Jeonju

A couple of weekends ago, thanks to a Friday off from work, HT and I took a trip to Jeonju in the afternoon to visit his old boss and boss' wife. It was a lovely day and they happened to be celebrating their 38th wedding anniversary. It was our second time in Jeonju, our first visit was back in August, and it was a different feeling to be there together again.

The day started with a lunch at a place that only served fresh, local foods and a stroll around Geumsansa, one of Jeonju's famous temples. A lot of it was under construction and they were preparing for a festival, so we couldn't see it in its prime. Impressive nonetheless.

Afterwards, they drove us around on an epic search for the thousands of cosmos currently in season lining the roads which was so beautiful. It was also incredible to see the rice fields. The flat, golden land stretched out for miles, not a sight seen very often in this country covered in mountains. Perfect Sunday afternoon drive material.

We also briefly wandered the traditional hanok village with them in search of the beautiful, one of a kind carvings made from the jujube tree for their anniversary gift, and then we ended our "double-date" with some bibimbap for dinner.

It always impresses me how kind and generous Koreans can be when they have a chance to show you who they are. On the street, it is off-putting how some can just bump into you or straight up push you out of the way without a word. But when you get to spend time together, some can make you feel like family. 

Korean was the language of the day of course, but HT translated for me and the captain spoke some English to me too. Even though the lady only knew limited words, she really made an effort to communicate with me through pictures on her phone of her family and teaching me a few words in Korean. She even gave me a hug when we said goodbye, which is again, kind of a rare thing amongst strangers here. My head hurt a bit from trying to keep up with some of their conversations, but they made me feel comfortable despite it.

Before leaving Jeonju, HT and I stopped by a cozy little cafe that I can only describe as Korea Meets Anthropologie. The traditional style house, white walls, dark wood, quirky decor, adorable music and porcelain kitties--I couldn't resist.

If only these little treasures could be just a teensy bit closer to my Yeosu.

ready, set, go?

Every time before I'm about to set off on another trip I have a moment where I think to myself, "No, let's turn around and forget all about this silly idea. Why am I doing this again?"

It's a mixture of excitement fully disguised by the fear of the unknown and the impending and inevitable travel stress. This moment usually hits me on the way to the airport where I am exhausted from packing decisions and finally sitting still, looking around the car at my family--a family who hate for me to go, yet are still the ones waking up at 3am to drive me to the airport anyway.

This morning I was on the way to the airport to start the first leg of my journey to South Korea. My sister, Elizabeth came along for the ride with my parents and not long into it, she reached across the seat and held my hand. She doesn't know it but that was it; she set a sting in my eyes and an ache in my heart for leaving, silently asked a question of why I would even entertain the thought of it.

I got a second chance, in a way. On the way to the airport we discovered a little too late to turn back that my flight seemed to be delayed. I got there, checked in at the self help kiosk and there it was; instead of a 7am departure, it was a 12:50pm one instead, one that would make me miss my connecting flight to Korea. After a literal two hour conversation on the phone in my stressed, sleep deprived state (because I had hoped to be half way to Toronto and fully unconscious at that point), the kind agent worked out the option of rebooking my flight for tomorrow morning, leaving at 5am, stopping in Montreal, Vancouver and on the Seoul. Not as ideal as my original flight plan but doable, and still with a few kinks as it is the weekend and I'm hoping that somebody on the receiving end will get my messages that I will not be arriving on time after all; hoping that somebody will actually be there when I land in Korea to take me to the bus station and tell me where the heck I'm going! But I am still going despite all of these extra unknowns.

Despite the setback, I am thankful for the chance to have another big homemade waffle breakfast by my momma and to sit with family, thankful for extra sleep that may hopefully make my fight with jet lag a little easier once I'm there, and thankful for more time to squeeze in a FaceTime with Robyn.

This is not how I figured my journey to teach English in South Korea would begin, but maybe somebody knew that I secretly wasn't quite ready to go yet. It was so secret that I didn't even know it. I've been working towards this goal here and there over the last six months, but actually acquiring a job and getting everything in order in the last few weeks and over Christmas has been a whirl wind.

And, because the flight wasn't officially booked until about three nights ago, it wasn't really until last night when I finished packing and in the moments on the way to the airport that I actually accepted that I was leaving. I've just been saying yes to everything, hoping it will all come together the way it needs to. I didn't feel right announcing it until I knew for certain so a lot of people won't even know that I'm going until I'm gone, but maybe that's for the best anyway. A year is a long time.

