Family Weekend

We are always busy on weekends. My husband leaves for work at 8AM everyday and is usually home at 8PM. He spends more than two hours a day traveling to and from work daily. As much as he’d like to come home earlier, it’s not just in Korean culture to leave earlier than the boss. My husband isn’t alone as most Korean fathers spend a lot of time working and even drinking socially at night.

Our weekends are reserve for the family. There are times though that I go out with my girl friends for lunch on a Saturday and my husband usually takes his turn the following weekend for his hiking trip.

I think we’re lucky that we live in Seoul. There are a lot of parks and zoos that we can go to to spend time as a family. Our favorite place is the Children’s Grand Park, which is about a 30-minute drive from our apartment. It has a zoo, swimming pool, soccer field, carnival rides, camel and horse ride, playground and of course, picnic grounds. I just love love going there ‘coz it’s free.

I’ve noticed that a lot of young families also spend their weekends going to such places. Fathers accompanying and playing with their kids while the moms (like moi) takes pictures. I guess this is really a time we’d have to take advantage of being a family since there will come a time when our son would surely prefer to go out with his friends instead of us. Talking from experience? You bet.