Another Canavan in Korea

on arrival - already on the pictures

first dinner - chicken galbi... mmmmhhhh 

first "sisterly" korean beer - cass/hite

gwangbok palace - the girls

my sister shannon

sandy, myself, stephen

my sister and i

knock, knock?

peek a boo!

Anguk! Insadong!

Kim-bop-cheong-gu

Shannon and Alana got to meet some girls doing a university survey...

and dance with the koreans!

SO..... Here it goes:

i did it. i convinced family members into an asian country. i'm not proud of it. i don't know if they liked it, but they were here, and it was a great time to have them. you know how it can get with family though. especially when you're on your vacation and with them nearly all the time. it really took some getting used to and even at that i can't say i was used to it. it's been nearly two years since i had been even remotely close to my family members, okay okay.. i know for some of you that's a crime in and of itself, but honestly... it was okay for us. really. i'm being honest. we do better with a bit of distance.
anywho, distance aside. my aunt, her daughter and my sister came. i made two massive mistakes. 1) getting my aunt and her daughter a korean business hotel room. you know like those mini apartments you can rent out? yep. they didn't like that much. my second mistake 2) was not having a back-up plan. they really didn't like the korean version of showering (over the toilet, whole bathroom wet, foggy mirror... those things i've become incredibly accustomed to!) and they didn't really like the space.. maybe that was the biggest thing cause they ended up going to the park hyatt over by coex. hey, whatever, they loved it. put a damper on my dreams of taking them outside the city cause they expenditure was a bit over the top, but hey it made them a bit more comfortable. i was put on edge though. i felt like i was put on the spotlight of entertainer, and trust me... if there's something i'm probably not good at, it's playing tour guide for a city i do mostly free and cheap things in. hmmmm... well. i was incredibly happy to see them. close to tears in fact... can't let them see that though, then they'd know how important it was for them to come! ugh i can be such and idiot sometimes. but, ya know, i took them around. showed them my favorite places. we got out to suwon and over into the northern parts of seoul... and low and behold!!!! I made it into Gwangbok Palace!! I know can you believe it? honestly I'm not quite sure how it happened because Stephen actually made it as well?! I'd have to say it was mostly my sister's doing.. I give her the credit of alarm clock. this girl did not want to miss a thing! she was all over that bulgogi and bibimbop! haha!

Hwasong Fortress

best tea shop ever!

sisters on the way to seoul tower

say hello to russia!

the bungalow long islands!

spider arms

a visit to echo point... the local pub

korean boys... awwwww

June!

war memorial

the morning of the sister's trip to haiensa

temple

really old tree

up the mountain in inclement weather?

doesn't look any better higher up...

no worries, we'll make it

chelsea... we're in the middle of really thick rain clouds. i think we should go now.

anyways, heart to hearts with shannon, drinking fun with my aunt and all over good sightseeing EVEN though it rained... and rained... and thundered.. and rained. they toughed out the summer vaca here and we got on each others nerves for 10days, but it was well worth it to see those that i love and care about.
so Shannon, Sandy, and Alana... thank you for coming... and here are some of the best photos.