I hope to keep everyone updated once I finally arrive and get a little more settled. It's a 12 and a half hour difference from here to there which makes it pretty easy to calculate the time difference from home. So any forms of contact while I'm navigating this new thing by myself will definitely help me feel better!

Even when I have worries about what to expect in these experiences, I push myself to do it anyway. What have I got to lose in trying something new, really?

Wish me luck!

heading home

I'm currently sitting in the Toronto airport waiting for my *new* flight to leave. Half way there! First flight was delayed which threw it all off. Ah well. It's funny how tired I look, hence the picture that describes how I feel. Don't. Look. At. Me. Haha.

The last 24 hours have been incredibly hectic and I am so ready to sleep in my own bed at home. I went to bed around 2am on my last night. I had so much fun at crew goodbyes, the energy and the hugs and kisses I got made me feel so loved. I didn't want to leave. For the last week (and even now) it would not sink in that I was heading home. I have such mixed feelings about it still. I was happy to finally see the end of my contract, to get to be home with family and friends but knowing that when I go, there would be so many people I've come to love and connect with that will not be there when I come back. I wanted to spend as much time as I could with them as possible. My packing was about 90% left to the last minute, as per usual. Spent my last evening stressing out over lack of space issues, but taking plenty of breaks in-between to visit Emma on her work break, then to go with Melanie (Bradley & Ashley showed up too) to watch Ema and Dan, aka The Dreamer's last show on the ship, and again later sneak some pizza at Pinocchio's. As cool as it's been to be a sort of trail blazer when it comes to doing this job, coming home and not having a friend that shared the experience along with me is the tough part. All of my new friends are too far away. It's bittersweet.

Got up 6:30 to finish packing and then from 7-9am I was back and forth non-stop between costuming and crew office and throwing away a massive amount of trash, breakfast and then finally back to the office again to get my last check. Lines were long. Diversions (a lounge) was our meeting point to get our last bit of info before we left. Emma and Mel and a few others came to wish me, Carl, Anne, Mark, Kevin, Ema and Dan a farewell.  Only Kevin and I are coming back to the Wonder. The rest are either done, or heading on to the Fantasy. Le sigh. Good news that I learned this morning, however is that the band, Speakerbox will be back again in April. I'm glad I'll have at least one musical pleasure to look forward to. Not sure if I love the name, but I definitely like their sound, those cuties from England. Side note, I'm pretty sure there's a job for absolutely everyone I know on a cruise ship. It's such a unique environment to have so many different minded people come together to make it all work. You rub shoulders with performers/entertainers, musicians, electricians, carpenters, engineers, waiters/waitresses, chefs, photographers, massage therapists, hair stylists, teachers, CHARACTERS like Mickey and Minnie all day long. It's pretty amazing. I mean, my job entails more than just being a youth counselor. I'm part receptionist/info guide, Character body guard, and cafeteria lady as well.

So, as you've probably guessed I have signed my returning contract. I'll head back in February! I'll get a pretty cool itinerary again, getting to sail to a few different places. It'll be back to Mexico a little bit, go on their first cruise to Hawaii, up the Pacific coast to San Fran, and then back to Alaska! I'm excited that I'm not stuck in Mexico the whole time. 'Cause as beautiful as it is, the inconvenience of the itinerary and schedule clashes start to get to ya.

The rest of my day yesterday was spent at the airport was spent eating a good burger, reading magazines, hating my computer for dying on me with no available power source, journal writing and trying not to fall asleep. I was there for about ten hours waiting. Brutal. Luckily I had Mark and Anne for the last hour or so to pass the time before our flight to T-dot together. Now I'm half way through waiting another four hours since I missed my connecting flight. Ahh. And I already feel my body adjusting to non-ship food and air. My entire body is stiff and achey. Unless it's simply early onset of old age.

This is probably long enough. Thanks for reading if you did! My thoughts are pretty reflective at this point since I'm still in limbo towards home. It's strange to suddenly have a whole day to yourself. You realize just how much you need time to process everything. You forget that you actually like having time to yourself. Did those four months really happen? It's gone like a dream already. Working four months straight with just one day off the entire time is insane. 

I'm ready for vacation!!!

st. john's weekend - part 1

(proud parking moment)

Catherine and I spent this past weekend in St. John's for the occasion of the St. John's Days as I mentioned in a previous post. We didn't get to do all that we had originally hoped to do, but we definitely didn't feel like we missed out. Some things were switched, skipped, or replaced and it was just what we needed!

