Merry Christmas

Hello everyone,

It's Christmas!!!

We wish everyone a merry Christmas, have a fantastic day!

Love

Carla & Bradley

Year end Party

On Friday I had to attend our year end party. It is quite a big event, with about 350 people attending. It is really fun, as there are lots of activities, raffles, etc and a section called "We've got talent", where people can get up on stage a do a performance.

The performances are normally really good, with all different things, singing, dancing, ... or whatever.

This year the management team decided to participate and do a performance, so we had a trainer help us to rehearse two popular Korean songs which we were going to dance to. Both songs had a set dance, so we just had to learn it .... yeh just learn it. You have to imagine 7 men who have no dance skills trying to learn a dance that is designed for ladies, with all the hip movements etc, our bodies just don't move like that...

Anyway, at the first practice I really felt sorry for our instructor, but by the fourth lesson we were okay ... I'm not sure if that is the best way to describe it.

So at the party, while the other participants were doing there thing, we slipped out and got changed into a Santa coat (for the first song) with a dress underneath for the second. Basically we were in drag for the second.

It was a lot of fun, and the audience enjoyed it, I guess that is the main thing ...

Further Developments

Well after that, we were sent home on the Monday. Carla was still having contractions but they seemed to be under control and were not resulting in the shortening of the cervix. So for three weeks Carla had to stay in bed, mainly lying on her left side to reduce the intensity of the contractions.

The contractions continued for the entire time, sometimes more frequent, sometimes less. We were told to only worry or contact the doctor if Carla started to bleed again or if the contractions were painful. As Carla was not allowed out of bed, except to do the housework, washing, ironing, dishes, cooking ... just joking, she was only allowed to go to the toilet and maybe a short shower, I was preparing her breakfast, lunches and dinners. Dinners were usually quite late as it was only after I arrived home from work, and this was normally quite late.

We had a follow up appointment on the 17th Dec, and things (for us) seemed to be going really well, Carla was still having contractions (they had never stopped) but for a few days they were a lot less frequent and less intense, so we were quite optimistic about the appointment.

Unfortunately the doctor did not agree, and immediately on seeing that Carla was having contractions (after hooking her up to the fetal monitor), they rushed Carla to the delivery room. We were really surprised as this was the same status as when they discharged us the last time, and no surprise that Carla was having contractions, we already new that ...

Anyway, it also became evident that Carla's cervix had shortened significantly since she had been discharged, and therefore the contractions were actual labour, not only braxton hicks.

So Carla was admitted again and went back onto then medication.

So here we are again, they have done a multitude of tests, and everything has come back without any reason for the contractions. The doctor also did an Amniocentesis, which is when they stick a needle into the amniotic fluid and draw some out to test if there is any infection in the amniotic fluid ... all clear. So the doctors are baffled.

At least the baby seems healthy.

Now we just wait, still on the medication. It looks like Christmas will be in the hospital.

Baby

I just want to share with you the events that Brad and I have been experiencing.

