French Tales

French Family Holiday Roundup

2012-01-01T20:01:00.001-05:00

Our not-so-perfect holiday celebrating the birth of our Perfect Savior!

Happy New Year friends and family, near and far! (Please click on the picture to view the album). Love, Jamie

Fun in the Sun 2011

2011-09-15T21:57:00.001-04:00

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Dane's Birthday Carnival

2011-05-09T11:02:00.002-04:00

Thanks to all who came out to make our little man's day so special!

Looks like a case of the Sunday afternoon sillies!

2011-05-02T12:30:00.002-04:00

Easter Eve, 2011

2011-04-27T00:01:00.010-04:00

When photographing four little ones, it's nearly impossible to get everyone to look at the camera, let alone smile...but the outcome is still pretty darn cute! These shots were taken Saturday night at MiMi & PaPa's house. (I still can't believe I didn't manage get a pic of my three together on Easter Sunday!)

William: "Uh, Dane, buddy, I think your barn door is open!"

Dane's wardrobe malfunction fixed. As for the two in the middle....either they're doing the wave or someone may have asked if they were ready for an Easter egg hunt? I'd say that would be an affirmative!

"Awwww, Mom, can we get this over with and hunt for some eggs?!?!?"

Yep, Dane's pretty much done. Thanks for the save Will. ;)

Sadie leaning in to give Kyle a kiss! Or telling him not to try an escape move like that on her! ;)

Dane: planning another escape, Sadie: primping, Kyle: "Mom, why do I have to put up with these crazy cousins?!?"

Cheese!!!

Will: "Mom, I think you've said 'Just one more shot guys!' about ten times already!!"

Me: "Hey guys, let's try this angle and then we're done, I promise!!"

Dane: "She can't be serious!!"

AND, that's a wrap!!! Thankfully Dane did NOT actually make it to the ground!! LOL!! :):) Happy Easter everyone!!!

Somebody pinch me...

2011-04-10T21:27:00.002-04:00

Can my baby really be a year old already??? Here's a just a peek at what a joy it is to have Dane Charles in our lives! We love you, Bubba!!

Sadie Turns 4!

2011-04-10T20:02:00.001-04:00

Sadie turned 4 on the 4th of March! We celebrated her big day on the 12th-- Princess style! ;) Here's a slideshow of her party set to the tune of her favorite song! We LOVE you, Sadie Katherine French! Thank you for all you help with the party, MiMi! We LOVE you, too!

Make a free picture slideshow

What's For Dinner?

2011-01-23T15:46:00.061-05:00

I enjoy cooking. Really, I do. I can't say the same for ironing, which I avoid like the plague, but cooking is another story. There's something about the chopping, sauteing, aroma and, hopefully, the finished product that's somewhat therapeutic. When I find a simple, fabulous recipe-- let's face it, it generally gets swallowed into the sea of recipes that I've printed off the internet or torn out of magazines. So, to simplify my life (and hopefully pass on some good recipes to you, dear reader), my goal is to periodically link to recipes that I consider keepers. To get things started, here's a link to a recent winner, straight from the Martha Stewart Living magazine: Crisp-Skinned Chicken with Rosemary Potatoes (The pic is from their website, too!)

What a I like about this recipe:

- Easy to make and not super time consuming (it takes a while to cook, but the hands on labor isn't that intense)

- It makes the house smell divine

- The chicken is fantastic and the taters: crispy on the outside, soft on the inside.. Mmmmm!

The only downfall is that I have to handle a raw bird, but the outcome it's totally worth it! ;)

Other notes:

-I've used a larger "family roaster" chicken (about 6 lbs) with a pop-up timer (love) and it's taken about 1.5 to 1.75 hours to cook. (I also add a bit more butter, cornstarch, & salt since the bird is bigger than the original recipe calls for)

-Add more potatoes. You won't regret it! :)

- I've served the chicken and potatoes with fresh green beans, caesar salad, and dinner rolls.

-If you're into a homemade, savory stock (which thankfully my hubby is!), freeze the carcass... You'll thank yourself later!

One final thought, so as not to give you the false impression that every night is a 'Martha Stewart Living" kind of night, I'm not ashamed to admit that Little Caesars' ready in 5 minutes, $5 large pizzas are 'da bomb. I'm just sayin'... :)

Y'all come back now, ya hear!

Seven Years of Squinting

2011-01-19T22:39:00.021-05:00

This Monday, Rob and I celebrated 7 years of marriage! In typical 'busy parents of three small children' fashion, we finalized our anniversary night plans, ahem, in the car on the way out of the subdivision. I, personally, don't recommend this type of fly by the seat of your pants dating as the norm, but it was a night out and we had a great time! :) What I do recommend is this: some of the best advice on dating/marriage, shared with me by my Momma. She said, "When you're dating someone, keep your eyes WIDE OPEN. Once you're married, squint 'em a little." Priceless. Here's to seven years of squinting!

(It looks like we've gone from squinting to eyes closed,

but whatever works! ;)

Babe, I LOVE YOU and look forward to many, many more years together!

Love is patient, love is kind.

It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud.

It is not rude, it is not self-seeking,

it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs.

Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth.

It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.

Love never fails.

1 Corinthians 13:4-8a

Say What?

2011-01-19T21:39:00.016-05:00

Grab your pencil and paper, it’s time for a pop quiz.

Don’t worry, it’s not being graded.

What do the following terms have in common?

Hot Dog
Olive
Holy Ghost
Silent

Anyone? Anyone? Bueller?

Okay, here’s the answer:

Apparently, my two eldest children have the gift of interpretation. Interpreting our 9 month old’s babbling, that is. The terms above are ones that they proclaim they’ve heard their brother speak. It appears that our drooling, chunk of love, Dane is not only physically advanced, he’s a genius. That, or he’s simply hungry and praying for some peace and quiet. It’s still up for debate.

In other news, I may need to make an appointment with an allergist for this little lady:

After she announced the other day, as the water was running, that she couldn’t take a bath because she's allergic to baths. Really? Hmmm… Maybe I’ll remind her of this when she’s a teen and wants to take several showers a day.

Finally, there’s this guy:

He’s already planning his sixth birthday party, which is a mere 8 months away. Nothing wrong with a little pre-planning. He wants to have it at Chuck E. Cheese (yippee!), but his only concern is that his friends might think that he lives there. Which makes sense, because he hasn’t had a “destination birthday party” yet. What doesn’t make sense is what child wouldn’t want his friends to think he lived there?! J

Thank you, my children, for keeping life interesting!

Have. Mercy.

2011-01-18T12:25:00.003-05:00

And so it begins...

Would somebody please remind this little guy that he just turned 9 months about a week ago?!? LOL! D.C. (aka Dane Charles) takes the record for earliest walker to date in the French household! You go buddy!! We love you so much!

Back in the Blogosphere!

2011-01-16T16:14:00.042-05:00

To say it's been a while would be an understatement! I can't believe it's been almost a year since I last posted on our family blog. It's sad really. Not because my two readers (Hi Mom & Dad!) have missed the posts, but because blogging, for me, is such a great way to document our ever changing lives and how God is at work in our family. Now, don't get me wrong, I've really enjoyed READING other people's blogs during this hiatus, but now it's time to get back on track and contribute for goodness' sake! I know that my ramblings may only interest a few...but more than anything I pray that you'll leave encouraged!

We've got LOTS to catch up on, so let's start with some basics:

Who? Our crazy crew

What? Moved

Where? Home sweet home (Read: my hometown)

When? Early this fall

Why? Because God is good! :) Here's the skinny: My husband recently started a new career which moved us close to family and started a very NEW and exciting chapter in our lives. One that, honestly, I could have only dreamed! Is it perfect? NO! But, we have seen God's hands involved in every step of the way and are confident that this is where He has us for such a time as this. We are beyond grateful to serve a mighty, faithful GOD!

(Below, you can click on our family picture to link to a web album with a peek at our new abode and some recent pics of the kiddos during our Christmas celebration.)

Now for some encouragement:

When my husband gave notice that he was leaving his job, he didn't have another job secured. Granted, he had had ONE interview, but we hadn't heard anything yet. At the same time, our third, precious child had just turned a month. As you can imagine (if "you" are a woman), my hormones were going crazy! Now, please know that we both had prayed about this for several months, sought counsel, and deep down felt the Lord's PEACE that this was the direction He was leading us. But, the bottom line is (without getting into specifics) my husband left a secure job in an insecure economy. It was, in a sense, a leap of faith. One minute I felt like we were doing the right thing, the next I wondered if we were truly off our rockers. I told my husband a number of times that we might be livin' on love in the near future! For those of you who know me well, know that before we had children I worked in television news, so I was looking to see who was hiring, too! But, GOD, in His infinite wisdom, knew that this sleep-deprived mother of a newborn and two preschoolers couldn't take much waiting and just DAYS later we found out the my husband was gainfully employed with a fantastic job. A job that would also allow me the blessing of staying at home with our young children. Again, more than we could have ever asked for! My point is TRUST HIM. It's hard sometimes, I know. But, trust Him... in the good times and the bad. Trust Him when you can see His hand moving and when you can't. Simply trust Him, and know that HE IS ON YOUR SIDE. Oh yeah, and buckle your seat belt as you see the story HE has planned for your life unravel.

And those who know thy name put their trust in thee,
for thou, O Lord, hast not forsaken those who seek thee.
Psalm 9:10 (RSV)

Home for Christmas

Love in Christ,

Jamie

*A couple disclaimers: As I've reread my writing, in my anxiousness to put something up on our blog, and share the Lord has been at work in our family I feel I left out a couple important points:

-My hubby's former career was very honorable and one that I am extremely proud. I won't go into all the specifics as to why we felt led in the direction we did, as each family is unique and God leads in different ways. My hat continues to go off to the many families who serve in this way. May God bless you and your families!

-Also, when I said to Rob that we might be "livin' on love in the near future", it was a mostly a joke-- We weren't totally off our rockers and knew that we'd be "okay" financially for a bit if God didn't open a job for Rob or me right away! But, it was still a leap of faith for our family!

Okay, maybe now I realize why I haven't blogged in a while, I over analyze everything I write! LOL! :) Love y'all! Jamie

Ski Day

2010-02-07T19:48:00.000-05:00

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Friday our family had wonderful time at Soldier Mountain Ski Resort. Daddy and Will skied (Will for the first time!), Sadie made snowballs, and I snapped pictures of it all! Skiing is definitely one of the perks of living in Idaho. Enjoy!

And Baby Makes Five!

2009-09-17T21:22:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends and Family,

It's with deep gratitude to our heavenly Father and complete joy that we introduce the newest member of the French family! Baby French is 11 weeks old and quite an active little one. We had our first ultrasound today and let me say it was just what this tired, nauseous Momma needed! The first trimester has been...oh how shall I put it...a ride to say the least. I believe that my memory of the first trimester of pregnancy is temporarily blocked in order to expand our family! ha Seriously, it's been tough, but our wee one gave us quite a show and this sweet profile picture at my appointment this morning. Yes, just seeing that precious little one forming inside of me made it ALL WORTH WHILE! Thank you for rejoicing with us at this time!

"13For you created my inmost being;

you knit me together in my mother’s womb.

14I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;

your works are wonderful,

I know that full well.

15My frame was not hidden from you

when I was made in the secret place.

When I was woven together in the depths of the earth,

16your eyes saw my unformed body.

All the days ordained for me

were written in your book

before one of them came to be."

Psalm 139:13-16

Love,

Jamie

True Freedom

2009-07-06T23:47:00.000-04:00

This weekend as we celebrated our nation's independence, I couldn't help but think about day I experienced TRUE freedom for the first time. I was 16-years-old on a youth group trip that I did not want any part of! My parent made me go (thank you!) despite my protests. It was there in the Smokey Mountains of Galtinburg, Tennessee that Jesus Christ met me. I'll never forget it and I've never been the same. It was there that the Lord showed me how much He loved me and desired to have a personal relationship with me. It was there that the God of the universe taught me that because of Jesus' sacrifice on Calvary no sin I had committed nor good work I completed could make Him love me any more or less. TALK ABOUT FREEDOM!! Oh Lord, may I continue to walk in humility, hope, and joy, as I consider the truths you taught me so many years ago!

"It is for freedom that Christ has set us free. Stand firm, then, and do not let yourselves be burdened again by a yoke of slavery." Galations 5:1

With that said, please enjoy some pics from our 4th of July celebration!

Make a Smilebox scrapbook

The Road To Idaho...

2009-06-29T16:23:00.000-04:00

Before I dive into details about our new abode (which we are loving!), here's a pictorial review of how we spent our time off before arriving in Idaho. In short, along with our trip to Hawaii, we were blessed to spend time family and friends in St. Louis and Florida. Truly, our month off was an opportunity like none other to fellowship with those we love and have missed tremendously during our time overseas.

Make a Smilebox slideshow

Idaho or Bust!

2009-06-26T16:43:00.000-04:00

By the looks of things, I'd said we've arrived! (Actually, we've been here over a month now and I've yet to blog about it. Shame on me!!) More to come my sweet, patient friends. More to come!

Hawaii 2009

2009-06-26T16:34:00.000-04:00

Recently we were blessed to spend 10 days taking in God's beautiful handiwork in Hawaii! Please enjoy this slideshow of pictures from our trip that attempts to capture the glorious sights we took in during our Hawaiian vacation.

Hawaii 2009 from Jamie French on Vimeo.

Hawaii...Finally!

2009-04-29T11:58:00.000-04:00

On our way home from Korea we were blessed to spend 10 days taking in God's beautiful handiwork in Hawaii! Please enjoy this slideshow of pictures from our trip that attempts to capture the glorious sights we took in during our Hawaiian vacation.

Hawaii 2009 from Jamie French on Vimeo.

Wow...The Countdown Is On!

2009-02-20T06:43:00.000-05:00

It's hard to believe that soon we'll leave Daegu for our next duty station in Mountain Home, Idaho! I have such mixed emotions about our upcoming departure, but one thing's for sure: I can't wait for our 10 day pit stop in Hawaii while on our way back to the states! Aloha, baby! :)

Countdown To HAWAII!

Sadie's Korean Birthday Celebration!

2009-02-19T07:59:00.000-05:00

During my Mom's visit to Korea we threw Sadie an early birthday celebration. I can't believe my sweet baby girl is almost two! We held the party at our apartment on base with a small group of Sadie's toddler friends: neighborhood buddies Min-Jae and Yoon-ha, Lilly from church, and of course, Sadie's 'boyfriend' Rylee! :) It was a wonderful time! Thanks for ALL of your help, Mom! I couldn't have done it without you!

Here's a brief slide show of the party put to the music of one of Sadie's current favorite songs to sing:

Sadie's Birthday Celebration from Jamie French on Vimeo.

Thawing Out

2009-02-02T08:15:00.000-05:00

We're enjoying some beautiful weather in our neck of the woods and spent some time at the park this afternoon to celebrate! Actually, I think we're really celebrating the fact that my Mom will be in Korea in less than 24 hours!!! Praise be to the Lord!!!

Korean New Year Celebration

2009-01-26T07:40:00.000-05:00

This weekend our sweet friends Min-wha and GQ invited us to celebrate the Lunar New year with their extended family. It's the biggest holiday celebration of the year in Korea. We were honored to experience this tradition with their family.

Here's a link to a web album with pictures of the festivities:

Lunar New Year Celebration

Enjoy!

Love,
Jamie

Thank God For Kids

2009-01-22T10:28:00.000-05:00

Several days back I had every good intention of starting a little "blog rewind" to give a detailed account of our family's happenings over the past two months. Ahem. Well, I don't think that's going to happen. But I can offer a short summary and pictures. LOTS of pictures. Because a picture's worth a thousand words, right? Okay, I can't get off the hook that easy, but I fear if I don't get up to speed on our dear blog I may never catch up. So here's the cliff notes version of our past two months:

In November, Rob's parents (Grandma Sue and Grandpa Bob) visited from south Florida, for Thanksgiving. Unfortunately, during that trip, both kids came down with pneumonia and had to be hospitalized for the better part of a week. We had a lot to be thankful for, to be sure, when the kids were released on Thanksgiving day, just in time for a nice Thanksgiving dinner prepared for us by some generous friends. Shortly thereafter we enjoyed an amazing visit with my cousin Kimmie. By the grace of God we truly had a joyous Christmas and happy new year!

Now, if you've got a few minutes please enjoy this brief slide show with a variety of pictures from our Christmas celebration in Korea.

Love you guys TONS!

Jamie

ps. Kimmie, you didn't think you'd get off the hook that easy did you?? Get ready for a special slide show dedicated to your visit...that's coming up next!!! :):)

Now...let's "Thank God For Kids"

Christmas Slide Show from Jamie French on Vimeo.
(For best results: Once you hit play, double click the video. If the picture is taking up the whole page (it'll be kind of blurry) make sure the scaling button in the upper right hand corner to is set to "scaling is off". That should be your best bet!)

