Friday, Day 28: Seoul Forest

The day started with breakfast at the Original Pancake House, not far from the base. We were meeting friends from the distant past. Mark and Sherri Harrington's daughter Tamar is marrying a Korean she has known since college days. Sherri was at Oberlin College with Steve. Mark was his housemate in Ann Arbor before we got married. They were both at our wedding, but didn't meet until later. We have all wanted Erika and Tamar to connect since both will be living here in Seoul. It was a fun talk fest. Great omelets.

 We were on our way to Seoul Forest for the day.  It was a short jaunt by subway. Simeon is an old hand at lining up to let other passengers get off first.

We had heard Seoul Forest was the Korean equivelent of New York's Central Park. Beautiful spot for a relaxing day.

Erika and I were coveteous of these apartments that open directly onto one of the plazas next to an area of hip restaurants.

Simeon (and a bunch of other kids) loved the water park. Now that it is summer, the fountains, which come and go at a variety of heights, always surprising, come on for half an hour out of every hour. We arrived in time for the last five minutes or so of one segment. A soaking wet Simeon waited patiently for 30 minutes for the next water time. He had a half dozen wet Korean teens trying to practice their English with him while they waited.

Here's a still in case you have trouble with the video.  I was sorely tempted to join him.

When we left at the end of the day, we had to be sure we passed this area during one of the off times, or we never would have gotten away.  

The other favorite activity at the park was this slide that he went down at least a dozen times. Mom and Grammie did join him on the slide.

When we visited Nami Island on a previous trip, I was impressed with the mini-libraries everywhere. They were here too, including at this sand area where Simeon played for about half an hour while we sat in the shade. I read my e-book; Steve did crossword puzzles; and Erika identified with Korean culture by catching up with Facebook on her phone.

Very relaxing day. Lots of fun for Simeon, who survived without a nap and stayed cheerful most of the time.

Wednesday, Day 26: Korean Folk Village

We visited the Korean Folk Village the last time I was in Korea, but Steve had never been there, so we were eager for him to see it.  Erika looked up the route on the computer last night. We could spend an hour on the subway to connect to a half hour shuttle bus that goes every half hour, plus needing to get to the subway, for a total of probably two hours. Mapquest said the Korean Folk Village was half an hour away, but that didn't take into acocunt Seoul traffic. It really was a debate, but in the end we decided that the car would allow us to take the stroller more easily. In fact, the drive took a little over an hour, and the return during rush hour, just under an hour and a half, so driving was the right decision although at one point as we sat totally stopped in traffic we wondered.

Unlike our previous visit, there were not 10,000 children on school outings. It was easy to see the shows and traditional houses. Front row seats for the farmers dance that I still find awesome.

Simeon wanted his picture taken with one of the guys with a "string," the ribbon on his hat.





He also enjoyed helping "make food" with a mortar and pestle not unlike the ones we used in Africa. Erika is carrying a water jar in a kind of backpack. African style on the head looks simpler to me.

There was also a baby carrying back pack, but we didn't figure out how you could do that without the baby falling out. There weren't re-inactors and English signage didn't answer all our questions. There were sometimes manikins in the houses like these in the nobleman's house where the traditional wedding ceremony took place.

I loved this garden in the middle of the scholar's house.

 And even more this scent garden.

Midday I saw teens sprawled in one of the gazebos, sleeping or on their phones. That looked like a good way to avoid pooping out mid afternoon. 

We left at 4. Simeon was asleep before we reached the highway. Steve and I sat in the car with him while his mom went into the commissary to buy vegies for supper. Then I sat in the car and read my e-book in the parking lot in front of the apartment while he continued to sleep. Pretty tiring day.

Last night we watched Planes. Tonight we watched Planes 2: Fire and Rescue, "Red Dusty" as Simeon calls it.  He has watched the first Planes movie at least a hundred times, and is well on the way with the second. He watched it at least five times on the iPad over the weekend. I saw the ending multiple times in the car as he kept rewinding to see Dusty turn red (as he becomes certified as a fire fighter), but we had never actually seen the movie start to finish until tonight. His favorite Wii Resort game is the flying one. I wonder how many little boys will grow up to be pilots thanks to Disney.

Thursday, Day 21: Birthday at Lotte World

Thursday was the day Simeon had been looking forward to--"I'm four!"

We celebrated at Lotte World, a sort of cross between Disneyland and Camp Snoopy at Mall of America.  Lotte is a major conglomerate, whose name I have often seen on skating jackets at Worlds.

There are lots of rides. We took turns riding with Simeon.

Here is Simeon's favorite. There was no line, so he went four times in a row before we convinced him to try something else.

Part of the park is inside (The ice rink is not included, but next time in Korea I need to bring my skates.) Part is outside.

The sky is partly overcast and partly major pollution.

