Palmtree Contemplations

I am off to see a friend from high school who lives in Gubeundari. The bus takes me to the subway station, and I'm late catching the first train of the trip. No problem. I wait ten minutes, and another train comes. It is a little crowded as I board. Everyone is headed towards Seoul and its environs. Glancing up and down the car, the realization comes that I am the only foreigner. At Sangbong, I get off to transfer. This is when the first mistake happens. My Subway app tells me to get on the green line going towards Myeonmok. I find some tracks that have Myeonmok written in small letters, Sangbong in big letters, and Junghwa in smaller letters next to that. Great, this is exactly what I want. This whole subway thing is so easy. About five minutes later, we pull into Junghwa. I check my map and realize this is not the direction I want to be going. Just before the doors close, I jump off. I need to get back to Sangbong. How do I do that? I can see the people on the other side of t

All the way across the ocean, my window had to be shut to help create a dark, sleep worthy environment for the other passengers. Every few hours, when the flight attendants were busy elsewhere, I snuck quick, blinding glances at the blue white world outside. Once, I thought I saw an island, but it may have just been a glare. The rest of the time, when I wasn't eating some of the best airplane food I've ever tasted or watching the inflight movies, I tried to nap, albeit unsuccessfully. How could I sleep on such a flight? After twelve and a half hours, we landed in Seoul, and my driver, Mr. Lee, picked me up outside customs. I was a little worried we wouldn't be able to find one another, but he was waiting for me with a huge handprinted sign that said simply "Rachel". I needn't have worried. When we reached his van, he began checking things off on a to-do list on his phone, and from the back seat I noticed a picture of me. He smiled and showed it to me when