Wordless Wednesday - Miewon Orphanage

2011 Year in Review - Part I

Ringing in 2011 with our awesome Coltwood neighbors.  That's Amy, Lori, Carol and Stephanie.  I felt like I was back in Korea when they broke out the karaoke machine.

My brother Lee's graduation and commissioning ceremony in January at the Airborne and Special Operations Museum in Fayetteville, North Carolina.  There was enough flair up in that piece for a dozen Bennigan's restaurants.  Lee is now with the 82nd Airborne.

Unfortunately, it was time to put the old Acura out to pasture.  Carol finally got a new ride in Feb.  This is Big Blue.  If the big smile in the front seat is any indication, Jake approves of the new purchase.  We are officially a Mazda family.  If you're shopping for a new car, USAA buying services is a great source to save some bucks.  At a minimum, it gives you some serious leverage.

In February, Carol's brother James hosted his annual bonfire at his place in Alabama.  Bonfire, fish fry and smores makes for a nice weekend.  The white pieces of paper are pictures of Justin Bieber drawn by CJ and his cousins.  They are not fans of the Bieb.

For Spring Break in March, we drove to Virginia to visit Alan, Danita, Joel and Jena.  Who doesn't like Krispy Kreme donuts?

In April, we were back in Alabama for the Burgers and Bluegrass fundraiser at the Spirit of Hope Youth Ranch.  Carol's cousin Leenie runs Spirit of Hope.  Check out this link to learn more about this awesome organization:  http://www.sohyr.org/

The family got to spend our first Easter in Alabama.  The boys got to participate in one of the biggest family events of the year in Alabama - the Easter Egg Hunt.  Big and little kids are tumbling over themselves at the start line to get to the prized money eggs.

One of our favorite things about Memphis is our church - Bellevue Baptist.  CJ and Jake both enjoy the Sunday School and youth programs.  Pastor Steve Gaines is amazing and tells it like it is.  Here's one of the murals near Jake's Sunday School class.

 Spring means it's baseball season.  Play ball!  I got to coach Jake and the rest of the Reds.

A couple of us in Millington flew down to Pensacola in a T-39 to conduct some detailing business and attend the Centennial of Naval Aviation (CONA) events.  Many thanks to Q and VT-10!

Carol and I were living on a prayer while rocking out at the Bon Jovi concert at the FEDEX Forum in May.  I gotta say, it was one of the best concerts I've ever been to.  Made for some interesting people watching too.  We saw an older lady that didn't notice the expiration date on her tube top.  There were young ladies with their 80's hair so big they needed turn signals.  Of course the mullet was out in full force.  I still cranked out my physical fitness test the next morning.

Saying farewell to Team Walker.  That's Lynn, Ann, Carol, Amy and Michele.

CJ put on a heck of a campaign and was elected Vice President of the Student Council at Arlington Middle School. Here's the poster that was banned by the school administration.  Always the rebel.

Block party in our neighborhood.

Supporting the local AAA baseball team, the Memphis Redbirds.  Try the BBQ nachos.

Here's our crew at work.  That's Megan on the left, the best lawyer in the US Navy, Shrek who drives submarines and Pam, a helicopter pilot.  Our job - making dreams come true.

My good friend Deke came down for a weekend in Memphis.  Got some business done and snuck in the Gibson Guitar 5K run downtown.  The weather didn't cooperate very well though.  The rain started pouring at the start of the run and didn't let up for quite a while.  It turned into one of the biggest wet t-shirt contests I've ever been to.

Tubing and having a blast on the waverunners at Leenie's lakehouse at Lake Martin in Alabama. 

In June, we got to visit Jason, Kristi, Aidan and Olivia in Ormond Beach, Florida.  As you can see, CJ enjoys being the center of attention. 

We headed south to Miami for the Cruz family summer vacation.  Lots of eating, laughing, beaching, fishing, shopping and zaboomafoo-ing.

Angela and Carol soaking up the sun at the lake for Cousin's Day.

An Alabama 4th of July!

To be continued...

