Korean Moments and Impressions

I thought it would be interesting to collect the memories and impressions from the fam. and share them with everyone. These are direct quotes with my additional elaborations in italics.

Mom:

-I didn't realize just how much South Korea would like to be re-united with N. Korea.. as evidenced by the already built beautiful train station, and the statue of the world torn in half being pushed back together.

-I was impressed by the number of elderly people hiking in the hillsides and climbing some very steep/deep stairs along the way. They are in great shape, I didn't see any obesity while traveling around Korea.

-I can't believe i had fish munching on my feet while I was drinking wine.

-Kimchi is far more than kimchi..:).

-I expected more smoking, but was delighted to see the actual separation of smoking rooms vs nonsmoking rooms at Tom n Toms (a coffee Starbucks look alike).

-Out door shopping at Insadong was remarkable, I loved it...

-The subway system was very clean and very efficient and felt safe. Luckily Michele knew how to get around on it.

-I enjoyed the trip despite being way out of my "comfort" zone.

Dad:
-Seoul is enormous and very crowded, and the people deal with the cold weather better than we do based on the number of bicycles and scooters/motorcycles on the road.

-I was impressed with the contrasts; the modern buildings and familiar American venues vs. the temples, burial mounds, and the DMZ.

-Korean food is interesting but not my favorite, and not anything that could sustain me for a long time.

-It was fun seeing how the boys did traveling to a very foreign country.

Kyle:
-no traffic laws, and crazy cabbies (this is a reference to the well known late night cab driving rule of completely blowing through all red lights)

-basketball game with cheers, free balloons, and a visiting team fan section

-outbacks everywhere (that's Outback Steakhouse)

-the race in the subway to the green line at the transfer (there is almost always a race on the subway, no matter what line you are getting on. Thrown elbows and boding checking is also a regular experience.)

Ross:
-surprising number of people spoke English

-Seoul tower sucks (on their last night in town (New Years Day, which is a national holiday here) we tried to go to the top of the tower. It's kind of like the space needle. It's possible that we picked the busiest day of the year to go. We left without actually going up to the observitory and by the end we all hated people. People are the worst.)

-Koreans almost seem like tourists with how many pictures they take(walking around with tripods)

-sweet mountains mixed in with big city

-sadly not much warmer than Chicago

-they think kimchi is a miracle food (I totally disagree)

I had two moments that I think are also worth mentioning:
- a cabbie asked us where we were from. When I responded with "US...Chicago" he siad, "Ah, Chicago. OBAMA!"

-I was in a cab with Dad on New Years Day. We were talking, but in a lull of conversation the driver interrupted us apologetically. This is approximately what he said to Dad: “I’m sorry. I know I should not say this, but you have a very nice voice. It’s very deep and mysterious. Like Sean Connery. You must have done some very heavy drink last night.”

Oh, Korea.