On the 15 November (Saturday) I was admitted to hospital because I was in premature labour. I was exactly 24 weeks pregnant. I wasn’t aware that I was in labour but I had started bleeding that morning. They hooked me up to the fetal monitor and I was told I was having intense contractions 3 minutes apart. Brad and I were quite shocked and distressed. The doctor came to tell us that their first line of action would be to hook me up to a drip with some medication that may stop the contractions, if that didn’t work, she’d try a different drug and after that she’d have no choice but to deliver the baby. The odds for the baby wouldn’t be good – only a 40-50% chance of survival. As you can imagine, we were really worried but still optimistic that the drip would work.
The medication came with a whole lot of side effects and they had to do chest x-rays and allergy tests. After a couple of hours on that, I was still having regular and intense contractions. It wasn’t working. They quickly put me on the other medication and fortunately that helped the contractions subside. I was kept on that drip for 48 hours and on Monday night they stopped it. By Tuesday night the contractions started again and they put me on the drip again for another 48 hours. By this point I was extremely worried and kept crying and I was feeling hopeless.
On Thursday night I came off the drip and once again the contractions came back but this time they weren’t as intense so they decided to just monitor me for a while. They had been monitoring me on the fetal monitor for about half an hour and the nurse came and told me to lie on my side for a while (the monitoring is always done while you’re on your back) and the contractions subsided.
The doctor decided to leave me off the medication but I was given strict instructions to lie on my side.
It’s now Sunday evening and I’m still in the same situation – the contractions come if I lie on my back, sit or walk around but so far they are still mild enough not to warrant going on the drip again. I only have one more time that I am medically allowed to go on the medication again (3x is the max).
It’s been a very emotional and stressful time. But everyday that I can prolong the pregnancy counts. It was a small victory on Saturday when I hit the 25 week mark. And as I write this I can say we are now 25wks and 1 day.
I am in a private room in the hospital and I am so stiff from lying on my side. Brad has been in and out of the hospital, he often spends the night here on the little sleeper couch and it’s been a very stressful time. I’m not out the woods yet but we can only hope for the best although some days are harder than others.

I’ll keep you updated.
Love Carla

Seoul Grand Park

The other weekend we thought we’d head to the zoo at Seoul Grand Park. It’s an enormous zoo and we’ve been meaning to visit it for such a long time. It’s autumn in Seoul and all the trees are beautiful shades of orange, yellow and red. Seoul Grand Park was the perfect place to experience the gorgeous trees of autumn.
We bought a special package ticket which allowed us to take the elephant express train to the entrance of the zoo, and then we took the sky lift to the top of the zoo so that we could have a leisurely walk down.
We knew the zoo was big but we really had now idea how big. By lunch time we weren’t even half way through.
There were so many animals, some in small cages and others in really nice big ones.
One of the highlights of the trip was seeing the lions at feeding time. They feed the main lions first and all the others have to wait for these ones to finish before they get fed.
Another highlight was the South American section of the zoo. We saw some animals we’d never seen before including a giant anteater.
The Australian section was also good because we got to see some kangaroos carrying their joey’s. The one joey was lying head first in the pouch and only its foot was sticking out.

DMZ, JSA (Joint Security Area) & Panmunjom

Entry into the DMZ (No cameras allowed!)

Two weeks ago, we FINALLY got to do the proper tour of the DMZ (demilitarized zone). This is the tour that is run by the American Miilitary and takes people right into the demilitarized zone between North Korea and South Korea. We arrived at the meeting poing before 7:00 one Saturday morning and we, togther with a large group of people, got bussed to the DMZ. We entered the South most border of the DMZ and we were made to change busses. They then ushered us into an auditorium where we were required to sign indemnity forms and a short slide show was presented . We had a whole lot of instructions barked at us - no pointing at the North Koreans, photos were only allowed in specific areas, walk in two straight lines etc. The slide show was interesting but the military man who presented it barked the presentation out in a gruff, staccato manner just like the way you see military commanders speak in the movies. We thought it was quite amusing.

We then headed to the JSA (joint security area) and this is where things got really interesting. The JSA is the area where the North Koreans and South Koreans actually stand face to face. A concrete slab is all that demarcates the border between the countries. We noticed that the security on the South Korean side was intense but that was because we were there. The North Koreans only stand guard in a similar fashion when they have visitors to the JSA. But we were told to make no mistake about how heavily monitored we were by the North Koreans. The photos show how the guards stand. Two were standing half obscured by the wall for maximum protection, they never moved. The sunglasses are to intimidate the North Koreans.

South Korea Guards Facing North Korea. (See the concrete slab between the buildings demarcating the "Military demarcation line" (Border)



Korean Gaurd in taekwondo Pose

We were ushered into the meeting room that is built right over the border and is used for meetings between the two countries. In the room the table is precisely over the border and we had the opportunity to stand on the North side of the room which is officially in North Korea. Inside the room there were 4 military men standing in a Taekwondo stance. They never moved, they wore their sunglasses and they had their fists clenched. We were told not to walk behind them or touch them. We exited the room and were able to take some photos of North Korea, two of their military men had come to stand outside the building. We were told not to wave or point at them but we could take photos.

