I'm Back!

Now, where was I?

We were headed to the airport last week for our trip to Korea. Before going on, let me just say that this has been one whirlwind of a trip. We seem to be constantly running to airplanes, meetings, lunches, dinners, and then falling into bed just to start all over again the next day. I am actually writing this on the occasion of us having the first free morning of the whole trip. It is Sunday here in the second week of the trip and we are only now getting some needed downtime. We start up again this afternoon meeting with the parents of our Shanghai Chinese students.

So, as I was saying, we headed for the Tokyo Airport to catch our flight to Seoul where we were met by Young Min Choi's mom and whisked off to the JW Marriott. After getting settled we were back out for dinner at the Samwon Garden Restaurant for some Korean beef. Great feast! A wonderful meal with both parents of Young Min, Dr. Choi and his mom, Yeon Ho Huh. That's all of us together at the restaurant which is owned by LPGA player Grace Park's dad That's one of Grace's awards in the background in the picture.

Next day off we went again. This time with Joon Ho "Brian" Choi's parents for a ride through some unbelievable traffic to a really, really authentic Korean food restaurant named Phil Kyung Jae. OK, now I know you all warned me about spending too much time describing the food, but you come over here and try it and then let me know what you think. There must have been at least 25 different dishes of every sort of food type you could imagine and of some that you never knew existed.

But, it all took place in a setting that was really fascinating. The restaurant is actually a house that was constructed in the 1400s during the reign of King Sungjong, the ninth King of the Joseon Dynasty. By the way, the name of the restaurant means "Respect for the Elderly." No Jokes please. We had desert in the outside garden despite the need for an overcoat. This is where Brian's parents, he a medical doctor and she a university Ph.D., Won Suk Choi and Joo Won Jung gave a gift for us to take back to Brewster. I've included a photo of the entrance way to the restaurant/house.

Back through the traffic for dinner with Tyson Lee, Young Min Lee's father. Young Min's mom did not join us due to an injury she suffered at her school. She is doing well and expected to be just fine shortly. A great time with Tyson. We got to know each other last year and this time was no different. Good talk, fine food. This time we ate at a French restaurant owned and operated by a former employee of Tyson's that left Samsung and headed to London to learn the restaurant business. He returned just a few years ago and has been very successful ever. That's all of us in the photo including the proprietor's wife.

After dinner we met up with Brewster alum Sung Joo Kim. After Brewster, he went on to Indiana University and is now a global derivatives associate with E*Trade. That's Sung Joo in the photo.

Funny to be here at the same time as the G20 Summit. We had a significant number of press at our hotel. It is interesting watching the news in Asia. It is reported from a totally different

prospective than we get at home. We are so self centered in the U.S. The rest of the world pretty much thinks we are all screwed up and that our currency is almost dead as the world's benchmark. I will say, both Raylene and I clearly have seen that the dollar is not worth what it was even last year. Things seem so expensive here. The dollar's value is really falling.

Up again and out for a tour and lunch with Shin Bum Park's parents, Kyung Ho Park and In Young Choi. This time we ate at the Min's Club, a traditional Korean setting with a western approach to its cuisine. Another nice eating experience. This time Raylene stayed back to prepare for this evening's presentation. While with Shin's folks, I got to see the Gyeongbokgung Palace again. I cannot say enough about the hosting the parents provided us. They are all very wonderful people.

Back to the hotel where we met and dined with the members of our Korean Parents Association. We had a treat for our parents. We asked Beau Jackson, an alum from the class of 1987, now living and serving as a university instructor in Seoul to join us. The parents were pleasantly surprised to meet a Korean speaking American who happened to also graduate from Seoul. I might also add that Beau was really surprised at Brewster's presence in Korea. That's him in our group photo with the parents. It was at the end of our gathering that Jin Il Lim and his wife, Eun Mi Cho, gave a gift to Brewster. Jin Il Lim and Eun Mi Cho are the parents of Luke and Sol Lim.

We also gathered with a good number of other Korean alumni after dinner. As was the case in

Japan, all had a few laughs discussing the past and catching up on what's new with each other.

With a need to get ready for our next leg of the trip, I headed for the room to finish packing and to grab as much sleep as possible before getting down to the lobby for our bus ride to the airport at six in the morning the next day.