Jessica said she thinks Terry's mom is losing her mind...really losing it. She is doing weird stuff.

Now, Daejon is farther from the sea so there's less wind AND cool air flow. Still horrible humidty- we will never escape humidity here. There's also no air conditioning like we are used to in America. There's these aircon units that stand in the corner of the room which look like the return unit of your central air unit. They blow nice cold air BUT everyone has to sleep in the living room to enjoy it. If you open all the doors and place the fans just right, you can get the aircon air to circulate throughout the house. It doesn't keep the house real cool but you aren't miserable either. Thankfully, it wasn't hot enough to use the aircon while we were visiting. We opened the windows and turned on the fan and were comfortable.

The kids had a blast. They know Bum Joon, Terry's nephew. He has visited us twice in America. The girls played with Bum Joon and his cousin, U Ne. Mikey had fun with Gu Hwan (U Ne's brother) who is about a year younger. Bum Joon's mom said she would take the kids with her to the store they own. The girls hopped right on that! They came back with toys and candy AND ice cream bars. Bum Joon's mom even took Lillian and Muriel to the park with the other kids. Of course, there was a fountain at the park and guess who got in it? You guessed it MY KIDS! Now, this wouldn't have been a big deal to us BUT Bum Joon's mom just got a new car the night before. It looks like a Scion Cube. She actually went and bought the girls NEW clothes because they were soaked. Muriel picked out an outfit that was half off which made the outfit under 20,000 won. Lillian took one look at the pink outfit Bum Joon's mom pick out and told her NO! So, she looked for blue since she remembered Lillian likes blue. Well, the shirt doesn't match the shorts but at least both are blue and not PINK.

We met the kids and Bum Joon's mom on top of this mountain at a restraunt that serves duck and only duck. The man who owns the place started out with a small house and has built on several times. He even built a new restraunt further down the mountain. The strange thing is that the road leads to his place and dead ends. There is barely room to park let alone turn around. It's so crowded, there's two men to direct traffic and tell you where to park. Then you have to find some where to sit down. The inside tables are HOT and often filled so UP the moutain you go! There's tables every where covered by this netting material to keep the sun off of you plus coverage from birds, twigs falling etc. Not useful while it is raining or snowing though. Have to admit that the duck was GOOD. The side dishes were fresh and the garlic tossed on the grill with the duck was really good too. Muriel didn't even talk! She stuffed her face and didn't stop until she was full. Lillian even gobbled up so much that Terry's mom and sister were surprised all that food went into such skinny little girl. Mikey picked at the meat. He was a bit picky and didn't like the food cooking so close to him. It was hot enough without the fire in the middle of the table. People around us even said my kids' legs were going to break because they were so skinny while we were at this place. Terry just told them they were small children. Well, I would have told them I don't feed my kids loads of junk food or fast foods so they aren't fat like yours are!

After stuffing ourselves silly on duck, we headed back down the mountain. We made sure the girls buckled their seat belts. Apparently, Koreans don't think it is worth buckling their kids in the car. Parents actually complain that it takes too long to buckle a baby let alone small children. The death rate is incredible here for small children due to blunt force trauma in crashes.

The kids headed for the park on Sunday that rents bikes and battery operated cars for kids. We headed for the pharmacy. Jessica and I had horrible headaches. We needed pain killers. Lucky for us, E-Mart was open! Once we had the medicine, off to the park we went. Lillian rented a four wheeler that runs on batteries. She had a blast on it. Lillian ran it until it stopped so we had to find out how to reset it. AND it had to be reset 3 times! Muriel tried a 2 wheel bike but fell over so she had to get one with training wheels. She has gotten to where she can go really fast and has the scrapes to prove it. Mikey wanted a police 4 wheeler with sirens! I didn't know how well he would do but figured now was as good as any to find out. Surprisely, he controlled it without any problems. He only had one accident where he rammed a kid on another 4 wheeler. It was a hit and run as my son crashed into this kid and took off! Mikey could ride for only 30 minutes which turned out just right. By the time we returned the 4 wheeler, it was starting to rain and he had 2 minutes left. He rode the 4 wheeler up and stopped just before crashing into a line of "motor bikes" for kids. The kids are begging to do that again!

By the time we got back to Bum Joon's house, it was time to put children in the bath. The kids ran off to the jaquizzi tub! Of course the new water guns Lillian managed to get while at the family's store had to go to the tub too. Even Mikey got in and had fun. With the weather the way it is, we had to get showers morning and night. By the time we wake up, we are covered in sweat and can smell ourselves. Then by the end of the day, you can't stand smelling yourself another minute and HAVE to shower.

Anyways, we made out of there like bandits! I got a fur coat granted it's green rabbit fur. A purple coat, a tan light weight knee length jacket, a hanbok (traditional korean dress) plus I can pick thru Bum Joon's clothes and see what will fit our kids. Lillian really liked some of his shirts. They are happy and very spoiled here! Terry's mom even gave me money to buy the kids some clothes. Apparently, she feels bad for giving us second hand stuff. It's considered bad luck to wear used clothing. Jessica asked Terry if he told his mom we buy second hand and are happy about it. Jessica and I got a good chuckle out of Terry's mom giving me money. I told him I would make sure to buy them something. Like I told Muriel, it has to last forever so make sure to buy something that will last a long time and won't break easily.