WWSPD?

This is me, Carol and Ms. Chang at a farewell function for the Ambassador. Ms. Chang is a member of my staff and a very wonderful person. The Ambassador really liked the eagle ice sculpture that I carved for him.



On the left is Ms. Kang, our new Admin Assistant. Next to her is Lieutenant Commander Ray Franklin, my Executive Officer, or XO in Navy talk. As you can see, I am a normal-sized person in Korea while Ray is freakishly huge. His hugeness comes in handy when I need to be left alone to finish ice sculptures.

Here is the Cruz family enjoying Gwangalli beach. Jake is checking out a three year old hottie. There was an art thing happening in Busan at the time. The red and silver thing to the right is one of several living art displays on the beach.


I honestly wasn't sure whether this was a living art display. I don't smoke by the way, but I do extinguish entire books of lit matches on my tongue.

Can you tell that we like Busan?

This is one of the potential nurseries for Jake that we decided not to go with.


Well, it's me again. I hope you enjoyed CJ and Jake's blog entries. I know I cracked up typing them. I definitely see a potential writer in CJ. His new teacher thinks so too. Speaking of his new teacher, Carol and I are ecstatic that CJ is in Ms. Taylor's class. She is such a nice and impressive individual. As CJ mentioned earlier, she was in the Olympics when she was younger as a synchronized swimmer. The only problem is that I feel obligated to suck in my gut every time I'm around her.

I greatly overestimated the amount of time I'd have to blog. Work has been extremely busy. Like I've told folks before, with most jobs, the workload never really changes. There's always going to be something after you complete that big project. What does change is our ability to handle that workload. Maybe a few years ago when you were trying to juggle multiple high level taskers, you might've stressed out, curled up in the fetal position and shoved your thumb into your pie hole. Fast forward a few years. Now that same workload doesn't seem so bad. My work days really do fly by here in Korea. Some days, I peek at my watch and realize I've missed lunch by a couple of hours again - which isn't such a bad thing, especially when I'm looking to trim my gut.

Time to say good night to the boys. Just one last thing while I'm on the work topic. When you're faced with difficult decisions and things seem overwhelming - just do what I do and ask yourself, "What would Sarah Palin do?" Non-partisanally yours - C2

Not To Be Outdone - Jake's First Blog Entry!

From Jake, with typing assistance from Dad:

My teacher is very good. I have some CDs. I have Bob the Builder and Thomas. My Dad gave me his old MP3 player because I couldn't leave my big brother's alone. I like playing with Charlene at school. I got my name written on the board because I pulled Hannah's hair. And then Hannah got in trouble. Actually, just me. Someone gave me some dried fish on the train. I don't like to rest at school. I like to rest at home. I want them to get the car seats back in the bus. My splinter grew out and Mommy pulled it. I got a spanking yesterday because I runned away, almost in the street. I have a bus at school. I like my CDs. How is the weather? It's sunny here, at school and at home. I love my brother. This email is done. Bye bye! J-A-K-E spells Jake.

CJ's First Blog Entry!

The first picture is of us at Gwangalli beach. Jake hasn't quite got the posing thing down yet.

The second picture is me and my Dad with the Gwangan bridge (or G bridge) in the background. My Dad takes that bridge to work everyday. The toll is 1000 Won which is about the same as $1. He doesn't mind the toll cause the toll people are nice.

The last picture is me on my first day in Korea. Me and my Dad visited the orphanage that his work does volunteer stuff with. We had a picnic with them and I got to swim in a really cold pool. The kids were all really nice to me. I had my first Korean ice cream here which was awesome. It was a hunk of frozen coffee goodness.

Greetings everyone! This is CJ, the 10 year old wonder. As you probably guessed, this is my first blog entry ever. Korea feels very homey. Like Mom says, if I knew the language, it would be perfectly fine here. Jail, I mean school has started and I can tell it's going to be a good year. I have a teacher that used to be an Olympic athlete and has been to all 50 states. Most everyone in my class is Korean. I have a friend who is Australian and there's one Indian girl. Her name is Hershida but we call her Hershey, like the chocolate bar. The Korean books are very interesting. It's almost like some native language. It was a gift from above that my favorite toys are here in Korea, like Transformers and Legos. Well, I've stumbled across one of the most crazy foods that you'll ever imagine. It's a little thing I call fast food at this place called McDonald's. There's also the Lotteria which has shake shake chicken, which is little popcorn chicken that you put flavor powders in a bag and shake. I don't really shake it. I just eat it. We ride the subway and the taxi a lot since my Mom hasn't gotten her driver's license yet and my Dad's usually at work and cause we only have one car. I've seen some very strange things here such as live octopus getting their heads turned inside out to roasted pig's feet. The strangest thing I've seen here has got to be when I went into the steam room on the way to visit a water park. The man in the steam room was yelling at us, "Take clothes off! Take clothes off!" and there were naked dudes everywhere. My Mom was supposed to go through the women's steam room but she got too freaked out because of all the nakedness that she just didn't go. My Dad wanted me to mention that I did not see any ding dongs. Whew! I don't know why Mom and Dad won't let me see the Dark Knight movie. It couldn't scar me any more than the walk through the steam room. That's all for now. I hope you liked my blog entry as much as my Dad's. ---CJ

Random Thoughts on Busan...

