Parent's Visit- Suwon

The next city we visited was Suwon, just south of Seoul. We were really loaded down on the trip up there- between the 3 of us, we had 5 rolling luggages, and one duffel bag! But, three of those rolling luggages were full of my stuff to be sent home- I really cleared out a lot of clothes!

Once we successfully got all the luggage to our hotel, we took a cab to Suwon Folk Village. At first, I wasn't too keen on going there, as I've seen things like this in the past, and they're generally very touristy. This one was quite different, and definitely exceeded my expectations.

Though it was a bit expensive to get in, since we'd driven all the way there, we still went in. At first, all we saw were restaurants, souvenir shops, and elementary students, but after we passed the second entrance gate, the touristy bits disappeared and we were in a real village. All of the 260-odd buildings had been transported from different parts of the country, and we liked comparing the differences in architecture styles.



They also had lots of "businesses," like a pottery studio, silk studio, farms, and government offices. Mom and I bought some pottery necklaces and jars, which are one-of-a-kind. We saw a live performance of a wedding in the "Royal Palace" and an acrobatics show.

The next day, we stored our stuff at Suwon Station and walked to the main sight in Suwon, the fortress. It was awesome!

We payed just $1 to walk around the old walls and explore the lookout points. Part of the fortress was on top of a mountain, but it was so large that it extended down into the town. Of course now, the inside of the fortress is full of PC Bangs, homes, and schools, but hundreds of years ago, it would have been just like the folk village we'd seen yesterday.





We walked around on top of the mountain, and walked down through town at the end. We were all surprised at the size of it- I didn't realize it would be half as big as the city! This is a cool shot of the entrance leading up to the temple in the town. I've never seen anything on the sidewalk like this before:



The three of us had a great morning/early afternoon at the fortress, and Dad later said it was his favorite part of the trip!

Parent's Visit- Host Family

We spent one day with my host family the second week of their trip... and I think that was enough! Don't get me wrong, we all had fun, it was just very tiring!

We started off the day with breakfast at their house, in Bongseong-dong. They gave us many presents, like plates, Gwangju guide books, and a DVD set. Very sweet, but we thought it would be challenging to pack 5 of each thing in our luggages!

On our way to the first stop, which ended up being a random garden in the mountains, we picked up our translator for the day. None of us really knew what was happening when this lady jumped in our van (rented for the day from the church) and started chatting with us. It ended up being nice to have a translator along with us, since my host dad and sister have limited English abilities. But wow, she was a talker!

At the garden, we heard a lot about Ying and Yang and Buddhism, and took many pictures, very Korean-esque. I'm not sure why we went there, but it was pretty and quiet, something that can be hard to find in Gwangju.

Our next stop was Damyang Bamboo Park, making it now 5 times that I've been there. It looks the same everyday- a lot of bamboo! We did get to visit a handicraft shop. The man specialized in making- get this- bamboo crafts! Woohoo! Actually, he was very talented and had many nice things for sale in his store. Our translator, Ms. Oh, surprised mom with a nice green flower pin, woven out of bamboo. Here's mom and dad, listening to Ms. Oh.



I was getting hungry at this point, but I declined a snack, thinking we were getting some bibimbap soon. Well, an hour and a half later, we made it to the middle of nowhere (otherwise known as Gochang) to a barley festival.

Wait, what?!

Yes, a barley festival. I'm not sure why, but my host family thought it would be fun. That's one word to describe it!

After tasting the bibimbap, made with local barley, we started to take a relaxing walk through the barely fields. It quickly got interrupted by a group of young men from the TV channel, Arirang. They were interested in interviewing Dad and me about our feelings on the barley festival. We did two takes, then spent about 15 minutes casually walking through the fields of barley while they filmed. Between Ms. Oh, Mr. Mun, and Mom, we had so many pictures taken- I really felt like a star!



After we were done walking through the barley, it was Mom's turn to be interviewed. For hers, she put on some traditional Korean clothes at one of the vendor's stalls. She actually really liked it, so for the rest of the trip, we were on the hunt for anything as cute as this one:





We entertained ourselves for the rest of the afternoon by making naturally dyed handkerchiefs and rice cakes (ddeok), and getting free samples from vendors, like juice, lotion, soap, and face masks. By the time we were finished, we were all exhausted, but had made so many crazy memories with my host family!