Five Years, Baby!

2009-01-18T07:11:00.000-05:00

Happy 5th Anniversary, My Love! What a ride it's been! You are an amazing Christian, man, husband, father, son, pilot, and friend! I'm blessed to call you MINE! :):)

Look at how far we've come...

(Click on the collage to see the pics up close and personal!)

All my love,
Jamie

It's About Time, Eh?

2009-01-05T23:46:00.000-05:00

So much to blog about, so little time. That is the story of this busy mom's life!!! But, enough excuses already, we've got tons to catch up-- so let's not waste anytime.

Let's start by pressing the rewind button...

Keep rewinding.

We're going back all the way to early November-- even before the dreadful hospital visits!!

Ah, yes, here we are.

Jeju Island that is, for Rob's squadron retreat. But, in all honesty, I wouldn't think of it as a retreat in the normal sense of the word. In my experience retreats involve rest, relaxation, and reflection. This 'retreat' was, at some points, a mad dash from one attraction to another. Not that was didn't enjoy the trip, just wanted to make that clarification before moving on! So, we traveled with about 200 hundred other folks to Jeju for the weekend. It was delightful to see more of this beautiful country and hang out with friends! Here are some snapshots from the getaway-- enjoy! (Just click on the collage to see the pics up close and personal!:)

Now, we don't plan to return anytime soon, and I think you'll understand why in my next post!

Until next time...

Love you guys!

Jamie

From Our House To Yours....

2008-12-31T07:45:00.000-05:00

Or, rather, from our kitchen table to yours...

May the Lord richly bless your new year! And, may I come down from this sugar high from too much cake soon! HAPPY NEW YEAR!

With love and the promise of more posts to come (complete with a full Christmas wrap-up!).

Jamie

It's Beginning to Look a Lot Like Christmas

2008-12-07T21:06:00.000-05:00

After my sanitizing spree, I was off on a little shopping spree! Okay, not really, but I did head to our favorite Korean superstore HomeEver to purchase a Christmas tree-- and other fun decorations! William and Sadie were thrilled to put up the tree and we let them put on most of the ornaments (which of course I'll be redistributing later-- it's a little bottom heavy)! If there's any home that needed a little Christmas, it was ours, and I was thrilled to deck our Korean halls!

William working on his ornament hanging skills!

My Little Helper, Sadie
(Who we keep referring to as 'Cindy Lou Who' from How the Grinch Stole Christmas!)

LOL! :)

Happy Holidays!

Germs Beware!

2008-12-07T20:39:00.000-05:00

This recent round of sickness in our household has sparked many emotions in me, including and not limited to: anxiety, sadness... just to name a couple. Well, after we took out last trip to the emergency room I'll be honest: I was flat out ticked. Ticked off that we haven't beat this thing. Ticked off to see my little man hacking away-- again. Ticked to have to spend any amount of time in that crazy emergency room (And I mean crazy!). Well, that emotion, my friends, sparked a disinfecting rampage the next day! I was thankful to FINALLY have the energy to do a deep down clean since this whole thing started. (I've been sick, too!) So, I opened up windows to air the place out (Brrrr!)--put on my scarf and favorite MP3 playlist-- and sanitized walls, bed frames, floors, dressers, toys, doors, door knobs, basically if it had a hard surface it was probably wiped down with my favorite lysol/Mr. Clean product. I still have two rooms to do-- but it felt good to kick some germ bootie.

And, we had a little fun, too!

Yo germs, you want somma' this?

Go ahead, make my day!

We're dorks. I know. :)

More Prayers Needed

2008-12-06T10:27:00.000-05:00

Took another trip to the emergency room tonight. Will's cough seems to have resurfaced in a major way. They took another x-ray-- and, thankfully, his lungs look better than they did when the last x-ray was taken on Nov. 24th. They sent us home with a bunch of medicine-- which William is fighting big time!! Please pray for our little man. He needs a full RECOVERY!! I hate to seem him this way.

Thanks, my friends.

Love,
Jamie

Soup's On

2008-12-05T03:18:00.000-05:00

Oh, friends! I have so much to dish about the roller coaster ride we've been on past two weeks or so, but I'm still processing it all. Meantime, take a peek at this recipe from Cooking Light. I made the Southwestern Chicken soup tonight and it is delicious!!! Perfect for a cold night- but not too heavy.

More to come!

Love you all and appreciate all your prayers.

Jamie

Jeju Island here we come!

2008-11-13T00:18:00.000-05:00

This afternoon I'm gearing up for our trip to Jeju Island this weekend. It's a squadron trip/retreat, so we'll travel with most of the guys Rob works with and their families. I'm excited to see more of this beautiful country as well as spend some time with friends. During our time away I also plan to prepare a devotion on prayer for our Bible study group next Wednesday and put together our Thanksgiving menu. Should be fun!

What may not be as much fun is figuring out how to continue potty training William during the trip. Oh, well- we'll make it work! Any tips???

After our trip, Rob's parents come in town for an extended visit! What a blessing. It's been quite a while since we've seen both of them and we're really looking forward to our time together. Hopefully, they'll get a good taste of Korean life and culture while they're here. They'll definitely get a good taste of turkey as we are on tabs to cook 4 for our church's Thanksgiving celebration! Bring on the oven mitts!

Love you guys-- hope to have a handful of pictures when we return!

In Christ,
Jamie

Oh, he's so going to kill me for this....

2008-11-12T00:57:00.000-05:00

We are in the thick of potty training in the French household. Have mercy. If you've potty trained a child-- you know what I'm talkin' about. It's no joke-- unless you have a little man who decides to do this:

Oh, there's so much to say about this photograph. First, yes, that is a toilet cushion on his head. He insists it's a hat. Hey, whatever works for you buddy! And the drink-- that cracks me up. He really wanted to make some pee-pee for his new potty! This shot was taken shortly after doing the Happy potty dance to celebrate the fact that Will went on the big boy potty for the FIRST TIME!! Woo-h00, go William!

Later, I decided to go with the birthday suit approach to potty training. In order to make sure William didn't get cold I donned the ski cap. (Most of our body's heat escapes through our head, right?!) Now, I have no idea what he's doing here- but if I had to take a stab, I'd say it involves flying a fast piece of aircraft!

Lord, keep me laughing through this process! In Jesus' name, AMEN!!

Why I Blog

2008-11-07T03:18:00.000-05:00

Too many times, as I know you've noticed, I get on the blogging band wagon and then drop off the face of the bloggy planet, so to speak. It's then that I have to remind myself why I blog in the first place:

1. To keep in touch with those I love-- and boy, do I love y'all.

2. To provide myself with a journal of sorts to hash out things on my heart.

3. For my third reason, I'll use a quote that I recently saw on my friend Annie's blog:

"A life recorded is twice precious, first the experience itself
and then the memory of it full and sweet when we read it again later."
-Unknown

Hopefully, through all of this I will glorify the Lord!

So, I'm jumping back on the blog wagon-- once again. And although there's lots to catch up on since my last entry-- if you don't mind, I'm just going to start right where we're at.

And where is that, you may ask???

Sitting on my couch, typing as my sweeties sleep, and dreading the massive amount of laundry I have waiting for me tonight. The silver lining? I'm going to hang out with my buddy Jamie tonight-- which will make folding socks A LOT more fun!!

I'll leave with you with some recent pics I've snapped!

Much Love-- Much Love,
Jamie

Congratulations, Major Dad!!!

Way to Go, Daddy!

Who would have known that Sadie threw up just minutes before this-- in the middle of the ceremony? Yes, poor thing got sick and spewed all over (including Daddy's jacket)-- we managed to get her and Daddy cleaned up in enough time for Daddy to pin on Major. NEVER a dull moment!

Happy Halloween!
Me with my little fighter pilot and sweet Rams cheerleader!

I love this shot! It cracks me up.
Sadie with her post-Halloween, sugar-induced daze!

What's that you say, Christmas in November??
That's what it felt like the morning William and Sadie opened their most
recent package from MiMi and PaPa!
They love their new reading chairs!!

Checking In

2008-10-20T10:51:00.000-04:00

Hey there, dear friends!

So much to catch up on, but not enough time to jot it all down. I'll leave it at this: God is GOOD-- all the time! Amen? AMEN!!!! Please enjoy this little slideshow until I get the chance to actually write something! Love you guys and appreciate your patience at this time!

Love,

Jamie

Get Well, MiMi!

2008-10-05T10:09:00.000-04:00

This was a video that Jamie put together last week for her mother, Mary (aka MiMi to her grandkids) while Mary was in the hospital. Praise God, MiMi is out of the hospital now and feeling much better!

You can also find the original video (larger, higher res) here.

Take Me Out to the Ballgame -- Korean-style!

2008-10-04T23:18:00.000-04:00

Hey everyone! Here's a video that Jamie put together from our visit yesterday to see a professional baseball game in downtown Daegu. Enjoy!

If you want to download the original (~60 MB, better resolution), you can get it here.

Update

2008-10-01T10:08:00.000-04:00

Friends and Family,

First, thank you for your prayers for my Mom and encouraging words! What a blessing. Praise God, Mom is out of the hospital! I just talked with her this afternoon and she was in good spirits and very thankful for everyone's thoughts and prayers. She is still on the road to recovery, but, by the grace of God, is doing much better.

What a GOOD God we serve! Being out of the country while my Mom suffered has made me appreciate the tremendous gift of prayer even more. For when I couldn't physically be by her side, I prayed and had to trust that the Lord would give her strength and comfort she needed. And, He did! Through his gentle Holy Spirit, the loving-kindness of my Dad and sister, Katie, and many other ways. Thank you Father taking care of my Momma!! And, again, thank YOU for interceding on our family's behalf.

I'll leave you with some encouragement on the subject of prayer that I read yesterday from the book, "Pray With Your Eyes Open" by Dr. Richard Pratt:

"Communication with God is our way of tapping into the power of the Lord of the universe. It is something we can use to move history towards its end more effectively and dramatically than any other human effort. In His sovereignty, God has made prayer a wonderfully powerful means by which we may interact with Him and effectively shape the course of history."

Those thoughts make me want to get on my knees! Love you guys!

In Christ,
Jamie

Prayer Call

2008-09-28T20:03:00.000-04:00

Dear Friends and Family,

Please keep my Mom, Mary, in your prayers. She is currently at St. Joseph's Health Center in excruciating pain after gallbladder surgery on Tuesday. Long story short, ever since her surgery she has been in terrible discomfort. The doctors thought they found the problem, but Mom has yet to find any rest from the immense pain.

I will ask you, dear prayer warriors, to lift my Mom up to the Lord! Please pray that the Lord will heal my Mom's body and give her comfort and strength beyond measure. Also, please pray that the Lord would give the Doctors wisdom to quickly address whatever is causing the pain. AMEN.

Thank you, my friends! My Mom is about the strongest, bravest woman I know. It's times like these that being on the other side of the world is the most difficult. Oh, how I wish I could be by her side as she has been for me ALL of my life.

Aloha!

2008-09-20T09:16:00.000-04:00

Not tons to report here in the French household. After a somewhat sleepless Friday night, tonight it'll be nice to dream about...

THE TEN NIGHT VACATION WE JUST BOOKED TO HAWAII!!!

Okay, I'm not excited at all, am I? We decided to take a LONG pit stop on the shores of Waikiki on our way home from Korea next April. We will stay at the Hale Koa military resort.

(The first picture, from tripadvisor.com, is a view from one of the rooms at the resort.)

Woo-hoo! We are pretty jazzed to have the chance to experience God's beautiful creation Hawaiian style! Better yet, my parents are joining us, too! God is good.

I'm sure the thought of our warm, Hawaiian getaway in April will help me through many a long winter nights here in South Korea!

Slam Eagles in Vegas: A Slideshow

2008-09-19T10:35:00.000-04:00

Okay... I'm finally getting around to posting some stuff from our Red Flag deployment! The following slideshow comes from our photos at Flickr. The photos were taken by USAF CMSgt Gary Emery. Most of them are of our arrival at Nellis Air Force Base, after ferrying the jets from the Boeing plant in St. Louis. Some of the photos are also from arming before, or dearming after, Red Flag sorties.

Enjoy!

Still Kickin'

2008-09-18T09:27:00.004-04:00

Just in case you happen to wander onto our family webpage and think we've all but closed up shop-- it's not so! We've gone 'private', but would still love to have you along for the ride for our overseas adventure! Just e-mail me at jamie@thefrenchfamily.org and I'll send you an invite to our blog. Here's one of our most recent posts:

If you haven't had one of these in a while...

...we highly recommend it! ;)

Last night Rob and I enjoyed our first, official 'date night' since we left the states!! The evening was courtesy of our sweet friends SJ and Gloria who offered to watch the little ones.

It was a simple dinner and a movie night. We dined with friends at a really nice Italian restaurant complete with garlic bread and lasagna. After dinner we walked through downtown to see the movie, "MaMa Mia" which we both thought was a lot of fun! Hopefully we'll make this date thing more of a habit!

In other news...

Look who graduated to pigtails!

You. Go. Girl.

Daegu Nights

2008-09-16T08:45:00.000-04:00

If you haven't had one of these in a while...

...we highly recommend it! ;)

Last night Rob and I enjoyed our first, official 'date night' in Korea!! The evening was courtesy of our sweet friends SJ and Gloria who offered to watch the little ones.

It was a simple dinner and a movie night. We dined with friends at a really nice Italian restaurant (yes, in Korea!) complete with garlic bread and lasagna. After dinner we walked through downtown Daegu to see the movie, "MaMa Mia" which we both thought was a lot of fun! Hopefully we'll make this date thing more of a habit!

In other news...

Look who graduated to pigtails!

You. Go. Girl.

Light the Night

2008-09-13T22:19:00.000-04:00

While we are extremely grateful for our adventure in South Korea, it's missing events like this that really make me miss home:

My rock star cousin, Kimmie, is a cancer survivor.

Last year Kimmie was diagnosed with Hodgkin's lymphoma and by the grace of God-- kicked its bootee'!

This past weekend many of our family and friends came out to support Kimmie at Light the Night, a walk to raise funds for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society. Kimmie's team raised $2000 and the entire event raised a half million dollars! Woo-hoo.

From what I hear, it was an extremely fun and moving night. Raising money for the Leukemia Lymphoma Society is also special to our family because my Mom's mom, our grandmother, Cathy, passed away from Leukemia in 1979 at the age of 49.

Congrats Kimmie and team on your success! We love you and can't wait for your visit in December!

(PS-- Kimmie, I hope you don't mind, I stole these pictures from your facebook page!)

St. Louis Trip Entry #3: Did Somebody Say Partee'?

2008-09-09T00:41:00.000-04:00

Before I start this entry, I just have to say how much it blesses my socks off each time I see a new name on our list of readers! Stephanie, Jessica B., and Terri Jo, welcome to the 'Eagles Over Korea' family! :) It's great to have you along for the ride!

I'm currently in the process of journaling about our recent trip the states while interspersing some current happenings. Bear with me as I savor up some super memories from our time in St. Louis!

Party Time!

Our first week in the Show-Me state was a whirlwind!

Shortly after our arrival, Rob's Mom, Susan, flew in town. It's always a treat to spend time with Susan! Unfortunately for her, her trips to St. Louis usually involve a major party or two which= lots of work! Thankfully, Susan is not afraid to get her hands dirty and graciously rolls up her sleeves to help. (Thanks, Susan!!)

Our first mission: The Welcome Barbecue for the Korean Pilots

Mom and Dad graciously offered to host the BBQ for the two dozen Korean pilots. If you know my parents well, this comes as absolutely no surprise to you. My family needs NO excuse to throw a party, but when we have one we're going to do it big and have a lot of fun doing it! :) One of the many reasons I love my family!! Anyhow, we hosted the barbecue on Thursday night and could not have done it with out the many friends and family who came to help. Thanks, guys!

All in all, the party was FANTASTIC! Our Korean guests of honor seemed to have a great time and were more than grateful for the party. Some of the highlights of the night for me include:

*Seeing our two worlds come together! I cannot tell you how wonderful it was to see my family interacting with our friends from Korea. It was a 'somebody pinch me is this really happening' type moment. As I think back on that night, I still stand in awe of our God!! To think that of all places, the Korean air crew stopped in St. Louis before Red Flag! Then, God opened the door for the kids and I to join Rob. To top it all off, my family had the chance to show hospitality to our new friends who have been so kind to us! I still get giddy just thinking about it! Thank you, Father! Oh, how you know just what your children need! :):)

*This is a random tidbit from the night, but it makes me laugh. My brother Matt was in town for his college summer break and at the party. He's a freshman at Drake University studying Pharmacy and enjoying college life (maybe a little too much!). Anyhow, at one point during the night Matt was playing ping pong with three Lt. Col.'s and didn't know it! It's hard to describe how funny it was then, but let's just say the sweat was dripping from his face. Koreans can sure play some ping pong! :)

*One of the neatest times of the party came towards the end of the night. We had an impromptu and wonderful sing along that one point included all of us singing "How Great Thou Art" in English and Korean. It was a very sweet time and won't soon be forgotten!

