The Folks Visit Korea

So, my parents made a HUGE decision and an equally HUGE trek across the world and came to visit me in Korea.

Dad braved 15 hours on a cramped plane and Mom braved food she most certainly would not like.

When my parents first planned to come to Korea, I asked them what they'd like to do. I know my mom doesn't care--she'd be happy just to sit and chat. And we did do that, but I didn't want them to come all the way to Korea and not see at least a handful of the cool things I've seen. I thought that would be a waste. So basically, I walked them to death. We went everywhere. The pictures will prove it, especially if you looked at a map of Seoul.

Over the course of the 4.5 days they were here, I took quite a lot of pictures. Rather than write a lot--I thought I'd post a LOT of pictures and let the pictures tell the story of our various adventures. I'll number the pictures--and if you have a specific question about any of the pictures just email me.

Here goes.

Friday, May 2--We walked around a lot, mostly trying to find Dad a pair of tennis shoes. We went to Dongdaemun Market and Namdaemun Market. We went to Yongsan, where all the electronics are. We took the subway from Seoul to Ilsan where Mom got a 2 hour Thai massage (ask her about it). Dad and I took a bus to another town called Paju Book City and finally found him a pair of tennis shoes.

Picture 1--Dongdaemun GateSaturday, May 3--Walking around Insadong (the place where we stayed) and Jongno. We were joined by a family friend, Pam, who is teaching English near Seoul. Seoul was in the midst of celebrating the "Hi Seoul" Festival, along with several other festivities, including Buddha's birthday and the Lotus Lantern Festival.

Picture 2--Chinese Lanterns at Tagpol Park

Picture 3--Mom and Pam walking in Jongno
Picture 4--A chinese lantern (I think) and Jongno Tower (remember the name of this tower for later)
Picture 5--Mom and Dad and me at Bosingak, where I was for New Year's in Seoul (you've seen this in other blogs)
Picture 6--Lanterns hung at Jogyesa Temple, a Buddhist Temple, part of the celebration of Buddha's birthday and/or the Lotus Lantern Festival (if you look upside down, I believe the lanterns do show the shape of a lotus flower...or a flower at least)
Picture 7--The first of many pictures taken on our wonderful 2.5 hour tour of the beautiful Changdeokgung Palace (the most well-preserved Palace in Seoul) Picture 8--The sign says: "This building is Chong-jon Hall (the Main Hall) built in the premises of this palace, and coronation of a king and other official grand ceremonies were carried out here."
Picture 9--Chong-Jon Hall
Picture 10--Inside Chong-Jon Hall
Picture 11--View from in front of Chong-Jun Hall; interesting to see Seoul Tower and the other big buildings surrounding the beautiful palace
Picture 12--Palace tour Picture 13--Mom on the tour
Picture 14--Remember, you can simply click these pictures to enlarge them so you can see them more clearly--you should then be able to read this sign. Once you are finished with the enlarged picture, you need to click the back arrow to return to the blog to continue your reading and viewing experience.
Picture 15--The Juhamnu Pavilion, as described in the previous picture; I did not lessen the color on this picture--it really looks that drab.
Picture 16--Mom and Dad at part of the secret rear garden of the Palace; Dad was looking at his camera, he was not ignoring me; the building in the background is where the Queen went when she was pregnant--because it is a lovely, relaxing place to be
Picture 17--Another pond on the Palace tour Picture 18--Mom passing through one of many gates at the Palace
Picture 19--Dad walking around at the Palace, on the right is a house that one of the kings had built for his father
Picture 20--The sign for the ancient Juniper tree that is towards the end of the Palace tour
Picture 21--The 750 year-old Juniper tree; notice the metal rods around the tree--those are supporting some of the massive branches
Picture 22--One piece of the Palace wall--the ORIGINAL wall
Picture 23--Another piece of one of the many walls within the Palace, this one is new

Picture 24--Now finished with the Palace tour we head into Insadong for lunch and to see all the shops that are there (they close the road on Saturdays and Sundays to create a pedestrian free-for-all); this picture is for my sister, Valerie; this is the entrance to an art gallery, it is actually made up of pieces of picture frames--very interesting, eh, Val?
Picture 25--After lunch, as we walked along the street, we saw all kinds of interesting things--what kind of birds are these?
Picture 26--Dad gets politely accosted by some Korean girls who needed help for a school project--they had to ask him questions in English (ask him about it)

Picture 27--A busy street
Picture 28--View from above; lots of various candies and snacks
Picture 29--A woman going nuts at what I believe is a lathe of some sort--they were weaving basket material, bamboo? A guy behind her was using this bamboo like stuff to make slippers
Picture 30--The sign for the SECOND most important historical monument (number ONE was Namdaemun Gate, which was what recently burned) in Seoul
Picture 31--The pagoda as described in the previous picture (notice the reflection)

Picture 32--This is what you can see in the reflection from the previous picture
Picture 33--The sign for the beautiful octagonal pavilion in Tagpol Park--
Picture 34--The octagonal pavilion as described in the previous picture
Picture 35--A panoramic photo of the octagonal pavilion and the surrounding area

WARNING: Be prepared for some WILD photos of some WILD food. These are from our dinner Saturday evening.

