Mom and Dad do Seoul.

Mom and Dad finally used their passports and came to visit me in Seoul.

On evening one, Mom slept while Dad and I went for his first taste of Korean food. He likes kimchi!

We spent the weekend in Seoraksan, but my camera was sadly battery-less, so those pictures will have to be stolen from the cameras of others and posted separately.

Tuesday, Mom and Dad headed on a tour of Seoul and I met them after work for pizza at Pizzarium in Noksapyeong. I'd been wanting to go there for forever, because it smells so good every time I walk by, and I'll admit, it was a lot better than Pizza School.

Yum.

On Wednesday, Mom and Dad came to school to help Gold Class make Halloween milkshakes. It was a lot of fun and the kids all agreed the ice cream was delicious.

That evening, we wandered around Insadong, bought some souvenirs and ate some Kalguksu.

Tourists!

There were so many more things I would have liked to have gotten to show them, but it was a lot of fun anyway!

Miss you guys already.  <3

Kelly Katharine's Mom!

KK's mom got here today! Aren't they cute?

Mom and Dad

Less than a week until my parents get here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Gyeongbokgung Palace--Night Style

So last weekend Gyeongbokgung was open late so you could go and take pictures of yourself in front of it while it was lit up. I was obviously down.

The palace was lovely at night and the weather was perfect. No stars, though. Thanks Seoul.

Here are some pictures:

Hi Seoul Marathon

So, on Sunday I ran in the 10k that was part of the Hi Seoul Marathon with a couple of friends. It was fun and went surprisingly well. There were like a million people running, though, and they started the full and half marathons before the 10k, so I spent most of my time trying to push my way through the masses. 

Before.

After.

Busan

Last weekend we had a three-day weekend, so I went to Busan, Korea's second largest city, with my coworkers Kelly Katharine and Tadhg.

Busan is a lot like Seoul in some ways. Big Buildings.

Busan skyline

And way different (and better) in others. The sea.

Haeundae Beach

On Saturday morning, we headed to Yonggungsa Temple. On the way to temples here, there's always a souvenir and food stall section to distract you. Little fish-shaped pastries filled with red-bean paste or custard are a popular street snack in Korea and at Yongungsa, a man was selling an adorable (and delicious) miniature version.

붕어빵- Korean red-bean-fish pastries.

Kelly Katharine and Tadhg with their 붕어빵. 

Me with my 붕어빵.

Yongungsa is probably the most beautiful temple I have seen in Korea. It's built right into the rocky cliffs along the sea. It was a gorgeous day to visit with blue skies and lovely late-summer weather. We spent a few hours wandering around with all of the other tourists and worshippers. It ended up being one of the definite highlights of the trip for me.

KK made me pretend to be a mermaid. I failed.

Saturday night we were out on the town. We ate at a place that had terrible chicken but a great view from the top floor of a building . We then bar-hopped down the main street near Haeundae Beach and ended up having a pretty good night.

Thursday Party is pretty much the funniest thing ever. But it's hard to explain why. I guess it's just like the frat party of bars. Which is funny.

In Busan they had Caribou Coffee. Such an improvement over the Korean chains.

On Sunday we went to the Haeundae Beach Photo Zone to take some kitschy tourist photos. There was a wall maybe 500 meters long with murals to take embarrassing photos in front of.  It was actually a lot of fun.

After the 포토존, we headed down to the water to take kitschy sea-side photos. Also great fun.

Sunday evening, we went to Gwangalli Beach which was totally worth it, because the view was gorgeous.

Gwangan Grand Bridge at night.

KK with Gwangan Bridge

Me with Gwangan Bridge

Gwangalli at night.

Beach projection art.

At Gwangalli, we found two more Thursday Parties. I was pretty excited, but not excited enough to trade out my soymilk for a beer.

On our final day, we decided to check out Beomeosa Temple. It's supposedly one of the largest in Korea, but the layout was confusing and it wasn't nearly as cool as some of the others I've been to.

It's almost fall.