Not pumpkin pie

The other day the landlord sent one of his office people up to our apartment to give us a pie. At least that is what I thought it was bringing it into the house. He wanted to give us something for our Thanksgiving. The kids were excited about it and wanted me to open it up as soon as we got it. I should have gotten a picture of the kids’ faces when they saw it. It was not a traditional pie that we would normally have for the holidays. But it was still a nice gesture on his part. I will be sharing it with friends. I will let you know what everyone thinks and says about. It should be interesting since I think that those are vegetables on top.

International Global Festival

We recently visited the International Global Festival in Incheon, Korea. We were the only Americans there; everyone else was Korean. James overheard a couple of elementary school kids asking their parents why the Americans were here. Kind of funny since we were the foreigners that time

We walked around and looked at the futuristic robots that were on displayed. It was quite impressive seeing them first hand. Ben walked out thinking about how he would build one. We ate lunch which consisted of several bowls of Ramen which the kids really loved.

Before we left we wandered over to the kids area where you can purchase ride tickets. The kids really wanted to ride the rickshaw bear. As seen in the picture Ben is trying his best to steer the bear. It was harder than it looks. Ashley really enjoyed the ride.

Ben trying to drive

Hamster Kids


Before leaving the kids wanted to try their hand at jumping. We waited in line and watched the other kids cry and scream and they still wanted to go. Ashley wanted to be the first one until it was her turn. Instead she immediately pushed Ben in front of her. Ben was a little scared at first but really liked it at the end. Ashley took her turned and loved it.

Ben jumping

Ashley's turn at jumping

All in all the day was perfect. The kids enjoyed being out and about, everybody ate the same thing for lunch (always nice to please everyone with the food here) and the weather was perfect. Could not ask much more than that; except for the traffic going back.

Devil Went Down To Korea Or Was That Georgia.

I ditched the husband and the kids a couple of nights ago to go and see The Charlie Daniels Band. Yes, he is alive and still touring and who would have thought he would wind up in Korea. I dragged a friend with me that night. No, she did not go kicking and screaming but with a little convincing with being without kids and husbands for a couple of hours she was on board.

Charlie getting down.

Charlie is over 70 now and was still able to put on a great show. My favorite part was when he would take the fiddle stick and swing it around in sync with him trying to dance. He brought down the house with “Devil Went Down to Georgia”. He truly is a wonderful legend and I felt honored to be able to attend his show. Afterwards he, along with his wonderful band, stuck around to give out autographs, shake hands and even let you take pictures. The only thing missing was my cowboy hat.

Drummer and the bass player

Getting Charlie Daniels autograph

What’s going on in Korea?

Everyone has harvested their red peppers and are drying them wherever they can. This is our crop on the roof. Just kidding, it’s the neighbor beside us. Her roof top is eye level with our windows, so we can see her walking around and occasionally she will wave to the kids. It seems like a long process to dry the red peppers. They have been on the roof for several weeks and usually every evening she comes out and she turns them over one by one. I am not 100 percent she actually needs to turn them over, maybe she just really likes to hear us talk, yell and sing in the house. Anyway, her crop looks good and it appears she will have lots of dried peppers. I can’t wait to see if she will start on making kimchi next. I might have to invest in some 007 type spy gear.

Beijing

The kids and I in front of the Water Cube.

After two days in Xian, we boarded a plane for Beijing. We arrived, got the kids and bags and headed out from the airport to the Olympic Park to see the Water Cube (the venue for all the swimming events), and the Bird’s Nest (track and field events). We walked around while the kids posed with random people. Sometimes I feel that the people are more impressed with the kids then the sites. We were stopped too many times to count. We have started to take pictures of the people taking pictures of the kids. I was even approached by an older Chinese woman wanting to pose beside me. So of course I did what any other person would do: I pushed the kids out of the way for my 5 minutes of fame.

The Great Wall

Next, let me do some bragging about my children. Either they were was too excited about being on the Great Wall or maybe it was all the rice they had been eating but they would not stop climbing. When the steps started to get taller about halfway up, I was ready to quit…but not them. They raced and climbed like there was a surprise waiting for them at the top. While we all were resting at the highest lookout tower, we were approached by several families that wanted a picture of the cute American children. No one wanted James and I, just the little ones. After thehike back down (which was even scarier) we made it back to the bottom, grabbed some ice coldwater and sat in the air conditioned van commenting on how we really need to get back into shape. We had lunch at a wonderful Chinese restaurant where, for once, the kids ate more than just the rice.

