Log6.1: A Visit from St. Parents

Much has happened since my last update two weeks ago. The following is the first of a six-part series.  

This is Part 1: A Visit from St. Parents.

On Sunday July 25, my parents visited me in Goesan, Chungcheongbuk-do, middle-of-nowhere Republic of Korea.

Okay, so the story actually makes a bit more sense.

My mother has been in Korea caring for her mother (my grandmother) since late June while my father has been in and around Korea on business trips.  Hence, they left the United States a week before even I did, and for the past couple of months have been residing in Seoul, the nation's capital.  

Since I arrived in Korea, I had been in touch with them frequently and had told them I would come visit them--and the rest of my maternal relatives--the first day I could.  Unfortunately, the schedule had been so packed with things both useful and unwarranted that I simply could not afford the time required for a proper visit.

Let me clarify; Seoul is 3hours away by public transportation from my orientation site, and if you don't know rural inland Korea, then it might be fruitful of you to actually take public transportation rather than risk getting lost in the mountains.

As the days went on and my father's plan to return to the US became more uncertain, opportunities to see both of my parents seemed to diminish quickly.  My parents knew that, and I knew that; we all wanted to see each other.


So on Saturday July 24th, I get an e-mail from my father saying, "We'll be visiting Goesan to go check out some temples.  Let us know if you have some time!"


Goesan is 10minutes away by walking; or for you Claremont College students, a walk to the Village from the 5C's.  Of course I had time.


On the one hand I wondered if I should feel bad that ultimately they had to travel all the way down to see me.  On the other hand, I know that they don't want me to feel that way and that I would be doing them a disservice by moping about something so apparently trivial.

So that aside, what else could I be but the happiest and luckiest son in the world?!  Taken aback and speechless for a while, I went to see them for dinner.  


We only had about 2.5 hours together; we spoke a little at a local bakery, then went to dinner at my school (because the options in the village were so poor).  They left after dinner so they could be back in Seoul by Monday morning(reminder: the travel time is 3 hours by bus).  

"Was it good to see them?" Of course.  Seeing them was both calming and revitalizing, and reminded me again of the most integral parts of my life that I sometimes lose sight of amidst the flurry of things.  Talking to them grounded me again and helped me compose myself for the long haul.


But what else I would say is that seeing them in Goesan, an agrarian boonies of Korea, for a fleeting few hours only to have them vanish away in a taxi again, was surreal.  Anyone familiar with holograms, popularized by Star Trek?  In some ways, this reality that brought my parents to Goesan to see me for a few hours seemed more like a holographic exercise where my parents were holograms, life-like and convincing only to evaporate from my world in a matter of hours again.  That I saw them last in California where the weather was dry and the sun rolled around in the blue sky made this reality seem less real.  After an evening's rest, I was back on the phone with them, as if they had never left.  

But such is the beauty, and paradox, of life, is it not?


As for the title, we're not religious and I'm not advocating that my parents receive sainthood.  But I will say that their visit seemed to have some inexplicably holy qualities about it.