Thank you, my Heavenly Father for such a sweet night.

Our next mission: The Third Birthday Party-- now there's a story for 'ya!

We'll get there more next time....

Love you guys,

Jamie

We Interrupt Our Regularly Scheduled Programming...

2008-09-03T08:05:00.000-04:00

There's still lots more to share about our trip to St. Louis, but here's a look at what's going on nowadays:

Today is day two of getting back to our normal routine. And I must say, it feels good to get back into the groove! Rob had a four, yes, four day weekend upon our arrival to Korea which was HEAVENLY. Thankfully, our recovery from jet lag this time around was pretty easy. Everyone seems to be sleeping through the night. AMEN!

This weekend we kept things pretty low key with resting, grocery shopping, and laundry! woo-hoo. Sunday, our church family held its annual Duck Race, which was fun and amusing! :) After service, we went to a quaint lake just outside of the city where everyone got in paddle boats with big 'ole ducks on top. It was quite a sight to see. Will and Sadie loved riding in the Duck boats, but surprisingly we didn't win! ;)

Team French!

And, they're off!

Daddy's Co-Captain

Mommy tries to keep the life jack from swallowing Sadie!

They just don't make these boats for big folks like us, people!

PRESCHOOL: BACK IN CLASS!

Yesterday, we started our at-home preschool back up, which was fun. Will practiced his counting skills with Mommy's play-dough masterpieces...

and Sadie tried to eat fingerpaint!

Yep, it's good to be back!

Finally, this afternoon we took a short hiking field trip. Will did a great job hiking up and down the mountain, which in reality is a big hill in our "backyard" on base. Sadie took in the view from Mommy's back in her new carrier. It was a perfect afternoon activity after a particularly trying visit to the grocery store this morning.

Ahh, there's nothing like fresh air and open spaces to ward off whining!

View about half-way up the hill

My Little Hiker

View up the path

View from the top.
Gotta love the barbed wire, but look at those beauties in the distance!

Carefully making our way down the trail

Alrighty, that's about it from me! As always, thanks for taking the time to check out what's going with our family on the other side of the world!

Love you guys!
Jamie

St. Louis Trip Entry #2: Recovering from Jet Lag

2008-08-30T08:00:00.000-04:00

Medical experts say it takes about a day per time zone to recover from jet lag...which meant we had a full two weeks of recovery ahead of us. Actually, I don't think Will and Sadie's sleep schedule ever really got back to normal, but that didn't stop us from having a great time!

One of our first attempts to help Will and Sadie recover and sleep through the night was to completely wear them out! And, this beautiful pool my parents purchased helped aide in

that process:

After a while, the pool lost its flair and the surrounding mud took center stage!

There's nothing like summertime in St. Louis!

St. Louis Trip Entry #1: Let's Start At The Very Beginning...

2008-08-30T01:17:00.000-04:00

A very good place to start! Ahh, yes, our LONG journey to the Show-Me state. I still shudder when I think about the number of times we had to re-check our luggage and our many trips through security. Lord have mercy, I don't wish that trip on any parent with two toddlers! Praise God, we made it safely with no major mishaps!!

The day started very early as our flight left Daegu around 6 AM. After a brief jaunt to Seoul (think St. Louis to Chicago), we had to pick up our bags and re-check them for our flight to Japan. Next stop: security. Yay! You know how much we LOVE security!

Flight number two to Tokyo: down!

"Wait...you want us to do what? Re-check our bags, go through customs and security again? Have mercy, I need a diet Coke! Why in the WORLD did I decide to give up caffine just before this trip? What am I, a lunatic?"

Okay, don't answer that.

After making it through security in Japan, William and Sadie embrace as we prepare for our LONG flight from Tokyo to Chicago.

Will: "We can do this, Sadie!"

Sadie: "You want me to sit on that thing for how long? You've got to be kidding me!!"

You know the saying, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger"? I'd like to think being couped up in that jet for 12+ hours with a two and one-year-old made me a stronger person, if not a little looney! lol Okay, it wasn't that bad! We did many things to pass the time...including decorating Daddy!

Sadie: "Dad, this look really works for you!"

Needless to say, by the time we arrived in Chicago we were spent and ready to board our flight to St. Louis as quickly as possible. It took about all the strength I had to remain polite and kind as we went through customs, re-checked our bags, and went through security yet again. By the grace of God, we made it on the flight and within about an hour we were in St. Louis.

After 24 hours of traveling across the world, I cannot tell you how good it was to see my family!! By that time, we were running on steam and it was great to have the helping hands so that Rob and I could rest!! The marathon trip was over and our wonderful adventure in St. Louis was about to begin!!

We Made It!

2008-08-28T18:58:00.000-04:00

We made it! After 26+ hours of travel, we're back in our 'Korean home' as William calls it! Oh friends, it's such a bittersweet time. Our trip to the St. Louis area was one of the best EVER! The kiddos had such a blast at their MiMi and PaPa's house-- it was a true summer experience-- complete with lots of trips to the pool and popsicles!! Rob and I enjoyed a little getaway while he was TDY in Vegas!! We were also blessed with a visit from Gramma Sue and the Korean pilots-- WOW what a trip! So much to tell and, by golly, I'm going to do it...in baby steps. Hopefully I'll start uploading pictures to the blog later tonight.

Love you guys! Thanks for ALL your prayers as we traveled across the world yesterday.

In Christ,
Jamie

Red Flag "Safety" Video

2008-08-04T18:05:00.000-04:00

Tomorrow we depart for Red Flag. Here's a little video... it's the standard safety video everyone sees at Red Flag.

Eagles over... St. Louis!

2008-07-30T20:29:00.000-04:00

Ok, the Eagles aren't over Korea at the moment... they're over St. Louis!

As you're aware from my wife's much more frequent posts, we're back in the United States for a month, accompanying members of the ROKAF to Red Flag. Before visiting Nellis AFB in Nevada, however, we're staying for about a week in St. Louis. The ROKAF is finishing it's final acceptance of the six brand spankin' new F-15Ks that Boeing has produced. Cooler yet, I get to fly with them!

So, today I flew a new F-15K (just a couple hours total flight time on it) over St. Louis. It was a very vanilla mission--the purpose is to help get the ROKAF guys accustomed to flying in US airspace, speaking with US, and hence English-speaking, air traffic controllers. I was in the back seat, making sure that my Korean front-seater didn't get us violated, lost, or otherwise in trouble. Mission success, we're back on the ground in one piece, despite the weather doing it's best to not adhere to the forecast.

I'm excited about Red Flag coming up... it'll be a great time! There's actually another Red Flag, RF-N 08-3, currently going on (we'll being in RF-N 08-4). For your viewing enjoyment, here's some video of 7 Swedish Gripen fighters arriving for Red Flag 08-3. I'll have to admit, I'm not exactly sure what their formation is... 5, 6, and 7 look a little wide!

You Know What This Means....

2008-07-24T09:02:00.000-04:00

We are almost ready to go!! Our ride is coming to pick us up at 5:30 AM. We travel from Daegu to Seoul, Seoul to Tokyo, Tokyo to Chicago, Chicago to St. Louis...all in about 20 hours. Please pray for our safety and sanity as we travel with two toddlers!

And, no...

I don't really think I'll have time to read my books and magazines-- but I can always hope, right??

See you in St. Louis!! Can't wait!

Love,

Jamie

First Barbecue

2008-07-22T01:16:00.000-04:00

Rob, SJ, and the 'petite grill'

Rob and I hosted our first summertime barbecue on Sunday afternoon. It was kind of last minute, but we were thrilled that Gloria, SJ, and his brother, Sunny were able to join us! They are a great group to hang with, that's for sure! As Rob grilled up some burgers in the front area of our apartment he definitely caught the attention of some younger folks in our neighborhood!

"What's that crazy foreigner doing??"

It was funny, when our guests arrived they came upon the group of young'ns and they told them (in Korean, of course), "The foreigner told us not to touch it (speaking of the grill)!" We got a big kick out of that. 'The foreigner'...hmm, could make a great novel title, don't you think??? The rest of the pictures are courtesy of Sunny and his photo shooting skills ! Thanks for sending them my way-- you did a great job.

By the way, two days and counting till we take off for STL! :):)

Me and the Big City

2008-07-19T22:37:00.000-04:00

Saturday I took a 'Mommy Day Trip to Seoul'. Even though it rained the whole time and I spent about the same time on the train there and back than I did in the actual city, it was great! The main reason for the trip was to pick up our passports, which the Army was holding on to (another story there), because...well, we kind of need them to leave the country next Friday! The main reason I went on the trip instead of Rob is the shopping, of course! :):) I'll get there more in a minute.

The trip came at a great time. Friday was one of those days. To start, I woke up with a swollen forehead. I tend to freak out about these types of things, so I went on-line to see what horrible ailment could cause my head to expand. A tumor maybe? (insert really bad Arnold S. accent) Actually, I think it was more like a mosquito bite. Those skeeters are ruthless here. One bite and you're in pain, itching, and swollen. It that wasn't enough, the little peeps weren't in the most chipper mood (neither was I)... and by about 9AM I was asking myself, "Is it naptime yet????" I could go on and on, but you get the picture.

So, this is probably why my soaking adventure in Seoul didn't bother me much. I had about a two hour train trip there with almost total peace and quiet! Once I arrived, I got the passports, had lunch, and went to the PX on Youngsan Army Post where I made several purchases! After that it was on to the furniture store. I was looking for a some lamps and a rug-- no joy. Just when I had given up hope that this trip was really worth it after all... I saw a sign that read, Salon and that's all it took. I got a simple bang trim and my eyebrows waxed, but it felt like true pampering. Finally, armed with about 4 magazines, I made my way back to the train station and sat, again, for two uninterrupted hours while we made our way back to Daegu.

Divine.

Upon my arrival, Rob and the kids picked me up and I was immediately escorted to a dinner party for Rob's flight. We had some great food and met lots of new folks! It didn't even bother me...okay, it only bothered me a little that my hubby dressed the children in outfits I would have never picked out, or that I probably looked like I had been rained on all day-- oh, wait I had been-- it was still a great time. God is good!

Will check in again soon!

Love you guys,

Jamie

Fashion Focus

2008-07-19T22:27:00.000-04:00

Sadie just cracks me up! Her verbal skills are growing each day. This morning when we had her up on our bed she said, "I want get down!" or "I want down!" (something like that!) That's my girl. :) The little lady knows what she wants and has quickly learned how to let us know it, too!

And, she's an accessory queen. Yesterday before we walked out the door she grabbed her little white bow, handed it to me, and looked up and said, "Bow!" How could I forget Sadie? Then she went and grabbed her shoes. Yep, shoes and a bow and she's ready to go!

Morning Play

2008-07-16T19:17:00.000-04:00

Sheesh, I stop posting for a while and now you can't get rid of me! :) But, I've got quick 'typical William' story I'd like share and remember.

This morning after breakfast I glanced over at William, who was watching one of his favorite videos-- Fighter Pilot: Operation Red Flag. (He shares his father's fascination with things that fly!) He had pulled one of his chairs out of his room and this is what I saw.

"Umm, Will...what are you doing?"

William says, "I'm climbing the big 'ole ladder!"

I say something like, "The big 'ole ladder? Okay, buddy. Be careful!"

Then he proceeds to enlighten me that this is no ordinary 'big 'ole ladder', but that "he's climbing the ladder to get into an F-15."

Ah, yes, much like he did on this day a while back...

Yep, there's the big 'ole ladder! How could I have missed it? ;)

Love this boy and his sweet imagination!

(By the way, thanks for the great barbecue ideas! Keep 'em coming!)

Jaguar X-ray 1

2008-07-16T08:38:00.000-04:00

Hello, everyone... yep, Scrape still exists. You probably thought I'd stopped flying in Korea or something, what with the lack of posting!

The last month or so has seen some excitement. Exactly a month ago, I went to Kunsan Air Base with the 122 FS and 102 FS members who will be participating in Red Flag. We participated in Exercise Max Thunder, which was a great success. There were a lot of good lessons learned for my ROKAF brethren, including:

the basic daily flow of a Red Flag-like exercise--mission planning, execution, debrief, etc.
fighting against advanced threats
integrating with numerous other assets--most of them English-speaking!

It really was a great exercise. Kudos to the USAF guys involved in the planning, because they really did produce a very good facsimile of Red Flag, albeit on a smaller scale. Kudos as well to the ROKAF guys--they took it all in stride, and having been applying the lessons learned in daily flying since then.

Today was my first time leading a formation since I've been in Korea. Recently, I've been able to get out of the "Rent-a-WSO" slump that I'd been in for awhile (and no offense to my WSO bros--but that's just it, I'm not a WSO, which means I'm just not very good in the back seat!). Today, I led Jaguar X-ray formation, a 4-ship, accomplishing a 2v2 SAT sortie in the Eastern range complex (off the east coast of Korea--over the East Sea, which is NOT the Sea of Japan ;-)). Good lessons learned there, too:

I'm rusty. Never mind the admin differences between the USAF and the ROKAF--I haven't led a sortie in 4 months, and it showed.
Can't scoff the advanced threats. I got a good refresher back in February, but I think I've gotten a little lax.
Language in the air is more of a barrier than you might think. With English-speaking aircrew and GCI, one gets this idea that you're more independent than you really are. When the English is poor and/or heavily Korean-accented, you realize how dependent on outside information you sometimes are.
Back to the basics. I may have overcomplicated the scenario I built.
Having a continuous VUL with REGEN fields for Red Air when doing 2v2 is probably excessive.

Tonight I had dinner with the Wing Commander, as well as some of the other base higher-ups and reps from Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Raytheon. It was actually more fun than I might have anticipated... more relaxing, I suspect, than it would have been had I been having dinner with the wing king back at Seymour Johnson.

(As a note, the aircraft participating in Max Thunder included USAF F-16s from the 80th and 35th Fighter Squadrons at Kunsan, USAF F-15Es from the 389th Fighter Squadron based at Mountain AFB, Idaho, ROKAF KF-16s based at Kunsan, and of course the ROKAF F-15Ks from Daegu.)

Image credit

The Shoe Snatcher

2008-07-16T07:36:00.000-04:00

William's shoes

Hey, wait! That's not William!

It's Sadie the Shoe Snatcher!

Ah, the Snatcher's at it again-- this time it's sandals!

Watch your feet, people! :):)

And, We're Back!

2008-07-15T22:57:00.000-04:00

Sorry for the delay in posts!! I've been procrastinating, enjoying all of your blogs (those that have one and I'm aware of it), and reading some new ones. (If you need a good laugh, check out this post) But, after two sweet and dear friends e-mailed to see if we're still kicking-- I figured it was time to get my tail in gear and start typing! (Thanks for the motivation Sal and Brit! Love you guys!)

To start, we've settled in to our new and SPACIOUS apartment. God must have known we were going to need the extra space when we did, because within a few days of moving in Will came down with a virus (fever, puking, you know-- all that fun stuff) and Sadie followed shortly thereafter. Needless to say, we were cooped up in this lovely apartment for about 4 days-- which felt like an eternity! Thankfully, everyone is feeling much better, Mommy almost has her sanity back, and we're venturing out and about once again. Thank you, LORD!!!

The move itself was painless. We hired movers to pack our stuff, move it, and unpack it-- heck, they even swept the floor before they left. Yes, it was about a non-stressful as a move can get! The movers were such rock stars I asked them to pose for a picture. I'm telling you, I fit right in here with my picture taking addiction!

The other big news here is that we are leaving for the states in less than two weeks. Nine days to be exact. Don't ask me how it crept up so quickly-- but, it did!! We are very excited to spend a month with family and friends! Woo-hoo! Admittedly, it seems strange to leave when we got here just about 2.5 months ago, but it's for the best and we're thrilled to have this bonus time with our loved ones.

Our first week in town will be pretty busy. Rob, the kids, and I will arrive on the 25th. Two days later the Korean air crew will arrive (about 24 gentlemen, I believe). For the next week or so, Rob and the guys will work at Boeing-- preparing for Red Flag. (I can't tell you how cool it is to know that my hubby will be taking off in his F-15K from Lambert Airport!) When the guys actually have some down time, I've provided them with a list of potential activities to do in the STL area while they're here. Hopefully we'll be able to take them to some pretty cool places and do our great city justice! Some of the guys who are coming have never been to the states before-- so no pressure, huh?? Thursday night, my parents are graciously hosting a 'welcome barbecue' for all the pilots and air crew at their place. Should be lots of fun! Hopefully, we can really roll out the red carpet for them!