S.Korean Gaurd facing North Korean building, only partially exposed.

We were then bussed to a look out point where we could see the North Korean village that is inside the DMZ. There's also a South Korean village inside the DMZ as there is lots of farming that goes on. The south Koreans that live in this village do not pay tax and the government pays for a portion of their childrens education. It is a very desirable village to live in. Women can marry into it but men cannot. There are certain laws for the people who are entitled to farm and live there. Both villages have huge flags on massive towers. The North Korean flag is much bigger and taller than the South Korean one (make no mistake about the egos involved is this weird political scenario). The military guy told us about the ridiculous number of people it takes to raise the flags (30, I think) and they have to take it down in rain because it gets so saturated and becomes so heavy that it is unmanageable.

They drove us passed the Bridge of No Return, where POWS were given a choice to walk into the country of their choice but once they decided there was no coming back. Our Korean guide told us James Bond was the last person to cross this bridge. Bridge of No Return

3rd Tunnel (Click to enlarge)

After this we left the DMZ we went for lunch. And then they took us to the 3rd infiltration tunnel. The North Koreans had managed to get within 50 or so kms from Seoul before they were discovered. Their excuse was that they were mining for coal (no coal exists in that rock), they even went as far as painting the rock black. The tunnel was interesting and the walk back was quite tiring as it was a steep uphill (pretty tough for a pregnant lady but good exercise).

63 Building

On Sunday, after Cirque du Soleil, we woke up to a clear blue sky. The rain the night before had settled all the dust and the sky was bright blue (an unusual occurrence in Seoul). Since the visibility was so good, we decided to go to 63 building. It is the tallest building in Seoul and it has an observation level on the top floor. We arrived at the building and got a bit muddled finding our way to the correct elevators but finally we made it to the top. Not only is there a 360 degree view of the city through big windows but there’s an art gallery up there as well. The art display was of Hello Kitty and was very amusing, as you can tell from the photos below. The view of the city was great – we stopped at the little coffee shop to have a drink and made our way down again. We were still hungry so we popped into a bakery on the ground floor and found some delicious looking garlic bread to share, but in true Asian fashion when we bit into it, we realized that it was topped with sugar, really disappointing. As we were driving out the car park, we noticed that the sky had clouded over and we were lucky to get the window of opportunity to go to 63 building on a clear day.

Cirque du Soleil: Alegria

Carla bought tickets to the Cirque de Soleil show that is currently showing in Seoul. A tent had been erected in the parking lot between the Jamsil baseball stadium and the Olympic stadium.

The show was really good, with some of the performances quite amazing while others were truly unbelievable with people twisting their bodies into unnatural positions, sometimes you were unable to tell which body parts belonged to which person or if the person was facing you or the other direction. Overall, we were impressed with the show despite the fact that it was one of the wettest days we’ve had for a while and getting to the show tent was quite a mission.

Singapore

I had to go to Singapore for a couple of days from the 8th to 10th of October. Another meeting at short notice to discuss a project that is being implemented. I only arrived there at 02:00 in the morning and still had to get to the hotel and check in etc.

Carla has still never been to Singapore, but I really like it. Food is always excellent, I love all the greenery and it is so clean.

We had dinner at the Clarke Quay one night and at a hotel the following night. I was flying back on Friday and on the way to the airport, the taxi was involved in an accident. The driver did not manage to stop on the freeway and slammed into a car in front of us. Luckily I was wearing my seatbelt so it was not that bad and no one else was hurt.
I also bought a video camera at the airport, so hopefully we can try and make a few movies now to post on the site.

Germany, Deidesheim

While I was in Germany, I had a meeting in Deidesheim. Deidesheim is a small village about an hour South West from Frankfurt. It is well known as a good wine growing region, so it was a nice place to have a meeting.

