Chuseok in Song do

We arrived home in time to finish our Chuseok shopping at EMart.  I had seen a waveboard on one of the first days I was in Inscheon, and when the girls said that they had done it in the Philippines, I got the idea of buying them one for Chuseok.   This time our shopping mission was an instant success.  We returned to the apartment and set the scene.  Jay had kept the bright little boxes from our Peking Duck dinner; he carefully rolled his Chuseok money for each of the girls and placed it in a box with a little note.  We arranged everything, had a cold beer and snack and went to bed.  Sunday was festive.  We all went to one of their favorite Shabu shabu restaurants for dinner.  The Korean version is much like the Japanese, but at the end they mix cooked rice, egg and some squash with the stock that remains after all the beef and vegetables are cooked. After letting it cook a bit, you eat it.  Delicious!  When we got home, we took the waveboard and roller blades to Hedegi Park?? ( Sunrise Park), a short walk from home.  May and I walked the path while Jay and the girls played with the toys.  Jay was surprisingly good on the waveboard, which looks like a figure 8-shaped skateboard, divided in the middle so it twists and you make it move by rotating your body and moving your back foot, or some combination of contortions that I would never even try. 

Everyone went back to school on Monday, and I continued to entertain myself in Seoul and Incheon.  It was a lovely fall week with only one day of rain, Tuesday, when I happily stayed home, read and wrote the blog.  On Monday and Wednesday I took the subway back to Seoul and biked for 4 hours each day on different paths along the Hangang River and some smaller waterways that flow into it.  It was great.  On Thursday I spent hours in the Blue Ocean JJimjilbang.  Friday was another day in Seoul where I met Caroline’s niece, Sharon.  I had just found out on Monday when she emailed me that she was in Seoul for a conference.  I took the subway to the Hyatt, where she was staying.  We went by shuttle from there to Itaewon, looked around that part of Seoul, shopped and shared a bottle of soju and a typically Korean lunch.  I went out at night with Jay, May and some of his colleges for more soju, a tasty grilled fish and kim chee soup.  So my last full day in Korea was truly Korean.  This morning we had a big breakfast, Jay and I went for out last walk in Sunrise Park and then May and Jay came with me to the airport, where I now sit.  They have just announced that the flight will be boarding 15 minutes later than scheduled because of ‘flight connection’ problems. 

Jin Hee finds her Chuseok money

Min Hee with her Chinese box of Chuseok money

Us with the gifts

May prepares the Shabu shabu as Jay eagerly awaits it

Min Hee with the things she will cook in the other pot of broth

Jay in his Pilipinas jacket, holding a bottle of Bagoon and May in a Canada hoodie, holding a bottle of maple syrup.