Pics of Busan and one of the Korean War Memorials

First off, I should preface my comments by reminding folks that we're in Busan and not Seoul. After all, Busan only has 3.7 million people as opposed to 23 million in the greater Seoul metropolitan area. My comparison between the first and second largest cities in Korea goes something like this - things are just a little bit better in Busan. It doesn't get as hot as Seoul in the summer, it doesn't get as cold in the winter, the traffic isn't as bad and the people are friendlier. I'm sure the 23 million have something to do with those last two items. Busan's population is comparable to that of Los Angeles (3.8 million in 2005) and even bigger than Chicago (2.8 million in 2005). So when I tell people that I'm in Korea, and they ask me if I know Bob, my answer is probably no.

Facts that might interest only me:

- Busan boasts the 5th largest port in the world.

- Busan boasts one of the top 50 skylines in the world.

- I am using the word "boasts" too much in this post.

- The second tallest building in the world is now under construction in Busan. Well, once it's completed it'll be the second tallest. Right now, it's maybe the 74,254,856, 904th tallest building in the world.

- Busan is trying to host the 2020 Olympics.

- Busan and Pusan - same thing. Interchangeable although Busan is the more modern name.

I've gotta throw in a little history. During the Korean War, the North Korean Communists pushed almost all the way to the beach, but they never took Busan. The Busan Perimeter held up. Daegu and Busan were the only cities in mainland Korea to not be taken by North Korea during the war. I still get chills when I cross the Nakdong River on the way to the airport, thinking how the fighting reached this far south. Then I try to snap out of it so I won't miss my exit.

Now, I don't want to scare anyone, especially family, about all this war talk. I mean war, what is it good for? Absolu...never mind. It is extremely safe here. After our two burglaries in Miami, Carol and I joke that we have to move near a de-militarized zone (DMZ) to get some true safety. Kids are in the streets by themselves. People leave their purses wide open in restaurants and walk away to the bathroom. This has to be the safest place I've ever lived in.

The people are extremely nice, but very reserved. I don't think we've had a subway ride yet where a total stranger hasn't given the boys a little snack. The other day, a nice older woman gave CJ and Jake some dried fish. Two weeks ago, it was a big old apple. Yesterday, a nice woman gave them a small bottle of juice. They just fawn over the boys. Gotta sign off now. Flying off to DC today. Carol and I are really enjoying catching up with folks through the blog and reading everyone's comments. As soon as she gets a break from the boys, Carol will be posting here too. You might even see a little something from CJ. Bye for now. C2

Singapore and School!

Here are pics of the boys on the first day of school and also sporting their Bruce Lee outfits that I bought for them in Singapore.

Bono is trying to stop world hunger. Angelina Jolie, when she's not busy popping out twins, adopting kids or inflating her lips, has an admirable campaign against land mines. And Pastor Rick Warren, author of "A Purpose Driven Life" has a PEACE initiative that is rallying churches all over the world to act in very positive ways. After this most recent trip to Singapore, I realized what my goal in life must be. At airport baggage claim areas, I endeavor to have people stay five feet away from the baggage carousel until their bags are in sight. No more crowding the carousel! There's not enough room for everyone to stand right next to the thing. The impatient people end up being a human blockade for the patient people that are politely waiting for their bags. Everyone should just back away a few feet until they see their luggage. When you have positive ID on your bags, only then should you step forward. Is that too much to ask? At McDonald's we don't stand at the counter until our food is ready. We wait until our order is ready and then we come up and get it. Spread the word to all your friends. We will take back our airports - one luggage carousel at a time! Are you with me ?!?!

Okay. I figure I'd get my rant out of the way first. One more side note on the traveling thing. In Korea, they don't make you take your shoes off while going through airport security, unless you're on a flight to the US. That's curious because in Korea, you take your shoes off for practically everything else - restaurants, people's homes, school, etc. I guess that Shoebomber story never made it to Seoul.

Just got back from a business trip to Singapore. What a green and lush place. Green and lush in a Rainforest Cafe Restaurant kinda way, not green and lush in a drunk Irish guy kinda way. Singapore has such a diverse mix of people. I felt like I was in a Benetton commercial. I wish I could've seen more of the sights but it was pretty much all business. I did have a really good local meal though. I'm pretty brave when it comes to the native cuisine - sometimes a little too brave. The dish I had was very tasty. It had shrimp, noodles, egg, coconut, and unfortunately, some form of milk. Me and my lactose intolerant self thoroughly enjoyed the meal, but did not enjoy the after dinner music my body was orchestrating.

Singapore was very clean. It's amazing what the threat of a cane will do for country-wide cleanliness. There's so much shopping and eating there. Here are a few sights that stuck with me:

- loads of brown guys in the back of trucks on their way to work

- "Chew Fish Head Soup Restaurant"

- Double Croissantwich, Double Whopper, Double everything at the airport Burger King - you couldn't get a single whatever

- crazy motorcycle drivers but at least they wore helmets

While I was gone, Carol had to take on the first day of school duties by herself. With help from our work family, CJ and Jake were delivered to the school in one piece. No crying even. CJ is the only American in his class. They're all English speaking kids but most are Korean. One of them grew up in Australia and has the accent to go along with it. "Eet's not a tumah!" Got a long day tomorrow so I better sign off for now. BTW, it's been great hearing from so many of you! C2

Getting Settled In...

