Oh Korea

We just got back from an epic journey through China and Borneo, and the journey really made me appreciate some things about Korea.

1. (relatively) Clean water. In china and Borneo it is not safe to drink the water without boiling it first, and of course they serve ice in all the drinks, along with a hefty dose of the Asian version of Montezuma's revenge.

2. Public Transportation. Although the bus drivers in Korea are certifiably insane, the extensive network of bus and subway service (throughout the area around Seoul anyway) is convenient and reliable. And you dont feel like you need either a tetanus shot or shower after riding on the bus, for the most part.

3. Sunburns. Koreans are more phobic of direct sunshine than your average non-sparkly vampire...

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But they actually don't have that much to fear since the sun is usually being blocked out by the thick haze of pollution or near constant rain or overcastyness (not a word). Meanwhile the entire Awesomecool family was nearly burnt to a non sparkly crisp on the sunny beaches of Malaysia.



4.Paid Vacation. At all my jobs in America, when I took a vacation, it meant I was not getting paid until I went back to work. The whole time I was relaxing on a beach, or visiting pandas, or checking out temples, I was getting paid the same as if I was at school, watching movies, taking a nap or writing my blog. Not at all like in America, where you get paid for when you are actually doing your job, and expected to clock out for your 15 minute break.

So there are some good things about living over here, but sometimes you have to take a step back to really appreciate what you have.

Slacking off

I just have not felt like blogging lately, I seem to have lost my mojo for it. I made a couple half hearted attempts to write some stuff, but it just came across as mean and boring, so I delted it.

Mostly I have just been bored these days, other than the usual drama from kids, things have just been slowly moving along. Maybe its because the wife and I are counting down our contracts, we have been really looking forward to moving back to Spain, but with the Euro taking a nosedive and Spain heading into the same economic tailspin that Greece had, we are re-thinking that decision a little bit.

Mostly though I have been looking forward to summer vacation. It has been a long stretch since winter vacation, and I could use a couple weeks off. Three to be exact. Since I finally got my Industrial area pay raise and extra week of vacation, that makes for a sweet summer break. We have our sights set right now on China and Borneo, but are open to other ideas. We originally wanted to go to Japan, but when we started shopping around for hotels and stuff, the crazy expensive prices over there soured us on the idea.

Its one thing to be on your own, and travel around Asia, but believe me, it is quite another to try to get accommodations and tickets for a party of five. Just think of how much your last trip anywhere cost and multiply it by five, then tell me how cheap it is to go to the Philippines or Vietnam, its not so cheap now is it?

It is starting to get real tempting to renew our contracts here, with all the problems in Europe right now, and the fact that not only do we get our completion bonuses if we renew, we also get an extra two weeks of paid vacation (seven total) and free round trip tickets (or the cash equivalent) home and an extra 100,000 won a month. That is a pretty sweet deal.

But is it worth it????