Being part of the Culture

      So when I came on this trip I was really hoping to see something different. Why China? Why Korea?  Well, I loved my time in Peru and especially the loop it threw me on. Narrow-mindedness is best fought on the road...in Asia. Who would have ever thought that Korea was a land so full of opportunities? Naturally when Jin Lee, my freshman year roomate invited Dallin Briggs and I to stay with him the week before China, I jumped at the chance. What a great opportunity to see another culture, to see the country with more hours spent working in a year than any other country in the world. Perhaps this is why life seemed to be more fast pace than it does in the states. I wasn't crazy about doing the average tourist gig---that's not my modus operandi. But luck was on our side.
      On Thursday the 28 of April it was a day of all days! The morning was bashful and the sun stayed behind some clouds so I countered by being just as shy in sheets. Still in my PJ's I moseyed about the house and started my morning routine. Gmail was looking pretty lonely, especially since Amy wasn't on Gmail chat. I didn't really care to Facebook but reading was even less appealing. In retrospect, a shower was what I was in dire need of. With a *Bing* Amy was up and ready. It was great to see her face again. Oh , I LOVE it! Jin's dad, Jai, graciously let me use his Skype account and I called my parents at 10 am my time and my mom said she was headed off to work. "What? I thought it the evening?" She explained that she was going in for an evening shift and it all made sense. It was great to hear Mom and Dad's voice too.
        We jumped in a taxi to see Jin's dad for a tick and then we were off to see 엔 서울타워,Seoul Tower.

It was a pretty daunting craning of the neck to look into the sun and be blinded by how tall the tower was perched in the mountains.

I was relieved to see that there was an elevator to the lift that scaled the mighty mountain. It wasn't just any elevator, but it was the Amazing Glass Elevator from Charlie and the Chocolate Factory! It rode at an angle complete with sideways Korean elevator music. We rode the skyline that was ski lift for snowless enjoyment. When we got to the top, it was amazing. Thank goodness the clouds cleared to permit us a 100 mile view in all directions. The sun smiled at us and spilled it's joy all over my face. Wow, what a sight it was! 

Think Korean Godzilla. Seoul Tower

   

   It was an interesting combination because interestingly enough the tower was the spot of Seoul's Teddy bear museum. To top it all off there was a nicely placed Cold Stone Creamery.
      We continued on our amazing culture adventure. We took a few more buses and we arrived at another palace entrance to see the changing of the guard. We recharged with a little Dunking Donuts and we were off. When we got to the palace museum square, this lady decked out in Korean robes rattle something off to Jin in Korean. He asked if we wanted to participate! The lady escorted us over to this dressing room and we all these traditional robes at our disposal.

She dressed up super quickly and led us over to stand next to this giant drum. To start off the ceremony I heard them say something in Korean and then out of no where I heard "Charles Wood" This pretty hefty guy in red robes came over with the biggest mallet I've ever held. He motioned for me to hit it three times. I took it and it gave a solemn three hits. I didn't give all I had because I didn't want to break the thing.

They continued the changing of the guards with plenty of fanfare while we watched in our sweet Korean getup. Afterwards, they summoned us to take pictures with the guards and stuff. I wonder what everyone thought to see two foreigners guarding their national treasure? After we took off all the robes and hats and stuff, I realized how lucky we were to not just see Korean culture, but actually BE Korean culture!

 

 

 

 

 

 Well Lucky for us Dallin has a pretty slick camera: we are now Korean Movie Stars!

Leaving home

     It was kind of rough leaving home. I remember as a missionary in Peru not being affected by a change until I started packing my bags. Well I had finished all the pre-trip work, the bags were packed and still, it hadn't hit me yet that I was going to Korea and then to China. It was hard to say good bye to my roomates. It was hardest to say my goodbyes to my fiance Amy.It wasn't as hard as saying good bye as three years earlier when I left for Peru. I know when we see each other again, we'll have the best of times.
      I was kind of stressed out with school and trying to get wedding details taken care of before we left the country. I had finished all the school assignments, but there was still some details with moving my stuff that I needed to care of.
     On Friday night we stayed with Jin's uncle and his family in Sandy. We did some last minute shopping and eating at Chipotles, mmm. That night I saw Amy and I's engagement photos for the first time! We got to talk over the phone as we went over each one. We got to bed at midnight and then we woke up at 3am to be at the airport a couple hours early for our 6:45 am flight.
     The Salt lake city airport is a miserable place on three hours of sleep. I made some last minute phone calls to family and friends.We had our two hour lay over in San Francisco and it went quick. It didn't seem like we were even in California. Maybe it was a combination of sleep deprivation and excitement, but I was eyeing down all my Korean travelmates.

Downtown Seoul from An San: Saddle Mountain

        Seriously, it seemed as if the 12 hours from SanFran to Incheon airport in Seoul flew by. They even tried to acclimate us to the culture because when we left they served us  a sandwich and by the end of the trip they were serving full on shrimp soup. I was in between sleep and "The World is Flat", and various movies for that half a day. It was so weird going into the future because while the clock read midnight, the sun stole any sleep from my eyes when the window shutters were pulled back. I just followed the crowd when we landed because I didn't understand anything over the intercom. It was finally at 3 pm on Sunday afternoon on the Korean tarmac that it finally hit that we were in Korea. What a relief! Mmm, mm, mmm was it gorgeous! The smell of cigarettes filled the air as we strolled through the airport. Jin's dad picked us up in his BMW to mark the started of our Eastern Summer.