Life in the ROK

West goes East: The lives and adventures of a Californian couple living in Seoul

Friday, August 31, 2007


One of my first stops on my trip to the US was to visit my in-laws. My mother in-law threw together a great lunch party which all of the ladies from the Baker clan were able to attend, along with all of 5 of Jay's and my new nieces and nephews!!! Thank you Lee for the party!!! It was really great to see everyone and meet so many cute new babies.
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Jackson and Sienna trying to go outside.
One of our new nephews who is a twin.....is it David or Ethan? Unfortunately after only spending about 2 hours with them along with 5 other kids under the age of 2 I am not able to tell them apart. But they sure are cute!!!!
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One of our new nieces Chloe with her mom Brooke.
My sister-in-law Christy and nephew Caleb.
Another new nephew.....uh oh....is it David or Ethan???
My sister-in-law Susana with her son Caleb. Must have been a good joke......
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My first weekend in CA I flew to Spokane for one of my girlfriend's from college, wedding party. Here she is......not so happy about one of the people who decided to stop by for the first night's BBQ.
Two other college girlfriends Caitlin and Tiffany. It was really great to see you guys!!!!
The first night Cara and Greg had a BBQ in the garden where they got married two years ago. It was a great party as were all of the events that made up the weekend!!! Now they are off for a trip around the world. Have a great time Cara and Greg!!!

The girls on our last morning in Spokane.
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While in SF for the weekend we met up with my cousin Rachel and visited her daughter's school. It was great to see you guys!!!!
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Elisa's boyfriend Scott who is from the Bay Area introduced us to a delicious place for dessert where we enjoyed an amazing and strange platter of desserts including chocolate kalamata cake with olive oil dust, and a beet cake with plums and beet leaves. Thanks Scott!!! It was fun hanging out with you guys.
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Last weekend I flew to San Francisco to attend my friend from High School's wedding. They had a beautiful ceremony that combined Japanese and Jewish traditions. Congratulations Hiromi and Ben!!!! You two are a great couple!!!
These are a few of my high school friends Erin and Shira that attended the wedding. It was fun catching up with you guys. And great to meet Shira's latest arrival Miles.
Elisa was my date to the wedding which of course was very fun. Finally a little sister time after living so far apart this last year.
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The Happy Couple!!! Hiromi and Ben did a very nice first dance together to a Beatles song.

And I found a dance partner of my own. My friend Shira's son Miles choose me to dance with and did not want to leave the dance floor. It is hard to tell from these photos but he has some pretty good head bobbing and arm swinging moves that he would break out with when the feeling struck him.

Thanks for the good times Miles!!!!
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The view from the restaurant of the hotel I stayed in by Narita airport, Japan. Although I was just in Japan for one night it made me a bit nostalgic for the time in college I spent in Kyoto. Hopefully Jay and I will take a trip there soon. Now back to Seoul!!!
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Jay and I went hiking in a mountain called Namhansanseong. Try to say that ten times fast without messing up. The day was a bit cloudy and not too hot, which was actually nice since it can be pretty hot and humid in Seoul in the summer time. The bottom picture is a part of the fortress that was built on the mountain and used first during the Shilla Dynasty (around 600) to defend Seoul. Yes it has been rebuilt.
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Sunday, August 19, 2007


Today I went fishing in the West Sea, aka the Yellow Sea, with 12 of my Korean employees. Most of them are ambulance drivers and they do a very good job. They are also a blast to fish with. Going fishing with Koreans is something to remember for life!
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Here's a brief line up of some of the fish we caught. We fished with a double-hooked line and Mr. Kim caught two twofers!


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We ate every fish we caught right there on the boat within a matter of an hour at the most and usually just minutes. It was the freshest, softest sashimi I've ever had and I had my fill, just like everybody else who liked sashimi. This included, of course, all the Koreans. Jim Hill, however, wasn't fully convinced raw fish was such a great idea.
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The skipper of the boat was hard at work keeping up with the 45 or so mud fish we caught.
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Mr. Choe and Mr. Kim were both worthy competitors in the hat contest but Mr. Chon ended up winning with his sense of style. And I got mad respect for cowboys anyway.

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