Favorite Things About Korea - Part II

Although life out here in the Far East can be a little strange compared to hanging out in the good ol' US of A,  there are many, many things to like about being here in Korea.  I did a previous post on some of those things.  The first list included:

- my team at MSCO Korea
- bulgogi
- optional red traffic lights affectionately called "might lights" cause you "might" stop at them
- cheap taxi fares
- Asian pears
- clean subway
- police rarely give out traffic tickets
- kimchi
- coffee shakes
- paper lamps
- spicy octopus
- the many sights in Busan
- people respecting their elders

Here's a few more items to add to the list:

- Our church.  We go to the English service of Sooyoungro Antioch International Ministries (AIM).  Great people there and a very diverse crowd.  We recently attended a wedding of two of our friends that met from the church.  There were over 20 countries represented at their wedding reception.  Pretty cool.

The music is awesome at AIM.  The English service is in a brand new building in Suyeong.

I volunteer to do the Children's message near the beginning of the service.  I really enjoy doing that with the kids.  The things that come out of their mouths!

The Children's ministry started out with 5 kids.  Here I am doing the Children's message with 16 kids.  Now it's up to 40+.  Pretty cool.

- Nice toll booth workers.  They dress up, smile and actually give you a greeting.

- Samgyupsal.  This stuff is awesome!  You take this very tasty grilled pork, throw it in a lettuce leaf, add some sauce, garlic and kimchi and you've got the perfect bite of food in your mouth. There's something about that grilled kimchi.  Samgyupsal is kinda fatty but man is it tasty.  Even CJ, a very picky eater, likes this stuff.  That tells you something.

- Girls holding hands.  Here's a pic of Carol and Ms. Sin from the Korean American Busan Association (KABA) holding hands.  Sometimes when Carol is around some of my staff, they'll unknowingly hold Carol's hand.  I think it's very cute.  Ms. Sin is great, btw.  Although we can only speak a handful of words to each other, we still have a blast together.  She's a dancing machine too.

- Gotta love all the high heels.  Check these out:

High heels at a museum.

High heels at a temple.

High heels at another temple.

And high heels even on the beach.  I've even seen girls wearing high heels in the sand at Haeundae Beach.  That's what you call dedication to fashion.

- The kissing camera at sporting events.

Here's how the kissing camera works at basketball or baseball games.  When the kissing camera is on, the two random people they spotlight on the big screen TVs are supposed to kiss each other, whether they know each other or not.  Laughter from the crowd ensues.  Depending on the enthusiasm of the kiss, a restraining order might follow as well.

- Inexpensive car wash/wax.  Only 25,000 won (about $22 US)  to get your car washed, waxed and vacuumed at Homeplus, and that's for an SUV.  Excuse me, 24,000 won.  It costs an extra 1,000 won for them to shampoo Jake's car seat.  Can't beat it with a stick.

- Blazing fast internet.  South Korea used to be the most wired country in the world.  If I have my facts straight, Singapore is now #1.  Still, pretty smooth sailing on the internet.

- 24 hour McDonalds and home delivery.

I really shouldn't have this one on the list because we have yet to take advantage of Mickey D's after hours or called out for delivery.  

I gotta share this next thing with you cause it's so dang funny.  A little sad but pretty dang funny.  This is an actual Facebook update from a friend out here in Busan:  

"As if I didn't feel guilty enough ordering McDonald's, I find out that my order is over an hour late because the delivery boy had an accident with his scooter and was sent to the hospital.  Dang!  At least he is okay...and the food was hot."  I busted a lung over that one.  I do hope the delivery boy is okay though.  BTW, Koreans on scooters - not one of my favorite things.

- Dry cleaning is delivered to your house.  Nice.

- Cheerleaders at sporting events.

Cheerleaders at a Lotte Giants baseball game.

Cheering at a Sonic Boom basketball game.  Where are the blondes?

- Busan Foreign School.  A lot to like about the school.  CJ's been lamenting lately how there's no way his next school can hold a candle to BFS.

- Doenjang chigae.  Carol and I both love this spicy soup.  It's served piping hot with white rice on the side.  It's got tofu, veggies and sometimes, seafood in the soup.  The base is made of bean paste.  I'm really hoping Carol learns how to make this soup before we leave.

- Cherry blossoms.  Just gorgeous.  Wish they could stay longer.

Cherry blossoms with our building in the background.

