Annyeonghaseyo from South Korea!
Folks, it has been a process. So I’ll just preface this with a warning that this might end up being a lengthy post. Which will surprise exactly NOBODY because I am incapable of making a short post regardless of how much I actually have going on. Seriously, my talent for writing about absolutely nothing for an extended period of time is so incredible that I even amaze myself. I can add fluff to literally anything and make it pages longer than it needs to be. If this paragraph doesn’t teach you that, I don’t know what does.
And now we’re moving on.
The one where we moved to South Korea
September 2nd was an eventful day. We turned in the keys for our Washington house (cue hysterical sobbing), sold our van (even more hysterical sobbing), got our COVID tests (cue utter frustration at that whole mess of a process), and checked into our hotel near Seattle.
The next morning was mine and Brandon’s 12th wedding anniversary. It was also probably one of the most stressful days of my entire life – which is saying something considering the multitude of stressful days I’d had in the weeks leading up to it.
Here’s the thing: I get REALLY bad airport anxiety. I’m not ashamed to admit it and I know that I’m not at ALL alone in that. But I’m that person who shows up to her gate 4 hours before the flight leaves because I want to make darn sure that I’m on time. Plus, what if the flight magically is running 3 hours early and they forget to tell me!? You never know.
And this need to get to the airport ridiculously early would be totally fine. Except my husband is the exact opposite. Plus the tiny humans we created and rule over have no idea what time even is and therefore don’t care when we get to the airport. All they know is that Mom is stressed and in a hurry and so their biology requires them to move as slowly as humanly possible.
It’s fine. This is fine.
Our flight was scheduled to leave at 11:30am, but we were notified the night before that it was delayed until 1:30pm. I still wanted to BE at the airport in line to check bags by 7:30am (because anxiety), but that was a losing battle against my procrastinator husband (whom I adore) and all the kids. Soooo we left the hotel at about 7:30. Aaaaaand cue ridiculous amounts of anxiety.
I dropped Brandon and the kids off at the Departures around 8:15 and went to return our rental car. I was back to them by about 8:40 which has got to be a record or something. And then we loaded up our 14 bags onto carts and went to check 7 of those bags. It’s worth pointing out that we actually packed very light. Most people that we know in the same situation have at LEAST two checked bags per person, but we decided to err on the side of “less is more.” Or, ya know, we just didn’t feel like spending more money to buy more suitcases.
Checking our bags went fine, except the guy kept asking us where our SOFA stamps were – which we didn’t have and honestly had NO idea what those were (now we do and understand what he was asking). But eventually we were able to provide enough paperwork to show that we are, in fact, authorized to get into Korea.
Going through security with five kids is the thrill of a lifetime, I tell you. If you haven’t experienced it before, here are some tips for getting through quickly:
1. Leave the kids at home.
2. Seriously. Just leave them at home.
That’s it. Those are the tips that I have. In all honestly it was fine. I mean, it was actually incredibly stressful, but it turned out fine. It probably wouldn’t be as stressful if I wasn’t already someone who stresses about going through security (“I don’t think I packed any drugs, but what if I accidentally did!?”), but I think with five kids there isn’t any way to avoid airport stress completely. So let’s just say that the kids did exactly as well as I could have expected.
Special shout out and thank you to the couple who was behind us in the security line. They had just a baby with them and they were SO HELPFUL and SO KIND to us. We kept apologizing for taking so long and they just kept saying “You’re doing great! We aren’t in a hurry!” And then they helped our kids gather up their stuff, took our stuff off the belt, and even helped M get her shoes back on. Once we all got past security, they offered to help us get our bags to our gate, but we declined when we realized just how far away our gate was from theirs.
The point of this: God is amazing and sends angels in human form to minister to us in all kinds of ways.
Another tender mercy that I was incredibly grateful for: we did NOT have to wear masks for the flight to Korea. It may seem a small thing, but when we got to our gate and realized we were not required to wear masks, I honestly wanted to cry I was so happy. Anybody with a three-year-old may understand how hard it can be to get them to wear masks. And M was in a particularly “three” mood that day.
So in all, we only had to wear masks for the last 30 minutes of the flight and through the Incheon, South Korea airport. I won’t complain about that AT ALL.
11 hours after boarding our flight, we landed in Incheon. We were greeted with heavy rainfall and fairly strong winds because Typhoon Hinnamnor was making it’s way toward us. (Nothing more to report on that – the Typhoon basically passed by us, but didn’t actually hit where we live in Pyeongtaek. Brandon was annoyed because he loves extreme weather. I was relieved because I hate extreme weather.)
The next few hours were honestly a giant blur. I was so exhausted I could barely stand, let alone walk through a foreign airport. We found the waiting area for the Camp Humphreys shuttle and sat down to rest. It was at this point that all of the kids started to lose their crap. Honestly, they did so well the entire flight (minus a few moments of the three-year-old being a three-year-old and the one-year-old being a one-year-old). It made perfect sense that they would be exhausted and grumpy at this point.
We loaded all of our bags and humans onto the bus and started the drive to Camp Humphreys. I THINK it was about an hour drive, but honestly none of us stayed awake long enough to tell. It was about 8:30pm and completely dark, so it’s not like we were going to be doing any site-seeing anyway.