Well, I guess that's about it from me! Before I go, I want to get your input on some menu suggestions for our barbecue. What would you serve our Korean visitors to give them a true sense of an "authentic American barbecue"? I have some ideas, but I want your thoughts, too!

Love you guys!
Jamie

New Digs

2008-07-03T08:06:00.000-04:00

In the words of George Jefferson, "We're movin' on up!" That's right, in a couple of days we'll move into our new apartment!! After it was cleaned a couple of days ago, I took a handful of shots. We've come a long way from the apartment Rob was greeted with back in April. Our new one is currently baking. Enjoy the pictures..I think they show the apartment transformation most accurately.

Let's start at the very beginning...

(This is how apartment we live in now looked shortly after Rob arrived in Korea)

(Don't you love how the wallpaper is coming off the wall?!?)

(Living room after some fixin' up)

(The kitchen: Tight quarters, but it worked!)

And now....

(Drum roll please...the new kitchen!!)

(The living room area!)

(View from the entry way)

(The enclosed balcony)

(The other side of the enclosed balcony)

(Here's a picture of our current enclosed balcony to compare)

(In the master bedroom-- do you see it, it's a CLOSET??? And, it's one of SEVERAL!! Yay!)

Thank you LORD for the opportunity to have more space and hopefully entertain many guests! Now I can't wait to make this place homey, too!

First Korean Cooking Lesson

2008-07-03T00:44:00.000-04:00

Earlier this week, my sweet friend Min-hwa invited me up to her place to learn how to make kimbap! Not too long ago our families had a picnic together at a local park and Min-hwa served kimbap. Both Rob and I really enjoyed it, so I was eager to learn how to make them!

Wikipedia describes kimbap as "a popular Korean "fast" food made from steamed white rice (bap) and various other ingredients, rolled in gim (sheets of dried seaweed) and served cold in bite-size slices. Gimbap is often eaten during picnics or outdoor events, or as a light lunch, served with danmuji or kimchi." That's a pretty accurate description! The final product: Healthy and very GOOD!

Cure for the 'Monday Blues'

2008-06-30T01:10:00.000-04:00

How a ho-hum Monday morning turned into a GREAT morning=

MiMi (who is in St. Louis, MO) reads a story about airplanes to Will and Sadie (who are in Daegu, South Korea) over the Internet!!!

WE LOVE SKYPE!!! More accurately, we love seeing and talking to our family and friends through skype (when the calls don't drop, that is!). If you don't have an account get one-- and let's chat soon! skype.com

By the way, it's free!

Love,
Jamie

A Stoplight, Jets, and Mountains

2008-06-27T01:27:00.000-04:00

"I lift up my eyes to the mountains—where does my help come from?

My help comes from the LORD, the Maker of heaven and earth.:

Psalm 121:1,2

Today as I drove back on base after a training at Camp Walker, I was filled with joy as I thought of some of the reasons I love living here in Daegu. This particular train of thought was sparked by a stoplight-- no ordinary stoplight, though. This particular road signal turns red when jets are approaching the runway. Thus, shortly after I hit the brakes two F-15K's (at least that's what they looked like to me!) swept across the sky, right in front of my eyes. The jets were so close it kind of took my breath away. VERY COOL. I don't know, but something about those powerful jets and the thought that God has blessed my hubby with the opportunity to fly one gets me pumped up! Then, as I accelerated towards our home, the beautiful backdrop of mountains caught my attention. I have ALWAYS wanted to live near the mountains and, of all places, God has brought us to Korea so I can live that dream. We have yet to go hiking, but, oh, yes, it's going to happen and I can't wait. Meantime, I'm simply thankful for the view.

The view from the road on my drive home (A little hazy in the mid afternoon hours- but those beauties are still there!)

Will, Rob, me, Sadie, and 'the jet'!

Bake-Out??

2008-06-25T07:13:00.000-04:00

The process of moving into our new apartment has officially begun! Earlier this week, I had the chance to peek in on one with an identical floor plan and in a word- WOW. It is very spacious and beautiful! Yesterday, a friend on base stopped by to answer some of my questions about the move. Questions like, "Will you please call the moving company for me???" (Which Sue graciously agreed to do!) Probably the most interesting tidbit I gathered from our conversation is that we should 'bake out' our apartment before we move into it. I'm thinking, "We need to what?" A 'cook out', maybe, to celebrate the move, but a 'bake out'-- what's that?? Well, here's what I found out...

According to this article online, several years ago the Korean Ministry of Environment put out new standards for indoor air quality. Apparently after looking at some research which "...showed that residents in newly built houses often experienced Sick House Syndrome, which causes eye irritation, nasal congestion, severe headache, and/or bloating," they decided to do something about it.

Sick House Syndrome. Nice.

Along with other policies set in place by the Air Quality Management Act, the MOE recommends that citizens use the bake-out strategy as a "a countermeasure against Sick House Syndrome"

And, my friends, here's how you bake-out your apartment:

"Bake-out strategy involves sealing up the building as best as possible (closing all windows and doors, sealing up airbricks, gaps under doors, etc.), raising the internal temperature to their highest setting for 48 hours, and afterwards, thoroughly airing out the space. By doing this the pollutant chemicals are rapidly released and diffused, reducing their subsequent risk over a longer period."

Well, there you go. I guess we'll be baking this weekend...in a whole new way!

No More Being Tossed

2008-06-23T00:15:00.000-04:00

"But when he asks, he must believe and not doubt, because he who doubts is like a wave of the sea, blown and tossed by the wind."

James 1:6

Emotions are funny. Some days, I feel on top of the world here in Korea-- like nothing can stop God from providing my every need! I'm at peace, truly joyful, and thankful for where God has us. And then there are other days where guilt from my inadequacies as a mother, wife, Christian (you name it) or doubts that I've made the right choices seem to squash that invincible feeling. For instance, I was super pumped Friday after we decided to move into the bigger, new apartment. And then, like a nagging mosquito bite, the doubts came this weekend. Thoughts like, "What will some of the other Korean families think since we received a 'bigger' apartment and they didn't?" There were other thoughts like these and are other situations like this in my life, but my point is this: I'm tired of being tossed by the wind. I need to pray about decisions and then let my 'yes' be 'yes' and my 'no' be 'no' and get on with it! Amen? I pray that I'll be firmly planted in God's truth so that I won't doubt or worry about my decisions. Because, like my Momma always says, "Worry is payment in advance for something you may never own!" Love that advice-- now I just need to put it into practice.

Back on the homefront, we've had a good start to the week. This morning, we completed two preschool lessons, played with playdough, had a quiet reading time so Mommy could do her bible study while Will and Sadie thumbed through some of their books, and enjoyed lunch with Daddy. Good times. Will's tantrums seem to be dissipating which is really great!

This weekend was a busy one as we hosted another dinner party on Saturday night and attended a church congregational dinner on Sunday. Saturday night Rob treated me by cooking the entire feast-- we had a Greek dinner complete with homemade tzatziki sauce and souvlaki-- mm-mm good! Min-hwa, GQ, and little Min-Jee joined us as well as friend from church, SJ and Gloria. SJ's brother was in town so he came, too! We enjoyed the good food and even had a little jam session towards the end of the night.

Sunday, after our church service members of the congregation went out for dinner at this really great Kalbi restaurant. It was nestled at the foot of a mountain and was really a neat place to take the crew. Rob and I both commented that when we have family in town we'll take y'all here!

That's about it from me. I hope everyone enjoyed their weekend!

Love in Christ,

Jamie

My Hubby's a TV Star!

2008-06-20T09:08:00.000-04:00

I've gotta toot my man's horn a bit tonight! Recently, the Armed Forces Network interviewed Rob about his current job. Here's the video that ran this past week. Way to go, honey! You look and sound great. And, just in case you miss it, dear reader, experience is extremely important! Sorry honey, I couldn't help myself!;)

Rob was also interviewed by Stars and Stripes for a soft "personal interest" type of story. Here's a link to the online version.

Man, I'm married to a regular celebrity in these parts!

Is It Friday Already??

2008-06-20T01:55:00.000-04:00

"Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their labor. For if they fall, one will lift up his companion. But woe to him who is alone when he falls for he has no one to help him up." Ecclesiastes 4:9-10

Whew! It's hard to believe that my hubby will be back home in a couple of hours! Where did the time time go and how did the week fly by in a flash? I'll tell you how-- gracious friends who made time for us! Since we last caught up, we continued to enjoy our first week of Preschool, hosted a little dinner party, hung out with Asher and Jin-Young , and spent time the Ayer crew. I'm pooped and it feels GREAT! Before I share a quick recap of the past few days, Rob called with some pretty nifty news this afternoon and I'm pumped to tell somebody about it!! We are moving into a brand new, BIGGER apartment ASAP!! Isn't God awesome?? Don't get me wrong, we are content here in our smaller apartment (it's about 700 square feet, I think), but the thought of having more space for Will and Sadie to run about and play (especially as the monsoon season is around the corner and winter will here before we know it which = lots of time spent indoors) and the opportunity to show hospitality to more people is AWESOME!! Thank you, Lord. Okay, now that I got that off my chest onto our recap.

First, the preschool lessons-- I am LOVING this program. This week with Will and Sadie has been one of the best I can remember! We have really enjoyed the activities and three a day seems just right! I also like that they are short enough that we can enjoy an outing most days, too, with out it seeming like too much. I'm so glad we invested this program! Here, Will and Sadie practice making squares with their fingers in pudding. A little messy, yeah, but they enjoyed it!!

Wednesday night three ladies and their little ones joined us for dinner. It was a great night. I told Rob on the phone later that I feel most at home in Korea when we have people into our home. I think I get that from my Mom!! :):) Anyhow, we laughed, we ate, we drank, and enjoyed the company. Oh- and the Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta recipe was fantastic. It's super easy and got great reviews. Here's a copy of the recipe-- try it, I don't think you'll be disappointed!!!!!

-------------------------------------------------------------------------

Creamy Cajun Chicken Pasta Recipe #39087 (From: Recipezaar.com)
N'awlin's style of chicken with an up-dated Alfredo sauce.
by Lorac
25 min 10 min prep
SERVES 2 (I doubled it!)
2 boneless skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
4 ounces linguine, cooked al dente
2 teaspoons cajun seasoning
2 tablespoons butter
1 thinly sliced green onion
1-2 cup heavy whipping cream
2 tablespoons chopped sun-dried tomatoes
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon dried basil
1/8 teaspoon ground black pepper
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 cup grated parmesan cheese

1. Place chicken and Cajun seasoning in a bowl and toss to coat.

2. In a large skillet over medium heat, sauté chicken in butter or margarine until chicken is tender, about 5 to 7 minutes.

3. Reduce heat add green onion, heavy cream, tomatoes, basil, salt, garlic powder, black pepper and heat through.

4. Pour over hot linguine and toss,with Parmesan cheese.

---------------------------------------------------------------------

Thursday, we were blessed to spend time with Jin-Young, a friend from church, and her 2-year-old son, Asher. They met us at the "Little Bear Cafe" for some play time and then we headed back to our place for lunch. That afternoon, Jin-Young and Asher even did one of our pre-school lessons with us! It involved tracing Will and Asher's body on a big sheet of paper and decorating it to learn more about body parts. Good times.

Today we spent time at Julie's house for some fun with her three little ones and a new friend and her three children. They have a great house full of interesting toys for Will and Sadie to explore-- not to mention the wonderful conversation with two Christian Moms!

Well, I think naptime is about over-- so I'll sign off for today. I hope everyone is doing well and please continue to lift up little Spencer and the Rollins' family-- they need every prayer they can get. Again, if you'd like more on their story you can read this well written news article.

Love you guys!
Jamie

Prayers, and More

2008-06-17T00:57:00.000-04:00

"But I will restore you to health and heal your wounds," declares the LORD.

Jeremiah 30:17

Before I start today's post, my heart is heavy for the Rollins' family. I just read their most recent carepage update and little, 2-year-old Spencer's heart is having some issues again. I won't go into details but ask you to please pray that the Lord will heal this heart so that he will NOT have to go into surgery again. If you'd like to read more about this family of faith and their journey you can go to carepages.com , sign up for an account, and search for 'spencerlewis' to get to their carepage. Thanks for your prayers, my friends!

Well, we're truckin' right along this week even though we miss having Daddy with us! Yesterday, we started our first day of preschool for William (and Sadie, too!). All in all, I think things went well. Will really seemed to enjoyed starting the day at the imagination circle which happens to be an Air Force blanket (with jets on it, of course!) )that my Mom made for him. There, we prayed, sang, talked about the weather and the calendar and then went right into the 'phonics' lesson for the day. The lesson was to basically teach him to trace a straight line from one object to another, from left to right. Will was all over it and really seemed to enjoy it! Later in the day we did a music lesson that focused on learning to clap on the beat-- Psalty the Singing Song Book helped us out with that. And finally, before bed, we did activity three which was a bible lesson on the story of Jonah. I really look forward to seeing both of them grow through it all.

In all honesty, I don't plan on homeschooling our children long term. The Lord has not laid that on my heart-- at least not at this time! The main reason I ordered the homeschool preschool program is because once William turned three I had hoped to get him into a preschool a couple days a week-- which isn't a simple thing to do living in Korea. He really seems to crave structure and I thought it would be good for him. Since we don't have easy access to an English speaking preschool here (we are living on a Korean air base after all!), I thought it would be good for ALL of us to try this route. The curriculum will help me come up with ideas each day to stimulate their little minds and hearts-- and boy, do I need those ideas! I'll keep you posted on our progress.

This morning we hung out at the pool with the Women's bible study group at Camp Walker. It was an indoor pool and both Will and Sadie wanted to jump right in-- which was a little disconcerting given I only have two hands! They both seemed to love the water and it was great to hang out with some other Momma's this morning-- although, with two toddlers and a pool involved, my focus was mostly on them!! :):)

We've got something planned for each day the rest of the week which should, again, help the time fly by. Tomorrow night some of the Korean wives I've met on base are coming over for dinner. It'll be nice since our hubbies are out of town. I plan to serve a Cajun chicken pasta with Italian salad, bread, and apple pie for dessert. Not quite kimchi, so I hope they like it! I continue to praise the Lord for the grace He gives me each day we're here. I can't help but praise Him for it!

I'll leave you with some pics we shot this weekend when Min-hwa and G-Q (yes, his name is pronounced G-Q, like the magazine! Too funny.) took us shopping and to the park on Saturday. Good times!

(Aren't they a cute family??)

Thanks, again, as always, to those who are praying for us!!

Love you guys,
Jamie

Weekend Round-Up

2008-06-15T08:17:00.000-04:00

"As a father has compassion on his children, so the LORD has compassion on those who fear him;" Psalm 103:13

The weekend is coming to a close here in the French household. Rob is on the couch strumming 'Amazing Grace' on the banjer', the kiddos are tucked into their beds, and I have just finished organizing my 'game plan' for tomorrow. Things are winding down before the new week begins.

This week Rob will travel to Kunsan air base for an exercise while I stay here in Daegu with Will and Sadie. We initially thought we would travel with him in order to be together as a family and see more of Korea. Yet, the more we found out about the air base it became pretty clear that it would be best for us to hang back here. ( ie. no playgrounds, no kitchenettes in the rooms, etc.) I'm going to try and keep us fairly busy while Rob's gone to help make the time apart go by more quickly.

Earlier, I mentioned how I'm getting my 'game plan' together for the week-- that now includes implementing a new Preschool homeschool curriculum I ordered a couple weeks ago. My motivations for starting this program are to add more structure to our days, have fun teaching Will and Sadie new things, and to hopefully reduce Will's tantrums/whining. We'll see how it goes! So, I told William that tomorrow is his first day of preschool and his alarm is set to go off at 7AM (No, he doesn't sleep in-- this is actually to keep him from getting up any earlier!!). The curriculum is called, Hands On Homeschooling and written by Terri Wilson, a former preschool teacher. It includes daily lesson plans with three activities a day. The focus of these activities include Phonics/reading/writing, Arithmetic, Bible & Spiritual growth, Physical Movement, Music, Manners, Social Studies, Science/Health, Readiness Skills, and Personal Care. Obviously, each activity is geared towards a toddler-- so they'll be relatively simple. I'm really looking forward to getting started!

On another note, I talked to my Dad this morning and he told me that the memorial service for my Grandma Bunny was very nice and that a good number of people were in attendance. What wonderful news! I only wish that we could have been there.

Speaking of Dads...a very special shout out to my Dad on this Father's day!Wow. Words can't describe how much my Dad means to me. His patience, love, and encouragement are priceless. Dad has this way of making everything seem okay-- no matter what! His sound wisdom has helped me make decisions or simply put things in proper perspective when I'm worrying too much. LOVE YOU DAD! Happy Father's Day!! (Oh, yeah-- he's a pretty awesome PaPa, too!)

