Okay, so apparently I need to start off this blog post by saying that I am copying this idea from Jayden’s in Korea because he saw me typing this and got offended I was stealing his idea. I pointed out that I said in my very first blog post that I would be doing this, but despite being subscribed to my mailing list, it’s clear to me that he does not actually read what I post.
Jayden has monkey feet.
Jayden has the essence of a misshapen carrot before it gets turned into baby carrots.
Jayden once lost a game of basketball to a printer.
(We’ll see if he reads this by letting me know he has issues with the totally true lies I’ve been spreading.)
Anyway, the past 48 hours have been kind of all over the place. I have actually fully lost track of all time, so maybe it’s been 48 hours since I left Toronto, maybe it’s been 120. Who can say really? The plane rides were tiring. The first flight was to Paris and felt like an eternity. Maybe it was the fact I was in the middle seat, or maybe it was the fact my book had failed to download onto my iPad, but it just felt like it would never end. It then ended.
Next we had like a two second layover in Paris, which despite my description as “enemy territory” due to my and Maeve’s distaste for all things French, I insisted that my mom film a video of me putting on a beret in the airport. I really can’t say why, but I packed a beret in my carryon, so I wasn’t going to let it go to waste. Our layover in Paris was originally supposed to be five hours, but our first flight was cancelled and moved three hours later, so we had to wait in the customs line for almost an hour, then rush to a different terminal to make our flight. I got my stupid video though, so it was all worth it (actually maybe not because there’s an issue with the SD card and all the content might be gone).
Then we got onto our flight from Paris to Incheon, which is the name of the airport and maybe or maybe not a place. Basically Seoul. This flight was a lot better because I finished watching Crazy Rich Asians and then watched Frozen, and then fell asleep for around 9 hours. I woke up, watched one of the two episodes they had of Brooklyn Nine-Nine (coincidentally happened to be the episode that I left off on on Netflix), and then saw part of Barbie for the millionth time. We deplaned (bizarre to me that “deplaned” is an actual word because it can really only be used in one situation), and were whisked off by our tour guide, Han, for the day. We drove about an hour from the airport to Seoul where we met up with LOGAN!!!! I was so happy to see him I wanted to cry, but he was more concerned with me getting out of the car in the middle of the street and almost being hit by a minivan than being happy to see me too.
Once reunited we went for lunch in this street market that my mom (a.k.a. The Research Queen) had looked into. I was overwhelmed by the amount of food that was put in front of us. We each ordered one dish but the woman running the place kept giving us more food on the house. One of my biggest shames (besides everything else about me) is that I’m a picky eater. Recently, I’ve been trying to go with the flow more, but at my core I like to stick with what I know. The restaurant (if you could even call it that) only served five things, so I chose this rice with beans thing, even though I am not one for black beans. It came, and I managed to get myself to eat a few beans, but then the woman gave me seaweed to eat with it. I don’t think I had ever tried seaweed because I’ve always hated the way it smelled, but being the mature toddler I am, I tried some with the rice. To my surprise it was gross, but not as gross as I had imagined. Still, I didn’t touch it after that.
Then, Han took us to one of the five palaces in Seoul (I’m not sure which). The grounds were huge and I got tired pretty quickly. Still, it was very cool. Han told us about a queen in the early 20th century who was murdered by samurai but they never found the body. I obviously asked if they had tried looking in the parking lot, which got me a laugh from my dad and Han (my most successful joke to date).
We then went to the art gallery where I spent most of the time on the toilet and the rest of the time on a bench having a mini panic attack while my mom held my hand and helped me breathe. I was so physically exhausted that I really needed a break, so while the others went to see a neighbourhood with old Korean architecture or something, I sat in a cafe and continued to read the book that I had accidentally downloaded to my phone instead of my iPad (good mistake because this coffee shop didn’t have any wifi). My mom came and met me and then Han’s van picked us up.
Our final stop was at a craft market thing. I really enjoyed seeing all the cool stores and got some ideas for my future craft projects. Then we walked around some more… a lot more. I don’t know really where we were going or what we were doing, but by the time we got back to the car, I had to hold my mom for stability. If you know one thing about me, it’s probably that I suck at walking.
We checked into our hotel which took a long time for reasons that are far beyond me, and I finally got reunited with one of the things I love most in life: a bed. As soon as I sat down, there was no getting me back up. The rest of my family went out for chicken and beer (a Korean specialty, yet no beer was consumed) while I spent some time trying to figure out Hello Kitty lore, which there isn’t much. Really all I learned is that she’s not actually a cat, but a girl living in the suburbs of London. Weird. I also watched some of her tv show because I wanted to get a sense of who the other characters were. I figured out very little, but enough that I would now feel comfortable enough buying something with them on it.
The others came back and brought me some chicken, but I didn’t like it and found it spicy. Then, a little while later, something great happened. JAYDEN WAS HERE!!! I hadn’t seen him in person for eight months, so to say I was excited would be a massive understatement. I gave him a huge hug and then the Chanukah present that Logan and I got him, a book about learning to juggle and three juggling balls. I also gave him a pen with my face on it, which seems to be becoming my thing.
Now it’s late and I really should get to bed. Today’s been utterly exhausting but truly amazing. Being in Korea is cool, but seeing my brothers is truly awesome.