Korea Day 1

Originally, we thought we were travelling on Friday.  Thankfully my friend saw on our itinerary that we left on Thursday.  This came as a surprise to all of us!  So, rearrange work, get to packing, add in a stomach virus for me and Olivia and we are now here in Korea!!!  Whew!  We left at 3:30 Thursday morning to head to my parent's house.  We loaded up and got to the airport by 4:30.  While going up the escalator, dad's bags got caught and apparently instead of letting go, he held on.  What happens when you hold onto something still on the ground and you are moving upward?  Yep, you guessed it!  He was on his back like a turtle going up the elevator.  The two men behind him got his bag and the other helped him up.  Gracious, we can't even get out of Nashville!  We got a really good laugh out of this!!  And, yes, he is ok.   It took forever to check in.  I think the lady went on break or something!  John and I had not gone to bed the night before and I was still not 100% so my patience was limited, but we got checked in and settled to wait for our flight.  When we arrived in Dallas, we went from beautiful sunshine above the clouds to clouds and spitting snow! 

Before landing, our pilot said, "please turn all electronics off as I will be making a category 3 landing today if all goes well.  The clouds were so thick.  When he came out of the fog/clouds we literally were on the ground.  Amazing!  However, please don't tell me that you are doing a difficult landing!  Just fly the plane!  Brag later dude!!

We had a short layover in Dallas and then it was on to Korea. 

 

This was our first time to fly American and I gotta say, it wasn't bad.  The flight was the smoothest one we have had so far!  It didn't look like as big of plane as ones we have been on previously, but it was good. 
We were all tired by the time we got from the airport to our hotel so we ate and went to bed. 

Yesterday we woke up and got ready to head out to our yummy waffle place across the street.  On Saturday's they don't seem to get up and moving very quickly.  It doesn't open until 11 so we walked around for and when we went back, it still was closed.  We were bummed and hungry.  We decided to just eat at the Paris Baguette.  It is good, but not what we were after. 
Dad decided to nap at the hotel and the rest of us went to Namdaemum.  It was somewhat nice out (31 F) with the sun shining and low wind.  We enjoyed the afternoon just taking our time and walking in different areas.  I have always shown what the main market looks like, but I got a pic of the inside of one of the areas this time.  Each "gate" of Namdaemum has a different theme.  Children's clothing, kitchen/housewares, women's, etc.  This picture is in the children's area. 

See how small of a space she has to work?  Barely enough room to sit back there!  She will climb over the counter to get out. 

The walkway here isn't wide enough for two to pass by.  You literally have to lean on the table in front of you for someone to pass.  The bags out down the aisle are more clothes/inventory. 

The salesperson was not in her area at the moment....you can see more of how it is arranged here. 

Another lady in her booth working.  I have no idea how they all stay in business.  Some of the people working make it hard to shop.  Basically putting the clothing on you or telling you how much something is when you are just looking.  I don't enjoy that, but we only had a couple of those yesterday. 

 

We went in a cute store that we hadn't seen and there was a robot outside.  Olivia was hesitant, but she let us take her picture with it. 

 

The sun had gone behind some clouds and the wind was picking up.  It was cold and we know we are going to be out a lot.  So, when in Korea, do as the Koreans do, right?!  We got Olivia a mask to keep the wind and cold off her face.  I didn't think she would wear it, but she.loved.it!!!!

 

I wanted to take her picture with it on, but she said, "you can't see me smile!" and pulled it down. 

 

So I grabbed a quick picture as she was walking by. 

 

We got back to our hotel and just hung out for a bit.  This is an outfit that I got here last month when we were here.  So comfy! 

 

I got lots of these pictures....I really had to work for the one above!

 

We were beginning to try to figure out what to do next.  What did we want to eat when I picked up my phone and had several messages from my sister.  I couldn't get her and our minds knew something was wrong from her messages.  It was 2:30 a.m. at home and I began scrolling through facebook to see if anything popped up that she might be trying to tell us.  I honestly thought this was a lost cause, but then I saw it.  John's cousin had unexpectedly passed.  I didn't believe it and read it out loud without thinking.  What a horrible way to find out. John's mom wanted to be the one to tell him, but unfortunately, we found out this way. 

I then thought that our nieces might be awake.  I messaged them and yep, they were awake.  We immediately skyped them and they were able to fill us in.  John and his cousin Jason grew up only a month apart in age.  It doesn't seem possible.  We have discussed options as far as what to do.  I am leaving it up to John.  We can get him home, but he also wants to be here.  Please pray for our family over the next few days as we lost a wonderful member and gain a new member.  We are still in disbelief.