Sunday, July 3rd, 2011

Last Day In Korea!  We woke to a tremendous rain storm. Updated blog posts..
worked on packing up, wrapping gifts for Aaron and Jeong Mi, and Jeong Mi's parents..

We dressed., and Kelly and I headed out into the rain to go to a Korean Catholic Church
which Aaron's head teacher, Ridia attends.  We sat in the balcony and even though
we could not speak the language we could follow the parts of the Catholic service..
certainly knew when to say "Amen" and cross ourselves!  They bow to each other
during the Peace.

At the end of the mass, they lowered this HUGE screen over the cross in front and the congregation watched and listened to about a 3 minute presentation. We asked Ridia about that and she said at the end of every mass they have a short Catholic lesson!  So very interesting.. then the screen was raised and they concluded the mass.
    We had the pleasure and delight of meeting Ridia's dad and sister and her dad was kind enough to give us a ride back to our room. Kelly made one last visit to the McDonald's for coffee. Kelly said some of the workers are recognizing him now!  ahhahaha

We walked to Aaron's and left our gift bags with him.  Then he and Jeong Mi, Jeong Mi's parents, and the 5 of us walked to a very fancy Korean restaurant where Jeong Mi's parents generously provided us all with our last Korean meal during our time here.  We had a wonderful time enjoying the various dishes and loving the meat and mushrooms cooked on the grills in front of us!

                                                    Then it was time for one last group shot!

Kelly and I cannot thank Aaron, Jeong Mi, and Jeong Mi's parents enough for all the wonderful experiences they provided to us during our Korean 2011 adventures!  We are greatly appreciative for the rooms, room items, meals, trips, and other expenses they incurred during our stay!  We only hope to repay the favor if Jeong Mi's parents come to the states to visit us in the future!

Well it was to the rooms, pack up, and bring our bags down to the entrance where Aaron had a mini van taxi waiting to take us to Incheon Airport.. so in the pouring down rain we drove one more time over the Incheon Bridge to the airport where we checked in, got our boarding passes, passed through security and said our goodbyes to Aaron, Jeong Mi, and Jeong Mi's parents.  Until we see you all again, may God bless you and keep you safely in the Palm of His Hands.

Then it was time to board the airplane and begin the long journey home.. 4:00 pm July 3rd Korean time!
Incheon to San Francisco. Kelly got extra security searches twice-passed both times!

Smooth flight; food and drinks and got some sleep.. then into San Francisco.. security, Customs and Immigration, get bags, recheck bags.. then wait 5 hours till board plane to Pittsburgh.

Then it was take off for Pittsburgh!  I had a window seat so could enjoy the sights before I napped and watched a couple movies.. just watched.. did not feel like doing the sound..
                                                   

                                                           Then it was land in Pittsburgh!

                                            11:45 pm on July 3rd, 2011!  One very long day!
Got off plane, to tram, over to baggage area, got bags, called Charlie Brown's Shuttle Service,
then into their van to our car..Jeremiah decided to book a flight to NYC which left at 5:30 am
July 4th out of Pittsburgh so he rode the Charlie Brown Shuttle Van back to the airport to
wait out the time in the baggage area... I was able to text him before he left for his home..
Then it was to bed to awaken about 12 hours later.. Kelly and I slept the day of July 4th
away.. but to be expected... well it is now 11:05 PM July 4th.. we visited with Aaron, Melissa, and
Jeremiah a bit on G Talk.. Kelly and I have talked about the fun things we have done.. we appreciate
the fact that our whole family was together for Aaron's wedding.. and that we could experience events and sites together.. as the days, weeks, months, go by we will continue to bring to memory things that we have done in Korea during the summer of 2011... Kelly and I are blessed and thankful for our children and the lives they lead...... and we are thankful for the new extended family that we now have..

                                                 

If you want you can check out the rest of our pics from this day by clicking here:

https://picasaweb.google.com/embruckart/Korea_732011#5625215101202357682

Saturday, July 2nd, 2011

We are winding down to the end of our Korean adventure... I awakened at 8:27 AM (which is another indication that we are exhausted and ready to go home).. while we will miss Aaron and Jeong Mi terribly, we long for our own home, bed, conveniences, and the ability to converse in English and be understood.. it is difficult living in Korea without knowing the language and the custom  and culture.

We spent the better part of the am working on our blog and uploading pics into our picassa web, albums.
Then Kelly, Melissa, Alan, and I headed to Lotte Mart to get pictures developed and buy some frames.. we bought a wedding picture frame for Aaron and Jeong Mi so we wanted to develop on of our wedding pics for it. We also wanted to give Jeong Mi's parents some pictures as well.. so into Lotte Mart we went..
Again.. to try to navigate and figure out where things were.. wow.. Kelly was able to use his dictionary to ask the store clerks where to find Photos and luggage.. so we managed.. but draining mentally for sure..
so many levels; magnetic escalators up in one area of floor the down located in another area of the floor.. well maybe some day we will have it figured out..
Melissa and Alan headed off to do their own thing while Kelly and I waited for the pictures to develop.. then he and I went to a lovely coffee shoppe- then returned to the room to freshen up.

We all traveled to Aaron and Jeong Mi's place where from there we walked to the Outback Steakhouse for a nice lunch.

