Monday, August 13, 2012

Back to life, back to reality

When you read the title did you think of this song? Oh the 80's.
Back to business. I was pleasantly surprised at just how easy it was to go home. Although, I kind of felt as if we were bashing on Korea most of the trip. In our defense, I think it was only because while in Korea, there are so many things that we miss, can't do or are just different than in the states (duh). In the last year and a half, we have forgotten about most of those things. Then, all of it was staring us in the face for a good two weeks. It's hard not to get slightly bitter.
The hub's mom always asks after a trip, "on a scale of one to ten, how was it?" Oh and you have to read it with a strong Boston accent to get the full affect. So how was it? Better than I ever imagined. Before leaving I thought that it would be stressful, rushed and I would be begging for someone to put me on the next flight out. Ok, maybe that's a little over dramatic but overall, I did not have great expectations for the trip. We had so many people to see, we had to move out of our storage unit and had other general errands to run before we left the country for a long period of time again. Thankfully, hubs stays calm a whole lot better than I do. Little did I know that it would be easy for me as well on this trip. Our friends and families were amazing and made things so easy on us as far as helping out and coming to meet us anyplace, anytime. You guys have no idea how much we appreciated it. Here's a little recap of the good and bad of the trip:

GOOD

-We had a nice break from playing charades to ask questions while we were home. I did, however, catch myself head bowing a few too many times. Some habits die hard.
-We literally had Christmas in July. There are so many things that we either can't find in Korea or it would be twice to the price to buy here. Since we were going home, we took full advantage and started ordering things online. When we got home, there was a Christmas tree with all of our purchases wrapped and ready for us.
-Free refills in restaurants. Need I say more?
-We had date nigh in America. This is huge news guys. We have regular date nights in Korea but it's nice to be back in our old stomping grounds and be able to have date night at our usuals. If you're ever in Tulsa (I know it's at the top of your vacation list) check out Yokozuna and order the rising sun roll.


-Checking out the caves in Silver Dollar City. They once floated five hot air balloons at once in this thing.

-Baby time

-Friend time

-We stocked up big time and one of the biggest items was oatmeal. At fifteen dollars a pop here we thought the suitcase weight was well worth it. Some splurge on fancy meals...we splurge on oatmeal.
BAD
-No running red lights? What's wrong with this country?
-Flying is always a risk. I'm not talking safety, I'm talking who you're stuck next to in a confined space for hours on end. We unfortunately drew the short straw on the first flight. I think it was proof that God has a sense of humor though. While standing in line at the check in there was a man in front of us bragging to whoever would listen about his amazing teaching job and every past job that he had since high school. We commented on his annoyance and guess who we were lucky enough to sit next to? Be careful what you say people.
-my feet swelled up so much that I couldn't fit into any of my shoes. I think for the first 48 hours people thought I had developed a bad case of the cankles from all the rice I've been eating.
-I never thought it would be so annoyed to hear English. I'm shocked at what people think is ok to talk about loudly in public. Yes, this probably also happens in Korea but we have the privilege of not understanding a word of what they're saying.

Now we're back and trying to readjust to life in Korea. It's all back to the usual except for the six a.m. wakeup calls from my body still being on US time.