Our first Asian escapade!

No Honking!

No Mopeds!

No split pants!

Very clean taxis!

Expensive (although we found Nutri grain bars for $5/box instead of $10/box)!

Excellent BBQ!

Ava is still a celebrity ...

Even though we were only a 90 minute flight away, we felt thousands of miles away from China!  Our first Asian escapade was in South Korea!  Our first stop was in Seoul where we spent the weekend exploring. 

We didn't get to do as much sightseeing as we wanted, but we had a nice time nonetheless.  We went to the Korean War Museum which was very nice and informative!  Then, we went to a famous street called the Insadong and enjoyed some people watching and ice cream in this weird J shaped cone.  We still aren't sure why this is so popular but EVERYONE was eating them, so we had to get one too!  Of course Ava loved it!

After Seoul, we headed just a little south to Suwon.  Bethany went to work while Ryan & Ava walked around town and explored the hotel.  That night we had Korean BBQ for the first time!  Monday night we had Beef - wrapped in Romaine Lettuce, some great sauce and garlic!  Tuesday night we had pork!  It was absolutely delicious!  Oh, and we cannot forget the "Happy Water" which, surprisingly, for 19% alcohol, tasted just like "happy water" and went GREAT with the BBQ! 



View from Breakfast



After one night in Suwon, we took a train to Busan!  Busan is the 2nd largest city in South Korea and is right on the water.  It is a beautiful city and we wish we could have spent more time there - maybe next time!  Our hotel was incredible with wonderful views and gifts for Ava upon arrival!  Haeundae Beach, one of the most famous beaches in South Korea, was about a mile walk from our hotel.  It is not uncommon for 500,000 people to visit this beach each day in the height of vacation season (which happened to be while we were there)!   



View from Hotel Room



Ryan & I (and we think Ava as well) were happy to return home.  And we both stated that it was weird to consider Wuxi our home, but it is starting to feel like it.  Ava was excited to see her toys, especially her slide.  Ryan was excited to get Ava back on a schedule.  I was excited to be back in a place where I could understand a little of the language and be able to speak some of it too (Korean seems even harder than Chinese)!



10,000 Won - you would think this would get us a night on the town, right?!  Nope - not even 2 beers (it's only $9 US)!