Somewhere in Seoul

Well I arrived Wednesday night here in Seoul and had quite a trip. My suitcases were packed (or over packed as it were) with stuff to bring back with me. I had to pay $100 extra for my flight from Medford to SF for one of the two bags which weighed 87lbs (the other one weighed 50lbs). When I went to shift things around in SF I broke the lock on my suitcase. I then had to run into a Brookstone store and buy a luggage strap to hold my suitcase close and pay to have my suitcase wrapped to make sure it wouldn't come open. Here I was thinking what a relaxing 6 hour layover it would be in SF.

Before that though, I was on the phone with my sister, who wouldn't come over to see me off, and suddenly the fire alarms went off in the airport. Apparently there was a fire and they decided to evacuate everyone from he building. Given the fact I had a boatload of stuff, I decided to stick it out as I wasn't that far from the doors. I saw some firefighters come in a few minutes later, but they didn't look too panicked about what was going on, so I figured it must have been a small fire.

The plane ride over was ok, but I couldn't sleep. I watched a few movies on the entertainment system on the back of the seat. As soon as the plane landed I got through immigration, picked up my luggage, turned in my customs declaration and was out the door.

My wife and father-in-law met me at the airport and we took a bus from Incheon International Airport to Gimpo International Airport (the latter use to be the main airport coming into Korea until 2001, when the larger Incheon Airport opened. Gimpo is mostly a domestic airport now) and then a taxi to her parent's house.

Sitting here on Saturday afternoon, the jet lag has finally started to wear off and I'm starting to feel myself again. I miss live in the US, especially after having a taste of it for four months.

Back To Korea

Well my journey home to try to settle down in the US didn't work out, so after receiving a pretty decent offer to teach at a university, I'm going back to Korea. I have mixed feelings about this as I was looking forward to long Sunday afternoons watching football, catching all the new shows on TV and celebrating Thanksgiving and Christmas for the first time in years.

What I will miss most of all, is being involved in this next election cycle. It will mean yet another presidential election overseas (yes I'll vote). There is nothing like watching the campaign in real time from the US. I feel severely disconnected from the process being over there.

Most of all, it's comforting to know I don't have to worry about looking for a job anymore and that after four months of being separated (due to waiting for a visa) my wife and I will see each other.

At this point I'm just trying to gather all the details so I can start making decisions about seeing some family members that I haven't seen yet before going back.

I promise to keep blogging about things, even if no one reads it. Only because I enjoy talking to myself.

David

The light at the end of the tunnel

After almost three and a half years of living overseas I'm coming home. It has been a long and sometimes tough journey. There has been somethings that have happened that I never would have expected.

On June 6th, I will get on a plane to fly home. I'm excited and somewhat nervous about picking up my life in Oregon. In mid September my wife, Namhee, will join me after she gets her visa to live permanently in the US.

Leaving my school and my life here will be difficult. There is no doubt in my mind that I have had some great experiences, especially in the last year.

This is the first of a few different posts about my life in Korea and my experience as an Expat coming home later this month.

If you'd like, feel free to visit my photo album to see what I've been up to these last few years:

David's Photo Album