Samuel and Evelyn

I have just returned from hanging out with Hyunjoo's six year old twins, Samuel and Evelyn.  I had such a great time.

Today at the end of school, Hyunjoo came to my desk and said that we would meet for duk boki at the kimbap shop that is in my building (not the same one I went to last night...) and then we would go back to her apartment to play with the kiddos,  She also asked me how much I wanted her to pay me for playing with her kids.  I didn't know what was appropriate, plus I felt weird that she wanted to pay me for playing games with her kids.  It wasn't like I was babysitting them or taking care of them in any way.  I was just having fun with them.  So, I told her it was not necessary to pay me.  We agreed that she would buy me dinner each time I hang out with her kids.  Sounds like a plan to me!

When Hyunjoo was done with work, she called me and I wandered down to the kimbap shop to meet her.  Waiting for me was duk boki, complete with ramen noodles, cooking on a table, and a roll of kimbap.  My two favorite Korean foods, right at my disposal!  We started eating and talking, enjoying each other's company.  A couple of times, different students wandered into the shop as well, so we had a nice chat with them too.  Then, Hyunjoo suggested we also try japaghetti, which is a traditionally Chinese dish that Koreans have adapted.  It is like spaghetti in that it is noodles covered in sauce.  Japaghetti entails ramen noodles cooked in a sort of sweet black bean sauce and ours was served topped with a fried egg.  SOO GOOD!  Japaghetti is the comfort food for Korean kids just as macaroni and cheese is for American children.

After we had consumed our fair share of tasty Korean fare and were both complaining about over eating and how full we felt, we headed to her apartment.  I was greeted at the door by Evelyn and Samuel was playing hide'n'seek by himself.  Both are adorable.  Evelyn started playing the piano for me as Hyunjoo made me some tea to settle my stomach.  On the tea saucer, she also gave me three swizzle sticks (those cracker sticks with chocolate filling...I can't think of the name...)  I set my tea aside as we began to set up a game of Monopoly and Samuel kept eating my swizzle sticks.  He was so adorable and I was too full to want them anyway, so I let it happen.  As we were setting up monopoly, one of the kids knocked over Hyunjoo's tea cup, sending it to the floor.  The handle broke from it and Evelyn and I cleaned up the mess.  She was so quick to help me and was very careful. Such a cute girl!

We played Monopoly for quite a while and the kids caught onto the game very quickly.  They are very, very smart kids, so full of energy and humor.  We played for almost an hour, and it surprised me that they would have that long of an attention span.  They took me home about about 8:45 and we made plans for next time.  I'm going to be a bit sad when they move to Seoul next month!  Hopefully we can still get together every once in a while because I had such a great time tonight!  Hyunjoo definitely spoils me and I feel very honored that she would welcome me into her home to play with her children.  She is such a sweet lady and I have grown quite fond of her and her family!