Back in Korea (Don't Fly Delta)

After a long and enjoyable summer vacation, I'm back in Korea and ready to begin teaching next week.

Let's get the 2nd part of the title out of the way first: if you have a choice in international flights, I suggest that you do not chose Delta airlines. I base my suggestion on two reasons:

*for my long-haul flight from Detroit to Tokyo, Delta's transportation did not include individual seatback video screens. There was one movie screen per cabin, with one or two pop-down tvs in each cabin. Outdated, inadequate, and completely unacceptable. I did a quick survey and none of my friends can remember flying on a plane that did not have invividual video screens (in the last five+ years). We now know where Delta's extra fee dollars are not going.

*in Tokyo, Delta chose to hold our transportation and wait for another plane to arrive and offload its passengers, so that some of them could board our plane to Seoul. It was a business decision on Delta's part, I'm sure, and while they got all of the people on board, those of us already there had to wait 1 and 1/2 hours and were thus late to Seoul and missed all of the night busses from the airport to our final destinations. Taxis get expensive at 11pm, even in Korea.

Ok, that's done with, but now I'm pissed off all over again. I thought writing was supposed to be a cathartic release--? The good stuff about being back in Korea will have to wait until I am in a better mood.

Visiting Fort Matanzas, a small yet historic Spanish fort, involves a short boat ride. For a bit of the history, read the sign in the first picture.

Summer Vacation: St. Augustine, Florida

We visited St. Augustine, Florida, a city founded by the Spanish in 1565 on the east coast. The city has some historic buildings as well as a large, well-preserved fort. Take a minute and read the sign in the first picture:)

American Animals

Animals (wild) that I have seen in the U.S. this summer:

rabbits deer snake coyote

turtles marmot armadillo vultures

alligators groundhog woodpeckers skink

foxes squirrels hummingbirds lizard

Women's World Cup Soccer (er, Football)

Congratulations to the U.S. women's soccer team--they beat France 3-1 to advance to the World Cup finals.

The U.S. team will play Japan on Sunday (2 pm EST) for the World Cup title.

A question--who are my friends in Korea going to root for? The U.S., because many Koreans do not, um, like Japan so much? Or will Koreans pull for an Asian winner?

Vacation Pics 3: Maryland #2

The National Aeronautic and Space Museum (in Virginia).

A very big building with lots of airplanes . . .

Thoughts

American food variety: great

Korean public transportation: great

One of my thoughts--given that I live in South Korea but am visiting the U.S. for several months--is that we Americans are fortunate to have such a variety of food. From restaurants to grocery stores, it is fairly easy to eat a wide selection of food. I have managed, for example, in each place I have visited this summer, to buy kimchi (2 out of 3 have been good). The local shopping mall where I am now in Maryland has a nice "ethnic" food court.

Something that I have not enjoyed is that you have to drive to get anywhere. People here are accustomed to 10-30 minute car trips to go to a shopping area or restaurant. The multi-use areas in Korea seem increasingly desirable, as I can walk to most places in 5-10 minutes from where I live. However, I like the quiet nature of the living areas I have visited in the U.S., so it's a give-take situation, a trade-off.