Sleeping in Seattle

So my departure from NYC started with a stop off in Seattle to see my Grandma (father's side) who is 89 and well, I think of slowly deteriorating health. I haven't seen in her like 6-8 years, so it was important to me to go see her. She's the only one I have left.

My plane didn't touch down until 11:30pm; my cousin Mona picked me up to take me to Grandma's. Upon my arrival, I was a little shocked to see my Grandma who was rather skinny and without her dentures (I had never seen her that way in the past, so it was a little surprising to see her this way).

As I put my bags down in her small studio (more akin to something you would find in NYC), she said something to me that made me think for a moment she had gone senile - she said, "Here eat this (chicken teriyaki), your Uncle brought it for you." Now this may not sound like anything crazy to you, but to me I was like, Uncle? What Uncle? Uncle Ian Grandma? (of course all of this is in Korean) - Isn't Uncle Ian in China?


So complete surprise #2 was that my Uncle who had moved to China just happened to be in town the same weekend that I was in town. I haven't seen this Uncle since I was 5 or 6, and nobody told me he was going to be there.

Grandma and I stayed up rather late talking (maybe 2 am or so) and finally went to bed. Ok, so most old people tend to get up REALLY early, like 5 or 6 am; I am not a morning riser and was a little concerned about this. But to my amusement, my grandma and I both slept in until about 11am, lol. It was kind of nice.

My cousin Aava (Mona's older sister) whom I haven't seen since I was 12 or 13, picked me up and we headed out to eat and to REI!!! THE FLAGSHIP STORE!!! Yes, I was quite the happy girl. REI is my dream come true.

For dinner, I was really happy to find out that it was going to be with Grandma, Uncle Ian, Aava, and Mona. Lots of family eating together. You have no idea how much pleasure I derive from being able to do this. It was so nice to see Uncle and even nicer to be able to catch up with him. He is the youngest child on my father's side, is more well adjusted to the American life, and his English is very good. So to be able to relate to him, was... well... just great.

He told me stories of my father and mother, our family, his children, Grandma, etc. He even picked me up the next day to go to REI (yes again!) and bought me trekking poles for my trip to Korea. He took me to his favorite spots in Seattle, toured me around U of Wash (where he went to school), his favorite get away mini island walking/hiking place, and just talked to me more about things I was curious about. I found out he works for Boeing in China and is a professor for the MBA program at the University there. OH OH, he ALSO runs marathons!!!! And has run several of them. He even did a "bare buns" run up in Vancouver (yes he apparently was all bare for it too).


I didn't know I had such a cool Uncle, and to reconnect with him really made me feel good. He has two sons, Joseph and Andrew; Joe is actually in Korea as well, teaching English and having a good time. I found out that my Uncle was going to Korea post Seattle, and again there at the same time I was going to be there. So, I was going to get to see him again, along with my cousin Joe, my great aunt, and another cousin I had never met before with her family.

I left Seattle having slept late, having seen family, and having gotten some gear. A great start to my trip.