Korea was amazing. I had such an eye opening experience. I left a country that takes healthcare for granted, trees and parks for granted, and sidewalks and streets for granted. I landed a day ahead of "my" time in a place that was full of people, a city that seems to never sleep and is built up, up, up! It was a trip of a lifetime!
I spent most of my time getting to know my Nephew and trying my best to help out my sister since she and her husband really hadn't slept well since they brought home this bundle of love. I tried to take as many night shifts as I could so they could recharge their batteries for the time I was not there before Mom was able to make the trip. All I have to say is that Marc stole my
heart the minute I saw him! Other than being so LITTLE, he was an angel. He made the cutest sounds, sweet smiles (even though he didn't know he was doing that) and has his parents wrapped around his little fingers. It was great to be the first to go and see Marc, Steph and Jarrod, as a new family. Parenthood sure fits them like a glove and it was great to be able to answer some of their questions when something arose.
I was able to go out and see some of Korea with both Steph and Jarrod just at different times.
Because they have this yellow sand, and it is against custom to bring out little babies before 100 days (and Marc's lungs were still so young), they took turns hanging out with Marc and the other would show me around to different sites around Seoul. The first part of my trip was taken with Jarrod as he picked me up from the airport. It was about an hour bus ride to the drop off point in which time Jarrod pointed out some of the different parts of the city. Other events I was able to do with Jarrod was to go to the electronics market, a place where anything tech that you want
would be sold, ride his motorcycle around the city (which was really crazy when he would drive in between cars to the front of the lines at stop lights or drive on sidewalks because this is how they do it there), see where they went to church, and Jarrod took me to his old neighborhood and showed me around there where I ate a meal that was crazy and great! One of the best things we were able to do though was go up to Seoul tower which is in the middle of the city on a mountain and look over the whole area. It was amazing to be able to see as far as your eye could and not see the end of the city.
With Steph I was able to take the bus, cabs and subway system as these are her modes of transportation. The subway is cool because every station is done in a different theme. We went to some shops for souvenirs, ate a great lunch of manuto and dumplings, and went to the
changing of the Guard ceremony at one of the Palaces in the city. It was definitely on my highlight list! The architecture and finesse of the buildings was amazing and the ceremony was really cool. It surprised me to see that they still wore the same clothes as back in the day and some of the instruments used were really neat. I think a conch shell was one of them. Steph took me to her and Jarrod's school where we watched Jarrod play some basketball, showed me around her classroom and nurse's station, and introduced me to some of her colleagues. YISS, Younson International School of Seoul, is a beautiful campus with lots of benefits. I was also able to go out another night with Steph where we headed to Itaewon, the global village inside
Seoul. We ate at a great Korean BBQ restaurant and did some more shopping. I found these really cool ties, they zip on! Stephen will love them when he is older! It was a great time with my Sister. I was so glad to be able to come for the visit so I could have some memories in this other place with my sister and be able to live it with her even if it was for only a short time.
Thanks Steph and Jarrod for all the fond memories and great times that we had while I was there. I can't wait to see you again and play some more Bananagrams and have a rematch at Wii Resort 3 point contest! Practice up, cause you know I will bring my A game!
More from Korea to come! If you want to see more photos, look at my facebook page.
