Joseph's birthday was a fantastic 4 day affair. It began on Friday at school with the students singing to Joseph and then at the end of our day, the Korean teachers and our boss surprised Joseph with his first ever birthday cake! We will come back to that cake later... Saturday began with an early wake up call. We were to meet a few people to head to the National Cemetery of Daejeon, a great lunch of roasted duck then that night at 11:30pm we were to meet a group by our place.
There are 2 National Cemeteries in South Korea. The original is located in Seoul and when that was running out of space a second one was built in Daejeon.
 |
| Elizabeth and Giselle covered in snow! |
 |
| Joseph, Jeff and Danny The entrance to the Cemetery |
 |
| Our roasted duck lunch YUMMY! Jeff, Joseph, Amy, Elizabeth, Danny, Giselle, Lee Ann |
 |
| Elizabeth and Giselle |
 |
| Entrance to the Cemetery |
At the entrance way, two groups of magnificent-looking crystal-blue horses flanked either sides of the gate. They were called the Statue of Heavenly Horses and represented eternal progress and prosperity of the nation embedded on noble spirit of martyrs and deceased veterans like the horses' galloping power. Horses are a symbol of auspicious and loyal animals and have close relations with humans for a long time. Koreans made effective use of the horses in farming and hunting in the ancient times. In addition, naked horses are regarded as very holy and spiritual animals.
Walking further into the cemetery, we found ourselves surrounded by rows and rows of tombstones, each with their own bouquet of bright silk flowers. It was a breathtaking sight and just standing there, we could feel our own moods become subdued, matching the quiet and serene atmosphere around us.
 |
| Beautiful |
 |
| Entrance to the Memorial Tower |
 |
| The girls with the curious security officer |
 |
| Danny with the happy security officer |
 |
| Howdy Folks! |
 |
| Incense to pay homage to your loved ones |
 |
| Just a pinch! Lee Ann and Elizabeth |
Our next stop was a cemetery museum. It was interesting and had different items of the Korean War posted and hung in the building. It was a great display of information. After that, we wanted to go to where the generals and colonels are buried. Beautiful setting on the side of the mountain all of the tombstones dusted in snow. Some had family pictures affixed to them along with the flowers.
 |
| Look honey, I'm standing on the lake! |
 |
| Lovely, serene and breathtaking |
 |
| General's and Colonel's Side of the mountain |
Our last stop in the cemetery before departing was the National Defense area, filled with ancient former defense aircraft. The lawn was filled with enormous displays of aircraft such as an M46 battle tank, U17 Skywagon plane, OH23G Raven helicopter, and an F5B Freedom Fighter. No idea regarding the details about these machines, but they just looked cool. Snapped a photo of a trio of Korean missiles as well.
We ended up staying at the cemetery for almost 6 hours wandering around and exploring. Around 5 or 6pm we headed back to take naps so we would be refreshed for the evening.
Saturday Evening:
WOW: This is a place that reminds Joseph and I of the television show, Cheers or a true British Pub. It is not 'just' a bar. It is a place where you know everyone and everyone knows you. We decided to meet here to have birthday cake as WOW does one awesome thing for birthdays: they turn off all of the lights, turn on about 4 strobe lights, belt out Happy Birthday (in English) and everyone in the place claps, yells and stops by your table to say congratulations and sometimes buy you a beverage. Can you say awesome? Not too shabby for Joseph's first birthday cake and actually, his first real birthday party.
 |
| Happy Birthday Joseph! |
 |
| Fun Times! |
 |
| Joseph and Giselle: "It's been a looong day!" |
 |
| Joseph, Giselle, Amy, Lee Ann, Jeff and Josh |
 |
| The Boys Jeff, Joseph, Josh and Danny |
Sunday:
Met up with Amy and Lee Ann in Old Downtown to wander in and out of the fabulous shops. Next, we ate an Italian dinner at The Flying Pan (also the location for our Cupcake Experiment). It was a delicious dinner and a great day of just relaxing and winding down our weekend.
Monday was the last day of Joseph's birthday celebration with our friends Josh and Colin taking Joseph and I out to dinner. We had a great time at a Korean BBQ place right in front of our apartment then we stopped by Dadas and finally, it was off to Josh's apartment for a few games of chess.
Joseph has said he had the best birthday of his life and he can't wait to see what I have in store for him next year.
Hmmmm... Any ideas?
No comments:
Post a Comment