Freedom!!!

Ok, so this time we didn't call Dave Ramsey (cut me some slack - when his show starts, it's 5am here).  And we're in Korea instead of Disney World.  But we are utterly and completely debt free!  Well, as far as our credit reports can tell - I'm pretty sure with everything our parents are handling for us while we're abroad, we owe both sets some money right now.  But it's pretty exciting, nonetheless!  And besides, our parents don't charge interest.  I think.  Don't get any ideas now, Dad and Mr. Charlie. 

Anyway, after four and a half grueling months of tortuously slow processing that could be wrought only by the telltale "efficiency" of a government agency - and extension after extension of the original October 21st closing date of the purchase agreement we signed back at the beginning of September (yes, September!) - the sale of our house FINALLY closed this week!  And we have to give many thanks to Ms. Donna for all of her help in making this happen because while we were over here gnashing our teeth in vain, she was the one that actually had to go make it happen!  She helped stay in contact with our Realtor, and she was the one that actually had to sit through what must have been an excruciating closing.  So, Ms. Donna, thank you, thank you, thank you!  We truly cannot thank you enough!  You must really love your son!  :)

All I can say is, if you're ever selling your home and a buyer makes you an offer that depends on a loan being processed by the NACA, laugh in their faces and tell them they'd better sign another six month lease on their apartment.  Because that loan isn't happening anytime soon.  Don't take that offer if the housing market is anything short of dead. I'm serious - if there's even a sporadic pulse, walk away.  This agency is bureaucracy (and idiocy, though I think those often go hand in hand) at its worst.  And I think the sheer pittance that is the aggregate IQ-level of the employees of that place (and yes, i said aggregate, not average) is rivaled only by that of the most exaggerated stereotype of the DMV that you can conjure.  It really was that bad.  So for the sake of your sanity, just don't do it.  I'm sure you already have enough experiences in your life that make you realize just how much of your money the government wastes on a continual basis.  Caitlin, are you sure you want to deal with this stuff for a living? At any rate, I have to give a huge thanks to our Realtor, Chad Milton with Burns & Co., who by far earned his commission in dealing with these people.  Thank you!  I'd say it was a pleasure, but...  Well, you made it as unpleasant as you could!  Thanks for all your help!  (He also graciously provided the pictures of the house that I'm adding now.  They actually have furniture and our other possessions, so it looks more like the house we lived in than the empty shell I took pictures of right before we left the US.  Oh, yeah, and pictures of the outside, which I somehow completely forgot to take!  I'm updating the blog with these pictures from Chad because this is really how I'll always remember our house.)

Though in some small way, I should thank them.  Because aside from the fact that their administrative combination of absolute incompetence and dilatory indifference cost us over $2000 that we'll never get back, waiting to close on a house that sat empty for 5 months, I was so frustrated with the process and relieved to be done with it that I think it took the edge off the sadness that surely would have taken a more prominent place in the mix of emotions that accompanied the sale of the first house I ever owned.  And even though I know it would have been more difficult if we'd actually been in Baton Rouge and gone to the closing ourselves, when it finally happened, I still shed a few tears (and a few more now as I write this) over the home I bought a few short months out of college, unknowingly (consciously at least) against my dad's subtle advice.  The home I shared with my best friend during her last year of college, that I slept through Katrina in (yes, slept), and sweated through Gustave in (for 2 days until my parents' calls eventually got through to inform us of their blessedly functioning air conditioning). The home whose office I worked out of for 2 years, where Blake and I began our marriage, with the great patio space we used for our first (and following) crawfish boil.  And I know Blake will miss it a little too, though not in the same way, and I'm excited that the next house will be more ours than this one ever was, that we'll get to pick it out together this time.  But there's a small part of me that will always be with the little house on Old Hermitage.  And even though, looking back, it scares the mess out of me that I bought a house so young with such little savings (and a variable rate second mortgage with no down payment - seriously, what was I thinking!?!  I know, Dad, I get it now), I'm glad that I did.  And I just can't quite bring myself to regret it.

This is what the house looked like when I bought it.



And this is after Ms. Donna helped us with the flower beds (twice), and we
painted the columns and the facia, and planted a tree, and put a bench on the
porch, and...  you get the idea.

