So, yeah, I'm back in Korea, and yeah, it was sudden. So sudden that we were still packing our shit as we were literally walking out the door to the airport. It was actually Ant's idea to come here, and we discussed it for awhile before making the final decision, but to be honest I never really believed he'd follow through with it so I didn't do much in the line of finding a job, getting a visa, etc. until he came home one day and announced he had quit his job. We did everything so last minute that we missed our entire week of orientation because we didn't have our visa crap sorted out, which is OK with me but probably made Ant's job a bit more difficult since he doesn't have much teaching experience and no ESL experience.

Maybe someday I'll fill you guys in on the great luggage incident of 2009, which involved a ridiculous amount of redistributing, super-strength saran wrap, extra baggage fees, and a second trip to the airport after I accidentally left one of Ant's bags there and didn't realize it until we were all the way in Taerung. Ever try to haul a bunch of surfboards, skateboards, climbing gear, and clothes/necessary items for a whole year clear across the world? It ain't fun.

Know what else isn't fun? Getting clear across the world, stepping up to the unfriendly customs dude, and hearing in his unfriendly voice that the Korean embassy in SF issued me a visa for 1 day instead of 1 year. Yup. My visa had actually expired before I even got there. I was sent off to a scary room with no windows to get it fixed, where nobody spoke English. It appeared that they pretty much looked through my passport to see all the places I had been, checked out my picture and used sign language and Konglish to tell me I should grow my hair long again, asked how long I wanted to stay, and then crossed out the date on my visa and wrote "1 year" next to it with a normal ballpoint pen. I mean, fuck, I could've done that on my own!

And because I don't want you guys to have any more sleepless nights, lemme assure you that Einstein is safe and sound, properly stored away back in CA. I'm sure there will be no end to my bitching about having to pay for a car that I'm not driving, especially with the current exchange rate, but he's totally worth it.