One of the lasting impacts life in Korea will have on me is farming & the dream of one day having my own little farm – one where we don’t move every time we turn around would be preferable.

I’ve been in Korea over 800 days now – watching my 3rd & final growing season in Anjung-ri.

And I’ve learned a lot from watching the local farmers.

So this year, I ordered seeds from Burpee online & tried my hand at planting my own little backyard crop.

I ordered dwarf velour green beans…that are actually purple.

And now I’ve got my first “mess of beans” as my Granny would say.

I’m going to cook these babies up & serve them with a grilled balsamic pork loin and  potato pierogies…num, num...and serve it all with some sparking white grape juice (sorry, we’re not drinkers).

But soon I’ll also have tomatoes ready for salsa. I’m afraid I got them in the ground later than I should. But look at those big ol’ babies!

And so far one little lone jalapeno, but more are starting & hopefully the serrano peppers will catch up, too.

If I cross my fingers, I might just get lucky enough to have my own little sugar baby seedless watermelon….way late in the season.

But I’m super pumped about my little ear of corn – so far it looks like I’ll have a whoppin’ two of them, but fresh corn I don’t have to pay $6.39 US for?….

Definitely worth it – and I’m counting the days until I can roast those suckers on the grill.

Hmm…smoky, chewy corn – with lots of butter.

So just a little back story first…

In March our American duplex-mates PCS’d back home and a few weeks later we had Korean neighbors – a first in our all-American side of the compound.

A husband, a wife & their roughly 8 year-old girl.

And about two months ago they brought out 4 little chicks into the backyard to peck around & play.

Because the chicks were small, she kept them in the house – but for the past week two of them have been outside 24/7.

This morning I noticed that somehow one of them got out of the pen.

At first I thought it might be injured since it was just laying there, but then it struck me…

…the poor little thing must’ve been out for some time now because all he wants is back in – and so does the other chick.

 UPDATE: After I posted this story I went back outside to check on the chick (say that one 3 times fast). And he’s now safe & sound back in his little pink, plastic-wrapped cage.

Behold the Korean electric bill!

Last June we burned over 800 kilowatts…or roughly $350 US dollars.

(And that was the smallest of our summer bills.)

At the height, we paid just under $700 – and don’t be confused, thinking we were living at a constant 68 degrees. Oh we were constant alright, constantly miserable.

Our bedroom at night would cool down to a chilly 83 degrees – just cool enough to toss & turn on night on top of the covers. And that was with running the room’s a/c unit non-stop.

With the move coming up in December, we’ve been trying to squirrel away money left & right – moving is costly enough, but having to move halfway around the world again…massively expensive…and the Army only covers so much.

So this year we went to extremes.

We moved our bedroom into the smaller upstairs bedroom and we converted the downstairs bedroom into our living room. Each has it’s own a/c unit – there’s no such thing as central heat & air in Korea.

I bought tension rods to hang in the door frames & put up black-out curtains to keep the cold air in, but still allow the dog & cat to come & go without us having to constantly get up to let them in or out.

So essentially we’ve been living in 200 square feet.

I don’t cook in the kitchen at all – unless it’s the microwave or the crock pot. Most dinners are made on the grill outside.

Yes, we look like hillbillies. Yes, we’ve been mocked by neighbors thinking we’re crazy. But at this point, I just don’t care – laugh all you want.

Our bill this month was only 104,000 won! That’s only $98 US!

[Dongdaemun in Seoul]

Dongdaemun means Great East Gate – this was the eastern gate of the wall that used to surround Seoul during the early 1400′s.  And it marks the start of the Lotus Lantern Parade that’s held every year in honor of Buddha’s birthday.

He turned 2,555…in case you’re wondering.

And to celebrate, they march 100,00 lanterns along the streets of Seoul.

While you wait for the parade to start, the ajumma band (little old lady band) will walk up & down the lines playing traditional Korean music – banging away on drums & gongs.

The gate guards line up & lead off the parade.

