A Few More Friends to See

After my whirlwind tour of Washington DC was over I hopped on a plane and made my way to Minnesota. Lucky me, another experience with the domestic airports I enjoyed so much the first time around. This time I was even luckier because I got to connect through Atlanta, which a few of my Korean friends were greatly confused by as it's nowhere close to being on the way.  On top of that, after I politely traded seats so a brother and sister could sit together, I ound myself next to a talker. Getting any reading or napping done on this flight was not an option, oh well, at least he shared his lovely joke about TSA: "Thousands standing around", now that I could agree with.

Welcome to the mid-west 

Breaking Down

Living in a foreign country definitely has it's ups and downs, if someone asked me to explain my life here in one word i'd probably say roller coaster (damnit that's two words).  There are definitely days and weeks that fly by with excitement, field trips, energetic classes, weekend outings, good weather, I think you get the idea.  Then there's the days and weeks that seem to n e v e r end it's like all the stars align and everything that could go wrong, does.  Thankfully I haven't experience many of those, sure I have the classes from hell, or a rain day where I forgot my umbrella, but that could happen anywhere.  Another thing that's interesting while living abroad is noticing those moments when you've transitioned from a visitor to a resident, not "legally" per say, but that moment when you're new country really feels like home.  I've had that feeling on more than one occasion, and love it, but this past week I had a whole different experience that made me realize I'm not just floating through Korea as a tourist.  Note: Scooter break down :( 

That cost me a pretty penny 

You Have a Drivers License??

I originally started this post months ago but somehow it fell by the wayside, not sure how that happened...it's not like I've been busy teaching, traveling and living... but there's a new reason for me to come back to this post, I have something more to add and so here it goes - driving in Korea. watch out.  When my students and co-workers found out that I not only had a drivers license back home but have been driving since the age of 16 they were amazed. "Wow you can drive?! Are you a good driver?"...I likely just responded with a blank stare - umm yeah?

I know there are boundless stereotypes out there that Asian drivers are terrible, before living in Korea I took that all with a grain of salt and let it roll of my back - I mean I am from Wisconsin where we have to deal with the FIB's from the south (now those are some terrible drivers).  However, after moving here I have a new appreciation for what bad driving really entails - let me break it down: parking, public transportation and of course the scooter.