Goodbye faithful steed

This has been my ride in Korea.

I bought it used and it was a wonderful car for the most part until this last month.  On Tuesday I was delivering groceries to Girls Camp when it's little engine gave up the ghost.  Unfortunately I was right in the middle of an intersection... on a hill.  I turned on my hazards and waved the other cars around me.  I also called my insurance agency, who in turn called a tow truck to come.   It was while I was waiting for a tow truck that two very nice Korean cops stopped to help me.  We eventually got the car started again and drove it to the side of the intersection.
         Since I was just 500 yards away from the retreat where the YW were staying they sent another car down to pick up the groceries.  And I continued to wait with the cops. We hung out in their car with the air conditioning set to max, since it was scorching hot.  The tow truck driver arrived and we had a nice conversation, where nobody understood each other and we all resorted to our smart phones and their maps to show each other where we wanted to tow the car.  The cops left and I went with the tow truck driver.
       Koreans are addicted to their smart phones, you'll notice in the previous post that the cop was playing on his phone while we waited.  The tow truck driver played on his phone while driving the entire distance.  I played on my phone so that I wouldn't freak out about all our close calls.  Scariest ride of my life!!
      At the garage I learned that it would cost about $600 dollars to fix my car.  Since I am leaving next month, it wasn't worth it.  I sold it for parts yesterday and will spend my last month walking and taking public transportation.
       So goodbye Korea, I have one less thing tying me here and one less regret about moving home.  And one more awesome, "Oh, Korea!" story.

The Beautiful Beach

Observing US holidays in Korea means that you get a few Mondays off when everyone else has to work. (Of course, everything in Seoul is closed on Monday because the department stores, museums and attractions are open all weekend. It's a catch 22.)
The glitter you see on the horizon is the water. There was probably about a mile of mud before it. The tides in Incheon are huge. And the mud is full of shells so it's not something that you want to be walking through barefoot.
This is the beach that a lady sent us too after telling us that the others in the area were too muddy. But as you can tell, there was no one else on the beach with us.

Hmm...

McDonalds delivery... not something that you would see in the states. On the other hand I have yet to see a drive thru window.

A look at Seoul

Here's a great time lapse of Seoul that I found on http://vimeo.com/23402375.

Seoul Time Lapse 2011 from Oh Choong Young on Vimeo.

Dad's Visit

Dad stopped by for a visit on the way home from a business trip to western China.

It was great to spend time with him, show him my fabulous life... where I work, live and worship. He was a very good sport as I dragged him to my various activities. And he enjoyed my GPS just a little to much. (It's Korean and the English translations are just a little off. For example: every time you approach a large intersection it says, "Approaching danger zone." And it beeps at you if you go just one km over the speed limit. My favorite is when you are in bumper to bumper traffic, it announces that "You are in a parking violation zone.")

Note to self

Check to see if the car is in park when you can't start it. It's way more embarrassing to call a tow truck for a stupid mistake like that in Korean. (Mostly because you have to get a translator involved too.)

Quirks of Korea

You have to love the fact that there are photo zones in Korea.

And they were right, it was an excellent place to take a picture of the Korean War Museum.

Specially Delivery

My car won't start, so I called the Roadside assistance number and they sent a guy on a motorcycle with a battery to come jump start the car. It was pretty awesome.

Move over Princess Leia

You are not the only one who can send a message with R2D2.

With the push of a button...

I moved into my new apartment yesterday and my realitor gave me 8 remotes to make my life "easier." Air conditioning, lights, tv, cable, laundry rack... I'm just glad that the toilet doesn't have a remote!

First Day

View from the hotel room. I'm off for my orientation meetings. So far, so great! (And boy am I glad that I off the airplane!)