Mom in Korea!

So back at the beginning of this month my mom was able to come out to visit me in Korea. It was SO great to see her and show her around- we saw everything- essentially packing my entire year in Korea into a 12 day visit- it was intense but fun. Here are the beginning of the highlights.
Guard change at the palace- and yep, we did pose and take pics with the guards when they finished-- it was if I was transported back to my childhood- where your mother makes you do all those awful poses and is incessantly taking photos-- only this time around I actually enjoyed it- thanks mom!
Traditional Korean garb
The hats were just a bit on the clunky side.This pond had GIANT fish- basically the size of small whales.
We got kicked out of the palace earlier than expected because the riot police were coming in to secure the place- the pic above is of the riot police buses- the streets near city hall in downtown Seoul were lined with what must have been a couple of hundred of these buses. There have been a lot of protests going on because of the new trade agreement between the US and Korea- many Koreans are quite upset and attend all night vigils protesting- it began as a protest against American beef (Koreans are quite concerned about the possibility of Mad Cow) but apparently has changed more into a protest against the current president.
This is the special gate in the subway that promises if you walk under it you will "not be forever old" Just what we all want and have been searching for, a promise of death.
We wandered the streets of Seoul- went to Insa-dong (a market that sells traditional Korean crafts and whatnot) and Myeong-dong(major shopping district) -- mainly to experience the crowds and get some abnormally tall ice cream cones.
We also went to Namsan Tower- which offers a nice view of the city-- the weather wasn't so great, so our view was limited but the city lights at night were nice.
We made it up 63 Building- this day the weather was much nicer so we had an amazing view of the city. This pic is just one small portion of this giant city-- its really hard to explain just how big Seoul is. . .63 Building
We wandered around a park along the river one afternoon and ran into these professional kite fliers-- I was duly impressed.

Well, as always, more to come later.