Day 42: Meeting My Future In-Laws
Hours Spent Away from Home: 13
Getting a Chance to Meet My Future In-Laws: PRICELESS
With such and important trip planned for my Saturday, you would think that I had gone to bed early to be well-rested for my excursion. However, I stayed up until 7AM playing Starcraft with my friend Reggie. I passed out shortly after 7 and awoke at 10AM sharp. This was pretty amazing as I'm never the type of person to nap for less than a 6 hour time interval. I showered, changed, packed my camera, water, directions, my letter, and a fully charged iPod for the trip. It took about 35 minutes to get to the Seoul Express Bus Terminal and finding the ticketing area was easy because there were huge lines that I didn't account for. It makes sense though as this is like the central hub in Seoul for those who want to travel to other parts of Korea. I got in one of the long lines and even though he was inching pretty slowly, it was still moving. But about 20 minutes into my wait I went to the information desk to ask if I was in the right line since it looked like I would be waiting for over an hour. The lady told me that the ticketing system was actually down and that only one of the machines out of 8 or so were printing tickets.
I was like okay...well eventually I will get a ticket. 10 minutes later all lines halted in place and the very last machine that was printing tickets decided it didn't want all of that attention and stopped as well. FML. My bus ride was going to take 3 hours EACH WAY and I still had to carry out my agenda while I am there!! This has not been a good week for me so far, but I wasn't about to just go home and give in. This week ain't over yet and I'm not going down without a fight! So after sitting there for another hour and debating whether or not this was just a waste of time, the lines started moving! Everything got fixed and my ticket to Jeonju was set to depart at 1:10PM. I grabbed a sandwich and a piece of fried chicken for the road because there is only one 15 minute rest stop and I wasn't sure if we would be stopping at a place with food.
I would tell you how Korea looks from Seoul down to Jeonju but I wasn't awake for any of the trip. When I woke up, we were already in Jeonju and were heading to the Jeonju Bus Terminal. To my surprised, Jeonju wasn't that much different than Seoul. They still have their malls, shops and everything. It was just a little less numerous and more spread out than it would be in Seoul. As soon as I got off the bus I waved down a taxi and asked to be taken to Seodo Plaza. When I was dropped off I saw the big Eyebis sign, and knew that I was in the right place.
Okay, so most of you still don't know what I am doing in Jeonju and why it is that I wanted to visit a random eyeglass shop called Eyebis. As I have mentioned before, I am a huge fan of SNSD and they are the main reason I am in Korea. Furthermore, my favorite member is Taeyeon; the dorky, very talented, and super cute leader. Jeonju is the birthplace of my favorite Korean dish bibimbap, but more importantly, is the birthplace to my Korean favorite singer, Kim Taeyeon. And it just so happens that the parents of that singer owns an eyeglass shop in Jeonju. I figured it was about time I introduced Taeyeon's parents to their future son-in-law =]
Another reason I wanted to visit this shop was that you can find Taeyeon's face all over the place and there is also a room known as the "Taeyeon Shrine." The shrine is a small room with lots of pictures, framed CDs, memorabilia, and various fan gifts. Essentially it was the waiting room for those waiting for their glasses to be made but also doubles as a tribute to their daughter from 2 very proud parents.
Glass table with pictures of Taeyeon
When I had arrived at the shop it was about 4:30PM and there were 2 older gentlemen working at the time. They were helping customers so I just went around and took pictures of the shop and the shrine. When I was finished, I went up to one of them and asked who was Taeyeon's father. The guy didn't speak any English and just said no and pointed in a random direction. From this I interpreted that Taeyeon's parents probably went home already because it was getting late. I was so disheartened and was just at a loss for words; if the bus ticketing system didn't crash maybe I could have arrived in time to catch them before they left. At this point I was pretty convinced this just wasn't my week and I needed to just go home and lay down. I walked outside and bought some street food because I was starving. I got a chicken skewer and something that they called the "Pikachu." The food in Jeonju is super cheap compared to Seoul! I got both and a slushie for less than $2. I then walked across the street and bought myself an ice cream cone to further soothe the pain.
I walked back into Seodo Plaza to take one last look at Eyebis before I headed out.
