At first, returning to Korea (to abide by Japan tourist visa regulations for Americans –only 90 days allowance and no working holiday visas– and to enable a future return to Japan, for the possible acquisition of a new one, and to visit a friend in Seoul and get a break from the stress of things—felt great.
On the flight, my new friends from Germany, Alexis and Sophia, who are doing internships in Japan, were great to talk to: travel, countries, Korea, Japan, black companies, my being framed at English Village, being an expat, the friendliness and sentimental nature of people outside the US and Germany, AI, physics, spaceflight, language, and more….
And then, on the gleaming transport train from Incheon to Shinyongsan was impressive, and wonderful, because I made more new friends–an older gentleman (who betrays his age, of course, by a decade, and his wife—who does the same—who offered me a seat… was a welcome return to a people I know, from 15 years’ living in Korea, years before. Being able to speak Korean, to a better smattering than min Japanese, allowed for a lively and heart-warming conversation with them and then with another couple of people, including a health spa owner and a mother and child…. to be continued (with more ideas, narrative and even video)…
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