Tuesday, January 15, 2013

Small World

I'm back home in the U.S. for my research leave, and though traveling to and from Asia can be a long and jet-lagged journey I had an awesome time!

From my Mongolian driver with a good sense of humor at 6 in the morning

to the Mongolian language professor I met in line who was traveling to Japan to see her daughter *

to my seatmate en route to Korea who is taking a leave from his job in UB as a water systems engineer (and from his wife and two lovely daughters) to get his masters and who wanted to discuss the value of cultural diversity in a global economy *(two conversations I was able to have because of my Mongolian language courses, thanks to Tserenchunt bagsh!)

to finally arriving in Seoul and getting to spend a wonderful time sightseeing with Natalia and Alex (amazed again how much we packed into a few short hours! and how eagle-eyed I become for spotting dunkin donuts lol)

to my adorably quirky Korean earrings

to movies and bunkbeds and heated floors

to peaceful metro rides

to 13 hour flights that let you watch Ratatouille and get hooked on the first season of BBC's "Sherlock" and feed you three solid meals (and as much orange juice as you want)

to the friendliness of the workers at O'Hare international airport and delicious chicken parmesan paninis

to the first hug from my parents....



It's already been a great visit.

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