  









Our first romp in Asia

Once we knew for sure that we were moving to Korea, we started putting together a list of places that we would like to visit while living in Asia, if we could. And I've gotta be honest - not only did Hong Kong not make the short list, but it wasn't on the list at all.  But Blake and I had never been to Asia, so I figured maybe people who had could provide more insight.  I started asking around, and multiple times I heard, "You can't miss Hong Kong.  I loved it!"

Never before in my life (I've found myself saying that a lot this year) have I been anywhere close to having any kind of noteworthy status on any airline's frequent flyer program.  However, after flying to Europe and back in the spring, and flying business class to Seoul to move here in October, we were both so close to Silver Status for Continental.  So we wanted to take a flight or two on a Star Alliance airline before the end of the year.  Seemed a shame to waste it.  And with only 2 months left in the year, we needed to go somewhere fairly soon after arriving.

So...  a quick trip to Hong Kong seemed just the ticket.  You don't realize just how huge Asia is until you start looking at flight times to go from one place in Asia to another.  Sure, Japan, Korea, and some of China are fairly close, but realistically, there are parts of China that aren't even close to each other!  And when you start looking at South East Asia, like Thailand or Indonesia, you discover that's pretty far from Korea.  But Hong Kong is actually not that far away, and even with a connection, the flight time wasn't too bad, comparatively speaking.

So the day after Thanksgiving we headed to Hong Kong.  And to all the people who told us it was a great place to go, I have to say thanks very much!  We really enjoyed it.

The trip started the same way almost all our trips this year will start - with a flight to Seoul.  Because, again, Yeosu being the Baton Rouge of Korea, you can't actually get anywhere from here.  You have to go somewhere else first, which will most likely be Seoul.  Which I guess makes Seoul like the Atlanta of Korea.  My dad once joked that you when you die, you actually go through Atlanta before you get to heaven (or hell, as the case may be).  From Baton Rouge at least, it sure seems sometimes like you can't fly anywhere without going through good old ATL.  And so it is with Seoul for Yeosu.

The really fun part about flying out of Seoul is that it's not a normal connection.  And by really fun I mean difficult.  From Yeosu, you fly into Gimpo International Airport (GMP), but you really can only fly a few places out of Korea from this aiport (mostly a few cities in Japan and Shanghai in China).

Incheon International Airport (ICN), located outside Seoul in nearby Incheon, opened 10 years ago and now serves as the primary interntaional aiport for South Korea.  And it really is a nice airport.  It has enumerable shops and restaurants, and it has received the title of best airport in the world from the Airports Council International for the last five years running.  Additionally, ICN is ranked as a 5-star airport by Skytrax, an honor shared by only 2 other airports in the world, both of which are in Asia (HKG and SIN).  But you can't get to Yeosu from ICN.

So, you fly on one of the eight daily flights from the Yeosu airport (RSU) to GMP, and then you can take a train or a cab to ICN, from where the flight to your actual destination will depart.  We opted for the much less expensive option - the train.  It's actually quite a nice trip.  The express trains, if you can catch one (only 2 per hour), seem to be a little nicer than the commuter trains.  They're set up more like trains between cities tend to be, with forward facing seats and space for luggage near the doors, while the commuter trains look almost exactly like usual metro cars, with fewer seats and more space for packing in standing passengers.  Also, the express trains, like their name implies, travel directly to the alternate airport without making stops in between, bringing the total time of the route to just under half an hour.  Either way, the view along the way is quite beautiful.

I really have no idea what these are.  Either of them.  For the pic on the left - I've got nothing.  For the one on the right, all I can say is that the Koreans like their cute little cartoon characters as mascots or spokespersons for, well, almost everything. Maybe the question should be not "What is that?", but "Why did I take a picture of it?"

And once we arrived at ICN, we were glad we were there.  The Seoul airport was decorated for Christmas, which was really nice.  It felt just a tiny bit like home.

 But maybe even more important than getting to see all the Christmas finery was getting to eat in the airport.  I know this may not sound exciting to you, but ICN has Western food.  And in Korea, you don't waste an opportunity to eat Western food.

