Part of the family...
It's 8:22pm (Seoul Time) and I'm sitting in front of the computer at my married girl cousins house here in Seoul with her daughter and son (my niece and nephew). They're watching TV at the moment (Korean Drama) and I feel so comfortable and part of the family here. I arrived in Incheon Airport yesterday morning from Jakarta, Indonesia and though it was weird at first seeing family here and staying at their place (I always feel like I'm imposing...), I feel like I really bonded with my niece and nephews here. We spent the whole day yesterday watching DVDs, shopping and driving and already we're joking around and playing games together =) Today, Sally (my niece) and I ventured out to Seoul National Museum on our own! We took 
the bus and the subway to get there and it was definitely an adventure on its own! Since she's only 15, it was kind of weird depending on her, yet feeling like I had to take care of her at the same time... She taught me a lot (buying a subway card, getting my way around and making sure we were on the right path). While we were in transit (transfer stations), I saw an old woman selling gum in the middle of a busy intersection (this was inside the subway station). People were bustling by without much notice to her, but I was absolutely shocked to see a Korean elderly woman selling gum to make a living for herself. She reminded me of my grandmother and my heart just broke at that moment. Sally and I went over to buy gum from her and though each gum was 1,000WON (10 cents), I gave her 5,000WON and didn't get the change from her. We were just leaving, when a young man came up to us and said that he was from the local Korean news station (MBC) and they were doing a segment on people helping others out and their motives behind things and started to ask me why I didn't get change from her. I was kind of confused (Sally thought he was drunk), but he kept asking questions and wanted our contact information. Obviously I didn't give it out, but gave my e-mail addy and walked away. We're not quite sure, but I think we might be on TV maybe...
We finally got to the museum and it was interesting to see the exhibits entitled, "Treasures from Pyongyang, North Korea." Inside were artifacts from Pyongyang and featured some new discoveries that is supposed to change some of the older facts on the various Korean dynasties (Chosun, Goryeo, Shila, etc). Some of the display items were absolutely breathtaking (I loved the black-ink paintings!), but we couldn't take pictures inside the museum... which kinda sucked (but totally understandable!). We ate awesome food, went shopping at various places and got home exhausted ... but satsified! Sally got to practice her English with me and I got to try out my Korean with her =) A very symbiotic relationship I think!
the bus and the subway to get there and it was definitely an adventure on its own! Since she's only 15, it was kind of weird depending on her, yet feeling like I had to take care of her at the same time... She taught me a lot (buying a subway card, getting my way around and making sure we were on the right path). While we were in transit (transfer stations), I saw an old woman selling gum in the middle of a busy intersection (this was inside the subway station). People were bustling by without much notice to her, but I was absolutely shocked to see a Korean elderly woman selling gum to make a living for herself. She reminded me of my grandmother and my heart just broke at that moment. Sally and I went over to buy gum from her and though each gum was 1,000WON (10 cents), I gave her 5,000WON and didn't get the change from her. We were just leaving, when a young man came up to us and said that he was from the local Korean news station (MBC) and they were doing a segment on people helping others out and their motives behind things and started to ask me why I didn't get change from her. I was kind of confused (Sally thought he was drunk), but he kept asking questions and wanted our contact information. Obviously I didn't give it out, but gave my e-mail addy and walked away. We're not quite sure, but I think we might be on TV maybe... 
We finally got to the museum and it was interesting to see the exhibits entitled, "Treasures from Pyongyang, North Korea." Inside were artifacts from Pyongyang and featured some new discoveries that is supposed to change some of the older facts on the various Korean dynasties (Chosun, Goryeo, Shila, etc). Some of the display items were absolutely breathtaking (I loved the black-ink paintings!), but we couldn't take pictures inside the museum... which kinda sucked (but totally understandable!). We ate awesome food, went shopping at various places and got home exhausted ... but satsified! Sally got to practice her English with me and I got to try out my Korean with her =) A very symbiotic relationship I think!
posted by Jess at 7:20 a.m.
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