So far this holiday weekend has been very adventurous. Friday was the Korean Independence Day and luckily we got off of work for it. We had absolutely no plans besides watching some movies that Dave had recently downloaded (including Harold and Kumar escape from Guantanamo Bay). At about 2PM our co-worker Liz called me up and asked if we had plans. She told us to be at the yacht club by 3PM because her friends were going sailing. When we arrived at the yacht club we were kindly greeted by her friends, the old mayor of Yeochon called “captain” and with an international public relations retiree named “John.” They told us we would ONLY be sailing on the 20 meter yacht today; tomorrow would be the other boat. Liz could not sail with us, but set this nice sailing adventure up and was very kind about seeing us off and introducing us. Walking down to the bay we saw two boats. They were amazing, and I have never been on a boat this big that one single person owned!
We set sail and it was cloudy but perfect temperature. Three of the men on board spoke good English which was nice and we talked to Dr. Kahn for awhile an OB/GYN at the hospital near our house. We sailed to an island that the captain (ex mayor) OWNED! When we got there some of the men went swimming around the rocks near this island to catch seaweed. Dave was asked and jumped right in. He didn’t have his suit but in Korean culture it is perfectly acceptable to wear clothes when swimming so that is what he did. He dove for seaweed with the ex-mayor of Yeochon! (check out the link below for pictures)
The boat was wonderful, and even though it rained a little it was an exciting experience. You are treated very kindly, like family, in Korean culture when meeting new people. I felt as if these people were taking care of me and it felt good to know they genuinely liked taking two new foreigners out sailing with them. Dave and I were talking and even though they only knew some English we both felt extremely comfortable in this situation because with the lack of verbal communication you have to make up in smiles and other gestures which seems more intimate. We agreed that if we were to have this same experience in Minneapolis with an ex-mayor we would have been extremely nervous and scared.
We went out to eat Friday night which was nice because we could finally watch some of the Olympics. We have a TV at home but we are unable to find stations at the moment. At dinner we were trying to speak in Korean, but our server only spoke to us in English which was a nice gesutre, but dave and I really need more practice with Korean so it was frustrating. We then went out for a few drinks at Ellui and hung out with a few people we have met. It was an early night for us.
Saturday was another lazy day. We have been downloading many movies so while we were waiting for them to finish we watched "Fargo" to remind us of back home. This movie gets better with each viewing. We then walked to Lotte Mart (Similar to a target) to get weekly groceries. We didn't think we would be buying much so we only brought a little money. At the cashier we had to dig for extra money because we fell a little short but luckily we have mounds of change in our pockets that saved us.
For dinner Dave's Korean family took us out to eat at a seafood restaurant. We ate like kings. The meal was wonderful and there were too many courses to count. Communication is hard because our Korean is so limited, but we managed the best we could. There were some unusual dishes on the table, and some dishes were looking at us, eek! I had to do my best not to freak out, haha (I have a hard time with seafood when it's presented to me in the form it was caught). Overall it was delicious and was quite filling, I just wish I could speak more Korean to show how grateful I am to Dave's Korean family. Hopefully when Jeff, Hye Gyong, Hana, and Sara come back we will be able to learn more Korean from them.
Sunday we are relaxing, doing laundry, and possibly trying some different food at the restaurant called "Kimbap Nara" near our house. Next week will be very tiring for us because it is the last full week of summer camp. I cannot wait to not work overtime anymore and be on the same schedule as Dave!
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