Beijing or Bust Part 1

The Randall's went to Beijing!

This trip has been in the works for almost 3 years (really?..yes!).
From the beginning of our time in Asia I have said that I want to see the Great Wall. When we signed our second contract we started making plans to go to China for our summer vacation of 2012. The best part being that M and D would be joining us on the trip.

We talked and emailed for months! We all made lists of things we wanted to see. Each of us had a "Bucket List" for China. Joe and I wanted to see the Great Wall. Dad found a street market with weird foods that he wanted to taste, I mean see. Mom just wanted to be with us. (Isn't she cute?!) By the end of our trip we all got to check boxes off on our bucket lists. It was a great trip.


I have to admit that,  China was not wonderful. Beijing and the people are not.....how do you say....worth a second trip. BUT we had a great time. It was fun to be together, we laughed A LOT, we saw some amazing things. Both historical and circus worthy.

That being said I wouldn't take it back either. Beijing is an amazing city. The people, culture, sights, sounds and smells are all worth experiencing.


M and D flew to Korea on July 26th, we spent a few days in Korea bumming around and having a good time, then we all hopped on a plane to China together.

Flight was uneventful for the most part. (in the last years we have flown a ton, flying has lost its thrill for me, but the people watching is some of the best)

Have you ever been on a plane where it seems like your flying with a plane full of first time fliers? These people were acting like coordinating your seat aisle number and seat letter was a nearly impossible task. Not to mention the pushing and shoving. I stopped counting how many times someone pushed me in line to nudge me forward. It's a freaking airplane aisle! I can only go as fast as the person in front of me.

Oh and then there was the task of finding a place for the 1000000000000 carry on bags they brought. These people shoved their crap in ever bin they could get their hands on. The man in the seat across the aisle, I swear, put one of his bags in the seat next to him and was dumbfounded when the flight attendant told him that wouldn't work out. Oh and that seat was assigned to a person! He wanted to take someones seat for his bag! Oh here's another good one; I kid you not, a man got out of his seat and into the overhead bin MID TAKE OFF! We were wheels up and this man decides he can't live another minute without digging into his bag. 

We should have known that this flight was some kind of twisted foreshortening of our trip.

 We stayed at a "4 star" hotel. I am sure it was 4 stars in 1980.
The Capital Hotel's website boasted about their 7 different restaurants, bowling ally, indoor swimming pool, hotel spa and sauna, fitness center, 4 tennis courts and a slew of other perks.

For a few extra dollar a night we payed to have breakfast, a non-smoking room and access to a special VIP lounge room. Where you could have tea, drinks and stuffs. This is such a luxurious service we had to check in on the 15th floor. No plain ol' lobby for these VIPs !
I wish I had more pictures of the "lounge". Most days the Randall's were the only ones there. We all got a free drink at happy hour and snacks. Weird snacks. Mostly mystery meat, veggies with mayonase smeard all over them and bread.

Well, first thing we learned, yes they have 7 different locations within the hotel that serve food. But they all serve the same menu. With the exception of a few desserts and one restaurant had a buffet.
Secondly, no bowling ally. :(
Third, spa and sauna = out of order
Fourth, fitness center = 3 broken treadmills, 2 broken stationary bikes. Morning workout = bust
Tennis courts were on the roof, we never explored them.
Pool was nice, we swam in the morning a few times.


Another interesting observation, the maintenance man was using a hot glue gun to re-seal the restroom in the lobby. Hum, creative?


I will say, the rooms were clean, the staff was as helpful as they could be with the limited English. We booked all of our trips thought our hotel and they were good.


Stay tuned, more to come.

ps we leave for PARIS in 6 days! ahhhh

Happy Birthday Mr. Joe

The kids at school were also very sweet to Joe on his birthday. I planned some time for all of his favorite classes to make him cards or draw him a picture.

 Jayden made Joe this birthday card. I love that he drew Joe with such a professional outfit. Joe has never worn a tie to school and I have never in my life seen him in a bow tie.


The night before Joe asked if I could make some kind of treat for him to share with the classes he taught on his birthday. He requested sugar cookies, with fudge frosting and sprinkles. They turned out very cute and even more delicious!

 Joe got a special birthday package on his birthday too. Maleah's mom, Catherine, sent Joe some of his favorite treats from the USA. Cat had emailed me a week earlier giving me the heads up that she had put something in the mail. I didn't mention anything to Joe, and I am glad I didn't. It was perfect that the package arrived on his birthday. Thank you Catherine!

  Some of the older kids surprised Joe with gifts.

Annie was a kindergarten student of ours in 2009 when we first taught at BIS. Annie's mom is a doctor and thinks that science is THE most important subject. Naturally Joe is her favorite teacher. She bought Joe a cake and a pizza. Annie picked out a baseball for him. I thought it was really sweet that Annie and her family went all out. Some of the other kids in that class got Joe new red pens, because his are always broken. So thoughtful.

Look at that birthday spread. I especially love that Annie got Joe a birthday hat to wear.

I don't have any pictures, but our boss did treat the teachers to a July birthday dinner. The week before Joe's birthday and a few days after our co-worker Cathy's birthday, all of the teachers got together for a dinner. We ate at a relatively new restaurant called JFK. It was delicious. Joe  received some really nice gifts from our co-workers too. It was an enjoyable evening.

