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Friday, September 16

Almost home

Our Korean journey continues with our first bullet train ride. The ride was great and the Korean country side beautiful. However, getting 6 pieces of luggage , 4 carry ons, a car seat, a stroller and a very cranky two year old off in three minuets was another story. Thanks to some good ol fashion thompson team work we made it with everything & everyone.
Now we are looking at a 15 night stay in a hotel. After that we will say hello to our new home. Oh the beauty that is military housing. It is nothing fancy but it beats living in a hotel room!

Day one in daegu was spent walking all over. This post is so tiny I not only ran into one of the only three people I know here but also ran into Stephen. Totally different from Benning but I really do think we will like it here.

The first week here was filled with army mumbo jumbo .. aka a lot if hurry up and waiting, mindless briefings where someone reads word for word from a slide. ( I hate when ppl do this btw) Then some more waiting..

Our second weekend was spent exploring what is downtown daegu. I think i died and went to shopping heaven!! Store after store of very cool very corky stuff. These Koreans have a style all their own. Its a bedazzlers heaven ...even their appliances have flare!! I mean I have always wanted a pink sparkly refrigerator... But who would have guess they really exist!!!

We have indulged in the korean food. Stephen is in heaven ... I am still Leary. Case In point..I was so excited to eat what I though was a chicken skewer. These things looked amazing and smelled even better. Bless the man who spoke just enough English to warn me those were chicken hearts. Ugh!!

Oh and I bet you didn't know our sweet Sophia is a star? Well no, but it sure feels that way. The koreans love here and she loves the attention and occasional free gift lol .

Lastly, Stella is doing wonderfully at a whopping 6 oz. We met our doctor who speaks absolutely no english but seems nice :) we have a very nice translator who at times I feel I need a translator to understand lol. Oh the joys of an overseas birth. Honestly , we were very impressed and I am feeling a lot better about this whole baby in Korea thing :)

Hope that catches you all up!

Lots of love !
The Thompson fan

Ps this was written on my I phone which has a mind of it's own. That said ..I Blane all mistakes on the I phone also that's why the pics are so random.

Sunday, September 11

Hello Korea!

In the past few months I have tried hard to imagine what to expect when we touched down in Korea. I had images in my mind but man it is NOTHING like I ever thought it would be.

Much cleaner, much more metropolitan  and so beautiful. The colors at night , the green trees and mountains during the day. Seoul is absolutely beautiful. We really do like it here. The Koreans are very friendly and LOVE Sophia... Sometimes to a point of freaking the poor girl out lol. 

Our flight was long. Made longer by a 2 hour delay on the tarmac. Sophia had her moments. There were a couple times I contimplated jumping from the plan;) After 27 hours of straight travel we touched down in Seoul. We hit a few speed bumps trying to get max out of customs but after a few phone calls we were able to have him the next day:) 

Our Hotel is pretty nice and in a great location for us to walk or take cabs just about everywhere. 

I am lucky enough to have a friend here so on Thursday we went to the Aquarium and Sophia LOVED it!! We also ventured out on our own the other night and found a Korea restaurant . No one spoke English but we were able to figure out what to eat and everything was delicious. That right there gives me hope ;)

We are staying here in Seoul until Stephen is finished in Processing into his unit. Once that is over we will head down to Dague where we hopefully have a on post house (aka tinie tiny apartment)  waiting for us. Fingers crossed.

We are all doing well and really enjoying our time here so far. People are friendly and the weather has been great! Now if we could just shake this darn jet lag ...

Here are just a few pictures from our trip :)

Six pieces of luggage, four carry on's, a stroller, a toddler and a car seat= A lot of work !!

I thought I would share a happier moment from the flight ...

Fun at the aquarium

This is some kind of beef bulgogi .. It looks gross but it was sooo yummy!!
Much Love !
The Thompson fam!

Tuesday, September 6

Last post from the States

Moving is never easy. Lets faces it stinks! Moving across the world stinks even more. The hassles that come with it are pretty much unimaginable. That is until they hit you square between the eyes, seeming to come out of no where.Thus, leaving you to scramble for solutions as fast as possible.

Then there is the saying goodbyes.I know I just have to get use to this part of the Military life but it is never easy. We were able to say good bye to our family a few weeks ago and as always that is NEVER easy but went fairly well I would say. If you ask Stephen he may tell you differently, considering when we left my mom's house Sophia and I were crying until what seemed like we hit Kansas City. LOL!

Saying good bye to friends is a whole different ball game. You just never know if you will ever see them again. You hope you will. With the military crisscrossing us all around the world there is always that chance but it's still sad. We were blessed with a few very close and amazing friends in the time we spent at Benning and saying good bye made me realize just how much I will always cherish their kindness and friendship. It also left me wondering how will we ever find friends like these a world away?!

Hands down the hardest aspect of this move has been watching Sophia try to figure it all out. I have been trying to prepare her but lets face it preparing a 2 year old isn't very easy. I knew it had been bugging her a little but it wasn't until last night just how much. It broke my heart , after crying for a good half hour my sweet little girl said "mommy I sad"  I asked her why and she said she wanted her house, her daddy's car and then continued naming off friends and family. Talk about heart wrenching. I know this will all get easier as time goes on but man that stung. She is just looking for something familiar in this crazy nomad life we have lived this entire month.  

I remember my mom once telling me (at a time in my life when I was hurting) that she could feel my pain and was hurting for me. I know now exactly how she must have felt. 

My goal is to make our time in Seoul all about sweet Sophia. She deserves it! I am praying we only stay a few days and  then can get to Daegu and find a place we can call home. Once our stuff is finally delivered I know our little munchkin will bounce right back into a routine. 

As for Stephen and I think we are still a little numb to the fact we are moving a world away. I mean here it is 3:15 am the morning we are leaving and it still hasn't sunk in fully. It won't be until the ripe smell of Kimchi hits me in the face will I believe it :) 

With all that being said, I wouldn't change this for anything in the world. The struggles will make us stronger and bring us closer. The adventure we are about to embark on is once in a lifetime. 

The best part about this whole situation is we will be together and really when it comes down to it that is all that matters. 

Hopefully next blog will be filled with pictures from our adventures getting to Korea:)  

Much love,
The Thompson Fam :) 

Saturday, September 3

Busy is an understatement!

To say the last month has been a blur doesn't even explain our life! Since the beginning of August we have said goodbye to all of our things until we see them again in Korea (hopefully by October.)  We have made the cross country journey to Iowa and Kansas and then back to Alabama again. We have spent a week in a cabin in the woods (literally a cabin in the woods) with no Internet or phone service. Talk about feeling secluded. Now we are happy to be back in the 21st century staying at a friends until we head to Atlanta on Monday.


We also had found out some exciting news this week... Our sweet little peanut is a GIRL ..Stella Grace:) We couldn't be happier.. I really thought it was a boy only because this pregnancy was SO different from what I experienced with Sophia.Now that we know she is a girl..  I went ahead an purchased her first bow today and my bow lady has agreed to ship all the way to Korea .. YAY!!

Here are some pictures from the last month.. Until next time.. Much love from the Thompson fam;)

Last night with the fam

Aunt Amy gave Sophia her first real hair cut!!

Our Cabin in the woods

This really has no relevance to anything but .. isn't she just so cute!
Next time you read this blog the Thompson family will officially be in Korea :) Wish us luck and please keep us in your prayers!!