JFK Here We Come

Mom and I are headed to Seoul! It has been nearly 20 years since she has visited her family in South Korea. I'm joining her for the first part of her stay and look forward to sharing some of our adventures here with you~ friends, family and interested onlookers.

I made the trip with her in 1985, and we are headed back together again 29 years later. Here I am on that trip at a Korean Folk Village:

And at a temple:

That trip was the first time I had met most of my Korean family, and in some cases, it has been the only time. We spent a month exploring historic sites, tourist attractions, and visiting a lot of kin. US visits with my Korean aunts, uncles, cousins and other extended family members have been few and far between. Here we are with my aunt and 2 of my cousins in 1985:

It's hard to believe, but this is only Mom's fourth trip back to South Korea since she moved to Upstate New York in 1967. She describes the pace of change she witnessed on each of her visits (1975, 1985, 1995) as breathtaking, with many areas completely unrecognizable. On her first trip back in 1975, she asked a taxi driver in Daegu to take her to her home neighborhood, near the rices paddies in Daegu. To which he replied, "What rice paddies? There are no rice paddies here anymore."  I've been told by many that Seoul and other parts of the country will be unrecognizable to both of us.

In 1985, as a small-town American sixth-grader, who only spoke English, the culture shock upon arrival was pretty overwhelming. Let's just say there were tears, a lot of tears at the beginning of that visit. But, by the end of the trip, even as a 6th grader, I knew I wanted to return someday.  

No longer a sixth-grader, I'm guessing there will be fewer tears and more marveling, which is why I want to record my 10-day journey and share it here with you.

Our suitcases are packed and we are headed to JFK for the 14-hour nonstop flight tomorrow!