Due to Children's Day, Buddha's Birthday, a few days off, and midterms I had quite a few days off to spend with my Mom. On Children's Day she came to Daegu with her younger sister to meet my host family. It seemed like everyone got along, which I expected. I think that both of my families (biological and host) felt closer after finally meeting face to face.
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| At the restaurant |
We went to a "fusion" restaurant. I'm not sure which cuisines were fused together, but the restaurant did have large cloth napkins which confused my host brothers. They didn't understand what to do with them since in Korea most napkins are extremely small, thin and largely useless. Apparently they had never seen large cloth napkins.
Even my Mom, who is a pretty picky eater, enjoyed the food which I know is something that initially worried my host Mom. Although the conversation was 90% in Korean, I was able to follow most of it as my Mom recounted stories from when I was a baby and my host Mom told stories about me acting like a fool. Great...
On Friday my Mom and I met in Seoul where we would spend the next few days. The weather was humid with intermittent rain showers so it was hard to plan anything outdoors. On Mother's Day we got enough sunshine to spend time in Yeouido Park and visit the War Museum. Those were two of the more memorable sights that I've seen in Korea, let alone in Seoul. Being Mother's Day and all, spending it with my Mom in Korea of all places, just added to the special factor.
Throughout our time in Seoul, my Mom and I had a good time and I was afforded the opportunity to connect with many of my relatives that I would not have reached out to otherwise. While she was in Korea, I met aunts, uncles and cousins two, three times removed. Part of the reason I came to Korea was to discover a part of my heritage, or even just parts of myself that I did not know and would not know otherwise. Having my Mom here certainly expedited that. I shied away from it at first because I thought my Korean wasn't proficient enough, but in reality it was and it turned out to be a terrific experience. I'm looking forward to going to Seoul again and meeting my cousins a second time, even without my Mom there as a buffer.
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| Mother's Day at the War Museum |
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| Mother's Day at the War Museum |
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| Mother's Day in 여의도 공원 |
