BubblesdeBubblesdeBubbles

Right as we walked off the plane, arriving in Naha, we instantly felt waves of humidity hit us. It's hot here in Okinawa. Very hot. Once we got past customs, foreigner check, etc. Mom and Dad scrambled to exchange money. We were on a time crunch. Apparently, there was some new law that went into effect last week where we had to check into our air B&B before 7:00 pm. We arrived at check in at 7:20 more or less. In other words, we were late. Thank goodness the office was still open and we were able to obtain our keys, otherwise we would've slept on the street where homeless people feel the need to take a whiz out in public. Yum. 

I was expecting our air B&B to not be so good. When we pulled into the driveway, I still assumed that, but outward appearances can be deceiving. After stepping on a snail and a hermit crab, our family walked inside of the house and we were all impressed. There is a living room, a kitchen bigger than ours at home and four beds including a cot. The first thing I did when I stepped foot into the house was turn on the air conditioning. Everyone was sweating enough to fill the East China sea! Exhausted, everyone crashed on their beds and fell asleep once their face hit the pillow. 

Scuba diving  in Okinawa is just like watching Nemo. There are a ton of clown fish like Marlin, and  the bubblesdebubbles fish from the movie as well. (If you truly love Disney, you'll understand). Our family had two guides: Andrea and Pedro who both spoke English as well as a few other languages. They were really helpful and set up our equipment for us. To be honest, half of our family were a little nervous (terrified), not knowing what to expect, but once we got underwater that changed. Unlike Illinois where we froze our butts off and were practically blind, the water was really clear and warm. Andrea showed us lots of sea life, such as trigger fish, parrot fish, etc. The two dives were at the Sunabe sea wall. There was a ton of creatures, more so than the Kerama Isalnds in my opinion. We saw a couple of sea snakes there which creeped me out. Andrea also taught us how to make rings of bubbles using your fists. After these two dives, we ate at a ramen place which was amazing and we are determined to get enough punches for a free t-shirt. 

When we got back to the house, Nat dragged all six of us to take an adventure with him. After waiting half an hour for the white boy to rub in sunscreen on his back, we took a stroll down the road and into a beach where we swam for 45 minutes(ish). Josh, though, left early. I guess he wasn't feel adventurous. There were a ton of different shells and not to mention a lot of hermit crabs, big ones and small ones. After we were done feeling adventurous we walked home. Then all of us including Josh, hopped in the boxy Asian van and drove to a Japanese McDonalds. It smelled like sweat, but what can you except? 

The next 3 days (the next day) took place at the Kerama Islands. Now these were boat dives which required us to take a 40 minute boat ride. The boat dipped whenever it hit big waves so sitting on the front of the boat was really like an amusement park ride. I found out that I do in fact get sea sick. Andrea led us for the first dive which was pretty relaxed. for the next two dives, Pedro led us through tunnels and caverns where maintaing buoyancy was very important. While we were diving through these caverns, all I could think of was the Little Mermaid when she's singing about how she's spoiled but still wants more. While Pedro was leading we also saw a sea turtle which was probably the coolest thing we saw other than the moray eel maybe. Actually no. The sea turtle was the coolest. The eel was frightening. It's jaw slowly moved up and down.....*shiver*. Josh saw a shark which no one else in the family had seen too! Anyways. Here are some photos our guides took.

 

"There goes the fam" 

 

After our dive, we went to this sushi bar where Josh actually ate raw fish. Shocker. Mom got Yakisoba, a famous noodle dish from Japan. It was an interesting experience, picking our food off of a conveyor belt type machine. Let's just say we had a lot of plates after we were finished with our meal. After dinner, our family took a short walk to a Baskin Robbins and then drove home, tired. I still feel like I'm swaying from the boat ride. 

"This Danish"

That's it for this blog post I guess. Nat told me to tell you guys he's sorry he didn't post any when we were in Busan! 

Fake villages (and real ones)

Friday

Our Butts are on fire. Trying to enjoy an amusement park while your anus feels like acid is slowly dissolving it is not an easy task. Even though I thought it never would, it turns out that the 킴 치 (kim-chee) has finally gotten to me. But I am going to push through and not let a minor discomfort get in the way of my professional tourism.

