Thankful for more visitors

We were delighted that our friends from Jakarta, Julie & Ryan, decided to come visit us over Thanksgiving. We were neighbors, Brian & Ryan hunkered down together during the evacuation and Julie was my boss at the embassy. Macy and Julie have always had a special connection and she has been a mentor to Tate through the whole college application process. So we all delighted to be spending a holiday here with Ryan and "Auntie Julie."

They arrived from the Philippines early on Wednesday morning. Not a big time change, but an overnight flight always makes for a sleepy afternoon, so we headed out to hike Pinnacle 4. They loved the random exercise equipment- 

View from the top-

Julie and Ryan were very interested in why we had "marshmallows" in all the rice fields- 

Wednesday night we headed out for a proper Korean bbq dinner, with beer & soju-

Thanksgiving morning we all headed out to to the Turkey Trot on post-

Like the socks?

In 2020 Julie planned a turkey trot for our neighborhood,  and one neighbor had these socks. So when I was working with her in 2021, we planned a larger turkey trot for the embassy and desperately wanted to get these socks for our event, but we just couldn't make it happen. So when I told her we would be doing a turkey trot here, so bought us all the socks!

Even Sparky came along for his first ever 5K-

Macy's shirt-

She chose Sparky, I added "my mom"

Sam and Tate-

The XC crew-

After the run, we came home and our chef took a few minutes to enjoy the calm before the storm-

Cheers to friendship here, there and everywhere we go-

Our neighbors, the Moses-Stahley's also joined us for dinner- 

And for dessert and games, my cousin came- 

This summer I learned that my mother's cousin, LouAnn, has a daughter, Kayla, who is in the Air Force and stationed just 30 minutes away at Osan AFB. So I reached out to her and we hoped to meet up. Then summer turned to fall and suddenly it was the week before Thanksgiving and she popped into my mind. So I invited her and her husband, Donald, and they said yes! They were the perfect addition to game night and we all laughed each time Julie called her "New Cuz." 

Friday morning we headed up to Suwon to hike the fortress and have lunch. The sky was sunny and clear, but man was it cold! The feels like temp was in the 30's and Julie & Ryan haven't lived in winter-like temps for a decade.

Friday night we went to soju tasting-

Here we are with our favorites, and the owner-

Saturday morning we packed up and headed up to the DMZ

We toured the tunnel and visited the Dora Observatory- 

This was the 3rd time we have been there and today was the BEST view yet! The sky was blue and clear, so we could see right into N Korea like we've never seen before.

We checked into the Dragon Hill Lodge and then headed to Itaewon for lunch-

It was so fun not only showing them South Korea, but also our military life. They have never really been exposed to military life, and certainly not life as it is here. They were blown away with all that Camp Humphreys has, and Dragon Hill Lodge too!

I wanted to do one new thing on this trip to Seoul- visit the Bukchon Hanok Village- 

Bukchon Hanok Village is a residential neighborhood which has many restored traditional Korean houses, called hanok. This has made it a popular tourist destination, which has caused some friction with the residents who live there.The area of Bukchon, was traditionally the residential quarter of high-ranking government officials and nobility during the Joseon period. It is located north of the stream Cheonggyecheon and Jongno, hence named Bukchon, which means north village. People currently still live in the area; in 2016 it was reported that 3,534 people live in the village. Tourists greatly outnumber residents, which has caused some friction. Some residents have put up signs that discourage tourists from loitering near their homes. The Seoul tourism website advises visitors to keep noise levels to a minimum, avoiding littering, keeping group sizes small (fewer than 10 people per group), and respecting the privacy of each home. According to data 30,000 people visited the area in 2007. However, after the village was featured in television programmes, the number rose to 318,000 in 2010. Between October 2016 and June 2017, the Tourism Research institute reported that an estimated 37,100 people visited during the week and 54,200 people visited on weekends.

I really had no idea what to expect, but when we arrived at almost dusk, we noticed tourist guides walking around and they explained that the area is closed to tourists after dark, because it is a residential area. So we did not get to spend as much time as I would have liked to there, but we did love what we saw and have vowed to return and explore more.

The foliage was just on fire taht day-

There were some very sweet and quaint shops throughout the village and some cafes too. But the best was this cute old guy (COG) who was cooking up roasted sweet potatoes-

Ryan LOVES kimchi. Sadly, we had no idea that this place existed, or we would have booked him a class-

Which one Julie?

Saturday night we went on a night market food tour. Worms?

Sneaky Julie somehow managed to buy candles, lighter and a tiny crown at the subway stop and surprised me during one of the market food stops with an early happy birthday mung bean panckae (one of my korean favs) cake- 

After the tour we found a swanky cocktail bar and I wore my crown proudly-

When I asked Julie & Ryan what they wanted to see/do here, they said they were happy with anything. Then they got off the plane and Ryan said he had something to add to the itinerary- a kimchi museum! So off we went Sunday morning to find the Kimchi museum-

It was actually a big win! And they had several types of kimchi to sample- 

While walking off the beaten path (Brian is the BEST navigator) we stumbled upon a little Christmas market-

Lunch stop was to our favorite "silky noodle" shop in Myeongdong. Julie captured all their Michelin awards on the way in-

Quick stop in Namdaemun market-

And then we headed out to hike up to Seoul Tower. Is it this way Mr Navigator?

Nope. But we found it- 

And on the way down, off the beaten path again, we found a greta view-

And as the sun was setting, we dropped Julie & Ryan off at the subway, where they found their way to the airport solo. It was an AMAZING trip! Working for USAID, Ryan has spent his whole career living overseas. They have friends stationed all around the world.  We were so honored that they chose to spend their thanksgiving here in South Korea with us McCulloughs. I really hated to have them leave and only wished for more time together.