Settling in Spartanland

What color are these eyes?

2012-01-13T12:23:00.002+09:00

Blue? Hazel? Blue and green? I call them awesome.

A Very Merry Christmas

2012-01-09T01:01:00.020+09:00

Austin's job includes a few great perks, and one of them is that he has a lot of time off. He had more than three weeks of vacation over the holidays, and we were able to have a leisurely family Christmas as well as travel for 10 days visiting family.

We've been abroad for the past three Christmases, so it was wonderful to be home for the holidays.

We didn't put up a tree this year because we have such a tiny house and such an active baby and, as I mentioned, were gone for 10 days...but excuses notwithstanding, I resolve to be less bah-humbug next year.

For starters, our Christmas (e)card:

Who needs a tree when you can wrap the baby in beads?

Finley's first Christmas present:

fascinated with the wrapping paper

a bird house with four little cloth birds

loving his new toy

Christmas morning

The Solomon clan:

With my grandma, aunt, cousins, brother, and parents

what a spoiled baby!

More pictures of the Kaufmann family to come...

Impressions 5

2011-12-17T23:39:00.001+09:00

Finley, Victoria, and I have been enjoying the fact that I have a few weeks off for Winter Break. That means we've all been able to have a little family fun. Yesterday, for example, we went to Impressions 5, a children's science center in Lansing with a mission to help kids of all ages experience the scientific wonders of the world.

Visit their website: http://impression5.org/

Their "First Impressions" room was perfect for Finley.

He loved all the mirrors!

Handrails at the perfect height.

Racecars zooming down a track.

The padded tunnels were no end of fun!

And, by chance, we met Finley's friend Samara there with her mother, Molly.

Peek-a-boo!

We all enjoyed our time at First Impressions so much that we decided to buy a year's membership so that we can go back any time. We figure it's a great way to fight a long, cold Michigan winter.

Secretly, I just can't wait for Finley to get a little older so I can enjoy some of the bigger kids' activities at Impressions 5. In particular, I'm looking forward to...

Lego-Palooza Day!

The "Gross-ology" Exhibit, with such
fun activities as Urine: The Game,
Snot Guy, and the Barf Exhibition.

Most of all, I'm stoked for Trebuchet
Day, when competitors see whose
trebuchet (a.k.a. "catapult") can hurl
a bowling ball the farthest!

Anyway, we hope Impressions 5 will continue to bring this smile to Finley's face for many months and years to come! And we also have two free passes, so if anyone wants to check it out with us, just let us know!

Does it get cuter than this?

Blow, Blow, Thou Winter Wind!

2011-12-04T06:39:00.002+09:00

With a deep sense of dread, I have been waiting for the winters of Michigan. For about six months now, I have wondered: What will I do when it snows out and I'm stuck indoors with the baby? Where will I go when it's freezing cold outside? I hate the cold -- how will I endure the winters of Michigan?

Well, I should have just taken a chill pill (as my 8th-grade self would have said). First of all, for myself, there is no need to fear being cold. I don't take buses or the subway anymore, so there is really no extended standing-outside-in-the-freezing-cold times like I had in Seoul for the past three years. Second, I am always carrying at least 30 pounds around, and let me tell you, that warms you up. And finally, it's gorgeous here in the snow!

See for yourself:

Good morning, white world! Finley was fascinated with the snow. (But not so fascinated that he didn't cry when I put him in it in our back yard later that day).

bushes

berries

porch

Here's the kicker, too: people are used to cold weather, and there is plenty to do with a baby. Heck, just letting him crawl all over the bookstore in town is good enough for both of us on a cold, snowy afternoon.

Milestones...

2011-12-03T12:04:00.000+09:00

A number of Finley's major milestones -- first teeth, crawling, pulling himself up to a standing position -- have come and gone in the month of November, and -- unfortunately -- we haven't done a great job of keeping the blog quite up to speed.

So here's a November photo & video retrospective to fill you all in on what you've missed!

For starters, he's learned to channel Elton John...

And (much to his father's delight) enjoys
playing (read "pounding on") the guitar.

He got into his first fight. (Actually, he just had some
beets for dinner. Or, as Victoria joked, "He got 'beet' up.")

He learned to drink from a cup (with help).

He learned how to crawl... though not at first.

Not quite...

That's it!

He learned to pull himself up to a standing position.
(Don't worry. We've since raised the crib railing.)

He's started wearing shoes.

He's made some new friends.

And he celebrated his first Thanksgiving.
(More on that to come.)

First Tastes

2011-11-21T03:16:00.001+09:00

On October 24th, Finley's 6-month birthday, we decided he was ready for his first solid foods. We started him on some mashed up organic sweet potatoes we got from the Meridian Township Farmer's Market.

How did it go? Well, watch for yourself:

Since then, it's been kind of hit and miss:

Squash he tolerated.

Rice cereal mixed with apple sauce he loved!

Spaghetti he had a blast playing with

But he hasn't quite jumped on the green vegetable wagon yet. Avocados never made it down the hatch. And green beans? Well, again, you watch for yourself:

And it was all...YELLOW

2011-11-20T23:31:00.001+09:00

No, this post is not a decade-late tribute to the Coldplay song of the same name because that song is actually one of my least favorite Coldplay songs of all time.

It's about our kitchen:

It is now all very, very yellow!

For reference, this is what the kitchen looked like before:

In addition to the rather dismal brown paint
and childish decals, the ceiling paint was
forever getting bugs and other critters
stuck in it.

As you can see from the next few pictures, Victoria's folks did most of the work. In fact, when I left for work in the morning, they hadn't started, and when I came home, Victoria and Jan were just putting on the finishing touches! Now that's my idea of repainting.

Lou does the rolling.

Jan does the edging / acrobatics.

The final product! It turned out to be just a bit brighter than we'd anticipated from the paint sample, but we love it. It's bright and cheery enough to get us through some long, gray, cloudy Michigan winters.

The dining ~~room~~ corner

Our small alley kitchen

Vic's over-the-sink painting of lemons and kumquats now
matches perfectly!

Happy Halloween!

2011-11-02T09:29:00.000+09:00

How did October come and (nearly) go so quickly?

2011-10-27T10:10:00.000+09:00

The past three weeks have flown by -- flown! -- and I'm just now catching my breath. What have I been up to?

obsessively baking Challah bread

working out the triceps

buying $10 end tables and...

refinishing them on a shoestring with some paint left in our basement

and hanging with old college buds.

The Mother Hubba Hubba

2011-10-07T09:36:00.001+09:00

This is a hubbard squash.

It's the behemoth of all squash varieties.

It's as big as a 20-pound baby.

The cavity of the vegetable is quite small, so you literally get pounds of squash from one of these puppies.

What do you do with it?

Chop it up.

Bake it.

Steam it.

Make pumpkin bread and toss it into soups and stews all winter!

Sweet (Corn) Memories

2011-09-24T11:59:00.004+09:00

This evening, while putting up sweet corn for the winter, I was struck with a vivid memory of my childhood.

I'm kneeling on one of the four tall, wooden stools in our dining room, elbows on the counter, watching my dad slice corn off the cob. Mom is at the stove, blanching the ears of corn in boiling water, steaming up the already warm kitchen. My job is finished, having already "helped" my mom and sister husk the corn and toss the husks and silk into the compost. Now, I have only to watch dad's knife, hoping each slice will sheer off an even larger slab of connected kernels -- hoping that before they're all boxed into quart Tupperware containers for the deep freeze, he'll let me pop one of those slabs into my mouth.

It was a little strange how strongly this memory washed over me. They say the sense of smell triggers the strongest memories, so perhaps it was the aroma of all that sweet corn that did it. Who knows?

I guess I just want to say thank you to my parents for that experience. I hope one day Finley will watch Victoria and me put up corn in the same way.

Mmm...mmm...mmm!

Blanching the ears

Slicing off the kernels

Almost done... 10 to go!

I managed to slice off a few fat slabs myself.

And I would be totally remiss if I did not send out a huge thank you to my Uncle John and Aunt Jean who not only let us live with them for three weeks before we could close on our house, but also graciously gave us the 100 ears of corn from their huge garden.

Us with John & Jean, back in July.

(And thanks also to Jan Solomon for helping put up the first batch of corn two weeks ago.)

Apple pickin'

2011-09-24T07:18:00.001+09:00

One of the things I love most about being back in the good old US of A -- and, more specifically, being back in the Midwest -- is the amount of cheap, easily accessible produce. This past weekend we went picking at Clearview Orchards, a 15-minute drive away.

We picked a peck of McIntosh apples for eating. (No, they weren't pickled.) And for just $6 more, we added a bushel of Empire "drops" to put away for the winter. Now our freezer is full of sliced apples in a coating of lemon juice, cinnamon, and sugar, ready for winter pies and my new favorite recipe -- baked apple French toast.

Finley gummed up an apple pretty good and LOVED it.

Helping dad

What the heck is this thing?

Austin was assigned to pick from the top of the
tree. Hey, sometimes it DOES come in handy to
be 6'3 with a wingspan of, oh, approximately 11 feet!

