Deagu

The day after we returned to Seoul from Jeju Island, Mom and I headed to Daegu from Seoul via train (KTX - video here and embedded below in this post). Daegu is Mom's hometown, a large city about 150 miles southeast of Seoul. It's also where all of my cousins grew up before most of them (5 of 7) relocated to Seoul. Two cousins are still students in Daegu. My (Moon) guidebook to South Korea reports that the women of Daegu are known for being "stubborn but beautiful." Love it! After a very easy two-hour train trip, we were met by my Mom's younger brother, my Uncle Hyun Dae, at the train station and headed to her older brother's home for a sibling reunion. It had been nearly 20 years since Mom had seen them.

But, just before arriving at my Uncle We Dae's home, we stopped to look at the site where my Mom's family's home once stood ~ the home where I had stayed in 1985. Now, there's a tree in that spot, next to the entry for a high-rise building. I had a wonderful video of the spot where my family's home once stood, with a panoramic look at the neighborhood as it looks now. And, in my efforts to manage memory space on my iPhone and iPad, I inadvertently deleted it. I have been kicking myself for that one, but I did snap some pics.

The tree between the security gate and the yellow van marks the spot where my family's modest two-story home once stood.

Just a few minutes later, after marveling at the changes, we were at my Uncle We Dae's home, where my aunt prepared dinner for us as soon as we arrived. I loved it, and frankly it was the best meal I had so far in Korea. It was a simple Korean meal, but to me it was the first time I had tasted food in Korea that reminded me of the flavors of my mom's Korean cooking; it was delicious.

My mom would be staying in Daegu for an extended visit, but I only had a one-night stay ahead of me and would be leaving the next day to head back to Seoul. So, we visited only briefly at my Uncle We Dae's home before we moved on to my Uncle Hyun Dae's home where I would meet his wife, two more cousins, and my aunt's mother and spend the night. My mom would stay on here and in Daegu for almost two weeks. Here is the view I woke up to from their high rise apartment:

Breakfast on Friday morning again tasted like the Korean food I was familiar with. My aunt prepared a spicy tofu soup, rice, and a stir-fry pork dish that was unbelievably delicious. I know pork, rice and soup for breakfast is not a typical American breakfast, but it was wonderful.

After breakfast, we passed through a Daegu street market on our way to a taxi stand, made our way to the Daegu train station and I was soon on my way back to Seoul. While I lost one video, I did not lose the video I made of the ride from Daegu to Seoul. And, saw plenty of rice paddies! I've condensed a two-hour ride into just a couple of minutes. Check it out!

Look at the nifty twine carrier for the watermelon.  How come we don't do that here?

And once again I was on the move.  Again on the KTX train, heading back to Seoul.  And, I certainly saw plenty of rice paddies--bordering right up against those ubiquitous high-rises.  Check it out.






In Seoul, I would be met by my cousins for a whirlwind farewell evening in Seoul...next post!