Home, Safe but Sick

Posted on September 10, 2010 by jeannie

Dad's plans for raising a bass player seem to be going well. Obsession with stringed instruments - check.

I saw my friend Sierra yesterday who’s been staying in a hotel for the last couple days (after a terrific vacation) because their house is getting sprayed.
I said, “Looks like you had a great vacation!”
She replied, “Except, since we’re in still in a hotel, so this still feels like part of the vacation, and this part is not so good.”
My sentiments exactly.
Christian and I are home from Korea.
But the morning we left my little niece Leela was admitted to the hospital for a touch of pneumonia and bronchitis, not to mention some blocked air sacs in each of her tiny 3-month old lungs. The hospital visit was sudden and last minute, and since it resulted in the baby being hospitalized, in the end I never even got to say good-bye to Sue or Leela.

The baby’s better now and will be likely be released this weekend.
Unfortunately, her on-again-off-again fever and coughing our last week in Korea colored our visit with a more than a little bit of worry.
And now, we’re home, but it feels irrelevant to post about the art I saw, when I’ve been worried about Leela. That and the fact that Christian’s been ill too.

Several nights before we left Seoul, Christian ran a fever of about 100 degrees. He was mostly better during the day and the morning we left, the fever was gone, although he was still on the fragile side. But then as we waited for the bus to take us to the airport he started to develop a rash on his face. During the flight they spread all over his body, but had already subsided when we landed.

I hoped that was the worst of it.

Now the rash is gone, but Christian’s woken with a hacking cough. The poor dude is sleeping now, but it doesn’t look like much a 40th birthday celebration for his dad tomorrow – just a weak smile and a feverish hug.

Like I said, this vacation has had a ragged ending. Doesn’t feel over yet either.

P.S. Pic above was from yesterday – Chad’s bro just passed us one of his electric guitars, and we’re getting Chad an acoustic for his birthday.

Posted in Christian Holden | 2 Comments

Developing versus Developed

Posted on September 4, 2010 by jeannie

I asked my brother whether Korea was considered a first or second world country, because, frankly, I could be in NYC except that everything is in Korean.

This is the view from my parents window. Christian stands at the window and loves to watch all the buses pull in and out of the terminal.


He thought first –
but then made it clear that talking about countries as first, second, or third world countries, is no longer pc. Countries are either “developed” or “developing.”

Christian asleep in the guest room. Considering getting rid of our own bed at home and getting sleeping mats that can be put away during the day, old-fashioned Korean-style.


As a rule of thumb, countries where we send Peace Corps volunteers are still developing. The US no longer sends Peace Corps volunteers to Korea, in fact, Korea has its own Peace Corps-style organization to assist other developing countries.

My mom with Christian (don't worry Chad, that ledge is very wide). The Xii apartments, where we're staying, are in the background.


Heck, I consider a country where an espresso costs me $4 and small fresh-squeezed orange juice costs me another $8 in a stylish cafe where I am the only one not in designer heels – as definitely “developed.”

Watermelons at Kim's Club - think of a regular grocery store, but the size of Costco. Here, even something as familiar as watermelons look different to me.


The subway system is one of the most extensive I’ve ever seen. And you can get almost anything you want in the grocery store, except for good cheese.

Signage is big here. I took this picture my first day here, but have since recognized that is a common sight.

Posted in korea | 4 Comments

Rooms of Naked Korean Women

Posted on August 26, 2010 by jeannie

I feel very clean. Very very clean.
Christian and I visited the bath house for the second time yesterday and I do believe that my father was right; all that soaking in warm water helped us sleep well and transition out of jetlag (that, and the fact that it is now my 4th day here).

A Korean bath house is such a cultural peephole, but one I think is not experienced as often as it should because you do really need to get naked to hang with the locals.
But there is no reason to be self-conscious, because NOBODY ELSE IS. There are elderly bent women with sagging wrinkles slowly making their way across the tile; and mothers with full breasts and bellies with babe in arms; and chopstick-thin teenagers – everybody is just there naked and in the business of getting themselves clean.

It is downright fascinating to see so many naked females at once. It’s been a while, and I think it’s healthy for both me and Christian to see something besides crowds of scantily-clad hipsters at a SoCal beach.

Some things I’ve noticed, women here
do not have tan lines – they avoid the sun altogether (to preserve their skin)
do not have piercings or tattoos (THAT makes me self-conscious)
do not wax either – everybody is au natural
are rarely overweight
have friggin’ amazing skin all over their bodies.

This would seem to make for a narrow range of uniform bodies, but there is SO MUCH DIVERSITY – it’s wild, like people watching from a sidewalk cafe, but even more interesting.
Tell you what though, my body holds up just fine in comparison. No wonder Chad doesn’t mind my sunspots ; )

I emphasize clean to emphasize the matter-of-fact, down-to-earth feeling that permeates every bath house I’ve ever been to (only 4 – but in three different countries) In Korea, bath houses or mogyuktang abound.

P.S. I posted about a bath house in LA on June 7, 2008; the post is titled Squeaky McClean – I’ll post a link when I figure out what all the Korean says when I right-click on my dad’s computer.
P.P.S. Sorry, no pics for this post either.

