Dad Almost Arrested in China (Not Really)

Wednesday

After an exhausting day of diving, we decided to get up yet earlier to go diving once again. This time, we were taking a forty minute boat ride to the Kerama Islands where we would be doing not two, but three dives. It was setting up to be an exhausting day when we weren’t able to find the place where we were supposed to meet, but luckily we were able to contact them eventually and get the location. We stocked up an snacks and water at a nearby Family Mart, received a safety briefing and were off into the breeze.

Joining us on our dives was a Danish man who turned out to sadly only speak ein Bisschen German. On the ride, I also saw two sea turtles which apparently is a rarity, but sadly didn’t see a single one of the numerous flying fish that everyone else was seeing. The depth of the water was over a hundred feet and it was breathtaking to be able to see the bottom without even having to jump in. Once we got to the first dive site, we were all ready to get even closer to the nature that we were observing.

Josh and I were buddies on the first dive and descended straight to the bottom where we swam around a big rock, covered with coral and fish while we waited for everyone else. Once everyone was down, we kicked our way around as we explored the bottom of the ocean together. I was still getting used to maintaining buoyancy at this point and was experimenting how to use breathing to control whether I go up or down. I also had a lot of fun doing flips and swimming upside down, but I couldn’t seem to master the skill of bubble-ring making despite my constant attempts.

On the second and third dives, we swam through all sorts of caves, crevices and valleys that challenged our skills. One room, made accessible only by tunnel as it was too shallow to swim in at the surface, reminded Josh of Ariel’s treasure room from The Little Mermaid. We also saw tons of kinds of colorful coral and fish that sadly did not burst out into singing “Under The Sea”, but still swam around us curiously. The third dive was particularly special because we got to see a sea turtle which is something that my parents claim to never have seen in their 75 dives during their three years living in Okinawa. Josh also claims to have seen a shark “as big as Lily”, but we’re not so sure we believe him.

All of us took the opportunity to sleep and soak up the sun on the boat ride back as we were drained of all the energy that we barely had at the beginning of the day. My parents claim that sushi tastes best after diving, but in my opinion it is not very appetizing to eat fish after you have just been admiring them for their stunning beauty. I also think that the fact that we didn’t find a very good sushi restaurant played a factor, but you win some you lose some I guess. After dinner, we hit up another San-A to stock up on food and supplies. I found some Japanese brand deodorant and hair product that I guess is okay after trying, but it turns out that deodorant and hair product are really the same no matter where you buy them. 

Thursday

Although all we wanted to do was sit on the beach all day, my mom decided that we needed spend at least one day sightseeing. We started out by driving an hour down to the city of Naha where we saw a rebuilt castle from a long time ago, don’t ask me when it was built because I didn’t read any of the signs. If you ask me, it was the same as any other castle that I’ve been to, except this one was a lot more Asian and had a gorgeous view of the ocean. After picking up some quick lunch from a very enthusiastic man in front of a restaurant, we drove to a Japanese Navy bunker from WWII. It is famous for being the place where many peo[le committed suicide in fear of the Americans penetrating and was on mom’s “must-see” list. Despite being underground, the bunker was just as hot and humid as it was outside and we decided to move on to the next destination.

The next place we went to was definitely the least historically significant of any of the places that we visited, but it was definitely the most fun. The Ryukyu Glass Village was on my mom’s top-four-things-to-see list because she remembers going there while she lived in Okinawa and also was in search of a new set of matching water glasses. Definitely more important than World War II. My dad commented on how tourized it has become in the past 17 years, but still purchased some sake (Japanese rice wine FACT CHECK) in a sea blue, hand blown glass vase. There was also a game where we could pay ¥300 (under $3) for 5 ping pong balls that we could try to throw into various glass containers and try to win. Josh ended up winning three items, Lily got one, Bethany got one and I got a whopping zero. Feeling inspired, my mom picked out the water glasses that we were going to get and we hit the road before this tourist trap sucked away any more of our money. 

Just down the road, my dad remembered that there was a big war memorial for soldiers from all sides of WWII that we decided to check out before getting dinner. It was still very hot, but I learned that yet more people had committed suicide at this location by jumping off of the cliffs into the ocean. This time, however, it was the island’s native families and not the Japanese that were victims of fear. Throughout the war, the Okinawans often found themselves stuck between which side to side with and tragically paid the price at this location. There was also a museum that we chose not to go through as it was quite large and we are a family with four children.



Still kind of close to Naha, we hopped on the expressway towards our house and made the inevitable stop at Japanese McDonald’s. In my opinion, everything was very similar which I guess is the point of a franchise, except for the drink sizes. I think most Americans would describe them as being smaller, but I would describe American drink sizes as being larger. I guess you could say I’m a glass-is-too-big type person.

