heartofdakota.com

Hello all ~

Praise the Lord, we have arrived in South Korea safely. We feel so blessed that we were allowed to join my husband on his 2 year assignment. There was a lot of traveling in the States to visit family before we departed the country, and we have been here for about a week. My girls are settling in well and are looking forward to exploring a new country. We started Bigger... this week and are loving it. It is so wonderful that in all of this crazy transition time, we have something that is so simple, yet so amazing to help us through our school day. No worries at all. We are just going at half speed through the summer but will pick up full speed in the fall. It has completely taken the pressure off of me.

If anyone would like a pen pal while we are in South Korea, our girls are 11(almost), 9, 7, and 5. and would enjoy writing to someone and telling them our stories of adventure in this new land.

Thanks,
Amanda

Praise the Lord that you arrived safely! What an adventure

I have 2 dd's, age 7 and 9, who would love pen pals! I'll PM you and we can take it from there. We, too, are starting Bigger this year.
Blessings,

Incredible! Enjoy seeing the new culture and I hope you get settled in quickly and easily.

I have a dd that will be 8 this Monday. She's not a "frequent writer" but loves the idea of having a penpal to write to. She'll also be doing Bigger and we're just starting-- taking it slow over the summer I can PM you our address and you can use it if you want. There's also pictures of our family on our blog if your dd's would like to see who they'd be writing to! (link in signature)

Ooh, I hope you really enjoy your time there. We spent over seven years in South Korea living in Uijongbu, just north of Seoul. What city are you in?

We had a wonderful time! We cooked Korean foods and learned the language as much as possible. There are lots of sights to see in Korea and are very reasonably priced. My middle two children were born in South Korea!

Hi SKCarol,

Yes, we are really enjoying our time so far (we have only been here 3 weeks). We are in the city of Songtan. It is really beautiful and we have gotten out and tried several different Korean restaurants. Bulgogi is a hit with our family, as is Yaki Mandu (sp?) We have enjoyed the experience of the market and even getting to see other American chains like Baskin Robbins that we weren't expecting. We are going to be here for two years and I am sure it is going to pass by very fast. There seems to be so much to do and not enough time in the day to get it all done.

Thanks for your reply and well wishes.

Sincerely,
maddykate

Awesome! I live there as a child (my Dad was with the State Department) back in 1972 through 1976. It was some of the best years of my young life. I know a lot has changed as I've read from others that have traveled there in more recent years - back then you could only have a car in black and my parents had a red mustang so we stood out. Who knew? They also used to make a big fuss over my long, blonde hair. We lived on base in Yungsun (can't remember the spelling and my memories are from childhood rather than adulthood). I do remember the rubber shoes and the Korean dress-up traditional clothing that we would wear on occasion. Aahhhh, the food. yummy but can be interesting. I remember going with my parents to a traditional Korean dinner party and some how I was tricked into trying octupus. Yeah, never again but I obviously lived to tell about it. hee hee! Enjoy and it is so wonderful that your children can experience another part of our world and cultures.
Heidi

You ladies are so well-traveled! It sounds very exciting to be in a new country - I'm so happy for you Maddykate, and I am especially glad for the calming, happy effect of using Bigger Hearts. We loved all of the American heroes we learned about in Bigger Hearts - it was our favorite thing to do to curl up on the couch and read those little red books (the ones by Eggleston). I'm so glad our dc are getting to know those amazing pillars of American history, and getting to do it by reading timeless books like the red ones (as my ds called them ). I hope you continue to feel more and more at home in your new setting!

In Christ,
Julie

P.S. Heidi - Long blond hair in a little red sports car eating octopus?!? I think you are such a fun, interesting lady - what great memories you have already made in life - thanks for sharing!