Harringtons in Korea: The Soul of Asia

Unfortunately, all journey's must eventually come to an end. So, with the smoky smell of the no-rae bang still clinging to their hair and minds buzzing with lyrics, the Harrington's got themselves together by 5:30 am and made their way by taxi to the Dunsan Bus Terminal to catch the bus to Incheon International Airport. Remembering the problems they had earlier faced in finding storage at Seoul Station, the crew had decided to go first to the airport to drop off luggage before heading into Seoul by the Airport Express line. Fortunately, the bus ride from Daejeon to Incheon afforded the Harrington's an extra 2.5 hours of napping before arriving at the airport.

With luggage taken care of, the Harrington's arrived at Seoul station, snagged a taxi and made their way to Gyeongbukgung Palace in time to watch the changing of the guards. Wanting to squeeze a little more excitement out of their hours in Seoul the Harrington's opted out of exploring the palace in it's entirety and made their way toward Insa-dong follwoing a mish-mash of typical Korean lunch items (kimbap, udong, pork cutlet, etc.) Insa-dong then provided the glorious souvenir shopping opportunity that the Harrington's had thus far been longing for. In and out of shops filled with the perfect gifts for family and friends, M&M worked hard to keep track of 'their' foreigners amongst all the other Insa-dong foreigners. Finally, with shopping accomplished and time winding down the crew headed back to Seoul station to part ways.

Warm, long embraces, a few tears and wishes for a happy new year sent 4 Harrington's U.S. bound and 2 Harrington's Daejeon bound.

Having family visit during the heart of the holiday season was a true blessing and joy for the Harrington duo. Saying good-bye is always difficult. But knowing that four of the most precious people in their lives now had a deeper understanding of the duo's love for Korea and the people here made the parting that much more managable.

Now, who's coming next year? 2010 it was Haleh...2011 the Harrington's...and 2012...???

(Perhaps what's more important is knowing whether or not M&M are sticking around Korea until 2012, and that's just something we don't know yet...)