As I am trying to write about a trip that is now weeks in the past, I am totally forgetting the order in which we did everything. I do know that during our visit, when the kids and I went to the Beijing Zoo to see the Panda bears the kids were really mobbed by curious strangers. I could not look at hardly any of the exhibits because the people would surround them taking photos and I could not find them. We also saw the Temple of Heaven, the Forbidden City (this place was horrible with crowds; every time we would walk away from one “photo shoot” we walked right into another one), Tiananmen Square, and we took a rickshaw ride through an old neighborhood. We learned how everyone there would share one outside bathroom and oftentimes even their house. We were able to go inside one the houses and drink tea with the owner while gazing at a huge jar on the table with alcohol and a dead snake inside. In addition, we saw an acrobat show (which I think the kids enjoyed more than anything else that we did), and the last thing was something that James picked out: the Military Museum. It actually was not that bad. I guess a school field trip was going on and someone forgot to tell me that we were in charge of a small group of kids, because every time we moved to a different room these kids in green shirts would follow us. I do believe at some point we had 5 shadows wearing green shirts that were working up the courage to ask us for our picture. We did stop and pose several times (with other kids, not the shy green shirters). I even got another 5 minutes of fame and made some school girls very happy.

The kids doing Boom Boom Fire Power

Our week in China was wonderful; we saw everything we wanted to see plus lots more. We made a lot of Chinese people happy by taking the time to say “hello” and even shake some hands (I kind felt like I was running for political office). Most people did not speak English so it was very entertaining for us. We sometimes had to do charades to ask questions. We began to have a lot of fun with it and laughed when we did not get what we ordered. I guess only a “plain cheeseburger” does not mean the same thing, as Benjamin found himself without cheese as well. The people were extremely nice and friendly. I hope my kids remember all the memories we made happen for them and fully appreciate it. It was truly a wonderful, exciting trip and I would highly recommend it to anyone.

Ben resting after the hike up.

China Trip Xian

Ok, so I am behind on posting and everyone is probably wondering if we even went to China. Fear no more, I am ready to narrate and show off some pictures.

Our main goal was for the kids to see the Great Wall. How many times in your life can you ever get the chance to see something that amazing? James and I are really lucky, we visited it 10 years ago and felt it was something we wanted to take the kids to. First, let me begin by saying China has really changed in 10 years. The people dress more like westerners, they drive newer cars, and the streets are very clean. I am not sure if it was because of the Olympics in 2008, but a change has been made for the better. They had shopping malls, McDonalds, KFC, and we even saw an IKEA and Pizza Hut. All the things that I look at for survival.

The Bell Tower

We had an exciting time in Xian, even though we only spent 2 days there. When we arrived it was raining, so we visited a museum and then checked into the Bell Tower Hotel. From our hotel room we had a perfect view of the Bell Tower which was located in the middle of a huge traffic circle. We would stare out the window at all the pedestrians, mopeds, buses, taxis and bicyclists going around. I really could not believe how laid back one could be when they are driving a bicycle loaded down with boxes going in and out of vehicles much bigger than them.

The Terra Cotta Warriors at the factory

The next day we visited the Terra Cotta factory, where we got to see firsthand the process that was used to originally make the soldiers. The kids were able to make one while we took a tour and watched an artist carve life-size statues. It was really fascinating. We got to see the bust of David Beckham that was commissioned for his scheduled visit. We also got to see them make silk rugs by hand. The entire process takes 6-9 months for a 4x6 size rug.

Pit 3 with the 6000 soldiers

Then we drove to the area that had the Terra Cotta Soldiers. There are a total of 3 pits (kind of look like huge airplane hangars). The first one we visited (I think it was number 3) held 6000 of the soldiers. We learned how a famer ran across them while digging for a well in 1974. Ben was amazed over the features of the faces, horses, and the fact that there were so many. They are believed to be actual life size replicas of actual soldiers from the Emperor’s army. Most of them wore broken up and had been pieced together and put back where they were found. We went to the other two pits where there were horses and 5 different types of soldiers: the general, officers, archers, infantry and cavalry. Each type of soldier had a distinctive style to their head and stance that made it easy for you tell which they were. It was pretty impressive to see firsthand the dedication and willingness to work on something that took over 38 years to complete.

