Monday, July 27, 2009

63 and Counting...

I saw Mom off to the airport this morning, and she's in mid-air above the world somewhere as I write. I'm awaiting her phone call to let me know she made it home safe and sound. With all her layovers and flight time, it will take her 24 hours one-way. Whew - makes me dread the flight back home in September! Isn't it funny how traveling (ultimately sitting on a plane) can be exhausting??? At least, I always feel exhausted. Maybe it is just me!

Mom came on July 8th, and we had quite the adventures while she visited. We traveled to Xian and Beijing in China and to Mt. Fuji and Tokyo in Japan. China was INTERESTING. Like Mom said, when people ask if we had a 'good time' in China, she answers with "it was educational more than a 'good time.'" The people there think very conservatively. Or rather, the government thinks very conservatively for them. We bought some great souvenirs, though! :)

Japan, on the other hand, was fun (although the Yen to Dollar ratio was not). Even cleaner and more sophisticated than Seoul, Tokyo is a city I would like to visit again. We also went to Tokyo Disney for 2 days, and would you believe that Ariel and Mickey speak Japanese???? Mom and I giggled at that! The subway was a bit more complicated in Tokyo than others I've used. However, Mom made us take it by the horns, and we conquered it! I did the navigating, though. Had it been left to Mom, she'd still be in Japan trying to go the right direction!

Here are a few pictures from the trips:


Us on the way to the DMZ in Korea....it rained and rained and rained and rained and rained.....



Mom on the Great Wall of China


Lookout from the Great Wall




It was STEEEEEEEEEEEEEP (and our muscles were sore for days afterwards)

There will be more pictures to come. I haven't even downloaded all of them from my camera, so in between that and editing, it may be a little while!

Now the countdown begins...63 days left in Korea!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!