Saturday we got a taxi to the KTX (bullet train) station so we could head out to Busan to spend time with Uncle Ken and Aunt Diane! The train ride was about 3 hours. It was fun! Ken and Diane picked us up. Diane was right there at the station when we got there! We went over to their house and had some lunch and caught up, then drove out to Kyeong-ju for a branch conference that was happening the next day. We stopped at a pottery village that was so neat. We bought a couple bowls for our moms and Diane bought some serving dishes for her. We got to watch an old Korean man make a pot which was really cool. He showed us the kiln where he fires all his pots and his store where he sells them. It was really cool. There was one store that had a Korean man who was really excited by white people who could speak Korean so he grabbed Billy by the arm and was showing him all around his store. It was pretty funny.
 |
| Happy as a clam on the train |
 |
| Ken and Diane buying some awesome dishes |
 |
| I loved this ivy wall |
After the pottery village we headed to get some Chinese for dinner. Then we went to a corner mart and got some treats. Afterwards we went to the hotel and checked in, then went for a little walk with Diane. When we got back we fell asleep eating treats in bed...love it!
 |
| Some kittens and a protective mom cat on our walk! |
Interesting statues outside the hotel...
The next morning we got up early to have a very interesting breakfast at the hotel. Salad, kimchi, noodles...interesting for sure haha. There were a few normal things though too. After breakfast we had to drive a bit to the branch conference. It was fun for Billy to be there because he got to reconnect with the a man who was the ward mission leader in his second-to-last area who he really liked. He was being called as a branch presidency member in this small branch. He also recognized another woman who ended up being someone who served in the same mission as him 10 years ago! She was SO excited to see him, it was really fun. I just wish I knew how to speak Korean! She has two daughters and I got to hold her little baby. We had a good Sunday at church, then eating lunch there, then driving back to Ken and Diane's. Since we had had a late lunch, we had some chips and salsa for dinner and a big dessert of homemade pudding (for Father's day!). It was a fun day.
 |
| Outside church, with the mission leader from Billy's mission, now with 3 kids! |
Korean kids kill me...soooo cute!
 |
| Church was right under that Miller beer sign |
 |
| This man and his family stayed with my family when they were in San Diego |
 |
| Lunch |
 |
| There was this interesting little building and garden area right outside the church...I thought it was pretty |
 |
| Picture from Billy's mission with the sister missionary we saw (Billy is the tiny one on the left hehe) |
Monday our adventures began again! Diane came to us Sunday night and said we needed to get up on Monday at 5:15 am for Zumba with her, Sister Lee, and the AP missionaries. We were reluctant since we were still adjusting to the time difference, but we agreed. Oh boy was it fun! We went to this nearby park where they have a Zumba class for old Korean women (and anyone who wants to join) and we had an awesome time dancing around and laughing (and getting eaten alive by mosquitos...boo).
 |
| Billy got way into it...I was cracking up |
 |
| Diane, Sister Lee, and a random lady in pink |
 |
| The white guy is one of the missionaries...not very flexible I see |
 |
| The other missionary in the gray shirt |
 |
| Early morning |
 |
| A centipede we saw on our way back |
 |
| Walking back home |
After Zumba we got ready and headed to Costco with Ken and Diane (we love Costco, any time, any place!). They dropped us off at Hyeundae beach after, which is a famous beach in Korea. We were there for a bit (only Billy got in the water), then went to grab some lunch and head to Haedong Temple, which is a beautiful temple right on the ocean! Afterwards we headed home for dinner. We were supposed to go out for sam gyeop sal-- Billy's favorite but the restaurant had changed! So we went to a different one to get Japanese shabu shabu which was delicious and fun to eat. There was a giant wasp at dinner which was attacking me but Billy heroically smashed it with a napkin holder...yes this needed to be mentioned. Afterward we had a little FHE together and brownies for dessert! The Barrows know how to do dessert!
 |
| Food Court is basically the same in Korea except people love to just get a plate and pile TONS and tons of onions on it and just eat that! No hot dog or anything! |
 |
| Waiting in a huge line for a sample...Billy was stoked |
 |
| A yummy meat Billy likes |
 |
| It was like a million dollars to sit on one of those chairs under an umbrella so we sat on the sand |
 |
| No fear! He said it was way cold though. |
 |
| Lunch at Burger King...lame I know. But hey it was cheap, had an awesome view, and had AC! Win, win, win! Not sure why Koreans don't believe in AC... |
 |
| Billy got the Bulkogi burger...he liked it! |
 |
| Waiting to get on the bus to the temple...check out these streets! |
 |
| As soon as we got there, Billy saw this little stand and was like "we are getting some of these" and so we did! |
 |
| She threw an extra one in for free! They were like little donuts with brown sugar and stuff in the middle...they were way good! |
 |
| How beautiful is this?! |
 |
| View off the coast |
 |
| Can you see the tiny buddah? |
 |
| If you rub his belly...you get a son. Lots of hands on that belly...gross. |
 |
| Me connecting with my turtle ancestors |
 |
| Pigs mean good luck in Korea! |
 |
| Cooking up the food...it's a bunch of veggies and you put it in rice paper wrapping and dip it in some sauce...yum! |
Tuesday we got up and ran 4 miles with Ken at 5:30 (he had already ran 8...wow). It was in the rain but it was fun! Ken and Diane had meetings and trainings all day so we headed out to do a few things, one of which was see Igedae which are some pretty cliffs off the coast. We started with that and it ended up accidentally taking the entire day! We stopped for potato pizza on the way out there. We got super lost on the way there, then ended up doing an extremely long hike up the entire coast to end at the cliffs! We figured it was probably 6 miles or so. It was BEAUTIFUL and so worth it! I'm glad we did it! Afterwards we had dinner at the house with that family that Billy knew on his mission, the one who was the mission leader. It was a fun day.
