Friday, 25th June 2010

Kelly and I find ourselves in Korea 60 years to the day, after the start of the Korean War and this day looks sunny and hot. We have enjoyed exploring the monuments and exhibits in Korea commemorating the  Korean War and we think of all who have lost their lives during this three year battle. (The war began on 25 June 1950 and an armistice was signed on 27 July 1953.) 

 

But we are getting ahead of ourselves!  Because Wednesday, June 23rd, was important to us because
Kelly and I traveled without our Korean Speaking Son to Shinsegae Department store using the Incheon
Metro!  Our goal was to see Jeong Mi and see where she works. We were armed with Korean directions/names and numbers from Aaron and we arrived safely!  We met some wonderful Korean people along the way who really want to help the "looking lost Americans!"


Shinsegae Department store is a very large upscale store that has some gorgeous merchandise that people can purchase for their homes.  Jeong Mi works in the bedding section on Floor 5. She was certainly surprised to see us and we were able to share a Starbucks drink and time with each other before she headed back to her area and we explored the other floors.  She speaks very little English and we speak very little Korean but Kelly had his trusty Korean Dictionary and she had her translator in her phone so we managed... she kept apologizing to us for not speaking English...she is a very special lady...

We checked out the park near the department store and returned on the subway to the Woninjae stop where we were able to then walk to the apartment.  We picked up a great pizza from the pizza store located on the second floor of Aaron's apartment building and after a little rest we headed out with Aaron to the subway (AGAIN!) to travel to the ...

Bamboo Dance Academy to see where Aaron has his dance classes, and to meet the co-owners,   instructors,  and his dance friends of the Academy.

They were all quite gracious and kind to us and gave us fruit and tomato slices to enjoy and a gift-box of tea. We can see why Aaron enjoys this group so much!  It was wonderful to finally put faces to names of people we have heard about from Aaron and see how much they enjoy having Aaron in their class. We are planning on returning to the Bamboo Dance Academy Saturday evening after Aaron's birthday dinner with Jeong Mi
and her parents.

The day continued on because we returned to Aaron's neighborhood to meet up with Josh Castonguay, Dan Schwanbenbauer, and the other "Westerner" English teachers who were gathering together to watch USA versus Algeria!  What a game for sure!  Great to get that goal within the last couple minutes of the game to win and move on in the 2010 World Cup Soccer Championship!

We enjoyed getting our Franklin Group picture taken.  Only wished we had Dan Sadley with us to make it complete...

Kelly and I continue to enjoy exploring the local Lotte Mart ... such an odd assortment of food items on display...we were able to pick up some Kentucky Fried Chicken from within the store to take to Aaron to visit with him during his lunch break on Thursday. We explored traveling to the DMZ (Demilitarized Zone) north of Seoul but tours were booked and it required more time than we have at this point in our trip.  Another time if we find ourselves back in Korea...

(http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War)

Thursday afternoon found Kelly, Aaron, and I on the Bus 16 line to Old Song Do to see the Incheon Korean War Memorial. Found on the top of a HUGE HILL (AND MORE STEPS!),  we were amazed at the sights and view to meet us!  

We checked out all the vintage war planes, tanks, etc on display and Aaron even signed the banner on display there as well.  

Last night found us at a restaurant with more meat cooked over hot coals, traditional Korean side dishes, and Edie struggling to get a handle on using chopsticks accurately...then it was on to a "Singing Room" (Noribong), where for an hour (15,000 won), we chose songs with English lyrics and we gave it our best shot! Hope we did not embarrass Aaron too much in asking him to turn the sound down!  He has such old parents!  hahahahha... but by the end we were giving it our best! It seems that this is a preview for when we will be singing again!

The amount of people (and small children) out late at night continues to amaze Kelly and me ... a couple more nights here and we head home.. we look forward to celebrating Aaron's 27th birthday with him, Jeong Mi, her parents, his Bamboo Dance Friends, and other English Teaching friends.. our adventure continues..
Check out more pics from these two days..
http://picasaweb.google.com/embruckart/SubwayAdventureOnOurOwnAndMoreAsOurKoreaTripContinues#