Tidbits

Lower, right:
The Steeves family's biggest news this month: Eri, 5 1/2,  lost her first tooth. She refused to pull it and just let it fall out on its own, so she already has her first adult tooth in, too.

We put her baby tooth in this little cloth tooth holder, which sits on a battery-operated tea light so the tooth fairy can easily find it in the dark.

 It worked! Eri woke up to find $1 and 1,000 Won (about 91 cents) on her nightstand.




MERS:
As Korea tries to contain the Middle Eastern Respiratory Virus, I try not to freak out (or touch anything). Eri attends an international school off-base and it was closed for a week, though it was work as usual for me and my Korean co-workers. (Geoff and Leo stay on base.) It's still OK to ride the subway, though everyone is taking precautions.

This is my MERS mask. I am frowning beneath it.




Household goods:
After nearly seven months of anticipation, our household goods have arrived. I wish they had been lost at sea. We really need to downsize.

This is a picture of our kitchen waiting to be organized. I am frowning here, too.



Baseball Game:
We recently attended a Korean baseball game with Geoff's co-workers and their families. The games are a big deal here and a lot of fun. Very lively, to say the least. I can't remember the name of the team we root for, but we're huge fans, as evidenced by our Steeves 1, Steeves 2, Steeves 3 and Steeves 4 baseball jerseys.

We are numbered by age, not importance.




Father's Day:
Koreans celebrate "Parents' Day" in May, but on the U.S. Army base where we live, it was Father's Day just like in the states. Eri made her dad a photo-box pencil holder for his desk at work. Leo made a hand-print craft at preschool, where Geoff attended the "Donuts with Dad" breakfast with him.



Not going to his usual classroom in the morning really threw Leo off his game and he cried rather than eating donuts with his friends and their dads.




Ouch:
Although it looks like we're dressed to pick up trash along the highway, these are actually the spa clothes where Geoff and I recently got a couple's massage. This is a noteworthy cultural experience for two reasons: Before you get your massage, you soak your feet in a pool where little fish nibble the dead skin off (I didn't get a lot attention, though Geoff's feet were pretty much completely covered with fish. Anyway.) Secondly, massages in Korea are not a relaxing, tranquil experience, but rather meant to loosen and realign you, while testing your pain threshold (I think). A tiny, yet freakishly strong person kneads, twists, bends, and pounds, often using his own knees and elbows as leverage. Instead of listening to a CD of a babbling brook and birds chirping, you hear the sound of skin slapping and sometimes a sharp cry (probably mine). Geoff, however, thoroughly enjoyed "just the right amount of pressure."

This picture is five minutes before I know what is coming. And it's not good.