Family Visit

Merry Christmas and a Happy New Year!

I hope that your Christmas was truly blessed, and that your New Year has started off great (and that you made and are still keeping your resolutions)

This was my first Christmas away from home. However, I was so lucky to be surrounded by friends AND my family flew into Korea on Christmas evening! This letter will be about our travels around Korea.

On December 24, I headed to Seoul to meet friends. That evening, we went to see the “Broadway” production of “The Wizard of Oz”. Little did we know when we bought the tickets that the production would be in Korean! The stage and props were nice. We then walked around Myeongdong (a shopping area) and it was PACKED! We found out later that at midnight, they shut off the lights, and all of the couples can have a Christmas kiss. (In Korea, Christmas is not a family holiday; it is a couple’s holiday). We had decided to buy gifts for stockings, and exchange stockings. So, on Christmas morning, I went to church, and then we opened our stockings. It was a lot of fun! Then we went across town and checked my family into the hotel we would be staying in and ate a late lunch.

Dongmi’s family wanted to pick up my family at the airport. So later that evening, I met with them, and we drove to the airport. FINALLY, my family arrived!!! It was so great to see them. It was late when we left the airport, and even later when Dongmi’s family left our hotel (~2:30 am).

Seoul
Dec. 26: The next morning, we slept in, and then headed to meet my friends for lunch. It was great to be able to introduce my family to the great people that I have met here. Then, Dongmi’s family picked us up and we drove to Changdeokgung Palace. It is the largest palace in Seoul (in Korea). We left there and headed to Cheongwadae. This is the Office of the President of South Korea, Lee Myung Bak. Then, we drove to Insadong (it is a shopping area) and ate dinner. This was my family’s first traditional dinner- we had bulgogi (a beef dish), makgoli (rice wine), and soju (think vodka x 10). They handled it decently well. Finally, we went to Namsan Tower. We took the cable car up the mountain. Then, we went to the top of the tower. We were very lucky, because it was a very clear night and we could see a long ways.

Dec. 27: Three of us went to English mass at Myeongdong Cathedral. Dongmi’s family picked us up, and we headed to a Korean Traditional Village. It was very interesting to see how people in Korea used to live. It started to snow while we were there, and it took a long time to get back to Seoul. We stopped and ate Samgyeopsal (pork side) for dinner. I think this was my family’s favorite meal the entire time they were here.

Dec. 28: This was a shopping day! We checked out three areas: Myeongdong, Insadong, and Namdaemun Market. Myeongdong is a modern shopping area. Insadong is an area where you can buy traditional Korean gifts/crafts. Namdaemun is the largest outdoor market in Korea. It has everything you can think of: food, clothes, shoes, jewelry, gifts, crafts, etc. We also saw a show called NANTA. It is a drumming show, set in a kitchen. So they use knives and chopping boards, buckets, and pans for the drumming. This was a pretty good show!

Dec. 29: This morning we woke up and headed on a tour to the DMZ. We first went to Imjingak Park. This is where one of the last trains that went to the North is. This is a place where people still come to pray for reunification of Korea. Then we saw a video about the division of Korea. We also got to go into the 3rd infiltration tunnel. This was one of four tunnels dug by North Korea to infiltrate the South. Over 10,000 North Korean soldiers could go through this tunnel in one hour. We then went to Dora Observatory, where we could see the DMZ, as well as North Korea. Finally, we went to Dorasan Station. This is the northern most train station in South Korea. The South built this station in hopes that the two Koreas will eventually reunify. When/if they do, South Korea will then be linked via railroad to the rest of Asia, as well as Europe. On the way back to Seoul, we also went to an amethyst factory. They had really beautiful jewelry there. When we got back to Seoul, we went to the War Memorial Museum of Korea. Korea has been involved in many wars (not just the Korean War). This was a very interesting museum.