More Warriors

The ones that are being pieced back together

Terra Cotta Warriors

In Xian, we also got to see the largest Mosque in China and a few other things like museums and historical places. We spent every single moment moving and seeing things. By the time we got back to our hotel we were all exhausted, so we just ordered pizza hut delivery and got ready for bed. We had no energy for shopping. The kids had a wonderful time, and were even patient every time someone was brave enough to approach us to see if they can take pictures with the kids (way too many to count and even add up). Since it was only a couple of days into the trip the kids were smiling.

Ben with a new friend

Are You Jealous?

The kids and I getting autographs.

A couple of weeks ago the kids and I had an opportunity to see Jared the Subway guy. We were the second family in line and were able to get lots of pictures and to tell him how much we loveeating at Subway. We also got freebies and a small football. We then sat down at for a while before they sent out the Subway Mascot. Seeing him walk around made us want subs for lunch. The kids and I got Subway for lunch and headed to the park for a picnic. I know you are all wishing you could be just like me and have seen Jared but I guess you can always live through us.

The kids with the Subway Mascot

Double Feature

We braved it again with seeing two movies in one day. We went at 3:30 to see Coraline. Ashley sat still eating her nachos and cheese without moving Ben on the other hand found the movie a little of the spooky side. He wanted to leave near the end when it was just getting good with the lady turning into a spider and trying her best to persuade Coraline to let her sew buttons on for eyes. James allowed Ben to seat on his lap for the reminder of the movie. Then we went and had a quick dinner where Ben got to order off the adult menu since he wanted a cheeseburger. He surprised us with eating all but three bites, which James was happy to finish. We then headed back to the movies for Hannah Montana. Ashley’s wanted to see it bad. She sat still for the first hour of it with her little eyes glued to the screen eating the big bag of popcorn we bought and split four ways (some how she ended up with the big bag while the rest of us ate out of child size bags). She got a little restless but seemed to enjoy the movie very much. I think she wanted to be like her big cousin Reagan and be Hannah Fan.

Jejudo Trip (Day 4)

Finally, here it is. Sorry for the long delay, but it adds in the excitement and anticipation, right?

My ankle was very swollen this morning, so I am glad there’s not much sightseeing left for today. Still eating salad for breakfast; I feel that it is a sin not to, since it is offered. I do, however, chase it down with the wonderful Belgian waffle topped with syrup and whipped topping. After our breakfast, we walked around the hotel to check out the locations they had filmed Korean movies. Our hotel had a wonderful view of the beautiful blue ocean and the nearby hotels. We went back to the room, got our luggage and checked out. We drove next door to the Lotte Hotel for James to walk around like a tourist with the camera dangling from his neck so that he could take even more photos of filming locations. The kids and I waited in the car for two reasons: #1 my ankle was swollen and I was having trouble walking, and #2 we thought that James wanted to “ooh” and “aah” by himself. Oh wait, there’s another reason: #3 I really cared less about seeing it. When James finally returned to the car 30 minutes later with a smile on his face, we left the hotel, programming the GPS for the airport.

View of our hotel from the back.

As were we driving along, we talked about a few things we wanted to get and decided to stop at a souvenir shop James saw on a commercial that played on our GPS when it was starting up. We found the store and bought a few more boxes of the yummy chocolate and some tea. We decided since the kids did so well with eating Korean food we would reward them with eating at the McDonald’s near the airport. It happened to be a 24-hour McDonald’s that also had delivery service. We ate french fries and cheeseburgers until we were full.

Here's the McDonald's with their "delivery vehicles" in the front.

We got to the airport with a little too much time to kill. We returned to parking pole #2 to turn in the rental car and walked toward the terminal. As we approached the crosswalk, I saw something that made me think, “only in Korea!” There was a young lady dressed in red and black with high heels and a very cute hat. Her job was to walk into the road to stop traffic for the people trying to cross the road. We checked our luggage and walked around the airport to find the play area for the kids. They played while James yelled at the Korean kids (in Korean) that they should not be playing so rough and jumping with Ashley nearby. After hanging out there for awhile, we went through security and I had another “only in Korea” thought. I guess the island sells lot of fish products, so they sell fresh fish in the airport that you can take with you on the plane. I was hoping and praying no one near us on the plane thought it necessary to take back fresh fish. As we waited to board our plane, the kids made some new friends by sharing Teddy Grahams and letting them practice their English. It felt good to be back in Seoul, especially since we had nice weather and the traffic gods were good to us on the drive back home.

