My Trip to Korea [7.1-7.31] - Part 1

clazziquai

6685 Posts

August 27 2008 14:11 GMT

First off, let me say that this trip was the BEST vacation I have ever had. Everything I did was so fun and I learned a lot about Korean culture as well as have fun! It was my first time in Korea since six years so meeting my family again was so great. I have 500 MB of pictures and uploaded them all on Picasa because I want to send to my cousins and other family that use e-mail

. Since I have them uploaded, I might as well share my experience in Korea. One thing I regret though, is that I didn't take a lot of pictures when I played with my cousins in the city and such. Whatever, I have next year!

Enjoy!

WARNING: This might be long and have a lot of pictures.

I left USA on July 1st. Really excited and can't wait.

My mom and dad at JFK airport. Sadly my dad could not go to Korea due to work

After 14(?) hours or so on the plane, we finally arrived at Incheon Airport. Korea...I was here at last! This was a dream come true. I loved this very moment.

What Happened in Daejeon

Waiting at the airport was my grandparents (dad's parents) and my third aunt from 일산 (il-san) (my mom has five sisters lol, so I have five aunts). Let me tell you: people change A LOT. omg like wow. Unfortunately I was an idiot and didn't take any pictures =/ My aunt left after meeting us and my grandparents, mom, sister, and I rode a bus to Daejeon. We stayed there for the night and fell asleep.

The next day, we went to my other grandmother (this time, my mom's parents). Sadly, my grandfather passed away a few years ago (R.I.P...

). There, we saw my mom's other two sisters (my aunts) who live in Daejeon. It was so nice to meet them

For the three days I stayed there, I went shopping in the subway. It's huge! and cheap, but a lot of fakes. Did you know that fake Vans are called "Weians"? rofl

Great food too - my uncle treated us with BBQ and 냉면 (cold noodles that taste really good!)

Third day we went hiking and stopped by a temple lol.

Sister, grandma, and I

Uncle, aunt, their one-year old son, and me!

My sister inside the temple. We're not supposed to go in there though since we're Catholics. lol

Aunt and uncle! They got married two years ago?

After all this, we went back to my grandparent's (dad's). My dad's side of the family also all gathered because for the next three days we were going south of Daejeon - Jiri Mountain (지리산). Meeting my cousins, uncle, aunt - wow people change so much in six years, let alone one.

Jiri Mountains (July 6th - July 8th)

A group photo

We then went to famous Buddhist temples and yeah...lol here are the pictures!

Some weird statues that represent Buddha or something

A monk's house, I think

Why am I so sexy?

Temple

Houses in Korea that were built a very long time ago

My sister in front of one of the houses

There are a lot of Korean dramas/shows where the setting takes place a long time ago - they filmed a scene from a drama/show here!

The Unjoru House of Gurye

The rest of the day we went back to our condo. It was very nice. Food was prepared three times a day buffet style for free! Very nice! Internet cafe was very cheap at 30 cents every twenty minutes. Karaoke was three dollars an hour and spa was two dollars for entry. And arcade room was free!It was very fun and I had a great time.

The next day, we went to another Buddhist temple. This temple was located on top of a small mountain because I believe a long time ago, Korea did not approve of Buddhism or something and they isolated the monks and the temples up on the mountain. I'm not sure if this is correct, so yeah.

We went 95% of the mountain by car and the rest we walked. But the path was so steep that I was so tired by the time I got up there. Monks really live a hard life (well the ones that live on the mountain temple lol)

Two of my cousins, grandmother, grandfather

Cousin, uncle

Mom and I -_-

two of my cousins, grandmother. Behind them are small Buddha statues

Another temple from a rather far distance

Next we went to a waterfall - really fun but I didn't go in because I hate getting wet! ^^;;

My uncle in the waterfall

The kids playing in the waterfall

The rest of the day, the weather was TOO hot (there was a heat warning), so we stayed in the condo all day and chilled. The day was also my grandfather's birthday

I think he's 74 or 75 now.

Happy birthday!!!

Last day of the trip to Jiri Mountain =/ It was fun, but way too fucking quick.

Before we left the condo - good times!

