Hello, hello again, shaboom, shaboom.

I've been back in Korea for six lovely spring days now. Seriously, the weather here is currently blowing the weather I experienced in the States clear out of the water.

I returned to a crazy, yet awesome onslaught of work. We are preparing for our big Children's Day show and we just had auditions for the summer season (I got the part I wanted, yay!) and on top of that, since one of my coworkers recently left the Village, I am now the understudy for the role of Peggy in the show I directed. I've been spending my days doing the hand jive, the bunny hop and the stroll with lots of cute kids outside in the sun and learning lots of choreography, as well as music and lines. I'm tired, especially physically, but in a very accomplished way.

Going home was fun, action-packed and refreshing.

After a grueling series of three flights, I arrived at DTW and headed home for some tasty food and catching up with mom and dad. After sleeping my face off, I headed to Ann Arbor the next evening to visit...



Maggie! Here she is wearing the most ridiculous hat Korea had to offer (as well as a moo-moo--we won't get into that).



We went to the Blind Pig to see VHS or Beta, which was a lot of fun.

The next evening, which was a Wednesday, my parents threw a party at 1st UU church for me to see all sorts of friends of the family and eat more tasty food.



Here I am with a group of people who have known me since I drooled, wore diapers, and did other similarly attractive things.

The party was lots of fun. I ended up doing a little impromptu slide show with commentary about some of my travels and it was pretty well received. I also have to give a shout out to mom for making sure I got a piece of the tiramisu.



The rest of my stay in Detroit involved visiting with my lovely Aunt Jill (who was kind enough to drive in from Chicago to visit), a trip to the Detroit Institute of the arts,



some catching up with my Godparents, Dave and Linda Smith (pictured above with me and mom and dad), much tasty food,



A visit to Belle Isle, some serious partying, and even...



A bit of urban exploration.

I was also able to make it back out to Ann Arbor to see a German play directed by a professor whom I'd had at U of M. I selected wigs for the show and shipped them from Korea, so it was fun to get to see them on stage. After a visit with some good friends from good old Performance Network Theatre, it was back to Detroit for a hot minute before hopping on a plane to New York.

In New York I continued to eat delicious food and also saw two plays: Harold Pinter's The Homecoming and Gypsy with Patti Lupone (both very good). I stayed with various friends and had some long-overdue quality time with people I'd been missing.


Also, I met the literal Hercules of beer and explored the comprehensive selection in his shop,



Witnessed a performance by mini-Michael Jackson,



And went to a really neat bar called Please Don't Tell (so that's all I can say about it).

I went to see The Dirtbombs (a Detroit band!) with a slew of friends and we proceeded to get our party on at a weekly event that I used to attend fairly regularly when I lived in the city. Great times, indeed.

I then headed back to Detroit to say goodbye to mom and dad and get everything in order before embarking on my series of grueling flights back to Korea.

And here I am.

It was odd being home. In some ways, it really felt like going back in time. For the first time I had the feeling of having two very distinct and separate lives. I'd never really felt that way while living in Korea, but it was odd how easy it seemed to just slip back into my life back home, even for just a short time. In a lot of ways, everything back in the States felt way more normal than I had expected. Still the tendency to compare everything about both countries was as strong as one would expect.

There was a part of me that wanted to just stay in New York for good. At one point, I was enjoying a greasy New York Slice at a counter that faced the street and I just couldn't get over the diversity of all of the people walking by on their way to who-knows-where. They were old and young, of various ethnicities and persuasions, dressed in sweats, designer suits, entirely in leather... I'd really missed that about New York, as well as missing my friends and the city's general energy and fast pace. Everyone there just seems to be working their butt off to be awesome at what they do and I love that energy.

When I got back, I really felt like I was coming home, though. I love it here, and I really look forward to the next 4.5 months or so. I am sure that they will fly by, seeing as they'll be packed with activity. I am so pleased with the experiences I've had and continue to have on this adventure, but if anything, being home served to remind me that there is so much more to see and more to do.