It's My Party! (Sunday's events)

(Pictures taken in Gwangjin where our training is. One of a McDonald's, one of my study group, and one of the view from the coffee house's second floor. This is a smaller part of Seoul than where our hotel is located, where there are bright lights and Maserati and Ferrari dealerships.)

Disclaimer-- I will go back and proofread these entries, but for now I post them as quickly as my fingers type them.

Note- Pics don't match posting. The pictures are ones I have taken during the week in Seoul.

The next day Eunkyung picked me up in her Hyundai and drove me to her home where there was a party being held. Two uncles, their wives, the aunt from the airport, Grandma, and the rest of the gang were present with plenty of Korean food and some Pizza Hut in case I didn't like the Korean dishes. (Side note: They put pickles on their pizza.) Pictures were taken, money was given (to me), and I was informed that Birth Father wanted to buy me a cell phone. We all sat around and watched a DVD of ME (embarrassing) and the rest of the time the family spent comparing Eunkyung's features to mine. They found way more similarities than I believe actually exist.

Later Eunsun, having warmed up to me, wanted to show me a picture of her boyfriend. She assured me that he was very handsome. At that, Eunkyung and Birth Mother both rolled their eyes and shook their heads “no.” Eunkyung said, “Only you think so.” Birth Mother laughed in agreement. I ended the visit with a manicure from Eunsun, sitting on the wooden floor of her small, square bedroom which contained a desk, clothes, nail stuff, but no bed.

On another note…..driving in Seoul is a crazy experience. People seem to feel the lanes are more like guidelines or suggestions, and Eunkyung spent a lot of her time straddling the line. Turn signals seem to mean nothing and people seem perfectly comfortable coming within centimeters of other cars. Eunkyung drove through this mess very aggressively, her hand poised over her horn which she used several times. She even expressed the desire to give someone the finger.

Eunkyung later told me that, after the airport, my birth father went out drinking with his brother until 6AM. She said he was so happy that I am here and that he loved that I hugged him. She told me that she and Eunsun do not hug him because they spent much of their time growing up fearing him. Korean fathers are very stern, she informed me. “But I don’t hate him,” she assured me. “Now it’s better.” Since then, Eunkyung says that since my arrival, every day her father asks, “Have you talked to my baby today?”

Monday I ate dinner at my birth parents’ restaurant. It was pretty good! Refer to my previous Korean Oprah post for a description of the food (the only thing they serve). We then went to buy the cell phone, courtesy of my birth father. Eunkyung commented that he was never as generous with her or Eunsun, but there didn’t seem to be any resentment in her voice.

The last incident of note happened tonight when I missed a call from Eunkyung. She later called my mother and told her that she was worried and that my birth father was prepared to come to the hotel to see what was wrong! I have a feeling that I will need to find a way to condense these blogs further. But I’m sure things will calm down eventually, allowing me to report fewer incidents.