Mom's Visit, Day 1

Mom's here!  We were late getting to the airport to pick her up (I know, I'm a bad daughter) because we decided to drive, even though we know traffic is crazy here.  I discovered a couple of tricks though--when traffic is packed and moving relatively slowly, you just pick someone to cut off, and execute as quickly as possible.  You can't put on your turn signal to change lanes, because the car behind you in the other lane will just speed up to keep you from getting over in front of them.  Also, it's best to keep in mind that the lines dividing the lanes are really just suggestions.

Enough on traffic.  We got to the airport and got home safely, if a couple of hours later than we thought.  Dinner for Mom from the Paris Baguette bakery downstairs (her body was thinking it was time for breakfast), and rest for the day ahead.

We had a great day of sight-seeing Sunday.  But first, breakfast, at The Flying Pan (a pun on Korean pronunciation of "r"s?  We're not sure.  But it definitely is tasty.)

After breakfast we set off for Gyeongbokgung, which was one of the main palaces of the Joseun Dynasty.  It's a beautiful  place, and we were lucky to have some nice weather even though the forecast called for rain.

(I couldn't resist snapping a photo of my handsome husband.)

After touring the palace grounds, we headed for the National Folk Museum.  But first, snacks--a pumpkin bagel sandwich, and iced citron tea.

The folk museum was pretty interesting.  We were guided through one exhibit by a museum volunteer--an older Ajumma who spoke incredible English.  She told us all about the use of human excrement for fertilizer, explained the yoke and harness and how cow slippers prevented frostbite, described the way buoys were used by divers to keep track of their catch of mackerel and cuttlefish, and told us how straw was tightly woven and overlaid with more straw to make a rain coat, and how mulberry paper was treated with soybean extract to make it impermeable to water.  And I'm not rephrasing--she used those exact terms.  Mom commented after she left that there are plenty of people in our hometown who wouldn't have understood half of what she said, not because of her accent (she spoke slowly and enunciated well), but because of her extensive vocabulary.

The next exhibit went through some of the traditions surrounding important events in a person's life, such as birth, the 100th day celebration, wedding, 60th birthday, and death.  The bride's dress in the wedding display looked familiar:

After the folk museum, we took a caffeine / rest break, then walked through the artsy area of Samcheon-dong.  We wandered up the main street, then headed toward the restaurant we had picked out for dinner.  On the way, we walked past the Blue House--the Korean equivalent of the White House.

Dinner was traditional chicken and ginseng soup, called samgyetang, in a restaurant located in an old traditional-style house.  My sweet but inflexible husband was not too excited to have to sit on the floor to eat, but he admitted after the meal that the food was worth it.

We got there just in time to beat the crowd.

Good job, Mom!

More about day two tomorrow!