Today was our last day in Seoul and some of the staff and families will be leaving for home tomorrow.
We had a free day! We spent the day roaming around Seoul. We first went to Namdaemun Market which is a traditional Korean market. This area is lined with small shops on the street and shops inside the buildings. The buildings remind us a little bit of US department stores except the buildings contain individual businesses. The teens on the trip were all determined to buy a pair of nice sunglasses. Each adoptee also had the option to purchase a pendant with their Korean names carved into it (much like the ones Dede wears). Max found a nice chain to hold his pendant.
Our farewell dinner was held at a traditional Korean restaurant. The food came out in many courses. We couldn't keep up! Everything was delicious, from the pumpkin porridge that came out as the appetizer to the rice/bean cakes that was our dessert. We loved it all and it was all safe for Max and Dede to eat too!
Here are the photos with a few captions along the way.
- Kurt and Dede
Namdaemun Market
The Seoul Nike store is a popular place. People line up for hours before the store opens to reserve a time to customize their Nike Seoul gear. We just shopped off of the rack.
We found a traditional restaurant that specializes in our favorite... bibimbop.
As we walked between shops, we made a side trip to find Starkey's Seoul office.
We visited the HUGE Kyobo book store. On our first trip, we bought a book/toy that sang a few children's songs in Korean. This time, Max bought a 4x4 Rubix cube that is keeping him busy.
The staff gave each adoptee an award. Max won the King Sejong Award for his exemplary use of the Korean language while on the trip!
Of course, Max was the only adoptee to give an acceptance speech for his award.
Peter, a police officer from St. Paul, was the staff member assigned to this crazy group of teen boys. He named them his Five Amigos and they kept him busy. The boys really looked up to him and he led their Daewa (conversation) group time while the parents met separately. Peter did not travel with us to Jeju, so the boys were pretty emotional when they had to say goodbye to Peter.
To end the night, some of the older teens took the boys to one of the many shops that sell skincare here and gave them a lesson on how to take care of their skin the Korean way. Max learned that he should use an oil cleanser first, then a foaming cleanser, and then a good moisturizer. :)
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