It's eatin' time

Delicious!

MORE!

Intense apple juice focus

After apple picking, Austin and Finley played catch. Or, rather, Austin played a game of Catch Finley.

Wheeeeeeeee!

Finley, Screaming Through His ABCs

2011-09-15T10:25:00.004+09:00

I'm not the only one thrilled about having a piano in the new house!

We have "piano lessons" like this every day. :)

Okemos

2011-09-12T02:58:00.000+09:00

We spent our first two weeks in Michigan in the small town of Okemos, a 10-minute drive from MSU campus. Though it's close to town, it has a very rural vibe. We crashed at the home of Austin's gracious aunt and uncle. John and Jean are Iris farmers, essentially, and have more than 1,000 varieties of the flower. They have several lovely acres that they allowed us to explore.

Iris fields forever

where the flowers started

grass

thistle

baby

daddy in the sunshine

gaining muscle control!

Our new house

2011-09-04T00:40:00.003+09:00

Our new place on Lilac Avenue. Keys in hand!

We requested that the sellers leave the piano at the house, and they agreed. They sold it to us for $100! Here's Austin playing for Finn in our new living room.

My how he's grown!

2011-08-28T10:14:00.002+09:00

2 weeks old 4 months old

Here's Finley at 2 weeks old and 4 months old. In the first shot, he's in a 0- to 3-month sleeper. By coincidence, my brother and sister-in-law gave us the same outfit in a 9-month size. Yes, my 4-month-old is almost too big for 9-month baby sizes.

Just think what would happen if we all kept growing at this rate. Yikes!

Redneck Jacuzzi

2011-08-06T05:18:00.005+09:00

Last week we joined the Kaufmann clan in Pokegon State Park for a family reunion. We had to rent out part of the campground to fit Austin's dad's family because he's one of 12 kids, and the event was a hoot.

Anyway, Austin and I found a cooler near the Dumpster that someone was throwing away, and we needed a cooler, so we yoinked it. It worked great on the Blue Moon Summer Ale, but it actually had a hidden purpose: a baby bath. Filled with warm water, it worked perfectly, especially since our nearly 20-pound chunk of a 3-month old almost broke the camp sink off the wall.

And here you have it:

Place baby gently into redneck Jacuzzi.

How dad helps.

Retain picture to show to baby's future girlfriend.

Our last few days in Ohio

2011-07-24T03:49:00.002+09:00

At the pavilion at the park in Canal Fulton. Beastly hot weather meant the Thin Mint ice cream at Oser's Legendary Ice Cream shop tasted all the more sweet! Of course, Finley thought Austin's beard might be equally delicious.

That beard is so much fun.

Grandma Jan's magic touch.

Hmm...one day at Uncle Mike and Aunt Megan's house turned this little guy into a lush.

Rendezvous in C-town

2011-07-18T08:09:00.002+09:00

Victoria, Finley, and I were fortunate enough to meet up with some of our closest friends from our time in Korea, Rob Gordon and Johanna Haas.

Rob and Jo work at Seoul National University, where I worked until very recently, so we were not only friends and neighbors but also colleagues. However, Jo's mother lives in Cleveland, so Rob and Jo were back in the States visiting her before heading up to Montreal to visit other friends and family. They were kind enough to invite us to join their family gathering for brunch at Corky & Lenny's, a fantastic Jewish deli.

In the afternoon we braved the heat and walked around Cleveland's West Side Market. We got there a little late, so many of the vendors had already closed down for the day, but some of the bakeries were open. However, Finley was more interested in the camera than the fantastic loaves of artisan breads.

Then, for dinner, we walked next door to one of our favorite Cleveland establishments, the Great Lakes Brew Pub. Unfortunately, the wait there was one and half hours so we headed to the newly opened Market Garden Brewery.

Rob, Gwen, & Johanna

The amber lager and the wheat beer were fantastic.

Destined for Nerd-dom!

2011-07-17T22:31:00.003+09:00

With a mom who loves Buffy and Battlestar Galactica and a father who digs English grammar and birdwatching, I guess he's pretty well doomed to nerdiness! Might as well get him an early start!

The new ride!

2011-07-17T12:18:00.002+09:00

So stoked about the new wheels: a 2004 VW Passat.

In case it's not clear, the color is "dark cherry"

Seven years old but only 48,000 miles! It rides great, it's got enough leg room to fit a car seat and two passengers (relatively) comfortably in the back, and the trunk is big enough to haul guitars (or a stroller).

Quick shout-out to Frank Sumpter at Ganley Bedford Imports, who made my first car purchase from a dealership a good one: Thank you so much! I now feel bad for all those horrible assumptions I made about used car salesmen.

And to my father in-law, Lou: Thank you for your patience as I dragged you around to some seriously sketchy-ass dealerships in the Cleveland's less-than-swanky side of town before heading down to Ganley.

House Hunting in East Lansing

2011-07-12T03:21:00.002+09:00

Victoria, Finley, and I made a trip up to East Lansing to look at houses this past weekend. Luckily, Victoria's mom was also able to come along to help keep an eye on Finley while we toured houses.

Nice big yard, but this one just needed too much work!

We looked at a lot of houses in East Lansing, Lansing, and Okemos. We found quite a few that we didn't like, and at least three or four that were fairly promising. We'll keep you posted!

I also stopped by campus, which -- I have to admit -- was more beautiful than I expected. The older buildings north of the river that runs through campus were particularly nice and oh so classic American university campus-like.

Sparty!

I stopped by Wells Hall to visit the MSU English Language Center, where I'll be working, come August. I met our director, Susan Gass, and had lunch with about a dozen of my future colleagues. They were all really down-to-earth and very welcoming.

Wells Hall

Finley enjoyed his sleep at the hotel.

One thing we're really excited about is that my Uncle John and Aunt Jean live in nearby Okemos, and my cousin D lives in the area, too. I haven't spent much time with any of them since my childhood and look forward to getting to know them as adults. John and Jean had us over to their home for brunch: eggs, sausage, English muffins, fantastic fresh fruit, and great coffee. I'm sure the continental breakfast at the Holiday Inn wouldn't have come close!

Then, after second afternoon of house hunting, it was back on the road, heading back to Vic's folks' place in Ohio.

Parenting fail?

Our "Little" Man

2011-07-08T09:06:00.003+09:00

So Finley just hit the 16 pound mark. Yes, that's right...at just a few days over 10 weeks.

Looks like he needs a beer in that hand.

Seriously? Look at those cheeks and those fat rolls!

Flex for the picture, Finn. Show us your guns!

It's also been a fun week for us as parents because Finley's just discovered that those two things that he's been punching himself in the face with for the past two months actually belong to him! He's just begun to grab toys.

More heart-melting, he's begun to reach out and touch our faces:

In the Buckeye State!

2011-07-08T08:44:00.002+09:00

After a few days in Indiana, we headed out to Ohio to spend time with the Solomon side of the family.

Finley, laughing with his Grandpa Lou

Grandma Jan's magic touch

Uncle Mike was a bit hesitant

Great-grandma Pearl was not!

Priceless photo!

And we made it just in time for Finley to celebrate his first Independence Day out at Victoria's cousin Paul's lake house. As always, it was a loud and rowdy time with fantastic food and drinks.

Lou & Pearl

The boys

The girls

Mike & Lou taking the meat out of the smoker.

Reid and Lane be warned! Uncle Mike is vying
for early "Favorite Uncle" Status by offering 4-wheeler rides.

Back in the good ol' U.S.of A!

2011-07-03T03:03:00.000+09:00

Now that we've returned home, Victoria and I officially need to change the name of our blog -- "Settling in Seoul" is clearly outdated. I suppose we'll get around to changing it soon. Perhaps, "Unsettled Souls" would be appropriate right now, as we are in a period of great transition.

The nice part about being unsettled, however, is that we have a good month of time off to spend with our families and to allow Finley to get to know his grandparents...and great-grandparents!

Our first stop, the Kaufmann residence, in rural Northern Indiana:

Finley, Victoria, Lane, Mandi, & Jim looking for zucchini

Lane, picking wild black raspberries

Wild roses along the property line

Finley's cloth diapers drying in the sun

Finley, meeting his great-grandpa & Areta

Four generations: Finley, Austin, Lois, & Galen

Grandpa Kaufmann, duly chronicling Finley's jet lag

Next stop: The Solomons' in the Buckeye State. Stay tuned!

A Travelin' Champ!

2011-06-30T05:30:00.000+09:00

You know that kid who screams through the duration of your 13-hour trans-Pacific flight? Well, Finley wasn't that kid. That kid was a few rows ahead of us, and boy did I feel sorry for his parents.

Finley, as usual, behaved himself well above and beyond expectation. In the 13 hours we were on the plane, he fussed and cried for a total of maybe three minutes. Yup, that's it. And even that was not a full-on wail, just some fussing. BEST. KID. EVER.

