Easy Ride Home
I had intended to post a picture of the food laid out for the traditional ceremony my wife's family carries out, like nearly every other Korean family in the country, every Lunar New Year. Unfortunately, I had forgotten to put the SD card back in my camera before I left. The pic is in the camera's local memory, but I can't find the cable I need to plug it into a USB port. I always just remove the SD card and plug it into a reader. If I manage to dig up the cable today, I'll get the pic posted. Otherwise, I'll just leave it be. It's not important anyway.
The trip home this morning was nice and quick. It only took us an hour and forty minutes. I suppose most people will be heading back to Seoul tonight and tomorrow. The city is still empty now. That's a sight I don't get to see often anymore. Before I got married, I was in Seoul for both major holidays every year. It's amazing to see a city of several million people practically empty out over night. The crowded streets and sidewalks become deserted. Since I've been married we've headed to my wife's home town for the major holidays, along with millions of others hitting the road at the same time.
These days, more people stay in Seoul than a decade ago as a result of more immigrants from the country towns having become grandparents. Their grown children don't have to leave the city to visit them. They get to enjoy the lack of traffic and crowds, miss the mass exodus, and make a day trip to their ancestral graves in the country (if they so choose) after the highway traffic has died down.
Still, I don't think we'll be taking advantage of the emptiness today. We'll probably just spend a leisurely day at home. Though this would be a good day to see a movie...