24 Days and Too Much to Do!

Reading Time: 9 minutes

There’s nothing like being home, sleeping in your bed and spending time with family and friends you’ve known your whole life. Luckily I still have these to come home to, that my parents haven’t moved (I hope they never do) and most of my friends are still on the East coast not far from New York. After two years without being home it was amazing being back. I was home for 24 days and did things constantly, there were a lot of things planned and crammed into a short period of time. Certain things have become ritualistic must-do activities like playing Sushi Go! and Mario Party on Nintendo64; other things I did for the first time, like eating dinner with my family at the Lazy Lobster or seeing Wicked. Here is my end of being home/summer list of the activities I did:

I watched one of my best friends get married. The venue was in an amazing spot in Brooklyn yards with a clear view of the Statue of Liberty. One of the things I wanted to do when home was the Staten Island ferry, specifically to see the Statue of Liberty, but because the venue was right there, I didn’t need to.

I spent a week with my Dad’s side of the family in Long Beach Island in a beautiful house right along the beach. We played mini-golf, ate a lot of seafood, played cornhole, went to seaside heights, and went to a water park that we hadn’t gone to in almost 15 years. Aside from just being with my family, the water park was one of the best parts, it’s super small, with only 6 tube slides and a small lazy river, but it was so much fun. The last time we were there was 15 years ago in 2004, going back was as nostalgic as watching a Disney movie.

My Mom’s side of the family came up for four days. My Aunt and Uncle now live in NC, so they drove up and stayed Fri-Tues, my cousin and his girlfriend came from D.C, my other cousin lives around the block from us, but because I was so busy I hadn’t seen them yet. One of the best parts was playing with her kids (my second cousins) who are 4 and 6. I don’t think they remembered me (or at all). My other Aunt and Uncle came down from upstate and all of us went out to dinner at the Lazy Lobster that Saturday night.

The day after I arrived in New York I had lunch with my Grandma and Allie at Shake Shack! I got the portabella mushroom burger and it was delicious. In Korea, you can’t get a good burger, let alone a good vegetarian burger.  It was also my last lunch in New York, I ate it at the airport an hour before taking off.

I saw my friend Christine and I met her boyfriend for the first time. Originally, I didn’t think I was going to see her and if I didn’t four years would have passed. We spent a day at the beach with my Mom and sister and then she was there with her boyfriend for the Brooklyn night.

My friend Kendall came up from D.C with his girlfriend who I got to meet for the first time. It had been three years since I last saw him, so it was amazing to spend some time together. He met us in Brooklyn on Friday. On Saturday we did the Saturday stumper crossword with my Mom, Cousin, and Aunt and played a game of Mario Party where we lost to the computer.

I made two Korean dishes for my family, Tteokbokki and Pajaen. In order to get the ingredients, my sister(Allie) and I went to the Asian market not far from our house. Having never cooked it before they came out surprisingly well and to my surprise my family enjoyed it. To complete the meal, we also got two Korean ice creams, a fish-shaped sandwich with vanilla and red bean, and a mango popsicle from the Korean company Melona.

I had dinner in NYC with my friends (Dave, Ian, Richie, Tonno) on the Friday before the wedding. It was the first time getting back together since I left two years ago. We drank and ate at an Italian restaurant.

I saw Wicked for the first time with my family. Even before seeing it, I knew most of the songs. When I still lived at home my Mom would play the soundtrack before seeing a show (she has seen it many times), both my sisters have also seen it.  When I was younger I didn’t care for broadway shows, but over the years I felt like I missed out not seeing Wicked.  Finally seeing it was awesome, it was an amazing show and with our seats only three rows back we were able to see every facial expression from the cast.

Billy Joel for the first time with my family at MSG! Growing up on Long Island it’s in our blood to have to see Billy Joel at least once. I’m glad that I finally had my chance.

I was surprised by my twin (Jaclyn) and friends from high school.  The Friday Kendall and his girlfriend came up, which was also the Friday my family came up, we had plans to meet and go out in Brooklyn. My friend Steve met us with his fiancé (first time seeing him in 2 years), Christine and her boyfriend as well, my cousin and his girlfriend and my younger sister came out too. It was the first time I went out with her, she was 20 when I left. Jaclyn planned the night, her friends were meeting us at the bar. While there, Jaclyn said the plan was to go to a different place called Tender Trap, which is the real name of a bar, but in this instance was the surprise at my friends apartment where friends I hadn’t seen in three or more years were waiting (Pat, Joe, Proano, John K, Dennis, Mike, Lauren, Maria, Colleen). I had no idea of the surprise until after the door opened into darkness. Even in the lobby, I was clueless. It’s Brooklyn after all, I’ve been to a bar behind a laundromat with Jaclyn. It’s humbling to think everyone came out to see me. It meant a lot and means a lot. My friend Pat orchestrated it with the help of Jaclyn. As an added bonus, the rooftop of the building had an amazing view of Manhattan.

