Lost Seoul

Yang and I are with the kids in downtown Seoul wondering where our hotel is. The only thing we are sure of is we don't know where it is. I am wondering around the corner like a bird with a clipped wing looking for a wifi signal while simultaneously yelling at Elisa not to play with the traffic. Eventually I give up and go into the cramped coffee shop, order an Americano, and slurp wifi.

Hotel located on Google maps I punch up walking directions and start to walk. The little blue error indicates I am walking in the wrong direction so I correct course and the family follows. If only life was that easy. Aidan is pulling the big suitcase while I have his snowboard. Yang, a few days after having surgery to repair her left arm, is keeping Lydia and Elisa on her right side. The hotel turns out to be about a half mile walk and somehow we all make it into the lobby in one piece.

Yang had booked the trip to coincide with the end of snowboard season for her and Aidan. Me and the girls were mostly along for the ride. Then Yang ended up breaking her arm but the trip was paid for so we went anyway with at least Aidan getting some boarding time. Two things become apparent about Seoul upon arrival. First, there were a lot of coffee shops. Second, there wasn't a lot of English spoken.

On the morning of our second day and with directions in hand, Aidan and Yang headed out for the slopes while me and the girls headed for Dunkin Donuts. Yes, that Dunkin Donuts. While Elisa and Lydia had a donut and I sipped coffee I looked up what to do with kids in Seoul. I found an amusement park on the other side of town and after our respective fortifications we headed out. A 15 minute walk followed by a 30 minute subway ride followed by a 10 minute walk had us inside the amusement park. Lydia and Elisa loved it. Meanwhile, Yang and Aidan could not seem to find the bus that would take them to the slopes so they gave up and returned to the hotel. I gently let Yang know that now she knows what it's like for me in Beijing. In fact, since I've lived here so long and still am illiterate I've developed some skills at getting by. Those skills helped me find the amusement part and make sure the girls were well taken care of even if it meant buying those dorky bow hats.

Yang and Aidan eventually met us at the amusement park although they didn't go inside. Instead we shopped a bit before heading to a Korean BBQ dinner. Dinner was a little bit hard to order because the language issue until a nearby patron took pity on us and translated from English to Korean for us. I think the wait staff would have quite happy if we had just left and again I was reminded of life in Beijing.

On Sunday morning the spring turned cold and we huddled in a coffee shop before heading to the airport. No skiing on this trip. A lot of BBQ. A lot of coffee. A lot of not feeling lost even through you are indeed lost.