Public Safety Notice: The Buckinghams Have Come to Korea!

There is now a running joke in the family. Whenever my parents visit us here in South Korea, a public safety notice text comes every time we take mom somewhere out in public! (Even though it usually is sent due to any single COVID case found in the country, the timing of them when my mother is here has been impeccable!) They were at least graced with not having to experience Korean traffic until the next morning, since they landed in the evening.

At the start of their first week with us here, we made sure to take them to a different café almost daily, but one of them came with a hike that Daniel and I enjoyed earlier this year. At the start of the hiking trail there is a sweet café called the Bee and Honey Café, where you can see them actually take care of their bees and you can even indulge in some of the honey and honeycombs! Before we checked out the café, we set off on a hike that was, I believe, around 3 km round-trip. The best part of the hike is the pretty cool view you get of the river and the mountain ranges, off in the distance.

Mom got to experience the local farmer’s market that Daniel and I have grown to love, and we also took them to the bigger one up in the city. Of course, mom found several odd food selections to try, like cocoons and something along the lines of squid kimchi. And she has the videos and pictures to prove it if you are interested! Even though there was plenty for us to do locally, we could not miss out on the sites (and sights!) that Suwon and Seoul had to offer. This included the Suwon Fortress, the Korean War Museum (Seoul), and several palaces up in Seoul.

My parents and I have traveled throughout the states my whole life, but getting to go, for the first time, to a national treasure in a different country, that has so much history and unique architecture, is a blessing to experience! Sadly, many parts of these fortresses and palaces were destroyed by the Japanese in the early 1900s, but some of the buildings or sites that survived were older than anything we could have seen in the states! Some of our favorites were the fortresses and the gates! It’s not every day when you are taking a city bus through Seoul and casually drive by the South Gate, that holds so much history. (The picture at the top is of the South Gate in Seoul.)

We like to say that mom came back a second time because she missed her children so badly, but we all really know it was because she loves the country so much! (She really has made more Korean friends at businesses than Daniel and I have, and we have lived here longer!) This time, mom and I headed down to Busan for a couple days! We enjoyed three of the beaches, and mom pretty much found all the seashells that the typhoon had brought in the previous week. Mom picked out a fish from the well-known fish market in Busan and her wish came true of holding an octopus! (I think the gentleman that offered her the chance had more fun watching her get excited from holding it!)

Even though Daniel sadly had to work the second time mom came, mom and I made the most of the two weeks and made it back up to Seoul several more times. This time we went on a neat tour of the queen’s secret garden and walked back down through the Namdaemun Market. And since it was just us girls, I took her to the Seoul Bus Express terminal, the shopper’s dream! (Thankfully there were cafes there where we took a break for my sake, I’m more like my dad.) But mom and I had a blast shopping underground with all the booths and even a ten story mall connected to the underground shopping terminal!

No matter how hard we tried to hide halfway around the world (ok so maybe it was up to the military and not us to make this move), my parents have shown that even a 13+ hour flight cannot stop them from visiting their daughter and son-in-law!

This is the fish market in Busan. Sometimes it is held outside but this is the market when it is inside. You can choose your fish or seafood live and the vendor will give it to a restaurant upstairs to prepare for you to eat.