Minnesotans in Korea

During my vacation in January, my dad and sister came to visit me in Korea for two weeks. They were interested in seeing Seoul, so we spent the first week there, and then went back to Daegu. My dad became obsessed with "Gangnam Style" shortly before coming and often asked random Korean people if they knew it, before proceeding to sing it (badly) and do the dance. Most laughed and some actually joined him. Anyway, that obsession is what led to us actually staying in Gangnam in Seoul. We spent most of the week pretty much just exploring the area and trying out different restaurants.

Outside Incheon airport right after they arrived. Annie wasn't used to the lack of personal space in Korea and start cracking up when a Korean lady lined up super close to her for the bus terminal. 

Our first meal together in Korea. They gave us aprons to keep our clothes from smelling like meat. 

Our first restaurant sitting on the floor. 

Korean barbecue with a turtle grill.

Also in Gangnam, we went to Coex, a huge underground mall. There, we went to the aquarium and kimchi museum. It was actually a pretty impressive aquarium. Here are some pictures:

Kimchi Museum...that's not a real person.

Annie and I went out a few nights in Seoul, too. She could legally drink here, so that was cool. 

 We were in Seoul for New Years. They had these big balls lining the streets and guys would give you markers to write your new years wishes on them. At midnight they were released into the sky. We didn't see that though, because we met some people from Daegu in Hongdae. 

New years drinks!

This place was kind of cool. You get your own little room with a TV and MP3 speakers. We were later joined by a SUPER drunk Korean girl and her guy friend. She was a mess but really nice and kind of funny.

 At most coffee shops in Korea, you can find dessert waffles like this. Annie and I made it our goal to have one every day they were here...

We also went to other places in Seoul like Itaewon and Insadong. I'll add more pictures later when I have my camera. Annie probably has some too. For now, here are some random pictures we took of ourselves...

After a week in Seoul, we took the KTX back to Daegu. It was nice because Daegu was a lot warmer than Seoul and I'm more familiar with the city. In Daegu, we went to more restaurants and visited Palgongsan Mountain to see the big Buddah statue. We accidentally went for a hike before we figured out where the temple was... 

Buddah statue at Palgongsan

We also tried this virtual reality thing that I had walked by tons of times but never did. We ended up doing it more than 10 times while they were here. Annie and I LOVED it. My dad only did it with us like twice. It was this little four person cart thing and you choose which ride you want, they give you 3D glasses, and the thing moves around with the video. The best ones are the roller coasters. 

Outside the virtual reality thing. The Santa chipmunk dances...

As fun as that was, probably the best part was dinner and drinks with my friends. For my birthday, my dad treated everyone to barbecue one night. After that, we went to Traveler's (the big foreigner bar) for drinks. My friends really liked him and Annie and it was just a really good time. 

Just 13 of my closest friends...

It was really great to see some of my family, especially right around Christmas and my birthday, and I'm glad they got a chance to see what I've been up to and meet some of my friends. It would have been better if Seoul had been warmer, but overall, it was a good time. 

Speaking of "Gangnam Style"...I present PSY's newest hit:

Artist: PSY

Song: Gentleman

Album: Gentleman (Single)

Released: April 2013