TravelBio

After Bali my trip to Indonesia, as well as my Southeast Asian adventure, had come to an end.  Now that didn't mean I was headed straight back home to Ohio - first was a stopover in Korea, then a visit with an old buddy in Dallas. Why head back to Korea?  Well the reason originated way back in Thailand - just this past spring, although it seems like years ago - when I met up with Mike.  A friend of mine from college, Mike is always seems to be coming up with creative ways to avoid needing a real job while still enjoying the comforts of financial security. Take his trip to Thailand as an example: Mike had made it first to London and then on to Phuket at a fraction of the ticket price using airline miles.  Instead of doing it the hard way and accumulating miles from paid flights or purchases, he opened up several credit cards which paid bonuses.  You could open a specific Citi card, for example, and receive 50,000 bonus miles after spendin...

Early Friday afternoon my dad ad uncle flew from Osaka to Seoul.  I had to teach until 6:40, so the plan was for them to look for a hotel or come back to my apartment if they didn’t find anything.  At around 4:30 I got a call from them telling me that they had booked a hotel in Myeongdong. After work I went to the hotel and spent the night there too. The Seoul metro map...crazy huh?  Myeongdong is centrally located (Jamsil is in the southeast, where the green and pink lines meet) Myeongdong is a busy shopping area of Seoul north of the Han River.  My apartment, south of the river, is not as centrally located.  Myeondong is close to downtown and the attractions that I wanted to show my dad and uncle, so it made more sense to stay there as opposed to Jamsil. By the time we got dinner and walked around the narrow, packed streets in the shopping district of Myeondong it was already after 10 pm.  The following morning we had to get up early...

Even before I left for Korea last November, my dad had mentioned that he might try and visit me.  In the past he has suggested trips only to say that it was just a hypothetical later on.  So when he finally booked a flight for a visit in the summer I was quite surprised.  Both he and my uncle flew in to Seoul on the 31 st of July and then also went to Japan together for four nights.  Here is a recap of their visit: My uncle (far right) and dad (second from right) were headed to Seoul! Korean public schools get over a month off for summer break in late June and August.  On the other hand, the private institutes (like the one I work for) often have much shorter breaks.  During the summer break from public school parents sign their kids up for extra classes at our school, so we actually are busier!  What a great vacation for the students – a full day of English classes!  My break was four days long (well six if you coun...