Visitation Rights

In addition to it being Halloween last Saturday, the weekend was also special for another reason: my mom and step-dad came to Korea to visit!  They flew in from San Diego to Busan and then went to Goeje Island to visit my step-sister Nicole and her husband Sam.  (click here to see my previous post about Goeje)  They were there for the earlier part of last week and traveled west to visit Natalie, my brother's girlfriend, and then north to Seoul where they rented a traditional Korean house called a Hanok.  

Then on Wednesday October 28th my mom and Darrell came down to Suwon to spend the day at the Korean Folk Village (click here to see my post on the KFV).  After a little bit of confusion about my school and the correct time to meet, I was finally able to see them.  I gave them a tour of my classroom and a little bit of the school.  Unfortunately no children were at school that day because of the H1N1 flu and most of the teachers had already left too.  However, they did get to meet Yunjoo who is the music teacher and one of my favorite co-workers at the school.

My mom, Darrell, and I walked back to my apartment ("You have to walk this far everyday?" they asked me.  "Sure do," I replied.  My walk to and from work/school takes about 20 minutes at a casual walking pace so I figure it's about a mile away).

After showing them my apartment (alright fine I'll show you ONE picture of it because you haven't seen it yet and it's been 2 months.  Since the addition of my television though, I've had to rearrange and so it doesn't even look like that anymore.) we went out for an early dinner in downtown Yeongtong.


We ate at the same Galbi place that Nicole and I ate at when she was in town.  The first time I was there with Nicole the waiter ordered for us and he picked out the thinly sliced beef which I think is called Bulgogi.  This time we had some kind of pork Galbi and beef Galbi which are thicker slices of meet, and then later, because we were still hungry we got the thinly sliced Bulgogi.

After dinner we met up with my co-teacher Eunju who was kind enough to give my mom and step-dad a ride to Suwon Station so that they could take the subway back to Seoul.

***

On Friday morning I had a cold and a sore throat so I called in sick.  I wanted to sleep in but because of all cases of flu it was advised that I go to the doctor before 9am.  Ugh.  So I did.  It cost me w2,500 to see the doctor and another w3,000 for pills and meds.  Not too shabby at all!

I arrived in Seoul (Insadong) at around 1pm but since Mom and Darrell were not there I went inside and slept for a little while to feel better.  And by a little while I actually mean 3 hours.

That afternoon my mom and I went window-shopping down the main drag in Insadong (click here for my entry about Insadong) and then out to tea at a cute little tea shop.  Insadong is known for all their tea houses and it's one of the things I didn't do the last time I went and really wanted to.

It's not the greatest picture because I really was feeling sick that day, but going out to tea with my mom remains the highlight of their visit for me.





On Saturday Nicole & Sam came from Geoje to stay at the Hanok house.  That evening we went out to dinner at a kitschy little restaurant in Insasong that is known for their handmade mandu/dumplings and has been mentioned in numerous newspapers and guidebooks.

See? Very kitschy.                                                         The food was great though!  And pretty too.          

Good food = Good times

On Sunday we took the Seoul Bus Tour all around the city.  Here are some pictures from the tour:

 

  

The pic above is Haechi, Seoul's mascott.  Personally I think he looks like a wild thing minus the horns:

Legend has it though, that Haechi can distinguish good from evil and can repel fire and disaster.  All those Wild Things can do is roar their terrible roars and gnash their terrible teeth.  Haechi wins.

We also went up to Seoul tower.  It was really cool!

 

Inside the tower.