An informal (but informative) meeting

Just in case you were ever wondering how to look at a map, don't go by this. Benny Boo has decided that he is king of the map and has rather effectively covered up North Korea. 


So earlier this week, on Thursday, we had the pleasure of meeting and having lunch with a kind woman who used to be a local Methodist (assistant?) minister at the church my family attends. Now, why would we do this exactly? Well, she is actually from South Korea (and was enrolled in the military as well), still has family in South Korea, and has a lot of information about the area that we obviously would not have.

We visited the church that In Suk belongs to now and got to chat with her for a while before going to lunch. She had a lot of information for us just in general and about things we should see and do while we're visiting the country. She rolled out the map that Benny was laying on above and pointed out that we should head down to Busan by bullet train (it apparently takes 2 hours or so, wow!) and check out the southern islands. She also let us know that we should definitely visit Jeju Island to the south, because it's so different and interesting. Of course, we also have to visit the many palaces in Seoul while we're there too. We're going to be busy on the weekends!

In Suk told us that she has family scattered throughout the country, which was fascinating. She has a niece who is actually teaching high school students in Seoul currently. Her family, I believe she said, also lives in Gwangju which is to the south east, near the coast. In Suk also regaled us with information about her family's adventures and one nephew's adventures from South Korea to the US for boarding school (and NY University) and back again.

We talked about how South Korea is very natural smelling, unlike the US which smells very artificial. Going along that vein, she talked about the food and how different is. She explained that fish is a very big food source for South Korea and that fish from the different coasts taste different and how much different salt is there compared to what we know here. We (we being In Suk, Zach, and some of my family) are also hoping to visit a restaurant in Indianapolis that is nearby called Mama's Korean Restaurant to sample the food and see how and what things are so we are prepared for the sights, sounds, and smells of South Korean food. She made sure to highlight the fact that drinks in South Korea are very small portions, smaller than what we're used to, definitely.

Another piece of information we were provided with is that when she was in school, she attended a school like the places that many English speakers go to. Hogwans are prep schools where families pay to send their children so that they can excel at a variety of subjects. In Suk let us know that when she would be in school in South Korea, she would have normal school and would then be in school until later in the evening, not getting back home until midnight.

That being the short of it, there was also lots of other information shared, but we will hopefully have another interesting time going to Mama's. It's really interesting to hear about so many people having experienced this or knowing people who have who have loved it.