Before we headed to Daejeon, we rode the steam train lol.

A group photo

My uncle, sister, and me

These are like bicycle trains lol they were really fun, but the road was so long and we got pretty tired ^^;;

Sister and mom

Sister, cousins in the train!

Me ;]

What Happened in Seoul!
We headed back up to Daejeon, grabbed lunch, and parted ways. Wow, even after such a trip, my mom, sister, and I were to head up to the Seoul/Kyungki area! We were going to Bundang (분당) to be exact - where my mom's sister lives.

My uncle who lives in Seoul decided to give us the ride there.

By the time we got there it was around 5:30 and the good thing about my second aunt's house was that it was HUGE! For an apartment it was very very big.

I saw my cousins who went to cram school (학원) and then after my uncle came we went out to dinner. This family was my favorite because the age gap was only two or so (I'm 19, he's 17).

For the rest of week basically, we pretty much took a break. My cousins and I went to central Seoul (명동) a couple times by riding the bus, then going home by subway for some more underground shopping!

Really funn. No pictures though =/ My mom doesn't trust me with the camera and she thinks I'll lose it or something.

Here's what goes on in the house though!

Cousin playing Nintendo DS

UNCLE MUST DRINK BEER ONCE A DAY LOL. Seriously he loves beer

Happy birthday, uncle!

Okay, so on the 16th or so, my mom went to meet her Catholic nun teacher. They're real close. Another person who came was her friend. I had to tag along with my sister because the nun wanted to see us because it had been like four years since she last saw us.

Some picture gallery place where foreigners take pictures of stuff in Korea

What the eff is that lol

The lady on the left is super rich, husband is like one of the highest positions in Samsung, so she lives in Tower Palace

Tower Palace isn't as good as I thought. The inside house is like an apartment although it does have some cool stuff in there. You need a card or you can't get in and that kind of stuff..-_-

Il-san
On the 17th, we moved to il-san (일산), my favorite city. Il-san has this shopping place called Western Dom and beyond there, there are a TON of stores and restaurants. Korea is really a country that doesn't sleep

I had a ton of funnnnnn =]

Sister and I in Western Dom

Cousins

Me, sister, cousin

It was also my uncle's (third uncle) birthday and we celebrated! Why are there always birthdays wherever we go somewhere new? -_-

happy birthday!

The Seoul City Tour - Day 1
The city tour time! Seoul is a city that has many things. I visited a lot of places and had fun ^^

At Itaewon - a lot of westerners/foreigners live here

In front of korean houses from long time ago!

People but food like dried soy bean paste in here

Seoul Tower - sad that we couldn't go there at night. It would really be a beautiful sight

What you could see from the towers

lol very bad English! ;(

I forgot what this was lol

Forgot the name, but it's in front of like the president's office, like the White House

Mom and sister

Yep...getting tired >.>

Haha cool mini figures! Making kimchi

Day 1 was really tiring. There aren't THAT many pictures but I saw a lot.

We went back to this time, my fourth aunt in Il-san. She's divorced and lives in an Officetel.

Before I end Day 1, let me finish it with:

Toilret and Spicy Source ^^;;

Seoul City Tour - Day 2
Second day! First stop is Kwang-hwa Gate (광화문)

Guards ready to perform some show

Music playing! Pretty neat!

Mom, sister, guard, and me!

A palace! Very very big

This water thing measures the time. A water clock...

Next we visited Chungkechun (청계천) Plaza+River

A house from like 30-40 years ago - still preserved!

Front of the store

Drinks! Notice Fanta?

Ramyun/Ramen

What a student's room would look like back then

Goodbye, Chungkechun

Yet another palace

A pond

A library back then for scholars to read/study

Palace from inside the bus

The city tour bus

Seoul

Finally, no more pictures after this date though, I think.
It was really fun. The month of July that is. August also has its good times - expect that sometime soon.

After this I went to 명동 for the last time with my cousin from Bundang and basically chilled at Daejeon and Bundang for that week.

JudgeMathis

Cuba1286 Posts

August 27 2008 14:22 GMT

sounds awesome.

