After Seoul, we headed back to Daejeon, where we wandered
the city, and saw old friends. We even had lunch with my professor from KAIST,
who is doing well. Then at 4AM, we boarded the bus to Incheon, got on a plane
and headed back. Trans-pacific airplane rides are long, but they treat us well.
The flight includes two full meals, and they give us slippers, pillows,
blankets, tooth brushes, and a really sore backside.
This trip was a good chance to look back and appreciate what
we learned from our adventure back in 2011-2013. Korean life is natural enough
for us to get by without much worry, and we were able to enjoy this trip in a
deeper way because we knew how to get around. I found out that I can read at a
1st grade level, which is a big accomplishment for me, because I’m pretty sure I talk like a toddler. The thing that was the most fun was
being able to talk to all the people who don’t normally speak English, which is
the big payout of language learning. I’ll probably never make it past 5th
grade in Korea, but if I do, there’s no stopping.
East Asia’s differences reminded me that conventional wisdom is often just a mental
shortcut, and there are often several ways to do things. It was really fun to encounter stuff I thought were bizarre
back in 2011, but now find familiar and comfortable. We got to eat lots of fermented food, sleep on the floor, eschew chairs, and wash dishes in sinks without
drain stoppers. (Prior to yesterday, I
never knew why I washed dishes so strangely. It turns out that I was just doing
it the Korean way without knowing. I think it does a better job too).
We were free from cars for two weeks, and replaced them with
subways, buses, bullet trains and airplanes. We got to cross streams on
stepping stones that would be considered too tall for safety, walk down the
middle of streets with no sidewalks, eat
squid jerky, wander downtown at 4AM, walk along sheets of ice on sidewalks,
and various other activities that would rattle American sensibilities. We
got to see old friends, and even meet some new ones. It was basically a 2 week long party. We loved it!
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| Some funny guys at Jinbu Station Note: many comedians dress in the old style for skits, but why does the dude on the right have his hoodie tucked in? |
Until next time, this is Riley, signing out
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