Busan
Dec. 30: We got up and went to Seoul Station to get on the train to go to Busan. We took a KTX train to go to Busan. This type of train travels over 300 km/hr. Busan is a major port city in Asia. When we arrived in Busan, we had some time to look around so we went to Busan Tower. From the top of this, you could see all of Busan Harbor. We also went to Jagalchi Fish Market. This is the largest fish market in Korea. That evening, we got on an overnight ferry to Jeju Island. The ship had a restaurant, arcade, pub and sleeping quarters. We luckily had our own room (3 sets of bunk beds). When we woke up the next morning, we were in Jeju!

Jeju
Dec. 31: We took a city bus out of Jeju City and headed towards Hallim Park. This is a park that had botanical gardens, lava caves, bonsai garden, stone garden, a bird zoo, and a traditional village. It was very beautiful. However, they boast a sub-tropical garden, and while we were there it was snowing- haha. My favorite was the lava tubes. They were made from when the volcano that made the island erupted. The cool thing about these caves is that it is one of the only places in the world where there are stalagmites and stalactites inside of a lava cave. This is because above the lava tubes, there is limestone. The limestone has leaked into the lava and has eventually made these structures. We then went on to Seogwipo. We saw the World Cup Stadium, where the 2002 World Cup was held (soccer). Our hotel had a beautiful location- it overlooked the harbor and we could easily see the ocean from our room! However, we were so tired, that none of us made it to midnight for New Years Eve 

Jan. 1: First thing this morning, we went on a submarine ride to see fish and coral of the coast. It was very beautiful. Additionally, the weather cleared up and we could see the top of Mt. Halla, the volcano that made Jeju Island. We also saw Cheonjiyeon Waterfalls. These were very calming. Although our stay on Jeju Island was short, it was very beautiful! We took a bus back to Jeju City and got on a ferry to Mokpo (a different port city on the mainland).

Mokpo/Hwacheon
Jan. 2: Today was a traveling day. We woke up to catch a KTX train back to Seoul, then a bus from Seoul to Hwacheon (my hometown). We didn’t arrive until almost 9 pm. Then my host family wanted to take us out to eat. We had dakgalbi- this is a chicken dish, cooked with cabbage, potatoes, rice cakes, and a spicy sauce. My family really liked this as well.

Hwacheon
Jan. 3: A few of us went to church this morning. We also had another surprise. My host cousin was turning one year old. This is a big celebration in Korea. It is supposed to wish them well with their life. Later, we took a boat out of Hwacheon and went to the Peace Dam. This was such a beautiful ride! Years ago, the North built a dam that if filled with water and released, could flood Seoul. So this is the dam that South Korea built in response. It is supposed to catch the water if the North ever decides to try to flood Seoul. My family also got to ring the Peace Bell- which was pretty cool. When we got back to Hwacheon, we saw the snow sculptures and ice sculptures that my town has made in preparation for the Ice Fishing Festival that starts this weekend. They are really beautiful, and so much craftsmanship has gone into all of it! We ate bulgogi for dinner that night.

Seoul
Jan. 4: We traveled back to Seoul. This actually took a lot longer than we thought it would, because on this day, Seoul got the most snow it had ever gotten (since it started recording in the 1930’s). We finally got to our hotel! We ate dinner (at an American food place!), and just got ready for them to leave. Some of us had a little bit of shopping they wanted to do, so we went shopping for a couple of hours.

Jan. 5: We caught the airport bus to head for the airport. Luckily, the roads were a lot better today, and it only took a little longer than normal to reach the airport. Their plane even left Korea early.

This was a brief summary of their visit. It was so fun for me to be able to show them around, and to have them experience a little bit of Korea with me. I am so lucky that they were able to come and spend some time here.

Starting on Monday, I am teaching a two week winter English camp at my school. Korean schools have a long winter break and a short summer break (the opposite of U.S. schools). Then, on Jan. 27, I am leaving with friends to tour Singapore, Indonesia, Thailand, and Vietnam. I am really looking forward to this! Hopefully, it will help me relax and refresh me for four more months of English teaching!

I hope you are all doing well and surviving the bitter cold temperatures that have hit. I miss you and love you!

Jacque