Although we booked our tickets through US Airways, the flight was operated by Asiana Airlines, and the services and amenities they provided for parents were fantastic. It started with the "Happy Mom Service," which includes a dedicated check-in counter for less waiting.

However, the best part was the bulkhead seating for the parents (Yay -- Leg room!) and the bassinet for Finley.

Finley's favorite part of the trip: being rocked in the bassinet by the turbulence!

All in all, it was one of the most pleasant trans-Pacific flights I've ever had because of the extra legroom. Now, not everything was perfectly hunky-dory, mind you. Changing diapers in those tiny lavatories isn't exactly a piece of cake for a 6'3" dude, but we managed without a major fiasco.

From what I saw on the plane, I'd much rather travel with a 2-month old than a 2-year-old. However, now that we're Stateside for the foreseeable future, who knows when we'll be traveling by plane again...

Finley will just have to wait a while to add another stamp to his passport.

Take me out to the ball game...

2011-06-19T21:05:00.000+09:00

Between the international move, packing, cleaning, goodbyes, finalizing work stuff, looking at homes in Michigan, making summer plans, taking care of a new baby, and, oh, hiking the mountains of Korea one last time, we really haven't had time to so much as catch our breath.

Despite the busyness, I did something I've never done in Korea -- I went to a baseball game.

Now before I went, I was picturing the setting: rows and rows of sparsely peopled stands of the stadium, some cheering during home runs, and maybe a wave if we were lucky. This has been my experience with stadiums and ball games in the States. I assumed it would be the same here. Ah, assumptions. Haven't I learned my lesson about assumptions about Korea by now?

As I got into the cab to head to the stadium with Finley, upon hearing where we were headed, the taxi driver said, "Why do you want to go there? The only thing there is the stadium."
"Well, yes," I replied. "We're going to the baseball game."
"Why are you taking a BABY to a baseball game?" he exclaimed.
"Um...because he likes baseball?"

Anyway, now I sort of see why the driver said that. It was the most packed sporting event I have ever seen, and the decibel level of the cheering was like what I imagine would go on at an Olympic gold-medal event.

Get a load of these fans:

Crazy!

Korean parents usually don't take infants out until they are 100 days old, much less to a rip-roaring sporting event that was undoubtedly a little too loud for a 7-week-old. Finley was great, though, as usual, with no crying and wide eyes. And I think he was a good luck charm for the LG Twins, who scored 6 runs in one inning after we got there!

I'm laughing at the insanity of the fans.

Snoozing through the 6th inning.

Bidding Farewell to My SNU Co-Workers

2011-06-12T17:59:00.005+09:00

The semester's still a week from being over, but apparently my colleagues are eager to be rid of me because they already had a going away party for me (and for Ian). Actually, most of them are just jetting out for exotic vacation adventures as soon as they get their grades turned in next week.

Anyway, we all went out for big slabs of mok-sal, or grilled pork neck meat, down in Nakseongdae.

Nancy, Shannon, Aaron, Kelly, Doug, & Ian

Who knew that Heather & I could pass
for siblings?! Twins perhaps even.

Rob & Jo looking far more paternal and
maternal than I had ever before witnessed.

Aaron, Kelly, Doug, Ian, Boram, Given, Rob, Jo, & Finley

Looks like someone's been eating plenty of that moksal!

Cutest ever!

A Night of Luxury

2011-06-06T08:50:00.000+09:00

We spent the weekend in Songdo for my "Last Waltz" with all my Incheon music buds. However, now that we've added Finley into the mix, gigs and weekend trips have become a lot more complicated. We can't just crash on a friend's couch after rockin' and partying till 3:00am anymore.

It started with a taxi ride to the bus stop and then the express bus to Songdo. Finley slept like a champ.

Snoozin' on the M6405.

To make our first night away from home go as smoothly as possible, we decided to splurge and stay the night at the Songdo/Incheon Sheraton Hotel because it was only two blocks away from Cafe de Moim, where the farewell concert was held.

Sheraton Lobby

Our room was actually nicer than this one, but I forgot
to take pictures of anything but Finley.

We were most excited about the beautiful, luxurious bathroom with a deep tub because we only have a stand-up shower in our apartment.

Finley got to take his first bath in a real bathtub. He loved it!

After his bath, we bundled him all up tight and plopped him onto the king-sized bed for some pictures.

Then it was time to get him all dressed up in his rock-n-roll sleeper for dad's big gig!

So cute I just want to eat him up!

It was a great night and Finley enjoyed most of the show, though he slept through most of it!

Other than the drums, Finley seemed to like the music!

Although the night was great and Finley was a real trooper, I would be remiss, however, if I did not mention that he fussed from 5:00am to about 10:00am the next morning with gas and indigestion, putting a bit of a damper on the weekend. Still, it could have been a whole lot worse!

The Last Waltz

2011-06-05T13:02:00.005+09:00

This weekend we began the long process of saying goodbye with the first of what will no doubt be a procession of "lasts" and goodbye parties here in Korea:

Members of The Odds Against, The Mad Cannons, and the Songdo Social Club, along with special guests Masao Utsumi & Zee Kang came together for a farewell party at Cafe de Moim in Songdo for both me and Stanley Crocker, who's also leaving Korea this month.

The soft-spoken Masao Utsumi, a skilled bassist and guitarist, joined us for a set. He said he hadn't played in a public gig in 30 years, but he certainly hadn't lost a beat.

The disappearing Austin and Utsumi on his 5-string

Finley enjoyed the acoustic set but didn't dig the drums.

Austin, Stanley, Zee, Robbie, Geordan

Many thanks to one of my former students, Hye-ji Shin, for shooting some video of the evening:

Couldn't resist hamming it up for this kid!

I need to put in a word of thanks to Robbie:

Love you like the older brother I never had, mate!

From the bottom of my heart, Robbie, thank you: for organizing this whole event, for bringing more energy to every gig than I'll ever be able to muster, for both trusting and challenging me as a musician, for your unabashed emotion, and for our many talks about music, politics, and fatherhood. And for as much as I loved our many fun shows, I think what I'll miss most is our rehearsals at your apartment with you and Rob. Good times.

And a word to Stan:

Rocking out, Mad Cannons style

Stan, it was a jam session with you at the mountain biking campout last summer and your subsequent invitation to me to join the Songdo Social Club for a gig that transformed my musical life here in Korea. In my first two years in Korea, I played at an open mic exactly once. That's it. Since meeting you, I've played on average three gigs a month. Thank you for all the organizing you did, your work booking gigs, your willingness to run sound for TOA and to set up and tear down gear, gig after gig after gig. The ex-pat scene in Songdo is losing a lot with you.

And now a shout-out to the other musicians I've had the pleasure to get to know:

Zee: You're an extraordinary musician and a quirky-fun person. So glad to have met you and played with you so often these past few months.
Moon: I'm sorry that the busy-ness of work prevented us from hanging out more often. Best of luck to you in life and music.
Geordan: I don't even know enough about drumming to know how good you are at that kit. Wish we could have had more gigs together. I'm excited, however, that we'll be able to see each other from time to time when you head back home to Michigan!
Jeff: I had a great time Friday night sharing the mic with you and your trombone one last time. It's been a pleasure.
Simo: Sorry you couldn't make it out so I could say adios in person. Take care, bro.

And a shout-out to the fans! Thank you!

Hanging out with co-workers

2011-06-05T09:58:00.001+09:00

On Monday, I took Finley in to the office to say hello to my colleagues at ORDA.

with amazing artist, Mr. Yeo

with Anny and Mikki

with Prof. Hwang

Then, on Thursday, I got Finley dressed up in his monkey pants and hat for a hwoi-shik (dinner with colleagues) of shabu shabu:

Hey, hey, we're the monkeys!

Finley & the girls: Anny, Victoria, Grace, Kiok, & Garam

Making eyes with Anny

Finley was showing off his new trick: using his newfound neck muscles to stare straight up at the ceiling lights:

Don't look into the light!

Still looking at the lights.

Your Weekly Finley Fix

2011-06-02T18:07:00.000+09:00

Ready to go out!

Sportin' new threads from Grandma Jan

Stargazing at Nana's quilt

Finley's first Korean BBQ!

Coaxing a smile...

Sleepy grin

Mister Donut!

2011-05-31T07:03:00.000+09:00

The Korean national dress is called "Hanbok." It's a beautiful garment made up of two sections and a shirt that covers the arms and ties on the side.

Korean women wearing colorful "Hanbok"

Korean babies receive a special "baby Hanbok" that the wearer then keeps until he or she reaches adulthood. Apparently some teenage students even carry their baby Hanbok as a good-luck charm. One of my coworkers told me that some high school students carry their baby Hanbok in their bag during the major university entrance exam as a talisman of sorts for success!

This is a modern Korean baby t-shirt (with a matching blanket) that has ties on the sides in the style of Hanbok. My coworkers gave it to Finley, and since he's getting so fat, the theme (donuts) is completely appropriate!

Here you can see the little side ties.

Unsettling from Seoul

2011-05-25T22:41:00.001+09:00

It's officially official: Victoria and I, after three years of "Settling in Seoul," will be leaving Korea and moving back to the States.

