Back in the Saddle Again!

It seems like it's been forever since I've written a post on this site. I just haven't been overly inspired of late. However, since I have 4 hours until my next class and not a damn thing to do, I figure what the hell.

I did have a fabulously relaxing trip back home although it didn't start out as well as I would have liked. On the day I left, I got up, finished packing, and got to the airport in plenty of time for my 4:40 pm flight to Toronto. The fly in the ointment was the fact that I had read the departure time on my ticket wrong. The flight left at 14:40 pm (2:40 for those of you, like me, constantly confused by the 24 hour clock) . This of course means when I showed up at the ticket counter to check in at 3pm, my flight had already left. Doh! Fortunately, the woman at the counter found me a flight to Vancouver that left an hour later and had a connecting flight to Montreal.

Those of you from Canada know this, but others may not: Air Canada sucks! I will swim to Canada before I take that airline again. They packed people into a two engine sardine can for the 12 hour flight from Seoul to Vancouver (I got the same type of plane coming back as well). There is nothing quite so annoying as being on a plane for a great length of time with your knees stuffed somewhere up around your ears. Don't even get me started about the food! The true test of an airline's ability to get you through a long flight is the in-flight movie. A good movie has the ability to distract you from the tedium and discomfort of the flight if even for a short time. My in-flight movie both leaving and returning to Korea? Superman, circa 1978. Mind boggling.

Things naturally improved once I got to Montreal. My brother picked me up at the airport, and after getting to his house and sleeping for a few hours, we hopped in the car and drove to my aunt and uncle's cottage in Cape Cod. I haven't seen my brother nor my aunt and uncle in 4 years, so it was a very pleasent reunion. One thing about my Aunt Norma and Uncle Steve is that they are the definition of "Salt of the Earth". It's always amazing to me how comfortable I feel walking into their house no matter how long it has been between visits. Norma and Steve have had the cottage at the Cape for almost forty years and apparently I used to visit there when I was a young child. However, I have no recollection of this, so the visit was like going there for the first time.

We stayed at the Cape for a week (my computer at home mysteriously died while I was gone, so I'll post photos of the trip later). I walked on the beach at sunrise, went whale watching, did some fishing (well, actually, I drank beer and watched my brother fish), and watched a bunch of pre-season football. All-in-all the perfect way to prepare oneself to come back to Korea for another semester. Hopefully, this feeling will carry me through the next three months.

For the Record: Brigham's coffee ice cream is without exception the best! (I ate two quarts of the stuff while I was there, hee hee).

Anyway, I must head off for a staff meeting to decide the fate of the world. More later.