Yesterday, my mom, my 1st Aunt, and I traveled about an hour to visit my 2nd Aunt and her family who live about an hour away. The trip was well worth it. We took the bus. I don't think any of my family members over here own a car b/c the public transit is so convenient. Buses, taxis, and the subway. The ride was interesting b/c I got to see so much of the country side and also the different makeups of the cities we passed through.
My 2nd Aunt and Uncle own a fresh produce store, so we visited them there and then hung out at their house. Because the Chinese New Year is this Friday, and many Koreans celebrate this as the New Year, the store is busy as can be, and it's hard for my Aunt and Uncle to steal away to visit.
We waited a little while before my 2nd Aunt brought up some fried market delights. I didn't take a picture of it, but they were delicious. Here's the view outside their home.
Then my 2nd Aunt had to go back to the store. We waited for my cousin - Chong-ga-ni (spelled phonetically) - to come home for work. He's autistic, and he's an awesome guy. After only a year of learning how to play the piano from his sister, he played my mom and me about 5 songs. All of them were really good. None of which
I could attempt to play.
Before we went out to eat. I snapped a couple pictures of the same view only at night. The 2nd picture has from left to right: Sue-gin - my cousin, Ja-ga-nimo - my 2nd Aunt, Ka-nimo - my 1st Aunt. The last guy is Chong-ga-ni.
We went to local restaurant where you can cook your meal right in the center of the table so that it's as fresh as possible. We had the house specialty which is an octupus dish with other seafood like shrimp.
My family was worried that it would be too spicy for me, but c'mon...who we talkin' bout here...it's me ;)
It was delicious. It was also funny during the meal. My cousin was trying to ask his mom for a Pepsi, but she didn't hear him, so he started to secretly whisper to me to ask me to buy him one, but I didn't hear him until finally someone else noticed him. When we got home, my little cousin and parents were at the house, so we played around for a while...then I crashed quickly after they left and went to bed.
Today, we're off to see a play and take a night cruise. I'll take as many pics as possible.
(signature painted by my uncle)
P.S.Here's a pic of my Uncle's pieces put on plates even though the pictures don't do the beauty justice.
After getting to my Uncle's house, I found that he loves to watch WWE, American entertainment wrestling...haha. My Aunts hid the remote from him so that he couldn't watch it, though. After we ate supper. He prepared mon-dew (spelled phonetically & known as potstickers in the US) for traditional Korean New Year's dish.
Then next day, we rode back and met with my Korean cousin's family for the traditional ceremony where the children dress in traditional clothes and say Happy New Year, and the parents present gifts to the children.
Finally, yesterday, my 3rd Aunt took us to a local outlet mall, and she forced us to get clothes, etc as her New Year's gift. If let her, she would have bought the whole store for me. "Try this...you like this?...get that." I tried to tell her that I didn't need the gifts and that being there was a gift in itself. She succeeded in getting me jacket and some shoes. With mom, she used her sisterly influence to get her an armful of things.
