Making memories in S. Korea

The week I had off of work due to the celebration of the Thai new year, known as Songkran, seemed like a perfect time to reconnect with my little sister who has been living in South Korea for the last 2 years. It became even more perfect when I realized that she would be turning 30 years old. Now, one of my major flaws is assuming everyone thinks like me...so, naturally I assumed she would LOVE to have someone fly out to see her for her birthday and help her celebrate such a notable year.

I emailed her my idea in February and she agreed to host me for a week. I knew there would be no skydiving as I had so badly wanted to do on my 30th bday but was unable to find anyone to enjoy the experience with. But I hoped we could make some fun memories. Indeed memories were made!

Day 1- After a flight and a bus ride I met up with Ruth and her 3 year old, red headed son Jeremiah and 1 year old and still bald headed, Sarah. Jeremiah was a bit shy at first but Sarah gave me a big smile from her secure location on her mother's back. We said our hellos got in a bus and took the 30 minute ride from Pohang to her nearby town. It was then that I realized, once Jeremiah started talking, and talking, and talking that it was going to be difficult communicating with my sweet nephew who speaks great Korean and not so great English. :-)

Ruth introduced me to their little 2 bedroom apartment on the 4th floor. All doors opened into the small main room/playroom/dining room/computer room/kitchen...a multipurpose room in every sense of the word. This is when my korean lessons began. I got down on the floor to play with Jeremiah who had dumped out his bin of toys onto the floor. The most important word to this young man was the word for "digger" as in the large construction machine with the digger on the end of the arm (pretty sure these are not the true technical terms). Jeremiah is fascinated with diggers. He loves looking for them, he makes up stories and very long songs about them. He has digger toys, digger puzzles...all things digger!

He began talking very fast telling me things and asking me questions, all in a language I didn't understand. I had to keep telling him I didn't understand and he would repeat himself. A patient Ruth began trying to translate for him so I could get the basic gist of what he was saying. By the end of day 1 I had picked up several Korean words.

After playing Ruth and I started baking. We had talked of the internet about making cinnamon rolls, baking a cake and having yummy things to help us celebrate. I discovered that Ruth doesn't have an oven but uses a small convection oven on her counter top which she is now very proficient with, making bread in it every several days. We mixed up the dough and began rolling out cinnamon rolls. Then we baked bread. The afternoon turned into evening and there was still so much to do. The baking had to be halted as dinner (pizza from the dough we made) was fixed and we prepared a lunch to take with us on Saturday's morning adventure. Ruth taught me how to make Kim pop, rice and strands of egg, carrots and I don't remember what else spread out on a sheet of dried seaweed and then rolled up and sliced...just like a cinnamon roll.

Day 2- A friend of the family drove us to nearby Gyongju. Along the drive we enjoyed the beautiful cherry blossoms in full bloom. We took a walk to see a Buddha image. The air was crisp and I was wrapped in layers to keep warm. It felt good to be cool after having sweated for so many months in Bangkok. Next, we went to see the mounds where kings are buried. Like the native americans important people were often buried in hill sized mounds. We walked through a park full of these mounds. We ate the local sweets (some better than others in my opinion) and enjoyed the morning.

Day 3- Sunday was Ruth's birthday! After breakfast I gave her all the gifts I had brought for her. It included Thai curry pastes and spices, coconut milk and other things she requested I bring her. In addition, knowing she has a weakness for chips and salsa I gave her several bags of chips and bottles of salsa. I then showed her a photo book Cynthia, our little sister, was putting together for her and which she would receive by mail in a few weeks. It is a book including family photos of each of our 14 siblings.

We went to church and enjoyed lunch with the church members. Rice with a variety of toppers to choose from: kim chi, sesame leaves, and lots of other yummy side dishes to eat with rice. We shared our cinnamon rolls which were a hit and disappeared quickly. After church we headed home and baked up the birthday cake. That evening we were taken to some friends home where we celebrated Ruth's birthday and one of their friend's who had a birthday earlier in the week. Again there was a beautiful spread of food and lots of rice. It was all very delicious!! After dinner we brought out the 2 layer sponge cake frosted with whipping cream and topped with strawberries (we had to put toothpicks in the layers to keep them from sliding!). We sang happy birthday to the guests of honor and watched them blow out candles. It was a nice celebration...good food, good conversation, good friends.

Day 4- Joshua, Ruth's husband, teaches English at a local primary school. He invited Ruth and I to bring the kids to class and help him teach. We decided we would sing some songs the students knew, teach them some new words by showing them some items in Ruth's backpack and then play "I'm going on a trip to America and I'm taking...". Our presence caused quite an excited atmosphere! The students were so excited to have Jeremiah and Sarah in class. They touched, took pictures, squealed and touched some more. I'm afraid not much learning took place but we did have a good time playing and singing. After helping Joshua with grades 3, 4 and 5 Ruth and I returned home with the kids.

Day 5- Tuesday was a home day. Lots of playing with the kids, more Korean lessons for Elissa and English lessons for Jeremiah. By this time Jeremiah's English had greatly improved and he was trying so hard to figure out how to communicate with me. We had a great time! I had a fun day playing with Sarah and Jeremiah. Then I helped Ruth put some alphabet books together she printed off the internet. She planed to used these to start teaching Jeremiah the alphabet. Knowing the books were for him he was excited about the project.

Day 6- Wednesday was another fun play day and laundry day, and bread baking day and cleaning day. In such a small apartment there is no possiblity of waiting to clean so we are always cleaning as we go, washing dishes, sweeping the floor, picking up toys. A clean house makes the whole family happier!

Wednesday evening I babysat while Ruth and Joshua had some time out on the town, by themselves. The kids and I had a dance party, played on the playground, ate grilled cheese sandwiches and put together puzzles. A very lovely evening indeed. Jeremiah did such a good job of figuring out which english words to use to express himself when I didn't understand his Korean (which I was getting better and better at understanding).

Day 7- Thursday Ruth and I took the kids to nearby Pohang and roamed around the town. We walked up a shopping street and meandered through a large open air market. We ate a variety of local foods and snacks along the way. Ruth bought some nice scarves to spruce up her wardrobe while Jeremiah flirted with all the old women winning over their hearts and coming away with $4 he received as gifts, a bag of fruit and veggies and a number of admirers. That little boy steals hearts wherever he goes. One moment we'd be walking down the street, the next moment some man would sweep him up and hug and kiss him. He'd ask a vendor for a a taste of whatever they were selling (cookies, fruit, veggies, sweets) and he'd get it! Sweet little boy spreading sunshine wherever he walked. He'd always bow and say thank you in a very polite Korean manner.

Well, that's my trip in a nutshell...so much I left out (the delicious meals Ruth cooked up, Sarah's eardrum popping screams...both happy and sad and so much more). But I fear you are bored so I'll leave it there. But I should mention that Ruth is pregnant with #3 which is due just weeks before they move to China for Joshua to begin tackling a master's degree.

How lucky I feel to be part of a tremendous (both in size and in ability) family. And I'm grateful for the many people involved in my siblings' lives who befriend and help them while they are out of arms reach for family.