Today we went to the DMZ. I didn't go in with the expectations that I'm sure many Americans would, but I was excited to have a view of North Korea. This was also the first time I have taken a multi-stop (except Great Britain) tour on a tour bus. I found it funny that the tour bus was filled with many white people as I recall Germans complaining that tour busses are always filled with Asians. The first stop was very touristy and didn't even offer a view of the DMZ which I found quite odd. The second stop; however, turned out to be a lot more interesting. There was a museum as well as a tunnel that brought us within 170m of North Korea. I learned that over four tunnels have been discovered where North Korea was attempting to reach South Korea for an attack. The one we got to walk down was discovered in 1978 on accident and is now triple blockaded and is the only way tourists get to enter the DMZ.

Next, we drove up a hill to an overlook where we were able to see North Korea through binoculars. There, we got to see the fake village that was built in the 50s to make it seem like the North was prosperous. It reminded me of The Interview when David Skylark discovered the fake grapefruit at the fake market and discovered that everything in North Korea was an illusion. 

After seeing the fake village, we got on the bus again to go to the train station that was built for the day that North Korea lets South Korean trains pass through. In my opinion, it is kind of unnecessary because no one really takes transcontinental trains anymore, but I'm pretty sure that it's also more of a symbolic gesture

After a stop at an Amethyst store (I'm sure the tour company is making big bucks off that one), we left the tour and got some quick lunch at a 7-Eleven. I also tried a red bean filled ice cream fish and a red ginseng Americano. For those who don't know, an Americano is simply espresso and water, but red ginseng is a traditional korean root that is often used to make tea. And it turns out that it tastes like dirt. Yum. 

Next, we all headed to Lotte World to discover that only us four children would be going in as the discount that we were hoping to get did not start until later. Based on a google search and my experience of the park, Lotte is a food brand kind of like Kraft, but they also have restaurants, grocery stores and department stores. I can also say that it is very Asian. I'm pretty sure that I used the term "very Asian" at least a hundred times throughout our visit to Lotte World.

There were many rides and we decided that it would be a good idea to eat lots of greasy food before going on the most daunting VR roller coaster.

After it got dark, there was a parade (comparable to a Disney parade) and indoor fireworks which completely freaked me out.

On our way to the outside part of the theme park, we passed a cute panda byt the Panda Express.

Saturday

Instead of seeing a fake village like the one we saw yesterday, today we went to the Korean Folk Village which is about an hour and a half outside of Seoul via public transportation. I guess one could argue that this was a fake village as well, but it was very much real in its depiction of historical life in Korea. 

By far our favorite part of the village was the public flogging square where we got to take turns using ancient forms of punishment on each other.

We also found the sign on this tree funny because we knew that we were supposed to rub our backs on the tree, but that wasn't what it was telling us to do.

After travelling back to Seoul from the Korean Folk Village, my mom claimed to have found a "cool" market to go to where I saw something that smelled absolutely rancid and just had to try. It turned out to be silkworms and I think I ate about one before finding the nearest trash can to throw them away. Best 2,000 won spent on the trip so far.

After splitting with the girls who wanted to go shopping, dad, Josh and I made our way to a stream to walk along to watch an apparently cool light show that my dad remembered from 11 years ago (it turns out it's not so cool anymore). On the way, Josh and I both got colossal Asian pears and discovered our first pit-toilet, which we DID NOT make use of. 

Pictured below is the stream that my dad wanted to find. It also turns out that it is the same stream that they filmed at in Josh and my favorite TV show, Sense8, when Sun was talking to Capheus (I don't remember about what).

This rainbow was also very Sense8 themed. I also found it odd, given South Korea's conservative stance on certain political issues.

After at least a mile of walking down this stream, we finally decided to catch the metro to go back to the guest house. I've just finished some spicy ramen and am calling it a night. 

Sunday

Today we went to church. I've also finally realized that I like going to church in other languages because it breaks me out of the Americans-are-the-only-emotional-people mindset that I never really realize I'm in. I've been realizing that people really aren't all that different no matter what part of the world you go to. At the same time, I've been realizing that people are a lot different no matter what part of the world you're in. From simply observing people on the metro, I have found that Stereotypes come from purposely searching for sameness rather than embracing differences. 

Yoido Full Gospel Church (the one we went to) is the largest in the world with almost half a million members. Instead of going to the English service, our parents insisted that we go to the normal service and listen to a translation. Sadly, I forgot to take pictures, but I get a good chance to practice my Korean reading by trying to keep up with the songs. 

After church, everyone except my dad and I got lunch at KFC. We opted for gas station sushi instead. 

