Chuseok

Ok--I know I am very, very slow with these posts, but better late than never. Chuseok was so eventful and there is so much to share that I don't want to leave it out. We had a very lovely day that started with lounging around in pj's, eating fruit and drinking coffee. Then, we got ourselves ready for a brunch at halmoni's house. The 'ghost doll' aka Kwishin-baby led the way in the car (Bubbie got this doll for Dahin years ago and everyone we know says its scary; the white skin and black hair make it look like a ghost you see in a Korean horror movie. I like to show it to guests to freak them out--love the doll).

At halmoni's house we had galbi jjim--a casserole-style dish with marinated ribs and carrots, potatoes, and onions. It's similar, in a way, to the crockpot beef dish I ate a lot as a kid. Love it! The kids ate a lot, too (they are total carnivores). After brunch, we drank more coffee and hung out for a while.

Jack's sister Eun-he and her daughter (kids' cousin) Hennie had some presents for the kids. The boys got a baseball bat, a ball, and a baeball mit a piece. Hennie and her mom are big baseball fans. They spend practically every Sunday going to baseball-related events. The kids went outside to the park for a while to play baseball. The weather was perfect, warm with a little bit of a breeze.

Jack's sister and her daughter came to Seoul for the holiday--they stayed with us for 3 days. It was great to spend time with them, and Dahin got re-aquainted with her cousin she had not seen since she was 2 years-old. Now, cousin Jennie has an Australian accent; when Dahin mentioned it, Jennie said, "No, YOU have an accent." Jack's sister and her husband were celebrating their 25th anniversary. After Chuseok, he flew to Seoul and they all flew to Japan together for a trip to Disneyland.

Sitting around the house, we decided to go somewhere in the city, assuming that the streets were clear. We settled on Cheongyecheon, the recently restored stream that runs through downtown and nature park. WRONG. It was so congested that it took us an hour and a half to get to Cheongyecheon, normally only a 20-minute drive from Jack's mom's house. Along the way, we saw sites, such as grandpas wearing hanbok on motorbikes, and the girls got even closer telling elementary school jokes about pee and poop (yay--loved that).

When we got there, we actually had an easy time finding a place to park and took photos in front of the Korean Tourism Organization building--next to which is this cafe-like place with Snow White and the 7 Dwarves (don't know why, but it was fun for the kids). Then, we went into the basement of the tourism building where they had folk games set up and we got to try on some hanbok and take photos.

Jack and his sister, Eunsil, pose with Cheongyecheon in the background.

Dahin and Jennie try on hats and the kids play some games.

Oliver, Jennie, and Dahin were very willing to put on hanbok for a Chuseok photo, but Ronan could not be coerced. Hennie tried her best, but to no avail.

Oliver looks less than thrilled to be wearing pink. They only had one little boy hanbok in the collection of clothes, so he had no choice. Still, a good sport, he put it on and posed for photos.

Ronan, meanwhile, played and played games. His favorite was this virtual soccer game. A ball image was projected onto the floor and it bounced around. He tried and tried to kick it. After about 15 minutes, we had to carry him out of the building; he was so into it!

Hennie poses with Bi (or 'Rain'). They had a whole bunch of Korean idol cutouts you could pose with.

Finally, we make it to Cheongyecheon.

I remember this area of town 11 years ago. It was so decrepit and smelly. There was a highway that ran along this route and on both sites were buildings literally crumbling down. The highway, as well, had cracks in the foundation. For centuries, a stream ran here but it was covered up in the big push for 'development.' The then-mayor of Seoul, now the President of ROK, decided to turn the nasty area full of squatters and trash into a nature area. So, they tore down the bridge and many of the buildings and restored the stream. Many of the original structures, such as bridges, were still standing over the stream when they unearthed it. The rennovation has made a tremendous difference in the look and feel of the downtown area.

There is a little art gallery located under a bridge. It's very nicely done.

Dahin has Hennie take a photo of one of her many 'nature finds.'

The kids really enjoyed sticking their feet in the cool, clear water. It was all good fun into guess-who's-kid fell into the water. Yep, that's right. Of course one of my kids would end up falling into the water. All of a sudden, I heard a collective "Oh!" from surrounding people and looked up to see Oliver drenched. Yay us. So, after convincing him that we had to take his clothes off in order to put a jacket on his top and tie another one around his waist, he let us get him out of those damp clothes. The weather was warm, luckily, so he didn't get too cold.

As we drove back to halmoni's house for a second round of galbijjim and naps, we passed Dongdaemun, Seoul's east gate that now marks the entrance to the popular Dongdaemun shopping district. It also reminds me of how much Seoul has grown, way beyond the borders once marked by the east, west, south, and north gates.

Day before Chuseok

The day before Chuseok, Sang Yeon's mom kicked her family out of the house in order to begin cooking for the holiday. Having to kill a whole day with two small children can be a challenge, so we joined them on a trip to Kyeongbok Palace near downtown. The bronze statue of General Yi Sun-shin greeted us as we made our way to the destination. Kyeongbok Palace is great because they provide parking and there is so much space inside for kids to run around. We made it just in time for the changing of the guards, which I love since it includes processional music. The changing of the guards takes place every day at 11 am in front of the palace.

Jack continued in his quest to kidnap Ellie, but she was a little too savvy for him.

Ronan played hard to get all day, especially when it came time to snap a family photo. Oh well.