Friday

We decided to spend our last full day in island paradise on the beach and snorkeling. My mom got me up at 700 because she insisted that there would be good sea shells if we beat the other beach goers to the beach. So we took the two minute walk to the beach. We didn’t start out very well, but our discoveries eventually picked up in rate and I got to spend some “quality time” with my mother. Can’t beat that. At about 1000 we got back to the house to find that everyone else was still sleeping and nagged at them to seize the day. Quite some time later, my parents were ready to go to with me to find a dive shop where we could rent two sets of snorkel gear. After picking Josh, Bethany and Lily up at the house, we finally headed to the beach.

Josh and I started out with the snorkel gear and saw lots of urchins, starfish, fish and coral in the shallow waters. Eventually Josh gave up and my dad came out to meet me and we proceeded to go farther out to where the depth dropped and we could comfortably swim without having to fear damaging coral. Like a lot of what I’ve been seeing of the ocean, it kind of reminded me of Nemo. Once we got tired and cold, we headed back to the beach and found it difficult to swim in the shallow water as the tide had dropped almost a full meter in the time we were out. Next we walked to the German bakery which was also two minutes from the house to find some lunch. It was very German.

In the afternoon, everyone except my dad and I wanted to go snorkeling so everyone else stayed home and did nothing. This time, we drove to Maeda Point which was chock full of people diving and snorkeling, but quickly saw why it was so crowded once we went under the water. It was full of every kind of color of coral and fish and was extremely accessible at the perfect depth for snorkeling. I even got to see a lion fish that was flaunting its striped ribbons saying “don’t screw with me”.

At four, we returned the snorkel gear to the dive shop and headed back to the house to pick the lazy part of the family up for dinner. We were heading back to Naha to meet a friend from church who was stationed in the Marines in Okinawa with one of his friends. The restaurant that we ate at was called “Garlic” which had Bethany over the moon. It’s Sunday now and I’m pretty sure that our breaths still smell from three days ago.



After dinner, we headed north to American Village where we all got some famous Okinawan Blue Seal ice cream and said goodbye to our comrades. Then the family decided to split up and meet again in an hour after a last-minute souvenir and T-shirt hunt.

Saturday

Yesterday was mostly a travel day for us. We left the house at 930, hit up a San-A to get last second Kit-Kats, returned the rent-a-car and took a shuttle to the airport where we waited in our first queue of the day. In total, I bet we spent a good three hours of the day just waiting line for things. After boarding our delayed flight, we finally arrived in Shanghai where we had to wait in line for a very long time as there was only one customs officer who was approving people for layovers. She also made sure to look at every single page of our passports and verify that we were us by looking at our pictures and then at our faces at least three times. Luckily I didn’t have purple hair this time.

Oh, and by the way, you got click baited if you think my dad really got arrested in China. Do you really think that anyone would arrest this lovable creature?



All that happened was a security guard stood up when my dad bent over to get a receipt that he dropped. In America, that could mean "almost arrested".

After getting our luggage, Josh, dad and I decided that we wanted to go downtown to see the skyline at night which proved to be very stressful. First, we didn’t even know what ticket to buy until some lovely person who spoke fabulous English helped us out. Then, we stepped off the train into what seemed to be an endless crowd of people and tried to stay afloat as we swam down the river of people from the station to the view of the skyline. I don’t think the city was super crowded as a whole as it seemed like the side streets were pretty dead and there weren’t that many cars considering the amount of people. So I guess it’s safe to say that my initial impression of China was a false one as Shanghai is a glittering metropolis that has its bad neighborhoods, just like any other.

Sunday

Our Sunday was 38 hours long. One could also say that our flight only lasted for an hour even though we were in it for fourteen. When we got home, we found that our trampoline had taken down the power, internet and phone lines and that two trees had taken down yet more power lines and fractured our deck just hours before. Luckily, the insurance company will be covering everything and the electricity was back up this morning, but we will sadly not have internet until this Wednesday. It is also very convenient that two little angels (our grandparents) left food for us in the fridge so we are able to focus on cleaning the mess up.



Overall, this trip to Asia has shown me that people really aren’t all that different no matter where you are. I used to think of Asia as the “dark side” of the planet where phones come from and westerners aren’t supposed to set foot unless they’re “on business”. I know that this type of thinking came from a lifetime of being told that “China” is responsible for the world’s problems and I’m sure that plenty of people still think that way. This trip has torn down any prejudice that I had against the east and, if anything, has made me think that America is pretty far behind when it comes to being the leader of modernization. To me, China, Korea and Japan are no longer foreign countries, but places where I have been shown kindness, patience and love. As much as I feel like I have broken free of the “American mindset”, I can only come to the conclusion that I am pretty much as American as it gets.

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!