We then showed Melissa and Alan where the walking trail began that Kelly and I walked last year and Aaron pointed out the electronics store to Jeremiah and Alan.  We all split up to do our own thing! Good opportunity for Aaron to spend some alone time with Jeremiah as they shopped in the local stores;  Melissa and Alan went over to Aaron and Jeong Mi's place and they had an opportunity to play some darts at Radio Bar before we all gathered in the evening.

Jeremiah presented each of us with a small container of East Sea Sand and sea shell to remember our trip to the Beach.. we shared some wonderful chicken, salad, and potato chips and headed back to our room to sleep...
one more day then home..

Friday, July 1st, 2011

Up at 7:00 AM and our group met Aaron and Jeong Mi at 8:00 AM to head to the subway to travel to Seoul for our "Seoul City Tour"  bus adventure! We grabbed a quick bite at a Dunkin'  Donuts near the ticket office in Seoul, then decided to walk to the Gyeongbokgung Palace instead  of waiting to see it as it is the last stop on the bus tour.  We were able to get some great pics of King Sejong and his warrior friend.

                                                                           King Sejong

                                        The Korean Alphabet was written on all the flower seats.
At the Gyenogbokgung Palace we were able to view the Ceremony of the Changing of the Guard and had 45 minutes to tour the massive palace buildings and grounds!  This is the main palace compound of King Sejong.

                                       The War Memorial of Korea (above) taken from bus window

Then back on the bus to see the sights of Seoul!   Kelly, Melissa, and Alan got off the bus to explore the Korean War Memorial.  Jeremiah, Aaron, Jeong Mi and I got off at Itaweon for some shopping, and exploring.  Then it was back on the bus for the N Seoul Tower tour!

Always a must see activity when one is in Seoul Korea!  We traveled back by way of the subway system and rested a bit... then headed to Radio Bar for a relaxing time with friends and family!

Alan, Melissa, Kelly, and I checked out "The Giant" -  a night club on an upper floor in our building... glad we saw it but decided not to stay... so went into a Chicken n Beer establishment but decided too difficult to order any food there... checked out the Lotte Mart food court... closed.. so headed for McDonalds for a late evening meal.. then home to bed.
Check out other Seoul City pics here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/embruckart/Korea_712011#5624523880620047714

Thursday, June 30th, 2011

Ahhhhh a day when we all finally slept in!  7:00 am our bodies rolled out of bed.
This is why many people need a vacation after a vacation!  Kelly and I relaxed during the
AM strolling to the Paris Baguette with Melissa and Alan.

We checked out the yummy looking display and chose 4 items that we shared.  Kelly opted out for a salad as he continued to try to maintain a diet like menu in a country with a lot of carbs and starches.
We are finding out that their pastries, desserts, and candies do not have the sweetness
that we enjoy in the US. We then explored a pharmacy choosing some facial products
to try at a later date.  We had lunch with Jeong Mi and Aaron while Jeremiah chose
to relax till later.  They ordered for us a popular Korean dish which arrives boiling
hot and into it one cracks eggs which cook. The hot dish comes in various kinds.
I had a crabmeat tofu dish; some had dumplings with vegetables, others had a beef
type dish.

Then later in the afternoon the 7 of us hailed two cabs and we headed to Wolmido, Incheon to take in the sights of the boardwalk and the West Sea (the Yellow Sea to non-Koreans).  They are undergoing a massive construction project so we could not walk down to the water's edge as we were able to do last year when Kelly and I came to visit Aaron.

Our group walked around and we all tried out a couple rides. The 4 D experience ride was fun
and Kelly, Melissa, and Alan rode the Viking!

But the most exciting memory of the Wolmido Boardwalk was the Sling shot ride which Jeremiah and Aaron
rode first (they got two rides out of the deal!), then Melissa and Alan took their two turns, then Kelly and Jeong Mi said they would give it a try!!  I decided that I wanted my feet planted firmly on the ground and did not want to get shot up into the air to be returned to the ground by cables! The maximum distance traveled upward is 65 meters.
                                             First Jeremiah and Aaron attempt the Sling Shot!

                                                                Up up up and away they go!
hummm.. let's check the TV screen and see what they thought of the 20 dollar ride...

                                 Then it was time to check out Melissa and Alan's ride experience!

                                  Then we catch Melissa and Alan's facial expression as they soar into the air!

                                   and away they went as well!

            Then Kelly said he wanted to go and Jeong Mi volunteered to do it with him!!

                                         The large screen TV showed us what they thought of the ride!!
Also, Jeong Mi had her favorite amusement park snack, some kind of boiled bug??;

                                 All right now another thing I was NOT going to try on this trip!

                                     The Munhak Baseball park and Soccer Stadium Complex!

                                                             Wave and hit the Thunder Sticks!

Then it was the two cab rides to the Incheon Munhak baseball park! We enjoyed the ball park food and beverages, hit our thunder sticks and cheered.  At Korean baseball games, there are cheerleaders and everyone seems to know the fight songs.  During the one contest I even won a free pizza for our group by dancing and cheering the best!!  Ahhaha... our team could not pull out a win even with bases loaded in one of the innings.  We had to use our umbrellas at one point but they did not call the game for long!  There was a confrontation with the umpires and players so that was fun to watch as well.. always good to take in a Korean ball game whenever one can!  Sorry Uncle Fred was not here to say that he too had seen a ball game in the Munhak baseball park!  Maybe next time Uncle Fred!! Well it was time to pack up and head back to the subway to catch the train home... check out the rest of our amusement ride and baseball pics here:
https://picasaweb.google.com/embruckart/Korea_6302011#5624016388002505570