Well it's been more than two weeks already since we were in England but we've hit the ground running since we've been back so it's been hard to find time to reflect on the trip.
It was very strange for me coming back to England because although it had only been 14 months, so much had happened in that space of time that it felt strangely unfamiliar touching down onto British soil again. One of the first things I did was to try and get in the drivers seat instead of the passenger seat. A simple mistake but actually everything kind of felt like that for the first couple of days - everything was so different and fascinating to me, people looked different, people acted different, for just a few hours you get to see your own culture more objectively than ever before.
Anyway, I had a few days in Bristol and then Cornwall on my own before the Korean family all arrived. It was great to see friends and have good conversations (a good conversation is quite difficult to stumble across in a country where you're still learning the language).
So then on the weekend Eunmi arrived along with her mum and sister. We spent the night with our friend's Matt and Esther Way, which was great, and then headed out early in the morning for an open top bus tour (and river thames cruise) of London! Luckily the weather was great and suffice to say that everyone came away feeling deeply impressed by London with all it's spectacular sites and history.
After London we spent a night in Bristol. I think the shear size and amount space that we have in our British homes shocked the Korean contingent, but they seemed just as impressed by Bristol as they were with London.
Finally we made it all the way down to my Parents place in Cornwall. I know that for me and Eunmi it was a really special time, we haven't had much time together with the family, and Eunmi was doing very well with her English. As for Eunmi's sister and her mum or Ohm-ma as we seemed to keep calling her (which means 'Mum' in korean), I gathered that they really enjoyed it too, but they did spend a good deal of time sleeping. I guess it was especially difficult for them since their English isn't very good and neither are my translation skills...
Some of the highlights our time in Cornwall are surfing all together (a first time for all the Koreans) and also eating my mum's delicious food all together.
And then on out penultimate day we had our 'wedding party'. Unfortunately this was the only day on which it rained during our holiday in the UK. But by the afternoon the sun had come out and the guests had arrived, from our point of view the party was just brilliant. Eunmi got to meet all the people I love and miss, there was delicious food, a beautiful setting, beautiful bunting and a beautiful cake!
All in all it was a wonderful visit, and I can only hope that it will be less than a year until our next visit, but well have to see...
It was very strange for me coming back to England because although it had only been 14 months, so much had happened in that space of time that it felt strangely unfamiliar touching down onto British soil again. One of the first things I did was to try and get in the drivers seat instead of the passenger seat. A simple mistake but actually everything kind of felt like that for the first couple of days - everything was so different and fascinating to me, people looked different, people acted different, for just a few hours you get to see your own culture more objectively than ever before.
Anyway, I had a few days in Bristol and then Cornwall on my own before the Korean family all arrived. It was great to see friends and have good conversations (a good conversation is quite difficult to stumble across in a country where you're still learning the language).
So then on the weekend Eunmi arrived along with her mum and sister. We spent the night with our friend's Matt and Esther Way, which was great, and then headed out early in the morning for an open top bus tour (and river thames cruise) of London! Luckily the weather was great and suffice to say that everyone came away feeling deeply impressed by London with all it's spectacular sites and history.
After London we spent a night in Bristol. I think the shear size and amount space that we have in our British homes shocked the Korean contingent, but they seemed just as impressed by Bristol as they were with London.
Finally we made it all the way down to my Parents place in Cornwall. I know that for me and Eunmi it was a really special time, we haven't had much time together with the family, and Eunmi was doing very well with her English. As for Eunmi's sister and her mum or Ohm-ma as we seemed to keep calling her (which means 'Mum' in korean), I gathered that they really enjoyed it too, but they did spend a good deal of time sleeping. I guess it was especially difficult for them since their English isn't very good and neither are my translation skills...
Some of the highlights our time in Cornwall are surfing all together (a first time for all the Koreans) and also eating my mum's delicious food all together.
And then on out penultimate day we had our 'wedding party'. Unfortunately this was the only day on which it rained during our holiday in the UK. But by the afternoon the sun had come out and the guests had arrived, from our point of view the party was just brilliant. Eunmi got to meet all the people I love and miss, there was delicious food, a beautiful setting, beautiful bunting and a beautiful cake!
All in all it was a wonderful visit, and I can only hope that it will be less than a year until our next visit, but well have to see...
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