A Cameo Appearance by Mom and Dad WAGENAAR!

Well that week sure went fast! It feels like just yesterday we were taking the bus up to Incheon to pick up Mom and Dad from the airport. Now they are already halfway across the ocean on their way home! What a whirlwind week it has been!

While Mom and Dad were here we experienced a bit of the monsoon season with a LOT of rain. Thankfully mom and dad has just been on a 4 week sightseeing cruise before coming to Korea, so they were okay with having a bit of a more laid-back and relaxed week. 

We picked mom and dad up from the airport last Saturday and spent the weekend in Seoul. Mom and dad came during the holiday for Buddha's birthday so we headed to a lantern parade by Dongdaemun to check out the festivities on Saturday night. On Sunday mom and I chose to do some shopping and go up to the Seoul tower while Brian and  Dad chose to check out the War Memorial Museum.

Dad came up with a pretty hilarious game while at the parade. Where we were sitting on the parade route the floats and people walking in the parade often stopped to let people catch up, so we would wave to them and say hello. Dad decided he would try and see how many people he could distract and keep their attention while the parade stopped so that they would walk into the people in front of them.

 

Mom and I went to Namsan Park and the Seoul tower on Sunday afternoon. You take a cable car up to the top of the 'hill'. I thought it would be like the gondola at Sulphur Mountain in Banff maybe, but it wasn't close at all. I counted over 50 people that they piled into each cable car! Good thing we weren't too claustrophobic.

 

Seoul Tower really isn't famous for it's beautiful view but more for the mountains of locks that couples put at the base of the tower. Couples come up there to add a personalized lock to the masses to symbolize their 'unending love'. There was actually like MILLIONS of them! And the oldest ones we could find were from 2006!

Navigating the subway

  

 Supper at BonBon and a movie (Water for Elephants) in Cheongju

 Checking out the Cheongju zoo on rainy Buddha's Birthday. For 1,000 won entry fee ($1.00) not a bad place to visit besides the dogs they had in cages for an exhibit...

 Visiting Worwick and our classes. Mr. Albert and Mrs. Karen were excellent guests, even though the kids were a bit shy.

 

Korean BBQ in Cheongju

It was an excellent week with mom and dad and we were sad to see them go! Our apartment is QUITE small to share with our visitors but it's been so nice having people visit and stay with us. If ANY else wants to come hotel Mol is always open! 

While their visit left us missing home and life back in Canada we're still enjoying our time here in Korea. We're about to enter the hot months of summer and Brian and I are both worried if we'll survive! We're also in the process of making plans for the future and trying to decide what next year will look like for us. Decisions will need a lot of faith, trust, and patience. While uncertainty is always scary for us (or for me at least!) we know we have so many great friends, family, and community waiting for us back home!