About 20 minutes ago, I submitted my official letter of acceptance for a position as an English instructor at the Michigan State University English Language Center, so Finley, Victoria, and I are Michigan bound!

Thus, all future baby clothes for Finley must be in green.

And hopefully none of his future playdate buddies will ever find out about the present his Ohioan relatives sent him:

Finley's Girlfriends

2011-05-23T15:08:00.001+09:00

That's right, girlfriends. Plural.

Finley, at four weeks of age, is already using his good looks to pick up older women.

What a handsome guy!

Unfortunately, the two-timing little twerp is having a hard time making up his mind about which of these two cougars he wants to pursue. It's a tough decision:

Lucky Lady #1: Melinda

Pros:

has the cutest nose ever

has EU citizenship

is fluent in both English and German baby babble

Cons:

doesn't like the Moby

is leaving the country in 10 days (Can you say "fling"?)

Gazing into each other's eyes

Gotta love a girl who enjoys
attending sporting events!

Lucky Lady #2: Edith

Pros:

has huge, beautiful eyes

still likes being swaddled (kinky!)

has similar taste in bouncy chairs

Cons:

lives with her parents

isn't cool with Finn wearing socks as mittens

I dunno, Edi. He doesn't look like he's that into you!

Dude! Finn, you're totally in with Edith's parents!

Finley's First "Steps" on America Soil

2011-05-21T18:09:00.001+09:00

No, we haven't returned to the States...yet. We simply took Finley to the US Embassy, which is technically considered American soil. The purpose for our trip was to apply for Finley's passport, Social Security Number, and official birth registration, just in case the "birthers" ever question his presidential candidacy. (And, yes, he can become president if he wants: see Title 8 of the US Code which clarifies the meaning of "natural born citizen"). Anyway, we've got to get Finley's passport in time for us to head back to the States at the end of June.

Finn behaved great, sleeping through most of the trip.
He wouldn't even wake up long enough to raise his right hand and swear that the information on his application was true, so we had to do it on his behalf. We weren't allowed to take our cameras in, naturally, so we didn't get many pictures, just this shot of me cheesing it up at the entrance:

Nice job with the umbrella, Austin

Afterwards, we decided to do a little sightseeing with Finn. Unfortunately, the weather wasn't so cooperative.

Statue of King Sejong

In front of Gyeongbokgung

We ended up in Insadong at our favorite Korean restaurant. Yum!

Yummy banchan!

Not sure who's cuter here

Getting Finley working on his chopstick skills early

Looks like someone else wants some gochujang!

Unfortunately, the gochujang (hot pepper paste) that Victoria put on her bibimbap came back to haunt us. Finley spent a few hours screaming that evening, we assume from the spicy food he got via Victoria. Lesson learned!

On the way home, Finley also got his first ride on the Seoul subway.

Still sleeping... whew!

Finley's birth story

2011-05-19T16:42:00.001+09:00

In the last four weeks I've found myself going back to moments of my labor and feeling such a mix of emotion: grateful, frustrated, euphoric, weak. Mostly I feel pretty happy about everything, especially when I think about the moment I met my awesome baby.

Sometimes things don't go according to plan, and that's just life. Finley's birth ended in a C-section, which was definitely not part of my plan, but it's an outcome that I'm happy with nevertheless.

My labor began at midnight on Friday night, April 22, 2011. My contractions were 4 to 10 minutes apart, but I was still able to get a little sleep in the wee hours of the morning. The next day was much the same, so I tried to relax, have lunch, go for a short walk with my mom to a park nearby, and talk to my baby. The contractions were more intense when I was walking, but less when I was laughing and distracted!

Finally, that night at about 2 a.m., my contractions got more regular (every 4 min. for more than an hour) and I took a cab to my midwife’s birthing center in Ansan, South Korea. It was an unforgettable ride. I breathed slowly and remained completely calm through the swerving, screeching-to-a-halt, crazy driving that characterizes cab rides in Korea.

My midwife told me that I was in active labor (5 cm dilated and 80% effaced). The next part of my labor – the more intense part – progressed through the night. I used a combination of deep breathing and self-hypnosis I learned in a “Hynobirthing” class I took earlier in the year.

Sounds super cheesy, huh? When I first heard the word "hypnobirth" I pictured a shrink dangling a watch saying, "You're getting very sleepy...," but honestly, some of the techniques really worked for me.

Laboring

I visualized myself in forests, on the beach, and riding waves as I had contractions, and the entire night passed as though it were just one hour. I was in my own world. I got mega-doses of adrenaline after each contraction that shook my entire body. I remember thinking it was pretty cool. I was able to laugh and joke through the end stage of labor ("transition") during the minutes between contractions. Labor reminded me of a really, really intense workout. You know the highs you get from working out? Multiply that by 20 and that's what it felt like for me. I dug it.

At 8 a.m. the next morning, April 24, Easter, I was “complete” (10 cm, 100 percent effaced, and the baby was at the +1 station). I was so ready to have my baby! But instead of having the urge to push, which normally characterizes this stage of labor, my contractions stalled. They slowed to 10 to 15 minutes apart and became less intense. It was as though someone had turned off a switch.

For 5 hours I tried to get things moving again – resting for an hour, dancing around the room, changing positions many times – but nothing changed. Maybe it was because I had already been in labor for more than 24 hours, maybe it was my baby's position, but I'll never really know why this happened.

So close but no cigar...

Frank breech presentation

If your labor stalls at this stage, you’re usually given oxytocic drugs (chemicals that increase contractions, such as Pitocin) and a time limit. But Rosa, my midwife, didn't want to do that because my baby was in the “frank” breech presentation. Rosa has a lot of experience delivering breech babies naturally and does not use oxytocic drugs for breech babies because of the distress it can cause to the baby.

(Natural breech delivery these days is very uncommon. In America, a study called the Term Breech Trial came out in the early 2000’s that found that C-section is a safer option for breech. This study is the basis for why most hospitals in the U.S. will not allow women to deliver naturally if their baby is breech.
   However, this study has been highly criticized. The OBGYN society in Canada has reversed its position and is encouraging OBs to learn the skills of breech delivery so they can offer them to women. Many other countries such as France and Sweden routinely do natural breech deliveries and the stats are comparable to the safety of C-section births.
   After a lot of research and consultation with several doctors, I made the decision to try to birth a breech baby naturally with an experienced midwife. To read more about breech, look here, here, and here.)

Rosa calmly explained the situation to me and left it to me and Austin to make the decision, for which I am forever grateful. Though it wasn’t really a yes or no decision at that point, her allowing us to state our decision gave me a sense of ownership over the decision to have surgery.

We already had the nearby hospital on call, so we got into Rosa’s car and drove there. We were very calm at this point, the baby was fine, and I was feeling excited to see my baby and hopeful that the surgery would go well. I was also very tired! The hospital was quite small and I was the first foreigner to deliver there. The doctors prepped me right away and I had the surgery in about 20 minutes from the moment we decided to transfer.

Unfortunately, I learned the hard way that I cannot get an epidural. This was definitely the worst part of the day for me. The doctor tried to place it three times unsuccessfully. I’m still not completely clear of the medical reasons for this, but what I understand is that the area in the vertebrae where the epidural block is usually placed is too hard on my spine due to an injury I sustained years ago. So I had general anesthetic. Maybe it was just my medication level, or maybe it was the general anesthetic, but for me the pain immediately following my C-section was much, much worse than the hours of natural labor.

Austin wasn't allowed in the operating room (typical for Korean hospitals), but he held Finley immediately afterward, and when I woke up -- a little less than an hour after surgery -- Austin was right there with me. He told me we had a son, and showed me Finley. The first thing I remember is seeing Finley’s dark hair and thinking that he was beautiful and perfect.

Seeing Finley for the first time

Rooming-in with the baby

I stayed in the Korean hospital for three days. It was like hospitals in the 1970s in the US, both in terms of some of the medical practices and attitudes about babies. The nursing staff wanted to take Finley and keep him in the nursery the whole time and formula feed him. (I refused and kept him with me). One nurse made me feel guilty for wanting to exclusively breastfeed him – she told me he would be too hungry. There was absolutely no education or training for me from the staff at the hospital.

On the other hand, the nurses were very kind to me (and very curious!). They gave me seaweed soup and rice – the traditional post-partum recovery diet in Korea – three times a day. They spoke slowly so I would understand (no one at the hospital spoke English). And get this: my bill for major surgery and a three-day stay was 700,000 won, about $650 USD.

Miyeok-guk (seaweed soup) & Korean hospital food

Finley's arm band, written in Korean

Coming home was very emotional. I felt so grateful and happy to be home but also emotional and frustrated with my post-op limitations. As of writing this, I'm finally feeling like things are finally starting to settle in, at four weeks post birth.

Overall, I feel incredibly happy with my son's birth, though I'm still reeling from the surprise of the whole event.