Friday we were a little later getting into town than we had planned as we were held back by police directing traffic around a nasty accident along the highway. I sincerely hope they are okay whoever they are. A bit of a sad start to a trip, but we took more caution with our own driving.

Since we arrived late we were a little late getting to the Newman Wine Vaults for the Shakespeare by the Sea skits, late enough that they had the doors locked. There happened to be another visitor trying to get in and we conspired ways to try and get someone's attention. We were about to give up and were around the corner when the fellow reject ran to tell us the door was open (because he had practically kicked it down). It was an interesting experience to say the least. I think I mostly enjoyed the atmosphere, that it was glowy in the candle light and just plain old and rustic. I like old things.

Afterwards we decided to walk around and figure out where we wanted to eat supper. As we did, we came across some of the cast and crew from The Republic of Doyle doing some filming on Duckworth. Pretty cool to stumble upon. The only person we recognized in the crowd was Marthe Bernard, who plays Tinny. We then settled on the Yellow Belly. It was blocked, upstairs and down with only one little table left meant for us. I had pizza and she had a burger & fries which sounds kinda boring but it was so delicious. Not your typical greasy feed; this was the good stuff. Catherine kept making funny faces the whole time, and I can't recall why haha.

(ignore my scary eyes...)

From there we took a little walk around then headed over to Nan's house where we were to spend the next two (broken-sleep-filled) nights on her pull out couch. It's a really nice couch but a not so nice bed.

(I apologize to my friends who I did not inform of my visit to St. John's. This was a sisterly bonding trip after all.)

i've got a pocket, got a pocket full of sunshine

I just realized that for the last four years of my life I have had a trip to look forward to. I have been anticipating my escape of the mild summer that Newfoundland has to offer, into the embrace of the blazing heat of North Carolina instead. Seeing my friends discussing their upcoming return to Camp Walter Johnson is making me heartsick for it.

Now, I am facing a long summer here at home.

I don't have the unknown adventure and the new friends to meet awaiting me. I don't have crying or obnoxious kids to deal with for two months either (as much as I love them-I kept going back didn't I?!). I don't have the comfort of travelling back to the place that I know and have grown to love over these many years.

This also means that I have the opportunity to find new places to love.

Therefore, I have decided to take all the pocket change that I've daily received while working at Tim's and turn my "Tip Jar" into "Trip Jar". It will be money put towards anywhere I want to go in the future and I hope to add to it continually. Once I get a new summer job, that is.

The struggle.

Picture from here (aka most entertaining blog ever)

day of travels - september 23rd

charlotte airport. 9:50 am. pumpkin spice latte infused. not ready for the long day ahead.

toronto airport. 2:30 pm. people watching. airports are the best place. saw lots of big families of asians.

montreal airport. 7:40 pm. tired and achey, with a creeper in the background edition.

Luckily everything went as it should. Plenty of time between flights. No rush. No lost baggage. No delays. No travel stress other than the knowledge that the gap between me and North Carolina was growing ever larger. I'm happy to say that this was one of the best travelling experiences I've had yet.

I enjoyed my last few moments with my boy. We saw both bird AND plane inside the airport. Seemed that the little bird was trying to decide which airline was best for him to take. It was funny, and helped lighten the mood.

I relunctantly walked through the security gate and he stayed until I was no longer in sight. As comforting as it was to see him wait for me, there was nothing I wanted to do more than to turn and go back. I absolutely hated waiting in the slow moving line when I would rather hold his hand. The feeling intensifies with every trip that comes to an end.

And the remainder of the day's events in point form:
-sitting by ana cowan, nice lady who taught me some spanish on the flight (funny that i met someone who once lived in newfoundland on a flight from charlotte!)
-wolfgang puck for lunch, $15 pizza and drink, only to find a tim horton's on the other side of the gate. darn it.
-watching modern family from toronto to montreal.
-seeing pretty lakes and scenery from the plane
-calling my mom during her parent teacher meetings; calling chandler
-sitting in airport on internet, killing time
-having a bad back from overpacking my bookbag and purse, lugging it all across the airports
-wondering where to find food next
-watching french tv in montreal, then finding french tim horton's for late supper
-watching more modern family on the way to newfoundland; dude stole my window seat :(
-being greeted by elizabeth in st. john's :)
-finding more tim horton's for the ride home. seemed like no one had a plain tea biscuit anywhere.
-home at 2am

voila. my day.

ship is about ready to set sail

Today is my last day in the States with my boy. I'm at home trying to pack, trying not to cry, and trying to enjoy the last bit of sunshine I'll see til who knows when. I'm not looking forward to flying home to depressing and destructive hurricane weather. I'll say it again: North Carolina really is where it's at for beautiful weather.
As much as I've complained sometimes, I have been so thankful to have been able to stay as long as I have.

