After one transfer in Seattle, I made it to Korea! I arrived in Incheon - Seoul airport which is about 1 hour outside the heart of Seoul. I planned on taking a bus to Bundang (분당) which is a Seoul suburb just south of the city by myself, but my cousin, Dong-Hee (동희) came and picked me up. I decided to go here first instead of Seoul, so I can see a cluster of relatives who live here as they escape the city / retire.
We hit some Friday afternoon traffic, but finally made it to her apartment. We waited for her son, husband, and then my 4th uncle and aunt. My mom has 5 brothers and 2 sisters. In Korean culture, we call our uncles and aunts by their age order as a sign of respect.
When we were all finally together, we carpooled to a delicious Korean restaurant where we ate and chatted. Here are some pictures of the dishes:
At dinner, I learned that my cousins had organized a dinner tomorrow for about 31 people and there was a very lengthy group text of about 10 people to try to figure out the plans. I'm blessed that they all cared so much as well as cousins who had to rearrange business travel or travel in from out of town.
After dinner, I was dropped off by my 4th uncle and aunt at Taesoon's (태순) apartment. I have probably seen him the most over the past few years as he is often in the United States for business trips and spends a day or so in New York each time. He and his wife had twins two years ago. I was super happy to meet them as we don't have other twins in the family. We chatted with the kids, played with my new iPhone, and watched tv.
It's been a long day of travel, but I'm so happy to be here. It feels surreal - like I can't believe I'm in Korea after 8 years! I look forward to soaking more of it in tomorrow!
not enough pictures
ReplyDelete