Here's the lady braving the oncoming traffic.

Jejudo Trip (Day 3)

We woke up, got ready and headed downstairs to enjoy our breakfast buffet. Yes, more salad for me and then I indulged in the Belgium waffles with syrup and whipped topping. Yum. This morning I was trying to do a little better, so I only had ¼ of the waffle. I tried some things like shanghai chicken and noodles, and yogurt with fruit. Not quite like the yogurt we usually eat. The kids ate croutons, cheese, and pancakes. We left the hotel and drove to the International Convention Center to take some photos and then drove around trying to find some tea fields. I really wanted to see what tea fields looked like firsthand. We found one farm, but it was not open to the public so we drove up a little dirt road, and James got out to take several pictures of the fields before heading out.

The front side of Yakcheon Temple. The top levels of the prayer hall are visible behind the main gate in the center.

Inside the prayer hall of Yakcheon Temple. Notice the dragon carvings flanking the main Buddha statue.

Next, we went to look at a local temple. We were pleasantly surprised when we arrived since it housed the largest prayer hall in Asia. Not only that, but it was also nice that you are actually allowed to go inside the prayer hall and go up onto the second and third floors. The kids thought that was great because as we were walking around looking at the paintings on the walls, we were able to watch the two monks on the main level performing prayer rituals and bang on their wooden gongs. Plus, we got a great view of the large seated Buddha that was flanked by two dragons with their bodies wrapped around large poles. This feature is so unique that a movie called “D-War” (short for Dragon War) was filmed here just a few years ago. After walking around the grounds taking pictures of the buildings we were approached by a couple of Chinese families that wanted their pictures taken with the kids. After our photo shoot was done we headed to the coast to see the replica of the Dutch ship, the Sparrow, which ran aground back in the 1600s, stranding the crew in Korea for 13 years (back when Korea was still known as the Hermit Kingdom and wouldn’t allow Westerners to visit). James tried to enlighten the kids regarding this story, but they just jumped to the conclusion that it was a pirate ship and just ran around yelling “arrgh”. After exploring the boat from top to bottom we headed over to explore the rocky coastline. We walked around the side and ran into several ajumas (older ladies) selling various unidentifiable (to us) sea creatures. When you made a purchase, they would chop it up right in front of you. Talk about your fresh seafood! However, we decided to pass. Of course, they were all fascinated with the kids, wanting to touch their faces and rub their heads. At this point in our trip, the kids were getting used to being touched by strangers and did not run away. I’m not sure if that is a good thing or not?!?

The monument to Hendrik Hamel and the crew of the Sparrow with the replica of the ship on the coast down below.

It was now time to figure out where we should eat for lunch. Lucky for us, there were only two places to choose from. Before we went to eat, I decided to go to the bathroom and as I was walking to the facilities, there was a small step that I happened to step off wrong and I rolled my ankle. I called for James to stop walking. I hobbled up to him and sat down at a table at one of the restaurants to see how bad it was. While I took off my shoe, the kids saw a lady pulling an octopus out of a large tank. James took the kids over to where she was for them to see it. We were thinking it was like Red Lobster where they would pull out a lobster for the kids to see and touch, but they all quickly realized that the Korean family that was also sitting down had ordered octopus for their lunch and she was chopping it up for them. The kids watched her chop the live octopus into pieces as it tried to resist by wrapping itself around her arm. She then pulled the octopus parts off of her arm as if it were commonplace. We quickly decided that the second restaurant would be our location of choice. As I hobbled away a Korean man called for me to stop. He approached us while digging through his bag. I tried to tell him that I was fine, but he continued to dig. He finally pulled out a spray can of some sort and told James to use it on my ankle. It was basically a spray equivalent of Bengay or Icy Hot. How thoughtful of a total stranger to care enough about my ankle to try to communicate with a foreigner to help. We got to the restaurant and I went to sit down while James ordered. He came back and said he ordered one hamburger. I thought that it was strange that he got one hamburger for four people but he is said it was family sized. When it came, we thought “Wow, this is a true hamburger”…minus the fact it had cucumbers, apples, cabbage, onions, and an unidentified sauce. I thought it was wonderful, but Ashley only wanted the bread and Ben decided to go on a liquid diet and drank a slushy for 500 won.

