Korean Thanksgiving

The warnings Fulbright gave us early on are proving to be pretty accurate - November is a difficult month to be away. With the holiday season approaching and the football season moving well into its second half, there's a lot to be homesick for. On the bright side, it's helpful to be close enough to a group of people who are all going through the same thing. This weekend, the ETAs got together in Seoul for Thanksgiving celebration of our own.

Every year, Ambassador Stevens, is kind enough to host the Fulbright Korea ETAs at her residence in Seoul for a Thanksgiving meal. Expertly catered and decorated, it was a great meal and gave us all a taste of the American holiday season despite the geographic and cultural distance. A scaled-down encore of the Fulbright Song performed by a select (and talented) chorus was the highlight of the afternoon with Jim McFadden's voice perfectly suited for the acoustics of the dining hall.

Switching gears - staying in a Korean love motel is always an interesting experience. For those of you who might be unfamiliar, Korean love motels serve two main purposes.

1) A cheap-ish option for travelers who don't want to spring for the higher rates of a "Western" hotel

2) A pay by the hour way for couples to have a little bit of privacy whenever the mood strikes.

So far, my friends and I have been able to bargain and negotiate some decent deals at these types of establishment but this weekend we were foiled by an extra vigilant innkeeper. Sitting behind her plate-glass shield and with eyes like an eagle, she bagged four of us trying to sneak into a room booked for two for a few adult beverages before a night on the town. Sorry for trying to save a little bit of money Korea.

Exactly 5 weeks until Boston.