Seeing Friends - Seoul, Korea (April 2023)

 One great joy to get out of visiting Korea is seeing old friends. My friends can be categorized into three: High school friends, College friends, and Society friends.

College Friends, Seoul

There are many college friends, but I have kept close relationships with a few. They are Pyung Ku, Kwangsoo, and Chan Jung. On another occasion, we met in a couple, but I forgot to take photos of that gathering.

I had several gatherings with high school friends. They are very close since we have known each other for over 50 years. Oh boy...

High School Friends (Six Friends), Busan

One of the gatherings at high school was Six Friends. We did not have all, but four of them met up in Busan because Young Soo was living in Busan.

High School Friends (Six Friends), Seoul

We had another gathering among Six Friends in Seoul. This time, the number has gone up to five people. They were Hyungsuk, Myunggyu, Gilyong, and Youngsik.  Youngsoo was missing. When we meet, we do not do much, but we enjoy the gatherings themselves. This time, we agreed to organize a trip to Canada and U.S. in October 2025, Lord willing that is.

High School Friends - Seoul

There was another group of high school friends, called Han Wool Hoi. It used to have 12 members, but not all of them meet regularly. But three of us had frequent gatherings whenever possible: Joonhan and Changho.

We had another gathering with a few other friends: Taehoon, Gilyong, and Jingyun.

Mokpo

I had to make two trips to Mokpo primarily to get my implant completed. I had dinner with Dr. Joon Seok Kwak and Hong Dam. 

Kristin and I had dinner with Mr. and Mrs. Noh. We met in Rwanda and have since kept in touch. It is always joyous to see them.

Social Friends

Our lodging changes often depending on what is available. This time, we stayed at the apartment of Mr. and Mrs. Jay Jongsup Yoon. We have known each other since my time in New York. But we have been traveling friends since 2011 when we climbed Mt. Kilimanjaro. Early this year, we traveled together to Iguazu Falls and Patagonia, They had to cancel their scheduled trip to Bolivia because Mrs. Yoon tested positive on COVID-19 in Santiago Chile. They were genuinely welcoming us and making us comfortable. We greatly appreciated their hospitality.

Once Mr. Yoon cooked instant ramyun. We took them out to dinner once before we left. We plan to travel together again in February next year to Morocco. Also, Mr. Yoon and I plan to walk on the Camino de Santiago trail in September next year, Lord willing. We enjoyed our breakfast time for over a month. Thank you very much, Mr. and Mrs. Yoon!

We were invited to lunch by Professors Yoo and Shin. Ms. Shin is a friend of Kristin's. They went to school together at the Nursing School at Yonsei University. They used to live in Southern California and we had frequent dining together and sometimes traveling together. They are believers and we had a great fellowship time.

Seeing friends in Korea helps bring back fun memories. I am grateful to God for my friends. - Jeffrey