And, of course, my hubby celebrated Father's day, too! Ever since we dated I knew in my heart that Rob was going to be an awesome Dad. And, from the moment little William was born-- it's been true! His love for Will and Sadie is evident in so many ways! From making forts/tents in William's bedroom just for fun, showering his baby girl with oodles of compliments and kisses, to already instilling God's word in their young hearts-- my hubby is an awesome Daddy! Not to mention he gives baths, changes diapers, and just about anything else without batting an eye! What a man. :):)
Happy Father's Day, Honey!

And, I can't leave out my Father-in-law, Bob! Besides helping to raise the son I'm blessed to call my husband, he's an unbelievable cook and has a wit about him that always leaves me laughing! Thanks for taking me into your family, Bob! And thank you for all the lovin' you show our little ones, too!

Happy Father's Day!

Love,
Jamie

Korean LFE, Backseat Landings, Max Thunder

2008-06-13T07:53:00.000-04:00

This past week, the ROKAF hosted their own Large Force Exercise (LFE), consisting of a couple dozen aircraft. I could say it went exactly as I'd have liked, but it didn't. There were definitely some lessons to be learned on all sides, for both Blue and Red Air. I won't go into many details on all of that, of course.

However, I think it was decent preparation for next week's exercise, which in turn should be good preparation for Red Flag in August. Next week we (that is, the ROKAF) will be flying with the USAF up at Kunsan in an exercise called Max Thunder. Besides even more aircraft, this exercise will be a good test and challenge for the ROKAF because it will remove most of their ability to fall back on speaking Korean as a crutch. Really the only Korean they'll be able to speak will be intraflight. If they discover that their English isn't where they thought it was, then hopefully I will be able to push through my goal of having them only brief and debrief in English until Red Flag. (No ulterior motives, right? Ha! Then I'll actually know what I'm doing in my sorties...)

Yesterday I got myself a backseat landing in the F-15K. It's been a little while since I've done a backseat landing, but it worked out fine. It finished off a sortie in which I'd pretty much been sitting on my hands in the back seat--the front-seater wanted to try to do everything, in preparation for an upcoming sortie in which he'll be toting around some higher-up who is not familiar with the F-15K.

Today was another 4v4 SAT sortie. We do a lot of 4v4's around here... and I'm not complaining! It's good stuff! I did have one pilot complain to me about doing so many SAT sorties recently, however... it definitely takes a lot less work to just go fly a BFM or ACM sortie! It's good that we're doing these, though, especially with Red Flag coming up... just a little over a month and we'll be back in the States for a good four weeks or more!

For the visual stimulation, here's a little Korean Air Force promo video from YouTube, with a goofy soundtrack.

Kindred Spirits and More!

2008-06-13T00:51:00.000-04:00

"Praise ye the Lord. Praise ye the Lord from the heavens: praise him in the heights. Let every one from the angels in heaven to the smallest child on earth praise The Lord." Psalms 148:1

This morning Will, Sadie, and I enjoyed some fun in the sun with new friends. Julie, the awesome Christian woman who invited me to the Bible study on Camp Walker earlier this week, hosted a playdate with our crew-- and man, was it just what the Doctor (with a capital "D") ordered. You know how sometimes you meet a new friend and you just kind of feel like kindred spirits? Uh-huh. Well, meeting and hanging out with Julie is God's way of saying to me-- you're gonna make here on the other side of the world! Julie has three beautiful children, Ella (5), Caleb (3), and Maija (1). Her husband, Dave, is a pediatrician on base, and they both love the Lord! I had great time chatting with Julie this morning-- God brought such a comfort level to our conversation is was almost funny! Praise Him. And, the kiddos did really well together. Caleb and Will and very close in age and I think he'll be a great little buddy for him while we're here. Both Will and Sadie were ALL about the water fun! Thanks, Julie for your hospitality!!

I also have to mention the fun time we had Thursday morning with Min-hwa and her little man, 9-month-old, Min-Jaee. She took us to another fun indoor play area-- this one was called the "Mini House Kid's Cafe", I believe. I can't say enough about Min-hwa's English speaking skills-- we can joke together, which is a true sign that someone has a handle on a language. We look forward to hanging out with them again tomorrow.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to attend my Grandma's funeral this weekend, but we'll definitely be there in thought and prayer. I pray that Grandma's memorial service will be a chance for those who don't know the Lord to come closer to Him. For after all, none of us escapes death-- this world is ultimately not our home-- and what a blessed assurance it is to know that through Christ, we can be sure of our eternal security! Amen??

Hope everyone is doing well!

In Christ,

Jamie

A Tribute to Grandma Bunny

2008-06-11T01:20:00.000-04:00

"Then I saw a new heaven and a new earth.....And I heard a loud voice from the throne saying, "Now the dwelling of God is with men, and He will live with them. They will be His people, and God Himself will be with them and be their God. He will wipe every tear from their eyes. There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain, for the old order of things has passed away." (Rev. 21:1,3-4)

Today I received the news that my Dad's mom, our sweet Grandma Bunny, has gone to be with the Lord. Her passing brought mixed emotions, I think, for all of us. You see, for quite some time Grandma Bunny had been battling severe Alzheimer's and dementia. With that in mind, the thought of Grandma Bunny in heaven with a new body and MIND, rejoicing with our Lord is very, very comforting. Yet we still mourn the loss of such a wonderful woman who left a tremendous legacy as a wife, mother, grandmother, sister, and friend. Some of my dearest memories of Grandma Bunny include simply spending time together, the wonderful parties she hosted, and most of all-- the love she showed, her warm smile, and laughter.

Grandma Bunny had this way of making everything I told her about my life seem exciting! I recall how she would endlessly listen to me blab on about what was going on in my life-- and she really seemed to LOVE hearing about it! I can't tell you how much that meant to me. Her unending support and love followed me wherever I went... even if that meant traveling to Mexico, Missouri in the summer heat to watch her granddaughter compete in the Miss Missouri pageant!

Growing up we had several weekend trips to Grandma's house while my parents went out of town. Wow. Those were the best! I'll never forget how Grandma would save up quarters -specifically- for trips to Chucky Cheese. To a youngster, that is the absolute coolest! From raking leaves in the back yard to eating her 'out of this world' rice krispy treats-- spending time at Grandma's house was very special.

Grandma Bunny was also a fantastic hostess. She had countless birthday parties at her home complete with a delicious home cooked meal and entertainment, too. Twenty questions was one of her favorite group games to play. Hosting parties was one of the many ways she showed her love of family.

These are just a few of the many wonderful memories I have of my sweet Grandma Bunny. What a blessing it is to know that she passed peacefully with my Dad right by her side, along with my Mom and other family members. Now, she is with the Lord, she is truly in a better place.

Can't Wait Any Longer

2008-06-10T01:29:00.000-04:00

Each time I attempt to blog there always seems to be some 'task' calling my name. Usually it's laundry, dishes, or yeah, ...laundry. But today I say, "No! I'm going to sit down and check in with my blogger friends and get to it all later! Amen." Whoo, that felt good. lol Seriously, sorry for the lapse in posts but, praise God, it's mostly because we've actually had stuff on our calendar to do with here in Daegu. Here's a quick recap of what we've been up to:

Friday, a couple from Dongshin church invited us to hang out at the "Little Bear Cafe" (think Chucky Cheese on steroids!). Chin Young is from the local area and her husband, Nathan, is from the states. They have a cutie 2-year-old boy named Asher. Nathan preaches at the English speaking service we attend and Chin-Young periodically leads worship. Long story short-- we really dig this new couple God has brought into our lives!! We had a great time as the kiddos ran around trying new things. After the play time we had dinner at a Korean restaurant where we grilled our own meat at the table. It was quite good! We hope to see more and more of this great family!

Saturday, Narina, another great gal from Dongshin Church, hosted a Mum's and Bub's get together (she's from New Zealand). There were about 8 momma's who attended with their little ones. It's was great to talk and laugh with some new friends. This group gets together about once a month.

Sunday, we went to church and then we were off to a birthday party. A couple from the states hosted the gathering and, wow, do they have a place! It's on the 27th floor of a beautiful apartment complex. Very nice. The guy who lives there works for Boeing and it was his wife's birthday. Anyhow, it was fun to meet some more new folks and eat some really great food!

Monday, was spent recovering from the busy weekend-- mostly catch up type stuff. We did take a quick trip to Homever again. That's kind of eventful, I guess! :)

This morning I attended the first women's bible study meeting of the summer over at Camp Walker. I found out about the study through a 'God moment'! During Sadie's 15 month appointment, I found out that the Dr. is a Christian and he told me that his wife was involved with a women's Bible study group on post. His wife and I met at the commissary on Saturday (divine appointment!) and she told me about the meeting today. They have a beautiful family with a 5,3, and 1 year old. (I thought I was busy!) The meeting was at a park and there were about 10 moms in attendance. And, my new friend and I plan to have a playdate on Friday morning!!

I hope all of this didn't bore you too much. It's really just a big 'ole praise report. Those of you who know me well know that I'm a people person. Isolation is not good for this woman. So, to see how God is filling up our calendar is beautiful!

All in all, we are doing well. Do I have my moments? Yes. One in particular last week brought me to my knees in tears. But, truly, it's in those moments that I'm reminded that I am a sheep in need of the Great Shepherd-- that's when He carries me.

Much love to all! Please continue to keep in touch-- your e-mails, comments on the blog, and skype calls bring me MORE JOY than you'll ever know!

In Christ alone,

Jamie

Yes, I do work (or at least, fly)

2008-06-07T09:29:00.000-04:00

I know, I know... here I go and start this blog, and then go for weeks without posting to it. No excuse, sir!!!

I'll start with some video, and then I'll do a quick recap of the past couple weeks of flying. This is some F-15K stuff I found on YouTube:

Ok... so, I finished my 3-ride spin-up program. I mentioned those rides, I believe. Subsequently, pretty much all I've been doing is 4v4 Surface Attack Tactics (SAT) sorties. This is actually pretty cool, for a couple of reasons.

First of all, the F-15K squadrons are the only ROKAF units, to my knowledge, that currently employ as 4-ships. The F-5s, F-4s, and KF-16s all employ as 2-ships, as far as I know. So the F-15K aircrew are taking the step forward to employ in what we, in the USAF, consider the basic fighting unit of aircraft. The 2-ship is the fundamental unit for employment, but the 4-ship is really the basic tactical unit.

Second, SAT is really what we/they need to be doing to get ready for Red Flag. Opposed SAT sorties embody the integration of all of the various "pieces of the puzzle" that an F-15E or F-15K aircrew member learns. Red Flag will put them together on a much larger scale than the ROKAF has seen, at least in the last 15-20 years (I believe they may have attended Red Flag in the early 90s, although obviously not with F-15Ks).

In addition to 4v4 SAT sorties, we've also participated in a Large Force Exercise (LFE) or two. Actually, the only one I've flown in so far was pretty minor. There was only a 2-ship of Red Air, and maybe 6-9 Blue Air jets total. So, pretty small. This coming week, however, we'll be executing a 40-jet (or so) LFE, which should be pretty exciting. That's in preparation for another exercise which will in turn be preparing us for Red Flag.

All in all, exciting stuff. I fly a lot here... I'm on the schedule almost every day. It's busy, but I'm not complaining!

I'll tell you what... for a non-Patch, I really do feel like I've been blessed to be able to stay in "this" (F-15E, F-15K... close enough) jet for a pretty long time--five-and-a-half years consecutive now, and counting.

Go Speed Racer!

2008-06-02T06:22:00.000-04:00

Today, I did it. I took the plunge and got in the driver's seat to travel across town to Camp Walker. Was I nervous? Uh, yeah, a little! Seriously, the drivers around here scare me-- especially the Taxi cabs. People warned me how driving around here is crazy and now I get it! Up until now, anytime we've traveled in the city Rob has driven. Anyhow, today was a practice run for Wednesday morning when I'll take Sadie to her 15 month doctor's appointment on Camp Walker on my own. Thankfully, we made it in one piece, no fender benders, and it was actually kind of fun. We'll see how Wednesday morning goes! Now that I've driven off base-- watch out Daegu, here I come! :):)

Keepin' It Real

2008-06-02T00:00:00.000-04:00

We're still here, just recovering from a little sickness. This past week Sadie baby came down with some virus and it hit her pretty hard. We ended uptaking her to a Korean pediatric clinic this weekend to check out her ears and throat-- with the help of a friend who could translate, of course! The clinic was similar to an urgent care for children. The whole visit cost about $18 (that's without insurance) and Sadie got some antibiotics out of it-- which is already making her feel MUCH better! Praise the Lord. So, my lack of sleep, taking care of my sickling, and trying to gracefully deal with my two year old's meltdowns have kept me from checkin' in...sorry about that!

I do have some great news though- the Lord blessed us with very affordable tickets (at about half the price we were originally quoted) to St. Louis! The whole trip is really coming together. Before Rob and the Korean air crew head to Las Vegas for Red Flag they'll conveniently stop in St. Louis to pick up some new F-15K's at Boeing. (Can I get a loud, 'Woo-hoo!'?) So, Rob will be able to fly with me and the kiddos to St. Louis and back to Daegu-- Praise the Lord! And, the Korean air crew will be staying in St. Louis from the end of July to August 5th. You know my family is already planning an American style barbecue for our Korean visitors!

After that, it'll be pretty intense at Red Flag for Rob so the kiddos and I will hang with the fam in St. Louie. Although, I plan to visit Rob in Vegas for a long weekend...or maybe even longer- really looking forward to that! :) After Red Flag wraps up (about the 22nd of August), Rob will fly one of the F-15K's back to St. Louis and we'll have about 4 days to 'chill' together before we head back to Korea. Should be nice! So, dear friends and family, let's start making some plans!!

I'll leave you with a snapshot of our first dinner guests. Mickey, his lovely wife and two little ones had to endure our American cooking for a night! ;) Rob's banjo playing was the hit of the night!

Love you guys!
Jamie

Weekend Wrap-Up

2008-05-25T06:54:00.000-04:00

We hope you had a wonderful weekend, although for most of you reading this your weekend is only about half way over as I type this (it's Sunday morning in the states!). Over the weekend, we enjoyed our first Korean homemade dinner with some new friends, stocked up at Camp Walker, and visited another wonderful church. Man, the weekends do go by too fast!

Friday night our neighbors upstairs, Shousand (his call-sign) and Min-hwa, invited us to dinner. Min-hwa made us a delicious feast that included bulgogi (spiced beef), kimchi, vegetables, and other items I can't remember! We ate Korean style (sitting on the floor) and enjoyed finding out more about the area. Unfortunately the youngest members of our family were a wee bit tired (read: cranky) which forced us to leave a little earlier than we'd have liked, but it was still a fun time-- in between meltdowns. Ha! Hopefully we can return the favor soon and serve them an American feast!! :):)

Saturday was spent stocking up on groceries and other household items. Not much to report about Saturday!

Today we visited another English speaking service, this time at Dongshin church. We really liked it! There were a lot of westerners and a handful of young children around Will and Sadie's age. About a hundred people attended and many people greeted us after the service. The preaching was solid and easy to follow and the worship was great! Methinks we'll be back again next Sunday. Thank you, Lord! (It looks like they've already signed William up for music ministry)

We were feeling at home after the English speaking service we kept the theme going and went here for an early dinner--

Yep, the 'king' lives in Daegu! Burger King, that is. (We know you know that the true KING lives here, too!)

Today was also a big day for Sadie as she graduated from the headband bow to the barrett bow! Momma's been waiting for enough stands of hair to hold the barrett in place! :) ha!

Finally, if you think of it, please say a prayer for our family regarding some upcoming travel plans. Rob will be in the states for about a month in August for Red Flag and the kiddos and I would really like to join him-- but ticket prices are astronomical. Pray that the Lord bless us with cheaper tickets, and, if not, that he'd give me the grace to make it through a month flying solo with a one and two-year-old in a foreign country!

Thanks, friends!

Love in Christ,

Jamie

Spotlight on Sadie

2008-05-22T07:25:00.000-04:00

I couldn't help but snap this shot of Miss Sadie as she DOWNED cherry tomatoes with her dinner tonight. They are one of her new favorite foods-- and I've learned from experience to strip her down before she digs into the yummy veggie. The cherry tomatoes are excellent and cheap here! Woo-hoo! I knew I was bound to find some bargains-- it's in my genes! :):)

While we're one the subject of our little lady, I thought I make this post just about her and spotlight how she's growin' up! As I've mentioned in previous posts, Will and Sadie tend to attract attention when we're out and about. And let me tell you, Sadie is LOVING it! She waves to people all the time with her sweet and soft "Hi!" It just tickles me. The other day Rob and I took the kids to one of the playgrounds on base and a group of about 5 little girls were following her all over the place. Sadie laughed and ran with delight as they followed her, it was almost as if she knew she was the 'leader of the pack' and loved it!

