Sat. Jan 17th
7:00am
Awake, awake, awake. Fiddling on my phone keeps me in bed an extra 10 minutes. I should consider teaching in a rural island community--the break from technology and the Internet would do me good. As much as it can be a blessing, I feel it sometimes stops me from seeing what's right in front of me. But for now, it's a useful tool for a last-minute checklist.
Always running late. The trash didn't get taken out, but the apartment is clean and I seem to have everything I need for my trip. In the end I opted to bring my computer, which hopefully will be worth the weight and worry if I can keep busy and edit photos and videos. I meant to leave 10 minutes ago, and while the bus station is close by car, I don't need a stressful repeat of my journey to Seoul two weeks ago. If there's one lesson I've learned in traveling, it's that one mistake in connecting transportation is like a butterfly flapping its wings: you never know what disastrous repercussions can come from something so seemingly small.
7:50am
Boseong may be a small town, but there are always people bustling about. The 직통 (direct bus) to Gwangju is filled with students, farmers, and a few of my fellow foreign teachers. Seats aren't assigned, and I'm lucky I managed to get one--several people end up standing in the aisle. I doze a bit, but am awoken by a very pungent, very Korean smell... Someone's decided kimchi is an appropriate breakfast food...