Once on the bus Brandon tells me that they were taking us to Camp Humphreys to get tested for COVID again. Aaaaaand this was the point where I lost my crap. I’ll spare you the silent-adult-tantrum details, but they piled us all into the COVID Testing Center on post where we had to fill out paperwork for each and every member of our family (yay) and then deal with all the tantrums that occurred when the kids realized they had to have their brains poked… again.
And then we piled back in the bus and they dropped us off at the family barracks. This is normally where families live until they can secure housing either on post or off. But because we already had a house off post, we didn’t have to stay there. But we DID need a place for me and the kids to hang out while Brandon used his tiny car (Hyundai Santa Fe, for those who are curious) to bring all of our luggage to our house before coming back to get me and the kids.
So for about 45 minutes, me and the five kids hung out in the entry-way of the family barracks. The rain was POURING outside and it was SO MUGGY. I was filthy and stinky and exhausted and I honestly just wanted to cry. I also didn’t have any phone service because I still had my American SIM card.
Eventually Brandon made it back to us and we managed to cram all of us in his little car. The whole way to our house I could FEEL the culture shock growing. I didn’t want to be there. I wanted to be back “home” in our Washington house, cuddled up on the couch and watching a movie with our air conditioner blasting.
And then we get to our house and all I can think is “Wow we live in the ghetto.” Brandon assured me that we don’t, but I didn’t believe him. We walk through the front door of our house and I am immediately greeted by one of the creepiest little creepy-crawlies I have ever seen. I’ll spare you photos of the little demon, but I’ve since learned that some people call them “eyelash bugs.” And no, I’m not talking about eyelash mites that literally live in your eyelashes and are one of my secret fears. I’m talking about a nasty little centipede-type bug whose legs look like eyelashes and who make me want to die. (I’ve since learned they are called “house centipedes” and they are nasty.)
So this little monstrosity was scurrying along the floor as soon as I walked in the house as if to say, “Welcome to Korea, Ashley, now you won’t be able to sleep tonight or ever.” Needless to say I squished the little beastie and moved on with my life.
The next three or four days I was in bad shape. Still jet-lagged, but also hating everything about this country. I’m well-aware that a few days is NOT long enough to give any new place a real chance. But culture shock is real and I was definitely experiencing all the things all at once.
Sometime during one of those first days here, we ventured out into what’s called “The Ville” that is right off post. We needed to drop off some rent money and get Korean SIM cards. While we were out, Brandon bought the kids these weird ice-cream fish. They are basically a sugar cone shaped like a fish and filled with vanilla ice cream and red-bean paste. I don’t know. I was on the verge of a total emotional breakdown that day and couldn’t even get myself to try them, but the kids (for the most part) enjoyed them.
Things were so rough for a bit there. All I wanted to do was sleep ALL THE TIME. Granted, I’m someone who loves to sleep whenever possible, but even for me this is weird. Culture shock, man. It’s a conspiracy, man.
I’m grateful for friends in those first few days who were only a FB message away who were able to empathize. So many people empathized with my plight – they could relate to the culture shock and many of them had lived in Asia and could FULLY relate to the many changes we were experiencing.
And then there were the friends that live in Korea. I’m fortunate to have two friends from Washington that are living here. And boy howdy have they been helpful. One bought us groceries and delivered them before we got here so we could have a stocked fridge. Another friend brought us dinner the first full day we spent in Korea to help us feel a little more at home. And they both came over with their kids last night to help us make L’s birthday extra special!
By day five I had turned a corner. We got a car for me so I was no longer stuck at home and I had my first experience with driving in Korea and I didn’t die! Holla! Plus, I started seeing more of the area and realized that we don’t live in the ghetto – most places around where we live just look very different than what I’m used to. And different isn’t necessarily bad or unsafe. In fact, where we live is actually VERY safe. And I feel it. I feel VERY safe.
So we started doing some exploring. My friend Keira took us to a donut shop (their cinnamon-sugar donut with apple cream filling is to DIE for!) and it was fun to talk to the shop owner (who is Korean-Canadian and super nice and was so patient with the seven rowdy kids we brought into his shop).
And this was my first experience feeling like I could thrive here. It was hot and humid, but the donuts were delicious and the company was wonderful. Plus it was amazing to see how our friends (who have lived here for two years) just walked along the sides of the roads – whereas prior to this I was thinking there was no chance in heck I’d walk here!
The next day we headed to a park nearby with Keira and her kids. And let me tell you… I’d heard Korea was just a little “extra” with things, but I didn’t realize just how big they go! This park was BREATHTAKING and so fun. The kids ran around like crazies and the Koreans were LOVING watching and playing with H. M made friends with some Koreans who helped her on the zipline and I don’t think they minded at all. Then we walked to an ice cream shop nearby. And I can’t describe the milkshakes the kids got, so I’ll just post the pictures…
And the best part is: they didn’t taste half-bad either. Ha!
Exploring a little close to home was the perfect ending to a very stressful and hard week. I can’t say I expected the transition here to be easy, but I don’t think there is really any way to fully prepare for culture shock.
But for now, I’m feeling optimistic and excited to explore this beautiful country. I’m excited to get my kids in school (working on that) and have a chance to miss my big kids (ha!). And I’m excited to grow to love the culture and people of South Korea.
Thank you to everyone who has reached out to check in and for those who have been praying for us. It has meant the world to us!
Here’s to new adventures!
’til next time…
Ash
