Daegu and Our Long Lost Family
We woke up ready for adventure! Neither one of us could sleep past 5am, so we figured we might as well get up and get ready to leave for Daegu. It was Jean's birthday and we were hoping for a happy memorable one. You'll just have to read more if you want to find out how it all turned out. . .
Because we had had such a hard time finding the hotel, we decided to use the extra morning hours to venture out of the hotel and find the nearest subway station. It would be our first time using it and I know I was feeling a little apprehensive about making the scheduled departure train time. We were scheduled to meet the family at the DongDaegu Train Station at 10am. We were supposed to arrive at the station at 9:36am, so it gave us a little buffer.
We did find the subway station (and the homeless drunks catching the first morning rays of light) and it was hot. Did I mention the many many stairs for us to descend with our large luggage? So we opted for a taxi ride instead. It would prove to be a wise choice for ~$4. Our Korean Michael Bolton heaved our luggage into the back of the taxi like it was nothing. Out of all the taxi drivers we would experience, he was definitely the nicest and least creepy (more of that later).
Our taxi dropped us off at Seoul Station and we frantically tried to find our departure area. The train station wasn't as American-user friendly as Incheon airport, but with a little common sense, we were able to find the right place. We rode the KTX to DongDaegu Station in about 1.5 hours and we got our first glimpse of the beautiful countrysides of Korea.
Now, I love the Southern United States with all it's beautiful greenery and little rolling hills near TN and NC as much as the next Southerner, but South Korea is in a different category altogether. Definitely an agrarian area, I cannot adequately describe the range of green hues I experienced. The mountains, the stair-stepped rice patty fields, the various other plants growing intermingled with large city buildings and small village areas. It was so picturesque. I loved passing the sides of the mountains and seeing the various burial mounds that lay cut out on the sides of the mountains. It was a picture of serenity and beauty.
The calm feeling I got from looking out the window helped me prepare myself to meet my family. I had such a good feeling. I must admit, before we left for Korea, I tried to prepare for the worst. I didn't want to have my hopes up high to be crushed by family that didn't want to have anything to do with some foreign daughters. I thought that maybe they would think I had an ulterior motive. That I was trying to use them or that I was wasting their time. I hadn't heard from my Uncle Il Su's granddaughter, so I thought maybe that lack of communication meant there was a lack of concern.
But as we arrived at the station, all prior negative anxieties vanished. The day was a beautiful one. Only tiny butterflies nestled in my tummy. I was so excited!
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| Where did all the people go? |
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| Outside the Metro Hotel |
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| I discovered the glorious banana milk |
Because we had had such a hard time finding the hotel, we decided to use the extra morning hours to venture out of the hotel and find the nearest subway station. It would be our first time using it and I know I was feeling a little apprehensive about making the scheduled departure train time. We were scheduled to meet the family at the DongDaegu Train Station at 10am. We were supposed to arrive at the station at 9:36am, so it gave us a little buffer.
We did find the subway station (and the homeless drunks catching the first morning rays of light) and it was hot. Did I mention the many many stairs for us to descend with our large luggage? So we opted for a taxi ride instead. It would prove to be a wise choice for ~$4. Our Korean Michael Bolton heaved our luggage into the back of the taxi like it was nothing. Out of all the taxi drivers we would experience, he was definitely the nicest and least creepy (more of that later).
Our taxi dropped us off at Seoul Station and we frantically tried to find our departure area. The train station wasn't as American-user friendly as Incheon airport, but with a little common sense, we were able to find the right place. We rode the KTX to DongDaegu Station in about 1.5 hours and we got our first glimpse of the beautiful countrysides of Korea.
Now, I love the Southern United States with all it's beautiful greenery and little rolling hills near TN and NC as much as the next Southerner, but South Korea is in a different category altogether. Definitely an agrarian area, I cannot adequately describe the range of green hues I experienced. The mountains, the stair-stepped rice patty fields, the various other plants growing intermingled with large city buildings and small village areas. It was so picturesque. I loved passing the sides of the mountains and seeing the various burial mounds that lay cut out on the sides of the mountains. It was a picture of serenity and beauty.
But as we arrived at the station, all prior negative anxieties vanished. The day was a beautiful one. Only tiny butterflies nestled in my tummy. I was so excited!
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