Sang Yeon multi-tasked while we viewed the guard change. Watching Sang Yeon multi-task was fun, too. I actually should have helped her, but that would have been less fun. ; - ) Ok, I did help a little, but only after she asked. That makes me the lamest friend ever; especially considering the fact that I still owe her for the multiple babysitting sessions in which she engaged during Dahin's babyhood. Ah well. I suppose I can blame it on having no brain left with 3 kids in tow.

We had thought that visiting the palace on this day would be relaxing and relatively crowd-free, but it seems like half the people in Seoul were out sightseeing. Those good old days when a majority of Seoul's population ventured out of town to their ancestral homes during Chuseok are, for sure, good old days. There was no easing up of traffic or crowds. Below, shy girl strikes a pose.

Oliver is ready for his closeup. The weather was warmer than expected, but the skies were clear and the trip was very, very pleasant once we made our way out of the crowded areas and found some space of our own.

Sang Yeon and her family are better dressed and way better at taking family photos than us. Below, we're still struggling to strang...I mean wrangle Ronan.

It was so sweet to watch Chieh-han show Ellie around the palace. Ellie is quadralingual (not sure if that is the right way to say it, but the child speaks 4 languages). In one day, I heard her speak German, Korean, English, and Chinese.

Jack and the boys find some free space in which to roam. Without the crowds in some spots, it was SO nice to just hang out and chat while the kids played.

We sat in this spot for a while, mostly discussing what we were going to eat for lunch. Nora napped while her mommy held her and Dahin poured over her diary.

Oliver, after first meeting Ellie at our place, had declared that she was his 'best fliend' (yes, I meant to write an "l"). When Sang Yeon told Ellie this, she made sure Oliver knows that she already HAS a best friend in Austria. It was fun to tease Oliver about it--he denied it at first, but then soon the two kids were playing together like 'best fliends.'

Below, Chieh-han gives his new camera a hug. He bought the new 500, which has video capabilities. I am, admittedly, a little jealous. We exchanged cameras at some point so that we could take photos of each other's families.

So many little doors and low walls--a long time ago, Koreans were really, really short.

The kids asked, "Are there ghosts in here?" I responded, "I suppose so," which resulted in mad hunts for ghosts and lost treasures.

I just love the designs of these buildings. I sometimes fantasize about living in one of these old houses during the Choson period, but then I remember that there was no running water, no toothpaste, no electricity, and life for women really, really sucked (for the most part).

The kids shouted "Hello? Are you a ghost?" into practically every crevice and sewer grate. Here, they discovered a passageway under the building and were convinced they saw a ghost.

Along the way, Ellie and the boys collected treasures that included mini pine cones, leaves, sticks, and rocks.

Some more of those low walls. Man, it would be fun to go back in time and just stand next to the outer wall of a residence and just say hi to people, or throw my leg up and do some stretches over their tiny, tiny wall. I'm hoping my longer-by-comparison legs would, as well, enable me to run hella fast so that I could evade capture. Beheading bites.

Sang Yeon looks radiant holding little Miss Nora as we make our way through the grounds towards our final destination: lunch. The grounds of the palace are just beautiful and the mountains in the back are breathtaking.

Sang Yeon brought nacho chips from Costco and we pounced on them like a hoard of locusts. When you don't think ahead enough to bring your own snacks, eat the snacks of those who do. A fabulous philosophy. One of the major complaints, well TWO of the major complaints I have about Kyeongbokkung: 1) rarely can EVER find a trashcan and 2) there is no place to buy food within the palace grounds. Mind you, this place is huge and you can spend hours there. When you're carrying your kids jackets, water, and other stuff, sometimes it's difficult to also bring snacks . It would be nice to get some while there. I suppose they are trying to cut down on trash a little by not providing disposable snack containers, but if they really wanted to try to cut down on litter they should have more strategically placed trash and recycle cans.

The National Folk Museum peaks through the trees within the palace grounds. The museum is free, but you have to pay to get into Kyeongbokkung to access the museum. Still, it's very affordable. Jack and I were about $3 each (3,000 won), Dahin's ticket was 1,500 won (about $1.50) and the boys were free. Museums and other historical sites are incredibly affordable here. The U.S. should follow Korea's lead in this category and make museums, etc. places ALL people can enjoy.

A flash of sunlight, or a ghostly orb? (see bottom of my skirt) You decide.... Heck. it's almost Halloween. Might as well have fun with it.

We finally found some vending machines around which many people were standing. Against my better judgement, we got the kids sodas for expediency's sake (too many people, must buy and step out of the way). We took our second and last break here.

This pavillian was built by one of the kings in, I believe, the 17th century. He used this spot to hold parties and to welcome important guests. Now, it's an awesome place to snap photos and watch the giant, hungry koi swim around.

Overall, we didn't stay that long, but it's difficult to make a full day of it. Better to go see and leave while everyone is still in relatively good moods.

After leaving Kyeongbokkung, we made a bee-line to a gomtang restaurant and had some yummy beef soup and rice. Then, Sang-Yeon and Chieh-han treated us to some dessert at La Lee, a cafe where Sang Yeon and I spent some time together in Korea before we had husbands and children. I didn't know it, but this was the last time we were to hang out this time around. I regret starting the day grumpy and all headachey! When time is short and demands on visiting time and research projects (which Sang Yeon was working on here) are high, that's how life goes. Sad, but true. The day went by way too fast. After we left the cafe, we did a bit of shopping near Ehwa University and said our goodbyes. : - ( My hope is we can see each other again very, very soon. Oliver will need to reunite with his 'best fliend.'