After lunch, the kids get to ride on a pony.

The kids in the tea fields outside the O'Sulloc Tea Museum.

We finished up and got back in the car. This time we deiced to try our luck at a tea museum. It was basically a giant gift shop with tons of glass bottles for you to smell the tea. James got a couple of different ones to try before we headed out front to a large, open grassy area where a number of people were playing. As soon as we went out, everyone mobbed the kids. Old and young, boys and girls, you name it, they wanted to see the kids. Ashley acted shy and tried to hide behind me, but Ben put himself out there. He even gave one girl a peck on the check. At one point, one of the girls even chased Benjamin around the whole area. We finally made our way out of this section and walked across the road to have our pictures taken in the tea fields. After this long ordeal, we went to a 60+ acre bonsai park, the Spirited Garden. The kids were not too thrilled about walking around looking at little trees, but I thought it was very peaceful as I hobbled around on my throbbing ankle and proceeded to sit on every bench I could find. Luckily, the kids were entertained by feeding some enormous carp in a small pond. As we were leaving we saw an older gentleman sitting on a bench trimming a bonsai tree. James snapped a quick photo and one of the guys working the ticket booth came over to tell us that this was the founder and manager of the park. James talked with him for a short time, exchanged business cards and received a stack of informational material about the park’s history and we left.

You can't see him very well in the midst of all this, but Benjamin is being swarmed by a group of teenage girls outside the O'Sulloc Tea Museum.

Here is Benjamin being chased by one of his adoring fans.

Ashley hops across a carp pond at the Bunjae Artpia (Bonsai garden).

The owner and curator of the Bunjae Artpia works on one of his trees.

For our final stop of the day, we had saved the best for last…or so we thought: the Chocolate Museum. It was a tiny building that displayed a lot of chocolate related materials from around the world. I would say that it looked like a bunch of Happy Meal toys on display (so the kids stood in front of the cases and named off everything). However, they did have a very small factory where we were able to see them make fancy chocolate by hand before boxing them up. I thought that most places had machines to do that. We did get to try a sample of their chocolate, but were disappointed in both the prices and the flavor. Now came the part of the day that I usually dread… where to eat. We decided to drive and park on this little street we always pass through to get to Emart. We found a place that had japchae and fried mandu. We ate in the traditional Korean style, sitting on the floor. From this position, James had a full view of the kitchen. He told me later that the lady that was chopping the vegetables in the kitchen decided on several occasions to lick her fingers. I’m guessing they don’t have the same health regulations that we are accustomed to (like OSHA). Even better was the man that brought our food out to us deciding to adjust himself on the way before using the same hand to arrange the mandu that was sliding off of the plate. We ate, paid our bill and then left quickly, trying to forget what we had seen. We headed back to the hotel to relax, pack up our things and prop up my very swollen foot. We had another fun and exciting day. I was very surprised on how well the kids were doing, getting in and out of the car and looking at a lot of things they have no interest in. One more day left before we head back to our city life.

Jejudo Trip (Day 2)

We woke up and got ready to enjoy two free continental buffet breakfasts at the hotel. Because of her age, Ashley was also free so we only had to pay for Ben’s breakfast. Wow, were we surprised when we found out it would be 16,000 won for just him! We kept telling ourselves that it was pretty cheap if we thought of it as the price for all four of us to eat, since we really didn’t expect the two complimentary meals. The buffet was a combo of Korean and Western food. This was the first time I’ve seen soup and salad for breakfast. So on this day, I started my trend of eating a nice big salad (can’t even go off a diet while on vacation) followed by some delicious waffles (okay, so I strayed a little here). We left the hotel around 9 and drove toward the east side of the island (the opposite direction from how we came in from the airport). James was on a quest to see some locations where scenes from Korean TV shows and movies were filmed. We drove down streets that were surrounded by palm trees near the ocean and saw the beautiful, blue water. We stopped while I took some pictures and drank in the fresh ocean smell. It felt like I was back in the States heading for Myrtle Beach.

