Cousins

The day after the picnic, we got a chance to meet up with my side of the family.  I met with my cousin Oksil, who is my father's older sister's daughter, and met a new cousin I never knew about, my father's older older sister's son.  He attended Seoul National University, and if I heard correctly, helped establish the highway system in Korea and is a prominent figure.  After eating lunch, we hung out for a bit by the Han River under a bridge, a very nice way to spend an afternoon. 

Cousins!

 A relative rented a bike for Lindsay, and she had a grand time until a boy crashed into her

Lindsay with Aunt Oksil and her grandson, which makes Lindsay his Eemo!

Haejung and me - Haejung is Oksil's daughter.  She's a few years older than me, but I'm her Eemo!

The husbands

For dinner, we met with a cousin on my mother's side, Sungduk Oppa, but unfortunately didn't take any pictures!  Oh well, it was nice day meeting with family that I hadn't seen in a long time.

Lee Family Picnic

The weekend after Andong, Sam's cousin invited the whole family out to his church for a family picnic!  It was great to see everyone who could make it, and Lindsay and Nathan had a blast playing outside with cousins!

Eunhae, Seungman and Jayoung - Sam's cousins

How many kids can play with one toy car?

Four! 

Sam's uncle played the harmonica for us as a goodbye gift, not knowing if he'll see us again before we leave - it was heartfelt and sweet.

Sam's second aunt, who calls every single Monday morning between 7:30 and 8 to pray for Sam



Isn't Isaac funny?

Sam's third uncle

Donghwan and Dongwook - Sam's cousins, sons of third uncle.

Myungshin, wife of Dongwook.  They live in Queens.

Seulki, Eunkyung and Eojin - Seulki and Eojin are Donghwan's daughters, Eunkyung is Donghwan's sister, daughter of third uncle



Family picture - and this is only a small fraction of the Lee family!

Andong

In mid-May we went to Andong Hahoe Village for a weekend.  Andong Village was founded by the Ryu clan in the 16th century and have inhabited the village continuously since then.  The village is surrounded by a river on two sides and farmland on the rest, it was so beautiful and serene, I envied the birds that got to live in such a beautiful place.

The village from a distance

Nathan and me on a traditional swing.  You're supposed to stand up and swing as high as you can - but sitting was fun, too! 

We met this cute dog wearing a hanbok

Lindsay in front of the village forest, planted by the town residents half a millenium ago

In front of Buyongdae cliff, on the edge of the village

The kids' favorite part of the day was playing in the sand.  Seeing a bunch of old houses does not seem to excite them too much.



I wish the pictures captured how pretty this place was

We spent the night at this house, a mere four hundred years old. 

 

 

 Sam and the kids in front of a huge six hundred year old zelkova tree that supposedly houses the village spirit.  The little strips of paper surrounding it are written wishes.

On our way out, we met some residents!

Field Day

In May, Lindsay's school had a field day.  Sam remembers them from his childhood, but it was a first for the rest of us.  It was fun socializing with the parents while the kids ran their races and played their field games.  Lindsay got second place in her race, and that after a late start! 

All the students doing their warm up exercises

Lindsay waiting for the games to begin with her classmates

Getting ready to run!

 The rest of the family

Nathan enjoying the swings while we waited for Lindsay to eat lunch

Second place! 

Do we have this at home?

Do we have this function in cars at home?  In Korea, there is a button on the driver's side that will automatically draw in the sideview mirrors.  Why you ask?  Because when one parks in Korea you will often be so close to the car next to you that if you don't fold in those mirrors, either the mirrors will get dinged or bumped when the car next to you pulls out, or there is not enough room for you to squeeze out of the parking spot.  Cars come within inches, no an inch, of others cars or people on a regular basis here... 

Gongju

Sorry to have been so delinquent for so long...  I am a very good procrastinator.  But for those that know me, I can cram pretty well, too. :O)  I'm hoping to document a good deal before we go, knowing that I will probably not blog post-trip once we go back home.    We just got back from a 10 day trip traipsing through the country and ended our time with Jejudo, but I'll get to those pics later.  Gonna go all the way back to a Saturday in March when we went to Gongju, a small town about half an hour from Daejeon.  It was the capital of the Baekje kingdom for a while.  The Baekje kingdom was known for their sophisticated artistry, displayed in their design of jewelry and household items and even in the imprinting of the bricks for the royal tombs.

Lindsay and Sam practicing their tuho, a royal arrow throwing game.

Sam being punished on the racks!  The wooden paddle was heavier than I thought and came down a bit harder than desired, oops!  Sam's look of discomfort below is genuine. :O)

   Traditional hoop rolling

The kids and Sam in front of the tomb of King Muryeong.  This tomb managed to remain unscathed by tomb raiders for 1500 years until it was discovered in 1971.

In Seongsanri, an area filled with royal tombs

Sam usually takes one of these shots on our trips. 

An ancient something or other, discovered when the city was doing some digging for utility work! 

A stone pagoda, about a thousand years old, set outside the museum.  They were about thirty or so relics set outside like garden furniture. 

The National Gongju museum, which houses the thousands of relics/treasure found in King Muryeong's tomb and others.

Fancy shoes for the afterlife

Dainty silver cup that was set next to the queen for her tea

King Muryeong

Nathan playing in the children's part of the museum, in a toy replica of King Muryeong's tomb.  He enjoyed stacking the bricks

After the museum, we were looking for a place to eat, and the village restaurants looked like shantys.  We opted to head home for dinner.

We drove past this restaurant complex that looked like mushrooms, or something else.