Parent's Visit- Gyeongju

Following Busan, we headed north to a small town called Gyeongju. Gyeongju is referred to as the "Rome of Korea" and "Korea's best outdoor museum." The town is full of old artifacts, tombs, temples, and historical sites, some dating back to the 4th or 5th century. We didn't have as much time here as I would have liked, but we got a good feel of the city and the things to do. There's still many things I'd like to see, so I'll have to plan another trip back!

Our first stop was Bulguksa Temple, just outside of town but easily reachable by city bus. We went on a Saturday afternoon, which wasn't the best time (there were lots of people!), but we had nice weather. Bulguksa is classified as "Historical and Scenic Site #1," because of it's importance to Korean history. There are seven different national treasures there, and it's very beautiful. If you'd like to see more pictures or learn about the history, here's the link to Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Bulguksa

On Sunday, we enjoyed a continental breakfast... and then found out it wasn't actually continental! Good thing we enjoyed it a lot and ate a lot of food. Next, we headed into town with our luggage, and did a walking tour for the rest of the day until our train back to Gwangju. We started by seeing the Royal Tombs in the center of the city. There were over 20 of them in the main park, and more in the surrounding area. We were all surprised at the size of them!



One of the tombs of the King had been excavated, and you could walk inside. Sorry, no pictures allowed. The remains were in the center of the tomb, surrounded by gifts of gold and pottery, enclosed in a wooden casket, buried under many rocks, and then covered with dirt. Also inside were some relics that had been cleaned and placed in display cases. Once we went inside, we had a much better understanding of what it was, compared to just a mound of dirt and grass.

Some other sites we saw included the oldest structure in Korea, an astronomical clock, which wasn't worth the $.50 we spent on the entrance ticket. We also walked around the old "fortress," better known as a "forest" (those darn translations!), and the free National History Museum, both enjoyable and educational. There were so many interesting things to look at in the museum, but it wasn't overwhelming, like museums sometimes can be. But the dates of some of the relics made my head spin. Hard to believe things from Bronze Age (1000 BC) still exist!

Gyeongju was a great time- so much to see and do, but not nearly enough time. If anyone out there wants to go sometime, let me know and I'll gladly join you!

Parent's Visit- Busan

After Daegu, we took the bus to Busan for two nights. We had a great hotel, Sunset Hotel, right on Haeundae Beach. The weather was great the first day, so I'm glad we did a lot of sightseeing then, because the second day was rainy and a bit cooler.

It was so nice being on the beach, the three of us enjoyed walking on the boardwalk and watching the numerous boats out at sea. There weren't many people on the beach, since it was a Thursday, but there were a ton of adorable students going to the Haeundae Aquarium, and they all wanted to say "hi" to us.

We did see two "touristy" sights on Thursday, the Busan Tower and Jalgachi Fish Market, both near the port downtown. Mom and Dad really enjoyed the $3 trip up to the top of the tower- the view of the port is stunning. There are so many boats and containers! We must have taken hundreds of pictures between us.



The Fish Market was something I'd always been meaning to see whenever I visited. It was much larger than I expected. The first floor had lots of vendors selling crab, prawns, fish, oysters, clams, and various other sea creatures. We knew that we wanted to buy crab, so I was able to ask how many we should buy for three people, and the ladies advised us to buy two. I think we chose just the right amount.

Another lady took our two King Crabs up to the second level, where we had them prepared for just a little more. While it took longer than we expected (but still not too long), it was worth the wait. It was the best, freshest, sweetest crab I've ever had. It was simply steamed, and they gave us some scissors to help crack the shell. We didn't talk too much during the meal, we were enjoying it too much! By the time we finished, we were so sticky and the table was covered with bits of crab.



Friday brought with it rainy weather, so we entertained ourselves by exploring Shinsaegae and being interviewed by the Busan English Radio channel (which I'll try to post later). Busan's such a fun town, and I'll be going back sometime this summer to see Haeundae in it's prime.

Parent's Visit- School

On their second day, I took my parents to school for two classes. Gosh, I thought they loved me, but their reaction to my parents was off the charts!!!! I think many Koreans are used to seeing young, white adults, but to see a middle aged foreigner is practically unheard of in my neighborhood. I can't even guess how many "hi's" my parents said, or how many times students compared their height to Dad's.