We stayed at the Deidesheimer Hof, a really beautiful old hotel. It has only about 30 rooms and the layout is a little odd, going up and down stairs, through little walkways, etc but it really gave the place a certain feel.

The first evening we had a really nice meal at the hotel, it is also famous for its restaurant. The one thing we did notice while staying in Deidesheim, is that you should not plan a quick meal, the serving is quite spread apart, with lots of wine in between, so expect between 4 and 5 hours for dinner.

The second day after the meeting, a walk has been arranged through the vineyards, where we were able to taste some of the grapes and listen to an explanation about the development of the grapes and the wine process. We were also told a little about the history of the area. After walking through the vineyards for a bit, we were presented with tables set up to try wine and bretzels in amongst the grapevines..

After a few glasses of wine, we made our way back to the winery where dinner had been prepared with, of course, lots of wine.
I think we really need to take some time and travel around Germany and see some of the towns and small villages, they are really beautiful.

It's a boy!

Sorry we haven't updated for a while, just been busy with lots of things.

Yesterday we found out the sex of the baby. It's a boy ...

In Korea it is illegal for a Korean to find out the sex of their baby, this was because everyone always wanted boys and would find a way to abort if it was a girl. This is not really the problem now, but it is still illegal. The point of the story is that none of the doctors or technicians would actually tell us what it is, they would only say "can you see..." or "it's obvious..." so you had to make the decision yourself, but as you can see from the picture it was quite clear.

Now that we know the sex, I can focus on names.

The picture of the face is a little scary, we are wondering where the looks come from...

Golf

Today I managed to have a game of golf, quite a feat as it is only my fifth game since moving to Seoul. I was invited by my boss in Germany, CFO of the group. We went to Neuhof e.V. Golf Club which is not too far from Darmstadt. The weather is Darmstadt has been really cold this week, something like a South African winter, and I unfortunately didn't bring any warm clothes or jerseys so had to go shopping yesterday.

The drive there was interesting as we hit the German autobahn, which as you may know has no speed limit, so not long after we were driving at 240km per hour in a 750 BMW, not bad...

Anyway the golf game was okay, I was striking the ball really well, just not quite getting the direction quite right and always seeming to go left, I have to figure that one out. The weather was perfect during our game, the sun came out and we had a perfect game. When we finished and went for a drink, the rain came down, then went away and the sun came out, then the rain came again, and so on ... So we were really lucky with our game.

Frankfurt

I decided t go into Frankfurt today and have a look around. I caught a train from Darmstadt to Frankfurt and got a map from the tourist information at the station. There was a sightseeing walk that was estimated to take three hours so I decided to do that.

It started by crossing the river Main and walking along the river path. The river sides and path were really well maintained and full of trees and cut lawns. A little way along, I came across a type of flea market, I walked around for a while and then the smell of cooking food drew me towards it. There are stall that have a large fire in the inside with sausages and steak being cooked above. I bought a bratwurst roll which was really nice.

I went to the Roemerberg, which is the historic city centre with beautiful houses that have wooden supports and window and door frames. In the centre is Frankfurts City hall which has been the city hall since 1405. There were quite a few churches and cathedrals which are always exquisitively done.

I also went to the birthplace of Johann Wolfgang Goethe, who is a famous German writer and is seen as a key figure in German literature.

I did get a little lost at one point but managed to work my way back onto the route. I walked to the Fressgass, a pedestrian promenade which is full of restaurants and coffee shops. I bought a cappaccino and sat down to enjoy watching people going by. It is a pity that I am here on my own, it would have been nice to walk around and have lunch and a glass of wine with Carla, maybe next time ...

I headed to the main offices of the State Bank of Hesse which has an observation platform 200m above the streets of Frankfurt but when I saw the queue to go up I decided continue on the tour.

