Happy 237th Birthday Marine Corps!

November 10 is the Marine Corps birthday.  Every year Marines all around the world gather on or around November 10 to celebrate their birthday with a ball.  It is a huge and very formal celebration and typically the social event of the year.  The Marines get dressed up in the most formal dress blues uniform and their wives/significant others dress in formal gowns. 

When Russ first joined the Marine Corps over 11 years ago I dreaded going to the birthday ball.  Whether it was a lack of maturity or a lack of understanding the significance of the event (probably both) I saw it as a pain to have to buy a dress, find a babysitter, pay for expensive tickets, get dressed up and talk to a bunch of people I barely knew.  As I have gotten older and (hopefully) matured the MC Ball has become an event I eagerly anticipate each year.  Over the years I have realized what a unique opportunity it is that for at least one night a year I get to dress in a formal gown while my husband is in his smokin' hot uniform, celebrate an important piece of America's history and hang out with friends.  It is a unique part of military life that is not often experienced in the civilian world.

The Marine Corps Ball in Korea is the social event of the year.  It is one of the biggest balls I have ever been to with almost 700 people in attendance.  While it is mostly Marines, service members from other branches will often buy tickets because they know the Marines can throw a good party.

After we were all ready to go we snapped a few pictures in front of the pretty fall trees (it was really cold and I was freezing while taking these pictures)

See, I told you he was smokin' hot.

The ball was about 30 minutes away from base at the Walker Hotel.

There are very few ballrooms in Seoul that can accommodate this many people.

 There is always a cocktail hour before dinner.  It is a great time to take pictures.

 Every year there is a guest of honor invited to the ball.  This year the guest of honor was the 29th Commandant of the Marine Corps General Gray.  Due to the nature of Russ' job we were able to spend a little bit of time with General Gray.  He is 84 years old and still a ball of fire.  The saying "Once a Marine, Always a Marine" very much holds true for General Gray.  I'm not even in the Marine Corps and he was a little bit intimidating to me.  Here is a picture of Russ and I with General Gray.

Russ and I joked that by the time you are 84 years old and have been been a Marine for 40 years you can wear anything you want to the ball and everyone will tell you how great it looks.  The digital cammies suit jacket and bow tie would not have been my first choice. (And while it may look like it, my hand is not on the General's bottom in this picture...but that would explain his big smile.)

A unique part of this ball in Korea was all the Korean military men and their wives that attended the ball.  The Korean women do not wear formal gowns like we do, they wear traditional gowns called Hanboks.  Here is a picture of the Korean ladies in their beautiful Hanboks:

At every ball there is a ceremony and birthday cake cutting before the dinner.  While there are some elements of every ceremony that remain the same no matter where the ball takes place there are other elements that are unique to each ball.  There is a specific tradition to each part of the ceremony.  

The ceremony always starts with an Invocation by a Chaplain:

Next is the Commemoration of Fallen Comrades:

This is an empty table in all black to remember those that have fallen in the line of duty. Here is the speech that is given followed by a moment of silence to honor those that are not with us anymore. 

"Ladies and Gentlemen, as you entered this banquet hall, you should have noticed that before us tonight stands an empty chair and a single lone table draped in black, signifying all of our fallen comrades who are not with us this evening because they have given the full measure of devotion to our country and to our beloved Corps.  The single lighted candle reminds us of the flame of eternal life and that the memory of our fallen comrades will be with us always.  The Purple Heart Medal is displayed to reflect the shedding of blood and the ebb of life in battle.  The identification tags are blank, yet they could bear the name of any of us here tonight.  The dinner setting, inverted, they break bread with us in spirit only.

Only a few Americans choose the dangerous and necessary work of fighting our nation’s enemies.  As a consequence of that choice, some have paid the ultimate price, joining the honor roll of heroes who built the noble legacy of our Corps.  For those of us who carry on that legacy, it is our obligation to honor those fallen Marines.  As Marines gather in celebration of our history, we gather in the shadows of greatness – though our fallen can no longer participate in our traditions, they will always be a part of us and who we are.”

During the moment of silence

A unique part of the ball here in Korea was a Historical Uniform Pageant:

They have had Marine uniform replicas made from each of the major conflicts the Marine Corps has participated in since it's beginning.  Marines dressed up in these uniforms and each gave a speech as a Marine from that time.  It was very impressive.  They even had a few Korean Marines speak as well.

Next is the Presentation of the Colors and the National Anthem:

General Regner, General Gray and General Lee (the Republic Of Korea Commandant)

 Ever since Russ has joined the Marine Corps the National Anthem has taken on a new meaning for me.  There are many of my friends, including my husband, that have and will put their lives in harm's way, without a second thought, for our country.  Every time I hear it played it brings tears to my eyes as I think of all the families that are currently separated from each other as their service member defends our country and those that have made the ultimate sacrifice for our country.  There is not a more awesome place to hear the National Anthem then at a Marine Corps Ball, surrounded by all these men standing at attention in their dress blues.  It is a humbling and awesome experience.

