“Blog” meet Bryan, Bryan this is “Blog”

So it’s been a while since I’ve updated. 43 days in fact, hmm that is quite a while actually, so I’m doubting that anyone still even follows this (read: I've been a little too lazy lately). Either way this is going to be an update of the last month plus of activities. It’s probably going to be long, so sorry for that up front (it’d be shorter if I updated more…)

The beginning of September was rather uneventful actually. I wasn’t doing too much, work was kind of slow, and I was mostly getting ready to travel back to the US to visit people. Korea wise not too much was going on either, the weather was still really hot (but cooling) so I really didn’t want to travel much either. 95 and humid, eeeh no thanks.

Near the end (the 18th) I came back to the US to visit family, friends, apartments, etc. It was a great trip and when I was back I realized that I was missing the US a lot more than I was letting myself believe. Things just made more sense, it was nice to hold conversations with people in non-broken English, and it was just nice to be around people that I knew.

The first weekend was my parent’s surprise 25th wedding anniversary party. I hope that they were surprised (it seemed like they were) and I’m glad that I was able to make it back for that. Despite the slightly jetlagged state that I was in. The rest of the week was fun too, I got to see my grandparents a lot as well as a few friends from high school (thanks for making the trip up to McKean). All in all it was a good week and the first real vacation that I’ve had since I started working.

I also went out looking for cars with my dad one day. I figure that this spring I’ll get something a bit newer. I’m currently looking at two models the Nissan 370z (probably non-sport package) and the Hyundai Genesis Coupe (2.0T). No the Koreans didn’t convert me to their cars, it just looks good and I really want to see how a manual, 4 cylinder drives (they only had an automatic, 6 cylinder in Erie). So votes, opinion, recommendations anyone? Going for the sportier, rear wheel drive type of car and these two seem like the best bang for your buck.

Friday (9/25) and Monday/Tuesday (28,29) I went into work for a few hours to check out the new offices in Cranberry. I’ve gotta say they are really nice, pretty convenient to navigate, and much better than the old ones out in Monroeville. However, they could do with a few changes. Having nameplates on the end of the rows would be good, making the numbers above the cubicles (hanging from the ceiling) larger, and putting some kind of name plate holder at the end of the rows (instead of a sheet of paper) would be great improvements. The facilities (cafeteria, gym, grounds) look great even with the construction going on. Apparently we’re adding a 4th building to the complex too. I have to say that it felt kind of empty though…. Maybe that will change once we get more fully moved in.

Saturday (26th) I participated in the “Crawl for Cancer” with a group of friends. It was a really great time and hopefully we can put a team together for next year too. Maybe a sort of college/roommate/friends reunion or something. Plus you’re helping out a great cause. The rest of the week in Pittsburgh was pretty calm, hung out with the roommates and people still around, picked up the new season of top gear and episodes of house (Korea is 2 seasons behind…), and took a few more days off.

For the next weekend I went down to New Orleans to visit my friend Frances and to check out the city and Tulane. I had a lot of fun on that trip and I’m really glad that I went down. I’ll definitely have to make my back to that city at some point and time, there is just so much there to see and experience (and taste, the food was awesome). Maybe I’ll head back for Mardi Gras or when it gets all cold in Pittsburgh.

After New Orleans I packed everything back up and caught a plane back Korea. The flights were alright (despite leaving New Orleans 30 minutes late and almost missing the Detroit => Tokyo flight) and the jetlag from this trip was really minimal, always a plus. I’ve found that I have an easier time traveling West than I do East and I have no idea why this is. I think that it helps that I arrive into Korea (my apartment or hotel) around 11pm so you can just go to bed. Usually you get into the US around 5 or 6pm and want to sleep, but really can’t. It’s almost like you need to fly for a longer period of time or something… I’m getting back into the US at 2:30 on November 23rd, so we’ll see how that goes.

Work since I’ve gotten back has been hectic to say the least. We got two new customers over here the week I got back (one Chinese, one Korean-American for a US company) so we are working with them now. Our Chinese customers seem to have forgotten how to speak English and our Korean-American customer is a little too knowledgeable and wants a lot from us… Also work has picked up a bit and someone’s on vacation, so we’re swamped only begins to explain what’s going on. It’s funny; there either isn’t a lot going on or everything, no steady stream of work.

Good news / Bad news: not that much has change in Korea since I left. It's really seems like it's about the same as when I left. I realize that I wasn't gone for that long (2.5 weeks) so not much could have happened, but it still "feels" the same, which is odd. Even though I'm living here, it still doesn't feel like home. Pittsburgh had that feeling, even when I moved there for freshman year of college. Maybe that's what's been missing in Korea. The weather has cooled off a bit here. It's about 70 during the day and 45-50 at night, almost perfect weather. The trees are also starting to change color. It hasn't been as dramatic as in the US (only a few trees here and there) but I'm keeping hope that the mountains will become ablaze with color soon.

And this ends this crazy long update. I’ll try to post more frequently for the last 5-6 weeks that I am in Korea and I will see you all around Thanksgiving.