Rainy season: view of Chiak Mountain from home after it rained all night.
Grandpa receives a blessing from Father Kim.
A visit to my great uncle's orphanage in Nonsan.
Entrance.
Cafeteria.
Great uncle and family at the orphanage.
Rice field in the countryside.
Ginger is grown under these tents.
Visit to great aunt's daycare.
Can I please pinch your cheeks?
I love fungi!
Buckwheat noodles in an ice bowl.
Snack cart on the train. Harry Potter-ish?
Seafood heaven!
Pusan city located at the southeastern corner of the country.
Alive and edible.
Fish market where every lady is yelling at you in her Korean Southern accent to buy her fish.
View of the colorful bridge from the beach.
About 75% of those businesses are sushi restaurants. Competition is fierce.
Family friends.
View from an island off Pusan. Japan is within eyesight.
Statue of mother and children who symbolize the families that wait for their fathers to return home after fishing in the ocean.
On the way home from Pusan, we stopped at this large rest stop.
Inside the rest stop.
This is the beginning of the funeral rituals for my grandpa who passed away. Fruits, incense and flowers adorn the shrine. Family members stay at this site to welcome visitors for three days straight. No sleeping for us.
Family members gamble with Korean cards in front of grandpa's memorial. My reaction was, "the nerve!" but apparently this is customary and not disrespectful. After all, it was grandpa's favorite pastime.
After friends bow to grandpa's memorial, my parents "receive" the bow of the friends as a sign of gratitude.
Funeral service at the church my grandparents attend.
Burial service at Baeron Seongji (Korean holy land).
Mom is reading a touching letter she wrote to grandpa at the burial service.
Grandpa's place.
Grandma's godmother who is explaining the importance of these Korean customs. She's a silly character with missing teeth, half-dyed hair, a cackle for a laugh and unmatched clothes. She makes me smile.
The first sangshik, which means tabled meal. It is Korean custom to set a table for the deceased because the spirit is hungry. Grandma is pouring some Korean liquor (soju). I was really confused when we ate all the food soon after.
We visited grandpa's burial site as is custom on the 3rd day after the funeral.
Everybody takes turns lighting the incense, pouring the liquor and bowing 2.5 times.
Chatting at grandpa's niche of the mausoleum.
3 generations at the center of a medieval labyrinth.
Meditation exercise on the labyrinth.
Boreum sangshik: 15 lunar days post death another table is set for the deceased; we bow and pour Korean liquor.
Traditional Korean-style mass on the floor. It was a neat experience except my legs fell asleep.
With friends at Baeron Seongji.
I know this is too obvious to even express but I noticed that everybody here is Korean. It's so weird to think that the people who never leave the country may never know what race consciousness is.
Friend's dog that wears a baby diaper wrapped with pantyhose.
The dog is cute.
Some people believe butterflies have a spiritual significance. At the funeral, a butterfly landed on my grandpa's picture so my grandma believed he had already become a butterfly. Several days ago, another butterfly landed in our house and she proceeded to talk to it because "he" had visited us. I had this picture taken to show my grandma that "he" had visited me while I was eating in a restaurant.
Duck feast.
Street in front of our house.
Spiders everywhere: I used to be scared of them but now I talk to them in English when I get tired of speaking Korean.
Rainy season: view of Chiak Mountain from home after it rained all night.
Grandpa receives a blessing from Father Kim.
A visit to my great uncle's orphanage in Nonsan.
Entrance.
Cafeteria.
Great uncle and family at the orphanage.
Rice field in the countryside.
Ginger is grown under these tents.
Visit to great aunt's daycare.
Can I please pinch your cheeks?
I love fungi!
Buckwheat noodles in an ice bowl.
Snack cart on the train. Harry Potter-ish?
Seafood heaven!
Pusan city located at the southeastern corner of the country.
Alive and edible.
Fish market where every lady is yelling at you in her Korean Southern accent to buy her fish.
View of the colorful bridge from the beach.
About 75% of those businesses are sushi restaurants. Competition is fierce.
Family friends.
View from an island off Pusan. Japan is within eyesight.
Statue of mother and children who symbolize the families that wait for their fathers to return home after fishing in the ocean.
On the way home from Pusan, we stopped at this large rest stop.
Inside the rest stop.
This is the beginning of the funeral rituals for my grandpa who passed away. Fruits, incense and flowers adorn the shrine. Family members stay at this site to welcome visitors for three days straight. No sleeping for us.
Family members gamble with Korean cards in front of grandpa's memorial. My reaction was, "the nerve!" but apparently this is customary and not disrespectful. After all, it was grandpa's favorite pastime.
After friends bow to grandpa's memorial, my parents "receive" the bow of the friends as a sign of gratitude.
Funeral service at the church my grandparents attend.
Burial service at Baeron Seongji (Korean holy land).
Mom is reading a touching letter she wrote to grandpa at the burial service.
Grandpa's place.
Grandma's godmother who is explaining the importance of these Korean customs. She's a silly character with missing teeth, half-dyed hair, a cackle for a laugh and unmatched clothes. She makes me smile.
The first sangshik, which means tabled meal. It is Korean custom to set a table for the deceased because the spirit is hungry. Grandma is pouring some Korean liquor (soju). I was really confused when we ate all the food soon after.
We visited grandpa's burial site as is custom on the 3rd day after the funeral.
Everybody takes turns lighting the incense, pouring the liquor and bowing 2.5 times.
Chatting at grandpa's niche of the mausoleum.
3 generations at the center of a medieval labyrinth.
Meditation exercise on the labyrinth.
Boreum sangshik: 15 lunar days post death another table is set for the deceased; we bow and pour Korean liquor.
Traditional Korean-style mass on the floor. It was a neat experience except my legs fell asleep. 
With friends at Baeron Seongji.
I know this is too obvious to even express but I noticed that everybody here is Korean. It's so weird to think that the people who never leave the country may never know what race consciousness is.
Friend's dog that wears a baby diaper wrapped with pantyhose.
The dog is cute.
Some people believe butterflies have a spiritual significance. At the funeral, a butterfly landed on my grandpa's picture so my grandma believed he had already become a butterfly. Several days ago, another butterfly landed in our house and she proceeded to talk to it because "he" had visited us. I had this picture taken to show my grandma that "he" had visited me while I was eating in a restaurant.
Duck feast.
Street in front of our house.
Spiders everywhere: I used to be scared of them but now I talk to them in English when I get tired of speaking Korean.
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