Sadie has a load of new words these days! I won't bore you with a list, but I'll highlight two she uses quite frequently: "Jet"-- yes, there are plenty of jets nearby and we hear their loud engines ALOT (sweet sound of freedom, right?) and "Flower"--our Miss Sadie loves her some flowers! I have to stop in the middle of a walk and pick two for her (one for each hand, of course) if she spots some from the stroller!

Sadie also likes to ham it up (who did she get THAT from??)! Tonight at dinner she enjoyed making us laugh with her new funny face!

She would make the face, wait for our reaction, laugh, and then do it again! We love you, our little ham!

Sortie Recap: BSA and SAT

2008-05-22T06:57:00.000-04:00

Sorry 'bout the delay in providing updates of my flying status in the Republic of Korea. Here are a few quick sortie recaps from the past few days.

On Monday, I flew the last of my familiarization/transition rides in the F-15K... Now I'm a full-up round, right? Yeah.

The sortie was a Surface Attack (SA) sortie, consisting of a low-level flight to the bombing range. We flew about half of the low-level on automatic Terrain Following Radar (TFR), and the other half manually--which, of course, is more fun. HAL's a pansy when it comes to ridge-crossings.

I'm not actually sure if the route we fly is an actual "Low Level Training Route" the way we think of them in the US. Similar to the US--in fact, even more so--they have many noise-sensitive areas: basically, anywhere there are people. Hopefully I didn't have any complaints lodged against me. The sweet sound of freedom has to be very quiet in Korea.

(Korea has some pretty good mountainous terrain for low-altitude flying. Problem is, you can't use most of it.)

Getting to the range itself requires a pretty significant trek north across the water, from the end of the low-level to the entrance to the range (R-104, I believe). It was during this leg that the visibility really started to drop--not weather, just atrocious haze. As we descended back down to 1000' for the first bomb run, I was definitely a little more cautious than usual--already featureless water is even more deceptive with poor visibility.

No actual ordnance, all simulated. One low-altitude level (System Level Delivery: SLD), one 30-degree loft, one 20-degree pop-to-LAT (Low Altitude Toss), one 30-degree dive bomb (DB), one 20-degree low altitude low drag (LALD), and one 30-degree High Angle Strafe (HAS). The target is an island--apparently, the whole thing. Supposedly there's an actual point target at the top of the hill on the island, but I was told that nobody can actually see it, so they just hit the island.

I had several tendencies that I'll need to work on--I'm still showing some rust from not flying for almost two months.

Wide bases leading to shallow passes... At least two of my passes were more than 5 degrees shallow. Somehow I still managed not to hit Min Release Altitude (MRA) prior to pickle.
Fast! This is probably mostly due to the new motors... I need to chop the throttles to idle much earlier with -129s than with -220s.
Pickling right of target--early roll-outs. I recognized it in-flight, but was slow to correct.

On Tuesday, I flew as #4 in a 4v4 Surface Attack Tactics (SAT) sortie. We were actually the Red Air first for the other 4-ship, which was an upgrade ride for some new F-15K aircrew. That was good in that it gave me a change to work the radar a little before hopping into the fray as Blue-4.

I should note that this sortie began with a briefing in Korean. Guess what... I don't speak Korean. So, my briefing consisted of me looking over the paperwork, asking questions about anything I didn't understand, and hoping it's all close enough for government work. Strike 1 against Scrape's SA.

Tactical control was provided by Acacia, which is Korean. So, there were English terms used, but quite a lot of reversion to Korean. Additionally, whenever Acacia reverts to Korean, so do the F-15K aircrew. Strike 2 against Scrape's SA. I don't think we ever got to
Strike 3, but it sure doesn't help your intercept flow when you're not completely sure what the targeting game plan is. Share or own, share or own?!

As Blue air, everything was okay in the end, although in retrospect I think I only killed half of my targeting responsibility in the air-to-air fight. Part of that was plan/briefing, part of that was my failure to listen and making bad assumptions about the radar picture based on surveillance tracks on the SIT.

Oh, and I also managed to briefly go supersonic while defending. Doh! You just can't have those -129s anywhere but idle when you're nose low. (Apparently, Koreans aren't supposed to go supersonic -anywhere-, even out at sea--I guess it'll scare the fish, or maybe the fishermen.)

Debriefing? You guessed it. Korean.

For a little "visual interest", here's a cheesy Strike Eagle tribute video:

Enjoy.

Mid-Week Check In

2008-05-21T06:16:00.000-04:00

Hey y'all! I hope everyone is enjoying their week so far and, as always, we appreciate you taking the time to check in on us!

Before I start, please do me a huge favor. Could you lift up a prayer for our friends, the Rollins family? Their beautiful 2-year-old little boy, Spencer, is recovering from major heart surgery and is having a rough go of it. This little guy and his parents desperately need your prayers! Katie and Andy are a wonderful couple, Rob flew with Andy at Seymour and Katie helped me lead a bible study just before we left. Here's a link to their carepage if you'd like the full story and how you can pray more specifically for Spencer. (You have to sign in, and the name of the care page is: spencerlewis) Thanks guys.

Also, please keep my wonderful cousin, Kimmie, in your prayers. She is currently undergoing radiation treatment for Hodgkin's lymphoma, which she was diagnosed with back in November of '07. It's been a long road for Kimmie (she just finished chemo) and I'm sure she'd appreciate your thoughts and prayers at this time. She is such and inspiration to SO many and I'm thrilled for the time we were able to spend together before we left town. You rock, Kimmie! Again, thanks for the prayers, guys!

Now, onto the continued adventures of the French family in Daegu, South Korea:

Church on Sunday--

We safely made it to Daegu International Church on Sunday afternoon (Praise the Lord-- traffic is nuts here!) and enjoyed their English speaking worship service. The praise and worship time was refreshing! We sang some of my favorite songs-- "All In All", "My Life Is In You, Lord" and more! I actually got choked up singing, "All In All" as it was one of the songs we sang each night when I traveled and performed with the Continental Singers. It moved me to think how much life has changed since then and how God has quite literally moved me!! The sermon focused on 'walking with God'. It was a great reminder that Jesus is with us ALWAYS-- even to the ends of the earth! During the service, the Pastor's wife graciously watched Will and Sadie along with some other children. Thank you Lord for blessing us with such kind folks! (Since I didn't take any pictures of the church, here are some snapshots of Will and Sadie I took afterwards!)

My first Korean shopping experience--

Monday morning Sue, the kind woman I told you about in a previous post, volunteered to take the kiddos and I to Homever, a Korean super store. We gladly accepted as there we a number of items I was hoping to pick up locally including some lamps (the lamps we got from Camp Walker only have US plugs which are for 110-120 volts and the voltage in S. Korea is 220-240 volts), a phone, a flat iron (hair necessity, right?!) and a few other items.

Homever is huge! It has three stories-- the first floor is a grocery store, the second floor has electronics and home items, and the third floor (which I haven't been to yet- surprise, surprise) is all clothing! :) Rob and I joke that it seems everything is smaller and more expensive in Korea!! For example, I was also hoping to pick up a set of hot rollers (again, I need a set with Korean plug-ins) and the cheapest I could find was about 50-bucks and one set was $84!!! Crazy. Needless to say, my hair will stay straight until I find some cheaper rollers. (Not to worry our male readers who may be bored by my hair and shopping talk, a great post that focuses on Rob's latest sorties in the F-15K is coming! :) All in all, Homever gets my thumbs up.

Not much else to report. Today, Rob was able to join the kiddos and I at Camp Walker to take care of some medical stuff. Right now, I'm enjoying some peace and quiet as the little ones are asleep and Rob is out with a buddy who's in town for the night. The quiet time has given me a chance to write this post and to check up on my favorite blogs-- one of my favorite things to do!

I'll leave you with a picture I snapped the other night as Rob was giving the kiddos a bath-- it's hard to see, but my sweet hubby's actually playing the harmonica for them! It cracked me up. Now that's entertainment, people! :)

Love In Christ,

Jamie

Stockin' Up

2008-05-17T07:28:00.000-04:00

Today was a pretty productive one! We traveled across town to Camp Walker, an American Army post, to stock up on groceries and household odds and ends. Camp Walker is on the west end of the city (it took us about 40 minutes to get there), relatively small, and full of amenities for American military families. I admit, this is the first time in my 4 and a half years as an Air Force spouse that I plan to use the commissary on the regular basis! Since we lived so far from base during our time at Seymour it was much more convenient and affordable for us to shop locally. Anyhow, the commissary and the PX (basically like a small version of Walmart) are going to be HUGE blessings in our lives over the next year. Not only are the food and household items just like at home-- they're close the same price. For example, if we tried to buy coffee that we use in the states on the Korean economy the price is astronomical. But, if we buy it at the commissary it's basically about the same as buying at a local grocery store back home. LOVE IT! This is just one of the ways that the US military really serves its people, especially when, like us, you're overseas and actually get excited to see Diet Coke or Yo Baby yogurt!

After our 'big day' on the town, Rob and I made a big 'ole pot of chili! It was so good, here's a link to the recipe. Tons of ingredients-- which we had, woo-hoo--but worth it! Enjoy!

Oh, yeah, Sadie's really liking the PX too, here's one of the bonus items she got today! :)

Tomorrow we look forward to worshiping at Daegu International Church which was recommended to us by the Meyers family. It's just outside of the base and the English speaking service doesn't start until 2:30 PM. Too bad Will and Sadie don't get the concept of sleeping in yet!

Have a great Sunday!

Love,

Jamie

8.8 Gs, 103%, Level 1 CFTs and Wings... Doh!

2008-05-16T07:29:00.000-04:00

Right... so I went and over-G'd a Korean F-15 today. Way to go with the international relations, eh?

Today I was scheduled to fly BFM--Basic Fighter Maneuvers--as part of my transition to, and familiarization with, the F-15K. Once again I was flying with Uncle, led by Hallie (short for "hallucination", apparently). Briefing was interesting, as it was a sort of "Konglish" (although not nearly as bad as the Konglish debrief!). Nonetheless, I knew what I was supposed to do, although there still a few communications mixups in flight, as well as some things that they do a little differently than us that I wasn't aware of--ops checks and radio check-ins, for example.

Into the airspace... there were a couple of complicating factors for the BFM. One was the weather, which required us to work around some clouds (never mind the standard Korean terrible visibility due to haze). The other is Korean training airspace--they don't go down very low. We had an 11,000 foot floor to our fight. So instead of starting at 18,000 feet and accelerating down to 17,000 feet, we just did level accelerations at 18,000 feet for the "fight's on".

First set was 6K offensive for me as #2. That went fine. I think he gave me a grape presentation, or else he was really off his game. I gunned him twice. A little rangy. One heater, but I was pretty weak with the AIM-9X + JHMCS combination. It's new for me.

Second fight was 9K offensive for me. A stronger bandit, and then the floor got me... I was starting my second lead repo when Uncle called for the floor save. Doh! That 11,000 foot floor sneaked up and got me.

Third fight was 6K defensive. I ditched a little early, but did keep his nose off me to the floor. Started floor jinks too early, and with too much AOA on the jet--I saw a lot of my jet in his HUD during debrief, he definitely got a couple of snapshots on me (although in truth, he'd already floor-morted). Then he forgot about his left hand and terminated for closure/bubble.

Finally fight was 9K defensive. A solid break turn, and we kept the bandit's nose in lag until we flew into a cloud. Oops. Terminate. Check the OWS... Doh! Looks like that solid break turn in the double rate beeper was in fact an over-G. Knock it off! Level 1, wings and CFT, no mass items. In the US, we'd have done a battle damage check, and if everything was good, we'd have continued our fight. Here, they're a bit more conservative with their jets, so we took it home.

At first I assumed it was an asymmetric over-G from not pulling the stick straight back. Turns out the pull was straight, but it was thumbprint! Thumbprint on a BFM sortie! Basically, two factors came together. (1) I was a little fast, about 440 KCAS at the break turn. (2) We were at 18,000 feet. However, when I started the pull, increasing AOA, the ADC overshoot caused the displayed altitude to jump to 19,500, so the max allowable G decreased from 9.0 and boom, over-G. So, for the future, I'll keep it to 420 for BFM in the F-15K, at least if we're starting that high again.

Of course, I don't have any video or photos, so I'll leave you with some gratuitous airplane footage: a clip from the Eagle Rage video.

(A clip from the Eagle Rage video, which was a trailer for the ill-fated "American Fighter Pilot" TV mini-series.)

A Great Morning

2008-05-16T01:10:00.000-04:00

Isn't God good? He has graciously blessed me with wonderful Christian women here in Daegu to help our family feel at home! Sue, a very kind Korean woman whose husband flies the F-15K, asked if the kids and I would join her for a Christian women's fellowship at a nearby park this morning. What a delight! Sue speaks fantastic English and was such a warm hostess. I spent most of my time following Will and Sadie at the park while the brief message was delivered and was touched when they sang 'How Great Thou Art' in Korean. All of the sudden I didn't feel so far from home. I guess that's one of the many blessings of being a believer, no matter where you go, you're bound to find 'family'! :):)

(That's Sue!)

Oh, I have to add this funny story. Will and Sadie were little rock stars this morning. LOL Seriously, a nearby high school let out for lunch or recess (I guess) and when a large group of freshman spotted Will and Sadie it was crazy!! They were surrounded by a group of squealing teenage girls! I didn't know how the kids would respond to all of the attention, but they seemed to take it all in stride. I didn't get any pictures, but let's just say it was a little overwhelming but sweet at the same time. I guess we are a bit of a rarity in these parts. ;) Suffice it to say, it was an adventure!

Here are a couple more pictures before I try and get some rest while the little ones nap:

Can you guess which household appliance is missing in this apartment? Uh-huh. No dryer. Most of the people here on the Korean base don't have them and they're a pain to install. We're still not sure if we'll be able to get one so in the meantime, I'll be doing a lot more of this! :):)

Love you guys,
Jamie

Slam Eagle Dollar Ride

2008-05-15T07:48:00.000-04:00

Ah, finally... I had my first ride in the jet! After nearly two full months of not flying, today I took to the skies in the F-15K "Slam Eagle" for the first time for an Advanced Handling Characteristics (AHC) ride. It was a good sortie over all, and it felt great to get back in "the jet" again (it's still an Eagle).

I flew with ROKAF Maj "Uncle" Yoon, one of the more experienced Instructor Pilots who was also part of the F-15K initial cadre--one of the guys who went to the US to learn how to fly the F-15E several years ago. His briefing for the sortie was fairly low-threat, and focused on what it needed to: the administrative portions of flying in Korea and as part of the ROKAF.

Ground ops in the F-15K were fine. There are only a few differences from the F-15E: the -129 motors and the JHMCS are the most notable. More on those in a minute. There was no training ordinance on the jet today, and only the pylon for the Tiger Eye targeting pod, which contains the Infrared Search and Track Set (IRSTS). The targeting and navigation pods themselves were both removed. No CATM-120, no CATM-9X.

Getting out to the runway, we started rolling and were off the ground in a pretty short distance. The next most noticeable item was the climb rate. Those General Electric -129 motors are much more powerful than the Pratt & Whitney -220 motors that I've been flying with for the past five and a half years, and we were rapidly climbing through 18,000 feet... Oops! Hayakka WSO-hating bunt maneuver, and we're back down to 17,500 as assigned.

Communication with tower and approach at the airbase (to include upon return-to-base) was fine, but communication with the tactical controller out in the airspace was a little more challenging. It quickly reverted to Korean between Uncle and the controller. That's fine, as I was content to work on knocking the rust off and practicing some maneuvering of this $65 million piece of aluminum and titanium.

Acceleration with those big motors is definitely better than in a -220 Strike Eagle, but CFTs are CFTs--the jet still bleeds energy in a heartbeat when you start laying on the Gs. My break turns were a bit weak. No physiological issues with the Gs after two months of not flying, but I don't think I got above 7.6 Gs. I did manage to pull a 7.2 G turn that was 100% of the allowable G, so I need to watch the rolling Gs, make sure I'm still "flying the T". I'll need it for BFM tomorrow.

JHMCS: the "Joint Helmet Mounted Cuing System". That's the helmet-mounted sight. It's something that the F-15K has which the F-15E (currently) does not. It takes a little getting used to, and I'm not there yet. Physically, it's noticeable: the helmet's heavier, and I can feel the cable at the back of the helmet pulling at my head a little. It displays airspeed, altitude, and heading, among other things, but I still found myself looking back at the HUD for those things--it'll take some getting used to. It'll be great for BFM... once I get used to it.

