back to the roots

Observations:

1. Whenever I take a shower at someone's house, I only seem to find small towels. Maybe it's to save space?
2. It frustrates me how the fitting rooms don't have mirrors on the inside. You have to go out and look at the mirror in front of the door. So I don't know how what I tried on looks until I go outside where there are people waiting for me.
3. The driving is pretty crazy. People go through red lights. Oh, I just realized they don't have stop signs! Or maybe they do and I don't recognize it because it's not an octagon with "STOP" on it. Most of the cars I've been in have a GPS installed in them and most of the drivers park backwards rather than forwards because there's not much space.
4. Light switches for the bathroom are always on the outside of the bathroom. I was wondering why this was so, but I realized it's probably for safety reasons.
5. People really like to hold your hand...which makes me uncomfortable when they don't let go after a long time.
6. Some parts of Korea really reminds me of Mexico. I think Korea reminds me more of Mexico than America. 

Sceneries like this remind me of Mexico! All these mountains. 

I spent majority of my fourth week in Korea in JeonJu and Namwon, the southern parts of Korea. It was good going back to my mom's roots, seeing the places she grew up decades ago. It's hard to imagine my parents as kids living in Korea! They probably never imagined living the rest of their life in the US when it was hard for them to just go to college.

I had a lot of time last week so I read a novel titled Extremely Loud and Incredibly Close which I enjoyed. It's been a while since I read a novel on my own.

And here are some pictures...

The farming place where they grow watermelons, melons, tomatoes, and peppers. The fruits taste  really good!

Melons

Look at the intricate details of God's creation.

Next to all the peppers.

2nd aunt, 1st aunt, me, my cousin (who's the same age as my mom)

2nd aunt, 1st aunt, me, cousin's wife

I really like this picture of them!

My mom's elementary school.

They used to have class outside when it was too hot inside.

I felt such like a tourist. Gwang-hal-lu in Namwon.

The family I stayed with! The one in the middle (my cousin's daughter...what does that make her in relation to me?) is coming to America with me.