This weekend was a good getaway. Chandler and I drove down to Clemson, SC to visit our friends. He stayed with his old roommates Matt Moose and Tyler Lacrosse and I stayed with Tyler's girlfriend, Melissa Turner. We drove down after he got off work Friday night and made a little stop in downtown Greenville. We walked around a little bit then stopped into the new location of The Channel. I met Jay, the owner and his wife and their [adorable] youngest followed us around. They were incredibly friendly. Jay showed us around to the stage upstairs and we got some hot tea in the restaurant on the main floor before leaving. They want to make it a place for young people to hang out in a safe area. If I lived around there I'd love to stop by as often as life allowed.

From there we drove to Melissa's house and hung out with her and Tyler for a bit before the boys went home. Melissa's son, Ethan wasn't staying there this weekend, so I got to sleep in his race car bed! Haha. I enjoyed being surrounded by little boy's things, but I would have enjoyed seeing Ethan even more. He was excited when we were supposed to be coming to visit the weekend before. He loves Chandler, and most especially the truck Chandler was driving for the last few weeks he lived in Clemson during the Spring. Too bad.

Saturday, after sleeping in, Chandler came and picked me up and we walked around downtown Clemson for a bit trying to figure out a place to eat for lunch. Since Ancheaux's closed down earlier this year (*tear*), we went to TD's because we wanted to go to a Clemson original. Tyler and Melissa came to join us and we shared some fried pickles and ate sandwiches and wings. After lunch they left to work some more on a video project and we went to Sonic to grab a cherry limeade for me, cherry slush for him and also to the lake to enjoy the sunshine along with said drinks. It was much hotter there than in Charlotte. People were swimming!! Oh to swim in September in Newfoundland! Unreal.

From there we went to Katherine Rainey's house because a few friends (Molly Brantly, Lauren Jordan, and their friends, Heather Johnson and Carson Carroll) were in town also visiting and they were all over there. Chandler dealt with the estrogenfest at the house then we all went to Spill the Beans to splurge on some delicious ice cream. We shared the usual chocolate softserve with cake batter and sprinkles. In a waffle bowl. Best $8 spent that weekend haha.

Tyler got us to pick up the pizza he ordered on the way back to his place, so the four of us had that and salad for supper. Then we headed off to Alex Fagan's to watch the Clemson football game on tv. It was an epic loss. Everyone was saddened once again by their precious school. Even I, who only understood about 14% of what actually happened during the game, felt a sense of depressing loss. We moved to the backyard and made a fire all the same and relaxed out there. The evening was surprisingly cool compared to how hot it was in the afternoon.

Sunday morning we went to DCF the church for the college kids in Clemson. It was an alright service, but I didn't really get much from the speaker. He had a good idea, talking about how the church should be a family. But he used his own family photo album, or rather, random pictures on his disk drive, to guide the message. Seemed like he was up there randomly coming up with examples off the top of his head for about 436 pictures in the slideshow, to a message with no end in sight.

Bless his heart.

After church we had planned to go to the Lemongrass for lunch. I had been craving it since I first had it last summer. But we walked up to the doors to discover--to my sorrow--it is closed on Sundays. So sad! We went to Sticky Fingers as an alternate, which was an overpriced mediocre choice. Live and learn. Next time we won't be so hasty.

I wasn't quite ready to leave yet, so Boy kindly complied and we went for a little wander. It was a fair distance to get to Fall's Park, but as we walked we came across a couple of cycling races going on that day. The main roads were blocked off and there were swarms of people walking everywhere. It was a neat sight to see.

We were hot once we got to the park but the water cooled us off nicely.
Every time I take a picture with this camera I am disappointed with the quality. It needs to go. Maybe if I complain enough, a fairy will show up and grant my wish for a better camera.

We finally continued our journey back to Charlotte, listened to Paper Route, contemplated the wonders of exit 100, had goofy sitting-in-the-car-too-long moments, but cherished the last road trip til who knows when.

