I am a mother of 4 children. Two of my children were born in Korea. I thought having contact with Korean pen pals would be good for me to learn more about Korea, its people and culture. I will then be able to share what I learn with my children as they get older. I have been writing to my pen pals for about 18 months. I have 4 pen pals who live in Korea. During this time I have learned about Korea and about my pen pals lives in Korea. Hopefully I have shared some interesting facts about Australia with them also.

At the end of June 2004 I visited Korea along with my husband and 7 year old daughter. (my second time to Korea) We had 10 very busy, very exciting days in Korea. Our first night in Korea we were met by my pen pal Hyun Chul. He invited us to his house for an amazing Korean meal. We were also able to meet his wife and daughters. They were so welcoming towards us and treated us as special guests. Between Hyun Chuls limited English and my even more limited Korean and Hyun Chuls daughter interpreting for us we were able to share many things about our lives. The food Hyun Chuls wife prepared was absolutely delicious. It was our first experience of eating while sat on the floor. We felt very welcomed by Hyun Chul and his family.Many Korean and Australian gifts were exchanged during this visit. Later in the week Hyun Chul and one of his daughters also took us to Chong Dong theater.
My husband particularly enjoyed the drumming. We dressed in the traditional Korean hanboks while we were there. It was a lot of fun. It was a wonderful way to spend an evening with new friends in Korea.

I have a teenage pen pal called Ju Yun. She is able to speak English quite well. We were able to meet her and her father one afternoon. Again gifts were exchanged and we went out to a restaurant for Korean Bulgogi barbeque. They were able to share with us many things about Korea. Again we were amazed at how welcoming our pen pals were. We never felt uncomfortable. Jun Yun brought her Korean/English dictionary with her so if she was stuck for an English word it didnt take her long to look it up. After lunch they took us to a palace where we saw the changing of the guard. It was great to have our friends as tour guide. We were very thankful to Ju Yuns father for driving us around Seoul this day. Kyong Suk was another pen pal I caught up with. She has 3 children which my daughter especially liked. It was good for her to make some friends in Korea to play with. Kyong Suk and her family took us to Lotte world. What a wonderful place to go with children. My daughter enjoyed every moment. We exchanged gifts, ate Bibimbap and walked around the folk museum there. We enjoyed getting to know Kyong Suk and her family. It was nice to meet a family in Korea similar to our family in Australia. Unfortunately I had one pen pal I was unable to catch up with. Hopefully next time we are in Korea we will meet. Having pen pals in Korea added so much more to our visit. We learnt so much more about Korea than we did on our last visit. We didnt feel lonely at any time because we knew we had friends in Korea. Everyone we met was very friendly and welcoming towards us. The gifts we received from our friends are very treasured and have special places in our home in Australia. I am very glad to have had the opportunity to meet such wonderful people. I look forward to when I can visit Korea again. Or maybe one of my pen pals will visit me in Australia!

Naomi from Australia (Home duties)