Friday, August 26, 2011

So.Korean Vacation 2011

Wow!!!  What a vacation that was!  My husband and I took a trip to So.Korea to visit with our daughter, she is 23 and just moved there 6 months ago to teach English in a public Elementary School.  After being there for over a week, we really do understand why she loves both the country and the people so much!   I think the best way to share from the trip will be to post some pictures and write a bit, I took over 500 pictures and there is just no way that I am going to post all that!  I had over 200 printed out for my scrapbook, and that should tell you how much fun we had.  You will also meet Nicky in these pictures, she and Sarah went to school together here in Garland.  Nicky is at another Elementary School there within walking distance.  At least they both knew someone else there from the start, and it made it a bit easier on us knowing that they would have each other to rely on.  So...here we go.

This first plane was a little bitty thing, and we were right over the tires.  
After we all were boarded and had sat for a while, the captain came on and announce that everything was fine, but that there were gonna change out all the tires on the plane.  Really?  There goes our time window for the next flight!!!

You can tell this is Texas, not a cloud in the sky.

This cloud looks either like an elephant or a dinosaur, depending on which end is front!

Ummm.  We were on Delta, and the more planes we took, the cheaper the tickets seemed to be.

One should never tell one's husband (who is not fond of flying), "honey, that was the wheels going down (it was the doors for the wheels opening), and that was your luggage! (it was the wheels lowering)".  Oh the looks I got from him.  lolThis little plane, my hubby nicknamed a "puddle jumper".

I snapped this picture really quick as we ran through the airport in Minneapolis/St. Paul, Minnesota.  Because of the delay at Dallas, our two hour layover was gone and we had to hurry!

This is our next plane, see all the little bitty windows across the top?  It was a double decker, the entire upper section was first class seating with recliners!  I know what our little cramped seats cost, I can only imagine what those things go for!

For anyone who has never flown, this cabin in the plane was larger than my living room and you really did forget that you were even on a plane.

Looking out over Japan.  

The mountains were just beautiful!


The airport in Japan had lots of murals and over 50 shops!

Good thing that stuff there was Duty Free, cause it sure was expensive in Japan!


Our last plane was another "puddle jumper".  You can see how cramped it is.

The last thing that I saw on the tv monitor before Darrell got sick was American Pickers with subtitles!  Love that show!!!  

Well, Darrell and I got there, finally!!!  Poor thing, he feels worse than the picture looks.  With just 45 minutes of the trip left, he got sick!  Hugging the toilet sick!  It did get us moved up to first class, but was kinda late in the trip to get to enjoy it.  When traveling internationally there are things to remember...don't drink a lot of cokes, request water and lots of it.  Another thing, get some sleep!!!!

The streets have lettering on them just like ours, and there is literally no room to park anywhere.  They double park all the time and just leave their cell numbers in the window so that folks can call them to come move their cars.  We mainly took to walking, street bus or a taxi.

Stores and shops everywhere in Daejeon.

This little fast food place at the store has a conveyor belt that goes around, you just grab whatever plate you want when you want it.  At the end of the meal, you take all your empty plates to the checkout to pay for your meal.  Stuff is fairly cheap there, but I am thinking that could get expensive quick.

This is Darrell on day two.  He is feeling much better.

Nicky, Sarah's best friend, in front of her school.

Sarah, our daughter, in front of her school.

The steps inside amused me.  There are sayings in English and Korean on all the stairways.  They say stuff like..."Good medicine tastes bad".

The cubbies down on the left are where the students put their outside shoes when they come into the building.  They bring indoor sandals from home to change into each day.  The floors stay spotless and clean!
Monet to Warhol Exhibit in Daejeon, So.Korea.


                            This display moved too!



Sarah and Darrell, her dad, stop for a picture.

Random pictures of us eating and shopping.






I have never seen a "night life" like this before.   There are no need for street lights.  Everything is as bright or brighter at night, there are so many neon signs everywhere.  Folks stay out late and shop or party any and all nights! 


Daytime at the outdoor market, some of it looks really nasty!


Sardines by the cases!


They love the new Polaroids there and hang them everywhere inside anywhere that serves food.

See that bus cutting off the van?  That is the norm!  And it obviously isn't a sin to speed or break any driving laws...it is just a way of life.  You also don't walk across the street when the little sign is flashing that it is clear.  YOU RUN!!!!!

We went out to an authentic Korean place to eat, with our own private room and everything.  All this food is just the first course, and for only four people.  We never did find out what everything was.  I loved the green stuff on the plate that is on the top row, second from the left.

Course two, fish coated with egg (very good), some sort of soup stuff, and beef.

Course three, was all this stuff!  Yes, the fish is still whole, with skin and all.

