Well I’m sad to say that we said goodbye to our last set of visitors today. After a 19 day vacation in Korea and Japan, my sister and brother in law left from Seoul today at 11:00 am to head back to Minnesota. It has been such a great experience sharing our Korean lifestyle with people we love. I think Erin and Brian really got a snapshot of what our life has been like over the past 9 months. They were able to experience the good and bad that comes with living in Korea.
When Erin and Brian arrived in Yeosu we headed straight for the Chunnam Dragons soccer game in a nearby city called Gwangyang. After their stomachs were filled with their first Korean meal (Kimbap Nara) we met up with some foreigner friends of ours who organized a May birthday party noraebong bus! Yes a Karaoke bus was their first real Korean adventure. It was really fun and a great way to throw them into the culture, and meet our friends as well. Even though they had basically rolled off the plane after 24+ hours of traveling and were placed on a singing bus with people they didn’t know they did great, and only fell asleep at 10 pm on the bus, haha. The next day we went for a hike up Gorak Mountain because the weather was fantastic. On the way down we stopped at a highly popular workout area where many kids were playing. Once Brian took off his hat, the kids were pointing, pulling their friends over and staring at him. He also got dong-chimmed (a poke in the butt) by a kid, haha. Some girl also said “ 축축한 “ to Erin which Dave translated to mean “wet girl,” haha. All of these little situations were definitely some of the more memorable moments. Luckily we worked up an appetite for dinner at Hyegyong’s and Jeff’s house. We hung out with the girls until Erin and Brian started to look like zombies haha, then we decided to head home.
For lunch on Monday we took them to Marina buffet which serves Chinese, Japanese, and Korean cuisines. I know they both loved the food, but unfortunately we weren’t able to go back for a second visit. After lunch we brought them to our school. What perfect timing too because it rained hard all day. The kids were of course curious and excited to see more foreigners at the hogwon, and Erin and Brian had a great time too. The best part was when Brian showed the kids his bald head and his goggly eyes, haha. The kids went crazy, some were even too scared to talk to him! After school we went out for a couple of drinks and called it an early night. The next day we went out for lunch at a small but delicious Korean restaurant in downtown Yeosu. It was a spicy pork/vegetable meal and I could tell that they both really liked it. We dropped them off downtown at the open market before heading off to school where they shopped and took great pictures. On Wednesday I took Erin and Brian on a hike up MuSan Mountain, the mountain Dave and I frequently hike in the mornings. Being much smaller than Gorak mountain, we didn’t think much of it at the time, but I forgot that later that afternoon they would be going with Hyegyong and Sara to Odongdo to walk around. Needless to say I think Erin and Brian were definitely tired after all that hiking!
Thrusday we were able to go to Heunguksa which is a temple near our house, the weather was wonderfully warm and sunny, and Erin and Brian really enjoyed the scenery at the temple. We had a fish lunch prepared by our boss’s wife which even Dave loved! (he doesn’t care for fish much). And since it was finally Thursday, Dave and I knew we could handle going out that night.
After class we met up with them for dinner at a Korean style BBQ. Even though Erin and Brian are vegetarians, they have a rule that when on vacation they can eat meat! Lucky for them because the meal was really good. We had a couple of drinks at a few places and then were off to Noraebong! This was so much fun, something that I really wish was offered in the states. We sang our hearts out and thankfully went to the “Mandu” (Erin’s pronunciation) or Mondu street vendor that Dave and I frequent. Erin was reluctant at first to sit down in the tent, but I think that was more or less the soju working its’ course on her, haha. We did almost the same routine on Friday night, but this time heading to Ellui for the fire show and to meet up with some friends. Now that Erin and Brian were seasoned Noraebong singers they were able to really let loose! ( I have a great video of them attempting to sing/dance/ move/entertain to MC Hammer’s “Can’t Touch This” that I’m sure I’ll be posting, haha).
Saturday was a sightseeing day in which we went to Nagan (traditional folk village). It was really cold, and therefore not as fun to walk around outside, but we saw a sign for a temple so we decided to go. It turned out to be one of the best decisions! The temple was on the middle of this mountain range and absolutely beautiful and serene. We were all astounded at the beautiful flowers and the gorgeous architecture both inside and outside. In Minnesota at least it seems like the flowers are mostly oranges, yellows and reds. Here the flowers are fluorescent purples/pinks/reds. The flowers are like lanterns glowing in the sunlight, absolutely beautiful.
Sunday we went to yet another temple (3rd temple of the trip). We met up with Jeff, Hyegyong, Sara, and Hana at Hyangiram. Erin, Brian, Dave, and myself decided to hike up the mountain before we knew how long it would take. Unfortunately it took so long that Jeff and the girls went back home, but at least we made it to the top! It was actually a little scary of a hike, but worth the view.