Great parade of characters. Simeon is in love with the butterflies.

Cameras and selfies are popular here. There was a large "Trick Eye" room. You can see what an angel my grandson is.

Or maybe not.

Dan had a Memorial Day picnic that Erika and Simeon went to as well. They came home to Simeon's favorite (rice flour) spaghetti. Presents included a baseball and glove (big hit at the picnic), Legos that he still couldn't put down on the toilet this morning, and lots of books.

Friday morning he asked me, "Am I still four?" I assured him that he would be four all year and never be three again. Now he off with his daddy to change the oil in the car before we take off for the weekend. Stay tuned. :-)

Still Friday, Day 14: Seoul Symphony

Our day was not ended. My cousin Sarah is married to Seijin Koh, president of the Korea Broadcasting System (KBS) Symphony orchestra. Seijin graciously provided us with tickets for last night's concert. Dan and Erika got a baby sitter and everything. We might have taken the subway, but the route took 45 minutes, went way out of the way, and would have dropped us several blocks from the center anyway, so we chose instead the cultural experience of Seoul traffic--for forty-five minutes--but no walking at the end.

Seoul Arts Center is a spectacular facility with multiple venues. The lobby of the concert hall is elegant.

The orchestra is impressive. The women all wore black pantsuits with white shirts, the better to blend with the men, but I was surprised at the high percentage of women. Probably half. The program was Beethoven. First half was incidental music from the 1787 Goethe play, Egmont, with narration and soprano soloist. Excellent. Unlike Erika who recognized a number of the pieces, it was all new to me. Sarah had graciously printed out a summary in English so we were not entirely lost in the story--typical opera melodrama where everyone dies, but with a nationalistic twist of fighting for freedom. We shared the English with a confused Aussie behind us at intermission. Second half was Beethoven's Fifth Symphony. Shame that Steve is elsewhere, visiting theological programs int he region. The audience was VERY appreciative, demanding multiple curtain calls until the orchestra finally pulled at a Hungarian Dance as an encore.

The complex includes a musical fountain, which was on when we left the auditorium. When Erika went before, it was for a kids' concert of Carnival of the Animals. Afterwards the fountain was crowded with kids playing in the mist. Tonight was quite tame by comparison.

I can see why the kids are pleased to be living in Seoul with all it's cultural opportunities.

When we got home at 11 PM, Simeon called cheerfully from upstairs--not a sign of sleepiness. The poor babysitter had been sitting with him the whole time, trying to get him to close his eyes. Just when she thought he was asleep, he would whisper her name and ask her something. Like I said, he didn't seem the least bit sleepy when we got home.

Friday, Day 14: Namsan Park

Enough of hanging out at home. Today we walked to Namsan, the mountain surrounded by city topped with the tower tourists call Seoul Tower. It is not that far from one of the gates, although as usual in Korea, it is all up hill.

View of our goal from the parking lot where we started.

We turned left outside the gate and continued along a busy Seoul street for 10-15 minutes.

I almost didn't include this, but then I figured those other than Uncle Bob and Aunt Peg who have never been to Korea, might not know what a "busy Seoul street" looks like--except it wasn't very busy at this particular moment.

Eventually, we turned along side the old city wall. At one point on top I found a sign that said the wall was from the Joesan Period. Not very helpful to a foreigner. It also said the wall was built in 1996. That didn't sound very historic to me. When I looked up Joesan Period at home it said 14th -19th centuries. I suspect the 1996 part was restored.

The way got pretty steep. We rested a couple times and were passed by very-physically fit Koreans, some of them ten years older than I am. At one point as we sat on the curb, these guys came along and just started pushing. Little to no English, but we laughed and made gestures and they pushed Simeon the rest of the way to the top.  The only negative was that we were too proud to suggest another rest! They took pictures and we thanked them in Korean.

Great views of the city in every direction from the top. We didn't have one of the ubiquitous selfie-sticks, so we asked someone to take ours in exchange for taking theirs.

Locks enscribed with lover's names drape the overlooks. Simeon was fascinated.

Koreans are great at landscaping. Unfortunately, they aren't so great at picking up their trash. Just to the left of the picture is an empty water bottle and wadded up napkin. Behind me is an empty chip bag. Hard to reconcile with their other great traits.

The views from the base were so great that we didn't feel a need to actually go up the tower.

Monday, Day 11: Seoul Children's Grand Park

So much fun stuff to do in Seoul! Today we went to Seoul Children's Grand Park. We were about half an hour on the subway, a fun adventure in itself for Simeon who looked out the window. It wasn't crowded midmorning on a weekday so we had seats no problem.  The place is huge--530,000square meters, whatever that is in acres. It includes a zoo, botanical gardens, musical fountain, sculpture gardens, shaded walks, several playgrounds--you get the idea--all for free. We picnicked by the fountain, while it played kids songs and spouted water in patterns.