The "All In" House where the television show was filmed

Sunrise Peak, an extinct volcano on the east side of the island

After about an hour of driving, we stopped at the location where they filmed the television show “All In”. We walked up the side of a hill next to the ocean that was surround by lava rocks at the base. The kids and I took our time while James went inside the chapel where the movie was filmed to take pictures (I didn’t think the kids would enjoy that portion). While we were waiting, the kids were stopped by several ajummas (Korean older ladies) to have their daily head rubs and touchings. We also had several people trying to practice their English. The view was wonderful and we could see Sunrise peak from where we were. We finished up and then headed to the next stop: Manjang Lava Tube. It was lunch time when we arrived, so we first went to a small diner at the entrance and got a bite to eat. One of the island’s trademark dishes is black pig, so James and I ordered the spicy pork, along with steamed mandu (dumplings) and rice. The kids were a little hesistant about trying the rice since it had red beans cooked in with it, giving the rice a purplish shade. The kids agreed to try it and we were all surprised when they liked it. Manjang Lava Tube is a large cave that was created when…you guessed it…lava shot out of it. We walked a kilometer to the end, where there was a lava column that ended our nice walk, forcing us to turn around and walk back. Both kids were wearing tank tops since it had been so warm during the day. The underground cavern was quite chilly and I was able to persuade Ben to put a t-shirt on, but Ashley refused, saying that she was not cold. As the Korean tourists passed by us in the cave, James would inform me that many of them were saying how she must be cold. Each time, I would feel guilty and try to persuade her again, but it never did work. After our spelunking adventure, we went into a gift shop for free samples of the famous Jeju chocolate. There were 5 different flavors: pineapple, raspberry, green tea, cactus and the best-selling orange. We ended buying a box of chocolates, a lava rock for Ben and some traditional Jeju figurines for Ashley.

Ben posing next to a scooter with training wheels...I think we'll stick with the rental car!

It had started raining right when we came out of the cave, but the rain started to ease up after we finished our shopping, so we decided to head to the Stone Grandfather Park to look at the statues. I think that we were the only ones there. We walked around the park, standing in front of most of the statues, emulating their poses for great photo ops.

Ashley posing next to a phone booth patterned after the traditional Stone Grandfather statue.

The kids pose in front of a statue that is not quite as traditional, but still impressive.

...and here's the kids having a little fun.

This is definitely not a traditional Jeju statue...but who could resist a photo next to that?

Since the kids were being so cooperative, we proceeded to the next destination on our list, Sangumburi Crater. As soon as we approached the ticket booth, a bus full of teenagers pulled up and they all ran over to us. You would think that our family was part of the attraction. They stood and posed with our family and took pictures with us. They touched the kids, rubbed their heads, pinched their cheeks and tried to speak with them. Ashley was trying to get away from them by climbing up my back while I was holding her. Ben stayed close by and then, when there was a small break in the action, he ran and hid as his only form of self-defense. Since Ashley was being terribly shy, they focused most of their attention on Ben. We then discovered that they were being chaperoned by their English teacher, who was forced by the students to come over and say “hi” (they wanted to see her talk with native English speakers). They all giggled like little girls when she was talking…which I guess makes sense. It was kind of cute that she was so nervous talking with us. They started walking up the hill, calling back to the kids by their names and they slowly moved away from us, but not before Ben got proposed to. When they walked away from us, Ben climbed up onto a large rock and was sitting still looking deep in thought. We asked him what he was doing, but he just kept up his thoughtful pose. That’s when we figured out he was waiting for the girls to come back down so he could look cool hanging out on the rock. We finally coaxed him down and finished the walk and because it actually wrapped all the way around, we ended up back at the beginning where we met the school group again. The kids loosened up a little, posed with them for photos and made everyone’s day. We even ended up getting some candy from some of them (I know, don’t take candy from strangers…). The crater was completely covered in fog the whole time we were there, but I don’t think that Benjamin thought this stop was a waste of time!After that, we headed to our final destination of the day: MiniMini land. This was a small theme park made up of miniature replicas of famous buildings from all over the world (like the White House, Great Wall of China, Eiffel tower, and many more). By this time, we were all getting pretty hungry, so we decided to head back to our favorite place to eat (yes, Emart) to have dinner once again. We all ordered Korean food this time. I stuck with the hot beef bowl, James ordered Udon and bibimbop, while Ben and Ashley shared the Katsu-don. It was a big hit! Afterwards I tried on a couple of shirts from the store and discovered that I am a Korean size 100 for shirts. That sounds pretty bad, doesn’t it? I am not really sure what they base their measurements on, but I don’t think they are used to the upper body build of Americans. We then walked to a convenience store called GS25 to buy ice cream. After my unfortunate experience with Korean shirt sizes, I decided to pass. The kids picked out their favorite and we sat outside again on the benches, ate our ice cream and talked about our eventful day we had. After all of this, we actually got back to the hotel a little earlier than the night before. Another great day!