Next is the entrance of the birthday cake and the cake cutting:

The cake is cut with a Marine Corps sword.

 The tradition is that the first piece of cake goes to the oldest Marine in attendance and he then passes the piece to the youngest Marine in attendance.  This signifies the passing on of traditions within the Corps from the older generation to the younger.  The oldest Marine in attendance was General Gray who was born in 1928 and the youngest Marine was a Lance Corporal who was born in 1993. (Now doesn't that just make some of you feel old :)

The original birthday message from General John A. Lejeune is read:

General John Lejeune was the 13th Commandant of the Marine Corps.  He was born in January of 1867 and joined the Marine Corps in 1890.  LtGen Lejeune is known and revered in the U.S. Marine Corps history as "the Marine's Marine" and "the greatest Leatherneck." (some of you may remember we just came from Camp Lejeune, NC Marine Corps Base)

Next is the Retiring of the Colors:

Look at how perfectly lined up all their legs are during the march.

There are a few speeches by the Commanding General of the unit and the guest of honor:

Major General Regner commander of MARFORK (Marine Forces Korea)

General Gray

 Finally dinner (we are always starved by this point in the evening), dancing and a few more pictures with our friends:

The dark lighting made for some very bad red eyes.  I can't get it any better then this.

I promise we are not Smurfs, the lighting during the dancing made us all look blue.

I DO NOT dance.  I have 2 left feet, no ability to keep a rhythm and am stiff as a board.  In the 11 years of going to MC Balls I have never danced.  My friend made it her mission to get me on the dance floor, and as you can see she did succeed in getting me out there, but I can assure you after seeing me try to dance during one song she will never ask me to come out on the dance floor again. 

This picture is of Russ rescuing me off the dance floor.  I was so thankful to see him.  I think that guy behind me was thankful to see me leave the dance floor as well.

 One last picture of the evening.  This was my favorite picture of the night.

Conversations With A 7 Year Old

Yesterday was the Marine Corps birthday and the birthday ball.  After I get all my pictures together and get a few from my friends I will post them on this blog.  But in the meantime I want to tell you about 3 funny conversations I have had with Lucy recently.

First, most of you know Lucy, but for the few of you that don't I will give you a brief description of her personality.  She is carefree, always happy and smiling, always finds the postive in any situation, at times a little out of control, friends with everyone within 10 feet of her, but can't remember anyone's name, has a tender heart and is very consicious of wrongs in her life and a free spirit.  Her first grade teacher said it best on one of her progress reports "Lucy's world is a happy place!".  No matter what is happening around her, Lucy is happy.

In the last few weeks I have a few fun/interesting conversations with her.  The first occurred the day after Columbus Day.  She was walking around singing the song "In 1992, Columbus sailed the ocean blue".  No, you didn't read it wrong and I didn't type it incorrectly either, she was singing it wrong.  I thought she just was mistaken at first and didn't say anything about it, but after she sang it like that 5 or 6 times I felt the need to correct her and tell her the right way to sing the song "In 1492,  Columbus sailed the ocean blue".  Well, she quickly informed me that her friend at school told her it was 1992 and since her friend said it that was the correct way to sing it.  I realized that to Lucy, who was born in 2004, 1992 seems likes a million years ago.  So our conversation that followed when somthing like this:
Mom: "Lucy, if Columbus sailed in 1992 what year do you think I was born in?"
Lucy: after a brief pause: "2001"
Mom: "No, much ealier then that." 
Lucy: "What came before 2000?"
Mom:"1999"
Lucy: "Ok, you were born in 1997"

After the conversation went on like this a few more times I told her I was born in 1977 to which she exclaimed how old I was.  But I explained to her that if I was born in 1977 Christopher Columbus did not sail in 1992.  Her next response was "Was Nana alive when Christoper Columbus sailed?"  She compares all old things against when her great-grandmother was born.  I told her that not even Nana was alive when Columbus sailed.  That gave her something to think about, but I bet if you asked her today she would tell you that Columbus sailed in 1992...I mean that is what her 7 year old friend told her was correct.


A second conversation occurred when Lucy was learning about contractions.  Russ asked her what a contraction was and her response was "It is when you take 2 words and and put them together and add an apostrophe."  Russ said to her "So, if I took Russ and Amy and combined them together to make Ramy, would that be a contraction?"  Lucy thought for a few seconds and said "No, it would only be a contraction if you made it Ramy's with the apostrophe."
I'm thinking we may have a little more work to do on the contractions.
She also told me on election day when I asked her if she knew who won the election that Abraham Lincoln had won.  I again tried to gently correct her but she would not budge.  She was absolutely sure Abraham Lincoln won.  And I'm pretty sure that is who she still thinks is the president.  So, we may need to not only work on our contractions but our history as well.