Loved the landscaping.

There was a whole walk through various sculptures made of scrap metal.

Simeon was so excited in the zoo that he ran rather than walked from one enclosure to the next. He loved feeding the Formosan deer.

He was not happy about leaving. We staved off a three-year-old temper tantrum by reminding him that Mom would not be excited about coming back if he threw a fit. Of course, when we were on the train he asked very sweetly if we could go back now.

Monday night is Awana night. Simeon loves Cubbies and works hard to learn his verses. Tonight was a pizza party to celebrate the end of the year. Since Simeon is highly alergi to wheat, Erika brought him his own rice-flour pizza so he could eat with the other kids. She also brought Simeon-friendly cookies to substitute for the cupcakes a little girl brought for her birthday. He is really good about not eating thiings he shouldn't. He has too many memories of upset tummy from even the smallest bite.

Friday and Saturday, Days 8-9: Out to the Ballpark, Korean style

I got my 10,000 steps in today no problem. We picnicked by the river for lunch. It's about a fifteen minute walk to the walk-in gate of the post, back past the house on the outside, across a major street and set of railroad tracks. The train came while we were waiting to cross on the return for an up-close-and-personal experience. Water skiers went by on the river while we ate.

On the way we passed someone moving in. I guess this kind of outdoor elevator truck is typical. Erika says she has a friend who lives on the thirteenth floor. When they moved in the guys didn't even use safety harnesses.

Seoul is a huge city. population more than 10 million. (Compare New York at eight million.) This picture is taken from the subway station over the river on our way to--wait for it!--the baseball game.

We went with a group of Dan's soldiers, guided by a couple KATUSAs, Korean soldiers with good English, assigned to assist the American military. These two work regularly with Dan's unit. We took the subway in a group with the KATUSAs to tell us where to get off. (Why are people so willing to give up the seats for the elderly and infirm to offer them to me?)  It was fun to see Dan in action, his men calling him "sir" and everything. 

The game was quite a cultural experience--lots of enthusiastic noise. It reminded me of a high school game at tournament time, but with lots more people. There were cheer leaders, songs for each player, and of course, the Korean national anthem, rather than stars and stripes. In the video you can see some of our soldiers, the cheerleaders, and just behind them, the batter who gets a double, much to the excitement of the crowd. 

Hot dogs were available, but chicken seemed to be the stadium food of choice with lots of interesting alternatives. I had peanut buttery squid tentacles.

I even convinced Erika to try one. Let's just say she kept it down. Simeon got a kick out of the noisemakers. They banged together with a resounding echo. At times he found the noise level overwhelming.

We cheered for the Bears. Not sure why, but I have heard they have been supporters of the military. Late night (for us) return home in a much less crowded subway. Most of Dan's men stayed out until curfew. Today has been a relaxed day at home. Not for Dan. He's training for a triathalon.

More Family in Korea

Erika and family were not the only relatives I visited in South Korea. My second cousin (granddaughter of my paternal grandmother's sister), Sarah Resch Koh, is married to a Korea archeologist, turned CEO of the Korean Broadcasting System Symphony Orchestra. They offered us free tickets to a concert last week that we were disappointed not to be able to take advantage of.

Sarah has connected with Erika a couple times since Erika has been in Korea and Erika has relly appreciated it. She came out to Pyeongtaek by metro train on my birthday to escort me back to her place in Seoul. We met up at Starbucks at the Pyeongtaek station and the three of us yacked for a couple hours--a "hen party" our grandmothers would have called it.

The journey back to Seoul took a another couple hours. (Sarah insisted she didn't mind the time to read on the way out.) As senior citizens (highly respected in Korean society) we both had seats. Sarah lives in a beautiful apartment with a view of Seoul Tower (much like the Seatle Space Needle) across the mountain ridges. A landscaped path winds up the ravine between high rise buildings with little places to sit and overlook the city--a haven of peace amidst the crowds and traffic.

Sarah prepared a stir fry dinner and served it with sheets of dried seaweed. The idea is to fold the seaweed around a little bundle of rice, meat and veggies, and put it in your mouth--all done neatly with chop sticks, which required more dexterity than I possess. Sarah was gracious enough not to comment on my atrocious table manners. The truth is that it was really yummy. She even sent a packet of dried seaweed home with me. Seijin was tied up with orchestra business in this his first month on the new job and didn't get home until bedtime.

The next morning Sarah put me on the airport bus and I was off home.

These have been a good three weeks in Korea, mostly just being there for Erika and enjoying Simeon. I'm going to miss this little guy. My last day he got a kick out of these floppy "ears" and stuck his tongue out like a puppy.

He enjoyed watching videos of "baby Simeon" on my computer. Next time I see him, the pictures I took on this trip will seem like a long time ago to him. :-(