Little Dynamo and I were on a taxi from a friend’s house this evening. He was looking out of the taxi’s window.
Little Dynamo: Mommy, I see the moon.
Me: Wow, that’s good.
Little Dynamo: It’s moving.
Me: Really?
Little Dynamo: It’s moving fast.
Me: The moon is moving fast?
Little Dynamo: No, it’s not moving. The taxi is moving fast.
Me: (toink)
I first arrived here in Seoul three years ago. It was three years ago today, to be exact. I came over to live with my husband, who came in here on the first week of March of the same year. I left my work as an International Roaming Coordinator with Smart Communications, Inc. I also left law school and became as domesticated as I can be:-). I had been impressed with Seoul and its people. There were things I liked… but there were things I didn’t like. On my third year, it’s good to look at the good things which make life here as an expat family a worthwhile experience.
GARBAGE DISPOSAL. Everything is meticulously segregated. I was in awe when I first came over with South Koreans’ discipline when it comes to waste segregation. A Czech woman, another expat wife, remarked that they also have waste segregation in her country but it’s nothing like here in Seoul. Discipline!
BRING YOUR OWN GROCERY BAG. If you don’t, you pay for the plastic bag. Not bad, at all. If one is serious about recycling, start with grocery bags. I remember doing my grocery in big supermarkets in the Philippines. There are several sizes of plastic bags. Laundry soaps are put in a separate plastic bag. Processed meats on another plastic bag. Then you put all these in one big plastic bag. Baggers also do not fill up the plastic bags. Soft breads are in one plastic, canned goods in another and so on… Imagine how many plastic bags you can accumulate! I also remember SM making an effort to go GREEN. They have this green plastic bag which I readily purchased thinking that I wouldn’t have to get numerous plastic bags of varying sizes. Wrong! The bagger insisted that the items will be put in a plastic bag and only then can I put it in the green bag designed to help the environment. LOL.
TRANSPORTATION. My son loves to ride the bus. He fidgets in the subway while sitting in his stroller only because he can’t move around. But, transportation here is safe and clean! I have only taken my son on a taxi ride in Manila once or twice. I don’t go around on a public transportation with him in Manila. Seoul is different. Hubby doesn’t yet see the necessity of having our own car. So far, we don’t mind. Well, I do mind during grocery-shopping but that’s another story. We can survive without a car… so far (hubby?). Little Dynamo’s idea of transportation for his Dad when here in Seoul: Daddy rides the bus and the airplane (in reference to hubby’s frequent business trips); in Manila: Daddy drives a big car (Mitsubishi Pajero).
VALUE FOR EDUCATION. Well, depending on which side you take, this could either be positive or negative. On the moderate side, I do appreciate Koreans’ obsession for education for their kids. They strive for global competitiveness… and their determination, and how, is not unknown. Regardless of all the bashing Koreans receive when it comes to English education, I have no doubt in my mind that students who are in the elementary level these days would grow up to be better English speakers than their Asian teachers (yes, better than Filipinos). They have the resources and they have mothers obsessed with making their children competitve (nothing wrong with that). The bashing that Koreans receive today refer to those in their twentys who take and retake these English proficiency tests until they get satisfied with their scores. But, I firmly believe, the younger Koreans will have a different story to tell. This early, elementary English learners have good diction.
NATIONALISM. Again, this could be positive or negative. But taking the moderate side again, Koreans’ sense of nationalism is what makes their determination to succeed in anything they put their sight on a collective effort. Take a look during baseball season… criticize Korea’s baseball players in Korea. Ughh! Worse, admire Japan’s baseball players over Korea’s players. Unthinkable! Say something unpleasant about anything Korean…
FREE DELIVERY. Whenever I do my grocery in the neighborhood supermarket, I don’t worry about the heavy load. Delivery is free and prompt. Sometimes, I prefer to do my grocery shopping just around the neighborhood for this reason. However, big supermarkets have more freebies:-)
CUSTOMER SERVICE. I once wrote about my pleasant customer service experience in a post office here in Mapo. I could find nothing to complain about the service in the Immigration Center in Mokdong, either. It’s a happy and satisfactory experience.
INTERNET SERVICE. Well, what can I say? I am online almost 24 hours a day. Internet service is fast. We are with Powercom because hubby works for LG:-). Korea happens to top the household internet users among the OECD countries.
FACILITIES FOR CHILDREN. This is a very child-friendly society. Playgrounds are everywhere. My son loves the outdoors. He feels so free! I love watching him run and laugh and jump. Parks are numerous… and free. Now, why would I want to bring my son to a mall?
CONCERN/ATTENTION FOR BABIES AND TODDLERS. This is one society which has a genuine affection for babies and toddlers. Go out with your baby and you’ll know why. The attention makes you appreciate the people around as well. It could be intrusive sometimes, especially when the baby is sleeping, but generally one gets the feeling that the attention is almost always well-meaning.
FACILITIES FOR NURSING MOMS. I am a breastfeeding advocate. I just so love the malls with nursing stations. The facility is clean, too. With another baby coming up, a trip to the mall wouldn’t be such a bother.
