Maternal Koreanism Part 1: The Arrival

My mom's trip to Korea started by falling down on a moving sidewalk, followed shortly by getting ripped off in a cab. The day was rounded off by spending the night in a hotel that we paid way too much for. Honestly, I'm a little surprised she didn't just turn around and go home.

The next day didn't start out too much better. We were awoken early by the pleasant sound of old men rummaging through trash. That's not as bad as it sounds. People in Korea get good money for turning in recyclables, so retired people often do it for something to do.

Having woken up, we headed for the subway. Traveling around Seoul (one of the most densely populated cities in the world) with three heavy pieces of luggage may sound like a good way to spend your first jet lagged morning in Korea, but mom didn't seem to enjoy it.

We decided to head to Daejon, but I couldn't leave Seoul without first checking out an English language book store. It wasn't too far out of the way. That was the highlight of the day...or I should say the highlight of MY day. Mom could probably buy English language books anytime she wanted.

The pleasantness continued as we had to stand on the train back to Daejon. It was Saturday, so all the seats were booked (unless we wanted to wait). It's a two hour trip. Could have been worse, we could have been forced to do pushups as well.

But, I must say, things really turned around for mom's visit when we actually made it to Daejon.