Saturday, Day 29: Headed Home

Last day before we head home. I’m going to miss this little guy who when asked who is going to help him get ready for bed, passes an “arrow” from one to the next several times before stopping at Grammie. I’m going to miss his crawling into bed with me of a morning or begging to see pictures of himself or his cousins on my computer. I’m going to miss his eagerness to race when challenged to see who can go to the bathroom quickest or get their shoes on fastest. (Don’t knock it; this alternative to a defiant “no” or tearful “I don’t want to”, is hard to beat.)

Next time I see him I know he will be taller. His vocabulary will be bigger, and he'll probably get those Ls that he is working so conscientiously to pronounce. The things that send him into temper tantrums will be fewer (I hope). He will recognize more printed words or at least be able to sound them out. Hopefully, he will still love sharing stories and cuddles and talking to Jesus.

I am grateful that I can spend this time with him. My parents had far less time with their grandchildren when my kids were his age and we lived far away in Brazil. Next week I will be able to hear his voice and see his smiling face via Skype if I want to (and if he can pull himself away from play long enough). Skype didn’t exist when my mother would have loved to see my little ones and interact with them as they became more and more themselves.

I will miss hanging out with my daughter and crossing paths with her very busy husband. I’ll miss meeting their friends and seeing them interact with the people in their everyday lives. But at least when Erika mentions someone, there is a good chance that I will know who she is talking about. When she says what a good time they had at [fill in the blank], I might have been there and be able to picture it.

I look forward to my own bed, my own kitchen, my own routine, but mostly I’m very grateful to have had this opportunity.

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.

Thursday, Day 27: at home

Another relaxig day between outings. Plenty of time for silliness with grandpa.

And playing on the playground. Why is climbing up the slide so much more fun than coming down?

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.

Monday, Day 24: Alpensia Ocean 700 Water Park

We spent Monday morning at the indoor water park near the hotel. Not a safe place for a phone or other camera so your only picture is this one taken from the lobby or the few on this website. 

You are looking at the wave pool, which Simeon loved at the time. He is totally unafraid of getting his face wet although he was disconcerted at having his feet washed out from under him and being unable to stand. He recovered and plunged in again and again, but it must have affected him more than we realized because sleeping in the car on the way home, he kept jolting awake saying, “Not the waves! No waves!”

A “river” ran through the park. Erika and I rode inner tubes down it. Simeon watched excitedly while we passed beneath a waterfall, but it was near the end of the morning before he got up the courage to do it himself with his daddy.

There were a couple junior water slides, mounted water guns, and places where water tumbled down. Simeon quickly figured out that to reach the water slide without getting doused he needed to wait until the bucket filled and tipped over and then dash to the steps while it refilled. Later he decided that standing directly under where the bucket would dump was just as much fun.

Steve had stayed behind in the hotel, but Dan, Erika and I took turns watching Simeon and checking out the adult attractions. Believe it or not, I had never been on one of the big slides where you ride a raft. I have always believed that “I’m scared” is not enough reason to say no, so I went with Erika. Wow! It was thrilling. When “the Tornado” opened at noon, we did that too. We were only two on a four-man raft. It swung around so that I was entering a black hole backwards. Pretty scary not being able to see where I was going. Of course, the second time I was facing forward where I COULD see where I was going. I decided that backwards was better! At the bottom of the black hole we sloshed wildly up one side and down the other before sliding out into a pool at the bottom. Lots of fun, but that one would definitely have given Simeon nightmares!

In the far left corner was a whole spa of water massages. Erika and I, of course, had to try each one to see which muscles it massaged. Erika’s favourite was the neck and shoulders massage where you stood under a jet of water so forceful I thought I would be bruised this morning. My favourite was one that bubbled up all around you, making it hard not to float away. Pushing aside plastic flaps, you could swim outside to a few more pools. The river had an outdoor option as well, but that was closed. The outdoor pool has not yet opened. Although it is hot and sweaty in Seoul, this is the mountains and it is still pretty cool.

To someone who has visited an American water park, those attractions probably sound pretty normal, but there were some unique aspects. This being Korea, we had hardly paid our fee when we were required to remove shoes. There were shoe lockers off the lobby. Your locker number was stamped on your ticket. The same key matched a locker in the locker room for clothes and bags. The key was on a spring cord that fit around your wrist. Anything (like required life jackets) that you bought or rented inside was charged to that wrist key.

The other thing that would not be typical in an American water park was that shirts and even shorts were encouraged for modesty’s sake. Almost everyone wore them over their bathing suits. Hats are required—either a swim cap (not my favourite, but not unreasonable in a public pool) or a baseball cap. How my baseball cap protected the pool, I’m not quite sure. I was asked to remove it for the water slides. Let’s just say that swimming in a baseball cap was kind of weird.

We drove home mid-afternoon via Camp Humphreys where Dan picked up his car. The scenery was fabulous. Simeon fell asleep inhis umpteenth viewing of "Red Dusty," the second Planes movie. Today will be laundry and down time.

Sunday, Day 23: Odaesan National Park

Sunday afternoon we hiked in Odaesan National Park. The city parks in Seoul are great, but pale in comparison to the Korean National Parks. Just the hour drive to the trail head was gorgeous. Too bad Erika (cramped in the back with Simeon and me) was car sick and took most of it with her eyes closed.

Korean’s love hiking. This trail followed a gorge to a collection of waterfalls. Lots of cataracts along the way.

This temple offers drinking water to weary hikers.

Picniced at this water fall.

Our picnic spot is top left.

Spectacular views at every turn, and since we are in the mountains, it was not as hot and sweaty as Seoul.

Saturday, Sunday, Day 23-23: Alpensia

From Pyeongtaek and Camp Humphreys we travelled to Pyeongchang, site of the 2018 Olympics. This is already a popular ski area with lots of resorts. We are at Alpensia, a collection of Holiday Inn Hotels with a pedestrian mall down the middle that reminds Dan and Erika of Whilster, BC. I say “pedestrian”, but one did need to look out for young motorists cruising the plaza on Saturday night. Simeon loved it.

The lighted in tower in the background is the top of a ski jump, we presume built for 2018.
Simeon is one of the last drivers steering madly around the plaza.

Sunday morning we rode the alpine coaster we could see from our hotel room window. We rode up the chair lift. This was a challenge with nothing but a thin bar beneath their feet for Erika and Steve who suffer from fear of heights, but Simeon loved it. Even I felt my knees going weak as he leaned forward and squealed with delight.

Grandpa feigns terror at the height of the chair.

 Down was via a small car on a twisting, turning track. You can control the speed with a break. Needed a go-cam on the front to get any pictures because there was no way I was going to let go of the brake to get out my camera. Simeon and Daddy went last. Simeon had no desire for Daddy to use the brake. “Go fast, Daddy! Go fast!”

Steve arrives at the bottom of the Alpine Coaster.

 If it weren't so expensive, it would be worth going again. By the bottom Erika and I were ready to take it on with a bit more speed. 

Simeon rode the train at the tiny amusement park because a four-year-old can never pass up a miniature train. Erika was glad she had let him do the one ride in the morning because she had intended to let him ride more in the evening, but everything was closed up and the place had become a ghost town by the time we got back from our hike. (See next blog.)  Koreans don’t have Memorial Day Monday off.