ah-bo-gi (father)

When we first met he cried and as i tried to bow, he tried to hug, but either way it was a loving embrace. Quick recap: He only found out about me a year ago, because my mother gave me up for adoption without tell him. It is only after my sister and I had been emailing that my sister told him. He was really really happy. There was slight confusion however, when my father stepped out of the room and my sister asked me what my blood type was. Well, my blood type is B. The room erupted... "BBBBB????". Yes, i answered unsure what had caused the reaction. My friend who was translasting said, "it must be wrong." I asked why and she explained that my mother's blood type was A and my father's was O. Oh no?!?! is what i thought. Jokingly, i stuck out my arm and said we bettter figure this out. The room filled with endless korean as I thought how funny it would be to say "Hi father, you aren't my father." *gulp* Fortunately soon after my father came back into the room, they asked him is blood type. My family reacted with shock when my father said AB. I reacted with a sigh of relief. Glad we got that cleared up, that would not be awkward at all.

At the restaurant we went to for dinner after we met, my father was so happy he was pouring me Soju, a korean liquor, that I think is tasty. I probably had two shots and he had the rest of the bottle. This was the first night that we learned Koreans don't stop eating. When we had returned to my sisters house, we ate once again and this time, my Father who was still so happy, said we should celebrate. He brought out of the liquor cabinet a 30 yr old Scotch whiskey, poured me a shot glass and offered a toast. Now that, i had to chase with apples. We then exchanged gifts. My father gave me a pearl necklace that i'm wearing in the picture. It is so beautiful.

As any father would, he asked me about school and money. Wanting to now how my desire to be a missionary was going to provide me with enough money. My attempts to try and share with him, i don't need a lot of money, didn't seem to put him at ease, but he was happy to know that my family has enough money that i don't have to worry. Either way though, we gave me a incredibly generous sum of money on the day I left. He was caring, funny, outgoing and wanted to help in anyway he could.

ps. he kept calling me "charlie" instead of "karli" lol.