Only 11 days left (June 6) until a flock of crockheads head for Korea to celebrate the traditional wedding ceremony of eldest son, Jeremy, and his new wife, Bomina. We'll be there a week and then come back, bringing Bomina with us. Ten days after that we'll have a reception here, the Lord willing and the restaurant doesn't lose our reservation again.
We'll have plenty of reinforcements in Seoul. Besides The Wife and both sons, we have Two Brothers, Two Sisters and Two In-Laws traveling with us. Chris is flying out of San Diego; the Two Sisters are flying out of Washington Dulles; the rest of us will leave from our local airport; transfer in Detroit and then head north (yes, north, not west as we go up over Alaska, the Arctic Circle and then head back down south on the other side of the world. Amazing, the way flat maps distort our perceptions.)
Our longest time in the air will be 13 hours from Detroit to Tokyo, where we will change planes for the short hop (2 and 1/2 hours) to Seoul. It will be close to 24 hours from the time we leave Willard Airport until we arrive in Seoul, although by Seoul time it will be more like 36 hours. (Since we cross the International Date Line, on the trip back, by official time we get here four hours after we leave Seoul.)
A day after we get there, we will have the traditional Korean ceremony on the grounds of a palace in Seoul. I'm a little surprised that although our new daughter-in-law and her family are devout Catholics, there is apparently not a requirement that the ceremony be in a cathedral, or even that a priest participate.
We will spend the weekend hanging around Seoul and then have an overnight at a Buddhist monastery on an island off the coast of Korea. Some time during our stay in Seoul, I want to visit the DMZ, although no one else in our party seems interested in the idea. I'm not sure why my fascination with the DMZ, other than I've been reading about it all my life, and our president has labeled it the most dangerous place on earth. (I doubt that statement is any more true than thousands of other lies he has told in the last six years, but I want to check it out for myself.)
I have a new laptop on its way from Dell, and, assuming it gets here on time, will try to give a day-by-day, if not hour by hour account of our trip for the blog. So, stay tuned. I'm getting excited.
8 comments:
Congratulations to you, your bride, and everybody else. I hope you have a safe trip and have interesting but digestible things to eat. I hope your computer works over there, as I'm looking forward to seeing your reports.
John,
We enjoy reading your blogs. Hope you have a fun trip to Korea - including the DMZ.
How exciting! have a great time and take lots of pics!
John,
I'll be checking your blog for updates of your Korea trip. Have a lot of fun. Is your sister Joann going to be with you?
I hear that there's fantastic birding in the DMZ. Best wishes to all involved, and we'll eagerly await your impressions.
If you make it there, I think you'll find the DMZ very interesting. I visited it in 1995, and I can honestly say it's like no place I've ever been. North Korean and South Korean soldiers, weapons in hand, stare at each other from either side of the line. It's quite intense.
Thanks for all of your comments. The Dell laptop made it and I've been busy getting it set up.
Linda, Jo Ann, who prefers to call herself "The Sensible One," (although we have other family members who think they deserve that title) is going with us, even though her oldest daughter is getting married just two weeks after we get back. So, I'm thankful for her support in going half way around the world when she could be home worrying about her daughter's wedding.
Lydia, what do you mean there's "fantastic birding" in the DMZ? Is that why both sides are peering through the binoculars? Do birds know the space is demilitarized so they won't be shot at? Who goes into the DMZ looking at birds? I think you're pulling my leg, but I will keep an eye out for the birds. I would hate for one to "Bush" me.
Less than a week now... have a fabulous trip, John. Best wishes to the bride and groom!
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