The third conversation was just the other day.  Lucy was doing some homework on the computer when she ran up to me and our conversation went something like this:
Lucy: "Mom, what does the word evidence mean?"
Mom: "It is something police collect in order to solve a crime."
Lucy: "I still don't understand."
Mom: "Use the word in a sentence so that I can better explain it to you."
Lucy: Thinks for a while.  Then says very seriously "Ok, I have a sentence using the word...What does the word evidence mean?"
Mom: I was laughing out loud.  "Lucy, that still doesn't help me to be able to explain it to you."
Lucy: "Well, I'm taking a quiz on a book I read online and the question is 'What does the word evidence mean?' so I don't know how to use it in any other sentence."
Mom: "Nice try Lucy, now get back out there and finish your homework."

This kid keeps me on my toes on a daily basis.  But she is precious and I love her so very much, even if she does drive me nuts some days.

Tteokbokki Town

"Things You Would Only Find In Korea" Part 1:
I make sure to keep this blog G-rated, so there isn't much I can say about the following picture.  Russ and I saw these lamps while we were out on a date a few nights ago.  Did they really think that was the best place for the on/off switch?  And who would buy that and display it in their house?

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I love Korean food.  It is very different then Chinese food or Japanese Sushi, many of the dishes are spicy and there are a lot of soups/stews.  And it is so cheap!  You can easily eat an entire Korean meal for about $5.50 and be totally stuffed.  My friend who is leaving next summer has decided to take advantage of her last few months here and eat as much Korean food as she can before she has to leave.  Thankfully, she often takes me with her when she ventures out.

Since Russ and I had lived in Korea a few years ago, the food was not all totally new to us when we moved here this time.  One of my favorite foods from our first time living here was a dish called Tteokbokki. (pronounced duk-bol-kee)  It is most often a very cheap, small rice cake in a spicy red sauce sold from a street vendor and often customers will stand at the vendor's counter and eat.   Pre-kids Russ and I could both eat an entire meal of Tteokbokki and a few side dishes for about $5.00 total.  I was very excited to get back to Korea to get some good Tteokbokki again.

My friend found out about my love for Tteokbokki and told me about an area of Seoul called Sindang which was where Tteokbokki was first sold and was supposed to be the premiere place to eat it.  It is a back alley known around Seoul as Tteokbokki Town.  She and I went there for lunch one day and I immediately knew this was a place I had to take the family for dinner. This area is known for it's Tteokbokki restaurants more then just the street vendors.  (another time I will post about the street vendors)

Walking under this sign, which I have no idea what it says, is the beginning of Tteokbokki Town

Right past this sign, on both sides of the street are tons of Tteokbokki restaurants.  My friend had heard this one was particularly good so that is where we decided to eat.

Often the Koreans will eat Tteokbokki late at night after hanging out with their friends at a bar.  This restaurant is open 24 hrs to accommodate the late night visitors.

There are a lot of versions of Tteokbokki.  The street version is pretty much just the rice cakes and the spicy sauce, but in the restaurants they add quite a few other things.  On each of the tables in the restaurant is a gas burner and they bring you a huge pan full of uncooked food and set it on the burner to cook at your table. This is what it looks like when it comes out...

There are 2 different types of noodles in this pan-ramen and a rice noodle.  There are 2 hard boiled eggs, the white round things are the rice cakes (they are very chewy), the squares are something that has a slight fishy taste to it, there are a bunch of onions and vegetables and the long fried things on the right are a fried noodle that get soft as it cooks in the broth.  The red stuff on top is a red pepper spice that when mixed with the broth and cooked gets thick.

After a few minutes of cooking it looks like this...

A pan of goodness.  It is delicious.  Everyone eats out of the same pan.  They give you small plates to put your food on to cool but you all eat from the same pan.  (Sharing a pan is very common with Korean meals.)

This is my small plate of food.  They also give each person at the table a small container of pickled radishes.  (the yellow things)  The radishes help to neutralize the spiciness.  I love the radishes with my spicy food, but I like them even by themselves as well.

About half way through our dinner.

Russ enjoying his Tteokbokki.

Many restaurants in Korea only serve 1 thing.  They have a specialty item and only serve that one item with usually a few different versions of it.  But thankfully this restaurant served a few other side dishes along with Tteokbokki.  This meal is to spicy for the girls to enjoy, so we ordered them some Kimbop (that will be another post). 

This restaurant was very large and was pretty much full most of the time while we were there. 

Not many foreigners in this part of Seoul.

The waiters were all lined up ready to serve.

Our entire meal for the 4 of us (including dessert) was less then $20.00.  After dinner we all got some ice cream (which was served at the restaurant as well) and headed home completely stuffed.  I guess I forgot to take an "on the way home" picture this time.