My doula, Lisa Fincaryk

I highly recommend Lisa Fincaryk's services as a doula. Not only is she an amazing doula, but she teaches childbirth classes, is a certified lactation consultant, also speaks Korean fluently. Her website, Birthing in Korea, is full of helpful information.

Finley with my midwife, Rosa

If you're interested in having a natural delivery in Korea, I also highly recommend Rosa (김옥진) and her birthing clinic, OK Birth, in Ansan (Korean, English).

Catching a Nap Together

2011-05-16T15:15:00.000+09:00

It's a Beautiful Day in the Neighborhood

2011-05-16T15:10:00.000+09:00

Ah, Nakseongdae Park... so beautiful!

Statue of General Kang Gam-chan (948-1031)

The Birth Announcement!

2011-05-14T15:19:00.004+09:00

This is our "official" birth announcement that our doula, Lisa Fincaryk, created for us as part of the amazing package of services she provided. For inspiration, Lisa drew from a painting and mobile that Victoria created to decorate Finley's crib area (which you can see on previous blogposts here and here.) Thanks, Lisa!

Feel free to print one off for the fridge!

For more about Lisa's services, see her website Birthing in Korea.

Week 3 of Parenthood

2011-05-14T13:41:00.002+09:00

Parenthood is going well for Victoria and me, and Finley's doing great... most of the time.

Happily sleeping

He's had a little eye infection, and we've had more than a few run-ins with explosive poos (including an in-bath poo followed immediately by an in-towel poo the moment we'd gotten him cleaned up), but all of that is pretty much to be expected with a newborn.

Victoria is doing well. The recovery from the C-section surgery is slow, but especially in the last few days, she's started to have less pain and more energy. And she's looking great, if I might say so msyelf.

At two weeks after the birth

Finley is a ravenous eater, and has put on a ton of weight since birth. We haven't had him weighed recently, but he's starting to fill out his lanky frame and is really rockin' the double chin!

Giving his Kansan cousins a little
competition in the "cheeks" category

At two and half weeks, he's already outgrown
(or never fit into) all of his newborn onsies!

Last Thursday evening, Victoria, Finley, and I hosted a little meet-n-greet for a few of my colleagues. It was Finley's first real social event. He slept through the whole thing but made enough sleepy gurgles and faces to keep the crowd oohing and ahhing.

The major only challenge so far is that Finley is a grunter. He grunts for hours on end in his sleep. The World Wide Web, the so-called "internet" (perhaps you've heard of it), tells us this is nothing serious. However, while little Finn can sleep through it, his concerned parents often cannot. Anyone got any advice for dealing with grunting babies?

Happy Mother's Day!

2011-05-08T20:02:00.001+09:00

To my amazing and beautiful wife, I wish you a very happy first Mother's Day. I admire your patience and strength, and Finley and I are both very thankful to have you be a part of our lives.

Finley, two weeks old for Mother's Day

Still not sure how any child of mine ended up so chunky!

So, folks, who do you think he looks like?

Best Mother's Day gift: a nap

Just think, by the next Mother's Day, Finley will actually be calling Victoria mama!

The Day the Music Died

2011-05-06T09:07:00.003+09:00

I recently had this humor article published in the SNU College English Program's newsletter. It is one of my favorite pieces of writing as it combines so many of the things I love: dripping sarcasm, wordplay, English teaching, and rock and roll. Hope you like it!

* * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * * *

The Day the Music Died

by Austin Kaufmann

The tragic deaths of rock and roll legends Buddy Holly, Richie Valens, and “The Big Bopper” J.P. Richadson moved singer-songwriter Don McLean to write his famous song “American Pie.” And while that fateful plane crash on that shivery February day dealt a blow to the rock and roll world, it wasn’t a fatal one. No, the vibrant movement that was late 1950s rock and roll was a rolling stone just gaining momentum.

The day to which I refer, the day music died, occurred not in our history, but in a hypothetical, dystopian universe, if you will. In this alternate reality the music really did die – in fact, it was systematically slaughtered. What, you ask, could so completely destroy rock and roll? Certainly not the death of a few stars. (The early, tragic death of rock stars has become almost a staple of the industry.) No, it took something much more devastating, more subversive than that.

Imagine then, if you will, the death of rock and roll – the day English teachers took their Red Editor’s Pens of Truth to the lyrics of every rock and roll song. That, my friends, was the day that music died.

Take, for example, the songs of one of America’s preeminent songwriters, Bob Dylan. Once hailed by many, including Alan Ginsburg, to be the greatest American poet of the late Twentieth century, Bob Dylan and his songs were quick to fall under the pens of our grammarians.

With complete disregard to Dylan's use of assonance, "Lay, Lady, Lay" was laid waste, for lack of an object to “lay” across that big brass bed. Likewise, not a single verse of his song “Don’t Think Twice” remained untouched, not even the opening lines: "It ain’t no use to sit and wonder why, babe / It don’t matter anyhow." The English teachers certainly didn’t think twice and quickly eliminated Bob’s nonstandard conjugation, incorrect usage, and subject-verb disagreement, churning out instead this grammatically error-free rendition: "There is not any use in sitting and wondering why, babe./ It does not matter anyway."

Now, the nonstandard language in Dylan's first verse might have caused our English teachers a little discomfort, but it paled in comparison to the horrors of the second verse: "It ain't no use in turning on your light, babe/ That light I never knowed." Seismologists in three continents actually captured aftershocks from the violent shudders that ran up the English teachers’ well-postured spines as they came to that final word.

Another Dylan song gave the editorial staff fits. “It Ain’t Me, Babe” was so full of problems, they hardly knowed… ahem… knew… where to start: "But it ain't me, babe,/ No, no, no, it ain't me, babe,/ It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe." It was clear that starting a sentence with the coordinating conjunction "but" would not do, that the "ain’t" had to go, and that a single "no" would suffice. Some argued for "It is not I," citing that the correct answer to the question "Who is it?" is not "It is me," but rather "It is I." Another faction called for "It is not me," on grounds that the verb demanded the accusative "me." All parties agreed that ending a sentence "a preposition with" was preposterous, and when all was said and done, the newly edited version of Dylan’s classic read: "However, it is not I, Babe./ No, it is not I for whom you are looking."

Sadly, Bob Dylan was not the only musician to have his handiwork butchered. Bands of the so-called British Invasion found themselves under attack. The editors had only to look at the names of some of them to find fault. The Fab Four quickly had their spelling mistake corrected to The Beetles. Likewise, Pete Townsend, Roger Daltrey, and company were informed that wh- question words don’t require articles, and even if they did, they would have to call themselves The Whom, depending on context. And although the Rolling Stones were commended for the grammatical correctness of their name, perhaps their biggest hit “(I Can’t Get No) Satisfaction” was heavily inked up.

The editors did, however, have some good news for Mick Jagger. It seems that due to his logic-defying “a double negative makes a positive” grammar mistake, he actually has been able to get that sought after satisfaction all along.

He just never knowed it.

By day, Austin Kaufmann is a full-time lecturer in the College English Program at Seoul National University; by night, he performs with his acoustic rock band, The Odds Against.

Children's Day in Korea

2011-05-05T23:16:00.003+09:00

May 5th is a national holiday in Korea: Children's Day!

The holiday was created in the early 1920s by children's author and storyteller Dr. Bang Chong-Hwan as a way of instilling in children a sense of national identity and pride.

Children are the future of our nation. Let’s show respect for children. Children who grow up with ridicule and contempt from others will become people who disrespect others, while children who grow up with respect from others will become people who respect others in turn. --Bang Chong-Hwan

Korean families typically celebrate Children's Day together by going on picnics or visiting museums, parks, or amusement parks. Thus, we decided we should get outside so Finley could celebrate his day!

Unfortunately, Finley slept through the whole outing!

Though only 11 days post-op, Victoria felt up for a short walk today, so we walked a block or two to a little outdoor cafe where many Korean families were out celebrating and enjoying the great weather.

Our first family outing

Goodbye Grandma Jan!

2011-05-03T19:40:00.000+09:00

Today Victoria's mother left to head back to the States. It was sad to see her go, but so, so wonderful to have had her here for as long as we did. Thank you, Jan.

Grandma's boy!

Three generations (and one BIG foot!)

NOOOO! Don't leave me, Grandma!

For the relatives in Ohio...

2011-05-02T22:46:00.002+09:00

Finley would like to give a little shout-out to Grandpa Lou and Great-Grandma Pearl: Thanks for the Cleveland Indians onesie!

There's my little Chief Wahoo!

And while we're at it, how about giving some props for those Cleveland Indians! Not only are they in the first place in their division, but they actually boast the best record of any team in either the American League or the National League! (When was the last time that happened?)

Actually, the Indians are one of the most popular MLB teams in Korea because of Indians right fielder Shin-Soo Choo, a Korean ball player, originally from Busan.

CHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Photo of the Day!

2011-05-01T21:50:00.000+09:00

Post-bath Photo Shoot!

2011-05-01T09:16:00.002+09:00

We couldn't resist posting a few more baby photos! Enjoy!

Worn out from the bath

Mmmm....hands....so yummy!

