"Welcome to Seoul"! You know, sometimes these last minute trips can actually be more exciting - because of the short time I had to prepare for this trip I had to treat it no more than a regular trip to NYC or to some school here in this country. There are times when I planned a overseas trip for MONTHS, bought books, maps, language tapes, the whole bit and not been able to put any of that to use.

I was worried because at the SD airport they cancelled all flights to LA so I had to take a van shuttle to LA 'uhoh' not a good sign. however the whole way up there was NO TRAFFIC, not even in Orange county. got there in two hours flat.

got on the plane, there was no line, and straight into business class - I can really get used to flying all the time if I could afford business or first class all the time. this trip was much easier than the one to NY a few weeks ago. the time literally flew by.

As soon as we touch down it was nonstop, it seemed.

I was picked up by a young man (note, anyone under 50 is considered young in my book) named Eun Baik, one of Rich Tannen's former students, a really nice guy and we had a rather enjoyable conversation about the travails of Rochester. He also worked for Wendell for a time.

The drive to Seoul from the took about an hour, my first impression is that the air is so dirty, smoggy. I had an headache this morning. And this morning if you look out the window everything is a grey haze.

When I got to the hotel last night, I just flopped on the bed, nearly face first. My hotel was in the Myeongdong (sp?) area, and what kept me awake was the giant screens (like in Tokyo) flashing off and on all night long.


woops gotta go, more later