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Tuesday, November 9, 2010

Sunday - Mom and Dad Fly In

Sunday September 19

Mom and dad flew in a few Sundays ago on September 19th! Ryan and I had been getting ready and planning for the one full week they will be here and the one full day they will be at the apartment in our small town. I had been bouncing off the walls for weeks now and Ryan had done everything he could to contain me! I was ubber excited! I have been away from home before and was in Korea earlier this year for two months but it had now been almost four months now and after everything last year I was more than ready to see them, relax, laugh and as always have a few beers!

After a week with my family earlier this year at the beach I think Ryan was also looking forward to the week and the adventure of having my family here; however I don't think anything could of prepared him or even me for the week that was to come! The week was great even with things here and there going wrong it was still an amazing time I hope to never forget.

Sunday morning we got up and took care of a few last things before heading out around 11:00 to Anseong bus terminal to get on the bus to the airport. We hopped on the 11:50 bus and settled in for the 2 hour ride to the airport. After a nice long sleepy ride we arrived a little before 2 and had some time to kill before the plane landed at 3:30. We wandered around a bit looking for a way to get in to the Duty Free Shop and snacked on some Dunkin Doughnuts. We later made our way down to customes to get a good spot to hold up our fans with their names on them as kind of a cheesy "Welcome to Korea" thing. As we waited Ryan yet again had to try to keep me contained as I was yet again starting to bounce around.  It feel like time was moving so slow as I watched the arrival boards.  They made their way out of customs around 4 making what seemed to me and Ryan like amazing time because it always takes us at least 30 minutes just to find all of our bags. Once out hugs were exchanged as we got tickets for the bus to the Hilton.

Once on the bus we handed out some juice box sangria drinks we had brought and started to catch up on things back home, news, and family. This ride was shorter and only abut 45 minutes long but through the nice down pour of rain mom and dad got to see the Yellow Sea and a few other things before we made it to Seoul. Once at the Hilton Ryan and I left mom and dad to settle in as we made our way out to find the Hill House planning to meet back up around 6:30. It was still raining and we didn't have the slightest idea even what direction to go so we hopped in a cab and headed out. Well the cab driver asked us for a phone number but there was not one on the reservation we had printed out so he made a call said ok and pulled off leaving us to think he knew where he was going. Well as 10 minutes passed and then 15 minutes passed and we drove further and further we started to wonder because this place had said they were less than a 15 minute walk away from Seoul Station (the Hilton is right by Seoul Station) leading us to think either the cab driver was lost or this place gave dad bad information. It all started to make sense really fast as the cab driver tried to pull on to the Army base by the Korean War Memorial and tried to get on. So as it turns out he had no clue where he was going but because Ryan had on camo he though he could just drop us at a base. The guy on base told us he had explained to our cab driver where to go and we headed off again; however not before he scared the crap out of us by pulling over and stopping leading us to think he was kicking us out while he made a phone call.

He was now headed back the way he came and then down a side street up another and bam we where there! Sadly without a clue in the world on how to get back or how to ever end up here again. We went in and told the man at the desk we would be checking in late Monday night and asking if he could make it so we didn't have to change rooms with our two different reservations I swear this man thought we were nuts, it was like hey I came to tell you I am checking in tomorrow. We mentioned our cab driver had a hard time finding the place and he gave us a card with a map and a phone number for them to call next time. We looked around a bit and then headed back to meet for dinner. Once back down on the main road we had no clue yet again where to go so we jumped in a taxi and headed off. This time we got lucky and he knew where he was going and we were there in about 5 minutes.

I hate to admit that mom and dads first night in Korea we took them to the Benagan's at Seoul Station for some fajitas and a pitcher of beer. After dinner it was closing in on 8:30 fast and Ryan had a train ticket to head back to Pyeongtaek for 8:50 so we headed back to the Hilton so he could grab the stuff my mom brought over for me and take it back to the apartment. We made plans to meet up with him for lunch before work and he headed out. I was staying with mom and dad to help them get to our town the next day and just figured that I could sleep on their couch in their room. Sadly there was no couch or extra blankets....damn you Hilton! So I wrapped myself in two bath robes, used moms travel blanket and took the two extra pillows from the bed and settled in for a very long night.



4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Hi Megan, Happy Birthday!!
I hope you are having a great day! I'm sure you will remember this one in Korea. Where will you be next year? Another exotic place - I hope so. Do it now, girl. I have enjoyed reading all about your visit with your parents. It sounds like you all had great time. Drink some sort of Korean cocktail for me as a Birthday toast. (so that means you get to drink at least..two.) Love, Julie

Anonymous said...

OK - my post is dated Nov 12 - it's still Nov 11 here so I guess that's Happy Birthday and belated Happy Birthday. Now you get at least 4 Korean Birthday cocktails :)

Chas said...

They have Sangria in a juice box ?
Seriously ??!

Megan said...

Aunt Jules I had a great Birthday! Hearing from you just made it even better! I think I may kick it here for a few more years because things are going so well and the money is not bad but I do hope to get to more travaling outside of Korea soon. Chas they have all kinds of amazing drinks made to go here....I mean come one I love this contry for more than just the food, sights, and culture....I still think Aunt Jules should make it out here to have a few drinks with me : ) tag on with dad next time!