FASHION. I love dressing up. But I could only look with envy at the stylish Korean ladies. My friend (another mommy) and I would laugh at ourselves. We are the ajummas in a place where ladies would daily strut their nicely-assembled wardrobe. We live in a multiplex where some units are offices. The buildings in the area also house offices. Spring is a glorious season to dress up so the ajumma in me will just wacth again with envy… and then my belly will grow big and bigger and bigger…
FRIENDS. If Cristin (my Korean friend’s English name) is to represent how Koreans are as friends, I would want them to be bestfriends for life. She always has a willingness to help and make my life easier. I have to say I get to enjoy my life here because she has made so many things comfortable. So there! Not bad for our three years of existence here in Seoul:-)
When I went out of the bathroom, I immediately looked for my son. I can’t find him but I heard some singing. Realizing that he was behind the curtains, I immediately took this video…
(video taken two weeks ago)
It’s going to be May. Mother’s Day is coming up!
What would moms love to receive? Another bag wouldn’t be such a bad idea:-). Hubby doesn’t have to go around and make himself tired looking for the perfect gift. I’m giving him a clue. LOL. Check this out for some gift ideas.
Little Dynamo is now enjoying his Christmas gift from us. He enjoyed the Sunday afternoon driving his motorbike.
If you’re a stay-at-home mom with a toddler and without a live-in helper, a “ME” time is almost impossible. And my husband had been away on a business trip for the last five days. With hubby around, ideal day would start with him going to the gym first. I follow after. Without him, the only “ME” time that I claim, which is my gym time, is a game between me and my son. I coud go on some days. I couldn’t on other days. It depends on my son’s “availability”.
This week, we had been to the gym only once. Today seem impossible. He looks so tired from running this morning, before the drizzle. His nap time might extend. But, who knows, I could still cajole him after dinner later?:-)
I am so looking forward to tomorrow. Every Saturday, somebody comes over to clean the house and/or take care of my Little Dynamo. My muscles long for my “ME” time! No exaggeration here, I actually dreamed about my exercises:-(. Anyway, hubby will be back tomorrow night. We’ll start Sunday with our family time again… in the gym.
The past days had been very active days for me and my son. His twice a week school made us busy… entertaining and being with his friends/classmates.
In his class of four, the boys have a good opportunity to bond. The mommies did not lose time to bond aswell. One mommy started by inviting us to her house. The toddlers had a good time playing while we chatted. The other mommies actually voiced out their concerns about the program in Kinder Schule. My inexperience with these programs did not make me contribute to their concerns. Well, as long as my son is enjoying, I have no problem. I am either naive or just easy to please. Anyway, I have no experience to compare it with.
Of course, the boys were invited to our place, too. They had a good time in the playroom. I had to convince the other mommies that the restaurant in the second floor of our apartment building is very accommodating to kids (charge to experience) because they were worried about the rowdiness of our boys. But the boys were too exhausted and hungry to make noise in the restaurant during dinner. We had to cramp in my house after dinner for more together-time but the boys did not seem to mind the limited space. Four boys had each a car or a motorbike to ride on in my small living room.
Without my husband this week, we went home again today at 7:30pm. No dinner in the house. Dinner was taken cared of in another boy’s house:-) How I wish they will remain to be classmates for more bonding time. But this will not be the case. We will only have until next week. Starting May, my son will join the day class (10 - 12am) of Kinder Schule because the other mommies opted to ask for a refund for the remaining months. Some issues of discontentment (sigh).
The day class would definitely be better for my toddler. More kids, more socialization. But he might miss his new-found friends:-(.
There was a time a few years ago when hubby and I would go to the province to learn how to shoot. It was important, they say to learn to shoot… for self-defense. The only gun I ever learned to carry and fire is a 9mm beretta.
There was a cnn report that caught my attention. It is about a boy who accidentally shot himself on the head after he found his parents’ forgotten gun in a closet. While owning and actually learning how to shoot a gun is good for self-defense, I am now having doubts with regards to its safety. As parents, we could not be with our children 24 hours a day to ensure their safety or guard their curiosity. It may take a lot of safety education for the minors to understand the importance and implication of playing with a gun but is the effort enough to make sure that they won’t play with it and hurt themselves in the process?
I have to admit I am a regular visitor in the Philippine Entertainment Portal (PEP) website. Ironically, I knew about this website in 2007 from a Korean friend who had her own share of exposure in Philippines show business. The site gives me a good laugh… and a good source for something to talk about whenever I go home to the Philippines.
Among all the personalities featured in PEP (and in any Philippine television shows) nothing and no one can compare to the callousness, in words and in deeds, of Annabel Rama. Just to hear her talk makes one want to cringe and hide behind the thickest blanket. She had always had a bad mouth (I remember her in a tv show, years ago, vocally expressing her disappointment over Ruffa Gutierrez’s choice of men because it will affect her commission as manager) but the latest controversy hounding her son (and another one with a GMA executive) tops all the other controversies. She has the most imaginative mind (conspiracy theory against her “no. 1 na artisa son”) and the foulest mouth.
One could only wish for her to stop acting above every law and everyone else. She has the most “palengkera” way of distorting things to suit her purpose. Many people would like her to stop and disappear from the media, most especially the television. But knowing how suckers we all are with the latest and the most controversial, she remains to amuse.
Our family of three went to the OB clinic (Shin and Hong) yesterday in Goengdeok. We were excited to know the gestational age of our new baby playmate.
We have a six-week old healthy, developing playmate inside my tummy!
© 2010 - My Rocking Cradle is proudly powered by WordPress
what you say