For now, my gameplan is to fly BFM "same old, same old". BFM is BFM: "Basic" Fighter Maneuvers. Philosophically, it's not tactics. It's about (offensively) maintaining an offensive posture against the bandit, and (defensively) denying that posture to an adversary. It's not simply about using gucci technology to get a quick kill and leave. So, I'll work to just fly good BFM, and not get enamored with things like AIM-9X and the JHMCS.

Some folks from the squadron picked up Jamie and the kids and brought them down to see the me and the jet after we've landed. As I can't take a camera up in the jet--certainly not on my first ride in it--I've sprinkled those photos throughout this post. Will sure had a blast checking out the airplane, and even got to sit in it. I'm sure that was one of the hits of his day--it will be neat to see if he talks about it in some of his random babbling about airplanes in the next few days.
Tomorrow... BFM.

We're here!

2008-05-14T00:32:00.000-04:00

Well, guys, we made it! Today is our first full-day in Daegu, South Korea as a family!! Yes, after 15+ hours in the air, three nights in Seoul, and a 3 hour drive we have arrived in our new home. Praise the Lord! As I type the little ones are napping, Rob is at work, and I finally feel half-way rested enough to write a hopefully coherent entry on our blog!

Wow. Lots to share, but not a lot of time. Let's start at the very beginning-- our trip to the other side of the world. As Rob mentioned in the last post, we had some headaches at the beginning of our journey-- but, all in all, I have to say Will and Sadie did a good job on such a long flight. Did we have our moments-- uh, yeah-- but the majority of the time the two of them hung in there. I joked that the flight probably went by more quickly for me because I was so busy keeping the little ones occupied and dry. A HUGE relief to have the flights behind us. AMEN.

Once we arrived in Seoul, Rob met us at the airport. I'll tell you, I've never seen my husband look as good as he did in that moment in all of our married life! ha! Seriously, it was great to see Rob and the kiddies were super excited to see Daddy. It was about 3 PM local time when we arrived but it felt like 1 AM to us. The plan, which we did, was to stay up until a regular bedtime to try and help me and the kiddos deal with the jet lag. Let's just say it was a LONG night. Their poor little bodies didn't know what to do! Sadie was up several times and, as you can see by the close living quarters, when Sadie was up-- we were all up!

The rest of our time in Seoul was spent sight seeing, taking care of business at Youngsan Army Post (love that place!) and hanging out with the H0lovich family, who graciously invited us over for dinner on Monday night. Thanks guys!

Tuesday morning we took care of business at the US embassy (interesting feat with a 2 and 1 year old in tow) and eventually got on the road to Daegu. The drive was nice, I love the terrain here. It's very mountainous!

Once on the base, we were warmly greeted by a number of Rob's squadron members and their spouses. It was a great welcome! Last night we ate our first meal in the apartment together: cheese quesadillas! It hit the spot. :) Today I've spent unpacking and trying to get the apartment in order.

Finally: the kiddos. They seem to be doing well with all the changes! Will enjoyed watching several jets up in the sky this morning-- that's like a little piece of heaven to him! Sadie continues to go with the flow and seems pretty happy-go-lucky. Thank you, Lord!!

Well, I've got so much more to tell, and I hope to post more frequently now that we're actually in our apartment and have internet access. We really appreciate your prayers as we traveled-- they were answered!

Love you guys,
Jamie

Overdue Post and Gratuitous Photos

2008-05-09T12:21:00.000-04:00

Great Scott! I haven't posted in a whole week!

Well, the big news is definitely tomorrow (or really, today... but after I sleep). Jamie and the kids arrive tomorrow (Saturday) afternoon, and I will be picking them up at the Incheon airport. We'll stay in Seoul, near Yongsan AG, for three nights, and then it's back down to Daegu. I'm very excited, because I've definitely been missing them--that's why I've posted a little family pic here!

Their day will definitely end up being a patience tester, for sure. Already knowing they had a 14-hour-plus plane trip ahead of them, things got off to a rocky start at the airport. I suppose I need to give Delta the benefit of the doubt that this was a one-time occurrence, but it looks like they didn't quite have the manning they needed at the check-in counter--it took Jamie and the kids well over an hour to travel through a relatively short check-in line! I know all this because I was pinging her repeatedly on Skype, trying to find out their status and wishing there was something I could do to effect a change.

Well, they got to their airplane... and then weather in Atlanta (fog restricting visibility, I suspect... I checked the weather and there was a two-degree difference between dew-point and temperature) put the Atlanta airport under a ground-freeze. Well, they still got to Atlanta on time, and last I heard, Jamie and the kids had boarded the airplane to Seoul--and the kids weren't doing well with it! It's going to be a long, long airplane trip for my beloved bride.

In other news... Hm... there hasn't been much other news this week. I think I alluded to my first scheduled flight in the F-15K being canceled--politics. Ah, well. I believe I'm now scheduled to fly twice next week, Thursday and Friday. That'll give me Wednesday to get the family bedded down here at K2 before I'm full-throttle back into the work week.

With the lack of flying--it's been almost two months since I've flown--I expect to be somewhat rusty. I got a sim ride yesterday, my fourth, so hopefully that helped a bit. I practiced ground ops, (because I certainly don't want to mess up the first thing I do in the new jet!) and then I did some 1vX intercepts against Alpha- and Chuck-shooters. I made some bonehead mistakes that are illustrative of two months not flying... so it'll be interesting to see how something like BFM goes next week! (The first sortie will be AHC, the second will be BFM... I think.)

Ok, that's enough for now. Note that there have been some big changes afoot at thefrenchfamily dot org. Keep your eyes peeled around the site, hopefully you'll stumble across something to pique your interest!

I'll finish up here with a couple of photos that combine the family theme with the flying-that-I-haven't-done-yet theme.

That's, of course, me and my family after my last flight in the F-15E prior to coming to Korea, on 21 March 2008 with the 333rd Fighter Squadron "Lancers".

The 2-ship that I led out. From left to right: Pong (2B), Shady (1B), me (1A), and Duster (2A).

Back in the States...

2008-05-04T21:54:00.000-04:00

Last week, the kiddos and I had the opportunity to travel to South Florida to visit Rob's parents, Bob and Susan (a.k.a. 'Gramma Sue and Grandpa Bob'). If that wasn't enough, we also had the joy of traveling with my Mom (a.k.a. 'MiMi') and my Aunt Jeanne (a.k.a. 'the life of the party'). What a fun crew! The Lord blessed us with wonderful fellowship, great weather, and loads of laughter! Thank you again Bob and Susan for graciously opening up your home to our crazy crew. The memories we made during our stay will last a lifetime.

Here are some of my favorite snapshots from our stay in sunny Florida! Enjoy. :)

The Ladies! From left to right: MiMi, Me, Aunt Jeanne, Gramma Sue, and Sadie

Leavin' on a jet plane!

Our wonderful hostess and host!

Gramma Sue and Mommy doing the ancient 'ocean dance' to try and lure William into the water!

Getting up the courage...

Hey, this isn't so bad!! :)

Miss Sadie enjoyed the sand...

...and the water!

Grandpa Bob did a lot of this for us while we were there. Delicious!!

Sadie works her wave! You go girl! :)

William enjoying the 'park of all parks'!

Having fun with Gramma Sue in the pool!

Making music together!

Sadie snuggles with Aunt Jeanne

Sadie enjoys some time with MiMi

Two of the coolest Grandma's in the world!

Grandpa Bob with Sadie at 'The Cove'

The ladies again! Oh, how we will miss all of you!!!

Well, I guess it's time to turn in for the night as I'm sure tomorrow will be a busy day preparing for our departure on Friday.

Much love,
Jamie

Moving In!

2008-05-03T02:12:00.000-04:00

Today is my "official" move-in day for the apartment--ie, I will actually sleep here tonight. I had the Internet hooked up yesterday, and the gas and stove hooked up this morning. I'm just going to jot down some quick notes on stuff.

Furniture

We're borrowing furniture from Camp Walker, one of the U.S. Army posts across town. This is nothing special, in that it's a service--and a good one--provided for command-sponsored personnel living off-base. There are a couple of interesting points, however.

My situation causes a little bit of confusion. After all, I am living on a base, but the furniture is supposed to be for people living off-base! The point I emphasized, and which was eventually understood, is that I am not living in U.S. government-provided housing (which is what living "on-base" means to em). Ergo, I should fall under "off-base" rules, because K2 is a Korean base, not a U.S. base.
The furniture is, generally, in nice condition. The beds, tables, etc. show some wear, but are clean, serviceable, and don't look half bad. The mattresses appear to be brand new, as I had to remove them from sealed plastic wrap, and I really can't see any sign of wear. The appliances, especially the gas stove, appear to be brand-spankin'-new!
Despite the fact that this furniture is intended for personnel living off-base, and "off-base" means Korean electrical, gas, and water hookups... all of the appliances are American! So, all of the appliances require electrical converters for use. The gas stove required the gas installation guy to use an adapter. I still haven't got the washing machine hooked up, because the American water hoses don't fit the Korean faucets. I had to have the delivery guys take the clothes dryer back, because there just isn't a hookup for it, period.

Vehicle

I'm still in the transportation woes. It's a pain to get across town to Camp Walker, where I do grocery shopping and such. I definitely need to get a car, and soon! For future ETSS guys, should the Koreans (and the USAF) decide to continue this job in the future: absolutely, positively have your family car shipped over, if you are bringing your family! Some other car notes:

If you decide to rent a car from a Korean individual (as I may do), expect a hassle getting it registered to get onto Camp Walker (or possibly anywhere else that's a U.S. base, for that matter). Buying, or renting from a company, I suspect isn't too much of a problem.
Borrowing a car is a hassle too, at least if you intend to take it onto an American base. I've managed to get a borrowed car onto base, but both times I was told that they were just letting it slide, that I really need to have the owner with me. Also, you can't even provide the common courtesy to the lender of filling up his tank, at least not at the U.S. base.
In short, just have your car shipped over!

Large Force Exercise

This week the 122 FS "deployed" 4 jets to Kunsan Air Force Base--a joint US & ROKAF base--for a Combined Large Force Exercise (CLFE). The purpose is to start preparing the ROKAF for their deployment to Red Flag in August. Although I wasn't flying in the CLFE, I ended up doing a lot of the coordination, especially for GCI/AWACS and for the Fighter Data Link (FDL).

It sounds like the exercise went pretty well, overall. The F-15Ks got on the net with the U.S. F-16s, which is a first, I think. In addition, they got to work with a USAF AWACS aircraft, which I think was another first (or perhaps at least a first for some of the ROKAF pilots).

There were some good tactical lessons learned, but I think the integration aspect was the biggest thing. We all spent some time on Friday listening to their "tapes" (they actually have digital data recorder) and discussing some of the English communications that they hadn't understood in flight. I think the biggest thing for Red Flag won't be tactics, but will be the integration and communication pieces.

Random Other Stuff of the Week

I got an additional simulator ride--actually a "CPT" rather than a "WST", the "CPT" is a simpler simulator without the large wrap-around display. More emergency procedures, no big problems. I do tend to land a little hot in the sim.

I found out on Friday that I was scheduled to fly on Tuesday (Monday is a Korean holiday--"Children's Day" or somesuch). The sortie was to be an Advanced Handling Characteristics (AHC) ride: basically, go out and practice max performing the airplane, doing break turns, high AOA maneuvering, hard turns, etc.

A few hours later on Friday, however, I learned that my Tuesday sortie was canceled. As best I can figure, here's what happened: the squadron schedulers saw an opportunity to fly me, so they put me on the schedule, probably on Friday. Now, the Korean military is very hierarchical (aren't all militaries?!), so the schedule goes from the squadron to the group. Well, apparently, each week the group submits the next week's schedule, or maybe tentative schedule, to the wing. My name wasn't on that initial schedule. So, what I gathered from what some of the squadron members told me was this: the group commander saw my name on the schedule, but my name hadn't been on the first schedule that went up to the wing commander. So, he didn't want to send up another schedule to the wing commander, with a new name--and probably a very noticeable new name--because somehow that will make him look bad.

Politics. Argh!

Photo credit

Six Days and Counting!

2008-05-03T01:45:00.000-04:00

Can you believe that in less than a week William, Sadie and I will board a 747 and make our way to Korea?!? Yikes. Where has the time gone? Our wonderful visit with family and friends has gone by in a flash and the time for our little family to be reunited is almost here. I can't wait to see Rob and I know it's the same for the little ones. We are truly ready to start this journey together! In the meantime, we are enjoying every minute we can with our family here in the states who we'll miss dearly. I'm also gearing up for the 14 hour flight with with a 2 and 1 year old that lies ahead of me. Nervous? You betcha! Prepared? Getting there!

Today, I did a little research on-line to find out items have worked for parents that have traveled on LONG flights with little ones and here's what I came up with:

An old staple- PLAY-DOH. We'll definitely bring some of the dough with us. Along with a child's rolling pin and some cookie cutters (another idea I read about). We haven't done tons of play dough at home so I think it'll be a huge hit!

Yep, this funny looking guy will come with us, too. We don't have one yet and I think Mr. Potato Head will be a dynamite friend to have on board. (Hopefully Will and Sadie will agree!)

We'll also pack some of these fun markers. Key component: the markers only show up on the special pad of paper! Genius!

Of course, we'll also bring our mini-magna doodle (love that), plenty of new books, William's favorite miniature airplanes, and lots of snacks- to name a few. Another great idea I picked up is to gift wrap everything- even snack items such as a box of goldfish crackers just keep things a little exciting. I mean, what toddler doesn't like to open a present?!? Finally, I plan to introduce all of these items gradually as we'll have plenty of time to fill.

Any other great ideas out there Moms and Dads??? What's worked for you on long road/plane trips with your little ones? Please do tell! Oh, one thing I forgot to mention, but am definitely happy about-- the jet we'll be flying on has little TV's on the back of each chair so that you can watch on-demand TV shows and movies throughout the flight. Woo-hoo!

Well, I hear a little one crying...so I'm off. In my next post I hope to tell you about the FANTASTIC trip we had to South Florida last week. Thanks for your hospitality Bob and Susan!

Love,
Jamie

Which One of These Is Not Like the Others?

2008-05-02T05:30:00.000-04:00

Here's a somewhat humorous photo from the Initial Planning Conference (IPC) for Red Flag 08-4. From left to right, Capt Kim, me, Lt Col Yoon (Yuhn?), Col Kim, Jerry, Lt Col Lee, Lt Choi, Sook.

2x "Slam Eagle" Sims

2008-04-28T09:58:00.000-04:00

I had my first two simulator rides for the F-15K today (technically, the F-15K is called the "Slam Eagle", as opposed to the F-15E "Strike Eagle"--I believe it's a reference to its ability to carry the SLAM-ER air-to-ground missile). So, finally, I've done something vaguely "tactical" rather than completely administrative.

The first sim was was "normal operations" sim--basically, I just ran through all the startup procedures, local procedures, some flying, and working in the Daegu traffic pattern. It was pretty uneventful. The second sim focused on emergency procedures, and also went fine.

From a systems perspective, no big changes. The Suite-1 F-15K is essentially a Suite-5 F-15E, in terms of avionics. So, a few minor changes, mostly good ones in terms of improving the "user interface" to be more consistent. It also has bigger motors, which will probably be the biggest new thing for me to think about. The General Electric 129 motors require the Asymmetric Thrust Departure Prevention System (ATDPS), like the Pratt & Whitney 229 motors, in order to prevent a loss of control at high speeds if one of the engines malfunctions and loses thrust (ie if one of the afterburners fails at high mach number). The bigger motors mean I'll need to pay a little more attention to where my left hand is--especially since the ROKAF basically can't go supersonic in any of their airspace.

That brings me to local procedures. There are some differences in comm, some of which are kind of annoying, but that's pretty minor. People will think up whatever brevity words seem most appropriate to them. The two biggest changes are probably "conservativeness" and "extreme supervision". They kind of go hand-in-hand.

There's a lot of oversight of a ROKAF aviator by agencies outside of his airplane. He's watched--and directed--more closely in the tower pattern than a US aviator, for better or for worse. Same in the airspace--apparently I can expect to have GCI periodically terminate my BFM fight because (ie with a "Terminate!" call) they think an airliner is getting too close, or perhaps they will direct (non-tactical) maneuvering because they think they two fighters in an engagement are not adhering well enough to blocks.

As is probably to be expected with brand-new $100 million aircraft (price from a Google search), they're pretty conservative with their jets. They've lost one in a training mishap, and you just can't afford to lose an airplane, or more importantly a crew, when people aren't even shooting at you. It's a new jet for them, and so they're very cautious with how they operate it. It means that some things will surely be a little grating for me, but it makes sense.

Photo credit

A "Bad Scrape" Sunday

2008-04-27T09:07:00.000-04:00

I didn't get myself to church today. There is no English-speaking church on base--the American compound has only 30 people, so there's no pastor, and nobody meets at the small chapel--so I need to go off-base to get to an English-speaking church. I'm currently without transportation, other than public transportation, which is challenging in a city of 3 million people who generally don't speak your language! However, this is all a poor excuse. Why? Because the Koreans have a Protestant chapel on-base about 50 yards behind where I'm sitting right now!

