Part of my fam came to visit us in Korea!
I told them not to bother making the huge trip just for the wedding, but they didn't listen to me. Regardless of their stubbornness I was over the moon when I heard that they were coming and we had a great time during the two weeks they were here!
Gatbawi, Mokpo (갓바위)
Dool-yoon (?) Mountain, Haenam (두륜산)
Daeheung Temple, Haenam (대흥사)
Mom's Birthday / Girls' Night Out in Gwangju
The big event! You can read about the wedding here.
Archery in Mokpo
Pottery in Mokpo (목포생활도자박물관)
Markets in Mokpo
Christmas Preps
Mokpo Lighthouse (목포구등대)
Mokpo Bridge (목포대교)
Seoul
Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) between North and South Korea (비무장 지대)
Insadong, Seoul (인사동)
Changdeok Palace (창덕궁)
Seoul Mountain Observatory (북악산 전망대)
Mom:
Best food:Korean bbq, chicken kal-guk su (noodle soup), seafood jeon (“pancake”). Also really liked sweet potato and pumpkin.
Worst/weirdest food:
kimchi too spicy... Weirdest: poo coffee (actually from Indonesia), poo (-shaped) bread, raw beef- loved it
Best places:
your wedding, temple, palace, cable car up the mountain, dmz, coffee shop/lookout in Seoul, daiso (dollar store), escape room
Didn’t realize was so mountainous...also expected more people/more crowded
What is the biggest difference between Canada and Korea?
More apartment buildings than houses, food is shared not individually served
Morgan (sis):
Best food:1. The Korean barbecue with the pork and veggies and stuff
2. Definitely McDonald's delivery 😉 lmao jk but the chicken you had delivered was really good
3. The bear soup we had was great
Worst/weirdest food:
The poo bread is definitely up there with the weirdest thing
The worst? The oysters or whatever, didn't eat them but they didn't smell the greatest lol
Best places:
1. Going to Gwangju was really fun. I mean, I guess it wasn't the most Korean thing we did tho, with the escape room and everything but it was a hoot Lmao.
2. DMZ even though signing my life away before we went terrified the crap outta me haha. But visiting the caves (even though Patti and I almost died walking back up it) and seeing propaganda village was awesome.
3. Seoul: when we went to the palace and went to that look out point, that was really fun.
4. When we went up the cable car and took all those stairs (and saw the broken cable car cable 😉 great times) and at the top was the look out and all the arrows pointing to where other countries were. 5. The wedding of course 😉
Was Korea anything like you expected?
Well a little yeah lol. Only cause I've been before 😅 (read about that here!)
What is the biggest difference between Canada and Korea?
Sitting on the floor while out to dinner at a restaurant. Can't say that was my favourite thing haha. Ballsy (or brave) elderly people casually walking across a busy road on a green light lmao. Coffee being more of a social thing than a lifestyle choice.
Christine (2nd mom):
Best foodsOh this is difficult. I think my number one was the shabu shabu, and then the radishes, korean beef, the chicken we had in Seoul was quite good too (much less greasy than a KFC meal is here). Overall I liked the 'family style' of eating with so many plates being on the table and you could pick and choose as little or much as you liked. Overall the whole "diet" was much healthier than it is here. And access to coffee everywhere always was a pure bonus! Oh and figs, I didn't know Korea had figs.
Worst/Strangest foods
I didn't try this but the dried squid just did not appeal to me. Being a non spicy person, I found some of the kimchi was a little much for me, but the non-aged ones were good. I can't really think of anything that was bad or really weird, as we do get to try a lot of different meals in our area.
Best places/events
Is this one a trick question? The number one best event was the wedding of Parkhwan and Lindsay. It was amazing to see so many weddings happening in one place and quite early in the day even!
The cultural places that we went to see, the temples and the palace were amazing in showing the long history of South Korea, and in the more recent past going to the museum and learning about the Japanese rule of South Korea was an eye-opener. I also enjoyed the park we went to, as it was wonderful to see Hae-Young’s mother having so much fun. The DMZ was an amazing place to visit, history happening now that seems to change daily.. it also was strange that here we were in a military zone, yet it was the one place that we saw the most souvenir shops while in Korea.
Was Korea anything like you expected?
I had no expectations about Korea. It wasn't a place I ever really thought I would visit, so it wasn't on my learning radar so to speak. I was surprised that Korea was not as large as I thought it was, and that includes both North and South Korea combined. It feels like a much larger country. I also didn't realize how mountainous it is.
One really nice thing was how safe I felt wherever we went in Korea, as there are places here that I wouldn't want to be in, after dark!
What is the biggest difference between Canada and Korea?
I think in many ways that Canada and Korea are similar. There are a lot more people packed into spaces in Korea, but the people feel is the same - in that people overall are very polite and helpful.
I think the biggest difference to me is the amount of tall apartments everywhere in Korea. In Canada we almost expect people to live in a house with a yard and a driveway, and in Korea that is more the exception than the rule.
And the driving is so different than here at home, in terms of volume of cars, and time to get places there are some similarities, but driving, parking in towns was an eye opener. I keep saying people can back up and park in really tight spots but driving was like a sporting event - can you change lanes, squeeze through lanes without damage or injury!
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