Happy Birthday Mr. Joe from BIS!

The Dirty 30

My husband turned 30! Can you believe it?

Joe is not the type of person to want to be the center of attention. We had a "serious" talk in June about how he didn't want a party and that we really wouldn't have time for one. July was a REALLY busy month for us in Korea. We have a solid group of friends that keep us VERY busy.  Between baby showers, the 4th of July BBQ, parents coming to visit, a wedding dinner (!) and a trip to China, on paper it really did look like a 30th birthday party would be impossible. Huahahahaha (insert evil wife life) so he thought! 

In June, Myriam, offered to host Joe's 30th birthday surprise party. I had been trying to think of something to do for him, maybe a dinner or a hotel room at the casino. Her offer was perfect for a Joe kind of party.

Our plan was to get a group together to go out to our favorite BBQ duck restaurant. Leah's mom, Connie, would be in town and Mike and Debbie would be here. It was a great way to convince Joe that this dinner would be just a bigger version of our Friday night dinners that we have all together about twice a month.

 

 These are different pictures of a duck dinner at the same restaurant. I somehow didn't get any food pictures at dinner :(

James agreed to be our decoy and drive Joe away to grab some cigars at Josh's house after dinner, that way everyone could get to James' and Myriam's house for our big reveal.

It was a great surprise! He had no idea!

 I love him!

 Joe has acquired a new habit here in Korea..... smoking cigars. I was hesitant at first to support this habit, but whatever. About a month before his birthday Joe ordered like 50 cigars with some of the other guys. Unfortunately he didn't have a humidor to store them. We talked about it and I told him that with China coming up and he already spent SO much on cigars that a humidor would have to wait until Christmas.... Muahahahah! That same night I send a text to James to throw in a humidor onto Joe's cigar order, but not to tell Joe. It would be the perfect present from me for his birthday!

 When James got everything in the mail he put it all together for Joe. He loved it and I was so excited for him to get it.

 Cigars, booze and great friends. What else could a 30 year old man ask for?

His life long dream to come true, becoming the next Micheal Jordan.

 Myriam is a graphic designer. When the plan was hatched that we would throw Joe a surprise party she started asking me about what kinds of things Joe likes or what he was into when he was a kid. She came up with this great poster design and created the whole thing! She photo shopped all of our faces into the crowd and obviously Joe is the star! Even the bar code and price match the year he was born, 1982.

 It is a really great poster! Thank you Myriam! Best. Gift. EVER!

 I know Joe had a great time. I am so glad that we have such amazing friends so that this could happen!

 Joey and his mom and dad!

 A birthday is not complete without cake and candles!

 Towards the end of the evening we all headed to the roof for a cigar. I am a wimp and have still not had a proper puff, but the other Randall's got in on the cigar action.

The night went off without a hitch!

Happy 30th Birthday Joey! 

Anniversary Numbers

Today Joe and I celebrate our wedding anniversary. 2 years married today.

Long story short the weeks leading up to our wedding, during our wedding and our first year were tough. My family really put us through the ringer.
So on our first wedding anniversary we high tailed it out of town to Hawaii! We really earned that first year!
Our second year was SO much easier and full of the wedded bliss that other newly weds talk about!

I am beyond thankful for Joe. He is my best friend, travel buddy, workout partner, co-worker, teaching partner (!), counselor, lover, anchor. I found the PERFECT man for me. He is the peanut butter to my jelly! I love this man and am SO glad we are in it together.

Although  I love an excuse to eat cake and party, this year July and the beginning of August were VERY busy. Somehow we both kinda forgot. We know our anniversary date, but somehow we both forgot that it was this week. oops! That's not totally true. We are going to PARIS is October. When we booked our trip, (a month ago) we decided that would be our anniversary gift to each other. So we didn't forget, but are postponing our anniversary.
Happy Anniversary J! Cheers to many more years! 

I thought it would be fun to talk about some numbers in our first 2 years.

731- days officially married (leap year)

27- (roughly) airplanes we rode together

2- countries we have lived in (USA and S.Korea)

3- countries visited (USA, S.Korea, China)

326- days living in S.Korea (married)

1- BCS Championships attended, Go Ducks!

6- Chicago Cubs games

1- Cubs wins while attending a game

3- cities lived in (Tualatin Or, Elmira Or, Bundang-Gu)

2- Tattoos acquired (one each)

 Happy anniversary to us! I'll end with a few of my favorite pictures from our wedding day!

 It's official!

First dance

Mike and Debbie at BIS

I have  a TON of posts in the making but I found these pictures on the BIS website and HAD to share.

M and D came to Korea Thursday, July 26th. We have been very busy. Joe and I let them sleep in but after lunch we took them to BIS for the kinder RDB presentation.

In true BIS fashion, the Korean staff had a big show planned.

The kids sang and danced.

Then they recited their reading books my memory.

This is my little RDB class.

At the end of the show, Ms. Karen came out with a birthday cake for Joe /welcome cake for M and D.

It was fun to have them at school. And the kids were really cute!

We  LOVE having M and D here!





More posts about Joe's 30th birthday party, China and Mom and Dad's visit coming soon!