Posted in health, korea | 1 Comment

This Hurricane That I Call My Life

Posted on August 24, 2010 by jeannie

So, Christian and I are now in Korea.
How did that happen you might ask? It was some combination of family reunion and an offer to pay for my travel expenses and suddenly we are here in the heart of Seoul.
I am nothing if not a travel opportunist. Okay, an opportunist, slum and simple.
In any case, my sister and her family arrive a week from Friday, just in time for the Cho family reunion dinner (my mother is one of ten children, and even not counting the two uncles lost in war, and three siblings who immigrated abroad, that leaves a lot of relatives to dine with here in the city). My brother arrives in one week.
I look forward to sharing my parents with them, because it only took an hour before my parents had collectively decided that I needed to see a dermatologist to “take care of my face.”
Strangely the burden of my parents’ vanity seems to have passed to my shoulders only. They never seem to pay much attention to the skin quality or weight of my siblings. On the upside, I always go home determined to be that much kinder to my own kid. My parents, of course, both look terrific, despite their lamenting of weight gain.
Honestly, they mourn the passing of my youth more than I do. They don’t believe that I wear sunblock everyday – I mean, COME ON! I’ve lived in southern California for almost 20 years now. There is really no getting away from the sun, especially if you love the outdoors like I do.
It’s okay. My parents were happy to see me and I don’t mind the growing number of sunspots on my face like they do.
Christian is asleep and my parents just left for a round of golf. It’s been drizzling off and on all day, but I suppose they know best whether they’ll be able to play.
Korea is…
well, very comfortable so far.
The hospital (where my dad’s been teaching for the last year) put them up in an apartment complex within walking distance of the hospital, south of the Han River. It’s an upscale new city neighborhood, but not flashy so much.
This apartment complex, Xi, houses some insane number of families in 40+ high rises. (3,400 families) Stone’s throw from the entrance to my parent’s building, you can eat pho, do hot yoga, grocery shop and pay all your bills. It’s more like a town – the apartment buildings are built around the school buildings: one elementary, one middle, and one high school.
When Christian wakes up, we’ll venture out on our own for the first time – to the spa. It’s the sports complex and living here entitles you to two visits a day. Besides the gym with fitness machine galore (including those vibrating waist bands and inversion machines), there is a bath house with huge bathtubs (hottubs really) of various temps and fluids. One is green tea and 38 degrees Celsius. There are wet saunas and hot saunas, and even shallow whirlpools where you can lay down and have the jets pummel your body.
I can’t wait. I think the soaking will do me good. It’s only our second day here and we’re at the stage of jet-lag when it’s still painful to wake up, no matter how much we’ve slept.

Posted in family, travel | 4 Comments

Camping in Big Bear with Kidlets

Posted on August 11, 2010 by jeannie

Big Bear was our third camping trip in three weeks – which was pretty ambitious for camping with a 2-month old, but somehow worked out with the help of a supportive Ganma and Gampy.

The youngest in our group, Lili, was well-adjusted to being in the great outdoors.


We camped at Serrano Campground in Fawnskin, which is just across the lake from Big Bear. The campground itself is pleasant with lots of shade from the pine forest, but it is important to get a good site, because some sites were very exposed.

Leela is so expressive!


Our site was on the very sunny side, so we spent most of our day across the road at Sweet Meadow, which was free with an adventure pass. There were lakeside picnic tables and BBQ grills, flush bathrooms, water, and plenty of shade in this day-use park.

Asleep in Grampy's arms (who says he's not that good at baby-holding - whatever that means).


At Serrano, in general, the sites on the outside of the Lake View loop are better than the ones inside. Almost all of the Evening Star loop is in the shade. Double campsites are popular at this campground. Sites 116, 117, 118, 119, 101, 95, 83, 88, 89, 91, 94, 71, or 72 would be ideal, especially if you wanted to stay a week. We highlighted the good sites on a campground map if you want to borrow it from me.

We spent both afternoons splashing and swimming in the lake.


Besides the requisite lake time (water was great!), we also enjoyed the zoo, which is mostly rehabilitated mountain animals, and then stopping to eat yummy reubens at a local deli (I want to say it was called Grizzly Bear Deli??)

Christian and Noi naa had fun digging, digging, and getting very very dirty. Here, they are in their "foxhole."


Serrano Campground is a good choice for Big Bear camping if you want to be walking distance of the lake. And it was less than two hours from Laguna Niguel.
P.S. Bathrooms were flush and well-tended, but the showers were what my b-i-l called “cruel” – you had to push a button continuously for a terrible spray of water. Luckily, I only bothered once. Better to bring a swim suit and take regular dips in the lake.

P.P.S. Joss’s photos of the same trip





Posted in babies, camping | 3 Comments

The Prize

Posted on August 6, 2010 by jeannie

You’ll want to buy some extra raffle tickets to try and win this hand-crafted beauty at tomorrow’s World Breastfeeding Week Picnic and Fundraiser.

