Ken Jennings literally took a trip down memory lane. The “Jeopardy!” host returned to his childhood home in Seoul, South Korea. Jennings, 52, became famous for his record-breaking run on the US game show. However, he spent his early years on the opposite side of the world. As the son of an international lawyer father and a schoolteacher mother who worked for the Department of Defense, Jennings moved between countries during childhood.
The game show personality spent his childhood and teenage years in Seoul and graduated from the Seoul Foreign School. Jennings has remained in the US since returning decades ago to attend the University of Washington. Now, he’s returned to the place he once called home.
Ken Jennings Showed Fans Pictures Of His Childhood Home
Ken Jennings took a break from the “Jeopardy!” set for a very personal break. The 52-year-old shared multiple posts on Instagram of his overseas trip. For Jennings, this was more than just a flight abroad. The game show host returned to Seoul, South Korea, reliving days before he was a TV personality.
Jennings has been musing on how different the city has become since his childhood. Among them is his story of tracking down where he lived. The TV host said he finally tracked the house down after figuring out where his neighborhood was. Jennings wrote that returning to the area took him back to his younger days, joking that he pretended his AirPods were a Walkman.
While the city itself is different to him now, Jennings felt the neighborhood was exactly the same. According to him, the only major difference he saw was that there was air conditioning now. One of his most sobering realizations was that he is now a whole decade older than his father was when they lived in Seoul.
The passage of time served as a reminder to Jennings that life goes on. However, he asked his followers where all that time really went.
Ken Jennings Was Invited To Seoul By The High School He Attended
While Ken Jennings’ Seoul trip might seem like a random break, the TV host revealed why he was there. Jennings was invited back by Seoul Foreign School. The “Jeopardy!” legend voiced appreciation for the school in a post and compared how it looked now. He felt that everything was different except the main gate.
Among Jennings’ more interesting posts was a photo at the Starfield Library. The two-story public library is situated inside COEX Mall, making it a massive tourist attraction. Jennings shared selfies with fans, highlighting the huge scale of the bookshelves. In his other posts, he admitted most of the things had changed apart from his old neighborhood.
In a separate carousel, Jennings said he specifically looked for places he could recognize. The 52-year-old found a relatable site with the city’s sidewalks. The footpaths still resembled the way they looked to Jennings during the ’80s. According to him, these small nuances can be found if “you know where to look.”
Jennings said he searched for a location where he used to catch bugs for his sixth-grade insect collection, but realized a hotel had been built in the former vacant lot.
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‘Jeopardy!’ Host Ken Jennings Makes Emotional Return to Childhood Home in South Korea After 35 Years