This is Benjamin's thoughtful pose as he awaits the return of the girls on their class trip.

Jejudo Trip (Day 1)

Since it was a long weekend (Memorial Day) for us, we decided to get away from the busy city life and take a vacation and traveled to Jejudo. Yes I know…you are wondering “where is it?” and “why haven’t I heard of it?” Jejudo has been referred to as Korea’s Hawaii.

“Do” (pronounced just like Homer Simpson’s trademark “doh”) is Korean for island, so Jejudo is actually Jeju Island. So even though we flew there, we didn’t leave Korea to go on our vacation. However, it was much different from the mainland. The air was fresher there, without the trademark odors that lead my kids to keep asking “what is that smell?” In addition, there were palm trees, wider streets with far less traffic, and most importantly the majority of people there actually obeyed the traffic laws.

After a short 50-minute flight, we arrived at Jeju International Airport on Friday. We quickly located our luggage, then left the airport and headed to parking lot #2 to find Budget Rental Car. The nice lady (who kept talking slowly to James) had explained to us that we needed to head over to "parking lot #2". However, we didn’t realize exactly how the rental car companies were set up. We were walking around and discovered that where we needed to go was actually located directly under a pole with a large #2 sign in the parking lot. There were large vans (or small buses, depending on how you look at it) under all the numbered poles where the rental car companies actually had their offices. James got the paperwork done and we all hopped into a nice new Hyundai Sonata, fully equipped with a GPS (all in Korean, of course).

Some of the rental car company "offices"

James programmed in the Hotel’s address and off we went. We really enjoyed the ride to the hotel (again, nice wide roads with minimal traffic). James was able to book us at the Shilla Hotel, which we discovered was a 5-star hotel. We were amazed and had the requisite “oohs and aahs” when we entered the room. After we got settled in and I threatened the kids not to touch anything in the fully stocked mini-bar, we decided to walk a little bit and sightsee at the Cheonjeyeon waterfall and Seven Nymphs Bridge. The kids were happy and running around like we had been traveling for days and were just excited about being out. As we walked over the bridge the kids found themselves in a new world. Everyone we passed would say, ”Hello, how are you?” as they had rehearsed in their English class. We would respond to their greetings with the standard “fine…and how are you?” The kids started to get a little bothered by everyone passing by rubbing their heads, or stopping them to check out their eye colors or to touch their faces. It was sort of like being at an old family reunion where distant relatives hadn’t seen them in ages. This started the weekend of the kids posing with random Korean families for their vacation pictures.

The kids posing in front of the Seven Nymphs Bridge

After seeing the waterfall from above, we decided to take a trail down the ravine to see another waterfall from close up. The trip down was rather pleasant and James struck up a conversation with a local family on the way down, discovering that their accent and dialect was a little harder to understand. Of course, when we got to the bottom, the Korean family wanted some photos with the kids. We then had the tedious job of returning back up the way we had just come. That’s when we discovered that we had descended (and now had to ascend) 270 steps on the trail down!

The upper waterfall as seen from the Seven Nymphs Bridge

The lower waterfall

We then headed back to the hotel to try to find something to eat that was agreeable to everyone. As I mentioned before, this was a 5-star hotel, so the hotel menu was a little too fancy for the kids (and us) so we got into the car and James programmed the GPS to take us to the local Emart so that we could enjoy their food court. The kids were actually willing to try the Korean food (which was great since most of the island was without any Western restaurants). James ordered Katsu Don with Udon on the side (actually Japanese food), I got the Bulgogi hot bowl and Ben chose the spaghetti. He was a little disappointed with his selection since it had big pieces of onion in it and mustard drizzled all over the top. This may have led to his willingness to try our Korean food. He ended up eating off our plates and kept asking for more.

We then walked around Emart and bought some ice cream and sat outside to eat them and enjoy the fresh air and relative quiet. We arrived back at the hotel around 9 and all got ready for bed. It was a great way to start off our weekend.

The E-Mart in Seogwipo City