Karmen and Greg: Hosting Parents Part 1

So for about ten days we had the privilege of hosting our Sawatzky parents here in Korea. It was a good thing we upgraded in February from a 200 sq. ft. place to a 450ish sq. ft. place. Nevertheless, it was still a cozy visit. It is always interesting bringing two very different parts of our lives together.

Because it was Korean Thanksgiving, we had a five day weekend and so we got to spend a full five days doing touristy things in Seoul. A typical day would go something like this: Dad would wake up early 6:30-7ish and want to go exploring our beautiful neighborhood (we have a lake, a stream, many parks and nice walking paths all near where we live). Most days, Mom would join him. They would come back around 10ish and Karmen and I would just be finished showering and getting ready for the day. We would make/eat breakfast together and then head into Seoul around lunch time. We would spend the day walking to many attractions, find a place to eat dinner and then take the subway back to our place and crash in the later evening.

We did some of the tourist attractions we have already written about in this blog. But we also tried to do some things that were new for us as well. Some of the new things we did were:
-we visited the ocean by the Incheon Airport. Not the most beautiful or well-kept beach, but still the beach, which is always a refreshing experience.
-we hiked the Seoul Fortress Wall, which is Seoul's smaller version of the Great Wall of China. We needed our passports as this was a high security area where we were rarely allowed to take pictures (precautions against North Korea). This was a steep hike, a great work-out and had great views.
-we got to see the Blue House! This is where the President of South Korea lives.
(interesting fact: the current president is female)
-we went on a night city bus tour. Seoul is a beautiful city at night and has eleven (I think) bridges that are all lit up.
-we went to a Nanta Theatre performance. This is a funny and high energy play about life in a Korean kitchen. We saw rhythmic vegetable cutting, plate tossing and dancing!

Mom and Dad were also able to observe our classes for a day and understand a little more about what an average day looks like for us. They also cooked a wonderful chili dinner for us and our co-teachers, which was a huge blessing. We were able to show them some of the foods we have grown to love and mostly avoided the other ones. We thoroughly enjoyed getting to show off our stomping grounds and be the hosts for a change (usually we are the guests, staying with them in Saskatchewan). Thanks Mom and Dad for the great visit!

Now we are getting ready to host our Rennert parents in a couple days!