This picture cracks me up...

(Lindsey, I think we now know where I get my "playa" tendencies...)

Webcam

K: I've never really thought of myself as a webcam kinda girl, but Sang Kwan has repeatedly asked me if I had one and the last time we chatted, even ordered me to "go get one tomorrow."

So... being the obedient little sister, Mark and I purchased one and hooked it up. But when we try to do a web chat with Sang Kwan and Emily it didn't seem to be working. Anyone have any advice about this? (In case it helps, we have the Microsoft VX-6000.)

New Picture

K: Chatted with Sang Kwan this weekend and he sent me this picture of him and Emily in Hong Kong. Can't wait to be there in the picture with them!

Buzzing with excitement

K: I emailed my brother Sang Kwan to let him know that the tickets are bought and we will finally get to meet. His email back was so touching and his excitement is so apparent.

"Kim; That's a really good news for me .souds like you will be coming as soon as possible .oh MY GOD ! I can"t control my felling! I hope that the day is tomorrow. Maybe we can spend it in New year 's Day ! Now my best wishes is study english .if i can't speak it .i can't talk to you more .so iam so afraid! that's a imporint things for me this year !you bless me OK ? sang kwun"

Mark and I also need to start our Korean lessons ASAP. We have decided that we will commit to lessons every Sunday (at least). Though it's hard to stay on top of this, the ability to communicate with Sang Kwan will make it worth it! And he's making such an effort to learn English, I'd love to at least say a few things to him in Korean also! Can you imagine the surprised look on his face when we walk off the plane and say "Hello, nice to finally meet you" in Korean?!?!?

Korean Food: First Impression

K: We decided to celebrate our purchasing of the tickets by going out to eat this past Saturday night. What better time to try our first Korean meal? Our choices for Korean restaurants in St. Louis our somewhat limited, but we were advised to try The Korean Restaurant (not kidding, that is the actual name of the place) by a Korean friend of ours. It is supposed to be very authentic and is located at Olive and Fee Fee.

Well we ended up trying it and really liked it. We took some pictures of the place --- for you guys. And of the food --- for us, so we can remember what we liked/didn't like. We highly suggest trying it!

This was the outside of the restaurant - not overly impressive. But Mark and I have decided that the shabbier many Asian restaurants look, the better the food.



Though we didn't sit at one, you can request to sit at a table with a hotplate. They also bring this wok-like grill to the table to cook your food and keep it hot. From some of our Korea research, this seems to be a very popular style of eating over there. We'll be requesting a table like this next time.

Koreans typically serve a bunch of sides with their meals. This restaurant brought out these six side dishes, which we found very tasty. Mark especially liked the two middle dishes, although we still aren't sure what the one in the middle-right was. The one closest to us is Kim Chi, which is a staple dish served with every meal.

This was the appetizer we ordered. It is the Korean version of a sushi roll, only it had meat in it and wasn't served with soy sauce. We can't remember the name, but think it was Kim Bop?

Finally, the entrees. Mark got the Korean spare rib dish. I got the Korean BBQ (which I liked so much I forgot to take a picture). The meat was already cut off the bone so you could use chop sticks to eat it.

We were very impressed. We think we chose "safe" dishes this time, and will try to be a little more adventurous next time around. If anyone would like to go with us, just say the word!

Signed, sealed, delivered... electronically

M&K: Since I started this blog, there's been a lot of talk, but the actual walk has been non-existent. Well... gulp... we purchased our plane tickets today! We've been checking the prices for airfare and were expecting to spend about $900 per person per way, but when we found tickets on www.cheapoair.com (an unbelievable resource for plane fares, by the way) for $455 it was too good to pass up. It's official. We'll be flying United Airlines, leaving Friday January 2, 2009.

Here's our approximate itinerary:

Friday, January 2, 2009
9:20 am: Depart from St. Louis. We will be excited and nervous, with grins from ear to ear. Mark will be doing some stretches to prepare for the marathon flight.

10:30 am: Arrive in Chicago for a 2 hour layover. Woohoo! One hour down, nineteen hours of traveling left! Let's get something to eat... oh and some Starbucks too. (Do they have Starbucks in Korea?) Meanwhile, Mark is limbering up with some yoga stretches in Terminal A.

12:45 pm: Depart Chicago. Bye bye USA! 12 hour flight... bring it on!

5:34 pm: Mark complains for the first time about his cramped knees and aching back. Kim asks for a heating pad and some earplugs.

Saturday, January 3, 2009
5:05 pm: Arrive in Tokyo, Japan for a 1 hour layover. Long past needing stretching, Mark heads straight to a massage parlor in Terminal B. Maybe steal a quick bite of sushi... compare Japanese airport sushi to what is available in St. Louis.

6:15 pm: Depart Tokyo for the last leg of our flight. We're just about there!

9:10 pm: Arrive in the homeland. Mark already notices stares and points from people amazed by his height. Both wonder what adventures lie ahead.... and where the hell is the baggage claim?

All in all, according to the travel itinerary, this trip will amount to 20 hours and 51 minutes of travel time. We saw some more expensive flights with 5-6 hours less travel time, but we thought the savings were worth the extra time. We decided with the money we save, we'll buy ourselves a few little treats (iPods, portable DVD player, books/magazines galore) to pass the time. Plus, we liked the idea of having two layovers to stretch our legs.

We would both like to thank everyone for their support with this process. All of the encouragement really makes this very scary decision so much easier. As always, we will keep you up to date with any news or developments.

Wedding bells

K: Sorry about my blog's hibernation, but haven't had any new news lately to share. BUT, just when I had gotten used to saying... "No, nothing new about Korea," I got a new email from Sang Kwan. I emailed him earlier this weekend to check in and to wish him a happy Korean new year. In the email, I also mentioned that Kevin is getting married in about a month.

Well, in his reply he said that since Kevin is getting married, I am probably expecting him to get married as well. (Maybe he did get that email awhile back when I asked if he had any marriage plans - haha.) Well, he said that he and Emily will get married when Mark and I are in Korea for a year and hoped I would be a part of it. How cool is that! And how funny is it that I could have both my brothers getting married within a year of each other!

Sang Kwan also mentioned that he had spent the Korean new year with family (my birth father has a ton of brothers and sisters, apparently). He hadn't seen them in 4 years, so they were able to catch up. He said they talked a lot about childhood, which is kind of interesting.

He also mentioned that he has more news to share and will email soon... I'll keep you posted!