Typhoons, floods and saying goodbye (again)

This past weekend, I was supposed to go to Wando to go camping. The last two times that I've gone, it's been either stormy or typhoony (yeah, that was fun). When I learned that there was going to be a storm on the weekend and that the storm had a name, I decided that camping on the beach just might be a bad idea.

Instead, I found myself in Suncheon, where I got to meet up with Steve (yay Mom, are you happy?) two nights in a row and got to see Michelle one last time before she leaves for South Africa (hmmm, maybe I'll go visit her there...).

I hadn't seen Steve since last April, when I left for Canada for a month. Although we'd still been in communication, our paths had simply not crossed for a while. It was just great to meet up with him again (and Kristin too!).... also at Steve's that evening was my former co-worker at Suncheon Jeil, Lucan. Lucan is living quite the Korean adventure: He's on TV now! See, in Korea, there are several TV shows about math, or science or English - educational programming. Lucan is the host of an English Reading program (Reading Adventure on EBS, for those of you in Korea), and seems to be enjoying it a lot - and it's an opportunity that couldn't have happened to a better person.

Saturday night was bittersweet - fun, but at the same time so very sad, since I had to say goodbye to one of my friends (again) who was heading back home. Michelle and I first became friends when we had to share the smallest room in the world in Seoul last winter. We were in TKD together and I was her preferred hairdresser when it came to the upkeep on her platinum locks. Happily, she paid me back in wicked spicy curries from her decidedly "fusion" kitchen. She and I both have the gift of gab, and we would talk on and on - she talked a lot about South Africa, changing it from a nebulous concept to a possible destination for me. A clothes horse, a free woman and a glamour-puss who never left the house without checking twice in a mirror, Michelle is one of the most honest, most open, purest and kindest people that I know. I will certainly miss her.

Sunday afternoon brought the dreaded typhoon to our door and, literally, into Ty's apartment. With windows that were decidedly not watertight being lashed with wind and rain, it was only a matter of time before he and I were rushing madly around his apartment, unplugging anything electric, using towels and blankets to sop up the water as best we could, and laughing at the absurdity of it all. Then a strong gust of wind broke the window (the pane still stayed in place, though cracked), and I was doubly happy that I'd not gone to Wando. It was absolutely insane weather.....

Because of the storm, I had to leave Suncheon later than planned. As the taxi drove through the flooded streets, I was able to survey the damage of garbage washed up on curbs, branches that had been snapped off and even a few closed roads. Mokpo doesn't seem to have been hit as fiercely (strange, since it is on a coast while Suncheon is more inland), and this morning, I am being treated to the clear blue skies and fresh air that generally follow a typhoon. Many of the fishing boats that would normally have been in open water have been moored nearer to the shore in the harbour outside my house, and it's just completely peaceful now.

This morning, I will go to my "island school", which I love. Friday is our departure for Taiwan, and *that* is going to be amazingly cool. Can't wait!