America!

It has been 26 hours since I left my hotel room in Korea. Three flights behind me and one still ahead, I am incredibly thankful to be back. I made it in time for a BBQ holiday and just after the oppressive heat of Missouri's summer has past.

During my layover in San Francisco, I made a B line to a Mexican food place. I had a huge burrito with real guacamole, and black beans, and salsa. Man I have missed Mexican food. After I visited my bank's ATM (such a joy to get US dollars from a machine!) I spoke to the lady at the food counter. She had a Spanish accent! Yeah!

All around me there were English conversations--too many to listen to. I'm so used to tunning out the Korean spoken around me that I forgot what it's like to understand what people are actually saying! I forgot what its like to be able to focus my hearing on differing conversations and hear and understand what they are saying.

In Korea, I usually only start trying to understand what people are talking about (in Korean) when I hear my name in the conversation. The way most of the people in the school system treat me in much like Buster in Arrested Development.

There's a great episode titled "Bringing up Buster" where there are several instances where two characters are having pretty harsh discussion about Buster and then the camera pans out to show that Buster is right there in the same room. Below are highlights from that episode. Fast forward to about the 1:00 mark to find the first example and then 3:00 to see the other. Again, imagine me as Buster and my Korean handlers as Buster's family.



Now, I'm at some cheesy sports bar at the Kansas City Airport waiting for my final flight right into Joplin. I'm loving me some free wi-fi, my Sam Adams, and some famous Aurthur Bryant's KC style barbecue.

Yes. It is good to be back.