Wrapped in Nana's quilt

Thanks, Whitney, for the baby afghan

So precious

Moments before he latched on to my nose

Finley's First Bath!

2011-04-30T16:45:00.000+09:00

Grandma Jan helped us out today by showing us how to bathe our little guy, and some serious cuteness ensued:

Finn seemed to enjoy the warm water

Many thanks to Victoria's co-workers at ORDA for the baby bath tub!

Just chillin'

Getting out was a little colder!

Grandma's boy!

In other news, Finley's cord stump fell off this morning, cloth diapering is going well (really!), and Victoria got three consecutive hours of sleep at one point last night!

I Love Moby!

2011-04-29T15:02:00.000+09:00

No, I'm not talking about the electronica musician and DJ named Moby. Nor am I a particularly big fan of Herman Melville's famous novel or the 1960s psychedelic rock band Moby Grape.

I'm talking about my Moby Wrap, a wrap-around sling used for baby-wearing.

Finley loves the Moby because he stays close and warm, and it emulates the environment of the womb. He can sleep, gnaw on his fists, or simply look up at me for hours. (And for Finn, who was a breech baby, the head-up position is certainly nothing new.) Finally, because I can tell immediately when he needs a diaper change, he never has to sit long in a dirty diaper or get all fussy to let us know he needs a change.

Most of all, I love the Moby because it allows me to have both hands free to grade papers, blog, prepare dinner, do laundry, you name it. Usually, when Finn's sleeping, I keep his head tucked in, sideways, against my chest so he can breathe easily and hear my heartbeat. However, when he's awake (as in these pictures), I love pulling his head out so Finn can look up into my face.

For more on the Moby Wrap, check out the Moby Wrap website. For more on the benefits of babywearing, check out the Wikipedia article or pediatrician and author Dr. William Sears's website.

As I write, Finn is fast asleep on my chest.

Finley James: A Sleep Sequence

2011-04-29T10:43:00.000+09:00

Finley James Kaufmann

2011-04-26T14:43:00.000+09:00

We are proud to announce that we have a beautiful, healthy baby boy: Finley James Kaufmann.

Finley James

He was born Easter afternoon at 3:43 pm. He weighed 3.76 kgs (8lbs 4oz). He has lots of dark brown hair, nurses really well, and is as cute as can be.

Moments after the birth

Bonding with mom

Finley, pulling the classic Lou Solomon pose

Finley with Grandma Jan

Sleeping much better now. Phew!

More details of the birth story and pictures will follow.

The Quilt Arrived!

2011-04-20T14:56:00.001+09:00

So beautiful!

Just out of the box

Admiring the stitching

The crib area is complete. Well, almost...

Thank you, Lois (and everyone else who contributed with stitching).

Thank you also to Jan, Lou, Pearl, & company for the many, many packages of baby clothes, supplies, and HEGGY'S. (That's Heggy's Chocolates, not Huggies diapers, for all you non-Ohioans!)

Vic's Gonna Kill Me for This, But...

2011-04-19T14:36:00.000+09:00

Look who's HUGE in Korea now! (Part XVII)

[For the rest in the "I'm HUGE in Korea" series, click here.]

Two More Art Projects for Baby!

2011-04-18T19:53:00.000+09:00

In addition to the painting that Victoria made, two other artistic creations will soon be gracing our crib area.

The first is a baby quilt that my brother Lane helped to design and that my mother, Lois, pieced and quilted:

Mom, hard at work

All finished and in the mail, so I'm told.

The other project is a baby mobile Victoria made to hang over the crib:

The finished mobile

Paper from Insa-dong

Laying out the paper-covered disks

Mobile & painting together

A Weekend of Waiting, Walking, & Flowers

2011-04-17T16:01:00.003+09:00

We enjoyed the beautiful, sunny weather this weekend by going for long walks yesterday at the Cherry Blossom Festival in Yeouido and today around the Seoul National University campus.

[Click the various buttons to turn the captions on or off, or view larger images of the slideshow in Picasa online.]

Expecting...

2011-04-13T19:44:00.158+09:00

In an effort to decorate our crib area and to express some of our hopes and feelings of expectation for the coming of our first child, Victoria has been doing some painting.

The concept for the painting's images grew from a few ideas: knowing our little one would be born around the time of year that the cherry blossoms bloom in Seoul...

2011 being the Year of the Rabbit, and the Asian folk myth of the Moon Rabbit.

The painting's style has a few distinct influences. The adorable rabbit image comes from an illustration that Victoria's work colleague, Chan-Ho Yeo, created for one of the storybooks Victoria wrote and edited for ORDA Korea's World Fairy Tale Adventure series last year:

The idea of portraying an expectant couple was inspired by the paintings of Marc Chagall, whose exhibit we saw in February at the Seoul Museum of Art:

Then, it was time for her to begin sketching ideas for the tree...

and doing some color studies:

Finally, she began putting down the first few strokes of paint:

And now it's finished and hanging above the crib in our bedroom:

Now all we need is for the little one to arrive. Could be any day now!

Victoria's Big-Ass Belly Party (Don't You Call It a Baby Shower!)

2011-04-08T19:00:00.003+09:00

9 months pregnant (37 weeks)

2011-03-30T14:07:00.000+09:00

In two days, I will officially be full term. Like the soon-to-explode volcano in North Korea, Mt. Baekdu, I'll be ready to go at any time!

Boy or girl? When will it be born? I'll find out soon!

I'm predicting BOY, 7.7 lbs., at 39 weeks.

Yo! It's where to sleep!

2011-02-26T16:43:00.006+09:00

I've been hitting the baby books lately. I've never really been around babies, and small babies have always kind of scared the crap out of me, being so breakable and all. So I figured that before I, you know, have a small baby to take care of, I should study up!

Bump update: 32 weeks! 6 to 9 more weeks to go.
Single digits, people! Single digits!

The book I'm currently immersed in is called The Baby Book by Dr. William Sears. It's pretty good and has lots of practical advice for new parents. It's also a reference from birth through age 2, so I believe it will be one I come back to regularly.

There's a whole section on sleep and how to get your baby to do it.

But it's just sleep, right? No big deal, right? When a baby is hungry, it cries, then you feed it and put it down in a quiet nursery, and then it immediately settles back to sleep for a calm, quiet night, just like all those pictures of sleeping babies in magazines. Right? Ha!

I'm sure you might be able to hear me through the computer screen as I slap my palm against my forehead, because not only do babies sometimes not know how to soothe themselves to sleep, but there's all kinds of night squawking to be dealt with in taking care of a baby. There's also all this extra stuff you have to be aware of about sleep: for example, getting the right bedding and learning how to put an infant down.

This has been weighing on my mind a lot lately because we just bought a baby crib. I didn't know exactly how big it was going to be (bought on craigslist used), but it's pretty big. In some ways it seems weird to me, too, because lots of babies I've seen in the past few years don't sleep in cribs. They sleep either in bed with their parents or on the floor.

Say what?

That's right: on the floor. In our two years of living in Kyrgyzstan and our three years of living in Korea, we have become accustomed to the Asian practice of sleeping on the floor (we even did it for a while in Kyrgyzstan). Basically, everyone has a foldable mattress that they lay out on the floor, and everyone settles in for the night.

In Korea, it's called a "yo" set:

A Korean "yo" set.

When we first moved to Korea, I was all for having this type of bed because I love sitting and lounging on the floor, but alas, our apartment came with a regular old bed.

After the recent purchase of our crib, I've been asking my Korean friends for advice on where to buy bedding for the crib, and they have usually tell me that they use (or used) a baby "yo" set:

Baby "yo" set. No fear of rolling out of the bed!

Parents sleep in the same rooms with their babies here, traditionally, though they do not share a bed. Babies get their own sleeping area, in these comfy cozy little floor beds.

In Dr. Sears's book, and in one other baby books I've perused, the authors suggest that people in "traditional cultures" sleep in the same bed with their babies (what does "traditional cultures" mean, anyway, I mean, every culture has a tradition! the phrase bugs me! but anyway...) I don't think they take into account the floor sleeping.

Yes, parents sleep in the same bed, but actually...not really. It's just that the whole floor area becomes the bed! There's no risk of baby rolling off the bed that way, nor of rolling over on the tot.

We've opted for a crib. I guess I'll see how it goes! I'll post pictures soon of our little nest...

Bugaksan and Mandu!

2011-02-21T09:32:00.001+09:00

After a miserably cold January and early February, the weather has finally taken a warmer turn, so we decided to get out and enjoy it. We took a lovely, relaxing hike along the Seoul fortress wall, from Waryong Park in Seongbuk-dong to Changuimun gate in the charming neighborhood of Buam-dong.

Austin, Bala, Victoria, Brigitte, & Ian with Dobongsan in the distance.

Namsan Tower and Seoul in the background

[Vic notes] I had this secret misconception before I got pregnant (har, har, no pun intended), that pregnant people are kind of lazy. Isn't that HORRIBLE? It is, I know it. I guess I just saw a lot of women unable to walk up a single flight of stairs or walk from the back of the parking lot to a store (I think we still have handicapped parking for pregnant ladies in the States).

