back in korea. no, really, it's true
I am back from my trip to the United States and Taiwan. This is not something that I thought worth mentioning, but it seems most of my friends were either under the impression I had yet to return or were hesitant in asking if I was back in Korea. As I joked about with Inok elsewhere, my vacation must be one of the shortest non-business transcontinental trips of all time. Six days spent in countries located on opposite sides of the world's largest ocean. Back home by 7:00pm on 5 August.
Overall, things didn't improve much in the States since my earlier post on the subject. More problems with meeting friends, more bigoted remarks from my father, and more regrets at having gone home in the first place. Interestingly, the two groups of people that made the most effort were a friend from my university (and former president of the anthropology club) who was visiting Washington for a wedding and made time in her schedule to see me, and two Korean women whose children I had tutored before leaving for university. That all took place on Saturday, making it the best of my days at home. We went out to a Korean restaurant and 노래방 (norabang) in Tacoma, which struck me as humorous given that I've gone to 노래방 more often in the States than I have in Korea.
Despite all the disappointment in Washington State, Taiwan was fantastic. Granted my cell phone didn't work like I had been lead to believe by the SK Telecom representative at ICN, but I did put my two semesters of Mandarin to use and asked a woman at the airport if I was dialing correctly. She even offered to call 林佩琪 on her own phone to make sure she was on her way. Taipei was hot with vibrant blue skies and excellent food. 林佩琪 and her friend Ann stuffed me during lunch and were disappointed that the timing for my flight to Korea meant I wouldn't be able to experience the Taipei night market. Maybe next time? Living in Korea hasn't given me much opportunity to speak Mandarin, but the longer I stayed in Taiwan the more words kept coming back to me. That was a pleasant surprise. I hope it continues to hold true for the next couple of years as I would like to spend more time there at some point in the future.
« photos from taiwan - view the rest of the gallery here »