Today was our first full day in Seoul, South Korea. We meet our daughter tomorrow, but today we were Tourists with a capital "T". Below are some pics from the trip up to this point.
If you can believe it, we felt even worse than we look (above). After days of little sleep and preparation for our trip, we had to drive 11 hours through the night to Chicago. Then, we boarded a flight to Korea, which took 14 hours. I'm pretty sure I would have snapped into irreversible madness at hour 15.
On our first full day in Seoul, we visited the COEX mall, which had its own aquarium. This aquarium had these cute little guys. A long night's sleep and these guys made me feel better. My presence seemed to do nothing for them however.
Again, at the aquarium, this is one of those spot-the-tourist attractions. I have a profoundly irrational fear of sharks, so I took this photo ironically, because "ironic" is the new sexy.
OK, this is just terrifying. I couldn't get near it (due to the barriers and my own mental instability at the moment), but the span of the mouth is approximately 6 feet. This means it could eat me while standing. (Who knew sharks could stand?)
"Hey boy, you lookin' at me?"
I hate Korean food. It's OK for me to say it--I'm not here as a missionary. But, it would be a shame to travel all the way to Seoul and not eat genuine Korean food. We had table-fired brisket and pork loin served with approximately one dozen small bowls of of bitter nastiness. I'm pretty sure the 7 bowls of God's wrath in the book of Revelation are full of Korean food. April loves it though.
This is the restaurant where we ate. If you'll notice, the sign above reads "Au Canada" and there are 6 maple leaf flags. Isn't Canada always that oddly out of place thing to the north? Don't worry. We didn't see any Canadians.
This is the view from the top of our hotel, overlooking an enormous Catholic church in the Gangnam District of Seoul. It was nearly dark, so I set the camera to slow exposure. Seoul is a metro area of approximately 20 million people.
In reality, the time we spend as tourists is just about occupying our minds, which long to both meet our daughter, Adaleigh, and return to our son, Gavin. Like Adaleigh, Gavin is adopted from South Korea, and we see his face in every Korean child. The biggest moment we look forward to is stepping into our own home in Arkansas and introducing our children to one another, making our family whole (for now anyway).
I'll post pics tomorrow of our first meeting of Adaleigh. You can also follow April's blog updates here.
Blessings,
Charlie
I LOVE Korean food!!:D Enjoy the time with your family!!
ReplyDeleteYour description of each picture is exaclty how you described it in class! sounds like your trip was very tiring but fun! -Sarah Nekonchuk
ReplyDeleteI can toatally relate to your experiences because they were very similar to mine when my family went to Guatemala to pick up my sister. I survived on McDonalds Chicken nuggets and coke all week long. One morning I poured milk on my cereal and it turned out being warm goat milk. It definitely ruined my appetite for the day, but it was a great experience to be able to travel to another country. -Tanner Stevenson
ReplyDeleteIt seemed like you had a lot of fun on this trip and it really makes me want to go to another country some time and experience what that is like for myself! I am definitely going to avoid those toilets you showed us in class though.. -Andrew Steely
ReplyDeleteI have never gotten the experience to go to another country. My dad has been to many different countries and the closest experience I've had is the stuff that he brings back. (candy/souvenirs) I think that it would be really neat to travel to a different country! What are the pros/cons of travelling to Korea? The only thing that doesn't sound good is the food! I am glad that y'all had a fun trip and I am glad Adaleigh is home!
ReplyDelete--Brent Clay
I have to say, this sounds very interesting but i will NOT be visiting korea at any point im my life! glad to see that you both had a safe trip and were able to connect to adele easily!
ReplyDeleteEmily Hill
Adaleigh is so precious! I'm glad you had a safe trip, and I hope God will continue to bless Addie and your family!
ReplyDelete--Saige Wood
How interesting! I love the dusky picture you took. I would not think that was what Korea looked like, but I am not sure if I have ever pictured what I think it would look like. Are Catholic churches everywhere and so ornate? Anna Cain
ReplyDeleteThese are awesome pictures!! this makes me really want to visit Korea although I doubt I will anytime soon. My favorite picture was the one of all the food because I like food and I like trying new kinds!
ReplyDeletethat last comment was from Haley Carter ^
ReplyDeleteI've lived in Korea for about like 6years now and I still haven't been to the Coex aquarium.
ReplyDelete-cindy cho
Brian Park
ReplyDeleteI can see that you did not like korean food even when you first came. Do you still not like eating Korean food? What are some ideas or opinions that came to your mind when you first look around Korea?
I didn't know the last picture was Korea. I've never been to Coex aquarium and Gangnam. You've been to many places where I never been to. -JuwonPark
ReplyDeleteSeoul is really beautiful, especially the night. I love going there with friends during the weekend and hang out. COEX mall recently remodelled and everything changed! You should go on a family picnic during the summer! Megabox in coex got really nice so as the aquarium. I don't know if you have visited Namsan but if you haven't, you should totally visit! ( with your bike) It is close to Itaewon and they have cable car! You should totally check it out!
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