Top 5 List

Top 5 Things I Miss About the US

1.  Family and Friends - I miss everyone a lot more than I thought.  It's hard to believe but even though Jean-Paul and I were never really close, and there were many things about him living with us that made me crazy, I really do miss him...and Carla too.  Not to mention Chris and Tammy, Donna and Will, Christy and Loran, Kat, Alberto and Beevee, Cindy, Pam, Tam, Rebecca and Karen...the great people we worked with at MIHS and ESF...I can keep going here. What about my sisters in STL...Jennifer, and Shelly and their boyfriends/husbands...and Alec Ates...he is awesome!!
It's great to be able to Skype and to see what's happening on FB but not the same as being with the people you love.  We have made some driends with the teachers who are here at DIS but it's not quite the same...Love all of you guys...Sappy, I know.

2.  Our Favorite Restaurants - El Tucan, Cedar's Cafe, Chili's (I would kill for one of their Black Bean Burgers), Buca de Beppo, California Pizza Kitchen...we are absolutely dying to have one of those amazing meals.

3.  Bright House Cable- OK I'm a TV addict I admit it and Korean television is pretty awful.  Weird game shows, horrible K Pop Karaoke, endless commercials and soap operas that make the novellas on Univision look like Masterpiece Theatre.  I was able to download a program called Graboid on my Mac that allows me to download movies and TV shows so Nancy and I were able to watch Breaking Bad, Louie, and Here Comes Honey Boo Boo...thank God!  No CNN or MSNBC so that is a bummer.

4.  My House - We are living in a really small dorm room here at the school.  Advantages - it's at the school.  Walk 2 minutes and you're in your classroom.  The cafeteria is right here at it's right down the street from an awesome park with incredible running and hiking trail...and best of all, NO RENT!.  Disadvantages - it's 2 minutes away from your classroom, there are students who are everywhere, it's very sparsly furnished.  I think about how incredible our house is since we remodeled and it makes the dorm living tough...but once again, NO RENT!!

5.  The English Language - I really thought that more people would speak at least a little bit of English here...but that's not the case.  We really struggle to communicate (we carry around a little laminated card that explains in Korean that we do not eat meat) and all of the signs on the businesses are in Korean script which bears no resemblance to our alphabet.  You are walking down the street and passing shops with absolutely no idea of what they are selling or what is going on inside.  Many times there is a bit of English thrown in so you can get the gist...for example a small restaurant that sells beer, and coffe...or last night we saw an Italian Restaurant that specialized in speghetty.  I don't mean to sound like the typical Ugly American...almost without exception the people here are very very nice and make a real effort to speak a little bit of our language.  And the little bit that they know is FAR more than the 3 - 4 Korean words that I have mastered...

Next time...Top 5 Things I Don't Miss About the US