Where we go from here

Ok: I had several good thoughts about Korea today. To be honest, I haven't had that many since we have been home. I was a bit premature thinking that last Sunday would be close to the end of our jet lag. The whole week has been a kind of rough. Both of us have been in strange sleeping and eating patterns. We have been awake at 3 am eating cheerios and watching infomercials. Then trying to function during the day.
Also surprising: I miss Korean food. That has been an unexpected development. I thought I would want pizza and tacos, but I just want rice and banchan. We have eaten it twice this week. What has Korea done to me?

Oh, jahjangmyeon...so delish.
 (fried black bean paste and noodles topped with cucumber slices)

Now that I am feeling more myself, and I am happily home munching my jajang noodle dish, I can think more rationally about my feelings about the trip, and where we go from here. Specifically regarding our language endeavors. That was really the main reason we decided to take the trip. Joe and I have reached a crossroads in our language learning. Two years in. We have the basics. Now we have to decide if we can get to that next level of communication. It is a big step.
But I think we can do it.

"Do you want to go back?"

Sunday evening. I think the worst of our jet lag is over. We managed to stay awake all day on Saturday, (after being awake most of Friday night) although towards the end of the day we thought we might have to prop open our eyelids with little toothpicks. But we made it and have felt pretty good all day today.
So, we have been talking and sharing our stories with our friends, and trying to get our minds around this crazy trip. And this particular question--"Do you want to go back?"--keeps being asked of us. Quite interesting. I think people feel this is a good indication of whether I enjoyed the trip. I don't know if it is.
It was a good trip. Also intense. That word keeps popping up in my mind. It was a good trip, but intense. And exhausting.  It was good, bad, funny, frustrating, insightful and ridiculous. Definitely the most out of my comfort zone I have ever been. And Joe should win some kind of man of the year award for traveling with his wife and mother. :)
I don't regret it, at all. I am very glad we did it. It was a great experience.
But do I want to go back? Our clothes are barely out of the dryer. I have not even passed out all of my gifts. Must I think about this now?
My immediate response to this question is no. I came, I saw, I ate the seafood. The trip has not unlocked some hidden wanderlust in me. Nor has it removed the part of me that enjoys the routine of home.
But perhaps this is still the rice and kimchee talking. Once the bread gets back in my system, and we settle back into our routine of home, the memories of this trip will come back to me.

I will be right there!

Wait, whose camera is that?

Mom is totally taking our food while we are distracted

So, will I go back? Who knows? I never thought I would go the first time. But I went, and I have the pictures to prove it. I think I will enjoy them for awhile.

Back where we began

Landed in Charlotte about 7 pm Thursday night. We were greeted with the lovely summer-in-the-South heat and humidity. We dropped off mom about 11 pm last night, and got back to our home a little after midnight. 

But we made it home! To our overgrown yard and two lonely cats! When we get through with yard work and laundry, one last entry to sum up everything. Meantime, my cat Bailey won't leave my side.

 

Goodbye Korea, hello jet lag

Here we go again! Time for my poor body to have no idea what time it is.

We spend most of our last morning walking around Seoul in the rain, using our last hours here to make sure we have gotten everything we wanted to. (As of this writing, there are no plans on returning, so it is now or never.) We stop in one more cafe for one last cafe latte and wait for the rain to subside before venturing back to the hotel.

An American, in Korea, at a French cafe

The family has arrived to take us to the airport, so we pile into the vehicle and take off. At the airport early, we have time for lunch (a last Korean meal: banchan, I have made my peace with you; mandu (Korean dumplings), I think I will miss you most!) and then get the surreal chance to see a friend from America who is arriving for a stay in Korea the day we are leaving. We meet up with him and have a chance to spend an hour or so laughing and comparing thoughts about our trips.

Just like old times...but in Korea

Finally we must go through security and I am sad for my mom-in-law as she says goodbye to her brother and sister. It has been 10 years since she has seen them last, who knows when she will see them again. I cannot imagine going that long without seeing my sister.

The family sees us off

Our plane leaves Wednesday at 6:10 pm. We eat, then settle in and try to sleep as much as possible. It is fitful plane sleep and a short 9 ½ hours later we land in Seattle. Local time is 12:40 pm, still Wednesday. We arrive before we left. The three of us depart the plane and like in a trance, collect luggage, go through customs, get a shuttle and get to our hotel. Our bodies are screaming for sleep but Joe and I take a shuttle to a nearby mall and try to walk around for a few hours. It is only 3:00.

We eat (first stateside meal: a yummy bowl of Vietnamese pho) and spend some time walking around before finally getting back to the hotel and falling deliriously into bed. We are asleep by 8 pm, (perhaps a mistake) and now it is 12:48 am and I am wide awake.

I will conclude this entry from the Seattle airport the next morning. Joe and I ended up being awake for most of the night. Oh, reentry into our lives is gonna be fun!