Just talked to David and he says that there’s been a lot of rain on the peninsula this spring and summer. (Same is true of the southeastern U.S., though not sure it’s been this heavy.)

This is an old picture of the biking and walking path along the Jungangcheon near our old apartment in Dongdaemun-gu.

He says the entire path is now underwater and some of the smaller bridges (like the one you see in the background that connects the neighborhood road with the Dongbu Expressway) aren’t usable anymore.

Whew! Well, I really didn’t mean to let it go this long. Yes, we are no longer in living Korea (although David is currently in Seoul for business—again.) But I am committed to finishing my “Top 10 Things I’ll Miss” list and writing about how life there has changed me.

In keeping with that, I wanted to point out something ironic I’ve noticed about life back in the U.S. And that is: No matter where you go, the power of the ajumma will follow.

When I lived in Korea, I was jealous of my Korean women friends for their impressive networking capabilities. Need to find the best deal on jade/a good kindergarten for your child/the best galbi place in your neighborhood? They just ask their friends and, by extension, their friends’ mothers, mothers-in-law, cousins, aunts, second cousins, women who went to grade school with their moms, etc. Someone will know someone who can keep an eye out for you and give you the inside scoop.

Wherever I went, there were groups of Korean women who knew each other. They went together for coffee, to take their kids to the playground, nursery school, the sauna–everywhere.

I’m finding that true here. Moving back to Atlanta as a parent has been almost like moving to a new city. When we left, we were a downtown condo-dwelling, childless couple with two full-time jobs. Now, I stay home in a house in one of the older suburban areas. Making new friends and developing a new routine has been harder than I thought.

And everywhere I go, I still see groups of Korean moms hanging out with their kids. At our local Gymboree, there’s a class that’s almost exclusively made up of Korean moms and kids. I see groups of Korean moms eating together at the nearby deli, taking their toddlers to hang out in the toy department at IKEA, etc. I remember how hard it was as an expat, trying to find other people and make friends, it makes me truly admire their ability to maintain such extended personal networks. I laughed to myself the other day that, even back in the States, in a city I called home for a decade before leaving, I am still caught envious of Korean ajumma power. It is truly something to behold.

David is working in Hong Kong and Shenzhen while I am back in the States. I miss him, but am glad he’s getting to see some sights.

Things have continued to be crazy with a lot of changes to “the plan” we had when we left Korea in December.

First, we are not in Hong Kong, as expected. David’s assignment there was postponed until March. Second, Susana and I will not be accompanying him when he does go, as I totally hit the wall when we got back to the States in December. It took a good two weeks to just get all of us past the worst of the jet lag or whatever it was. Susana stopped sleeping through the night, wouldn’t sleep for more than two or three hours at any time. A lot of it was the total change in schedule from having what were her nights suddenly become her days.

But, I think a lot of it was leaving Korea, our apartment, friends, Mrs. H, and then moving in to my parents’ house, meeting a bunch of new relatives over the holidays, etc. Overall, she handled it very well. She was always in a good mood and loved meeting new people and doing new things. She just wasn’t sleeping, which meant I wasn’t sleeping. We also brought and air shipped a good bit of her toys and books and all of her clothes, which helped, but it was still a huge change for a one-year-old.

(Oh, and then she got the chickenpox! But, that’s a whole other post that I’m not sure I have the energy to write.)

At that point, I decided I couldn’t wrap my head around taking her *back* around the world and throwing her schedule all out of whack for what would be a temporary, two- or three-month stay in southern China. Then, having to go through the adjustment all over again when we came back here.

I know there are a lot of moms and people and families who would be able to do this, but I am just not one of them.

As it turns out, this has worked better with the needs of his company in that area and Susana and I will stay here while David goes there for two or three weeks at a time to complete the project. A lot of traveling on his part—and a lot of time apart for us—but still the better alternative (to me) than spending two or three weeks getting acclimated only to FUBAR everyone’s schedule again eight weeks later.

I plan on keeping up with this blog for awhile. There’s still so much I have to say about our time in Korea. (I’ve been really surprised at how much I miss it, even though it hasn’t been that long.) And, I’ll write about what it’s like being back.

Thanks for everyone who’s sent well wishes, and to those hardy few who’ve kept reading the blog. I really appreciate it. We miss all our Korea friends and wish everyone well.