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Our original plan when we came to England was to stay here for a year and then head back to Korea. So many good things had clicked into place that we changed our plans. We did have our return tickets, and it seemed a shame to waste them. We booked single tickets back from Korea.
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| We all looked this tired at Kansai Airport. |
Due to changes in scheduling, we needed to spend a night in Osaka as there was no longer a connecting flight on that day. Fortunately, Japan Air paid for this. We got to go into the city and eat some noodles, but we were so tired that we forgot to bring the Camera. After a night without much sleep, we took a flight the next day, but we left our coats at the breakfast table. The flight from Japan was a short hop to Incheon, and then there was a bus ride. Finally, after a ride in a taxi of near death (the car slipped out of gear while the driver was loading the bags and almost rolled into heavy traffic) we arrived at my sister-in-law's cafe. After eating some food, I went to the Sauna and had a good soak in a hot bath, then fell asleep for a couple of hours. This cured my jet-lag.
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| A very welcome meal at Anne's sister's house. |
We spent a night at Anne's sister's house before popping across town to her other sister's to pick up our car. It was very nice to be mobile again. From there we drove straight out to Anne's mother's house outside of Seosan.
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| My mother in law, completely taken with Noah, give a very rare smile. |
Jin Jang Lee is the name of the village where Anne grew up, and it's very peaceful. We spent a very nice couple of days doing nothing in particular. We slept in, drove into Seosan to shop and go to the Sauna, we went for walks and I helped a little with the Apple harvest.
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| One of a hoard of apple pickers in the orchard across the road from Anne's mother's house. |
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One other big reason we needed to go back to Korea was to close our bank accounts and transfer a chunk of savings home. As these were in banks in Daejeon, it meant we would get a chance to have a look around the old neighbourhood and meet up with old friends, starting with Matt and Jin-Ha, who put us up for a couple of nights.
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| Anne and I eat great lasagna with Matt and Jin-Ha. |
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The next day we were down to business. We headed to two different banks to close accounts, withdraw money and transfer it home to England. Imagine my pleasure in meeting two of my favourite students in the bank while Anne was filling out the paperwork. Unfortunately, they had gone very shy, and wouldn't say much to me.
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| I run into Leo and Grace, two of my best students, at the bank. |
We had a great time catching up with friends. Anne and I went our separate ways a couple of times so she could hang out with her friends and I could hang out with mine. I had a great evening out drinking with Eric and Karen. I got nicely buzzed for the first time in a while.
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| Karen and Eric, old teaching colleagues, mid beer-quaffing session and Hyun-Dong and his family at a Sam Gyeop Sal restaurant. |
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One reunion that Anne was really looking forward to was her old Doctor. She was pregnant again, and was very happy to hear from her own doctor that everything was going well. After being examined, we went out to dinner with Dr Seo and his family. Anne was very happy to see their daughter, who she used to teach.
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| Dr Seo, who brought Noah into this world, poses with us at his new hospital. |
It was great to see so many people from a year ago, but it doesn't make very interesting reading, so I won't say any more about it.
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| Lunch with Brenda (top) and dinner with Yoo-Mi (bottom), both old students who have kept in contact. |
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After four days, it was time to head back to Seosan. I drove, and we stopped at our favourite rest-stop for boiled eggs and kimbap.
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| Anne and Noah eat basic Korean food at a rest stop on the way back to Seosan. |
Anne was due to stay with her mother for a couple more weeks, but I had to get back to England for work. The biggest job we did was to pack a hundred kilos of stuff into five cardboard boxes and mail them home. On the last morning, Anne and I went to the airport together and had a very nice meal before say goodbye at the gate.
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| Anne's Brother feeds use at his house a couple of days before I leave. |
After a very quiet couple of week in which I had the time to have a social life, but couldn't because I had got out of the habit, Anne came home with Noah, and everything went back to normal.