Mom and Dad Take on Korea - their version!

Cheryl and I are back from our trip to S Korea to visit Danielle & Mike on their Great Korean Adventure. It was an awesome experience. We are so glad that we decided to go.

It was great to see Danielle & Mike. Although they have only been gone for a couple months, we missed them very much. I looked to us that they are having a great time, and are adjusting well. It is such a different culture there, I’m sure there were moments that were difficult but they seem to have handled it fine. We’re not sure if we could have done that.

We probably met a dozen or so of their friends. That’s remarkable, considering the time they have been there. Danielle & Mike were excellent hosts and tour guides, although don’t let them book you into a motel. HA HA.. By the time we got back to our hotel at night, we literally brushed our teeth and were sleeping 10 minutes later. We did so much and saw so much, we were exhausted at the end of the day.

After 3 different planes, we arrived in Busan on Wed night, luggage arriving safely as well. D & M met us at the airport and we took a cab to Yangsan. How may other people have fit 4 people into a cab plus large suitcases.

One of our favourite things we did was visit Danielle’s school. As Danielle described in her blogs, the kids are so amazing. They are friendly and want to learn the English language. Can’t remember the last time that I was called handsome so many times. Maybe that’s the only thing they know how to describe me. Cheryl probably didn’t mind either, that everyone kept calling her “so young” .They would constantly follow us around the halls before & after class, always wanting to see who we were and to meet us. From that day on, whenever we crossed paths with any school aged kids, we would say “Hello”. Their eyes would light up and always say Hi or Hello back. They would ask where we are from or what is out name. Sometime, the girls would first giggle, then respond. I wish we would have tried harder to get to Mike’s school. I think Mike would have liked that.

We were so amazed at all the apt buildings. I am pretty sure that I did not see one single house, one typical that we are used to. Hence, you see no large dogs. (They don’t have any yards to run around in). You only see the odd very small dog.

On Thursday night 8 of us went out for a traditional Korean meal. Not so sure what we ate [Editor’s Note: it was called ‘sam gip sal’]. We cooked it ourselves, mostly the guys of course, just like a barbeque. Some of the food was really good, others, not so much. We all sat around this huge table which was only 1 foot off the ground. After a while, us old folks definitely needed to stretch our legs.

On Saturday we went to a Temple. Took a bus, to some town, then walked the rest of the way. Turns out that the walk was approx 7 kms, mostly up hill. Lots of exercise this day. One of Cheryl’s favourite things was a road sign that had a picture of a car falling off the side of the road. Something we had never seen. The temple was beautiful. I think I wandered off to somewhere I wasn’t supposed to go. As I was looking into a room all of a sudden the door closed. Turns out it was a bedroom. Not supposed to go there I guess.

We also noticed that the drivers are very impatient. They honk their horn at everything. We saw one Chrysler but the rest were either KIA, Hyundia, or Samsung. Yes, Samsung makes cars. [Editor’s Note: Korea doesn’t import much at all. Most of the things here are made here, so cars, electronics and appliances are all made by the same few companies].

We visited the Pusan University shopping district. We were looking for a place called DR. Fish. This area was packed with people with lots of streets and stores, very busy. At one point Mike decided to split up, to help us find this place. Danielle, Cheryl and I found it first, then called for Mike. I thought it going to be difficult for him to find us. Turns out it was easier for us to see him. As we looked down the road, there was tons of people coming and going, but all we could see, was this tall guy with blond hair, towering over all the others.

This is where we went to Dr. Fish. We all sat down and put our feet into a tub of water. In the water there were small minnow like fish. I guess the fish like dead skin. Yes , they would nibble at your feet eating the dead skin. It tickled at first, but once you got used to it, it was amazing. I think my feet were the worst, as they always seem to concentrate on mine. I had to take my feet out occasionally, to let the fish eat away at the others. Definitely, something I’ll never forget.

We had chicken that night. Like most Korean food it seems, it was very spicy, but good. Of course, it was cooked right at our table. Wasn’t cooked by one person. Seemed like, any server who would come by,would take their turn at stirring and preparing the food. Cheryl and I actually took the bus home by ourselves that night, as Danielle and Mike were staying to meet friends who were celebrating to say goodbye to one of them who had finished their teaching assignment. It was strange for us because for 20 something years it was us who were always worried that our children would make it home safe. This night it was D & M’s turn to walk us to the bus stop and make sure that we knew our way back. I wonder if they were worried that we would make it back ok. [Editor’s Note: Yes, we were, especially when we saw the bus pulling away slowly and the driver trying to say something to Dad…turns out they didn’t put enough money in, partly my fault].

We also visited the port area of Busan. This is an amazing seaside resort area. We had brunch there. Bacon and eggs, toast, waffles, etc. Mmmm good. Took a boat cruise around the harbour. This is a very modern area of the city. They say, on very clear days, you can see Japan from here.

We also found it interesting the Korean will to conserve electricity. This is a big thing to them, which we found out on our first trip back to our hotel. As we got into the room, we could not turn any lights on. No tv, no nothing. I went back down to the lobby to check. I guess they turn off all the power to the room during the day. I found out later that Cheryl had used the washroom while I was gone, using only the light from her cell phone.

The tv in our room had many stations, but only 1 or 2 in English. You think of all the stations we have a choice to watch and how many times you say,” there is nothing good to watch. Well, when you only have 1, you take what you get.

Another thing we liked was the fact that you don’t have to leave a tip anywhere. Felt weird not doing so, but normal I guess.

Anyways, that’s about it for now. It was an excellent trip, which we will never forget. We are so glad we went. Thanks to D & M for putting up with us. I think they were glad we came. [Editor’s Note: That’s a huge YES!]

As we left, we had a short flight from Busan to Tokyo. While waiting for our flight to Detroit, this is where we had our last traditional Korean meal. You guessed it, hamburgers and fries from McDonalds. Ah, I’m lov’in it, as the saying goes. Bye for now

John and Cheryl

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