Granted, I wouldn't understand their language. Perhaps there's screwy doctrine--maybe some of the "prosperity gospel" type stuff that I've heard is fairly common in Korea. So what? I'll quote our old (not in age, of course!) pastor, John Musgrave of Clayton Community Church, in an e-mail he wrote me (hope you don't mind, John!):

With the Korean Protestant chapel: sometimes it's heartening just to be around people as they are in worship, even though you can't understand the words. Participate as much as you can and be blessed by your Korean brothers and sisters. It'll give you a better picture, for sure, of the throne room of Jesus, surrounded by people of every tribe, tongue, and nation.

A victorious theology should one confidence to worship with other Christians, regardless of cultural, social, linguistic, or even theological differences.

That reminds me... I still need to write one more part in my series from last Sunday, about being "just" a worshiper, and I had an idea for another entry as well. I was considering the various views of the Christian life (and life in general) as being about the end, or about the journey. I think there are pitfalls to thinking about the Christian faith as exclusively about one or the other, but I think that there are very important elements of both to consider as well--and I mean that in the least wishy-washy politician-speak way possible! Anyhow, hopefully those will show up at Scrape the Tails soon.

Otherwise, this was a pretty low-key Sunday--still in recovery from SR!

SR Day #3 - Mission Complete

2008-04-26T09:59:00.000-04:00

Today was the final day of SR. Breakfast and dinner were standard--it almost felt, by this point, as if the trip was a series of bus rides from restaurant to restaurant! Hm, ejection seat weight limits...

Anyhow, probably the most interesting part of the day today was a visit to a wine cellar. I don't recall the name of the town, but basically, it's the only place in the world where they make persimmon wine. The wine is brought to this tunnel to be stored in while it's aging. During WW II, the tunnel was constructed by the Japanese as a place to store weapons and equipment. Now, it provides a year-round 15C environment for aging persimmon wine.

We tasted samples of their Regular and Special grades of wine. They're both somewhat sweet, though not excessively so. The color of the wine is a light yellow or orange.

The tunnel itself is about a kilometer long, and quite a bit of that length is used to store bottles of wine.

SR Day #2

2008-04-25T09:34:00.000-04:00

Day 2 began unbelievably early, given that we didn't get back until after 1am the previous night. I must be getting old. Anyway, after breakfast in the room, we had a couple hours to kill, so I went on a walk around town with Mickey.

I should mention the hotel room. This was a Korean-style hotel room and, since apparently the ROKAF can't spend too much money on this boondoggle, we stayed about six to a room. However, lack of bed space is not a problem--there are no beds! Instead, everyone sleeps on a yo, which is to say, everyone sleeps on a blanket on the floor. This apparently allows the heated floors to properly warm the sleeper... but it still means sleeping on a hard floor. Ouch.

Mickey and I walked around the beach area a bit, and also a nearby island. I don't recall the name of the island, but it was very pretty, and apparently it was used somewhat recently for an economic conference among Asian leaders (to include President Bush, since of course we are a Pacific nation... Hawaii and Guam, right?!).

Later, we went to the ROK Navy headquarters and toured a frigate (FF-class, primarily anti-ship, via Harpoon missiles and torpedoes) and a patrol boat (PCC-class?). They're both Korean-manufactured vessels, I believe. They also gave us a briefing, but as with the Hyundai presentation yesterday, I didn't understand a word! I know they mentioned Link-16 in there a few times, so I'm guessing that the ROKAF guys were asking about if/when the Navy would be on the datalink, but I'm not sure about that. Sadly, no photos.

Dinner was by flight group. I'm assigned to Safety, so I went with all the guys from safety. Evidently I didn't bring my camera, because I can't find any photos. Anyhow, this was interesting. Guys had been asking me all week if I could eat raw fish. They clearly figure their food scares me or something. Anyhow, I assured them I had eaten raw fish in the past and could do it again.

So, our first stop was the fish market. Here, we selected the (live!) fish that we wanted to eat that night. Then we took the fish to a restaurant, and sat down while they prepared the fish in the back. Then, they brought out the chopped up raw fish for us to eat. We ate it in a similar manner to the kalbi (Korean BBQ): basically, put some raw fish on a piece of lettuce or sesame leaf, put some little bits of vegetables in there, a chunk of garlic, some sauce, then wrap it up and stuff the whole thing in your mouth. Copious amounts of soju were consumed, but once again, I think the Koreans underestimated me and my 240 pounds.

At some point, they wanted me to give a toast, and when I provided what I thought was a suitable one, they told me I needed to make a longer toast. So, after some quick thinking on my feet, I managed to provide about 3 minutes worth of rambling that received a decent amount of applause, so I guess it was good enough.

We went to a nightclub after dinner. I made it very clear to my companions that the only woman with whom I dance is my wife (well, okay, my mom or sister too), so I didn't have to worry about them engaging in the apparently very common practice of paying the bouncers to find a woman for me to dance with. (I say "bouncers"--I don't know exactly what to call them, they're these Secret Service-looking guys walking around the nightclub everywhere, with walkie-talkies and such.

"Last round" was again some soup and soju. I stuck to a relatively normal soup rather than the one that contains chunks of clotted baby cow's blood, which evidently was a popular dish this particular night.

SR Day #1

2008-04-24T09:16:00.000-04:00

Thursday was the first day of SR. As far as R&R-type activities go, this one was pretty well organized. We got on a bus in the morning, and from then on, it was clear at every place we stopped that our activities had been pre-coordinated extensively.

The first place that we stopped was the Hyundai factory in Ulsan. This is the largest Hyundai factory--in fact, it's the largest automobile factory in the world, period! They gave a multimedia presentation (which I didn't understand a word of), and then they took us on a tour through the factory floor. The assembly of a car is rather interesting. I was actually surprised at the amount of "touch work" involved--the amount of work that actual humans have to do. Nonetheless, one of the parts that most impressed me was completely automated--the installation of the windshield. The car is moved into place on the automatic conveyor belt. Then, a large robotic arm uses suction cups to pick up a new windshield off a stack. It then maneuvers the windshield under a nozzle dispensing glue or epoxy of some sort, running the adhesive all around the edge of the glass. Finally, through a series of 3-dimensional maneuvers, the arm rotates the windshield into position and presses it down onto the frame--perfectly!

Next we had lunch. The restaurant was clearly expecting us, as they had food for 40 on the table inside 5 minutes. All standard Korean fare, although I don't recall exactly what we had at that meal.

After this, we went and played soccer at the Ulsan stadium. I managed to twist my ankle inside 10 minutes, and was sidelined the rest of the time--that was probably the first time I've played soccer in twenty years! Soccer is quite popular for the Koreans.

After that came the public baths. 'Nuff said on that.

Dinner was by small groups. For dinner, I went with the 47th class--that is, the 47th graduating class of the Korean Air Force Academy, which graduated in 1999, like me. This is pretty typical for social events in the ROKAF, as I understand it. Age is a strong enough factor in Korean culture that one's peers seem to really just be those who graduated at the same time as you--anyone else is either a superior or a subordinate.

We did some karaoke after that, and then finished the night off with some mekju (beer), soup, and compressed fish (I don't know a better way of describing it!) at a Japanese restaurant in Pusan.

Soju Refueling

2008-04-23T09:45:00.000-04:00

First of all, I apologize for not writing for the past two days. They were mostly filled with admin stuff, so no biggie. And, that's okay, because this will be a relatively long entry!

Today was the first day of the squadron's "SR" which, loosely translated, refers to something like "Self Replenishment." Basically, it's R&R or, as some of the squadron members say, "Soju Refueling". Soju is the traditional Korean alcohol produced using rice--although apparently they now frequently use potato, sweet potato, or other starches. It's vaguely similar to Japanese sake, although, to be honest, I think soju tastes kind of like I imagine rubbing alcohol would taste. I'd much prefer a shot of Jeremiah Weed to a shot of soju.

Anyhow... so today kicked off "SR". I actually spent most of the day on trains or taxis to and from Osan, which was largely a fruitless endeavor. My intent was to find a car, which I suppose I may have done, but I spent a lot more money and time traveling than I'd intended. C'est la vie. I did pick up some Jeremiah Weed at the Osan AB commissary. Why, you may ask?

The Koreans were holding a naming tonight, and I was asked to get some Weed (not a common product in Korea). The F-15K community is currently the only portion of the ROKAF fighter community that names their pilots and WSOs--it's a tradition imported to Korea by the Korean aviators who graduated the F-15E transition course at Seymour Johnson AFB several years ago. They now name all of their squadron members with American (ie English) callsigns at some point during their Transition course. (They don't have a Basic course, because currently F-15K aircrew are all selected from other aircraft, that is, F-5E, F-4D, or KF-16--there are no direct-from-pilot-training K-model drivers.)

The names don't always quite "work"--even when explained to me, most of them were a little "off" or could have been a lot better (1)--but they are a good-faith effort by those pilots and WSOs who've experienced American fighter culture to bring some of that culture to Korea. Callsigns are just a superficial example--the "big" things they want to be able to bring to the ROKAF are more challenging, because they involve some counter-cultural elements.

For example, "rank" is a big deal in Korea. That isn't to say that we don't respect rank in the USAF as well. Rather, I mean a "rank" that goes a lot deeper than bars and stripes. I mean a deeply rooted respect for age, status, position, and so forth--not inherently bad things, but they can be bad when they completely override respect for performance.

One thing that I think "the West" has done well (generally) is to separate "role" and "position". Hence, in a fighter squadron, we have rank (position), which should always be respected, but we also have role in terms of things like Flight Lead, Instructor, and so forth. Thus, there is a mechanism in place for a person of lower position (rank) to influence, and even exercise a degree of authority over, someone of higher rank--because perhaps the lower ranking individual is
an instructor or flight lead. This still requires respecting the position (and just simply respecting the person as that--a person!), but it allows us to recognize that the right/ability to command people (rank) doesn't translate into an absolute superiority in technical expertise--we can all learn from each other.

I've clearly strayed from the topic of the naming, so I'll return for a minute. So, their naming is a little different. That's okay, because "American" doesn't mean "better". Some things are just Korean, and some things are just American. A naming ceremony at an American fighter squadron would never involve families, for example, because they're usually extremely off-color affairs. Korean namings are not like that (I think--I couldn't understand 99% of what was being said), so families are present. In either case, American or Korean, plenty of alcohol was consumed. And goodness sakes, apparently they either didn't realize or didn't care that Americans normally drink Jeremiah Weed (a whiskey) as shots, because they poured half-cups for everyone getting named! There were plenty of people stumbling around afterward--including the guy handing out the "anti-hangover drinks" (not sure what they actually are; some kind of herbal health drink or something).

I walked back with a friend tonight, and we had a good chat. He's one of the guys who went through the American program, and he wants the ROKAF to be a little more American. As you can imagine, that meets some resistance--not because of an anti-American sentiment, but rather "but this is how we've always done it" type of thing. He tries to model a lot of what he saw in America to his fellow Koreans. Two small, and seemingly superficial, examples that he gave involved food and eating:

(1) He wished that the ROKAF were more like the USAF in social events, where US squadrons let the women and children get their food first, then the aviators go, whereas in ROKAF squadrons, it's all rank-based.

(2) In the chow line, if he arrives after junior personnel, and they attempt to give him their spot in line, he tells them to keep their spot. Normally, senior officers, even if they arrive later, get to skip in line in the ROKAF.

To be honest, I think this feature of Western culture (which I do believe is more widespread than merely fighter squadrons) has to do with the West's exposure to Christianity on a massive scale for two millennia. It doesn't matter whether or not people are conscious of it; the simple fact is, the West has been exposed to Christianity in a way that the East has not. The specific facet of Christianity seen here is servant-leadership, and it was modeled for us by Jesus. Though he was God, he took upon Himself the nature of a servant. Though he could have judged, he instead suffered judgment. He told us that the first will be last and the last, first.

So, hopefully I encouraged my friend to continue this attitude. He is a (relatively) new Christian, and sometimes that can be a challenging role in a fighter squadron.

Photo credit

(1) As an example, their squadron commander received a name today. They called him "Centri", I believe because he G-LOC'ed (lost consciousness) during a centrifuge ride. It works... but I would have gone with "GLOC" or perhaps "Glock". One syllable is better than two, and it has a cool standalone sound even though it means that the guy couldn't hang with the G's (and the centrifuge is admittedly a pain in the keister).

Note from Jamie

2008-04-20T10:10:00.000-04:00

First, if you're reading this blog-- THANK YOU!! Please know how important you are to our family and grateful we are that you've signed on to take this journey with us. What a blessing!

As you undoubtedly have noticed, Rob is contributing mostly to this site so far-- since, well, he's actually in Korea. Those of you who know me well, know that I'm rarely short on words-- (understatement!)-- but right now I'm somewhat like you, dear reader-- looking at pictures from a distance and enjoying hearing about Rob's encounters with folks in Daegu so far. With each new image, I'm trying to picture ourselves there and getting more excited! Have things been perfect so far? No, but that's just life. Can I get an 'AMEN'?

So, until we arrive, you'll probably hear more from my hubby-- who is doing such a great job for our family. He's taking care of so many details from getting us a vehicle to doing everything he can to make sure our apartment is ready to go. (He went wallpaper shopping for goodness sakes!). We love you-- thanks, honey!

Now, even though the kiddos and I aren't in the "Land of the Morning Calm" quite yet doesn't mean I won't have any blogging material! I'll try and keep y'all posted on how the little peeps are doing, how we're preparing for the journey that lies ahead, and what the Lord is teaching us along the way.

I'll leave you with a picture that was captured during a recent getaway Rob and I enjoyed just before he left for Korea. Miss you, Rob!

Please continue to pray for us as we make this transition!

Much love,
Jamie

Gallery Link in the Sidebar

2008-04-20T03:07:00.000-04:00

If you look in the sidebar to the right, you will see a new link to the photo gallery for our trip to Korea. Note that you will have to have a Yahoo/Flickr ID in order to view the galleries, and you will need to be invited (e-mail Rob or Jamie).

You can read a lengthier discussion of the security/privacy items, and how we're handling photos on this blog, in the note at the end of this blog entry.

If you're content simply to view photos on the blog itself, then you don't need to do anything special (assuming I remember to post them via Picasa rather than from Flickr!).

Two More Pics

2008-04-20T02:19:00.000-04:00

Here are two more photos for the present.

This is the Catholic chapel that sits on the top of the hill on base. Korea boasts either the largest number of Presbyterians as a whole, or perhaps as a percentage, or perhaps both, of any nation on earth, but there is also a sizable Catholic population.

Building #2, at the right side of the photo, is the building we'll be living in. I'll post some photos once the new wallpaper and flooring is installed, and we get it cleaned up! There's a small playground on the other side of the parking lot, which will be nice for the kids.

A Note on Photos

We generally store our photos on Flickr, and this trip is no exception. You can access photos of our trip to Korea at this link.

Privacy/security issues have changed the way we'll handle photos on this blog, however. The photos that are actually posted on this blog are hosted on Google's Picasa Web Albums, which is the normal way that photos are posted on Blogger. This will make it so that people don't need to have (and be signed into) both a Google/Blogger account and a Yahoo/Flickr account just to view this blog properly. (These photos are thus publicly accessible via Picasa Web Albums, but ONLY if people know the URL in advance.)

If you want to go view the actual albums on Flickr, you will need to have a Flickr account, and you will need to be invited--the albums are restricted to family and friends. You can e-mail either Rob or Jamie in order to get access to the Flickr albums.

This is the downside to using Google (ie Blogger) for one set of services, and Yahoo (ie Flickr) for another set of services! Perhaps in the future we'll switch everything over to one service (although we don't get as much storage on Picasa Web Albums as we do on Flickr), or perhaps at some point we'll have a way to unify all of the security/privacy aspects.

More Photos from K2

2008-04-20T02:13:00.000-04:00

Ok, apparently Picasa will only post up to four photos at a time in a blog post. So, here are some more pics.

These trees out in the "air garden" have been trimmed in a most interesting manner! That's an F-86D in the background--it was a version of the F-86 that had a radar added to it, intended to be an all-weather interceptor.

This is the view up the hill toward the housing area. The area includes a gym (which unfortunately requires a paid membership) and a couple of churches (one Protestant, one Catholic). There's also a driving range just off the right side of the photo (the golf course is to the left, behind the row of trees).

Here is the Protestant chapel. As this photo was taken, they were presumably in the process of an after-church luncheon outside.

This is a view from the top of the hill, behind the Catholic chapel, looking toward the mountains behind the base. I think that orange-roofed building is a VOQ for senior officers. Behind it are some one- or two-family homes for colonels.