Jack's sister's husband (the kids' uncle, Komo-bu) took us all to Everland, an amusement park outside of Seoul. It was IBM Day (his company, IBM Korea) so families went on the company's ticket. They provided the kids with toys, families with tickets with which they could buy food, etc., and a barbecue party for all the families (the beer wasn't free, but you can't have it all!). There are a lot of similarities between Everland and Disneyland, although Everland is more a mix of Disneyland and Six Flags (way better than Six Flags, though). And, the Disney characters are not there. Instead, there was Spiderman and SpongeBob and characters I don't know.
Jeongeun and Haenee ride on the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the park.
There was face painting right by the entrance, so Dahin got a heart with a big, sparkly 'IBM' in the middle.
It would not be a trip to an amusement park without posing with a giant animal. Dahin, thank goodness, has gotten over her fear of people walking around in character costumes. It's taken her years. As a baby and preschooler, she would totally freak out and go into hysterics. I remember on a trip to Vancouver, she started screaming and running the other way, all of a sudden. I had no idea why, but then I saw it: a giant racoon heading toward us across the suspended bridge. Yes, good times, good times. It took us a while to calm her down and, for the rest of the day, we would veer into other directions if we saw people dressed in costume anywhere near us.
There were many, many rides. Because it was a Saturday, we had to wait and wait and wait in line to ride them. It was worth it. The kids had a great time.
There was also a section in which there were animals--monkeys, otters, owls, etc. Oh, and the "Jackass Penguin." Ok, I didn't even know this existed. Or, maybe, the name is altered in English-language zoos. Just had to take a picture.
Dahin finds a model of an animal skeleton.
What's that expression...'like hearding cats' ? Well, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Ronan sends a message to the world.
Oliver does his cute pose by a fountain. A lot of water here--the kids were in heaven.
I could have edited this photo to include just Dahin, Jack, and me, but what fun would that be if I have a nice shot of, once again, Ronan going where he should not be. Yes, he is 'picking flowers' from the garden, the one with the sign that says 'do not enter.' Lovely.
A nice shot of Komo, Komo-bu. Jeongeun, Dahin, and Haenee.
We ate lots, and lots of icecream. Here, we are deciding, once again, which flavor would be best. Unlike amusement parks in the US, people are actually nice here. If you want people to be nice to you at a park in the US, you have to go to Disneyland. But, here, it's pretty consistent. Everland is not cheap, but the service ethics here are consistent even outside the park. Service with a smile! Below, the 'eonni' explains all the different flavors.
The day of eating, riding, and eating again ended with a parade called 'Moonlight Magic." It was really well done. Reminded me of the parade at Disneyland. Below, one of the characters on a ride aims his deathray at the audience. "Ha, ha, look mommy, he's going to taze us!" Both Dahin and I noticed that when they had a princess and her prince on one of the floats, the people were not Korean but were Caucasian (probably Russian). Dahin said, "Why are they all white?" It was a little strange and sad that the prince or princess imagery could not be done with a young Korean woman and a young Korean man. The rest of the people in costume--like the lit-up one below--appeared to be Korean. Of course it was a little difficult to see them clearly since we were above the crowd and it could have been a Korean donning a blond wig, but we zoomed in with my camera and noticed that the royalty really appeared to be caucasian. None of the shots turned out well, so did not post them here. I say it's sad because, while there are, of course, Korean models and actors, many of the images of models in store ads are of white people wearing the clothes. If you go to a dept store, it's ads of white people hanging up in the stores. Jack actually told Dahin that she could not be a model because she was not white (I mean, I don't necessarily want her to be a model, but...Bad Jack!!!). Young people here (I believe) need to think of fairy tales, princesses, and princes as being a Korean thing here too and of the ideal beauty as being Korean (for Koreans) not blonde-haired and blue-eyed. Ok; now I will step off my soap box....
