Time Travel: Back in the Bay

Hello, I'm back in US of A. It's a little strange to be back after what seemed like a really long time but yet went so fast. I really enjoyed every moment of my trip. I'm very very glad I went to Korea. I didn't share this before but I was very hesitant about going. I thought I'd hate Korea and I knew I didn't want that kind of reaction, so I'm very happy to say it was MUCH better than I thought it would be. In fact I would love to live there for an extended period of time. That is yet to be determined so I won't dwell on that at the moment.

Erik and I took off at 5pm Tuesday August 17th from Seoul and landed at 1130 AM August 17th in San Francisco. And who said time traveling wasn't possible? We took public transportation back home with all our luggage (always fun) so we didn't get home until about 3pm. I felt like a poor college student again, with only $5 bucks in my pocket, snacking on corn nuts and wishing there was a faster/cheaper way to get home. I napped for only 45 mins on the 11 hour flight back.  I didn't start feeling weird (overly exhausted) until about 5pm PST when I was standing in Bank of America. I went back home and passed out for five hours. That's normal right? Unfortunately I'm not up at 1:15am but as soon as I'm down jotting down a few love notes to you all I'm forcing myself to go back to sleep.

Erik at Incheon Airport in S. Korea

I had a moment of culture shock today, as we got onto the Bart (subway system in the Bay), I turned to Erik and whispered, "wow, there are a lot of white people here". I know how racist that sounds but Korea really is NOT diverse. All you see are Koreans. Seoul is a HUGE city (12 million people), yet is not yet considered a tourist destination. About 99% of the Koreans we ran into knew only a couple words of English, and not nearly enough to be helpful or to understand us, so at times it got very confusing and/or frustrating. Erik and I were in a way forced to learn the language if we wanted to have any control over our destiny. I did not mind learning for obvious reasons, one being I should know my own heritage language, two I love knowing different languages, and third it is fun seeing the shock and joy of a Korean when Erik and I pull up and start ordering food in Korean. Like any country, the natives appreciate when visitors try to speak their language. Even if we butcher it they can see we're trying and they're more willing to help for that reason.

There were times though, especially in the beginning when I was too timid to speak Korean, that when I did Koreans were just stare at me. Then when they eventually understood me and repeated exactly what I said, it was frustrating. Really? Apparently there is such a thing as an American accent and when you're with a white guy that looks German or Russian (Russians visit Korea a lot), they don't expect to hear Korean so it takes them time to register what we're saying. At least this is what I've been told. There were also times when Erik tried to speak Korean to a taxi driver or order food at a restaurant and the person would then turn to me and speak ot me in Korean. That was always funny b/c then I would just tell him I'm American (in korean) and shrug my shoulders to show him I have no freaking clue what they're saying to me.  When I was alone I always got spoken to in Korean first. It was kind of fun knowing that at least I could blend in.

Seoul and Pusan were VERY easy to get around. Their subway systems are amazingly efficient and easy to understand. Maps in Korea was a different story. The country loves animating everything. There were cartoons where there shouldn't be, in bars and restaurants, even commercials for something like razors for men. It's quite bizarre. It felt like adults were really kids based on their marketing. Their maps had graphics for buildings on streets without names. You either have to walk around until you find what you want or ask a local Korean and that led to the language issue. Taxis, buses, subways were all readily available and easy to use.

Holy monkeys, the humidity was intense in Korea. There were days when I would walk outside and it would feel like I stepped into a laundry drying machine. My clothes would instantly absorb the humidity. You had to walk around with a fan and a cloth to wipe away the sweat. Really attractive, right? The last two days we were in Korea it felt like a normal sunny california day, barely any humidity. It felt good. When we got to SF today and it felt so cold. I have no idea the actual temperature but I'm sure it was in the high 70s. Where is our summer?!

It is good to be home. I'm curious what kind of things I'll notice tomorrow. How much culture shock will I have. Is 2.5 weeks long enough to even create that kind of change? I guess we'll find out soon.

Good night to you all.