Birthday celebrations
It snowed on April 2nd this year, and I was really nervous that we would not be able to celebrate my birthday outdoors. About 25 people were coming, so I was a little worried about trying to fit everyone in our house in case of cold or rain. But fortunately, it was gorgeous.
My family also sent some lovely gifts, mostly maternity clothes and a tortilla press (!) and Eastery things like chocolate and Peeps and an egg-dying kit, and some dried apricots and dates, which were completely awesome. Wooo family!
And, when David asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told him, "I want to go on a trip to Ulsan." David has some really awesome friends in Ulsan, which is a small coastal city, on the east coast of Korea. It is not nearly as busy as, say, Busan, so you can go to uncrowded beaches and enjoy the scenery without literally smacking into people all the time. (In Seoul, I am literally smacking into people a large proportion of my time. I would not call myself an introvert by any standards, but the complete ignorance of personal space and boundaries REALLY gets to me sometimes. A lot of times. So, Ulsan was a good antidote.)
I think it will end up being our version of a "babymoon," since we seem to be crazy busy every weekend from now until post-baby's-arrival. Anyway, Ulsan was really really awesome. My mother-in-law is really against the idea of my traveling or doing anything even vaguely strenuous, so we couldn't tell her about it. :(
We took the bus on the way there. It was a long haul. I was kind of nervous that I was going to have to use the bathroom once every thirty minutes, and since the bus only stopped once on the 5 1/2 hour trip, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. But I rationed my water and didn't drink anything caffeinated in the morning, so I was all right.
We met David's friend Jeong-yong (who was one of the people who sang at our wedding), and he drove us around to the seashore...
Canola flower fields...
Another seashore...(this one was windier)
And a Korean drama set.
Oh my gosh, I love my husband.
We also went to a "Tulip Festival," but I was not really impressed by the tulips.
The azaleas, on the other hand: amazing.
Jeong-yong drove us to David's favorite cousin's house. I don't know his name, because David just called him 형, which translates literally to "older brother," but really means something more like "guy who is a few years older than me that I really like and respect." He was cool, he is about 37, 38, he is married with two daughters, and he looks and talks an awful lot like my husband. So, I'm a fan. They took us out for Korean barbeque, we slept at their house, and in the morning, they made us breakfast, including, to my surprise and delight, Western food just for me! So I was blessed with toast with jam, eggs, milk, and fruit, while the others were happily munching on rice, kimchi, and bulgogi. I love Korean food. But after eleven AM.
They also drove us all the way to Kyeongju, a city an hour away, on the pretense that they wanted to go on a picnic there. But really, I think they were just being super nice and going out of their way for us.
It WAS an awfully nice day for a picnic, though.
I found FOUR four-leaf clovers! I gave them to the younger daughter, Su-young.
Finally, we met David's former boss, who has always been very kind to him. He bought us bibimbap and awesome yukgaejang. And then we found some more canola flowers. This is what six months looks like, by the way...
We were having such a lovely time that we had to run to catch the train, which is something I really hate...but we got home much faster than we would have by bus, and were able to decompress before our Monday mornings back to work.
So, great, great time, perfect weather, awesome birthday trip/babymoon. And seriously, best husband ever.
(Next episode: Elena's school will hold her job for her! David's sister is moving in with us! Stay tuned.)
My family also sent some lovely gifts, mostly maternity clothes and a tortilla press (!) and Eastery things like chocolate and Peeps and an egg-dying kit, and some dried apricots and dates, which were completely awesome. Wooo family!
And, when David asked me what I wanted for my birthday, I told him, "I want to go on a trip to Ulsan." David has some really awesome friends in Ulsan, which is a small coastal city, on the east coast of Korea. It is not nearly as busy as, say, Busan, so you can go to uncrowded beaches and enjoy the scenery without literally smacking into people all the time. (In Seoul, I am literally smacking into people a large proportion of my time. I would not call myself an introvert by any standards, but the complete ignorance of personal space and boundaries REALLY gets to me sometimes. A lot of times. So, Ulsan was a good antidote.)
I think it will end up being our version of a "babymoon," since we seem to be crazy busy every weekend from now until post-baby's-arrival. Anyway, Ulsan was really really awesome. My mother-in-law is really against the idea of my traveling or doing anything even vaguely strenuous, so we couldn't tell her about it. :(
We took the bus on the way there. It was a long haul. I was kind of nervous that I was going to have to use the bathroom once every thirty minutes, and since the bus only stopped once on the 5 1/2 hour trip, I wasn't sure if I was going to make it. But I rationed my water and didn't drink anything caffeinated in the morning, so I was all right.
We met David's friend Jeong-yong (who was one of the people who sang at our wedding), and he drove us around to the seashore...
Canola flower fields...
Another seashore...(this one was windier)
And a Korean drama set.
Oh my gosh, I love my husband.
We also went to a "Tulip Festival," but I was not really impressed by the tulips.
The azaleas, on the other hand: amazing.
Jeong-yong drove us to David's favorite cousin's house. I don't know his name, because David just called him 형, which translates literally to "older brother," but really means something more like "guy who is a few years older than me that I really like and respect." He was cool, he is about 37, 38, he is married with two daughters, and he looks and talks an awful lot like my husband. So, I'm a fan. They took us out for Korean barbeque, we slept at their house, and in the morning, they made us breakfast, including, to my surprise and delight, Western food just for me! So I was blessed with toast with jam, eggs, milk, and fruit, while the others were happily munching on rice, kimchi, and bulgogi. I love Korean food. But after eleven AM.
They also drove us all the way to Kyeongju, a city an hour away, on the pretense that they wanted to go on a picnic there. But really, I think they were just being super nice and going out of their way for us.
It WAS an awfully nice day for a picnic, though.
I found FOUR four-leaf clovers! I gave them to the younger daughter, Su-young.
Finally, we met David's former boss, who has always been very kind to him. He bought us bibimbap and awesome yukgaejang. And then we found some more canola flowers. This is what six months looks like, by the way...
We were having such a lovely time that we had to run to catch the train, which is something I really hate...but we got home much faster than we would have by bus, and were able to decompress before our Monday mornings back to work.
So, great, great time, perfect weather, awesome birthday trip/babymoon. And seriously, best husband ever.
(Next episode: Elena's school will hold her job for her! David's sister is moving in with us! Stay tuned.)