I had breakfast with Junghae (정혜) and then she walked me to the subway. I had to reorient myself, but did okay. The subway system here is clear and very efficient. I took Line 3 to the apartment of my dad's youngest sister.
From here, we had plans to visit with my other aunt the gravesite of my paternal grandparents, similar to my day yesterday. However, we did not perform the same ceremonies with the incense, candles, and rice wine. We did perform the 2.5 bows and left flowers for my great grandparents, grandparents, and my first uncle. My grandparents passed when I was in high school and my uncle when I was in college. Here's a collage with my aunts including a selfie:
We had a lot of laughs as my aunt still insists on using a film camera and had trouble working my iPhone. We snacked and rested at the gravesite as you have to walk up a steep hill. The other news of the day is that in the middle of it all, I got stung by a bee. Man, it kills! My aunt's thermos that she brought for tea, had flowers on it and the bee was resting on it when I tried to carry it for my aunt.
After driving back to Seoul, we had a late lunch of donkatsu or Japanese pork cutlets. Then my aunt dropped me off at Junghae's (정혜). I took a nap and then headed out again via subway to my 4th uncle's house - my dad's youngest brother.
We sat and talked for hours. My cousin lives in the building next door, but was working late. However, his cute kids came over to meet me and got to practice their English. Grace or 은서 is 8 and Leo or 은재 is 5 years old and here are a few pictures:
As I swung back through the city, I made a quick stop at my 3rd Uncle's. We had plans to have dinner on Wednesday, but since he had moved recently back to Korea from Vancouver, he learned that his furniture was arriving Wednesday from Canada and it would be too hectic. I stopped in for some fruit and a lot of walks down memory lane.
Finally, my last stop of the day was to see my first aunt, the wife of my eldest uncle. I had wanted to see her a different day as well, but she had plans to be away the rest of the week. Here I had more fruit and caught up with my youngest cousin, Yoonhae (윤혜). She's a piano teacher and has grown so much. Here's our cousin selfie:
After a long day of visiting relatives, I took a cab back to Junghae's (정혜). I was exhausted, but I saw every single one of my dad's siblings all in one day. My mom is the 2nd youngest of 8, while my dad is the 2nd oldest of 6. Indeed it is important to remember the cardinal numbers. When I went to Singapore to visit my friend Olive's family, she was surprised I could keep track the age order of her many uncles. I told her I had a lot of practice growing up!
So all 5 in one day with many trips down memory lane!
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