We spent the later part of the evening at Caribou Coffee so that Chandler could study Math. I bought us some latte chillers, vanilla and caramel flavoured. Both were disappointing due to their overabundance of sweetness. Undrinkably sweet. I made a sorry attempt to tone down the sugar by adding hot coffee but that was a big fail. Oh well, I enjoyed the atmosphere nontheless!

The highlight of Monday was having lunch with T.Ray (my boss at CWJ) at Pike's Soda Shop. I had some hawaiian chicken sandwich that was so-so, while Chandler had a burger, and TRay had pecan fried chicken (I think? A Pecan-chicken-something that looked good). Shoulda just had a soda. Those things taste delicious. Sadly, no pictures from inside there, but a scene from Shallow Hal was filmed in there.

Tuesday's highlight was going out to supper at Tony Rama's with Chandler's extended family to celebrate Ashley and Brandon's birthday. The ribs did not disappoint, nor did the Red Velvet Cake for dessert. Once again, no pictures. I need to stop being a chicken. Afterwards, the two of us went over to T.Ray's house to see the rest of the family before I left. It was good to see everyone and their dog, George, once again.

As I said, today has been filled with all the leftover packing I didn't want to do earlier. Chandler was sweet and surprised me on his break between jobs with Chick-fil-A sandwiches for lunch. He barely had time to gobble his down before he had to run to be on time, but it was very thoughtful of him.

After work we brought Mckay to pick up the pizza he ordered and a little later, Chandler's dad brought home some ribs for me to try. The closest I'd get to having his own. We had hoped to meet up with a couple of other people, but after a few unanswered phonecalls we went to The Penguin ourselves to enjoy my last order of fried pickles at that place.

The next time I'm in Charlotte, that restaurant will no longer be the beloved Penguin as it has been known, due to the battle between greedy franchise wanting owners and the mutiny of its staff. Good news is that it will exist elsewhere, however it won't have it's nostalgic atmosphere. We can only hope it will be a change for the better.

Anyway, I enjoyed my pickles. And I got me a souvenir.

labo(u)r day weekend

I had a pretty filled weekend! It's the busiest I've been since camp was over, really. Chandler and his band, The Decour had a show Thursday night in Boone which was a couple hours drive away. Our friend, Alexis Worthington opened up first, then the boys, then Jonas Sees In Color.

It was a really good night.

After everything was packed up we went out to eat at Boone Bagelry and enjoyed some good breakfast and hung out. We stayed overnight at our friend's houses who go to college there; Chandler with Hodge, me with Alexis. In the morning we met up again, joined by Marc Gmuca and ate at Our Daily Bread, a really relaxed spot downtown with great soups and sandwiches.

We said our goodbyes then drove another few hours to meet up with the rest of Chandler's family in Cherokee where we stayed at for the whole weekend. It was a hotel and casino, and it was loud and sparkly. haha.

The night we got there was the grand opening of the new music venue right next to (and part of) the hotel. Hank Williams Jr was the feature and as he played I recognized some songs.

I liked how he put on different hat for every song and when he got up and rocked the piano.

We watched the show from a VIP booth and were served some fancy h'ordeuvres. Anyway me, Chandler and his mom didn't stay for the whole show.

We went down to the casino got some burgers to eat (cause we were so hungry after those strange appetizers), and his mom showed us around. I can definitely see why it's addictive, the buttons are fun to push, but I also saw just how fast people can lose their money.

Saturday morning the men went golfing and the ladies to a little town not too far away called Dillsboro. It in its own way reminded me a bit of Newfoundland with it's small homes made with wood, sitting close together on the roads. It was filled with little shops and things in a one block radius.

 Later we got cleaned up and met at the venue for appetizers in the VIP box. They were much better this time with big chicken wings and egg rolls, so we didn't go hungry.

Then we saw Lady Antebellum!

I liked their music a bit before, and they were SO good live! I'm a fan now, for sure! We all had a good time at this show, especially all the ladies in the group.

This concert was definitely for the ladies. Chandler's mom kept talking about how cute Charles was from Lady Antebellum. After the show we went back to our room and watched Get Him to the Greek and finally went to bed since we had a big adventure to go on in the morning!

Sunday was like the "Sons + Their Girlfriends' trip. Chandler and I, Jordan (his bro) and his gf, Kristin, then Brandon (his cousin) and his wife, Ashley, met up at 10:30 to go white water rafting on the Nantahala!

