I mentioned my special Japanese cousin Pepe in my last post. She's the beautiful Bull Terrier with the heart-shaped nose in the center of the top photo. Standing alongside are her older sisters Ellie, on the right, and Liz, on the left, both of them Cavalier King Charles Spaniels. These were Auntie's girls. She'd devoted her life to raising them, caring for her husband, and running a Korean restaurant in Osaka, Japan. I never met Ellie and Liz because they crossed the Rainbrow Bridge before I was born. But Pepe came with Auntie and her husband to Korea, and soon after we arrived at our future home in Jeonju we went upstairs to meet her.
Mom had a special connection with Pepe. She was with Auntie in Osaka early on January 1, 2000, when they both heard frightened yelps coming from a nearby trash bin. Inside was a Bull Terrier puppy of only a few weeks. She had a broken leg, and Auntie nursed her back to health and raised her along with Ellie and Liz. Now, Pepe was near the end of her life, suffering from cancer. She didn't want to move from her bed, and we could only greet her from the door and get a growl as a reply. To tell the truth, I was frightened, and Dad, holding me in his arms, felt me tremble. When we left for home, she was sleeping and we didn't disturb her. In December of that year, she joined Ellie and Liz, and her suffering ended.
The rest of our time in Korea was much more upbeat. We spent time with Mom's Mom, my other Auntie, Mom's youngest sister, and her two boys. We took walks with Ddori to a park circling the provincial university. One day, we took a car trip to Daejeon, Mom's hometown, one hour north of Jeonju. There we met her oldest brother and his family at their restaurant. Many times we—including me!—went out for dinner. Korea is great. If the restaurant owner likes dogs, they put you in a private dining room. So I went to a grilled beef restaurant twice, a smoked duck restaurant as many times, and so many other restaurants I can't even remember them all! 😁 One special moment was on Mom and Dad's wedding anniversary. That's me with them in the two photos. I even helped Dad blow out the candles. One forgettable moment occurred a few seconds after Dad ate a Korean delicacy called dotori mook (acorn jelly) given to grandma by a friend. He started throwing up blood and was rushed to the hospital with a blotchy face. But within a day he made a swift recovery and didn't miss many meals!
After two weeks, Mom had signed all the papers and visited all the local government offices. The house was ours, and the only open question was when would we return? The journey home was even longer than the inbound trip. First, a five-hour car trip to the airport. Next, an hour plus devoted to getting my clearance document from Korean authorities. Finally, we boarded the plane, settled into the same seats, and fell into a deep sleep. I was so tired, I don't remember scratching on my carrier to get out. As we got ready to land, the flight attendant expressed surprise when she saw me. I'd been so quiet and Mom so well behaved, she didn't even know I was there.
Re-entering the USA went smoothly. The U.S. Customs officer checked the paperwork and my rabies shot record and cleared me in seconds. Then he looked at the declaration card Dad had prepared and saw the word 'Kimchi' at the top of a long list of items brought from Korea. He must've had some history with Korea's famous fermented dish, because he said, "Kimchi?" and waved us through like a man not wanting to tangle with something.
The long drive home with Dad at the wheel went smoothly, and then there I was, back at my 2nd floor loft station, happy to be home again. To save money, we never went back to Korea until our one-way trip here in December 2018. But there were many more domestic journeys in our future, and I'll tell you about another one next time.
Thanks for reading my blog,
Tango
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