Mom's Visit So Far
Mom has certainly packed a lot into her visit so far. She's been quite the trooper too.
On Friday, I picked her up from the Yeosu airport in the morning. We got back to my place and started unpacking all the great things she had brought - including tons of Reese's, chocolate, pesto sauce (no, I am not obsessed with food), my winter coat, scarves, my teddy bear. The list goes on... I had to go to school, which left her some time to take a nap. That evening, we went out for supper to celebrate Steve's birthday, then went to TaeKwonDo. She fell asleep on an exercise mat in front of a dozen or so people who were yelling, kicking, punching etc. Our next stop was Steve's place for a cocktail party, where my mom got to meet a few of my (drunk) friends and a few sober ones too. At about 1 am, we headed out to Julianna's, then over to Elvis (the two waguk bars in Suncheon). Mom, Nicola and I got home at around 3 am. You know, a typical Suncheon Friday night.
Saturday morning, we decided to join Max, Stu and Nicola for a little trip around Suncheon. Our first destination was Gwangju, where we did a bit of shopping. Mom got a rather painful neck massage at Aveda, and then we were off again. We headed first to Naju, to drop off Max, then on to Wando. Unfortunately, Stu was functioning on 3 hours of sleep, and we ended up going to Wando by way of Mokpo (a 2 hour detour). So, Mom got to see most of Jeollanamdo that day. When we got to Wando, we were too tired for the beach, so we ate supper, then watched movies. Mom dozed off and Nicola and I weren't too far behind.
On Sunday, we headed straight for the beach, where Mom picked up every rock and shell she saw. Our bus ride back to Suncheon was uneventful, except for the bus driver playing the same Korean techno song over and over again for the whole 3.5 hour trip. In Suncheon, we ate a typical Korean meal of bibimbap and donkas (?? That pork thing ??), then read until we both fell asleep.
Today, Mom came to school with me. We started each class with our little routine...
Me: Hi Mom. What do you think of my students?
Mom: Oh, the boys are handsome.
*students giggle*
Me: Really? And the girls?
Mom: They are cute.
*students giggle*
Mom was a hit, handing out chocolate in the hallway to various students, especially the ones who told her that she was beautiful. We got to go out for lunch with Melissa, Mrs Bahk, Mr Cheng and Miss Song for shabu shabu, a sort of soup that you cook yourself, which is then turned into pumpkin porridge. It's really good, but hard to describe.
Now, we are waiting for my scooter repair-man (front tire is flat) and then we are off to TaeKwonDo again. Hopefully, Mom won't fall asleep this time.
Tomorrow, we are doing a city tour, Wednesday is a boat cruise in Yeosu, and Thursday, we fly to Seoul.
So far, everyone who has met Mom thinks she's pretty cool... and thinks I'm lucky to have a Mom who would drag 2 suitcases full of my crap to Korea for me!
On Friday, I picked her up from the Yeosu airport in the morning. We got back to my place and started unpacking all the great things she had brought - including tons of Reese's, chocolate, pesto sauce (no, I am not obsessed with food), my winter coat, scarves, my teddy bear. The list goes on... I had to go to school, which left her some time to take a nap. That evening, we went out for supper to celebrate Steve's birthday, then went to TaeKwonDo. She fell asleep on an exercise mat in front of a dozen or so people who were yelling, kicking, punching etc. Our next stop was Steve's place for a cocktail party, where my mom got to meet a few of my (drunk) friends and a few sober ones too. At about 1 am, we headed out to Julianna's, then over to Elvis (the two waguk bars in Suncheon). Mom, Nicola and I got home at around 3 am. You know, a typical Suncheon Friday night.
Saturday morning, we decided to join Max, Stu and Nicola for a little trip around Suncheon. Our first destination was Gwangju, where we did a bit of shopping. Mom got a rather painful neck massage at Aveda, and then we were off again. We headed first to Naju, to drop off Max, then on to Wando. Unfortunately, Stu was functioning on 3 hours of sleep, and we ended up going to Wando by way of Mokpo (a 2 hour detour). So, Mom got to see most of Jeollanamdo that day. When we got to Wando, we were too tired for the beach, so we ate supper, then watched movies. Mom dozed off and Nicola and I weren't too far behind.
On Sunday, we headed straight for the beach, where Mom picked up every rock and shell she saw. Our bus ride back to Suncheon was uneventful, except for the bus driver playing the same Korean techno song over and over again for the whole 3.5 hour trip. In Suncheon, we ate a typical Korean meal of bibimbap and donkas (?? That pork thing ??), then read until we both fell asleep.
Today, Mom came to school with me. We started each class with our little routine...
Me: Hi Mom. What do you think of my students?
Mom: Oh, the boys are handsome.
*students giggle*
Me: Really? And the girls?
Mom: They are cute.
*students giggle*
Mom was a hit, handing out chocolate in the hallway to various students, especially the ones who told her that she was beautiful. We got to go out for lunch with Melissa, Mrs Bahk, Mr Cheng and Miss Song for shabu shabu, a sort of soup that you cook yourself, which is then turned into pumpkin porridge. It's really good, but hard to describe.
Now, we are waiting for my scooter repair-man (front tire is flat) and then we are off to TaeKwonDo again. Hopefully, Mom won't fall asleep this time.
Tomorrow, we are doing a city tour, Wednesday is a boat cruise in Yeosu, and Thursday, we fly to Seoul.
So far, everyone who has met Mom thinks she's pretty cool... and thinks I'm lucky to have a Mom who would drag 2 suitcases full of my crap to Korea for me!
posted by Ms Parker at
6:44 PM
5 Comments:
Hiya Mrs. Virginia! You've got to be nicer to Ruth. Nevermind that you dragged 80 kilos of crap to Korea. You made your youngest call Canada to apologise for treating me the same way she's been doing for over 15 years. ( you're in for it now, Virginia) I do hope that you're both enjoying this visit. V.R.P - buy an answering machine. I WANT to sing to you!
By
Anonymous, at 8:48 PM
hi Its MOM I will do a filler inner blog one day about my first impressions of Korea but right now I'm on Holidays & enjoying every minute of it - when I manage to stay awake that is. Love MOM
By
Ms Parker, at 7:42 AM
Hi Virginia's mom! How was the flight from Canada? Did you bring her chick peas too? What's the thing that surprised you most about her living accommodations?
By
Anonymous, at 11:26 AM
Hi Its MOM Yes for chickpeas & lentils.
Living conditions much like a large dorm room, clean but with blue wall papered cement walls, a pale yellow plastic floor (ondol heating), an uncomfortable orange vinyl couch (standard issue for all foreigners-they must have bought them by truck load), an end wall of glass windows overlooking the mountains & the city, leaves no room for interior decorating. Its a challenge for me & would frustrate Martha Stewart.
But there is so much to see & do that you aren't home anyways. The appliances are small but in good working condition & everyone was issued new melamine dishes, cooking utensils,a vacuum & lovely linens.
Flight from Toronto to LosAngelas was standard Air Canada, the twelve & a half hour Asiana Air to Seoul was very long but the cabin crew, aka. eye candy girls were excellent. The entire country is service oriented. Love Virginia's MOM
By
Ms Parker, at 8:59 AM
Wow! Virginia, be sure not to exhaust your Mom too much! She needs her energy for your trip to Mokpo! We got some baby Octopi to eat!
Have a great time in Seoul!
By
Brent, at 6:47 PM
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