It was such a blast and I couldn't have asked for a more entertaining group of people to go with.

Those boys say the most ridiculous stuff in the most hilarious ways, so when you put them all together you know it's going to be a good time. We didn't have time for breakfast before the trip, but after we registered at the rafting place, the only food available was an overpriced hotdog shop. We ate it anyway!

Rafting took about two hours, the water was very cold (not Atlantic cold though, thankfully!) and Brandon managed to fall into the river about 4 minutes into the trip!!

Luckily no one else fell in after that, though there were a couple of close calls. It probably wasn't a smart move to bring my digital camera, but everything was okay!  We kept getting stuck on rocks and spinning around but it was funny.

At one point another group of people got pushed towards us and as they bumped our raft, some weird red headed chick smiled at and flirtily touched Chandler on the shoulder. Everyone joked that I should have taken her out with my paddle! haha.

By the time we got back there was just enough time to shower before we piled in vans to go out for supper. We went back to Dillsboro to a place called the Jarrett House that was full of antiques and had traditional southern food. (I had me some chicken and dumplin's, comfort food at it's finest.) It was a house built in the 1800s that I wouldn't want to spend the night in. I could see it being haunted. :P

Monday we all packed up by 11, met up and went to the buffet in the hotel for breakfast. After that we packed up the cars and went our separate ways. Some went back to the little stores in Dillsboro.

Chandler and I drove to Asheville, however, and walked around a pretty place called Grove Park Inn before heading back to Charlotte.

 The inn had some pretty important guests stay there, like Thomas Edison, Henry Ford, and Eleanor Roosevelt.

We walked around on the terrace and took in the view of the Smokey Mountains. There were rocking chairs everywhere and the majority of the population was over the age of 60, but we did see a few people our age wandering around too. I took pictures for a group of girls who had offered to take a picture of us.

On the inside of the main entrance there were some huge windows that were open like shutters and showed off the view of the mountains. There was a huge stone fireplace that you could pretty much stand in. Felt like Harry Potter. I was wondering where my Floo powder was!

I would honestly love to live up there near the mountains, or a least visit a ton. The view is gorgeous; the contant breeze is so refreshing. And I'm fairly certain that there's something magical in the water in Cherokee because my cold improved by the second day of the trip and my skin was clearing up fast.

It is an indian reserve, maybe there's healing powers in it? Wouldn't be surprised. I felt the difference because ever since we got back to Charlotte I've been all stuffed up again! I already miss being surrounded by the glories of nature and that fresh mountain air.

hey yall

Hey from the South!

I'm chilling with Chandler in Charlotte, NC. It's an interesting sensation when you get back to a place you've been waiting to be again. Now that I'm here it feels like I had never left.

My flights went pretty well, although there were three of them, the first leaving at 5:20. I slept for about a half an hour, and due to a spontaneous trip to E&E, I had the company of Robyn for most of the night before as I did the last bit of my packing. :)
The first flight Chandler and I were together and we slept for most of it. When we arrived in TO with only a little over an hour til the next flight, I was really stressed about getting through customs and making my first connection in time. The line up was super long and there was a card I needed to fill out on the way to customs. I didn't find it until I was almost to the desk. So I frantically filled it out, and let Chandler go ahead of me in line.

Big mistake.

He got the young girl officer who was super nice. I got the grumpy, middle aged man who bore his red eyes into my soul. For realz. He asked me at least five times why I was coming to the states, even after I told him, then he asked other questions like, why this camp; who is 'sponsoring me'; what's wrong with the camps in Canada; aren't there children in Canada I can be a camp counsellor for?

When I stumbled for half a second to answer one of his vague questions he cut me off and asked again. He was incredibly cold about it. I suppose that's their job but I have never encountered such a rude interrogation. It really shook me up! If only I had gotten the girl!!

 (summing up our trip: him sleepy, me frustrated! haha)

I watched a few episodes of Modern Family on the second flight and on the third I could barely keep my eyes open. So I stopped fighting it and slept. When I arrived in Charlotte and reconnected with the Chanman, I found that I lost one of my bags. Luckily it was located and was missing for only a few hours. No biggie, simply another mishap to add to my catalog of fun adventures in flying.

The word count for this has gotten quite large so I will update more later!

Having a good time though, and enjoying the weather, mostly. I need to climatize again, the humidity is suffocating me.