culture shock

so i alluded previously that i've been kind of depressed lately. well, i've now decided that it's culture shock - which came as a total surprise to me. i thought that since i had a very realistic picture of what my life would be like and i'm quite adaptable, i wouldn't go through it - oh well, i'm going through it. i've been feeling quite blue and down - unmotivated and not wanting to go out and stuff. . . .

this past week has been particularly bad, i've been extremely fatigued and started to have constant headache. it didn't help that mak didn't have school and stayed home the whole week as well. the crazy and sad thing is that i think mak is going through culture shock as well. she's been extremely weepy and whiny this past week. and she would constantly talk about her friends back home. she would say things like :

"do you remember when we went on an egghunt with ellie and mr. billy? and mr. billy was so silly?"

"remember when you came to my school for a mother's day and i sang you 'happy mother's day to you?"

"i want to see halmi - when can we go to america?"

and she would refuse to talk about her friends at school. it's quite interesting. i guess mak and i are both extroverts and she misses all the interactions. (though i think she's getting enough here, i guess it's different...) she likes her friends at school but half of them speak french and don't speak english well. and some are russian and swedish. it's truly international :) i was totally annoyed at her whining and weepiness but after understanding that she might be feeling things which she can't express, i felt so bad for her. and the fact i'm kind of going through the same thing, poor girl :( please pray for us.

ethan and joe on the other hand are doing just fine. maybe ethan is introverted just like joe - NOT!!! anyhow, to get away from the mundaneness of things here, joe is taking me to london for a day! whoo-hoo! i'll get me some decent chinese food and krispy kreme!! it's almost sad that my depression seems to be intricately tied with food. . . .

another thing, i saw a doctor b/c of my headache, hoping they'll give me something better than motrin. well, i walked away with a prescription of ketonel (ketoprofen) - i went to joe's work to check on the internet what it was (since dr.'s english was limited) - then joe's polish co-worker was like "i can't believe the dr. prescribed that - that thing is sooooo strong!" apparently, she takes it (prob. for menstral cramps) but only when she's about to die. she said that it just knocks her out and she was told not to take it regularly since it can cause somekind of internal bleeding. yikes. i didn't fill the script. well, sarah sung, i hope you're reading this and can give me an insight into whether i should take it or not. i just have a chronice headache and muscle fatigue.

ahhhhh, adventure in no english land.

winter '07

thanks all the nice compliments on my crafts! here's the rest of my jewelry collection so far. i'd appreciate any feedback :) i wished i was in the states so that i can buy beads that are more appropriate for my friends! for example, how can i make jamie's earrings when i don't have any navy stones!!! or something bolder and louder to make appropriate "hyelee" :P or something edgy and soft for "esther"? i only have limited variety of beads i can work with - boo hoo :(

also excuse the darkness of the pics - i was waiting for better weather but it hasn't come!! it's very rainy, cloudy and dreary. . . . just another thing to add to my depression (more on this later this week. . . )

"jane" - since she liked "jeremy" - thought to make something more her color scheme - classier :)

"danielle"

"donna"

"lola"

"jin""sooj"

"sharon"

"jenie jang"- i can never call jenie by her first name. i think when she becomes a citizen, her first name should be jenie jang.

"mona"

"hyelee"

craft projects

one of my motivation to keep a blog was to start posting my craft projects - yawn - i heard that hyelee. anyhow, i know that some of you guys are more than happy to see and hear about what i'm up to in my craft world. so here's the latest. one of my goal for the next 3 years is to learn to use my sewing machine somewhat proficiently. joe loves (HATE) that goal because it doesn't really "define" my goal. he wants me to have like "i will have made 100 sewing projects" or something totally measurable. me on the other hand is quite satisfied with the vagueness of my goal. what is proficient for me maybe not be for you. i would have been a great relativist if i wasn't a Christian!

this is my first ever attempt at making anything with a sewing machine. good thing that the picture doesn't show seams b/c if it did, you guys would all be nodding in unison that this is my first project. anyhow, it's a library book cover. makayla's school requires that library books that they rent be covered in cloth - i guess american books are precious commodity here.

here it is in action - no velcro or snaps, just fold over to accomodate different book sizes. it's functional and that's all that matters.

next onto my jewerly making. here i have "jeremy" - i've been making stuff that's inspired by people i know. this one obviously named after me b/c it's my favorite color combination - green and purple! green swarovski briolette and tourmaline beads with sterling silver findings. when the weather gets better, i will take pictures of other finished products :)

family night #2

this week: baking chocolate chip cookies. chocolate chips are precious commodity here. you have to make your own chocolate chunks if you want to make it - we had joe's co-worker visiting from the states to bring us a bag. since we were unsure of the recipe, we only used half a bag - good thing. it wasn't very good..... if anyone knows of a great chocolate chip recipe, please let us know...

