Tuesday, December 16, 2008
Christmas/Year End Update
Merry Christmas from the Craigs!
We’ll be spending a cold Christmas in Seoul this year, so we’ll miss you all at our yearly gatherings. It wasn’t an easy choice, but two trips a year were breaking the bank. Therefore, we wanted to get a Christmas letter out this year to give you all a little insight into what we’ve been up to.
Sammy
It’s amazing how much changes in a year. Sammy went from a stumbling toddler to a little boy. Communication in grunts and cries gave way to words and sentences. High chairs gave way to regular chairs. Messy meals gave way to…well, messy meals; some things don’t change. Doing for him gave way to “I’ll do it.”
Sammy is speaking mostly Korean; however, he does seem to understand most, if not all of my English. I do my best to speak to him in English, though he is teaching me quite a bit of Korean.
He loves the TV, much to our chagrin. Anything that looks like a cartoon, he watches. He learned early on to turn it on himself, even complaining when we unplugged it. Smart kid. Some of his favorite things right now are playgrounds, anything to do with construction, motorcycles, trains, robots, Thomas the Train, Curious George, Wall-E, and indoor baseball.
Jobs
Moon has been the Front Office Manager at the Sofitel Ambassador Seoul since last April. She is responsible for all the people you meet as you come into a hotel: drivers, doormen, concierge, front desk, and club rooms. It’s a stressful, challenging job, but it is certainly a good introduction to Seoul hotels.
Dan is still at Seoul National University working at the medical campus. He’s now head teacher, which sounds good, but there only a couple teachers at his branch J He enjoys his work and the unusual freedom that he has in designing courses and teaching. This is his last year at the SNU, though. He’s looking for work in teacher education at local universities. Hopefully, there will be some good news on that front soon.
Trips
Certainly, our biggest trip was to Chicago last summer for, among other things, Marcey and Flemming’s wedding. It was a great trip. Dan came out with Sammy in mid-June and Moon came in for a week around the beginning of July. It was a month of parks, zoos, pools, and beaches for Sammy and Dan. Probably the most relaxing vacation Dan has ever had.
The summer was certainly busy. You’d think that we never worked J We also went to Kangnun (east coast of Korea) to the beach for a couple of weekends, as well as a quick trip to Sorak Mountain also in the east. Sammy just loves the beach, but he’s a little afraid of the waves, not that I blame him. The sand was more his style, which he enjoyed with his cousins.
Other Notable Moments
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| Lunar New Year | St. Patrick's Day | Sammy's 2nd Birthday |
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| Buddha's Birthday | Korean Grilling | Children's Day at the Palace |
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| Seoul Zoo | Chusok (Korean Thanksgiving) | Race for the Cure |
