New Car!

We have wheels!

Having officially decided not to ship our practically new Kia over to Korea, we opted to buy cheap used car. There is a used car lot on Post and you can usually get a decent car for around $2,000. Our main uses for the car are for when we go grocery shopping or shopping at the PX. It will only be from getting from our apartment to Post and back. We never intend to drive in the City because Korean drivers are horrible and there are an abundance of cheap public transportation options.

I can not tell you how excited and happy and relieved I am to finally have a car here. Sure, its doable not to have a car, but with two little ones, a country with low winter temps and high summer temps, a car is a really wonderful convenience.

Jason went to the car lot last weekend and picked out a 1996 Hyundai Sonata. It's got somewhere around 90k miles on it and the the interior is in pristine condition and the exterior is free from dents and scratches. The paint has lots some of its luster, but come on! It's a 96! Some wear is to be expected.

Most importantly, its runs, it has heat and air, and it was 4 doors. Done Deal.

The car....

We have a booster seat for Emma (from the Army lending closet) but we needed a car seat for Jackson since our car seats are still in our car parked at Jason's parents house.

(I miss you Kia! I miss you car seats! Oh yes- I miss you Jason's parents!)

So, we took a family outing in the car Saturday morning with Emma in her booster seat and Jaxy sitting on my lap (its the Korean way, dont lecture me) and visited the on Post thrift shop.

A car seat! For $14! Weee!!!

Can I tell you how nice it is to not have to ride around with a squirmy infant on my lap? Very nice indeed.

Can I tell you how nice it is to go to the grocery store with Jason and the kids and not worry about catching a cab, and if there will be room for all our groceries, and how will be get the groceries AND the kids from the cab into our building and up the elevator without leaving something or someone behind?

Now we can park our car near the elevator, and ride up. And if we left some groceries in the car, fine! the meter aint running! We'll just go back down the elevator at our leisure!

You have to have a special US Armed Forces Korea drivers license here, and Jason has already taken and passed his test, and I should be going on Wednesday. You have to go in the morning to take the 2 part test, and then you have to go back in the afternoon to watch a safety video and get a vision test. Kind of a big deal when you at home with your kids. But Jason has Wednesday off so he'll watch the kids and I'll walk to post to take the test.

Wish me luck!