ethan admiring the egg and vanilla extract that mak is about to pour.

ethan thinking, "this isn't worth the effort and the wait" - notice they took a shower in between mixing and baking.

makayla agrees - you can tell from her bite that the cookie is neither chewy nor tasty. . . . sorry guys.

p.s. - joe went to london today for a business trip for the whole week. i have my babysitter staying with me at night so i won't be alone. please pray that we'll all survive without much meltdowns.

gap model....maybe not.....

i have a gap card. i love babygap and gapkids - not so much adult gap - oh, but gap body has great underwear - ask any ladies from my small group..... i digress, but anyhow, i got an email from the gap about a casting call. people submit pictures of their kids to be the next gap model. and most of people know that i'm not one to think that my kids is the cutest baby in the whole wide world. really, i'm NOT that person. BUT i happen to think that ethan comes quite close. okay, okay, you can throw up if you'd like but i'm going to continue. i also have alot of time in my hands. so i told joe that i'm thinking about entering ethan - and he goes "yeah, right. as if...." undeterred, i decided to snap some photos of him. after 15 minutes of trying to get a decent shot, i now decided that he won't be a model after all. he will have to settle for an ordinary life of a chinese-korean american child. . . . not so easy being a model.....oh, don't get me wrong, i didn't think he would win, apparently judges narrow it down to 20 kids and people vote on the cutest kid. hey, i'm a realist, though i think ethan is awfully cute, i know he doesn't stand a chance next to a blonde blue eye regular john doe. but maybe they are looking for a smiley asian boy....

either way, i just wanted to share the fruit (or the lack of) my labor.

joe just gave ethan a haircut and took the funniest picture of him..... again, he will not be a model......

family night

tuesday was our official first family night. and you know what we did? we made the kids cut napa cabbage to make kimchi. alright, alright, you guys are tired of hearing about us making kimchi and tofu. but that's our life here!! anyhow, i'm not sure what the child labor law is like here in poland but trust me, they get good benefits and nice working environment. joe was like "can't we do something more meaningful - like do a lesson or talk about obedience, sharing, etc." my response? "are you kidding me?" to satisfy joe's need to do have deeper connection with the kids, after we were done with our project, we sat around in a circle to sing some songs and share prayer request and pray for each other. that lasted about 3 minutes since ethan couldn't stay seated longer than 10 seconds. after we were done, i looked at joe and said "this is why we're not doing a lesson on sharing or obedience." any ideas on running a succesful family night with a 2 and 4 year old, it'll be much appreciated!!!


mak working swiftly

ethan, somewhat concentrating but not too productive

after 15 mintues of vigorous cutting, it resulted in tears. why?

mak got a slight cut on her finger. boo hoo.


on a happier note:

makayla like atypical girl loves to get pedi/mani. but b/c of ethan, she never gets to. b/c he would insist on getting one himself and that doesn't make daddy too happy. lucky for her. ethan took a nap with daddy on saturday so she finally got to use the nail polish she got for her birthday (back in august!!!)

so happy with the result :)

say kim-cheee!

Thanks to ellen for her kimchi recipe and poland for carrying napa cabbage, we gave our first attempt at making our own kimchi! well, joe did all the work. despite the fact that we didn't have any oysters or shimp marinade stuff, it turned out quite good :) we had our first kimchi with japanese curry. yum. yanghwa, we will be waiting for your pictures and how to's as well! next attempt will be cucumber kimchi and kkat tu gi.

btw, i met up with my fellow koreans. it was actually really good. they are both older and obviously first generation koreans but there was something comforting about speaking korean. very interesting. one of them is married to a French guy - fascinating, and i don't think she's a believer though open to going to a church. the other older woman was actually a tentmaker in uz.bek.istan for 8 years until they got kicked out. she does make her own kimchi so we may trade with my tofu and her kimchi. apparently, there's about 10 korean families here in Krakow but they all had some kind of falling out so they never get together - sounds like every other korean church. being that it's such a small community, it's pretty sad. . . .

joe squeezing the heck out of salted napa cabbage.

finished product.

it's random but we got a real digital camera for makayla for her birthday. she takes some mean pictures. check out this landscape portrait from her car window.

and this one titled "father and son with weird polish mural"