Meeting with Yunsu and his wife

I fulfilled one of my first goals of the study abroad semester. I had planned that when I fly to South Korea, I will visit Mama's family to get to know them better.

So I met with Yun Su and his wife in Suwon. Suwon is a beautiful city in the south of Seoul and is also huge. The night before, I spontaneously went out with my roommates, so the journey passed relatively quickly in sleep. When I arrived at the train station, I went eagerly to the entrance hall where we had arranged to meet. We were both very surprised when we recognized each other immediately - he more so, as he was amazed by my height. The last time we had seen each other, I was still a little kid and he was in his early 30s. Afterwards, we drove to the city center and talked about everything, which turned out to be relatively difficult at times, as his English is very broken and my Korean is zero :D Fortunately, Papago, a translation app, always helped us out of tight spots.

He first showed me his favorite chicken restaurant, where he ordered a huge portion for us (perfect for the slight hangover). Afterwards, we visited the Suwon Palace, which he had never seen before. The palace was used by the king for birthdays and special occasions. As a highlight, we were able to watch a training show of the guards, where guards showed their skills with short knives to guards with branches with blades.

Then we took a walk on the mountain, where we went archery. We were allowed to shoot 9 arrows at a dragon, and Yun Su and I hit it only once each... the arrows were crooked!

With red fingers, we walked along the city wall, from which you had a beautiful view over Suwon and where there was a small lake. The lake is very popular, so Koreans meet there in masses to have picnics, take wedding photos, or have a date. You really have to admit that Koreans are well equipped for dates: trolleys, padded camping blankets, chairs, speakers, glasses, noodle soup+hot water, and most importantly: a camera tripod.

When it was already afternoon and we longed for a break, we went to a great cafe and had a delicious coffee with sweet pastries.

Afterwards, Yun Su insisted on driving me back to Seoul so that he could show his wife Itaewon as well. So we ended up in Itaewon in the evening and I showed them around my neighborhood. We finished with a delicious samgyupsal.

All in all, it was a very nice day and I look forward to seeing them again!