Yes, we ate at Subway.  And it was really, really good, too.  Ok, just hush your mouth.  With your stupid, beefy burgers and your easily accessible cheese.  You don't know what it's like, ok?  We don't have Subway in Yeosu.  And they don't have $5 footlongs in Korea either.  But we enjoyed every single won's worth.

Ok, so eventually we did make it out of the country.  We flew through the Beijing airport, which was pretty big and quite a long walk to the immigration counters from our arrival gate.  Honestly, we had a pretty short layover, and with no VISAs to enter China, we just wanted to catch our next flight.  Which was late.  Very late.  With no explanation ever provided.  Actually, out of 4 Air China flights, I think the closest one to leaving on time was ten minutes late.  But the flights were pretty cheap, and they did give us some crucial Star Alliance miles.  And we got to wander the Beijing airport for a couple minutes taking pictures.  And there are some pretty big planes flying out of Beijing.

By the time we landed, got through immigration, found our luggage, got through customs, rode the train to Hong Kong island, and took a cab to our hotel, it was starting to get late.  So we quickly checked in, settled our stuff in our room, and freshened up before heading out on the street, with camera in hand, to find some dinner and good photo ops.

 Our hotel was located in the Central district of Hong Kong island, which is very near SoHo.  For South of Hollywood.  SoHo is known for its trendy bars and restaurants, many of which are Western syle.  Can you see why I picked this hotel?  Nearby the hotel is an entrance to the escalator.  Yes, the escalator, or, technically, the Central-Mid-Level escalator, which is the longest covered escalator system in the world.  The terrain in this area includes some fairly steep hills, and the escalator was opened in the early 90's to provide easier transportation across Hong Kong island.  We took the escalator to SoHo and found a great little Mexican place.  Mmmmm.  Tacos.

And here are some pictures of the Central and SoHo districts we took over the few days we were there.

Some of the shops and restaurants are located on higher floors so that you can see them from the various levels of the escalator.

Cara, check this one out (above left)!  Right by our hotel!  Too bad I didn't join yours before we left. 

Some of the food was pretty good.  We found a little Italian place (see Blake at left) that really did have the feel of a cafe on a piazza, even if the lasagna did taste a lot like Chef Boyardee.  And honestly, I like Chef Boyardee, but it was a little pricey to resemble pasta from a can.   And we got dessert from the cute little place on the right.

 Some places looked interesting, but we didn't get a chance to try them.

And some places we just couldn't resist!

While other places...

Well, you couldn't pay me to eat there.

Yeah, that says baby pigeon (at right).  Deep fried baby pigeon.  Seriously.  And not only do they eat it, but they think it's so tempting that they put a big picture of it on the side of their restaurant to entice you to enter.  Wow.

 

And just in case you couldn't see the picture at left well enough, I zoomed in for you.  Mmmmm.  Appetizing, isn't?

This is the covered walkway on the way to the MTR station.  It was nice not having to fight the traffic to cross the busy streets.

 On Sunday, there were hundreds of women gathered in groups all along the walkway, using cardboard boxes, elementary-school-fort-style, for shelter from the wind, though it was quite warm there compared to Korea.  Most of them appeared to be well-dressed and well-groomed, and we never figured out what they were doing here.  Many had shopping bags, and some sat around eating and playing cards.  We only saw a couple men amongst all the many women.  They seemed to have been out for some time when we passed them late morning, and some of them still lingered when we returned in the evening. 

Our hotel was called Butterfly at Wellington, and we really enjoyed it.  The room was very small, with not much but walking room around the bed, but I had read that most hotels in Hong Kong are like this.  It's a relatively new hotel, and the room was nicely appointed, so we didn't mind the small quarters.  The location near the escalator and a short walk from the metro was convenient, and the staff was friendly and helpful.  We would definitely stay there again.

View from the room

 

 Alright, well, it's getting late, and I think this post is already well past a proper length anyway.  So I'll just have to resume the tour of Hong Kong tomorrow.  Or, well, you know, when I get around to it.  So maybe by February.  Did I mention we're going to Bali next week?  At this rate, maybe I'll find time to post that trip before we come home...