Here's some pictures of the two classes I taught with my parents assistance:





Here's Mom and some third graders:


And an action shot of me and Hyunhee, my coteacher, at my desk:


I'm pretty positive that this was one of the most memorable experiences of my parents visit!

Parent's Visit- Daegu

One of the places I took my parents to was Daegu. I'd never been to Daegu before, so I was also eager to see what it was like. Daegu is famous for their traditional market, named Seomun, as well as their traditional herbal medicines. It sounded like a place worth checking out.

After we'd stored our luggage in the subway lockers upon arrival, we rode the subway to Seomun Market. Seomun had it all- dried fish, seaweed, fruit, comforters, street food, and great people watching. We weren't looking for anything in particular, but enjoyed the almond samples and taking pictures of all the "strange" food (strange for Mom and Dad, normal for me!). I thought I was going to have to hold dad back from sampling one of the dirt-flavored silk worm larva- thank goodness I was able to convince him that they really do taste like dirt!


(thanks Google Images)

My friend Jeannine who lives in Daegu recommended some good street vendors for lunch, a place that specializes in flat mando, and a place that has the best Heoddeok, a fried pancake with sweet filling. However, once we entered the food area, I knew we'd never be able to find the right one! There were just too many! Every stand was busy, so we knew wherever we decided to eat that it would be hot and fresh.

We settled on the busiest stall, and came back once three plastic chairs were empty. We ordered 4 dishes- a plain kimbap roll, udon, guksu, and heoddeok. All the dishes were good, Mom liked the guksu best because of the non-fishy broth, and Dad enjoyed them all, especially the heoddeok! The best part was that we were all full after, and the meal came to less than $9!



The medicine market wasn't exactly what I'd expected, it was more a cobblestone road with various medicine shops selling roots, barks, seeds, and the like. We paused to look around the medicine museum, and sampled some tea made from 10 different herbs that we continued to look for during the duration of our trip, but never found.

We enjoyed the temples in Gyeongsangamyeong Park, close to downtown before meeting Jeannine for dinner and desert (spicy fried bokumbap and ice cream waffle).

Daegu was great to explore for a day, and even though we all got tired in the afternoon, having Jeannine as our guide perked us up. When we got back to our hotel (16th floor!) later on, we all crashed before 10pm!

Parent's Visit

It's just a week now until my parents come, I can't wait! There's so much to do and see here, and I just hope that they'll have a blast!

We'll spend a few days of course in Gwangju, touring around the city, visiting my school, going out to eat, and meeting friends. My host family here is sooo happy my parents are coming- I swear, the dad would have wanted us to visit every day if we could! Thankfully, we'll just be spending one night at their apartment, and going to Boseong and a KIA Tigers game together. I'm really curious how the communication will work, and I have a feeling they'll grill my parents with all sorts of questions!

Some other cities we'll be visiting are Daegu, Busan, Gyeongju, Suwon, and Seoul. I'm really eager to go to Daegu and Gyeongju; I've never been there before. I'm sure my parents will like Seoul, just because there's so much to do. Also, I think our hotel there is going to be really nice! In Daegu and Busan, we'll be meeting some friends of mine so we can go to the best places. There's a lot to do in each place, but I want to do the best things.

I'm also looking forward to seeing the fun stuff my parents are bringing- some herbs to plant, some new shoes, and a Kindle (still so sad about the last one breaking). I'll be sending home 3 pieces of luggage with them, including my computer. Computer's are very expensive to ship, and since I get a laptop from school, I'll be able to use that at home. Getting rid of all my winter clothes and things I don't use will clear up a lot of space in my wardrobe. Whatever I can send now is something I don't have to pay for to ship home.

I know it's only been about 8 months since I saw my parents last, but I'm still very excited! The weather is nicer now, and I'm pumped to show them my favorite things about Korea!

An American "Dinner"

If you can recall from a previous post, I had my host family over for dinner earlier this evening. I decided to do something relatively simple, breakfast for dinner. On the menu was French Toast, bacon, strawberries and pineapple, 2 crossants from Paris Baguette, and a variety of chocolate and sweets from the good of U.S. of A.

The Mun family came right on time- 7pm. I was ready for them, and thankfully everything went smoothly, cookingwise. We had a good time playing One Card (Korean Uno), and they stuck around until about 9pm. I did learn a few things during the night:

One: If it is a families first time visiting someone, they bring tissue as a gift. I now have 6 boxes of Kleenex, and will not have to buy any more the entire time I'm in Korea. (Edit: I tried one later on, and I'm pretty sure they are scented. It almost makes me want to sneeze again when I use them!)