The next couple of days Erin and Brian went to Fukouka, Japan to get another taste of Asian culture. They were able to meet up with one of Brian’s old drum core friends, Hiro. He took them to several different places, and it looked like they had a great time. Even though there was a little miscommunication between them and a cabby in order to find the bus terminal in Busan, they made it home to Yeosu safe and sound.
We took it pretty easy the next couple of days because we were going to Seoul for a long weekend. May 2 was Budha’s birthday and there was a lantern festival going on in Seoul so we left Saturday by train to check it out. Well, after an hour trying to even find a hotel (holiday weekend) we missed the festival by a whole week, haha. Yes, the festival took place the week before unknown to any of us. We searched all night for it, but ended up strolling the streets of Seoul, checking out the sights. The next day we did some souvenir shopping in Itaewon which was fun and cheap. Erin and Brian got a couple of cool things for their house, and Dave and I got quizno’s, haha (we also got some things too, but nothing compares to a well made, western style sandwich). We also did a little shopping in Dongdaemon (the district where we were staying) and I finally got a cute Korean fashion dress which I’m super excited to wear for the summer. After shopping we went to a temple where they were supposed to have a lantern festival. We got there at about 6:30 pm and it was still light outside. There were 1,000 lanterns set up, it would have been so beautiful it they were lit up. It was cool to be in such a historic place right in the middle of a huge modern city. We checked out the beautiful handmade lanterns which depicted a story about Budha and by the time we walked out of that building the sun had set and the lanterns were turned on! So we didn’t get to see the actual festival, but the 1,000 lit lanterns were extremely impressive. That night we headed for Mexican food, drinks/darts, then noraebong before calling it an early night (2 am).
The next morning we had to wake up and leave our hotel by 7:20 because we had already booked a tour to go to the DMZ the day before. This was a little rough at first seeing as we didn’t get much sleep, but the tour was pretty cool. We went to a river valley which was gorgeous and very scenic. There was a little sandy area where we were able to lay on for about an hour before heading to the DMZ (Demilitarized zone). We went in a tunnel that North Korea had built but refused to admit it. Later on North Korea explained that they did build the tunnel but for coal mining purposes (they spread some black stuff on the walls to make it look like a mine). We were also able to go to an observation place where we could see the actual border between the North and South. We were about 300 meters from the border. This place is really surreal to see, environmentally it is so pure and untouched, but of course politically this place is extremely tainted. Military men stood by, armed with huge guns the whole time. We were only allowed a certain amount of time to stay at the couple of sites we went to, usually people were rushing us out. Overall it was a good trip, but the bus ride home was pretty awful. We had to share a conversion van with five other Japanese people and boy do they like to talk. Plus traffic was awful and it took double the amount of time to get home as it did getting to the DMZ. Later on that night we finished off the trip with Erin and Brian’s last Korean meal (Korean style BBQ duck). It was tasty and we all ate a lot, but not enough that we couldn’t noraebong one last time. I don’t know if this was a good thing or a bad thing in the end, but the lady at the noraebong kept adding more free time to our room. So much time was added that we didn’t even realize it was 3 am when we finally finished. Unfortunately we had to wake up at 7 am to get things packed and ready to leave.
Overall this was a really awesome trip.
Dave and I both appreciated Erin and Brian coming over, it’s so nice being able to not only see people from home, but share this experience with them. It was a sad goodbye (I have been trying to hold back tears for the past 2 days, haha with some success) but this was the last big plan of our stay here in Korea. We are now officially in the home stretch of our trip. ¼ left, 3 months, 90 days, however you count it, our time is winding down. While Dave and I both feel like we really want to get home, it will be hard leaving this life, our friends, and this adventure. I think we are finally feeling the bitter sweetness of this experience. It was great being able to talk about traveling and living in a different country with Erin and Brian since they have done that before too. It is also great having people from home visit because it gives us more perspective on how far we’ve come since last year. Seeing Erin and Brian’s reactions/perspectives on things that we consider normal now has also been a great way to renew our own perspective of this experience. Living here for such an extended period of time wears on you, and you grow numb to things your once thought unusual. Erin and Brian brought a new light and energy into our lives and we will surely be feeding off this for the remainder of our trip.
As usual, we took a lot of pictures while Erin and Brian were here, so click links to the four part album below...
Part One - Noraebus/Soccer Game, Musan Mt, Heunguksa Temple
Part Two - Norae Time, Nagan, Sunamsa Temple
Part Three - More Sunamsa, Hyangiram, Seoul Lantern Fest Temple
Part Four - River Valley, DMZ
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