The day only went down from there as my mom thought it would be a good idea to visit the town where Lily was raised for a year or so. After having to backtrack twice and three hours, we finally arrived at the dingy town of  Cheonan where there was supposed to be another "really cool" market. All it really was, was stinky fish and cheap clothes so we found ourselves leaving almost just as soon as we got through the market. We got back to the guest house in about half the time because I found the feature in Kakao Maps where I can find what specific train we have to be on. It was very frustrating to figure this out so late in the game, but we ended up finding the express train and making it back.

Although the latter half of today was a bit of a dud, I learned that sometimes you are lucky enough to find a gem and that sometimes all you end up with is peanuts, so prize the gem while it's within reach. 

Tomorrow we will visit the Raccoon Cafe, the hospital where Lily was born and see Young Seo again. For those that have been to Disney, it's a great big beautiful tomorrow!

Nat

Foster Mom and Other Asian Things

So far, my brother and I have spent around 30 000 Won on candy and other junk food (that's 30 dollars). I would say that about half of the stuff we have bought has turned out to be either completely disgusting or something that we didn't know we were buying. For example, my dad and I were at the grocery store looking for laundry detergent and a woman was freaking out at what we were holding. It turned out we were about to buy bleach and that all of our clothes would have been hipster-ified had the nice woman not set us on the right path. I also accidentally bought a big bag of cough drops because they looked like pear candy. oops.

Though we have been struggling knowing what says what, I have been trying to figure out the alphabet and how to read Korean. I have been learning firsthand why Korean people pronounce certain English sounds a certain way and that Korean has an equivalent to Denglish (Deutsch-English). I find it funny that my parents have been to Korea six times now and they never bothered to learn Hangul (the Korean alphabet) and here I am after two days, reading street signs and asking people what things mean. My tip: you have to take things for yourself and not expect that they will come to you.

Back to yesterday.

Yesterday we met up with Yoon and Young Seo who go to my high school! It was really fun to see some friends in a completely different place and to get led around by someone who knew what they were doing. We met them quite late in the morning at Gyeongbokgung Palace which is right next to the center of Seoul.

Yoon, Josh, Bethany, Moi

Then we went to an expensive traditional house that apparently cost the government $10 million to rebuild and got some lunch. Luckily, Young knew just where the best place to get noodles was and led us right there.

Then we went to Insadong which is an art/shopping district where Young also knew the best place to get some dessert.

Josh, Bethany, Mango Sunday, Melon Sunday

Next, we headed to Namsan Seoul Tower to get the best view of the city. Sadly, it was very humid, but I swear the sky was blue the day before.

Then my dad and I split up from the rest of the family because we wanted to walk down the mountain and get some fresh air. We accidentally ended up in Itaewon (another shopping district, of course) here we saw a few fellow Amis as there is a military base nearby. By then it was getting dark so we headed to a Homeplus grocery store to load up on supplies (and candy) and called it a night.

Today was one of the more important days of our trip as it was the day we met Lily's foster mom. I can't speak for Lily, but I think that seeing Lily happy and with our family gave Lily's foster mom a lot of closure and joy to see that her gift of love was paying off. She also showed her love to our whole family by beating my mom to the cash register at lunch by excusing herself to the "bathroom" in the middle of the meal. Josh and I found this funny because when my family visits my uncle in Texas, him, my grandpa, and my mom all race to the cash register at the end of every meal because they all want to be the cool guy who pays for everyone. Nonetheless, Lily's foster mom also insisted on buying us all ice cream and snacks for the rest of the day. All of the love that she showed to us makes me feel quite honored that she was the woman who took care of my sister.

Also, shout-out to our awesome translator, Sunwoo :)

After an emotional lunch, we headed to Ilson which is where Holt Ilsan Center is located and Ji-eun is buried. Before my parents adopted Lily, they were in the process of adopting a baby girl named Ji-eun who died from a seizure while my parents were there. They buried her on a hill behind the center and we went to visit it. We also got to talk to Molly Holt who is an amazing woman (definitely worth googling) that has so much love in her to give and is in the perfect position to do so. It also turns out that they are constantly in need of volunteers and Josh and I are both in need of an excuse to come back to Korea in the near future. So we'll see what happens.

After another forty minute bus ride, we met up with one of my mom and dad's old friends for dinner at a chicken place. Let me just say that we are doing quite a few things wrong in America when it comes to eating chicken wings and that Nat Werth is going to be coming back with some tips. For one, we used a plastic glove to hold the chicken so we didn't have to sacrifice our hand to the sticky greasy gooey sauce. I almost cried. AND there were lovely little buckets to put the bones so our plates didn't fill up with them while we were eating.