Nytefish

United Kingdom4282 Posts

August 27 2008 14:42 GMT

Good to see you had a nice holiday. Meeting relatives is really fun, I have 10 uncles/aunts (not counting their spouses) and most of them have children so that's a lot of cousins.

clazziquai

6685 Posts

August 27 2008 14:44 GMT

I know it was really great

Xeofreestyler

Belgium6768 Posts

August 27 2008 15:09 GMT

Ahhh cool!
I am going to go on a trip to Poland in 2 weeks or so. Will be nice to see my relatives again. Its been 6 years for me too

clazziquai

6685 Posts

August 27 2008 15:10 GMT

On August 28 2008 00:09 Xeofreestyler wrote:
Ahhh cool!
I am going to go on a trip to Poland in 2 weeks or so. Will be nice to see my relatives again. Its been 6 years for me too

Awesome man

Really, I was so surprised when I saw my cousins or other people. Haha have fun man!

Aerox

Malaysia1213 Posts

August 27 2008 15:35 GMT

Nice pictures. Also, thanks for exercising the left side of my neck.

LemOn

United Kingdom8629 Posts

August 27 2008 15:37 GMT

Oh yeah. Its great when I go visit my family in Czech Republic two weeks every summer, good to know you had a great time as well

CapO

United States1615 Posts

August 27 2008 16:20 GMT

that looks like a lot of FUN. goddamn it, i haven't been to korea for almost 9 years... and next summer, i might be taking summer classes. grrr.. FUCK!

Ack1027

United States7873 Posts

August 27 2008 16:28 GMT

#10

Fuck I wanna go back.

And I took like no pictures compared to you so don't worry.
Thanks for sharing.

InfeSteD

United States4658 Posts

August 27 2008 17:21 GMT

#11

I wish I could go to Korea so bad... but I have noone to go with T_T

Your family is really cute too ^^; You guys got good looks..

Im glad you had fun!

XCetron

5225 Posts

August 27 2008 17:27 GMT

#12

On August 28 2008 02:21 InfeSteD[rA] wrote:
I wish I could go to Korea so bad... but I have noone to go with T_T

Your family is really cute too ^^; You guys got good looks..

Im glad you had fun!

watch for this man here.

kpcrew

Korea (South)1071 Posts

August 27 2008 17:36 GMT

#13

so like..
how old is your sister?

il0seonpurpose

Korea (South)5638 Posts

August 27 2008 19:50 GMT

#14

On August 28 2008 02:36 kpcrew(Gg) wrote:
so like..
how old is your sister?

LOLOL

Looks like alot of fun, were students on break though? Cuz I went there and school was still going on while I was on summer break and I looked like some dropout.

clazziquai

6685 Posts

August 27 2008 19:50 GMT

#15

lol thanks for the comments guys. I'm glad you enjoyed them

And for those who are visiting back to the motherland (wherever you live): Have fun! It's really going to be awesome, to see your family again

kpcrew: -_- she's in 8th grade now

clazziquai

6685 Posts

August 27 2008 19:51 GMT

#16

On August 28 2008 04:50 il0seonpurpose wrote:

Show nested quote +

LOLOL

Looks like alot of fun, were students on break though? Cuz I went there and school was still going on while I was on summer break and I looked like some dropout.

Students normally have break around mid-July. As for the way beginning they skipped two days of school LOL =p

pinenamu

United States770 Posts

August 27 2008 20:00 GMT

#17

Did you get one of the 32 cm ice cream cones at 명동? Damn those were one of the best deals I've ever seen lol. THE GUARD ACTUALLY POSED FOR YOU (SORTA)! When I went there, the guard just stood there and he looked like he wanted to chop my head off or something. Korea, good times

I went for the first time this summer. Pretty sad how that I'm Korean and only been there once D:

Oh and I know what you mean by "people change a lot" lol. My cousin, aunt, and grandma came over here like 8 years ago and when I went this summer, I couldn't even recognize them.

clazziquai

6685 Posts

August 27 2008 20:08 GMT

#18

yeah change a lot like appearance - esp my cousins since they were at a young age xD

And no, I didn't have those ice creams lol xD