I ate Mexican food! Korea doesn’t have Mexican food like we do back home, I’ve never eaten it here and from what I’ve heard, never plan to.

My friend Ian’s parents invited me over for a barbeque where I met his girlfriend for the first time and beat them at Sushi Go! One of the things you’ll notice is that while home I met a lot of my friend’s significant others for the first time, it’s part of what you miss when you’re away, so it was nice to be present in their lives. I am saddened by the fact that my friends and family might never meet the friends I’ve made nor the girlfriends I’ve had. People that are a part of my life and play or have played an important role become words and sentences for the people on the other side.

I walked the High Line in NYC for the first time with my family. Before that, we stopped at the Vessel, which was also the first time any of them had seen it.  Finally, it wasn’t just me experiencing something for the first time.

I watched the last 5 marvel movies with Allie and my Dad. Her summer project was to watch all the movies in chronological order. The Friday morning before the Brooklyn surprise and only a week before I was leaving, my sister, Dad and I woke up at 9 with the plan to watch End Game at 9:30am. It was literally the only time and day we could watch it, my family was getting in at 13:00 and were leaving Tuesday, Tuesday my Dad had work and we had plans for a birthday dinner that night, Wednesday we had the Billy Joel concert, Thursday my Dad had work and Thursday night I planned to go out with my twin one last time in Brooklyn.

My Dad and I “hiked” the Norma Levy Preserve about 15 minutes from our house.  It’s not really a hike, but more of a scenic walk around a nature preserve.

Jaclyn invited me for a night out in Brooklyn the day before my flight. I met her friends for the first time and experienced her concert attending lifestyle. If you follow her on Instagram,  you’ll see in her story that she’s at a show almost any day of the week. Because of her job in music and her friends as well, she has access to almost any show going on in Brooklyn. I couldn’t pass on the opportunity to go to one with her.

I had hibachi with my family and Grandma for my Sister and I’s birthday dinner.  It’s a tradition we’ve been doing for around 15 years.

Every morning my Mom, Allie and I did the Newsday crossword

My Dad and I went to the Guggenheim. Going to the Guggenheim, let alone seeing it, is something I’ve never done and always wanted to.

I went shopping at the mall with Allie and my Mom. I can’t even remember the last time we did that together.

I ate a lot of pizza!

In the end, none of the things I did would have been possible if it weren’t for my family and friends, I’m thankful that I have these people in my life who were willing to arrange their lives around mine for the time I was home. I don’t think Allie saw her friends for three weeks because she spent almost every moment with me, Jaclyn came to RVC many times, slept at home and then made the commute back to Brooklyn the next morning (which is not a convenient trip) and especially my Mom and Dad who welcomed me home with open arms. None of what I did would have been possible without them. Last, but not least my dog Pal who is the cutest thing in the world and will hopefully still be alive the next time I go home. After all these years, I still can’t tell if he notices when I’m gone or if he cares that I’m back.

After two years of living in a country, you get used to that way of living. People refer to the feeling of going back home after time away as “reverse culture shock.”  These are the things that I found strange after being away for so long:

The amount of people wearing AirPods is crazy, it seems like almost everyone has them. I really don’t understand because for $100 you can get a pair of headphones of superior sound quality. Call me old fashioned, but I think it’s insane to be with family or friends and have them in. I feel like the world is slowly evolving into a black mirror episode. 

In New York, the number of times people use literally is literally more times than I can count. 

People walking around the house with their shoes on and around other people’s houses with their shoes is weird after two years of taking them off before entering almost any place; school, gym, and restaurants are a few examples. It was very unsettling.

Fried foods, being summer we naturally had a lot of seafood, most seafood comes with french fries and after three weeks of eating fried foods, I won’t miss it.

Not separating garbage into plastics, food waste, etc. 

The lack of mountains, Korea is 70% mountainous, at home, it’s 0%. The tallest things are landfills. Driving and walking around my eyes were not used to the emptiness.

Feeling like a child while my Mom and Dad insisted on paying for things. Being 28 and working, it felt weird.