Our Joy Filled Journey: Meeting the Nam Family

Around 3:45pm, Mr. Nam, Hoon and Brian arrived at the SWS guest house to pick us up. He had arranged for a rental van to be dropped off so we could all travel together. In Korea, Kia makes a nine passenger mini-van called the Carnival - perfect for our combined families, at least at this time.

The drive back to Mr. Nam's city of Goyan took some time as we had to patiently wait through Seoul's traffic jams. I don't think I'd want to drive in Seoul -- too stressful. It was likely worse than normal because many people were heading out of town for a four day weekend. In Korea, May 5th is Children's Day. And this year, on May 6, a special holiday was declared by the Korean government. Mr. Nam said that part of the reason was to help stimulate the economy as it has been sluggish. Brian had finished mid-term exams so he had the days off of school so it ended up being a perfect time for us to visit.

Mr. Nam's apartment complex.

Mr. Nam's apartment building has a guest house and he had arranged for us to stay there. We dropped our luggage off and then left for dinner at a nearby restaurant that is known for its bulgogi. Bulgogi is a Korean dish of thin strips of marinated, grilled meat. In many restaurants, there is a small grill in the table where you can cook the meat yourself. Our family has enjoyed bulgogi many times, even making it at our home, but this bulgogi was probably the best we'e ever had. The meat was tender, juicy and filled with wonderful flavor. A traditional Korean meal comes with many sides and this was no different with soups, several types of Kimchi, salad and more.

After our delicious dinner, we walked around outside in the pleasantly cool spring evening. In the area behind the restaurant, people were gathered around fire pits listening to a musical performance. We lingered for a while and then went to a local store for a few minutes and then headed back to Mr. Nam's guest house. We needed to get some rest because we had a busy day planned for tomorrow.