Next come the ceremonial cabbies.

And right at dusk, the parade will start.

Each of these lanterns are nothing but painted paper or silk, stretched over a wire frame.

The lanterns are used to symbolize the light, wisdom & compassion Buddhism brings to a dark world.

The large lanterns are pushed or pulled by the men from the temples who own them.

Instead of marching bands & girls twirling batons, the parade consists of the monks & nuns from temples all over the Korea…and those from other countries.

And behind the monks, march their parishioners – and each one carries their own lantern.

There are a few large ceremonial drums pushed along the route, too.

And there were a couple of traditional dance troops led by women floating in a lotus blossom.

I liked how different this one was…can you tell what it is? There are 4 dragons rising up out of a river around a water spout with a lotus blossom.

This picture was just so great…I’m going to see if I can photshop the speaker bar out of the shot.

This reclining figure was put on a cart that rocked up & down and spun all around.

There were a couple of lanterns that breathed fire or smoke. This dragon was phenomenal.

The parade lasts over two hours & runs from Dongdaemun to Jogyesa Temple. But because we caught the bus up to Yongsan and then the subway to Dongdaemun, we had to leave early to be sure we caught the last bus back home.

So a tip for those of you wanting to go…book a room at the Dragon Hill Lodge so you can see the whole parade. Because when they reach Jogyesa, there’s a huge celebration where you can write a wish or resolution, attach it to a lantern & let it float up into the night sky.

1. Saying goodbye to friends never gets any easier.

2. Watermelon is a delicacy in Korea. The going rate is $9.99 on post on sale, 7,000 won off-post.

3. Moo-Moo isn’t so afraid to walk past scary monsters anymore.

4. Spending 30 minutes to fill out an online Army survey about your outrageously high utility expenses while living in Korea gets your rent raised 100,000 won a month.

5. The prayer lanterns go on forever on Buddha’s birthday.

6. I have no idea why Koreans always pose for pictures like this. You’ll see them do it all the time.

7. If you ever visit Korea or get stationed here, you must go to the Lotus Lantern Parade in Seoul in early May.

8. Ordering books on Amazon & having them shipped to your APO box is still cheaper than buying them at the PX.

9. Now that they’ve started charging for movies at the cafe-gym-atorium theater on base, don’t waste your money. Give the Osan theater the same $5 bucks to sit in rocking, cushioned seats in what at least looks like a real theater.

10. White cranes are incredibly skiddish. The closest I can ever get is 100 yards before they take off.

11. Tom cats have soft spots for people who treat their wounds.

12. The Korean subway system is super easy, clean & safe to use. The kiosks have an “English” button to walk you through everything – all you need is a subway map & the name of the station you want to get off at.

13. Korea may be the “most wired country in the world” but the internet connection in Anjung-Ri still sucks.

14. Military life in Korea is like life in a small town – you can never get away from anyone…even Elvis.

15. If you go to the Lotus Lantern Festival (typically the day after the parade) be sure to visit Jogyesa Temple to see all the prayer lanterns.

16. At the festival, the Seoul Senior Citizens Group paints phrases in Hangul & Chinese on rice paper for free, but a small donation to the center is always appreciated.

17. Blogging burnout is extremely easy to catch & hard to treat.

18. When you get stationed in Korea, you don’t find out where you’re going next a year out or even 6 months out. Looks like you get told 3 months out.

19. Soldiers hate dealing with, working with or having to interact with spouses & will ignore you and any suggestion you make, if at all possible.

20. Unfortunately, many spouses tend to treat soldiers like the hired help – ready to take care of everything you don’t want to – instead of actually having to pitch-in to help.

21. When a General’s wife comments that there’s no Splenda on the table, the nearest officer will “jump-to” & go hunt it down – even if it takes hauling butt to the commissary.

