Flying from Europe to America cheap (or why didn't i think of that!)

Gorgeous.  A genius.  A gorgeous genius!

Vicky is a genius.  I lead with this because she solved a problem we'd been working on with a solution that i've used before but my dense self didn't think of for some reason.  We'd been trying to find the cheapest way home and had settled on a discount airline for around $740 since we couldn't find cheaper.  What Vicky thought to do was to check roundtrip flights instead of just one way.  Suddenly we found a US Airways flight for $673.  Score one for Vicky!

We now add that to the ultra cheap ticket to Istanbul we found for $414 and we've got the major legs of our Europe trip covered.  In fact, we've purchased all our flights for the trip (all 10 of them)!  And thanks to our employers paying for our flight home, we now get our flights to Europe and back to the US for free!!!  To quote Scrooge, "I like life.  Life likes me.  Life and I fairly fully agree.  Life is fine.  Life is good.  Specially mine which is just as it should be!"

Another reason why I love my life

On Jeju the weather has finally turned and heavy coats are being replaced by flip flops and polos.  We walk home after school every day and get out and hike or walk on the weekends.  The last few weekends have been UGLY which is why I haven't posted any new pictures.  Hopefully this weekend will be less hazy and more clear (but I doubt it).  Really good pictures will probably have to wait until my contract end (June 28th).  Then I can go out anytime it's nice and take pictures.

Colorful lanterns hung in front of the Jeju Culture and Art Center.  Why?  I haven't a clue.

The only mildly sad news I have to report is that I've noticed that my vision has regressed a little since my LASIK surgery 9 years ago.  It's not enough to inhibit my daily activities but it's still very annoying since I remember having perfect vision after the operation.  To correct this, I'm having an evaluation done on my eyes this Friday about the possibility of touch-up LASIK on my right eye (it's by far my dominant eye) since LASIK in Korea is both more advanced and cheaper than it is in the US.  Plus my eye conditions are by far the most common ones here, so the doctors have tons of experience dealing with my exact problems.  The price isn't too bad (around $650-750 per eye) so it's just a matter of if I'm a good candidate to go through it a second time.  I'll post more after my exam.

Finally on a random note, want to know how sleep deprived some of the kids are over here due to excessive school and studying?  Today my best student, English name Kyla, had the day off from school (but not from the academy where I teach).  She went to bed at 10pm and got up at 12pm.  And what did she do after sleeping 14 hours?  She took a nap before class at 6.  That is one tired kid!!!  Makes me glad I didn't grow up here.

But it sure is nice to live here when I'm older.