Reasons to be cheerful

I'm back in Korea — it's nice here, you should visit sometime! Currently in the plush Lotte Hotel on Jeju Island.

It used to be a big thing, getting off the aeroplane: in particular I remember feeling very nervous indeed greeting J's parents on the first visit after they learned of our relationship. My previous four-month stay was for the wedding so that was out of the ordinary too.

This trip is the first that is entirely routine. I'm used to the food, weather, the people. I don't get delighted compliments from strangers as often, which were the norm when I spoke just a few words of Korean.

Despite the fact that Korea fever has worn off a little, I like it here more than ever. There are the obvious things like the food, which is somehow both tastier and healthier. And I'm a mathematician not an anthropologist, but there's something about a lesser emphasis on personal freedom here that makes for a more human, less mercenary existence. Or something. Anyway, the toilet in this hotel room has no less than twelve buttons, and there are enormous fake windmills in the garden with neon-lit sails. You see, this country has everything.