Familial Faces in Seoul

For the past 10 days, I have been very, very fortunate!

Some friendly, familiar faces paid me a visit here in Seoul.

Those faces belonged to my parents!

It was quite an eventful 10 days and I'm going to do my best at re-capping all that we did and saw.

Here goes!

Friday (April 27)

- Parents arrive in Seoul (so great to see them after 8 months here!)

- First subway ride back to 홍대역 (Hongdae University)

- Wander around the area looking for hostel/ask some strangers/find hostel

- Checked-in and found out bed is on the floor (oops!)

- Grabbed food at a restaurant in Hongdae

- Parents call it a night!

Saturday (April 28)

- Headed to my apartment (it barely was big enough for all three of us!)

- Walked to Seoul National University and walked around campus

- Ate lunch with my friends Rachel and Tae Hooie (delicious Thai food!) in Itaewon

- Moved stuff to a new hotel (this time the bed was on a frame and not on the floor!)

- Rested for about 2 hours

- Headed to my friend Donna's apartment for an Indian Curry themed dinner! (Introduced my parents to many of the people that I volunteer with through Mannam)

Sunday (April 29)

- Headed up to Suyu Station in northern Seoul to do some volunteer work

- Ate lunch at a traditional Korean restaurant (sitting on the floor and all!)

- Wrapped trees on Bukhan Mountain (first family event (minus Matt) in a long, long time!)

- Enjoyed a delicious dinner of grilled duck and other Korean dishes

Monday (April 30)

- Went to school and met my co-teachers

- My parents sat in on two of my classes and were able to watch me teach (that was a really cool experience!)

- Went out to eat at a Chinese restaurant with some of my co-teachers

- After school, we rode bikes along the Han River (this was something that Mom was really looking forward to and really enjoyed!)

- Met up with Andy and Emma for a delicious dinner at one of our favorite restaurants (chicken galbi with rice, cooked right in front of you!)

Tuesday (May 1)

- Was given the day off from school (my school absolutely rocks!)

- Headed to Gyeonbokgung Palace, but found out it was closed due to Korean Labor Day



- Witnessed a large scale protest with droves of police officers protecting/monitoring the protesters (found out that the protest were regarding recent lay-offs by the Korean government and a lack of benefits for those being laid off)

- Ate lunch at a wonderful little buffet called The Place

- Went to Insadong and did some shopping

- Made our way to the Olympic Park, site of the 1988 Summer Olympics

- Rented a 6-person bike and rode it around the park (was a bit more of a struggle than originally anticipated!

- Met my friend Steve in Gangnam for some Mexican food at Dos Tacos

Wednesday (May 2)

- After lunch at school, met up at the Korean War Memorial in central Seoul and took in the sites of the museum (very well done and informative)

- Headed to Gimpo International Airport for our flight to Jeju

Thursday (May 3) - Saturday (May 5)

- Jeju Trip (further details regarding this trip in a future post!)

Sunday (May 6)

- Flew home from Jeju and arrived back in Seoul

- Had lunch at a fantastic Korean BBQ place

- Headed to Cheonggyecheon Stream near City Hall for a leisurely walk through downtown

- Walked to the cable car service for the N Seoul Tower and headed up for a spectacular view of the city as the sun was setting

- Ate dinner at a cute little panini shop near the base of the mountain

- Headed back to the subway to part ways until August!

It was SO amazing to have my parents here to see what my life is like in Seoul.

Really glad that you made it out here!

Here's to a safe flight back to the USA!

Next visitor: my brother in July!

That will be another adventure that I'm very excited for as well!

For more photos of my parents time here in Seoul, click here!