It was at this moment that I decided "No, I'm not just going to leave without ever leaving a mark that I was here and that I tried." So I walked back into the store and talked to the other gentlemen that was working there. He knew English and I told him I came from Seoul to try to meet Taeyeon's parents, and that I would try to come back earlier next Saturday since it is too long of a trip for me to take on a weekday due to classes. I also gave him the message that I had my friend help me write in Korean, which read:
My name is Khanh Nguyen and I am from America. I don't know a lot of Korean so I had my friend help me write this letter. I am a very big fan of SNSD and my favorite member is Taeyeon. I came to study in Korea because I really wanted to see SNSD perform live. I also wanted to visit this eyeglass shop because I wanted to meet Taeyeon's parents and see her pictures.
He read it, smiled, and then said to me right over there is Taeyeon's mom and Taeyeon's dad is just having a smoke out back. So that's what the finger pointing meant...
He asked me to have a seat on the couch, gave me a cup of coffee and told me to wait. Taeyeon's dad finally got back and was given the letter. He read it, put it in his pocket and then came over to greet me. We talked for a little bit about why I was in Korea and how I came to love SNSD. He asked me how old I was and I said I was born in 1989 and he says "same age?!" in reference to Taeyeon, haha. Some things that he told me were that Taeyeon is always really busy so when they want to see her they would need to go to Seoul. She has only been to her parent's shop once since she debuted 3 years ago. And when Taeyeon has vacation time, she goes with her parents, older brother, and younger sister to tour other countries such as Guam, Singapore, Thailand etc. I told him that Taeyeon was my favorite member because she was such a great singer and a great leader. He proudly smiled and asked me "Do you have Taeyeon sign?" I said "no" =3
He told me to wait there and walked into the back room. He reemerged with a Hoot album signed by Taeyeon!! SFJDKSLFJDSKFJDKSLJFKDJLDFKD#R$#!
I may have let out a little girly shriek but it was definitely justified. We then talked about when SNSD will be coming back with a new Korean album because I wanted to see them live and he said he doesn't know since they just postponed their Japanese single "Mr. Taxi" due to the disaster in Japan. He then told me that SNSD would be performing tomorrow at Lotte World. I knew about this already but I couldn't sign up for tickets in time and he apologized that there was nothing he could do to help me, but I was already more than grateful for the signed album he had given me. After chatting with him some more I asked for a photo with him and Taeyeon's mom but she said that she couldn't because Taeyeon didn't want photos of her mother on the internet. It was okay to take a photo with her dad though because he has done it numerous times before while Taeyeon's mom hasn't had her photos published on the internet yet or something. After taking the photo with Taeyeon's dad in the shrine it was about 6:30PM and I planned on having dinner in Jeonju at 계경목장 (Gyegeongmokjang) which is a restaurant that several SNSD members and a few other famous people have dined at when they were on Jeonju. I asked Taeyeon's parents if they could please point me in the right direction because on the map it looked about a mile away but I wasn't sure which direction I should head in. Taeyeon's dad was like you know what, Taeyeon's mom will give you a ride there herself, but she can't stay because she is busy, is that okay? Of course I said yes to that!! As I was heading out, I said bye to Taeyeon's dad and shook his hand, and then he pulled me in for a hug. I was really surprised but I squeezed back. I told him I would visit him again if I ever have the time.
I then got in a really nice new Kia and proceeded to talk to Taeyeon's mom for a little. Her English wasn't as good as Taeyeon's dad so I did my best to keep the vocabulary simple and told her that Taeyeon was my favorite singer and she thanked me. She then pulled up a Taeyeon playlist on the mp3 panel of her car and played several songs for me. When we arrived at Gyegeongmokjang she walked in with me and spoke to the waiter in Korean telling her that I didn't know Korean, to take care of me, and to make me really delicious food. I said bye to Taeyeon's mom, shook her hand and saw her off.
Back at the restaurant I asked for bulgogi and they gave me this bulgogi soup. It was really good! I also got to take pictures of the framed autographs and pictures of the SNSD members that have visited her. I needed to finish fast because I still had a 3 hour bus ride and another 35 minute subway ride home. So I finished fast and paid. It was so cheap, only $5! I just love how everything is cheaper in Jeonju!
I was asleep again for the entire bus ride and got home just before midnight. Even though I don't have a ticket to watch SNSD perform tomorrow, you guys all know where I'm headed on Sunday regardless: Lotte World =]
