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| First Korean meal |
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| At Gyeongbukgong Palace |
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| Taking in Insadong |
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| Namdaemun Market |
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| Itaewon- Of course they spotted all the Irish pubs. A Hundred Thousand Welcomes |
So late Friday afternoon, we made our way back to Andong via bus. They were pleasantly surprised that Korean buses are far from Greyhound buses, and were able to catch up on some sleep. They had great accommodations in Andong, which was relieving. We had Shabu Shabu for dinner, a popular Vietnamese dish that is extremely popular here in Korea and one of my favorites. It's not surprising that it became my mom's favorite dish as well.
The next morning I made them breakfast in my apartment. Breakfast spots are very hard to come by in Korea. I took them downtown and we hung out in my favorite coffee shop, Zelkova. We made a very impromptu trip to Pohang that night. They had a huge international fireworks show, and since most of my friends would be there, it was perfect timing for my mom and Dennis to meet them. It was a bit chaotic that night, with hotel mix-ups, the amount of people at the show, and the fact that all of my friends kept losing each other (typical with our big group.) The lack of taxis in that area, resulted in the three of us walking for about an hour before we actually found one. He took us to Bukbo Beach, where we had a really late dinner, but a delicious one at that. I took them to Tilt, the bar that we often end up while in Pohang, where they met a bunch of my friends and had a few drinks before going back to their hotel. Despite the craziness of that night and a minor meltdown on my part, the night turned out grand, as it always does. We spent the next day on the beach until the heat became overwhelming. I give those two a lot of credit for putting up with this Korean heat. It really has been out of control. My co-teacher even reassured us that it is unnaturally hot this year. We arrived back in Andong that night and had Dakgalbi. This dinner was very comical, for my mom was kindly offered a fork when she dropped her chopstick, and the restaurant was much more intimate than they had been used to, so it was a bit intimidating at first. But our waitress was the kindest woman, our other waiter took a picture of us, and we were welcomed with open arms. And my mom, if you were wondering, accepted the fork, but never used it. Her chopstick talent was on par by the end of the trip! Good job Mom!
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| Escaping from the heat |
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| Bibimbap and mandu to-go |
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| Dakgalbi |
As they kept saying, my city, being the small city it is, was probably thinking "what the F is this family doing in Andong?" We have a good amount of foreigners here, but it's still a small city, so when Koreans see this foreign family hanging out, walking into restaurants where they have no English whatsoever-- well there are probably a lot of questions going through their heads. And I say this because I see the confused looks on their faces; even more so when they see me, one young foreigner, walking through town.
The next morning, we went up to my school, and I was overjoyed when I saw a bunch of my students playing soccer, including some of my favorites, Chang Hun and Do Yeup.. (Yes, I allow myself to have favorites here. Though I adore them all.) All of the boys were so excited to see my mom and Dennis. Dennis who became Opa for the day, since there was no point in explaining that relationship haha was told he was handsome by one of them. They were able to see my office and most of my classroom, being that my school is in the middle of construction. It was wonderful that they got to see where I spend most of my hours and meet some of my students. It gave them a little sense of what I do here five days a week. We did some shopping downtown and went for Andong Jjimdak, Andong's famous dish, which became Dennis' favorite of the trip. After, we visited my co-teacher's apartment, where she prepared fruit, pastries and tea. Despite our struggles and differences, she couldn't have been more welcoming.
The next day, we were on rapid speed, getting last minute souvenirs and packing. We made our way down to the river where we went into the small Hahoe Mask Museum we have there. I can honestly say this was the most hysterical part of their trip. My mom and Dennis, being who they are, bought out almost an entire wall of framed masks. The sweet little ahjumma didn't now what to do with herself with these three foreigners completely erasing her inventory hahaha. She called up her daughter who arrived minutes later to help her mother wrap up all of our frames. I offered them some almonds I had in my bag, and after the kind ahjumma snuggled up to me on the couch, taking it on herself to stick her hand in the bag and taking more almonds, I left the bag with her. Funniest sight. Figured she was enjoying them way too much. We took a bunch of pictures with the countless statues we have near the Hahoe Mask Festival venue which is always a good time.
We had one last dinner of shabu shabu, per their request, and took our last cab ride together to the bus terminal. I was leaving for Gyeongju that night, to depart for Japan the next morning, and they were heading back up to Seoul, as they had an early flight as well. Of course, it was a quick goodbye, but as my mom said, it was better than a long dragged out one. I didn't know how much the tears would roll until it came time to hug them goodbye. I am my mother's daughter in almost every way. Her cries are contagious, so it was a hard goodbye to say the least. I caught a glimpse of a middle-aged Korean woman shoot us a smile. We may speak different languages, live in different countries, come from different cultures, but cries and smiles are universal, and she understood what was going on. I appreciated her empathy. It was a nice moment.
Of course I am trying to describe how it felt to have them here with me, but it really is indescribable to captivate what it was like having the most important people in your life fly halfway across the world, to take part in where and how I have been living for the past 5 months. They stepped into this new life I have embarked on, and I couldn't be more grateful. This was a big trip for them, leaving the other important people in our lives behind, but they did it. And I love them both for that. They assimilated into this country as much as they could for seven days. They were accepting, willing, open-minded and intrigued in every way. I will forever remember their time here, and there are as always, countless pictures to remember these memories and share them for years to come. Thank you you two! You truly are amazing.
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