Anyhow, now I know that it really is tough to exercise while very pregnant -- I mean physically tough. Your circulation system is working something like 70 percent more blood through your system, your diaphragm is pushed up into your body so that getting a big breath is tough, and your uterus is contracting. Not to mention 25 extra pounds strapped to the front of your body like a bowling ball in a sling. It puts lot of pressure on the back and yadda yadda yadda -- suffice it to say, hiking really IS a helluva lot tougher these days. I'm doing my best to stay active, though, because I know the last month of pregnancy and labor will be much harder if I don't!

[Austin notes] From the sounds of it, you'd think she barely made it up the mountain. Don't be fooled -- she still hikes like a champ!

Bump Update: 31 weeks

After the hike we stopped in at one of our favorite restaurants in Seoul: Jaha Sonmandu. Sooooo good!

Kimchi mandu-guk!

[Vic notes] As a follow-up to my public transportation post a few weeks back, I had to note the awesome seats that some Seoul city buses now sport: pink preggo seats! How cool is that?

Pretty stinkin' cute, eh?

2011-02-10T00:01:00.001+09:00

Now, I haven't had any of these silk-screened yet -- I'm just playing around with ideas. Heck, I don't even know if my silk-screener can print on something as small as a onesie!

Anyway, whether "Li'l Ralphie" turns out to be a boy or a girl, you can be sure s/he'll be decked out in TOA gear from Day One!

For anyone who doesn't know, The Odds Against is the name of my band:

Feb. 11 | Cafe de Moim | Songdo

Feb. 12 | Club DGBD | Hongdae

Feb. 18 | The Park | Bucheon

Chagall Exhibit

2011-02-06T16:53:00.000+09:00

Yesterday we braved the crowds at the Seoul Museum of Art to see the largest touring collection of Marc Chagall's work to come to Asia.

Of course, we couldn't take photos of the art itself, but it was a terrific collection (spoiled only by the terrible voice acting of the readers on the audio tour).

Some of our favorite pieces included The Bird Chase, Over the Town, The Red Jew, The Blue House, and his entire collection of illustrations done for the Greek Myth of Daphnis and Chloe.

A Week in Phuket

2011-02-06T16:28:00.002+09:00

OK, I know this blog is about our adventures in Korea, but we thought we'd at least put up a photo or two of our vacation to Phuket, Thailand.

Don't even know what half of these are!

Raw ingredients for our Thai cooking class.

Sweet and sour prawn soup

Bump update: 28 weeks

Seriously, this is all we did for 6 days straight: sit on the beach and eat Thai food!

Snow!

2011-01-23T16:52:00.000+09:00

All this snow will just make our vacation to Thailand next week all the more fantastic. Yea!

On the way to the grocery store.

Bump Update: 27 weeks

More Gigs, More Music, More Fun!

2011-01-19T16:54:00.001+09:00

My band, The Odds Against, has been performing quite a bit in the past few months. In fact, we're now gigging practically every weekend that we're all around, sometimes twice! Last Friday's gig at Roofers in Itaewon was a blast from start to finish.

It was great to play in Seoul and have lots of friends show up!

Rob McManus was in fine form on the electric cello.

Zee Kang joined us on vocals and the fiddle for a few songs.

Rocking the 3-part harmonies on OCMS's "Wagon Wheel"

Every rock star's dream: beautiful women dancing in front of the stage!

After our set, Robbie (after a quick costume change) and the Mad Cannons roared through a set of their own.

The Mad Cannons: Robbie, Moon, & Stan (Simo, not pictured)

And after that it was drinks all around!

Zee, Robbie, Stan, & Simo

The Odds Against

Organic, natural food coloring

2011-01-10T13:48:00.005+09:00

Chocolate cupcakes with pink cactus icing and coconut sprinkles.

I love to bake, but getting ingredients is tough in Seoul because it requires a one-hour subway trip up to a crowded market. But a few weeks ago I found a baking store in my neck of the woods!

Yes, a baking store in Gangnam! With organic, natural food coloring (drool).

Their natural food coloring is made from berries, pumpkin, green tea, and even cactus! Beats Yellow #6, huh? That's the dye that's usually used to color food. Anyway, the cactus one was bright pink and I couldn't pass it up. The results are documented above.

Here's some interesting information I found online about the cactus:

Baeknyuncho (optia fiacus midia)

Baeknyuncho, a type of cactus, is shaped like a flat fan and is also called a "palm cactus." It is indigenous to Hallim-eup in northern Jeju. Violet fruits come out from November to March. The fruits and stems are usually used to make fresh juice or made into powder to mix with tea or drinks. The powder can also be sprinkled on yogurt or salad. Baeknyuncho is especially recommended for women as it is rich in dietary fiber and inorganic substances such as calcium and iron. Baeknyuncho powder is priced at about 30,000~40,000 won per kilogram.

To get to the baking shop, take exit 7 from Gangnam station, walk straight for a block or so, then take a right into the alley that runs parallel to the main drag. Walk along the alley until you see a shop called "Tea Purple." At that corner, take a right. Walk up the road just a few shops. The baking store is on the left, tucked away on the third floor above a restaurant called "steak-a-holic." It's called "The Bread Garden."

Crabby New Year!

2011-01-01T11:49:00.004+09:00

For the New Year, we did something we've wanted to do since we arrived in Korea -- eat king crab.

We went to the Norianjin seafood market with friends and ordered two HUGE buggers. They spanned half the length of the table and fed seven of us.

We also got oysters on the half shell, sashimi, and salt-grill snapper. Yum! I wanted to get pictures of those, too, but the crab arrived at the table at roughly the same time, and somehow I was too distracted by its deliciousness to get many pictures of the whole spread.

Ray with massive leg meat.

Gar!

Ian slurping down a raw oyster.

Aww...

Rob, or should I say "Bob"?

Nothing says a good meal like shells,
bones, and empty bottles.

Afterward, Austin and I came home and baked cupcakes. Here's to 2011!

Is this seat available?

2010-12-30T20:39:00.005+09:00

from the comic Safe Baby Pregnancy Tips

That's me in the "wrong" picture above. No, just kidding!

I do, however, take the train almost every day here in Seoul, and I ride the Line 2, which is notoriously crowded. Horrible, even. Foreigners and Koreans alike complain bitterly about this line, particularly if your commute takes you through through Gangnam, Gyeodae, and Sadang.

Now when I was living in DC, I used to actually think the subway there got crowded. Oh, how I look back at my pre-Asian-megacity transit days, and I shake my head in wonder at my naivete. "Crowded" in DC might mean someone touching you for part of the ride. Maybe two people. And as they bump you and move past you, they apologize! They might even smile at you.

In contrast, "crowded" in Seoul involves touching at least seven people, your chin being crushed into the shoulder of the dude in front of you, and being unable to answer the vibrating phone in your purse because your arms are pinned to your sides. And when the doors open, people actually spill out, like luggage tumbling out of an over-packed van.

Of course, there is reserved seating in each car for the pregnant, elderly, and disabled. But, frankly, when there are 40 people wedged into the 2 square meters between the door and those seats, it would be like the proverbial camel squeezing through the eye of a needle to make it there. If I'm able to get through the door without being body-slammed, I consider myself lucky.

This picture (from my brother and sister-in-law) shows the entrance to a subway station in the evening. Mind you, this is just to get into the station! Inside the cars it's worse.

Luckily, my boss acknowledges the problems of Line 2 for pregnant women (and anyone not in robust, physical shape) and allows me to come just after the rush (9:30 to 6:30, instead of 9:00 to 6:00), so it's not too bad.

Occasionally, when people spy my belly, they'll even stand and give up their seat for me, though not as often as one might hope. Interestingly, it's almost always older women, and almost never young men. Maybe because they've been there, done that.

New camera = endless fun with a pregnant belly

2010-12-26T14:57:00.001+09:00

A little experiment with our new camera, a Canon PowerShot S95.

Merry Christmas from Seoul!

2010-12-26T14:51:00.002+09:00

Bump update:

week 24 (6 months)

Said Goodbye... sniff, sniff...

2010-12-22T09:42:00.000+09:00

Lane & Mandi heading to the airport...

Thanksgiving Pics (Finally!)

2010-12-08T20:03:00.000+09:00

Since we didn't feel like going through the drama of ban-sawing our turkey in half just to fit it into our small oven like we did last year, we decided just to all chip in and buy a half-dozen rotisserie chickens for our Thanksgiving party. Much less work and still delicious!

Everyone dig in!

Rob making the mulled wine

Sadly, both of the group pictures turned out terribly blurry. Sorry.

Thanks again to everyone who brought dishes, drinks, and dinnerware!

Having a baby in Korea

2010-12-01T17:28:00.026+09:00

Well, the cat has been out of the bag for about two months now. We're expecting!

I'm at 20 weeks this week, the hallmark halfway point of pregnancy:

A few weeks ago I didn't so much look "with child" as "with sandwich." Or, as my Korean friend so delicately put it, "just a little fat." But now my stomach is growing and I'm actually starting to look pregnant.