I carried on to the European Central Bank (ECB), which has been in the news quite a bit lately with everything going on in the financial world. It was a really nice building, but the large Euro sign outside I thought was a bit much.

After this I slowly wondered back to the river and then headed back to the station. Their timing was pretty accurate, just on three hours.

Germany

I am currently in Germany where I have a two week business trip. I will spend a couple of days in Frankfurt, a few more in Darmstadt and finally end off in Deidesheim.
At least I will get a game of golf in while I am over here, but since I have only played 4 games in the last 3 years while being in Korea, I can't expect too much.

Braai

The braai ended up being quite successful, although not as relaxing as it would be in SA. Everyone was scheduled to arrive at 13:00, so I put the braai on at 12:00, which was probably half an hour too late.

We bought a large amount of meat for the braai; ribs, steak, lamb chops, chicken fillets and drumsticks and boerewors (beef sausage), in addition we had salads, garlic bread, rolls, kim (dried seaweed) and kimchi (fermented cabbage) ( adding a Korean touch to the braai), beer (Budweiser) and lots of wine.

The weather couldn't have been better, it was a hot day with clear skies, if only we had a pool in the garden ... I can still dream.

We were a little worried about where everyone was going to sit, but there was no need, as we have a low table in the lounge and it is normal to sit on the floor in Korea, so everyone naturally went and sat on the floor.

Everyone arrived on time and enjoyed the cold beer, the guys helped with cooking the meat as usual, although the fire was still really hot making the cooking a bit difficult.

Everyone enjoyed the food, although most of the steak was cooked medium ( still pink in the middle), which I thought was perfect but it turns out people in Korea normally have it cooked well done or what I would consider overcooked and they do not like the pink in the meat, so many people left the middle and only ate the edges, oh well ...

All in all it was a good day, but Carla and I were exhausted at the end and just spent the evening at home relaxing in front of the TV.

Braai

When I arrived in Korea and found a house, I was told that I am expected to have my team at work come over for a house warming. I have been putting it off, and other things always come up, but eventually, nearly three years after arriving in Korea I will have them over.

So next Saturday (6 September) my team will be coming over for a traditional South African braai (barbeque). A bit of wine, some beer, lots of meat ... I'll let you know how it turns out.

Baby

Well, most people are aware by now, but Carla is pregnant. The baby will be due in March 2009, so one year later than Jacqui and Jacque's baby boy who was born on March 1, 2008.

We don't know what it will be yet, still a few more weeks until we can tell.

Here are some of the first scan pictures we have. It was interesting to see the development and realise that something is really there. Watching it kicking and moving around was also nice. We had the scan as it was at the 12 week stage, and needed to have certain things checked like the nose and the thickness of the neck, these apparently are both important to check to see if the baby is at a high risk of down syndrome.

Our baby was not very cooperative, and the doctors really struggled to get the right angles, so we had to have a break and walk around several times to try and get the baby to shift positions. On the fourth try (4 scans later) the doctor managed to get what he needed. ( Either that, or he just gave up and told us everything was okay).

Yongmun Mountain

We have been back in Korea for a nearly a month now, unfortunately it was straight back to work and into the thick of things. We have been trying to get out of Seoul a couple of times, but everytime we have got stuck in traffic for a few hours and had to turn around. We tried to get to a place called Yongmun Mountain, which is only about 60km from Seoul. The first time we tried we nearly got there, but after about 40km and 3 hours, we turned around because it was getting late and weren’t sure how long it would take to get back. Then a week ago, there was a public holiday on the Friday, so we tried again, this time after nearly 4 hours we had only gone 30km’s and turned around again.

1000 Year Old Ginko Tree

We decided to give it another go today, so planned to leave early in the morning to miss the traffic. We did miss most of the traffic, so it only took about an hour and a half, but at last we made it. The mountain was really nice and we sat beside a river to have lunch with Storm going for a swim every now and again.
On the way back we found a different road which followed the edge of a dam. It had beautiful scenery the whole way and almost no traffic. A nice way to spend a Sunday.