 |
| Yummy! |
 |
| Guys this hike was BEAUTIFUL. Photos don't do it justice. |
 |
| Started out hiking with my hair down...ha! Thought it was going to be a little stroll. |
 |
| This was called something that now I can't remember...maybe Buddah rock or pregnant woman? |
 |
| We tried to do a goofy picture on a timer like a million times and we couldn't figure it out...haha |
 |
| There were SO. many. stairs! |
 |
| So many. |
 |
| Tiny red spider! |
 |
| Finally made it to the end! Which was our original beginning goal... |
 |
| Koreans officially suck at taking photos. They would always put us right in front of whatever we wanted to see behind us...like the 2nd island in this pic. Mer. |
 |
| Billy looking awesome |
 |
| Got Billy some Pocari sweat...a drink he loves in Korea. |
On the way home...hahahaha
 |
| Three crazy kids! |
 |
| We had a really hard time getting a good picture and for some reason they all turned out blurry! Dang! |
The next day was our last full day in Korea! Sad sad sad. We got up to run with Ken again at 5:30. We are crazy. But, again, he had already run 8. So we are slackers. This was the day that Ken and Diane were going to hang out with us! We first headed on a hike (we thought it was going to be little, it was a bit more strenuous than I had anticipated) to a hidden temple called Bulguksa. It was raining a bit on the way too so that made it interesting. It was a beautiful and amazing temple! It seemed very reverent there, and seemed like not very many people visit it. We explored and took lots of pics, then headed to the subway to go to Shinsaegae, the largest department store in the world. It wasn't that impressive, just seemed like a big mall. We had mexican food for lunch there which was fun! Then we headed to the famous fish market in Busan. It was crazy there! Tons of weird fish and sea creatures! I got to hold an octopus which was much more wiggly than I thought it would be. I had to wash my octopus hand off in a rain puddle since they didn't have any sinks there, which was super funny. Ken was trying to find me the perfect puddle. We did a little shopping after the fish market, then went to TGIFridays after all of our sight seeing which was delicious in Korea! Then we headed home for more brownies and ice cream and a movie :)
 |
| This was in like a little roofless room thing...crazy huge carvings on the walls |
 |
| I felt really bad standing up here...I don't think I was allowed to |
 |
| There was a little room with hundreds of buddahs...these aren't murals! They are actually little statues all lined up stadium seating style! |
 |
| Pretty view hiking up |
 |
| Don't go in those doors...JK that's a buddhist symbol |
 |
| Wild hydrangeas |
 |
| There was a fun stuffed animal store at the mall...soo expensive though |
 |
| Ken chillin with a gorilla |
 |
| I couldn't get over these cute cakes! Amazing! |
 |
| And cupcakes! |
I don't have any pictures from dinner or fun at the mission home, unfortunately, but just know that it was super fun!
Our last day was Thursday, so sad! We started out the day with a hike up the mountain right behind their house. We started at 6 am. We thought we were going to have a fun little hike but nothing is fun and little with Ken and Diane! It was INTENSE! It was strait up, and it took us about an hour to get up. It was funny, when Diane told Niki that it took us an hour, she was like "why?" haha! Because we are slow. The hike was really fun though. The view at the top was amazing! After our hike we got all showered and ready, then Billy and I headed out to try Isaac Toast that we didn't get to try earlier, and trade in our Korean coins for cash. Afterwards we got an ice cream treat and headed back home to get our stuff to leave for the train station.
Ken and Diane took us to the station and we said goodbye :( We had a 3.5 hour train ride, then waited at the airport for a long time. We had checked in for our flight ahead of time this time (yay) so we got to skip the check in line which Billy was SO excited about! We got some food and got ready to board. 10 hours later, we were in Honolulu! We had a 10 hour layover so Jody picked us up and took us to her house! We went to the beach, took a shower, had some dinner, and headed back to the airport. It was too short of a visit. I think we may need to live in Hawaii :) 6 hours later, we were landing in LA and Jenny picked us up at 6:30 am! It was much smoother on the way back into town. Here are some pictures.
 |
| Billy dying |
 |
| Up, up, up! |
 |
| On our way down, I slipped and fell on a rock (I was fine). Ken was like "don't step on roots, try to only step on rocks" and I was like "I did step on a rock" and he was like "Hm, are you sure it wasn't a root masquerading as a rock?" and I laughed so hard. I was sure it wasn't, but that was such a funny thing to say. We sped down the mountain so fast because the Barrows do nothing slowly! |
 |
| Bye Ken and Diane! Thanks for everything! We had such a great trip! |
At the train station, then ice cream at the airport.
 |
| Love this girlie girl |
Poor Ceci got stung by a jellyfish so we had to leave the beach early. Thanks Jody for the fun time! And thanks Jenny for picking us up! And thanks Ken and Diane for the AWESOME stay in Busan! Wow, what a trip! Trip of a lifetime.
