Day: April 14, 2010

I'm going to head down to Gwangju, tomorrow, since I have to check in for my "training" on Sunday, but I'd like a few days to get oriented myself, first – I'm thinking of taking a day trip out to my new place of employment on my own, just to get the feel of the place.  "Chomping at the bit," I guess is the phrase.

But that means this is my last day in Seoul, and suddenly I'm feeling very nostalgic about my time in Ilsan (north suburbs) and Suwon (south suburbs).  I'm excited and nervous about my new job, but I know I'm taking a risk – especially since I've always been such a "city person" and now I'm moving to a tiny town, for at least a 1 year commitment.

Despite growing up in Arcata, a relatively tiny town of less than 20,000, I became a "city person" – my life in places from Mexico City to Philadelphia to Minneapolis to Los Angeles to Seoul have all agreed with me much more than those times I've been in less urban environments.  I was telling a friend that the smallest place I've lived, for an extended period of time (i.e. over 6 months), since high school, is probably Minneapolis / St Paul – a metropolitan area of about 2 million.  With my move to Hongnong, beginning (I think) week-after-next, it's looking like that will change.

This winter has seemed really long.  Not that I'm complaining – I love winter.   But starting with the fact that I've been traveling and/or rootless since last September (which tends to stretch time out) and add to that the fact there has, indeed, been a lot of wintery weather in the places I've been… well, that makes for a pretty long winter, subjectively speaking.

I saw my first snow back in early October, in Denver, Colorado, at my sister's.  And I saw a scattering of snowflakes today, seven and a half months later, while riding the train up from Suwon to Ilsan.  I love snow.