So here are two pics at Haeundae Beach and two of our apartment. Haeundae Beach just broke the world record for the most umbrellas on a single beach. Craziness.

The Cruz family is getting settled in nicely here in Busan. As most of you know, I was selected to be the Commanding Officer for Military Sealift Command Korea. It's a two year tour for us. So what do I do exactly? Well, you know how North Korea recently destroyed one of their nuclear facilities? Yeah, that was me. Just kidding. It was my staff. Seriously, I'm kidding. Don't forward this entry to the CIA or anything. My job is to support the Military Sealift Command ships that come to this part of the world. I took the reins from a prince of a guy, CDR Ron Oswald, on 20 June and it's been a whirlwind ever since.

Things are good and getting better every day here in Busan as more boxes get unpacked with each passing day. We brought way too much stuff! I'm thinking we should've doubled down on the stuff we placed in storage. I wish the family's first few days could've gone smoother here. We had some hiccups with some of our appliances - gas not connected to the stove, dishwasher not working, heated floors coming on and making the house feel like a North Korean torture chamber and an extremely funky smell coming from the pipes that is totally overpowering the kitchen. But like a good hemorrhoid, most of these appliance problems are behind us now.

The Silver Bullet (the Acura) has been having some troubles too. You know you're in trouble when the Korean mechanics at the Honda dealership recommend you put the car on the ferry to Japan and have those folks fix it. They don't sell the MDX or Honda Pilot here in Korea so they're not familiar with it. Fortunately, and in large part due to Carol's good southern upbringing - cue in visual of Carol bringing baked goods to our Honda specialist mechanics in southern Florida - we contacted our Honda guy in Miami and he's shipping parts, instructions on how to fix our car problems, pictures, the secret to life, etc. What a great guy. Howard the mechanic has now reached best mechanic ever status in the Cruz household.

Our little three year old, Jake, got a bug bite during his time in Alabama. The swelling made it look as if Jake had big Mickey Mouse gloves on. And so the doc gave him some penicillin for the inflammation. Well, as the medical expert and comedian Chris Rock used to say, we should've just poured some Tussin on it. That's Robitussin for those that were absent for their last ebonics lecture. So there we are, the family's first full day in Korea, and Jake wakes up and looks like he's got the measles or chicken pox. He has this bad red rash all over his body. Turns out the little guy is allergic to penicillin, or at least to omyxicillin. Problem fixed through a large doseage of steroids. Jake's doing great now and he's also bench pressing the refrigerator.

CJ's doing good. He's happy about finding some special Japanese Transformer toys. It's funny watching CJ watch Spongebob in Korean. He now puts on the Ipod and jams out while watching the yellow guy. Always a picky eater, CJ's been tilting his head in a funny way when the Korean food hits the table. Keeping him properly nourished might be challenging. Thank God for the McDonald's which is a 5 minute walk away and Carol's good cooking. Jake's jumping into the Korean food like he was born here. What's that strange brown looking noodle with stuff on it? I'll just put it in my mouth and try it. No problem for Jake. Carol braved her first bites of kim chi the other night and thought it was okay.

We also found a good church that's very close to our apartment. We were kinda squirming in our seats a little bit last week at church though when the Pastor was preaching about greed and material things. She mentioned Donald Trump and his empire and plasma flat screen TVs. Little did she know that just minutes before her sermon as we're rushing to get to church, I tell CJ to turn off the TV (the plasma flat screen) just before we rush out the door of our Trump Towers apartment.

Well, better stop for now. I'm off on a trip to Singapore today! C2

We're Here!

The Cruzers are finally in Korea. Welcome family, friends and total strangers that are curious about Korea. This is my first blog entry ever so bare with me as I make the technological leap from two dixie cups and a string to this more modern mode of communication. I think this internet fad just might have some staying power.

Anyway, Carol, CJ and Jake are doing great. I would've said they were doing just "well", but since we found a Krispy Kreme Donuts, complete with the neon "Hot Now" sign, I feel comfortable with saying they are doing great. They were giving out free donuts too! Fred is doing well with Alan and Danita, Joel and Jena out in Suffolk, Virginia. I would've said Fred was doing "great" but since Fred heard the family's voices on the computer during a video conference with Alan's family, he's had a bad case of diarrhea, and is only doing "well". In unison now - "When you're trying to chase a cat and you hear something splat - diarrhea! Plop, plop! Diarrhea!" Sorry, I digress. Anyway, I'm sure by now, Fred is doing "great". Alan, Danita, Joel and Jena - thanks again for taking such great care of Fred. You guys are the best. I'll buttress you all last.

Okay, gotta run to Daegu to hit the commissary, exchange and the boys' favorite international eating establishment - Taco Bell. Next time I'll have more pics, more details and less quotation marks. C2