Going Home
It’s been nearly nine years since I last visited my home town, Atlanta. It seems every year there has always been one reason or another why I couldn’t go. For a few years I had financial problems, then there was my constantly fluctuating job schedule as new classes came and went. When I sat down a few months ago and actually let it sink in how much has changed back home, I decided that I would get home soon no matter what.So I’ve been trying every month since November to get something scheduled. Finally, I was all set to go in April. Then last week I lost several of my regular classes as my agency and the client business where I teach had a fallout. So for the month of March I’m pretty much unemployed. A group of new classes are set to begin elsewhere in April. Now March is the best time to go.
I managed to get an incredible price on tickets, even on such short notice. Roundtrip from Seoul to Atlanta, with layovers in Tokyo and Houston. Including layover time it’s a 21 hour trip there and another 24 back. I could have gotten much shorter travel times for much more money - nonstop on Korea Airlines is around $1500, and most one stop flights I checked are only slightly cheaper. My tickets cost about 40% of the KAL nonstop price. How amazing is that?
The first thing I want to do when I leave the airport, aside from seeing family members, is to eat some real Mexican food. I’m sure there’s a good Mexican restaurant in Seoul, somewhere, I just have yet to find it. I’m also dying for some hashbrowns at Waffle House, anything from Taco Bell (TB went out of business in Korea, and they did open one up on the US Army base in Seoul, but I no longer have access to it), and lemon merangue pie. I can good get cheesecake at Outback, or hotel bakeries, but I have never seen a lemon merangue pie in Seoul (outside of the Army bases, that is).
While I’m home, I’ll be able to see some old friends I recently contacted through Classmates.com. I’ll also be meeting at least one person from my Dark Age of Camelot guilds. Had I been able to go in April I’d be meeting more of them. I’ll be meeting my brother-in-law for the first time, along with the niece and nephew I’ve only seen in pictures. I’m quite excited. I’ll be spending close to three weeks there.
The only bad part is that my wife can’t go. Only my father has met her. He visited us last year. She’ll have to wait for the next trip. It’s going to suck being away from her for so long. In almost 7 years of marriage we’ve never been apart more than 4 days, and that was a one-time thing when I had to take a trip to Manilla. I’ll certainly miss her.
So I’m flying out in about 20 hours. It’s going to be a sleepless night, I’m sure.