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Published: August 4th 2008
Otisco Lake
The view from Mom and Dad's dock... do you see why I'd travel 6,000 miles to come to this lake?Dorothy had it right... there really
is no place like home. I had my one week summer break from July 28- Aug 1, so I flew home to Mom and Dad's house and spent the most perfect, relaxing week with them. But before I carry-on about the excellence of the week, I'll back up a little and fill you in on some of the other details of my life.
Dan is now at Fort Benning, Georgia, taking the Master Gunner course. The weekend before he left was his birthday so we decided to spend the whole weekend relaxing and enjoying each other's company. Friday night we just hung around our town, had pizza and beers, and watched a movie at home. Saturday we took the train into Seoul and saw the only English movie that was currently playing, "Hancock". It was okay, but I don't smell an Oscar. Then we went to Itaewon, got a hotel room, had a great sushi dinner at our favorite place (Roll In), polished off two bottles of chardonnay, played darts at Gecko's, went dancing, and got massages the next morning.
The massage was quite a strange experience, because in Korea they have bath
houses. You change into the shorts and t-shirt that they give you (blue for men, yellow for women) and leave your shoes in a locker by the front door. In the changing rooms (there are separate ones for men and women), there are pools and saunas, and everyone walks around naked, which was a little shocking to me. Then you can go into the common areas where there is a room for massages, there are mats on the floor next to red heating lamps where you can take a nap, a sauna room (which you have to duck to get into, and inside is dome shaped and the walls/ceiling are ornately designed with stones of various colors), and a juice bar. The massages were not exactly what I was hoping for, and poor Dan had his first massage experience turn out to be a strange one. Every time I've had one at home there is a private room, the lights are dimmed, there is relaxing music and the therapist doesn't talk. But here, there were 4 beds (all being used and the dude next to me was sleeping and
snoring), the therapists talked and laughed, the phone ringed, the lights
were all the way up and the massage was more like a deep tissue sports massage than anything that could be considered remotely relaxing. Dan whispered to me "I think this guy's trying to hurt me." I thought he was kidding, but I guess his was just as rough, or worse, than mine. In our massage "package", a method called "cupping" was included. I had heard of it before but had never seen it or experienced it. For those of you who are considering it, don't. Unless, of course, you enjoy your skin being sucked into glass cups by a loud machine, then modeling un-fashionable purple bruises all over your back and shoulders for approximately 7-14 days. And if you're thinking, "Well, the theraputic results are far worth the pain and battered look," I assure you, there are none. It was just painful, and I couldn't touch my shoulders for 3 days because it hurt so much. It looked like my back had made out with 16 vacuum hoses. Hickies never were my thing. Oh well, chalk it up to a memorable experience.
Dan and I both left for the U.S. on Saturday the 27th, but on different flights.
After 28 hours of travel I was home! Ahhh... Mom and Dad picked me up from the airport, we had a nice dinner at Cora D's, then off to the lake to see all the dogs... yes, all FOUR of them (they were dog-sitting Layla and Petey for Brandon's friend, Kelley). The week was great, and I did everything I wanted: Picked blueberries with Mom (which she put into pie, pancakes AND muffins- gotta love having a Martha Stewart in the family), made spaghetti sauce with Dad (gotta love having an Emeril in the family), took a boat ride, visited with Grandma, had several campfires, went to Doug's Fish Fry, had a Wegman's sub sandwich (oh man, do you notice how much of my happiness revolves around food?), shopped at Marshall's, spent an afternoon with my friend Jenn eating ice cream and walking around Skaneateles, and relished in the fresh air that does not exist in the country of Korea.
Friday I took a 7am flight to Chicago where I (thought) I had an 8 hour layover until my flight to Seoul. So Megan and Shannon Tighe (my bestest ever friends in the whole world!!) came to the airport,
picked me up, took me for a big breakfast, then we drove to a forrest preserve and laid on the grass, talking. I went back to the airport around 1pm and met up with their brother, Thomas. Just before we went for a walk I decided to check my flight itinerary just
one more time. "Hmm... that's funny... it appears that my flight leaves at 1... which is
right now." Sure enough, I missed my flight... what is humorous is the fact that no one seemed terribly surprised. For all the traveling I do, you would think I could have figured out how to read flight times. But this is just one of several occasions I have showed up to an airport after a flight has left. (One time I even went to the
wrong airport. You'd think my IQ hovered right around my age.) So, I checked in for stand-by the following day (only one flight to Korea per day) and went home with Megan. (Shannon was going to Lollapalooza in Chicago with her boyfriend for the weekend.) She went to work at Ruby Tuesday's and I wandered the mall for a few hours, had dinner with her when
she was done, and then we took her large labradors for a long walk that night.
Missing the flight was truly a blessing- I got to spend more time with my favorite (non-family) people and I still got back to Korea in time for work on Monday morning. I have had no jet lag (after either trans-Pacific trip), and my week with friends and family was positively therapeutic. I wish I had more pictures, but, being the prepared traveler I had proven to be in the previous paragraph, I forgot my camera.
Hope you are all well!
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Kim
non-member comment
Awwe I wish you would have called and let us know you were comming home..Mike and I would have loved to taken you out to dinner!!! anyways sounds like you were really laid back and enjoyed you week, well except the massage and missing the flight.. We miss you like crazy..you look amazing in you photos!! Tell Dan we said hello. My brother was statoined in Georgia. Well sweetie I hope all is well, Call or Write soon.... Love ya!!!