- Spending time with the kids at the orphanage.  Those little ones are just a ball.

These pics are from a recent ice cream party we had with the kids.  That's Set Byul in the middle, the half Russian, half Korean girl.

- Movies are inexpensive and the concession stand prices are reasonable too.  You pick your seats when you purchase tickets.  This way, you don't have to stand in an extra line to grab a good seat for a popular movie like you do in the US.

- The overall innocence and cuteness of it all here in Korea.  Here's an example:

You can wear hats like this, no problem.

This guy was wearing this hat and his buddies weren't even laughing at him.  Very common.  Couples wearing matching outfits, girls holding hands in public, the popularity of cartoon t-shirts and Hello Kitty gear are other examples of the cuteness and innocence of Korea.

- When picking someone up from the airport, you can just park your car right in front of the terminal and just leave it there.  I'm sure it's illegal but no one messes with you.

- We can step out our front door and walk to the world's largest department store, visit the Museum of Modern Art with pieces from Monet, Renoir, Van Gogh, Picasso and other masters, partake in a luxury spa, geek out at the Apple store, run to Haeundae Beach and APEC Nurimaru Park or grab McDonald's for the boys and Korean food for me and Carol right across the street.

Yeah, we're gonna miss Korea.

Children's Church Video

Carol and I help run the the Children's Church at our church here in Busan.  We go to the English service of Sooyoungro Church - Antioch International Ministries, or AIM.  Here's the video I recently put together on the Children's Church.  We're making a bunch of significant changes to how the children's program will be run.  If you're interested in volunteering, we sure can use your help.  Don't worry about your experience level or Bible knowledge.  We'll help you out.  Enjoy the video.

Toga!

Carol and I are pretty social creatures.  We enjoy having people over the house and have been known to throw a party or two.  Almost a year ago, I talked about throwing a toga party.  Carol's response was, "You can't throw a toga party in Korea!"  Those at my work know that you shouldn't tell me that I "can't" do something.  The "can't" word is supreme motivation for me.  Unbeknownst to Carol, the gauntlet was thrown down.  And yes, I did feel a little funny about typing the word, "unbeknownst."

The thinking went like this.  What type of event would attract a lot of people in Busan?  Beknownst to me (okay, I'm getting carried away with that word and it's derivatives), there's a large English teacher population here in Busan.  We thought a toga party would be something the Busan crowd could sink their teeth into.  And of course, the Naval Aviator in me thought what the heck - toga party!

So there's some of the background behind last Friday's fundraiser.  The main reason for throwing the party of course was to raise money and awareness for the two causes I wrote about in my  most recent blog post - the Sung Ae Won Orphanage and Habitat For Humanity.

Mission accomplished.  Over 400 people attended the big toga party fundraiser last Friday at the Novotel Ambassador Hotel in Haeundae Beach.  We had people travel from Daegu and as far away as Seoul.  We raised over 9 million Korean won (about $8,000 US dollars) for these two organizations.  This money will go a long way towards improving the quality of life for the children at the orphanage and some people in difficult housing situations.  People have already told me that we have to do this again next year.  I will definitely pass that on to my replacement.

Busan's English radio channel, eFM did a radio interview with me about our two causes and the fundraiser.  That's Ashley Kim, a radio personality from eFM.  She was incredibly nice.

Bobby McGill on the left is the Editor of Busan Haps Magazine.  This is a great magazine for foreigners.  I wrote an article for the magazine to help get the word out about our two causes and the big event.

The party was held in the Novotel Ambassador Hotel.

The hotel is right on Haeundae Beach.  From the Grand Ballroom, we had a nice view of the ocean.

Here's the banner in front of the hotel.

And finally, some party pics!  I wasn't exactly sure how many folks would come in togas.  As the night progressed, there were definitely a lot more togas than non-togas.  We did attract our normal suit-wearing crowd, which was expected.  Here are some of the MSCO Korea crew looking good in their Greek gear..

Lots of dancing and only a couple of wardrobe malfunctions.  I thought I saw someone's tonsils once.

