A Reunion to End All Reunions

Today was a big day. My whole family is here in Korea now - Mom, Dad, and Margo all arrived last week. It's a pretty big deal, on a number of fronts. One, for Mom and Dad, it's their first time seeing Korea in 23 years. Two, for Margo, it's her first time seeing Korea, period, after leaving as a 1 1/2 year old in 1983. Three, it's the four of us together - very much a rarity these days. And four, all of us together in Korea - maybe, from here on out, a once-in-a-lifetime experience. I'm sure I could come up with many other reasons for the gravity of this occasion, but you get the idea...

We all went back to see the old neighborhood in Seocho-dong, which I had seen when I first got here with the Hos. Looking back on it, it was pretty entertaining seeing Mom, Dad, and I all trying to figure out where it was once we got out of the subway (I'd only been back once, by car, so it wasn't easy for me to figure out either). We were all pointing in different directions, trying to get our bearings, and it wasn't long before several people were trying to help us out. Of course, it's hard to explain where you're going when you don't really know, especially when it's to a place that hardly exists anymore. Anyway, we cobbled together our various recollections, instincts, and my recent memories and within only 10 or 15 minutes, had it figured out. Once I got the scent I followed it like a police dog, and soon enough we were there. Everyone was just amazed of course at how much everything had changed, though Dad swore the building across the street was an original. We were lucky enough to meet the art gallery owner whose fancy building was occupying the space where our house was - she must have been wondering why a bunch of foreigners were suddenly so interested in her gallery. It turned out that she spoke fluent French so she and Mom had no problem communicating.

Later it was on to Lotte World (Lotte must own half of Seoul) where there was a really great folk-village type area that felt almost more authentic than the one I visited near Suwon, except it lay in the shadow of skyscrapers and a massive (11-story) shopping mall. After enjoying some Korean pancakes and mahkoli, we watched a few performances, which were completely free of charge. The performances were great, highlighted by Korean wrestling where the contestants topped out at around 12 years old and maybe 100 pounds for the real big heavyweights. The two wrestlers would start by each taking hold of the other's belt, with both hands, one at the other's back and one at the side. Each "round" would last all of about 5 seconds, when one was able to take the other down. At one point they asked for volunteers from the crowd, and they got this older guy who might have been around 55 or 60 to get in the ring and take on one of the kids. It was probably the match of the day - after much wrangling, the two finally both went down in the dirt, and I think it would be fair to say that it was a draw.

The big event of the day was yet to come - the aforementioned "reunion to end all reunions" with the Hos at the Hyatt Hotel overlooking the city. For various reasons, including an ill-fated attempted shopping trip, we were frantically racing to get there on time, which of course didn't happen, but considering the circumstances, we were certainly fortunate to be only 1/2 hour late. It was nice for Mom and Dad to finally see some familiar sights along the way - luckily bridges don't usually change much, and military bases generally keep the same concrete wall/barbed wire look over the years. And apparently the Hyatt was even there at the time, so it was good to be able to add that to the list of familiar places as well.

Seeing the Hos with my Mom and Dad again, and having them be able to finally see Margo was, to say the least, a special experience that got me a little misty-eyed. We laughed over some old memories, met some "new" family members (I'd never met many of the Ho's grand-children, who are now in middle and high school), just generally enjoyed being together after all these years. I remember how two months ago I was sitting in the same place with the Hos, thinking it was the most amazing thing ever to be there with them again. Only to have it topped by the almost unthinkable - our family back in Korea, together, sitting with their entire family, which almost certainly will never happen again. It's still hard to comprehend how fortunate it was for us all to be together like that. "Boy in the Bubble" by Paul Simon comes to mind..."These are the days of miracle and wonder." ~Sean-Toki