From America to Korea: Our neighborhood

From America to Korea: A series detailing the adventure of traveling around Korea with Husband and my mother- and father-in-law! 

At the very tail end of August Husband's parents came to visit us.  We were thrilled they came to tour Korea and just hang out with us.  It's always nice to see some familiar faces on this side of the world, and their visit really helped to break up our tour in Korea.  Half way there; nine months to go!

We experienced so much while they were here!  I was jotting some notes about what to share about their visit.  I have eight more posts after this one!!  We took so many fantastic pictures!  Mike and Cindy had a thorough tour of the country so the pictures in these posts will give you a real impression of the vastness of Korea.

Their trip didn't start out great.  We had our first significant chance of a typhoon three days before they were scheduled to arrive in Seoul, and the second one the day they flew in!  We have had one or two typhoons since then though, all of which have been unimpressive.  We've had some wind and serious rain, but thankfully no damage.

(Left: No more Wonder Bread the day after the "typhoon"...Husband was devastated.  Right:  Charlie may not know why there are sleeping bags and pillows out -temporary beds for Husband and I-, but he's determined wherever they go he will follow!)

On day one of Mike and Cindy's Korea visit, we had a walking tour of our neighborhood (photo opportunities abound!).

Newly built home.  It took three times as long to resurface our road as it did to demolish the previous home and build this one.

Garlic, garlic everywhere.  

These are all on my normal walking route with the dog.  Each way you look offers a completely different view.  The top right picture is typical of the nicest homes I've seen in Korea (aside from fancy high-rise apartments).  I think this is a multi-family home.

The rice!  I was ecstatic the day I noticed the rice beginning to bud on the ends of the grasses.  While Mike and Cindy were here, we saw some of it start to yellow; nearing harvest.  Today Husband informed me he saw the harvest beginning!

Charlie, me, and Cindy walking the rice paddies.

Way out in a rice paddy, along this terraced hillside, the gently sloping mounds -Korean burial sites- are  a typical view.

Not a great picture...I must've been in a hurry.  This type of white guard dog is extremely common here.  This one is our neighbor, and she had the sweetest puppies (there were five or six -I'm not sure- they move too fast)!

Mike especially enjoyed the overhead view!  Our apartment is very close to base, and we have A-10 and F-16 "fly-overs" all day long.

Next up:  Downtown Songtan