Made by Adam Malnove (this is the one Adam made for Christian - he made another for the raffle tomorrow)

Posted in gifts, La Leche League | 3 Comments

Letter to Christian at 2 years 2 months

Posted on July 29, 2010 by jeannie

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZcEC-iPJ6tA]

Dearest Christian,

While there are aspects of independence-seeking toddlerhood that drive me nuts (practicing your ability to say, I don’t want to go pee, when you clearly need to go – and then throwing a tantrum when I pull off your pants and spraying me with pee…), I have to say that I think this imaginative free play era that you are entering may be my favorite age of all.

You are picking up people and and animals, or even more delightfully, pinecones and rocks, and entering into a focused playtime, wherein said pinecones and rocks go for rides on tractors and explore muddy caves.

Bundled up for sand play at Point Mugu.


Did I mention mud? You are developing quite the reputation as the mud-seeker where ever we go, and even if we don’t go anywhere at all. Although you love our neighbor Riley’s sandbox (and climb up there every chance you get) you have also discovered a shady, muddy patch under our porch. And thrill-of-thrills, Riley likes it there too and brings his gigantic tonka dumptruck, his plastic backhoe, and battalion of miniature matchbox tractors and construction vehicles, to play. Basically when you wake up in the morning, you are chomping at the bit to run down the stairs and plop yourself down in the dirt to pretend and play. By yourself or otherwise.

When an old friend remarked, Boy, Christian sure loves mud! I replied, Don’t all kids?
She reminded me, Not Bella! Have you forgotten that she didn’t like to get dirty?

True enough. Bella didn’t like dirt and she still does not like loud noises. A bit dainty that one – even with all the time she’s spent camping and outdoors. It’s a puzzler.

King of the woodland hillside.


But then I didn’t know the name of a dozen different construction vehicles with her either. Neither did she have an obsession with digging implements (sheer joy at ganma and gampy’s house, where there is a shovel leaning against every wall).

I love you and I love going camping with you. This last trip to the ocean (we camped in Point Mugu State Park at Thornhill Broome) was a lot of work – but boy, did you and your cousin Noi naa have an absolute blast playing in the beach sand in the best sand pit ever, right next to our campsite.

Let’s go play some more!

Love,

Mama

New shades were a must for all the outdoor time - thank you Emo Sue!

Posted in cleaning tips | 2 Comments

World Breastfeeding Week Picnic 2010

Posted on July 29, 2010 by jeannie

Sierra, a local LLL mom and dear friend, is interviewed below by Patina, another friend from my attachment parenting meetup group, about our upcoming picnic. Patina orchestrated this interview to post at her website: www.aWholesomeWorld.com.
The interview is filmed at the actual location of the picnic, Alta Laguna Park (remember – Saturday, August 7, 2010; 11-2pm).
Turned out well, I think!

[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e8BssH6Mgro]

Posted in La Leche League, local entertainment | 1 Comment

Two Things About Joshua Tree

Posted on July 14, 2010 by jeannie


I wish I were going to say, “Joshua Trees and burrowing owls”
but
I’m going to have to go with SWAMP COOLERS AND HULA HOES.
Two things I never think about until I’m here
and hula hoe-ing the whole damn back yard. Morning and night. For a variation, I break it up with pruning rose bushes and rosemary. Many stingy spots on my legs tonight.
I can’t complain though,
my in-laws are treating me very very well;
Christian loves all the shovels he’s found on his grandparents property (are all grandchildren and grandparents so well-matched, I wonder? He thinks he’s in heaven-his ganma and gampy like to play in the dirt.);
we hop in and out of the pool all day;
the outdoor shower is heaven;
my JT friends are awesome;
and we see the burrowing owls (3 babies!) at least twice a day.
Hope to be home by Thursday, because that’s when my SISTER AND HER FAMILY ARRIVE FROM BANGKOK.

Posted in Christian Holden, desert, desert creatures | 4 Comments

Hot Pot

Posted on July 8, 2010 by jeannie

My favorite quote about eating Korean food (which is famously hot – in both senses of the word)
“If I don’t sweat, how do I know I’ve eaten?”
[youtube=http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dz0vr1vd-O4]
Hotness in Korean food is so important that we have a separate word for spicy hot and temperature hot – and they are never confused.

Chad, Christian, and I had an unexpectedly fun day last weekend.
We checked out the OC Market, which a huge weekend swap meet in the parking lot of where the OC Fair takes place every summer. Entry is $2 and you can find anything from knock-off sunglasses to discount bottles of your favorite shampoo. There are also lots of food vendors plying you with samples and several conventionally-grown produce stands where you can walk off with 25 pounds of produce for under $10. No joke. I could barely carry our groceries to the car.

Then we cruised over to H Mart, the nearby Korean market to eat at the little hot pot place just inside the front of the market. It’s called Bibigo and it turned out to be an economical way to get a Korean food fix.

The hot pots actually sit directly on top of the flaming burners until just before they are filled, so when your dish arrives, it is not only spicy hot, but bubbling HEAT hot. YUM.

Posted in food, korea | 1 Comment