Independent Consultant with a Hawaiian Shirt

Around 4:30am there was a buzz at the train station. By 5:00am the buzz had grown and a flurry of morning activity was underway. Shopkeepers were opening their stores, cleaning crews were putting away their tools, gates were being opened - Seoul Station was waking up. I smiled as I picked up my belongings and made the trek around the corner. Seoul Station was about 1/2 mile from the subway stop that would get me to Gimpo Airport, where I would transfer onto the AREX for the ride back to Incheon. I reached the subway station just as the gates were opening. I bought my ticket and boarded the first train to Gimpo. Once there I bought my ticket to Incheon and made the transfer with no difficulty. Incheon is quite a distance from Gimpo, which is already a good 30-minute subway ride from Seoul. Once at the airport I made my way to the ticket counter. It was 7:15am and the ticket counter didn't open until 8:00am. I made a run at some last-minute souvenir shopping and mailed some postcards...

With a twinge of sadness to color my overwhelming joy of heading home, I checked out of my hotel and headed to work for my last day of class. The students were reaching a saturation point - eight straight working days stuck in a small classroom with me. I suppose too much of a good thing can be, well… At the end of the day we said our goodbyes and I headed for the train station. I called Tony and we planned on meeting at his post, Camp Humphreys. Two trains and a taxi ride later I was in Pyongtaek at the gate to Camp Humphreys meeting Tony for dinner again. He brought me onto the post and showed me around. Compared to Camp Henry (and all the other posts I've been on the past two years), this place looked like a country club. Just inside the gate was a taxi stand (!) where we caught a cab for the ride back to his barracks. The rolling hills and green grass provided a pleasant backdrop for the different buildings that were more established and beautifully architected. One building th...

I realize that I haven't written much about the food here in Korea. Being in a different country does expose one to other cuisines. But I must admit that based on my experiences with Korean food back in the United States, I was a little apprehensive. Other than the Bibimbab that I had once in Ann Arbor, there wasn't much in the way of Korean food that I liked. And the in-flight meal on my way over here wasn't that spectacular. In fact, if it weren't for the fact that it was airplane food I would have been even more troubled. Much to my surprise and delight, the food here has been quite delicious. Most of my lunches on post have been at the KATUSA Snack Bar (KATUSA is an Army acronym referring to Korean soldiers assigned to the US Army). Lunch was never more than 5000 won (US$4.75), and there were a number of menu items to choose from. I tried several, and each one of them was fantastic. There was the Spicy Pork with Rice, Fried Rice with Beef, Dol Sot Bibimbab (Dol Sot ...

Today's class got off to a good start. Most of the students from last week returned this week, and some new students joined us. In fact the class was so enthusiastic we stayed until 5:30pm working on lab exercises. Afterwards I decided to walk back to the hotel following some different side streets. Twenty minutes later I was in the restaurant and shopping area just across from my hotel. I decided to be adventurous and head into a Korean restaurant for dinner. I sat down at a table and the waitress brought me a menu - all in Korean. There were enough pictures that after a few minutes I was able to point to her and explain what I wanted - a plate of spicy chicken with rice, and a cake-like thing I saw. She nodded and returned with the check listing my order - in Korean. I checked the total and thought that the price reflected more than what I was willing to eat, so I motioned for her that this was too much. She nodded, ran off and made the adjustment before the kitchen cooked too mu...

I woke up at 4:30am, enjoying the relative quiet of the morning as the sun rose over Tokyo. I caught up on emails and other paperwork, showered and packed. By 9:00am I was in my brother's room talking about yesterday's game and the injury toll on the team. There are a number of bumps and bruises to be sure, and only an X-ray will determine the presence of fractures. Hopefully he and the others heal up and rest before their final game on Friday against Korea. The game is in Dubai, and while the thought of showing up for that one has crossed my mind, I think I would really like to get back home and see my family. I had to leave for the airport by 9:30am. And so, with a big hug I bid my brother goodbye. It's hard enough that we live on opposite sides of the planet. It would be so much nicer if we could pop in on weekends to visit with each other. Alas, I like Michigan as much as he likes Dubai - I guess it will be this way for a while longer yet. The flight back to Korea was l...