I was boiling last night, it's like sleeping in a sauna. You can't escape the heat. I swear she moved closer to me throughout the night, adding her body heat to the mix. I was in a tank top and my scrubs by the morning and my b-mom asked if I was hot. Haha, yes! She then went to put the comforter back on me. hmph.
The guest house has a main hall way of concrete going down the middle of the building, with individual rooms on each side. Off their room is the main kitchen that has a separate hall going to the main hallway.
Each room has their own sliding doors where you take your shoes off coming into the room. This isn't the easiest thing so once I just walked down the concrete hallway with my socks on because it's way easier than walking in flip flops with no braces. They told me not to. They found some flip flops that were way too big, or some tiny pink ones with cartoons ... I chose the big ones. Once they turned around I'd kick them off and just carry them to the room I was going to. They actually had "a talk" with me about the shoes thing. Spurred by my b-mother of course. The floors in the hallway are concrete so I understand they were dirtier than inside an actual house. But my b-father told me "Megan. When you walk outside, wear shoes. No socks".
We had breakfast together with my grandparents. My b-grandfather said I was a good eater. He was way more interactive with me from then on. I was also a little happier after sleeping and ready to start a new day. I should say there are not breakfast foods as there are in the US.
Basically what you have for breakfast you will have again for dinner, but more. There was more patting, more talking in Korean. I usually tune out and just watch TV soap operas when they're on. I'm getting pretty good at inferring what's happening. Many hearts are broken that's for sure.
My b-father and I left to go site seeing. Just down the road was a well with a special mineral water that Cheongsong is known for. It's like Talking Rain but all natural.
I'll have to look that one up to find out why that happens. We then drove up to a waterfall which was not satisfactory in my fathers eyes. I made him stop and take a picture anyways.
We then went to a lake that I'm sure in the summer would be beautiful. My b-father was also disappointed with this since nothing is green yet. Still, we took pictures. The mountains here have the fog lifting off of them. It's beautiful. My b-dad is impressed with my ability of taking pictures of myself myself. He asked how I do it, I just answered "practice". My b-mother called 5 times over 3 hour period. She worries. The lake was about 1km walk which is not too bad honestly. I can honestly say one of the conversations my parents had was about whether I should walk this distance or not. My b-father I can tell is coming over to my side a little, he is less forceful with food, and sort of lets me do things how I need to. My b-mother ... I don't think she'll ever get there. But we went anyways, and I walked to the lake just fine.
We got back to the mineral water well, where a water festival was going on. Basically a bunch of men in traditional dress blessing the water. My b-grandmother and mother were there also but sort of stand-off ish. My b-mother gave me half an orange and then went back to the group of women she was talking to. My father and I went back to the guest house to eat lunch with my grandfather. My b-mom came in a little bit after with more food. I learned that my great aunt (grandmothers sister) was there and crying when she heard I was there also. They said I might meet her at dinner. My b-uncle came for lunch also, didn't really try talking to me this time, but it was fun seeing my mother and he interact.
After lunch and sharing a couple beers, and by sharing I mean having 1 tiny glass of beer each, we were off to my parents country house. I was put inside with the heating pad and comforters since the boiler was still not all the way warmed up.
My b-parents went outside to work in the yard. So. I watched tv, took pictures of the house, and napped. When all else fails, napping is the answer. My b-mother came in to feed me, and nap with me also. We were supposed to go to Juwangsan mountain but my great aunt and uncle were coming instead. That was fine with me, since mountains are usually not my friend.
We went back to the guest house to find not my great aunt and uncle, but my b-mom's cousin's wife and her son. Who by the way is adorable. I know I say that about every Asian baby, but we Koreans have cute kids. He's 16 months old and full of personality. My mother, grandmother and cousin's wife disappeared for a while. My father and I again hung out with my grandfather. They found Game of Thrones on tv, which I've never watched before but was happy to understand something for once. Then was dinner. My grandmother's restaurant is famous for it's chicken dish, which seemed to me to just be boiled chicken. Still tasty though. It was though one of the few times I've had chicken here. Mostly it's beef, pork, or seafood.
We were getting ready for bed, and in walks my great aunt, uncle, cousin, cousin's wife, and baby. And by getting ready for bed I mean I had toothpaste around my mouth and my hair was wet when I had another crying Korean woman in front of me. I also didn't have my braces on so anyone touching me at that point was off limits. I tried to make myself look more presentable as quickly as possible. She started pulling me towards the main room and I snapped my arm away from her. I felt like it was probably rude to do that, but too bad. My braces weren't on, and I was wearing flip-flops 10 sizes too big for me because they won't let me walk around in just socks. Anyone pulling me anywhere would have gotten the same reaction.
It was like being the new puppy that everyone wants to play with. Thankfully the cute baby was there also, to take some of the spotlight off me. Everyone kept telling him to hug me, kiss me, and tell me he loves me. Poor kid. I think we both had the same reaction, "who is this strange person and why would I want to kiss him/her?" He's so freaking adorable though. He started out with a high five, then would pat me, and by the end of the night he actually did kiss me on the cheek. I thought everyone in the room was about to faint over how cute it was. My aunt looked on the verge of tears, which my mom also caught on to, made some remark, and got deserving whacked in the arm. I don't know what was said, but I can imagine. They asked when I would be coming back, I said soon, and again, was told I should learn Korean.
We ended up staying there again and not going back to the country house because my mom wanted to be warm. And by warm she meant boiling again. She said I was too hot the night before but still gave me the down comforter. Another hot night.
No comments:
Post a Comment