goin' to fookin' Europe for a week

A few days back I went over to the on-campus Smoo travel agency and was told that, due to availability issues, the most likely ticket for me would cost around $1400. I either misheard or they made a mistake, because when I went there to settle affairs today, the ticket price was W968,000, which puts us at around an even $1000, I think. Not as bad I as I had feared.

Travel dates: December 4 departure, stay in Europe until December 11, then land in Seoul on the afternoon of the 12th.

Why only a week? I hear you screech. Basically, I'm going to Europe to keep a promise I had made to my French family: that I would see them after a long absence. The last time I had been to Europe was around 2002; in the interim, my French Maman got breast cancer, and I had promised to see her last year. This didn't work out, mainly due to lack of cash, and I've felt extremely guilty ever since. (Her chemo treatments went well; she seems to have come through the process all right.) This year, however, I found myself completely out of credit card debt (and I settled a personal debt to one of my relatives), which means I've been able to save a few hundred extra dollars per month. Along with that, I had my book-selling bonanza in June of this year (thanks again to the parents for arranging everything), so I've got some decent cash reserves.

I'm also going to Europe to see my Swiss host family and, perhaps, to spend a day or so at Interlaken, which I've never seen up close in the winter. Readers of this blog know I consider Interlaken the loveliest spot on earth: the beauty of those tall mountains and that enormous valley is breathtaking. No other landscape moves me the way Interlaken does. If I were a millionaire, I'd go live there in a heartbeat.

So that's what I have to look forward to when this semester ends. Can't wait.


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