Yeah...so, I'm in South Korea...I have been for a little over a week now...guess I should write about it, huh? :-P

My first experience overseas really stressed me out: I spent 24 hours in Tokyo's Nikita Airport without a guarantee of continuation to Seoul. Apparently, I landed in Japan for a re-fueling on the night of the largest snow storm they've had on the island in a while - from what I heard, over 50 people died. However, from my viewpoint, I saw less than an inch of snow with reports that we could not take off due to the "heavy snow." Needless to say, I was slighty confused. But I was okay sleeping in the airport...really! I mean, most frequent travellers have at least one airport overnighter under their belts...and my corner wasn't too uncomfortable with the blanket and pillow from the flight...riiiiight. However, in the morning, United Airlines basically told us that we had to go make other flight plans...with other airlines, 'cause their flights were full! I had no idea what was going on, the United Representatives were all pissy 'cause they were being yelled at so I got no useful help from them, and, of course, I DIDN'T SPEAK ANY OF THE FREAKIN' LANGUAGES! Ugh.

So I called United, got put on standby, told them I HAD to be on the next flight for "medical reasons" - I hate using my illness as an excuse for anything, but I felt justified in the fact that I was FREAKING OUT - and spent the day roaming the airport. The best part of the day was sitting down in the massage chairs - for $2 I got 10 minutes of this chair actually *kneading* my back; it was no simple vibrating chair, my friends. Then I finished my book, took a nap, ate some edamame, and finally got on the next flight out...at 5:30 p.m. - 24 hours after we first landed on the runway.

So, the tale of my first "day" is all I have time to record at the moment - Beth just got home from work and we're going to go find some food. However, I'll try and update this thing more as the days go by - it'd be nice to actually get to a point where I'm letting y'all know what I did *this* day, huh?

Peace,
Lace

Mmmm...time for a new post...else you think I've been kidnapped by those Canadians... So, yeah, why didn't anyone remind me that it would be freakin' cold in Canada? I wasn't even thinking about it when I decided that I wanted to go, but the coldness sent me fleeing for the warmth of my native West Virginia after only three days. So I spent the night in Toronto, wandered around Ontario for two days, and then spent 13 hours straight trying to get to WV in one day...I fell two hours short and had to collapse at a Days Inn...but at least I didn't run into a tree or off a mountain or something...

That was Canada.


Then I drove down to Richmond to visit my grandmother and stay with my sister until Christmas Eve. When she got off of work that evening, we drove back to WV together and spent the holidays at home with Dad and Bridget and Heath and the grandparents. It was a good holiday...I love just laying around the family room with a fire in the hearth and a book or my computer on my lap. And I saw my doggie!


I then came back up to Chicago for New Year's Eve celebrations and salutations. Bethles is home from Korea for a week, so she and I splurged on a hotel suite party to ring in the New Year. It was a party where 7 people RSVPd, but each person brought 4 more...and so it ended up being declared a success this morning, as Beth, Scott, and I had brunch at Panera and discussed the past night's antics. Excellent.

So, that's my update. More later as I prepare for my soujourn to South Korea!!

Happy New Year, everyone!