Jack's sister's husband (the kids' uncle, Komo-bu) took us all to Everland, an amusement park outside of Seoul. It was IBM Day (his company, IBM Korea) so families went on the company's ticket. They provided the kids with toys, families with tickets with which they could buy food, etc., and a barbecue party for all the families (the beer wasn't free, but you can't have it all!). There are a lot of similarities between Everland and Disneyland, although Everland is more a mix of Disneyland and Six Flags (way better than Six Flags, though). And, the Disney characters are not there. Instead, there was Spiderman and SpongeBob and characters I don't know.
Jeongeun and Haenee ride on the shuttle bus from the parking lot to the park.
There was face painting right by the entrance, so Dahin got a heart with a big, sparkly 'IBM' in the middle.
There were many, many rides. Because it was a Saturday, we had to wait and wait and wait in line to ride them. It was worth it. The kids had a great time.
There was also a section in which there were animals--monkeys, otters, owls, etc. Oh, and the "Jackass Penguin." Ok, I didn't even know this existed. Or, maybe, the name is altered in English-language zoos. Just had to take a picture.
Dahin finds a model of an animal skeleton.
What's that expression...'like hearding cats' ? Well, a picture is worth a thousand words.
Ronan sends a message to the world.
I could have edited this photo to include just Dahin, Jack, and me, but what fun would that be if I have a nice shot of, once again, Ronan going where he should not be. Yes, he is 'picking flowers' from the garden, the one with the sign that says 'do not enter.' Lovely.
A nice shot of Komo, Komo-bu. Jeongeun, Dahin, and Haenee.
We ate lots, and lots of icecream. Here, we are deciding, once again, which flavor would be best. Unlike amusement parks in the US, people are actually nice here. If you want people to be nice to you at a park in the US, you have to go to Disneyland. But, here, it's pretty consistent. Everland is not cheap, but the service ethics here are consistent even outside the park. Service with a smile! Below, the 'eonni' explains all the different flavors.
The day of eating, riding, and eating again ended with a parade called 'Moonlight Magic." It was really well done. Reminded me of the parade at Disneyland. Below, one of the characters on a ride aims his deathray at the audience. "Ha, ha, look mommy, he's going to taze us!" Both Dahin and I noticed that when they had a princess and her prince on one of the floats, the people were not Korean but were Caucasian (probably Russian). Dahin said, "Why are they all white?" It was a little strange and sad that the prince or princess imagery could not be done with a young Korean woman and a young Korean man. The rest of the people in costume--like the lit-up one below--appeared to be Korean. Of course it was a little difficult to see them clearly since we were above the crowd and it could have been a Korean donning a blond wig, but we zoomed in with my camera and noticed that the royalty really appeared to be caucasian. None of the shots turned out well, so did not post them here. I say it's sad because, while there are, of course, Korean models and actors, many of the images of models in store ads are of white people wearing the clothes. If you go to a dept store, it's ads of white people hanging up in the stores. Jack actually told Dahin that she could not be a model because she was not white (I mean, I don't necessarily want her to be a model, but...Bad Jack!!!). Young people here (I believe) need to think of fairy tales, princesses, and princes as being a Korean thing here too and of the ideal beauty as being Korean (for Koreans) not blonde-haired and blue-eyed. Ok; now I will step off my soap box....
3 comments:
Hey, Hilary! The pictures of the kids are simply adorable!
Yeah, I agree, I think that Korea's white-supremacy mindset in Korean media should really loosen up..
Anyways, I hope you guys are doing great!
Hey Dami! Thanks for commenting. We hope we can see you guys soon!
These are wonderful pictures!
I remember once I was in a play when I was studying Korean. The people in the play were all played by the Chinese students but I played God and the two caucasian ladies played fairies. I wonder if there isn't a bit of exotisicism in all this? I remember watching an old movie in the US (I think from the 30's) where the space aliens were all played by Chinese (the space explorers being white).
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