Hanging in Hongdae

We arrived in Seoul on April 1st and just stayed at the house and didn't venture out. On April 2nd we woke up and were ready to go explore.  Kevin and I took off walking and found a great bakery that we went to often, a grocery store and the fruit/veggie market.  After breakfast Lynn, and the kids joined us in exploring the Hongdae area. 

The Hongdae (Hangul: 홍대; Hanja: 弘大) is a region in Seoul, South Korea near Hongik University, after which it is named. It is known for its urban arts and indie music culture, clubs and entertainments. The area is located in Mapo-gu in the western end of Seoul, stretching from Seogyo-dong to Hapjeong-dong.

People ask what my favorite thing was about our trip and I loved every single minute of it but my all time favorite thing was watching my kids experience their birth country for the first time.  They soaked it all in and loved their experiences.

Kylan tried the sweet potato frozen latte and Kenzie had the green tea frozen latte at Coffeenie.

We thought the menu was interesting

 All of the fruit in Korea was delicious and organic.  No organic section here because that was all they had.


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 Every day we walked past a Buddist temple on one side of the road and an LDS temple on the other side.

 I loved looking at all of the gates on our walks. They were all so different from what we have in Oklahoma.

My mom wanted to attend church in Korea and I had been to Youngnak Presbyterian Church on my previous trip so we agreed that this would be the easiest church for her to attend.  Mr Chae came and picked her up and brought her home so she wouldn't have to ride the subway or take a taxi.  Youngnak is a large, beautiful church and I know she enjoyed the service, they offer a section for foreigners and they give you headphones with a translator so you can understand what is being said.

In the afternoon Mr. Chae brought my mom home from church and picked up everyone but Marilynn and myself.  We decided to stay at the house and rest up a little before the whirlwind of activity started.  Unfortunately, my mother in law had broken her toe on the first day so she really needed this day to rest her foot. He took them to the International Market so they could buy some water and some staples like fresh kimchi. I love the vibrant colors and can close my eyes and smell the kimchi.

and they brought us home something to eat.

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Exploring our house in Seoul

We accidently went through the wrong line when we were arriving.  They checked our passports in the Diplomat line so it only took all 7 of us about 5 minutes to go through customs into Korea.

 Here's Kenzie and Kylan back in their birth country for the first time since we adopted them!

 After arriving at the Inchon airport in South Korea we exchanged some money.  This is what the Korean Won looks like, it's so colorful and pretty!

Our tour guide Mr. Chae met us with a luggage van and his own personal van and drove us to our house in Seoul.  Seoul was about 1 hour away from the Inchon airport.  We decided not to get a hotel and to go with an AirBnB instead so we could learn how a typical Korean lives.  I actually don't think a typical Korean lives in a house like this because most of the people in Seoul live in apartments and this was a house.  If you want info on this house please email me at JustWedeminute@gmail dot com and I'll send the info to you.  It was wonderful!  I can't say enough about the owners Meme and Jeje, they were amazing and very helpful!!

 Here's our house!

Our AirBnB hosts gave us some gifts of bread and different types of rice cakes. They were really good and we loved the colors!

 The little kitchen was adorable

 We used the dining area a lot

 One thing I was not expecting was how hard the mattresses were. I mean rock solid hard, they were not cozy at all but my back loved them and did very well on the hard mattress.

 Views from the rooftop garden.  Apartments and buildings for as far as the eye could see.  With 10 million people in Seoul this is not shocking.

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Travel Day to South Korea

Leaving Tulsa

We were exhausted from prom so our travel day seemed extra long and to top it off we flew standby on American Airlines.  Good news is we made all of our flights, bad news is the flight was 15 hours long from Dallas to Korea, ugh that one hurt.  Last time I went to Korea to pick up Kylan we came home on March 31st, 2002 which is the same day that we left this year March 31st, 2017 so our journey feels like it went full circle. I never dreamed that 15 years later EXACTLY I would be returning with Kevin, Kenzie, Kylan, my mom Gayl, my mother in law Marilynn and my father in law Lynn. This is the start of our Korean adventure.  Sit back and enjoy the ride!!!

We flew out of Tulsa and into Dallas and once we arrived at our departure gate I looked up from my phone and this is what I saw...EVERYONE in our group was asleep but me!  My mom hadn't arrived yet so she was probably awake at this time.

The flight was oversold and the only person that had bought a ticket was my mom. The rest of us were on the standby list.  Kevin's parents and my mom boarded the plane and we fully expected to be getting a hotel room that night but after the plane was full they found 4 seats for us and Kevin and I even got to sit together.

They served us some Korean food on the flight so we were super pumped!

I'm not gonna lie to you that 15 hour plane ride was brutal!  When I was in my 20's it didn't seem that bad but this time it was horrible and my feet swelled up so big I couldn't put my boots back on.  When I stepped out at the Inchon airport it was in my socks and carrying my boots. Next time I'm taking compression socks!

Thanks for reading,