Sea Cucumber tastes like Chicken...

...made from the soles of shoes.

First things first. Flying for 15 hours straight did not seem as bad as I had expected. I guess you can dread it, or you can make an event out of it. Haej and I chose the event route. Cocktails and in flight Yatzee to start, then some food Korean Air style (BiBimBap to those who are familiar), some less that amusing entertainment (Nacho Libre), some games (Lego Star Wars on PSP), some profound entertainment (An Inconvenient Truth), some dinner, and then my uncle's magic pill to put me down for the count. Next thing you know you are landing in Seoul.

Haejin's father's driver was waiting at the airport to take us straight to her parents house, which is a quick 2 hours away. A little more sleep got me through that one. Then arrival at the rent's place. A bit intimidating to put it mildly, especially since I am apparently the first person that Haejin has brought home. But I had practiced up on my Korean phrases, and I was ready to embarrass myself.

As you could expect everyone was more than welcoming and very warm. The first hour was mostly references to how tall I was (see picture above), mostly from her 7 year old nephew who would ask me to touch the ceiling and proceed to try himself. He finally found when he stood on the back of the couch he could match my height.

After the groom arrived with his 2 friends, we sat down to eat. There were many courses with lots of dishes I was fairly familiar with, and a few that I wasn't, but I made a point of at least trying everything, and actually finished and enjoyed the majority of it. During dinner, there was also lots of drinking. Lots of drinking. Her dad loves his nice whiskey, which is one of the gifts I brought for him. And when you are approached by someone who has a bottle in hand, you hold out your shot glass, let them pour, and then shoot it. Then you swap and pour them their shot. Then you move on to someone else and offer them a shot, and the same exchange ensues. You can see where this goes.

After the groom had indulged in a little too much whiskey, it was time to call it a night. Everybody said their goodbyes, and I headed into the city to check into my hotel. Yes, I'm staying in a hotel about 25-75 minutes from where Haej is staying, depending on traffic. That's the rules. I don't fight them. But its a very nice hotel and in an area where I can wander around and see lots of new stuff. According to Haejin it's not quite traditional Seoul, but its a nice buffer zone for me to get acquainted.