the logans have landed

august was both growing and stretching, filling and emptying: parents and brother coming to visit, seeing parts of korea i haven't seen yet. 

let me begin with the adventures of having the logan clan join me in this place i'm calling home for another year. i was terrified at first. worrying about catching public transportation that had become second nature and feeding the family (because i order from pictures most of the time) and having cab drivers cooperate with me. well, we made it.  

picked them up from the airport on a wednesday. dropped them off at their hotel near city hall. went back home again because it was in the middle of camp week. while gone, they visited palaces and set foot in north korea. friday night, went up to stay. in seoul for two days: ate mandu, visited namsan tower, ate bimimbap, went to a baseball game (go nexen!), took the subway, caught a bus, and ate scones at starbucks. 

with a three hour bus-ride on a rainy sunday afternoon to the rocky east coast town of sokcho. close to seoraksan national park.  it was foggy, it was dreary, but we filled our bellies with all you can eat barbecue and laughed while the bossy adjummas kept yelling and "helping" us. ventured to seoraksan park to see and seek and find. we climbed to ulsanbawi. the view was white and the stairs were numerous. afterwards, with our extra energy we hiked to waterfalls, bridges running back and forth across a canyon. slippery stairs. suspension bridges.

after another bus ride and another day in seoul, we took the bullet train to busan, on the south coast of korea. buddhist temple, cooling our toes in a rushing stream and rocky garden, fortress walls, three beds squeezed into our small hotel room making a family sleepover, beachy walks, and the cutest little pub where we ate bulgogi pizza. 

flew to jeju. for the waterfalls and for hallasan. for seaside walks. for the bridges. and the adventure. for the hiking, for the island, for the wonder. for the lights, and the nature, for the volcano. the meals here were fabulous, the views were delightful, the art galleries reminded me of michigan with sea glass and drift wood all strung together with fishing line. things i would do back home. being touristy, the wind blowing. walking everywhere. hiking hallasan, still couldn't see anything. up and down quickly to save mom from waiting. following maps. jeju-do.

                                      

home to sinchang. meeting nim. my dark hallway. my small apartment. full of people and full of things. nester. not enough seating or rooms for them all. laughter. rain. eating at mother of pearl. sending them off in a taxi. cat cafes and chicken galbi fried rice. taking them to funky cafes for after dinner drinks. visiting school. sharing my life here with them.

 sharing with them was everything. showing them my nooks and crannies. welcoming them to my nest and my out-of-the-way town. exploring roads i hadn't been town, to cities i hadn't seen. making new memories of old places. finding treasures in sk. so grateful for the effort of coming here. seeing me. squeezing time out of this week and a half. having them here was everything. having them here filled me so. i was proud to show them. having them leave, saying goodbye, left me empty. thinking about the next year was hard. impossible. a whole year. alone again. and i remember the fullness of them being here.

 xx