Since my dad talks a lot, Bethany and Lily went out to buy makeup while me and Josh went to raid the grocery store. I almost cried again when I discovered that there was a whole aisle dedicated to ramen noodles.

It's almost midnight now and tomorrow we're leaving at 7 to visit the famous DMZ (Demilitarized Zone). I'm curious to see how demilitarized it really is.

Nat

Goodbye China, Hello 'Home Country'

The sky is blue in Seoul! I'm not sure that that sentence would have ever had any meaning to me had I not almost suffocated from pollution in Shanghai. I'm not sure if the sky is always grey or if the air is always respritorally oprossive in Shanghai, but I don't think I want to stay long enough to find out. Look! even my hair is bluer than the sky!

Besides the downsides of being such a big city, Shanghai turned out to be very hospitable and we were able to find a lovely place to have Korean for dinner. It felt a lot like the time when I was in Berlin and me, Ryan and Grace decided to get Mexican for lunch. Because why go with the flow? We also experienced our first major language block as all Google products are blocked in China and we did not have the time to download the proper alternative translators. We ending up resorting to communication by pointing (luckily the menu had pictures) and my mom's obnoxiously loud why-can't-you-understand-me speaking.





After having our forearms singed by flaming oil (the use of oil is not common, says my mother), we headed back to our hotel on foot and called it a night at about midnight. This morning, we woke up at five, headed to the airport, and flew out of the smog-choked city.

I guess now is a good time to explain the title of this post. It started in February when I had to go somewhere else to get my haircut and I had to make a last-minute appointment. Girlfriend who was cutting my hair asked me about my summer and I explained to her about the trip that my family was taking to the Far East. I also explained to her that my mom was adopted from Korea as well as my sisters. After dealing with the often-asked-by-white-people "North or South Korea?" question, I then explained (this is important) that my brother and I are both biological to our parents and that ALL six of us are VERY American. Obviously girlfriend didn't get it and wished me happy trails going "back" to my "home country" after I had paid for my haircut. Of course I had mentioned that I had 1) never been to Korea and 2) that the United States is my home country, but what more can you expect from white people. Would I ever tell someone going to Germany "have fun going back to your home country"? No! Did anyone ever wish ME a good time going back "home" when I went to Germany? No! Nevertheless, me and my brother now have another inside joke and we enjoyed flying "back" to our "home country" today.

Though still polluted, the sky in Seoul is still blue and the air is not as oppressive. In fact, the train ride to our guesthouse was quite scenic and we got to see a lot of nature. Right in the middle of a 25 million people city! After maybe a half hour of down time we headed out to explore the Hongdae district that we're staying in. It turns out that we're staying in one of the trendiest districts in the city and that there is a cafe where you can pet raccoons and a cafe where you can pet dogs, both within walking distance. The Werth Family will definitely be visiting. Other than that, we found a place to get Korean BBQ for dinner again and it turns out that Korean food is better in Korea. What a surprise.

After dinner we checked out a bunch of stores and then came back to the guesthouse where half of us have already passed out.

Nat

On East

Dyeing my hair purple until three AM the night before a three week trip was not a good idea. Nevertheless, my bags have been packed and my hair is a new color. For the DIY people out there, I would not recommend a four-step process in five hours if you don't want to experience a lovely burning sensation on your scalp. Why did I dye it now you ask? Well what choice did I have? I see it like this: I can't have ”unnatural" hair colors at work or at school and this three week trip was the perfect time to play around a bit. I think it looks great, but I think that my family would beg to differ. To appease them, I have brought along a temporary brown spray for the "important" situations.

I'm not quite sure what the logic behind travelling with a family of six in multiple foreign countries was, but I have come to think that it has something to do with my sisters being adopted from Korea. I was also born in Okinawa, Japan where my parents lived a long long time ago (and yes, I can still be President because my parents are citizens and I was born on a military base). If you would ask me and Bethany what this trip is about, we would say that it is an extended shopping trip, and if you were to ask anyone else I'm sure you would get all different answers. Besides shopping, I am also excited to learn the culture of the other half of my racial pie chart. I think that getting to know what life is like in Korea will help me to embrace my American-ness. A lot of conflict arises in the United States, I think, because people don't know how different their not-so-distant ancestors lived life. It leads to people assuming that race can be used to determine culture and many other miscommunications that often result in unnecessary animosity. Knowing and embracing that I am American has shown me my own ignorance as well as others' and has helped me to understand that problems never lie on the surface. My only goal on this trip  is to [insert deep thought here] and to not choke when I eat living octopus!