Picture 36--The left side of our HUGE dinner options. Can you guess what any of it is?

Picture 37--The right side of our HUGE dinner options. Can you guess what ANY of this is? Mom was not impressed with either side. =)
Picture 38--Cucumber; Dad mistakenly tries some of this (he does not like cucumber)
Picture 39--A large bowl of beef (called bulgogi)--this is really the only thing I ate, it was quite good
Picture 40--Dad digging into his two fish

Picture 41--The soup that Dad says smells like wet dog and tastes just as bad; he gets no argument from Mom or me

Picture 42--Dad really enjoyed the meal, I survived, and Mom barely made it out alive; she is totally faking a smile (love you Mom--you are very brave!)
Picture 43--I think we literally had 30 different things on the table

Sunday, May 4--We trekked to Seoul Tower, had lunch, then headed south of the river to take a harbor cruise. The day was very hazy, so it didn't provide the greatest views of Seoul or the river, but it was relatively nice. Fortunately, it only started to drizzle once we got on our boat.

Picture 44--A fountain and Seoul Tower. On my previous trip to Seoul Tower the fountain wasn't operational--so this was nice to see
Picture 45--Mom and I at the fountain
Picture 46--My cool parents

Picture 47--A descriptive panoramic picture from the observation area at Seoul Tower, facing south/southwest, you should notice the Han River running through the picture (remember the 63 Building for later)
Picture 48--Another view from Seoul Tower--this time facing north, and yes, the President's house is called The Blue House, because of its blue tiled roof, but also to be like The White House in America (remember the picture from earlier of the Jongno Tower?)
Picture 49--Mom and I at Seoul TowerPicture 50--Now we're south of the river, just popped up out of the subway station, and we're close to our spot to catch our boat for the harbor cruise; we've just come from that Tower
Picture 51--That's the 63 Building (remember from earlier?) and we're walking to our destination

Picture 52--I wish I could adequately describe to you the horror I felt when I saw this character walking around. No folks, you aren't being fooled--that's NOT really Minnie Mouse and NO, there isn't a Disney park in Korea. I don't think I'm a Disney snob, but I just can't believe that this is legal or right. I HAD to take a picture with "her". Though it appears to, that does not say Di Li on her shirt, those are Korean characters, which reads MIN NIE. Unbelievable. Picture 53--Not 10 minutes later, I turn and see that Mickey (clearly spelled out on his shirt) is walking towards where Minnie is hanging out. I am once again horrified; but I MUST take a picture to prove this moment happened. The peace symbol is out in force (though I have learned it does not stand for peace in Korea, it stands for V--Victory over Japan)
Picture 54--Getting ready to board our boat--Mom has the V pose down by now; and it's only Day 3!
Picture 55--Our gate for boarding, Korean characters on top, then English, then Japanese
Picture 56--Cruising under one of many bridges (about 11) on our cruise--Seoul Tower in the distance
Picture 57--Another bridge, Seoul Tower to the north

Picture 58--Yes, another one
Picture 59--When we got off the boat, after our 1 hour cruise, I saw this sign

Monday, May 5--This day is a huge Korean holiday called "Children's Day" (not to be confused with every other day of the year when children think it's "all about them"; also not to be confused with Cinco de Mayo--at least Korean parents don't allow their kids to drink Corona beer as part of the celebration). Because of the importance of the holiday, I couldn't get the day off from work--which gave my parents a perfect chance to visit English Village and see what I do here! They saw the 75th performance of the show I'm in (which I've now done 95 times), and they also got to see some of the other festivities that were planned specially for Children's Day.

Picture 60--After the show

Tuesday, May 6--The last day of our adventures. Mom and Dad had to be at the airport by around 12:00 noon. We had to check out of the "hotel" where we stayed by 10:30; so before that we wandered around the area a little bit more.

Picture 61--In front of the "hotel", holding the sign I made so I could find them at the airport (I put "hotel" in quotes because it was neither a hotel nor a motel, but basically a hostel for people backpacking around--but it was a cute place)

Picture 62--The sign for this random temple I'd seen before but not ventured towards

Picture 63--Mom being silly at the temple entrance (boy, the apple really DOES NOT fall far from the tree...)

Picture 64--As we continued to walk south around the Jongno area near the "hotel", we saw many shops that had...well...LOTS of stuff, arranged in very specific chaotic order; these are for you Grandpa--Mom thought you'd like to see this stuff
Picture 65--What if I needed something from the bag on the very bottom?
Picture 66--More craziness
After we walked around a bit more, and Dad got his coffee; we headed back to the "hotel" to finish getting everything together to check out. We checked out and headed for the bus stop that would take Mom and Dad directly to the airport. They wouldn't need my help any further. They're all grown up!

Within about 30 seconds of arriving at the bus stop, the bus came...which, I assure you, NEVER happens. We rushed to say goodbye and all that--and in the hubbub, Mom left with my jacket in her hands. I didn't even realize it until about an hour later when I arrived back in Ilsan on my way back to English Village. Oh well, what is Christmas for? I hope she wraps it and gives it to me as a present. That would be funny.

I had a great time, and I think they did, too (ask them about it).

THANKS MOM AND DAD!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Who else wants to visit?