Your questions answered
If you didnt join me here yesterday, I was taking offers to answer any questions you have. Today, you get the answers! Well, some of you get the answers. I think there was at least one question that should probably get its own separate post.
Lets get started....
1. Jodie asked if we are going to have anymore children.
The short answer is I don't know. The longer answer would be no, we are not planning on it, but we've also decided not to take any form of prescribed birth control and neither of us will be getting any sort of "surgeries". As I've mentioned before, my body doesnt like prescription birth control and to be honest- I've never felt comfortable about taking such measures anyway. God will decide.
Jodie also asked for a picture, and I didnt get to it before the kids went to bed, so I will try and get that this weekend and post it next week! Sorry Jodie!
2. Punchy asked where do I see myself in 5 years. I think she really likes that question. Unless my memory is wrong (and it SOOO could be) I think she's asked me that at least once, maybe more over the years!
In 5 years, I will be 34.5 years old. Emma and Jax will be in school. I hope to be working out of my home as a writer/photographer. In my dream world, I would be writing articles for magazines (food reviews/family life articles) and taking family photo shoots several times a month. I'll be independent, have my own source of income, my schedule will be flexible so I can have plenty of time with the kids. We will have a dog again. Where will I be living? I dont know. In many many ways, I want to stay in Korea permanently.
3. Kristie asked how we handle our money. The ATM machines on Post dispense US dollars and Korean won (KRW) so we are able to get out money for on and off post. On POst, we use dollars. There are a few places on Post that you can use Won though. For example, there is a Korean restaurant on Post that you can use won at, and a 1000 Won store (similar to a Dollar Store). Off Post is all won, all the time. We can not use our ATM cards at just any ATM machine though. Only international machines. They arent everywhere, but there are enough around if we really need to get some Won out. Our debit/credit cards work fine out on the Korean economy. So, yes, we usually have to world currencies on us, and for me- its more Won since I like to wonder around off Post with the kids, and for Jason its more US Dollars for his lunches etc during work.
4. Just Passing Through asked about Koreans. I am going to save this question for next week. It really deserves its own Post.
5. Pam asked about our personal forms of transportation and the public transportation Seoul offers.
In my day to day regular life, I drive my car to Post with the kids for gymnastics, or story time at the library or playgroups or grocery shopping etc. We live JUST outside POst, so I only have to go thru 2 lights, or maybe 1-2 city blocks to get from our apartment building to the Post gate. There are some places out in the city that I will drive to myself, but if I were to go further into the city, I would likely take the subway. Sometimes a taxi depending on the location, how many subway transfers I would have to make, and the time of day. The first 4 months here, I rode the subway a lot to explore. Now I can either drive to those places, or my daily life is so busy I havent had much time to explore a new area by the subway.
The Korean subway system is very organized, easy to understand (English on most signs) and seems clean and safe to me. There are times of day (5pm) that the subway train is SO packed, that you cant possibly imagine squeezing onto a car, but you do, you just learn to be comfortable with your body pressed between strangers. When I am with the kids on the subway, someone usually always offers me their seat so I do not have to stand. The subway is very cheap, less than a dollar each way to wherever I am going and back. I have a T-Money card (looks like a plastic ring) attached to my cell phone and I just load it up with Won at a 711 or subway station and scan it to get on and off the subway.
My only subway complaint is that there are not always elevators to get up the street level (or maybe you have to go waay out of your way to find them) so I have to walk up sometimes up to 4 flights of steep stairs, with the kids.
Pam also asked if most Koreans have cars. That I dont know. I know the subway system is huge and always packed so I would say most Koreans use public transit to get to work etc. I am fairly sure that all of the Koreans in my bulding have cars, but this building is filled with people with very high paying jobs, so that is the norm here. I think cars in Korea are more for the wealthier, BUT I dont really know. The traffic IS bad though, so lots do drive.
6. Sandy asked about getting ice in our drinks. At Korean restaurants, there is usally a tupperware bottle on the table filled with water and little metal drinking cups. The water is room temp, no ice provided. You can get a soda, but it will be in a can. But, I frequent a lot of international resturants, and those places generally always have ice, soda fountains and refills etc.
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If you have anymore questions, I will answer them next week. Tomorrow (Friday) we are going on a church trip to Everland (basically Korean Disney World). We are taking Emma, but leaving Jackson with a new (!) nanny so he can have his own fun adventures.
You can visit the Everland website here.
