On the road again...

How time flies! It's almost time for us to move from Seoul, South Korea to the East Coast of the U.S. Yes, that would be on the other side of the planet for you geography buffs. And, lucky us, we get to deal with the Holiday madness AND look for a new home all at the same time! Since we are moving into a hotel next week and flying shortly after that, I'm making my list now of the things we will and will not miss about being on the ROK.

We won't miss:

• traffic and insane drivers who think traffic laws are just a suggestion to be ignored (seeing 5 lanes of traffic trying to fit in one painted lane is a prime example);
• the itty, bitty, teeny, weeny apartment we had in Daejeon -- I think it was roughly 800 square feet, including the enclosed balconies, and only boasted a kitchenette to cook in ;
• soju, a potent rice liquor, often featured at whay-shiks (a male-bonding extravaganza that Sam says he won't miss either);
• monsoons, enough said;
• smog, so bad you can't see the hills and mountains that completely surround Seoul; and
• yellow dust, courtesy of China, that infiltrates everything every Spring (and Fall this year);
• being 13-14 hours ahead of East Coast time (14-15 hours of Central) and trying to remember what time and day it is back home before calling.

We WILL miss:

• Ms. Cho, our aujuma, who cleaned our house and helped out with the kids once a week;
• Mr. Alex, the care giver at the daycare who usually watched L'il Sis on the occasions that she went;
• AFN "commercials" -- they were mini-lessons on history, geography, military life, etc. While some could be a bit on the corny side, my kids don't really ask for much because they haven't been exposed to commercials for toys, etc.;
• the ease of public transportation: cabs, buses, subways, even "bullet"-type trains for outside the city;
• maintenance workers (and movers, etc.) who actually show up when they say they will;
• really cheap entry fees to museums, palaces, and other attractions;
• Korean foods such as bibimbap that will be hard to find in the States (Sam will also miss speaking Korean on an almost daily basis); and
• all the wonderful U.S. and R.O.K. friends we've made in our two years here.