Next Friday we'll go in for our big appointment when they do an ultrasound and measure the fetus and check out Li'l Ralphie's organs. No, Ralphie is not its name, it's just the term Austin ascribes to each and every child or small animal he comes across.

We've decided to wait to find out if it's a boy or a girl, which, for me, is MAJOR self-control. I mean, I read the end of books first!

When Austin sees me doing this, he looks down his nose, over his spectacles, and declares that by doing so, I am "breaking an implicit contract with the author."

So why wait? I'll be surprised either way, right? Well, right. But Austin is all about waiting for the surprise of it all. And there is something cool about learning that fact about your baby when you have it. There's so much mystery around it all historically that I feel like I'm adhering to an ancient tradition or something. Besides, I know I'm having a boy. How do I know it? I just do. I will see if I have to eat my words!

It's been interesting to hear Korean friends' takes on pregnancy and to learn of all the little funny traditions they have here about babies. Trust me, people don't hold back their opinions when you're pregnant! That holds true for whatever country someone is from, as far as I can tell.

Some of the ideas are just humorous.

For example, you have to avoid eating the skin when you eat chicken, or your child will be born with chicken skin. Ha! And if you crave potatoes or meat, you must be having a boy. If you crave fruits and vegetables, then the delicate little thing in your womb must be female. Gag, right? Along those lines, you should only eat the most attractive looking piece of fruit, so that, of course, your baby will be pretty.

Then there are the myths that are somewhat more incorrect and I choose to ignore.

For example, I've heard that women shouldn't read for three months after giving birth because their eyes and minds are too delicate for that. I've heard that women should sit at home and not exercise, lest their baby get injured by all the movement. As far as I can tell from the Korean friends I've talked with so far, pregnant women are supposed to sit on the couch for 9 months, with their feet up and a warm blanket wrapped around their stomachs. No thanks!

One statistic that makes me blanche a little is that hospitals here have an average 45 percent C-section rate -- some individually are higher than 50 percent. In the States it's 30 percent, I think, which some say is too high. Here, each stage of birthing has a set time limit, and if you go past it, doctors advance your labor with medicine or the knife. Husbands are often not allowed in the delivery rooms in general -- much less for a C-section. This is changing quickly in Korea, though, and two of my friends said that their husbands did accompany them for their births.

seaweed soup | miyeok guk (미역국)

Afterward, women often go to "recovery" hospitals following births. In what I've heard about them so far, these recovery centers seem like a type of monastic order for women, involving ungodly hot temperatures, bed rest, and seaweed soup four times a day. Husbands have restricted hours. At others, holding the baby is restricted, especially for the father. Yikes!

Obviously, I'm choosing the facts that frighten, not the ones that are positive. I'm sure many of the traditions of the "recovery" period here are wonderful and helpful for women to regain their energy. I'm sure some places are totally open to husbands staying by their wives' or gfs' sides all week. I do like the focus here on the mother's health rather than just patting her on the back and sending her out the door as they do in the States. And seaweed does have an awful lot of iron in it!

There are also a lot of options here. My doc's name is Dr. Chung, and he operates a birthing center called Medi Flower. Actually, my doctor is great for his hands-off approach, in my opinion. He told us that he is there as an observer to make sure nothing goes wrong. He said I'll do the work and have the baby, and I won't likely need medical intervention. He's super supportive of home birth and natural birth, and is, as far as I know, the only home birth Obstetrician in Korea.

I knew I was going to like working with him when, during a previous ultrasound, he said to me (about the fetus), "Actually, it looks a lot like an alien right now." Doc, you read my mind!

Anyone who knows me well knows that me and my alien-parasite theory about pregnancy goes waaay back. I told the doc that I imagined birthing a lot like that scene in the movie Alien when the alien rips through the chest of the dude. He laughed and then he was like, "Well, actually, that's what a C-section is like." Ha!

I've gained a little less than 10 pounds so far. Hiking is getting harder. I'm slower. Rocks are tougher to climb up. My balance is off. Time for ... more hiking! But on even terrain! ;-)

Playing, playing in the band.

2010-11-26T17:03:00.001+09:00

Last Friday night, The Odds Against had a gig at a sports bar in Bucheon called The Park. And thanks to one of my students, Hyeji Shin, who happens to be a photography major, we finally have some decent shots of us performing!

Robbie and I having fun on stage.

Austin Kaufmann

Robbie Kara

Rob McManus

Good face.

Better face.

Great face!

My favorite shot of the night.

Following our set, The Mad Cannons blasted through as set of their own.

Simo, Robbie, (Moon), & Stan of The Mad Cannons

(All photos by Hyeji Shin.)

My latest band project has been designing some promotional materials for the band:

T-shirts! (Available in time for Christmas. Order now!)

Concert posters to promote our gigs

Gwangalli Skyline

2010-11-10T23:38:00.001+09:00

Weekend in Busan

2010-11-10T23:36:00.004+09:00

Victoria and I took the KTX bullet train down to Busan for the weekend with my brother and sister-in-law, Lane and Mandi. This was our second trip to Korea's second-largest city.

The KTX website boasts of top speeds of 305 km/hr (190 mi/hr), which does not place it in the top tier category of speed trains worldwide, but for my American standards, it still seems pretty fast. I have to say, however, that the ride is so smooth, it hardly feels like you're moving at all.

When we left Seoul, it was gray and rainy, but the weather in Busan was warm, sunny, and absolutely beautiful. We scrapped some of our sight-seeing plans and just hung out on Gwangalli Beach.

Gwangalli Beach is probably best known for its yearly fireworks festival, when -- according to reports -- more than a million people flock to the beach and surrounding areas to catch the spectacle.

As we did in our last trip, we spent some time poking around the Jagalichi Fish Market marveling at some of the craziest creatures that human being will actually put in their mouths...intentionally!

In a previous blog post about seafood, I posted a link to a YouTube video of some very phallic sea creatures called "spoon worms." Well, on this trip, we found their yonic counterparts in the form of some mollusks:

Here was one mollusk who wasn't hanging around to be served for dinner:

She was making a break for freedom,
albeit a very slow break.

After the fish market and dinner, we walked around the neighborhood near Jagalchi Station. As headquarters for PIFF (Pusan International Film Festival), it's a fun area with several cinemas, good shopping, and loads of awesome street food. Our favorite of these delicacies was hoddeok (호떡), or sweet pancakes filled with a brown sugar and cinnamon filling.

Victoria waiting for her 호떡

For more about hoddeok, follow these links to watch them being made by a street vendor or to learn how to make them yourself.

The next day, we took the cable car up to Geumjeong Fortress and hiked along its walls:

The South Gate of Geumjeong Fortress

The recently reconstructed wall

Near the entrance to the park where we caught the cable car, there was more street food to be found. This vendor was selling a number of goodies including ginko nuts (far left) and bondaegi, or fried silkworm larvae (in the silver bowl and pan).

We passed on the bondaegi, as do most of the foreigners when offered the Bondaegi Challenge.

After two days of beautiful, sunny autumn weather in Busan, we were welcomed at the train station in Seoul with thunderstorms and rain. Sigh.

Halloween!

2010-11-03T22:56:00.010+09:00

For Halloween this year, Victoria, Lane, Mandi, and I headed down to What's David's? in Songdo for a fun night of costumes, music, and dancing.

The event was a blast! Hee-kyong, the manager, and the What's David's staff had the place decorated spook-tacularly, and there was pumpkin pie and candy galore!

Hee-kyong, rockin' the 'fro!

Though David's is, in the evenings, mainly a bar, there were tons of little kids there, all dressed up, because -- hey -- it was the only place in town that was celebrating Halloween. After all, it's not even remotely a part of Korean tradition.

They yelled "Encore!" after every song! BEST FANS EVER!

After a particularly energetic burst of dancing and jumping, one of two little Supermans (not the one pictured) ralphed up his candy. Thankfully, no photo of that.

Guess we got a little too loud for the little guy on the right!

The Odds Against opened up the show. Rob McManus wasn't able to join us for the show, unfortunately, but Robbie and I soldiered on without him:

After our set, Robbie and I joined the Songdo Social Club (some of us in costume) for another hour and a half of music:

So, when was the last time you heard an ensemble featuring electric
guitar, 5-stringed bass, mandolin, violin, and trombone?

Robbie, doing what he does best.

Simo, screaming through a solo

Here's a clip of the last few seconds of our final song, a Latin version of "House of the Rising Sun":

Then, it was time for costumes, drinks, dancing, and a good ol' fashioned dance-floor limbo contest:

Who you gonna call?

GHOSTBUSTERS!
I ain't afraid of no ghosts!

The loyal late-nighters who danced till 3:00 am.

At least if I fall, I'll land on my inflatable Proton Pack!

NOTE: Our camera has died, so all of these photos are courtesy of Lane & Mandi, and Lune Kim's and Suzanne Johnson's Facebook albums. Thanks, you guys!