In honor of Mommy's Birthday, here is M&D's visit to Korea! I loved having them here more than they know! I enjoyed showing them my Korea... I think they really liked it as well :) Especially the food!
So... here we go!
FRIDAY
Friday night was their grand arrival! Luckily, have some good friends here and one of them picked up my parents from the airport. The first evening, they were so tired that we just went out for some yummy Korean barbeque!
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| Dad eventurally got better with the chopsticks... |
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| Mmm, galbi... my favorite! |
SATURDAY
The next day, we explored Dongtan! I got to show them my home :) I also took them to do the most American things we could have done in Korea.... eat at Outback Steakhouse and to go CGV to watch "Now You See Me"... ya, I'm a great travel agent.
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| Metapolis Ice Rink |
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| Metapolis is a massive shopping mall...and |
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| and... the tallest apartments in Korea (so I've heard). |
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| My roof at night... love it! |
SUNDAY
Sunday morning, we went into Seoul for church on the U.S. Army base! I got to introduce my 'America' parents to my 'Korea' parents. We got to hear daddy Whitten preach and were spoiled with an amazing lunch! I'm so lucky :) After church, we headed back to Dongtan, with a stop at Seoul Station. My dad enjoys watching trains. We were surprise by a group dancing outside. They were the best traditional dancers I've ever seen!
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| Mommy and Daddy Whitten... and my nephew, Rocky. |
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| Seoul Station |
MONDAY
The parentals came to watch me teach my babies at SLP... they claim this was their favorite part of the trip... I think they were just saying that to make me feel good ;)
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| Iguana class :) |
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| In Elephant class... |
Morning Movement...
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| Ramen and rice balls for lunch! |
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| A bit of shopping before going back to work. |
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| Back at SLP after M&D got to go home and rest! |
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| SR2 Camel class :) Good kids... |
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| Dukgalbi for dinner! One of my favorite meals in Korea! |
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| Staple beer in Korea... CASS. |
TUESDAY
We didn't do much this day... we were preparing for our adventure into Seoul! I sent my parents hiking while I was in school. That evening, we went out to Baby Guinness for some pub food and beers!
WEDNESDAY
We took a nice long subway ride into Seoul (to avoid Chuseok traffic) to start the holiday! Our first destination was Geongbokgung Palace! I've been here once, but I never went inside. I'm glad I did this time... it was stunning!
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| A gateway... |
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| Looking towards Seoul. |
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| With a guard! |
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| Vintage town. |
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| The temple. |
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| Banquet hall... |
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| English tour! Yay for foreigner friendly things :) |
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| Palace grounds... |
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| Our tour guide. |
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| Changing of the guards. |
After the palace, we checked into our hotel! I purposely got us an apartment style room so I could avoid Mom's snoring ;) We ended up loving it because of the amazing view! Ugh, I wish I could have an apartment like it...
After checking in, we went to North Seoul tower. It's also known as Namsan tower. It's one of my favorite places in Seoul. This time around wasn't too good of a start because we couldn't catch a bus up to the top of the mountain. So, we had to hike up... Our legs were jell-o afterwards!
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| Abu Dhabi! I miss Dubai! |
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| I bought my parents a lock to "lock in their love"... I think they liked this little surprise :) |
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| There it is! So cute :) |
We went out for dinner afterwards and man... we worked for our food because we had to hike DOWN the mountain too! We were sooo tired, but it was such a good day.
THURSDAY
Happy Chuseok! To celebrate this day, I thought it would be proper to go to the Korean National Museum. I've never gone, so I figured we would all enjoy it together. It's a massive museum and takes forever to get through, but I would absolutely go again.
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| Army base in the back yard! |
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| My parents creeped on the little girl so that she could take a picture for them... |
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| Performance outside |
That evening, we went to NANTA! Tied with the DMZ, this has to have been one of my favorite experiences in Korea so far. It's a show full of laughter, food, drumming, audience participation, etc! I think I was on the verge of sobbing at one point because it was so funny. I can't wait to go again sometime!
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| Group pic :) |
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| Truth: No words are necessary! It's that great! |
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| Stage before... |
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| Stage after :) |
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| Searching for food in Myeong-dong... |
FRIDAY
M & D really wanted to buy souvenirs for family and co-workers, so we went to Insadong (of course)! We did some shopping before our river cruise that night! It was also Dad's birthday! Yayyy!
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| Those are ice cream cones... crazy, huh? |
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| Packed streets! |
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| And packed buildings! |
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| Watching a man with a large balloon net. |
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| Off to dinner! |
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| A man shooting himself through the water... it was awesome! He looked like Iron Man! |
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| We let Justin tag along ;) |
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| Banpo bridge light and fountain show! |
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| Love this picture! |
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| Walking through the park afterwards, we stumbled across this group playing Irish folk music! Great way to end the night! |
SATURDAY
Last February, I took a trip to the DMZ with a group called Adventure Korea. This time, I went with the USO and had a whole different experience with them. We went to completely different area's of the DMZ. The three of us REALLY enjoyed it!
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| First stop, Dorasan Station! |
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| It was a ghost town since you can't simply travel into N. Korea... |
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| The Panmunjom DMA JSA! |
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| We stepped into North Korea! |
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| North Korean soldier. |
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| Dora Observatory... Looking into North Korea. |
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| Telling us what was what... |
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| Itaewon for dinner! |
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| And a trip to "What The Book" |
SUNDAY
Sadly, we had to check out of our hotel. But I got to show my parents my church! Yahoo! That evening, we went out for shabu shabu back in Dongtan!
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| Napoleon Bakery for breakfast :) |
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| Swine Bread, cute! |
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| Korean cakes are so pretty. |
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| Welcoming people to church :) |
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| While back in Dongtan... children are playing with a chicken outside a coffee shop. |
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| Shabu shabu. |
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| Their first experience sitting on a floor. |
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| Being the cook :) |
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| Beef and mushrooms! |
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| :) |
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| Hana, tul, set... Kimchi! |
MONDAY
My parents got to visit my school again this morning, but then my director took them to the Korean Folk Village! I'm jealous because I've never been and the pictures look beautiful! I guess I'll have to make a visit soon :)
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| Trip to Starbucks before school :) |
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| Babies doing their workbooks before snack... |
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| Mommy helping Ariel :) |
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| Models! |
Watch the video! It's amazing!
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| Mr. Chung, the director of my school. |
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| Making a wish! |
TUESDAY
Last full day :( I sent my parents into Seoul to the Korean War Museum. It's one of my favorite museums in Korea. That night we went out for Korean barbeque again (Dad loved it so much the first time). A sweet co-worker and her sister joined us!
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| Doreen and Sandy |
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| Dessert! YUM! |
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| Cookies and Cream beanso and Honey Bread. So delish... |
Sadly, that was it! Of course, we had little adventures in between everything because that would make this page go on forever. I love Korea, but I do miss home. I've been in Korea almost 10 MONTHS NOW! Having my parents here made it feel like I've been gone for 10 weeks. Time has flown by and I know I will see them sometime soon :)
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