Way-gook-in' it up in Korea!: Mom & Dad's visit -- Part 5

So hopefully I can finish up the trip in this last installment! :-)

Saturday night after arriving in Suncheon and settling into the hotel, my host parents took me and my parents out to a really nice, traditional Korean restaurant. Unfortunately, the food was a little too weird for mom and dad's tastes, but they did a great job trying everything! There were all kinds of raw fish, cooked fish, kimchies, etc. They really enjoyed seeing all the different dishes, even if they didn't enjoy the tastes. :-) That whole night was a little rough, as there had been long bus rides that day and the day before, and then a big problem with the hotel. The hotel they stayed in was a mere 5 minute walk from my apartment, so very convenient, and it was built only 1 year ago, so all the facilities were nice and new. However, it was entirely too hot in there! If you've ever spent time in Korea, then you know that Koreans have ondol rooms, which means that they heat their house/room by warm water pipes under the floors. It is extremely efficient and can make things nice and cozy. However, this hotel had theirs set to 28*C, which is 82.4*F. That's hotter than we keep our house in the summer, and dad is a meiser about using the AC! Needless to say, it was too hot in there. My parents, like most Americans, like the air to be a bit chilly when they sleep. No one wants to be sweating and sleeping, especially in the winter! Koreans, on the other hand, must love it. Anyway, they left their window open during dinner and it was just as hot when they returned. They tried turning down their thermostat, and nothing worked. So, I came over and eventually had my host parents come over. After talking in circles for a half hour (I will never understand this about Koreans-- let's just hear the truth, PLEASE!), they finally moved to the first floor room. Dad was worried about the noise since it was right by the door and check-in desk. The hotel guy said he guaranteed that there would be no noise. We wished for the best, and I left them to get some rest.

First night in Suncheon. This was just the first course. There were probably 3 more yet to come.

Santa came from the US! Opening the gifts my parents brought them.

Sunday morning we had arranged that they would come over for french toast around 9am and we would all leave at 10am for a trip. Well, at 9:02 I was a little worried, because my parents are NEVER late. So, I went outside expecting to see them walking to my apartment. I made it all the way to their hotel without finding them. A little worried, I went in and knocked on their door. No answer, tried again. Again no answer, try one more time. This time mom came to the door and asked who it was, and after I told her it was me, she opened the door. "What time is it?" she asked all groggily. It's 9:10am!!! :-) They had some troubles falling asleep the night before from the NOISE and then the windows were completely tinted, so they didn't see the sunw as up. Anyway, they hurriedly got dressed and we went back to my host family's apartment around 9:25. The french toast was good, and dad got to skype a few people from back home.

Then around 10am we headed off to Namhae Island, about an hour and a half away from Suncheon, and the 4th biggest island in Korea. It was a beautiful day and there was lots of beautiful scenery. We drove around the entire island, going down to the coast, and up to the mountain peaks. We saw lots of rural, farming villages, a Buddhist temple, and even a re-enactment of how the Koreans overtook the Japanese battle ships (super boring). Anyway, we had a great day together!! That night dad wanted some American food, so we all went to Pizza Hut together. I think my host dad was a little upset because they had planned to make samgyepsal for them that night, but he got over it.

Monday morning, Mom and Dad showed up at 7:10am as planned to eat breakfast at my apartment and then head off to school with me for the day. I wanted them to meet the teachers, some of my students, and the principal. Well, unfortunately I had suddenly come down with the flu in the middle of the night. At 3am I started vomiting, and I vomited a total of 7 times over the next 3 and a half hours. As if that was unpleasant enough, I also got diarrhea and so I became very weak. When mom and dad came over she got me to take some medicine and luckily the vomiting stopped. They even went and bought me sprite and soda crackers. Although I'm sad we had to waste a day of their trip, it was really nice to have them there to take care of me the first time I've been sick here in Korea!! I spent the whole day in bed. Around 3pm, I started to feel a little better, so we went to their hotel and watched Freedom Writers. That evening we all had samgyepsal in my apartment and they really liked it this time (sans pig hair). Unfortunately I couldn't have any because of my stomache, and it was torture because that is one of my favorite foods! I think my parents and host parents had a good time discussing various issues, but I was pretty out of it.

Tuesday I didn't have school because there was testing going on at school for students entering high school next year. I took mom and dad on the Suncheon city tour. I felt better, but still not 100%. The tour started out at the Suncheon film village, which was completely uninteresting to us, as we don't watch Korean TV dramas. :-) Next was Seonamsa Buddhist Temple, which I've visited with my host family. We walked around the temple complex and had a picnic lunch. The next stop was Nagan Folk Village. Again, we walked around, walked along the city wall, etc etc. The final stop of the day was Suncheon Bay. This was dad's favorite part. I wish we had had atleast another 1/2 hour there. We hiked up the small mountain there, but didn't have time to make it all the way to the observation deck. It was gorgeous because it was aproaching sunset, but we didn't get to stay for the entire sunset. Dad really liked that area, so that was a great ending for the trip.

That night we had plans to go out for dinner with the English teachers. Mrs. Song picked us up and we met with Mrs. Lee, Mr. Im, and Mr. Jo at a restaurant. I was worried it'd be really fishy food again, so I told them my parents didn't want to go to a seafood restaurant. Luckily they listened, and they decided on delishious pork ribs instead! It was amazing, and a great last Korean meal for mom and dad. They both ate quite a bit, and had some really good discussions with the teachers. After dinner, I went back to their hotel and helped make sure everything was in order for their departure the next morning. I got to open my Christmas presents and got all emotional that they were leaving. Trips always seem to go by so fast!! But I had a great time with them, and despite the weird food and hard beds and hot hotel rooms, I think they had a great time in Korea as well. :-) I left them in their room and came over to sleep in my own bed.

Wednesday morning I didn't want to get out of bed and was trying to make it so if I didn't get up, then mom and dad wouldn't be leaving. Eventually I made myself get up and after getting everything ready for school, I headed over to their apartment. We haulded everything into 2 taxis and made our way to the Suncheon Bus Terminal. I got their bus tickets for Seoul and had a very sad goodbye in the bus terminal. It was so hard to say goodbye! And I was worried that they would make all their travels to the airport ok -- they had to take a bus to Seoul, then another bus to the airport. It was hard to go to work that day. I was sad that mom and dad were gone, and still not feeling completely recovered from my bout of the flu, and having had a week and a half off of teaching. The day went pretty fast and I had hip hop practice with 2 of my students. That night mom called me from the airport to assure me everything went well and they were all checked in -- I was so relieved!! :-)

All in all it was a great trip and it meant so much to me that they could come experience my life here in Korea, and of course that I got to see them around the holiday season. :-)