checking in

So I spent last weekend in Seoul, hanging out with Billie, Matthias and Bonnie. We wandered around Seoul, went to an art gallery, tasted a Korean microbrew, and on Saturday night checked out some Halloween parties. It was a great weekend, even though I ended up with a pretty bad cold by the end of it. It was the first time I'd visited Seoul since my teaching placement, and it was refreshing. Seoul really feels like a different place, so going there feels even more like an escape from the teaching life. And it was great to see friends and celebrate a beloved American holiday. I would write more about the weekend, but there'd be a lot of cover and anyway I've been sworn to secrecy on a few counts.

According to the Korean newspaper today, the U.S. military presence in the DMZ has officially ended. Even though 40 U.S. soldiers remain there, control of Outpost Ouellette has been handed over to South Korea, meaning that South Korea is taking complete responsibility for the patrol of the DMZ for the first time since 1953.

Tomorrow's a big day, world-changing in fact. Being sick has me a little emotionally unstable already. I mailed off my ballot weeks ago so now all there is to do is wait.

Reading: finished "Refuge" by Terry Tempest Williams, loaned to me by Rachel. Great book, really interesting. I'd recommend it to anyone. Now I've simultaneously started "The Rise and Fall of the Third Reich" and "Reading Lolita in Tehran." I want to finish a couple books before I go to Seoul to celebrate Thanksgiving at the Ambassador's on the 21st, so I can give them back to other ETAs.