22. Try not to breathe when standing over the Tibetan monks when they’re making a sand mandala.

23. Always remember to take off your shoes when you enter temple.

24. Try with all your might not to get attached to a Korean dog.

25. You can never have too much firewood in Korea.

26. When you’re taking the back roads to Osan & you see the bull tied-up on the right side of the road – you’re half-way there.

27. The most fantastic, eclectic Asian collectible store is in Insadong & I probably can’t afford anything in it. But if I could I’d take half the store home.

28. Koreans are serious about their tea – as evidenced in this pressed tea wall-hanging.

29. Seeing these birds outside a tea shop in Insadong makes me wish I was a bird person.

30. There are still a lot of places to visit before we leave.

31. Mr. Pak comes by like clockwork every 1st of the month to renew our English-version Korea Herald.

32. Two weeks of rain day & night, also known as monsoon season, will kill your sun tent and immediately qualify you for white-trash neighbor status.

33. A water-logged tent tearing in two with one side collapsing sounds like someone trying to break in at 2am in the morning. But never fear…your husband will sleep right through it allowing you to do all the investigating.

34. Goldfish can survive being thrown out of a free-standing outdoor pond (twice – once by me & once by a previous owner) & live to tell the tale. Finding them in the yard, in the dark at 2am during a monsoon?…not quite so easy.

35. Apparently you can’t hide forever. People will hunt you down…just as I’ve been hunting the perfect shot of the pheasants around here.

36. When you wake-up at 2am & have to drive someone to catch a Patriot Express flight at Osan two hours later, you might as well stay up & blog.

37. One day I will have a house of my own & it will have a snowball bush in the yard.

38. I discovered (a while back) the secret of how to watch American TV & stream Netflix in Korea…and I will share it with you. By the way…The Red Violin?…Best story-telling movie. Ever.

39. It’s hard not to judge someone’s juicy status when you see them dress like this to a family-themed 4th of July celebration. It’s harder not to feel sorry for the mother-in-law who’s obviously come to visit from the States & looks completely mortified.

40. Renaming Memorial Day weekend “Spring Fest” - proclaiming we’ll celebrate 60 years of cooperation with Korea, opening the base up to the local Koreans, showcasing Korean activities & Korean performers…while completely ignoring it’s actually Memorial Day weekend is one of the most disrespectful things you can do to an American military family. My two cents.

41. Never take a Seoul City Bus tour after lunch.

42. Korea’s version of the White House is called the Blue House…but it’s really more of a slate gray.

43. Gyeonggukbong Palace is probably very beautiful from the front.

44. Korean garlic is mighty potent stuff.

45. A mallard without her mate is a sad sight.

46. While Psycho-Killer doesn’t go ballistic every time Maggie & I walk by anymore, she does let out a contained – yet slightly unrestrained – yelp of “oh, it’s you”.

47. I’ll miss the dragonflies when we leave.

48. What looks like strawberries growing on the side of the trails in the woods every year are not strawberries – they’re sour berries. And not even the Koreans will pick them – and they harvest all kinds of wild things from the woods.

49. My sneaky crane picture-taking skills are improving – either that or my camera has a wicked zoom.

50. A week after I took this picture of the beautiful twisted rose bush that climbs all the way to the top of the street pole at our local restaurant, the city cut the whole thing down & have torn out the road to lay new pipe.

51. I’m somewhat fascinated with this old farmer’s bike – I think I’ve taken 10 pictures of it.

52. Rather than marching bands or baton twirlers, the Lotus Lantern parade features monks, nuns & their parishioners carrying lanterns of all shapes & sizes.

53. It takes at least 4 Korean police officers to corral a drunken monk at a parade.

54. This is the last picture I have of Little One with fur – she’s been shaved near bald for the summer.

55. Buying a piece of Korean furniture with my own money – seeing this two-year temporary home vacant of all my own furniture finally look like my own home – was my happiest day here.

56. Peabody still comes by from time to time (when he can escape his backyard) to say hi & show me that he remembers his manners.

57. You will always look cool dancing by yourself…if you wear your matching 3-D fireworks glasses.