Two: Chocolate is expensive. I knew this before tonight when I dropped about $5 on a small bag of M&M's at Lotte Mart. My brother and sister were so excited about the chocolate for desert. I put out some treats that were recently mailed to me (Ferrero Rocher, Dove, and Lindt). I think they may have liked it more than the meal.

Three: My putting out forks and knives really indimidated them. "How else to you eat French Toast," I thought? Koreans take the easy way out- roll it up like a burrito, syrup and all!

Four: The people that work at City Hall with my host dad like me (I hope). As another present, I got a few magents, a CD, and 4 sets of Gwangju Artwork Postcards. They are... unique looking. I'll try to mail some out soon.

Five: Third grade is not too old to get upset about a card game. My little host sister got upset at something that happened during One Card. I'm not sure exactly what it was, but she started to cry, and refused to play the rest of the game. Her mom took her place, and then she joined in for a hand later on.

It was a very fun and entertaining night. I got to learn a few more Korean words and terms, and taught them some English sayings. We plan on seeing each other once a month, and I think next time, they are taking me out to eat. I'm pretty lucky to have such a nice family here!

Tom and Mike come to Korea

For those of you who don't know, my brother Tom and his best friend Mike have been visiting me in Gwangju for the last two weeks. It's been busy, and I hope they've enjoyed their time here. They have been keeping up with their journaling, so they probably remember everything we did better than I do! It's their last night tonight, they'll leave at 3:15 am tomorrow morning to go to the Gwangju bus terminal, then catch a bus to the Incheon Airport. We're taking it easy at home tonight, watching Dante's Peak and I'm thinking they'll probably lay down and rest pretty soon, even though it's only 6:45 pm.

Tom and Mike had some difficulty getting here. There was confusion with their airline carrier, and eventually found out from Pavlov the courrier at the MSP airport that it was Korea Air, not Delta. Due to the heavy storms in Seoul/Incheon (the most in 70 years!), they were delayed about 6 hours, and that pushed back their arrival time into Gwangju to about 2 am!

They were pretty jet lagged the first few days, but I made them get out and do things in hope that it would help reset their clocks. I think they saw all the main highlights Gwangju has to offer, and were semi-courageous when it came to trying foods out of their comfort level. We did lots of eating, I wanted to make sure they got to experience a variety of cusine.

Some of the fun sites in Gwangju we saw were the CGV Imax Theater (Avatar 3D!), Downtown, May 18 Park, Sangmu, Suwan MS, Lotte Mart, Shinsaegae, Keun Beol Elementary School for my EIC camp, the virtual roller coaster, and the insides of a few bars, cafes, and restaurant. Mike did get to meet his pen pal partner, YeoChan, but unfortunately Tom's partner was out of town in Seoul. We never made it to the Noraebang, PC bang, or DVD bang, but I guess there's always next time.

Here are the boys at one of our lunches out:



The highlight of our trip was our weekend in Seoul. We were there Friday, Saturday, and Sunday. On Friday, we were downtown in the skyscraper district and looked at the stream running through the city. It was so pretty at night with the Christmas lights. We had a simple dinner of Kimbap and went back early to our hostel in Hongdae to rest for the early morning DMZ/JSA tour.

Sunday we saw Gyeongbukgung Palace (which I'd already seen in the fall with Alli) and Seoul Tower. Here we are at the palace:



We didn't actually go up in Seoul tower because we had a good view of the city from the base (it's on a mountan) and it was somewhat cloudy anyhow. In the afternoon, we met my friend Kenny from Gwangju in Itaewon, the foreigners district in Seoul. We spent some time at a bar, got Thai food which was amazing, and then had after dinner drinks. I had originally planned on leaving at 2 pm, but because we were out in Itaewon, we didn't get a bus back until 9:45 pm. The four of us crashed on the bus on the way back, and got back to Gwangju around 2 am!

Overall, we had a great time. I was worried that the boys would be bored in the morning when I was working at the EIC camps, but I think they were happy to have some rest time and watch Entourage. I got lots of wonderful presents/cards from my parents (thanks for the food!) and it is so nice to have some more clothes here! I'm not sending much back however because I think I'll wear most of the clothes again next season/year when I resign :) I'll worry about sending things home much later on.