The Yongsan Players is the community theater group here on post, and they put on "The Clown Prince of Wanderlust" last weekend. Gryphon *loves* to act, so she auditioned before our trip and got 2 parts. She was a villager (in the brown costume singing), and a Mile-a-Go, which is a vicious beast who attacks the princess. some of her homeschooled and middle school friends were in the play, too, and it was really a great experience for her. She'll definitely be doing more acting in the future!
Mark had the day off today, but it was a regular work and school day for most so since we could avoid the crowds we headed out to Bucheon (near Inchon) to an indoor water park called Tiger World. It was a lot like Great Wold Lodge, but cooler! 
The best part- Doctor Fish!! Yes, those are my feet, being eaten by some kind of fish. It clears away dead skin. I'll admit, the girls were really gung-ho to try it but I was sort of squeamish about it. Its just weird to have something *eating* you, you know? But I got used to the tickling and it was fun,though my feet do not look noticeably different.
The food was for sure better than Great Wolf, Korean of course! They also had hot dogs and churros and stuff, and an aqua bar, and ice cream.
There are some downsides to being a foreign kid in a very homogeneous society like Korea- people always look at you, and that gets old after a while. But the up side is Korean television and print ads are full of foreign models! Modeling agents hang out at places foreign kids congregate (4th of July celebrations, etc) and take pictures. Both girls have had their photo taken a million times, but no one has ever called. (Blond hair and blue eyes is a big plus here!). We know kids who do lots and lots of modeling and commercials, though, it is much easier than in the US, I think.
Here she is after hair and make up. She, another American kid named Joseph, and 4-5 Korean kids played in the "snow" in front of a green screen for about 3 hours. They had pretend snowball fights, went sledding, ran around and looked cheerful. Rowan said it was fun. They also got dinner, kimchi chigae, which Rowan said was yummy, and I guess the director and workers were impressed she bowed and said Anyanghasaeyo (hello) first thing- its just a habit for her now, of course, but apparently rare among foreign kids. 
OK, I am going to smoosh all our Christmas season happenings into one long post, because I have been neglecting the blog badly lately! First off, Gryphon's band class (she plays alto sax) and choir club gave concerts at various places around the post. The above photo is at a concert at the big hotel here, the Dragon Hill, and below is the Christmas tree lighting ceremony. She had a blast,because they went out to lunch at various fast food restaurants after the concerts!
Christmas shopping was done mostly online, but the girls and I headed down to Itaewon to buy Mark some gifts. We ate at McDonalds, which the kids adore of course. No, we didn't have the Bulgogi burger. We have only had McD's in Korea 3 times, because I prefer to eat all the Korean food, but also because it just seems so stereotypical- look at the Americans, eating McDonalds!! 
We were hunting up and down the main drag of Itaewon for boxer shorts printed with denominations of Korean money. Yes, that is what Mark asked for!
The Boy Scouts on post get live trees in, but you must preorder and I had heard they are in really bad shape- they are sent from somewhere far away. (In case you don't know, while South Korea is forested now, the Japanese cut down every tree in the country practically during the occupation. So, trees are a valuable thing in Korea, cutting one down is really frowned upon, and there are no Christmas tree farms!)
So for the first time ever we got a *fake* tree. This is how it looked out of the box. 
It looked okay put up and decorated, but...still looks pretty fake!
We decorated our little scuzzy front porch area.
Christmas Eve we went to dinner at the Hartell House.
It was yummy, roast beast. 
Then Christmas morning came, and the girls had a good one.
Aunt Jill, the doll was a hit!!
The first stop was the UN base in the middle of the DMZ, and Panmunjom, where talks between north and south (and the various other countries involved) take place. This is where you step "into" north Korea while inside the blue building to Gryphon's left. Only, it was CLOSED because of swine flu, of all things. And, the weather was very bad, so we mostly just stayed under the eaves and I didn't take many pictures (didn't want the camera wet!). The arrow points to a north Korean soldier standing on the steps (also staying out of the rain) on the north Korean side. Gryphon loves the DMZ, can you tell? It was really a bummer not to get to go in.
Here is a South Korean MP, who are dressed very snappily, with reflective sunglasses and super shiny boots, standing guard. Too wet to get a close up! They stand in a Taekwondo stance, and only very tall soldiers are chosen for this job. Next stop was the Third Tunnel, an infiltration tunnel dug by the north under the DMZ to sneak troops in. This had really changed since I was here last- last time I went, it was just a hole in the ground you walked into, with a guard at the end who sat in a chair and stared at the north end, presumably to stop anyone coming in from that side. Now, there is a movie on the Korean War, a tram that takes people down, and its been filled in with cement and water, so no guard required at the dividing line. Drat! 
Gryphon may be grumpy at the DMZ, but as you can see, she finds landmines fabulous. Actually, despite the rain and cancelled portions of the trip, we had a great time together. We are going to go back in the summer, when visibility is better. (I didn't even bother to take photos from the observation areas, where on a clear day you can see Kaesong, because it was so foggy.) And the swine flu (Korea is completely ridiculous about swine flu) is over, too!
The stick looking things are some sort of herb, and of course garlic, green onion, and ginseng and the dates. I used cornish game hens instead of a whole chicken. You stuff the hens with rice mixed with garlic cloves, chestnuts and dates. Plus stuff some ginseng in there too, and seal the hens up.
It smells just awesome, and though it is a summer food in Korea, I think its best on cold winter nights. Its Gryphon's favorite Korean food.
Add some green onions, salt and pepper, and it makes an awesome meal! 
Well, it was a little rainy here for Halloween, but that didn't stop the fun! The festivities started with a potluck soup dinner at a neighbors, before the official trick-or-treat hours. Rowan was aghast that there was trick or treating only from 5-8:30, but that's life on a military base!
Gryphon was a werewolf this year, but the mask smelled yucky so she rarely wore it. Yes, its a sad milestone: she was NOT Harry Potter!
Rowan was a southern belle. She had admired the costume last year but they didn't have her size, so this year we ordered it online. Of course, she had to have a wig.
Instead of the usual pictures+text format, I have put in some videos. Our video camera has been inoperable due to a lost power cord, but it's back in business, so look forward to lots of really boring videos with nausea-inducing camera angles!Rowan's buddy Bella came along with us.
We drove up to Bukhansan National park, to see the fall colors and do a little hiking. Unfortunately, we are 0 for 2 trips to this park, as we once again failed to get to the top. This time, the culprit was not taking a trail that was too hard, last time's trail involved ropes and sheer rock faces, which I am NOT okay with! No, we were sunk by the yummy lunch of Oritang, duck soup. It took along time to eat, and we didn't have time to get to the top.
The lunch was so good though-!!
We did have time to see 3 temples on the mountain, which was nice. The colors are not yet at their peak, so we will take another trip in a few weeks.
