Spring!!! 

I know that many of you are probably waiting to hear about what happened while my mom and grandfather were here, but I haven't had the time to post it. People keep asking me the story of what we did and explaining it is somewhat repetitive, but I am in the process of writing an article for my minnesota school newspaper about the trip. Partially I'm busy, and partially I'm just easily distracted when I get onto the computer, but it's a work in progress and so far it's about 5 pages double spaced without even mentioning the trip to the DMZ. So keep checking back. I'll have a good story for you soon. In the meantime this is a picture out my 12th story window. Sunsets like this are rare, but worth it. I made my dad hang up the phone and go to work, because I needed to take this picture.  

The war memorial.
The outside walls of the museum were lined with the names of soldiers who gave their lives in the Korean War. The grounds also held different statues and memorials along with old vehicles that were used during the Korean war or later wars such as the Vietnam War.
Inside we first traveled through ancient Korean war history. I could recognize the different dynasties and knew a little history for some of the wars, and took a cool picture of a boat that they used in those wars so many years ago, but the really interesting part came when we moved upstairs to the history of the Korean War. 

Saturday April 1. My original plan was to take it easy. My mom and grandpa had just flyed something like 16 hrs to come to the other side of the world, so I purposely booked a hotel right next to the nicest park in Seoul, Olympic Park. I thought we could wake up a little later and then go for a walk in the park and maybe to a traditional Korean dance performance that night. But God doesn't always agree with the plans I choose, so he decided to have it rain all day.
By doing so, God opened up a space for a visit to the Korean War Memorial Museum. I had to thank him, because there were no other times I could think of for going there. So, we set off on the first subway ride ever for my mom and the first in about twenty-five years since grandpa. (He'd used the rails in France.) I bought them transportation cards, because I like them far better than buying a ticket each time I want to go somewhere and we went to a part of town I didn't know well, but could find easily on the subway map. It took two transfers, a total of three lines. They were really impressed with the efficiency of this system (which I ended up keeping them underground for all transportation that day.)
The war memorial. 

Entering gyeongju...I'll add these pictures and write about it later. Time to go... 

table 

Our tour guides: My host dad in the plaid and his cousin. 

All together on the floor 

Grandpa sitting on the floor at a resturaunt. It's the usual was to eat at resturaunts in Korea, but the one and only time we're going to try it. It's something the Koreans learn to due from the time they are young children until they are old. 

For dad. The shipping yards as we came into Busan. 

Much of the agriculture is done in these green houses. 

What else to do other than play cards on a long train ride. 

On the train to Busan (Pusan). Mom video taped a good part of it. Hopefully Bobby can figure out how to cut and make it into a sensible video. 

New train station 

The old train station restored, but still in the same place. Now there's a new age station. 

Mom at the best Hamburger Shop in Seoul  

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In Remembrance