That's me, Kristin, Nick and Maria.  We couldn't have done it without the help of some awesome folks like these three.  Initial setup, decorations, prepping food, tending bar, manning the door, selling raffle tickets, running the coat check, etc.  There was a lot of behind the scenes actions to make this thing happen.  Thank you so much MSCO Korea, Busan Foreign School, DK, Pier 8, Busan Storage Facility, Costco, Commissary, Chinhae MWR, USO, BOSS, Navy League and all of the other volunteers and donors.  You guys rock!

Tessa is the Habitat For Humanity Coordinator for BFS.  She's also CJ's Science Teacher.  She's a tough teacher but we wouldn't have it any other way.

Definitely the most creative togas of the evening.  The Jolly's came as the Canadian Bobsled Silver Medalist and of course Princess Leia.  Total awesomeness.  May the force be with you.

We were honored to have the Director of Sung Ae Won Orphanage say a few words.  A very sweet lady.

Sal won an iPod during the blindfolded musical chairs game.  Sharon is one of the nicest people you'll ever meet.

Carol and Ms. Kang looking like precious metals.

Mr. Im surrounded by interns.

Wendy, Carol and Kemmeh.  As always, the ladies were looking really good.

Bunky, XO of MSCO Korea and Commander Melinda Michael, XO of Expeditionary Port Unit 111.  It's the Executive Officer (XO) picture.

That's David Kim on  the left.  He did some heavy lifting to make this fundraiser happen.

Ice luge!

Double ice luge.

Thank you USO for your support!

Yum.  Wine in a box.  Hey, we had 400+ people to entertain.  Cut me some slack.

The beloved Filipino Group.  One thing about our Filipino Group from church is that you don't need anything at all to have fun with them.  Get three of them together and it's all laughs and an instant party.

Donning a toga for the kids.  For the kids man!

Frances and Derek - we're gonna miss you!  So is the Fuzzy Navel.

The smile on this guy's face is because he just won the grand prize - 500,000 won.  We raised a nice chunk of change from the raffle tickets.

Here's Steve winning the Best Toga contest.  He had the home crowd (Busan Foreign School) rooting for him.  Congrats!

Surrounded by some exotic Cleopatras.

Members of the Korean American Busan Association (KABA).  Thank you so much for your support!

Mr. Yun and Technical Sergeant Daisy Galan.  She was a finalist for Best Toga.

Amber is on the left.  She helped out a bunch with the party decorations, raffle tickets and other things.  You should check out her article in the latest issue of Busan Haps.  Here's the link:  Underground Art

Ms. Yi is the Vice President of People To People International.  Her organization does a lot of great things in the community, including supporting North Korean refugees.

Okay, I admit it.  I was vexed by the amount of body hair on some of the dudes.  Some of those guys don't need to spend a cent on sunblock during the summer.  Just saying.

At the end of the night, there were folks jumping rope, playing football with wigs and other interesting acts.  Folks didn't want to go home!  

Kemmeh and Emmekah

I'm reminded of the Academy Awards.  "And I'd like to thank..."

Just a great night!

I'm a huge fan of doing something you've never done before.  For many of the Korean guests, this was their first time donning a toga.  For all those college grads out there that never had a chance to attend a toga party as a student, this was the perfect opportunity for some college redemption.  Those people can now say that they've truly graduated.  For many, the toga thing was old hat.  Some looked incredibly natural in this environment, as if they were Julius Caesar himself.  BTW, such a great historical figure and he gets a salad named after him.  Sheesh.

There was the wallet that was lost.  Then found.  Then lost.  Then found again.  There was the girl who punched her boyfriend and was wondering why she was all alone.  The bananas in the elevator, the upside down ice luge and the Cape Jacob boys having a great time.  It was definitely a memorable night.  Lots of fun while helping out two important causes.

Our adventure in Korea never ceases to amaze me.  Just when you think it's a pretty conservative country, it shows us a thing or two by cranking out a very less-than-conservative bash last Friday night.  One last point.  Why toga?  Because it's a celebration of life.  Just throw what the heck cloth over your shoulder and enjoy life with no worries about what the other guy might think.  Hope this won't be the last.

Thanks again to all of those that helped make this happen.  And remember, if you've got some time to spare, come on out and spend some time with the kids at Sung Ae Won.  They'll love you for it!  Until next time -- C2