making up syllables: over served, under prepared

my family's experience with soju. it's not to be taken lightly. sure it seems innocuous enough, boasting a relatively low alcohol level for a straight liquor, but some claim there are magical, ruinous properties of soju that attack the very heart and soul of the drinker. others might just claim that its not the alcohol level but the quality of distilled water used that lends its potency. whatever the root issue, toilet tissue, soju can be disastrous if not approached seriously. and the first night my family was in seoul, waiting for my arrival, they found out all too easily. what started as an adventurous night out on the town by themselves, ended in the arms of locals, soju flowing freely - too freely - and ending in the streets where english expletives were exploding out onto street corners and into foreign ears. this was all told to me secondhand so i can't be sure of the accuracies, but i've seen similar stories firsthand all too many times...soju.

but the rest of the trip was a pretty good success! a fast paced, high tempo-ed, 10 day romp through south korea. we started in seoul and made it to most of its highlights: the palace, the tower, the markets, the clubs. we talked to locals, we ate bbq and rice bowls. and we walked and walked and walked. apparently there's not much walking in america. or not many stairs. i must have forgotten but i was reminded frequently. plans to go to the dmz were ditched due to poor planning and, really, luke-warm enthusiasm from most of the family.

after seoul we went to daegu which was a nice reprieve from the flash of seoul. we stayed out of town in palgongsan, in an ondol style room about the size of my apartment, which is to say small for 4 people. but the surrounding environment was expansive and beautiful and so it made our cramped quarters feel light and breezy in comparison...well maybe not, but it was beautiful anyways. we did a bit of 'hiking' (just more walking but there were hills involved so it was considered hiking) around donghwa temple, which boasts a pretty amazing buddha statue, and then headed into chilgok to say hi to the school. it was pretty nice going back one more time and a bit of a treat to be able to introduce my family. looking back even now i'm feeling a little misty and nostalgic about all the faces i had to say goodbye to one more time. but what a good bye it was! after touring the school we all, the entire school, went out for dinner at a bulgogi restaurant. the soju flowed. faces blushed. talking volume elevated. soon we were being ushered into a noraebang and from there it was worse. not only was there singing but dancing. im pretty sure the maintenance main was trying to get frisky with my mom. but we had down our duty and the teachers were thrilled with our participation. i'm fairly certain it was a night everyone will remember, for better or worse. plans to go to a korean baseball game were ditched because, well, we really just didn't have enough time. which is unfortunate because they really are a lot of fun.

next was busan and i think it was starting to feel more like a vacation for them. a couple of days at the beach and starr's first experience with a love motel. i ran a fever, or perhaps i was just hungover, on the second day so i was mostly stuck in the motel, but with beer and a beach my family is just fine so they were okay by themselves for the day. plans to go to the fish market were ditched because someone overslept. i'm not sure my mom could have handled the smell anyway.

after busan we flew a short way to jeju, the hawaii of korea! i had never been to jeju so this was a treat for me as well. after arriving at the airport we hoped in a mini-van and headed to our beautiful pension. our beautiful pension! was a shithole. out in the middle of rice paddies. nowhere near a restaurant or a beach. how did this happen? back into the mini-van we pointed on a map. we expressed our displeasure with the pension ("gajog pension an-jihowayo" did the trick) and the bemused driver showed us a much nicer spot on the hillside. we enjoyed the beach, we enjoyed the food and waterfalls. we even enjoyed the local hyatt's poolside service.

and then, just as soon as it had started, we were flying back to busan, going up to seoul and they were leaving me in a love motel outside of the incheon international airport. overall i was really glad they got to come and see how and where i was living for the past year. i wish they had the opportunity to really get into the life of things, but with such a short trip it was hard to get further than just the highlights. still, meeting my teachers, drinking with koreans, talking with students...i think it was a really good experience for all of us and something i hope they, and the school, remembers fondly.

the next day i met sunmi in seoul. we didn't really do much. just kind of walked around, got some food, tried to watch a movie. and then that too was over. i was off onto south east asia and my korean experience was over. it's really strange to think about it, especially sitting here in my old room at my moms house, looking at my huge (i mean really massive, it's insane) imac monitor.