Different for girls

E-word,

I'm back home. It's Sunday morning, and I'm sitting on my sofa with my dog sleeping next to me. It was a trip. I don't know if it was good or bad, like I feel like I should say I had a good trip, but I don't know if I digest travel that way. Like, I feel pressure to have good anecdotes from my trips, but they don't come out in neat little packages. You remember Vince? That's a guy who could spin a great anecdote from his travels, nice little stories that are memorable and make people laugh. I used to think that I should have that same ability, but I don't, not in the way he does.

We went to a lot of places on this trip, and we logged a lot of miles on planes, boats, and trains. My favorite moments, though, were spending time with my wife and parents. Almost every morning we were in Seoul, my father and I would hike up Mt Woomyun, which is a small mountain in the center of Seoul. Oh, and bear in mind that when I say mountain, these mountains are more of the Appalachian size as opposed to the Rockies size- they're not big at all. We'd get up early in the morning, and before we'd set out, he'd blend some fruits to make juice for all of us. The hike was fairly vigorous and difficult for me, but my old dad is a billy goat. He hikes up Woomyunsaan (as a Korean would say it) almost every day, and as we walked he would point out all the different folks who also make daily trips up the mountain. There is a woman that my dad sees frequently who actually hikes in her bare feet. If I were her, I'd be concerned about getting tetanus or a worm or something, but there is a belief that walking up in bare feet in better for your health. We'd also see very old men (in their 70s and 80s) hoofing up daily as well. I have to say that this seems like the ultimate type of exercise- it builds useful and great strength in your legs, improves balance, is very low impact (unless you're pounding down the mountain), and keeps your mind active- you have to focus or you'll take a bad step.

Woomyunsaan also has bunkers preserved from the Korean war. I've gone up with my dad many times before, but it wasn't until he pointed them out did I notice them.

After our hikes we'd come home to a house redolent with the smell of cooking. My mom makes breakfast for my dad daily, but because El and I were visiting, the food she prepared was much more demanding ('sohn mahnee gahsuh', as Koreans would say, literally meaning hands have gone in very much). We'd have broiled gulbi, bin dae duk, doeng jang jigae, nakjee bokeum. Not all for the same meal, obviously. We'd eat gyeh-rahn jjim, yuk-gae jang, pa-jun, and kimchee, of course. My mom explained that Koreans traditionally had huge breakfasts, and so we ate very well in the morning, and because we were visiting we'd eat very well at night as well, but I'll talk about dinner later.

Having eaten so well, in a way I'm grateful that I don't eat like that all the time. It seems like meals like this should be eaten sparingly, not because the food is bad for you, but because it is so good and so reminiscent of childhood and all the wonderful things about family and life, that it would seem to be a horrible thing to take for granted. My mom even said as much, that she put in a super amount of effort and really spent a great deal of money (buying the best staple ingredients), that to eat like this regularly would probably kill her.

I also loved the attention I got from my parents. Usually when we have family gatherings (and I assume this is the same for you), there are so many people (8 adults and 3 little kids so far) that no one can get a word in edge-wise. Most of us are talkers too (with the exception of my older brother), so we're constantly cutting one another off, and almost not listening because we're so eager to say something, so almost nothing gets communicated and honestly these family gatherings suffer and seem almost pointless, excepting the fact that we get to see our nephews and niece, and my parents get to see their grandchildren. But, when it's just the four of us, we all have ample space to talk, aggrandize and orate, make compliments and tell jokes. It was great. It's even better with El around, because she has a way of making my dad open up.

So, while I will talk about other travels, the best part by far of this trip was hanging out with my parents with El, and doing it just enough that they didn't get irritated with our presence, and to keep us longing for more time together.

Love,

Toe