The Parents' Visit

The Parents were set to arrive in Busan Thursday(May 7th) night around 8:45p, so I went to practice briefly, did a small amount of running and a good amount of discussing the Tongyeong race last weekend and what I will need to do in order to do well in Kona, and then he dropped me off at the subway station and I started my journey to the airport. I found the bus that went from Busan to Gimhae (where the airport is), and was able to get there for around 1,200 won – about 18,000 won cheaper than a taxi would cost – I love public transportation! Plus it was a really nice ride – relaxing!

I got to the airport much earlier than expected (because I factored in time to get lost trying to find the bus, for it was my first time taking that particular one), so I grabbed a small dinner, bought some oranges in case the Parents were hungry, and worked on my workout journal until I saw that the plane from Tokyo had arrived. At that point, I stood up and watched the people arrive, watching all of their family and friends receiving them warmly (a scene which reminds me of the first scene in ‘Love Actually’ – it’s so true). I was a little nervous that I would see two completely worn down travelers (it was a very long trip), nervous and a bit frustrated to be in a different country where they don’t speak any of the language. But surprisingly, when they came through the gate, they seemed in a surprisingly good mood. I saw them and made my way over, and after a few moments of them searching around the airport wondering where there only contact in Korea was, they saw me. I won’t go into it, but it was a tearful reunion. : )

We took the nice bus to their hotel (despite my suggestion to wait for a less nice bus which was much cheaper – my mind is now in extreme frugal mode), and had a nice little reunion in the back of the bus. They seemed to be impressed with Busan at night, with all of the lights and mountains and ocean.

After arriving at the hotel, dumped the luggage, and went out for some food. They had their first experience with kimchi, and had reactions which I expected – not huge fans. But most people don’t just come to Korea and instantly like kimchi if never having tried it before. But they seemed to like the bul-nak (octopus and beef/ribs type dish), although it was a bit spicy. Also, sitting of the floor was a bit of an adjustment for them, but since I don’t live in Haeundae I don’t know the restaurant scene well there so I didn’t have much of a pool of knowledge to choose from.

I stayed at their hotel for the night and left for my apartment in the morning, planning to meet tomorrow for dinner. As a nice surprise, I got to leave school early on Friday because it was Teacher’s day, so I took that opportunity to get in a swim, and then met Mom and Dad after that. We walked around Haeundae first, and I was eyeing the restaurants to see what kind of food would be good for them to try (I had a lot of ideas in my head but I didn’t want to have them try something they might not like on their first full day here). We decided on Dweji gukbap, or Pork and rice soup, and apparently it was a good choice, because they said it was delicious (and it is : ) ), and after dinner we went for a walk on the beach.

Before I left, I ran through a tentative schedule with them for the week, to see what they would be up for doing (I had to try and plan in some workouts and also plan when to meet Coach so it was somewhat necessary to have a plan). The agreed on a relatively tiring (but worthwhile) Saturday, involving a walk fro Haeundae to Songjeong Beach ( probably around 2 hours, up a decent size ‘mountain’ or big hill), followed by an unexpectedly long walk to the temple (which Mom wasn’t too happy about and which made me feel really bad, so next time I need to be more prepared as to exactly how far certain destinations are), and dinner with Coach and his family. On our walk up Dalmaji (the ‘mountain’), we saw a biking accident, which was very surprising and a bit startling, because I hadn’t yet seen an accident in Korea. The man was on the ground in front of a car, moaning and holding his leg. I don’t’ think the car hit him; rather, I think he was going too fast down the steep downhill and in combination with the uneven road and maybe distractions of cars passing might have hit something in the road (or the bumped into the sidewalk) – but still, I’m sure he was hurt pretty bad, because he was likely going very fast downhill.

After the walk, we had some cod soup, and started off for the temple. It was my second time there, and it was just as beautiful as the first time. Later we took a bus back to the hotel and they rested while I went to swimming practice, and about 2.5 hours later, one of the most exiting moments of the trip was lingering: my parents meeting the team.

This went better then I expected. I basically just introduced them to Coach, his wife, the youth team’s Coaches, and one of the youth athletes and his parents, and then stood and watched the interactions with a huge smile on my face. Even the parents of M (a youth athlete) were amazing, asking if they could take my parents on a day trip on Wednesday and also inviting us over to dinner one night for a home-cooked meal (although she said a ‘simple’ meal, we found out later that she used to be a chef…basically, it was nothing short of five star). Anyway, after a few minutes of talking, most people left, and Coach, his family, and my parents and I all went out to dinner. We ate galbi, which is like marinated ribs without the bones. It was AMAZING.

After dinner, they exchanged gifts; Mom and Dad bore gifts from the US, and Coach and his wife gave some ‘welcome to Korea’ gifts. It was such a special thing to watch. We ended the night by going to a coffee shop, talking, and taking some great pictures. What a tiring, awesome day!

Sunday was even more jam-packed than Saturday. Mom and Dad came to practice at the Yacht club around 10am (nearing the end) to watch (basically they got to watch us play tag with the kids, because Coach decided against conventional drills today). When all the kids had left, we went to Igidae Park to do some walking, and then I set out to do some open water swimming when the rest of them sat down in a cove-area to eat the delicious gimbap that Coach’s wife had bought earlier at the market. However, I managed to make that day less than perfect because despite preparing the night before, I apparently forgot my goggles and cap at home!! I had my wetsuit though, so I was not able to just completely forego swimming in most favorite place, and I tried to swim without. However, the cold combined with not being able to see resulted in me swimming a little and treading water for the majority of the time (which Coach and I agreed would only be 10 minutes because I forgot the essentials). After playing in the water, I came out, had some gimbap, and we walked around some more before going off to our next adventure, visiting the Memorial Cemetery. I had been here before with Coach and his family but my Mom told me some things about its history which I did not know, so this time I was able to enjoy it even more. What a great place!

Next, we briefly went up Hwangnyang Mountain, which is the highest point in Busan – beautiful! – and from there we headed off to Hurgshiru restaurant, known for its super delicious duck and pumpkin dish. SOOOO delicious!! It’s one of my favorite places because they also have some monkeys very close by to the restaurant – and to make this day even more special, a baby monkey had just recently been born, so we got to see it in action! It was SO INCREDIBLY ADORABLE. Oh my goodness. Oh man.

The next few days were filled with a lot of fun, including a bunch of amazing meals (one of which M’s mom cooked for us and included the whole team (well, the Coaches at least), and going to Dr. Fish with my friend Liz from EPIK (this was particularly cool because it was my first time experiencing it too – putting your (clean) feet in water with fish in it, and they clean your feet by…nibbling...haha such an interesting night), and going to a ‘love café’ as foreigners sometimes call them, because you have a booth with couches and curtains all to yourself and the lighting is somewhat romantic. By the time Thursday night had come, time had passed so quickly!

Thanks so much to the Parents for coming to visit. I can’t describe how happy I am that they came and let me drag them around South Korea trying to show them the beauty of my current home. I had such a great time, and I’m really looking forward to seeing them again and the rest of my family and friends in a few months!