Dessert was a sweet rice, freezing cold drink.  Too sweet for me!

The two girls are quite good at de-boning a fish with their chopsticks.

A friend from Sarah's church, Yumi, took us out sightseeing one day.  This is the area where they teach about the tombs and all the great past leaders.

Inside an old recreated tomb.

Showing how the tombs were first made.




Replica of the everyday close of a king and his queen.


Making prints.


Some of the other buildings in the area.

Really was a lot of walking and a ton of fun!




Sarah loves her squid!!!




If they can tunnel through a mountain instead going around or over it, they do.


This is at a place where there are statues for all the major families that have ever been in the So.Korean lineage.  Most everyone knows what their ancestors base name was back in the beginning.



Here is Yumi with her family statue.






Random stuff at the same park...Dynamic Korea!  And the end of our day trip with Yumi.


At the pizza place with a couple of So.Korean guys that Sarah goes to church with.  These people are so nice!
Sunday was also our 29th Wedding Anniv.  What a great place to celebrate!


This is how most folks sleep when they somewhere to spend the night.  The church decided to do a two day retreat and took us along, very nice folks!  They gave Darrell and I the room with a bed, the "young adults" were in the connected part of the suite.  The church rented out almost the entire third floor, it was a nice place with a great view!

Nicky and Sarah goofing off, again!  Love these girls!

Definitely a room with a view! 

A few hours at the beach and no sunburn.  Nicky's sunscreen was good stuff.


Then, the group all went to the fish market to get some dinner.





Back at the motel, out on the lawn fixing dinner.

These scallops were so big, they cut them into fourths to make them bite sized.  Come to think of it, they used scissors with a lot of their foods.  But then, they all eat from the same plate or bowl too.  And yes, that can get kinda nasty sometimes.

Sarah decided that she could eat one in all one bite. 

She was very pleased with herself!  Me?  I was just glad that there was also a bowl with rice and a plate for me to put a bunch of it on.


Next, we were back to the beach for fireworks.  

As you can see in these two pictures, they are not afraid of their fireworks.  We would have buried these in the sand to light them.  


This group of fireworks were the ones that zipped all over the place, we told them that had to stick these in the sand.  After they started lighting them, they understood why!

Sparklers.

Sarah and Nicky take out time to pose.

The preacher, with some of his younger flock...oh, and me. lol  Darrell and the others were already asleep.

Time to get packed up.

What fun we had at this place!!!!

Then, they decided that because I carried a camera everywhere, we should go up and around a mountain so that I could get some shots of the famous mountain there.


It really is a beautiful country, and again I see why Sarah loves it so much!

Another stop along the way.

A 500 year old tree and the write up about it.


More of the mountains.


Last shot of the group before we head for Sarah's place.


Lunch that day.  Where do they put all this food?  I wasn't really hungry til much later.  But, like Sarah said, they do eat very healthy and grow a lot of their own stuff.  And, they do walk it off!

Back in Daejeon, out the window of a building.  This used to be a landing strip back in the day.



A display down in the underground shopping/subway area.

On the bus, headed for a motel before we take off for America.


A store along the way.  That would have been fun to go through.  

A display of old phones that were in the window of our motel by the front desk area.


Every wall was hand painted, very nice place.  We had two beds, a shower, steam room, jacuzzi, tv, window that had a nice view, our own a/c, hot and cold water dispenser, and a mini fridge with water and tea.

This is their idea of a continental breakfast at the motel.

The plane from Korea to Japan.

Was another fairly small one and seemed a bit bumpy.

Goodbye So.Korea!

There was a really cool Origami display in one of the shops in Japan.  Knowing how my nephew loves his paper folding, I had to get pictures of it all!











Neat stuff hu?  They are very good at this!



The "western" toilets have an added side bar.

Yeppers, it will wash and dry you as well as give you music.  Wonder how long the kids stay in the bathroom playing with all the buttons?

And this is the toilet found in both Korea and Japan.  The American's have nicknamed it a "squatter", and they are a bit difficult to use as they are sunk in the ground and you must squat to use it.

Flying into Salt Lake City, Utah.

We got off the plane and zipped right through customs.

The mountains were pretty.  We just don't see that in the Dallas area.

Last plane ride, and I do think they were getting smaller and smaller.

When we landed, I told Darrell that it wasn't that bad for a bucket of bolts.  Notice that I said I waited until after we landed!  lol

Souvenirs, you wanna see some of the stuff we bought??  Ok, but I am not going to go through each little thing.

















  


Alright now, do you feel like you went to So.Korea with us?  I do hope that you enjoyed the trip.  Please feel free to post comments or questions at the end of the blog.  I will post again in another couple of weeks.  Till then, try to make someone happy and live life to the fullest!  - Pam










No comments:

Post a Comment