From America to Korea

Sorry I haven't posted in over a week. When we got back from the beach, my sister and brother were at our house. They stayed until Sunday morning. Kurt took a bunch of stuff with him and Faye helped me sort through cleaners and medicine cabinets. A lot of stuff was outdated and thrown away. We saved some stuff to make a first aid kit. Boy, was I glad I did! I wanted to post the picture I took of my arm after falling off my bike Tuesday night. It would have made you sick. I exhausted my supply of gauze. My neighbor gave me some, and my in-laws gave me some, but now I am all out and can't buy more because you need an ID card to shop here and can't get one until you take the two-day class scheduled for Friday and Monday.
Sorry, I didn't mean to rant. It is four in the morning and we are all awake. On with the story.
We sold our truck Sunday morning and a friend came over after church to help me pack up my quilting fabric collection. She took it to her house for safe storage. We had supper with a member of the quilt guild and spent the evening packing.
On Monday the packer came at 1 pm so we had extra time to pack. This shipment is due to arrive in 45 days. I thought I had everything, but you never know until afterwards. We had packed our suitcases the night before, but were still throwing in last minute items. Two ladies from the quilt guild came over and brought lunch. That was really nice. She also gave us a Korean phrase book and a dictionary. I have put together a phrase in Korean - bo yeo ju da na ot gam. I think it means "Show me the fabric." Monday night my parents arrived.
On Tuesday the packers arrived at 11:30. Again we had extra time to pack. This shipment is due to arrive in 90 days. My parents helped by cleaning. I couldn't believe how much cleaning there was to do. We got a hotel room for the night because the beds got packed. My bike got packed too, so I rode it one last time. Why did I have to wipe out swerving to avoid a car? I didn't think I needed to be injured, but actually it has kept my mind off of the bigger picture.
I wonder if this is how the pilgrims felt leaving for a new country?
On Wednesday my in-laws arrived and my parents left. My dad bought my car and our old bike. The more the packers took, the more cleaning we discovered. We ended up with a porchful of stuff we didn't want and they wouldn't pack. Lots of liquids, cleaners, paint, cosmetics, matches, etc. Todays shipment goes in storage. My in-laws took us out to eat at Bonefish. I am not a drinker, but I wanted to try a martini. They had a RaspberryMartini with a vodka base. I mention it because I am told vodka is tasteless. Must be true because that raspberry martini tasted like a raspberry slushy. So good! And I don't drink. Even though my arm was stinging like thousand wasps, I didn't care!
On Thursday, the loaders came and loaded all the boxes the packers had packed the day before. Those Wednesday packers were all female and they were speedy! The loaders were male and not as fast. But it all got loaded on to two eightteen wheelers. If you think that is a lot, we locked more stuff in the small shed and had to leave stuff unlocked in the oversized garage because we didn't want to go over our weight limit. More cleaning.
On Friday we came over early from the motel to clean up and vacuum. A man with a truck picked up all the stuff we had to get rid of. A lady from church stopped by to say goodbye and we gave her the leftover food, like oil, vinegar, etc. Even though there was plenty of trash this week, it was nice to know that all the useable stuff went to someone somewhere. If they throw it away, I won't know so that will be all right. We left about 3:30 for Raleigh. We checked in at the hotel by the airport and went out to eat. They didn't have any raspberry martinis:(
We repacked our suitcases to fit in a few more items then left the rest for my in-laws who will put it in Chris' car and drive it to their house on Saturday. Chris spent the evening on the phone with TimeWarner trying to get my e-mail back. They cut off our account when we turned in the cable box. So, if you e-mailed me last week, I didn't get it. Send it again to Damourcf@yahoo.com.
Saturday we got up at 5 to catch the shuttle to the airport. We had to come three hours early to catch a 9 am flight to Atlanta. We were going to have chocolate and dried cranberries for breakfast since they would pass security, but for some reason we forgot to eat. I bought a Sudoku book and that passed the time. Our flight to Atlanta was uneventful. We were to have an hour layover in Atlanta before the flight to Inchon, Korea. I was looking forward to eating then, but the boarding started while we were still in the bathroom. So, began our 15 hour flight.
I was certain that 15 hours on a plane would be unendurable, especially for my back. But I had tapped for that earlier and it was not much of a problem. Each seatback had a touchscreen in it. We watched movies, listened to music, and checked on flight information in progress. We flew west from Atlanta, then over part of eastern Russia before landing. We must have followed the sun because it never got dark. We arrived at 2:30 0n Sunday afternoon Korean time and our bodies thought it was 1:30 am Atlanta time. Till we got through customs, and such, we arrived at the military gate at 6. It was all concrete and barbed wire underneath an over pass. We had trouble getting through the guard gate because we didn't have military ID's, Michele and I. Needless to say, we were all very tired at 7 pm in our hotel room so we just went to bed.
On Monday I got up at 4am to redress my arm. That was my last gauze pad, but I couldn't stand it anymore. That woke up Chris and Michele. So we went to breakfast early. I remember after breakfast, thinking "I don't have a house to clean, or at least not one to feel guilty about not cleaning". Chris went to work, and Michele and I rested until 8:30 then went to the school to sign her up. They sent us to the ACS building to get forms. While filling them out, I heard a lady mention quilting. If I had had rabbit ears they would have been standing straight up! I made myself part of that conversation and learned that a group of ladies meets every Monday morning there to make quilts for wounded soldiers and newborns. I met a new friend who gave me her phone number and I think we are going to have a ball. Unfortunately I couldn't stay because I had to finish the check in process.
We went back to the school and signed her up for classes. The guidance counselor was very impressed with Michele. They don't have an IB program, but she was so willing to take AP classes and Korean class. Then we stopped by the nurse's station to provide proof of vaccinations. The nurse was friendly, too. She had a new assistant who looked at my arm, said it wasn't infected and told me to keep it covered.
We went back to ACS to get a map of the area, then headed back to the room to wait for Chris. He showed up at 5, so we didn't get lunch, and fell asleep. EVerything here works by key card. You need it to work the elevator and to have lights on in your room. There is a little box bythe door with a slot in it. You leave the card in there until you exit the room, then take it with you and all the lights go out.
We went to supper in the hotel, lots of restaurants here and they put the bill on your room tab. It was good! Then we went to the cell phone store, also in the hotel, and got cell phones for Chris and Michele. I didn't have my social security card, so no cell phone for me. We went to bed about 9 and woke up early, around 3. I tried to stay in bed, but couldn't stand it anymore, so Chris said go ahead and turn on the lights. So here I am typing all of this for your information. It is now six and we are going to breakfast.