My friend, Janise, reminded me that I have not shared very many stories lately. Okay, lately is an under exaggeration. Looking back at my last post in March (yikes!) is right around the time I started having all these weird symptoms and I had become a medical mystery!! While I won't get into all the symptoms, let me say that it has been terrible. The bottom line being that the very essence of Aim was slipping away and it was/is noticeable to many. We had to cancel our trip to Thailand over Spring Break and right before my big trip CA for the summer with the kids, I was sick again. I was sick in CA, debunking the rumor that it was a 'Korea Thing', and am now waiting on the results of yet another round of blood tests. This time for Celiac disease, this is an allergy to wheat and wheat protein (otherwise known as gluten). I have been trying to be gluten free over the last 4 weeks and have seen some improvement, but also had a medicine dosage increased, so the results of the blood test will really be the deciding factor in the Celiac diagnosis. This topic could be a whole other blog post.
Needless to say, blogging about Korea since March has not been a priority! But now that I am feeling better, I have thought about a story that I would like to share.
I have a really great map of Korea.
This map gets me everywhere. This map is so worn out that I have had to tape it pack together with clear packing tape. The best thing about my map is that was FREE, but it is worth $$$!
Case in point….. I actually corrected a taxi driver when he was going the WRONG way. When my friend, Beth, turned the big 4 -0, we took a little gals trip to Seoul. Just 4 gals going wild in Seoul! Not really, but we had plans and we needed to get around Seoul in the rain. Who came to the rescue, you know it, it was THE map. I navigated the streets of Seoul like it was nobody's business. My map has landmarks written in BOTH English and Korean. That may not seem important, but it is when you have a taxi driver that doesn't speak English. You just point to something on my map and they can read it in Korean. Brilliant! So, back to my 'case in point'. We are travelling from point A to B and the taxi driver is going the wrong way (I suspect maybe to rip us off). Not to this savvy map reader. I am saying to my cohorts, 'he is going the wrong way, he should be going this way' and gesturing to my map. Lo and behold, the driver flips a U and takes us in the correct direction. Yes, I'm the map, I'm the map, I am THE map.
The map also proved itself invaluable on a family trip to Busan over Memorial Day weekend. We decided to drive through the glorious countryside of Korea instead of taking the train. We are suckers for a road trip. Kim (remember her; the GPS?) was very good to us that weekend, but my map kept us one step ahead of Miss Kim. And then, while in Busan, we used MY map to communicate with taxi drivers. Once again, I will say, I'm the map, I'm the map, I am THE map.
A funny side note for the Busan trip…. We are cruising in a taxi and the Korean driver looks at me and says 'Espanol?' And I say no we are American. He goes on to tell us in broken English he lived in Mexico for 7 years. Oooooh, I figure it out. So I tell him that yes, I speak some Spanish. So we converse in Spanish for the rest of the ride. I mean honestly, what are the chances of getting a Korean taxi driver that speaks Spanish in Busan?? Once in a lifetime right there!
There are many more times that I have used my map, but I won't get into each time. I do like to know where I am going and how to get there, so I really value my map. Adam suggested that I get framed after we leave Korea. God, I love that guy!!! I will get it framed; holes, tape and all. I mean after all, I'm the map!!
