Ruthie and Charlie's Visit: Part 2

Day 2: After some sleep we wanted to show R&C around our little neck of the woods. We took a stroll so they could see where I get the bus, my favorite bakery, and Cookie's route. Chris had to go back to the office (on a Sunday, ugh...the Army doesn't take a day off!) so I took R&C for their first Korean meal. We had BBQ pork! mmm.... I took them to the same place where I had my first Korean restaurant experience. They were pros! Oh, except when one of the waitresses laughed at Ruthie for using one of her chop sticks as a knife to spread the chili paste on her leave. They seemed to like it, so I was glad. If you don't like the food in Korea, it will be a rough visit.

Day 3: Skype date with the Fowlers back in CA. Then we went and explored down town Pyeongtaek. I took R&C to a Korean market. There are tons of outdoor markets that happen around the area. They sell fresh vegetables, fruits, fish, and much more (ruff, ruff). I had to let them see and experience for themselves. Then we went up to the observation deck of AK Plaza to look down on the city. I hadn't been up there so it was new for me too!

When Chris got home from work we took the car down to Asan. I had heard there was a tomb for Admiral Yi, a famous Korean war hero, down there and it was a short drive. We also saw signs for a "seawall" and thought that would be a cool sight. The memorial tomb had closed by the time we got there (darn gov't workers and their 9-5 hours) so we drove on to find the seawall. We drove a few more miles and then stopped seeing signs for the wall. Chris pulled over into a park area. When we got out, we all looked out at the river and there it was: We had driven OVER the sea wall! There wasn't much to see, so we decided to play in the park for a bit.

From Adventures in Korea

Day 4: We woke up and it was pouring. We decided to head over to Songtan. Ruthie had heard about "Dr. Fish" and there was a place there that we decided to explore. We walked around trying to find it because the only directions I could find were "somewhere down a street on the right passed the Gargoyle bar place." <-- Obviously, we had little to go on. But, we walked around in a few circles, until Ruthie pointed to a sign that read "Dr. Fish"!

The place was a nail salon, so everyone there was getting manicures and pedicures. In the back there was a small pool with fish. You had to first wash your feet with soap and water. Then, slowly lower your feet into the pool. The fish swarmed!! You can watch a video of Ruthie getting in the water here. It was sooo weird. I finally dipped my feet in and I found it hard not to giggle. My feet felt softer afterwards, but I'm not sure if it was the fish, or soaking my feet in warm water for 15 minutes. :)

Then we had a cup of coffee and waited for Chris to get off of work. Ruthie bought a fantastic gold "Coach" bag. Then we went to Chris' favorite restaurant, White House, for Bulgogi. Ruthie and Charlie got to try Soju, which is kinda like Sake, but tastes better.

Ruthie and Charlie's Visit: Part 1

Hello all my diligent blog followers!

We dropped Ruthie and Charlie at the airport this afternoon after a great adventure/visit, not at all relaxing, vacation! I will have to post the events of our trip in parts, because there is so much to say! For now, I will leave you with the summary, table of contents if you will, of their trip to South Korea:

Day 1, Saturday: Pick up from Incheon International Airport, drove home and had dinner and relaxed (little did we know that might be the last time we "relaxed"...)

Day 2, Sunday: A stroll around Anjung-ri; R&C's first Korean meal for lunch--Korean BBQ! Play time with Cookie and a movie at home

Day 3, Monday: Skype video chat with the Fowlers; Tour of Pyeongtaek-- Farmer's market, AK Plaza, Train station; Pizza night

Day 4, Tuesday: Dr. Fish "pedicures," souveneir shopping in Songtan, coffee at a Brazilian place, Dinner at White House (Chris' favorite restaurant)-- Bulgogi

Day 5, Wednesday: Seoul for the day-- Two Palaces, One Temple, Lunch in a traditional Korean home

Day 6, Thursday: Busan for the day-- ride on the bullet train, temple, fortress wall, gimbap for dinner

Day 7, Friday: Seoul again-- Buddha's birthday, temple celebration, Insadong for tea and souveneirs, Chris met up with us (YAY!) and we attempted the Seoul tower cable car, then dinner at a fantastic new place Chris discovered in Seoul Station

Day 8, Saturday: DMZ Tour-- all day amazing learning experience

Day 9, Sunday: Chris made breakfast! Then lunch and good byes at the airport...

I didn't think we could do it, but we packed so much into the few days we had! It was a marathon, but it was so much fun! I wish Chris could have had more time with us, but duty calls....literally. More stories and photos over the next few days.

Thanks all for reading!

-Mav

Productive

I felt assimilated and productive today! (yay!) We have a neighbor, Mr. Yang, who used to work on Post and speaks very good English. He and his wife live in our building, a few floors up. Yesterday, I ran into him and he told me that he was doing some translating for the apartment complex manager. He asked me if I could help translate. I agreed of course, because I wanted to help, and I thought it was about time the office started translating the information for us Americans.

I went to the main office and spent almost 2 hours talking with Mr. Yang, mostly about things other than the translated document! He is such a nice man and has so much to say, and says it so eloquently. He told me out of 720 families in the complex, about 70 of them are American families. I didn't realize there were so many. It felt good to help out and the manager was very appreciative. He asked how long I was in country, and wrote it down, so he could use my help again!

The manager didn't speak English so Mr. Yang translated for him. He told me that the manager remembered me from several months ago when I came into the office to report that I had bumped a Bongo truck (sort of like a pick-up, but smaller, see below) and I wanted to let the owner know. The office workers had laughed at me at the time--because it was so minor-- but he said that he was impressed by my honesty and that I represented Americans very well. I was so happy to hear him say that. (Sometimes the people here are not so nice because I am American.)

Mr. Yang is an avid hiker and I told him I wanted to go hiking sometime with him. He was very happy to hear that. He is a Christian and also invited us to church with him one sunday. Leave it to me to find a friend in Korea, and it is a 65 year old man! (Don't worry, Chris is aware of my weakness for old men--not older, but old....)

Appendix A: More about the Bongo truck incident:

Okay, so I'm not sure I shared this at the time it happened... probably because I thought I had participated in a hit and run.

I was trying to park the car and here in Korea. You have to back into the spots, everything is really tight, and I was parking in the underground garage. So I bumped a Bongo truck with my front right bumper (see: Bongo).

Just that same day, or the day before, I was preaching to Chris about how there is no social responsibility anymore. People need to be more honest blah blah blah.....

So, here I am. I have just bumped a work truck. You can hardly see it. No one was in the parking garage to witness it. Just me and my socially responsible conscience. I tried to rub out the scratch and most of it came out. I decided that I had to do what I knew was right.

I went over to the main office to try my hand at explaining "fender bender" in Korean. Eventually I called my realtor and had her translate what happened. All I wanted to do was leave my name and number in case the driver saw it and came looking for an answer. The manager came with me to look at what I was talking about. He looked, closely, then laughed. Then he said, "Don't worry."

All I could think was thank you Bobby McFerrin for writing a song that transcends language barriers!