But that wasn't the astounding thing. The astounding thing was that after all of it he came back.

So let me give you a quick update about whats happening over here in Daejeon. April has been a relatively easy month with many breaks, holidays, and early releases. It's really been all kinds of awesome. What has not been so good has my attempts to learn the language as I have missed my past three Korean classes! Now these have been for various different reasons, first time I was attempting to be healthy and frugal and was riding my bike to class. The only problem was that I got lost and took a wrong turn that had me traverse around a mountain, and by the time I found out where I was I too physically drained to deal with mental activity that learning a foreign language is.

The second time I missed class was because of a teaching seminar that explained to me many different facets of teaching in Korea. On the whole it was incredibly valuable to a half-wit teacher such as myself, and I feel much more comfortable now that I have had it.

Now today was supposed to be my glorious return to class after a 2 week absence, but it seemed like other things were in store for me. I got off work early and was excited to return home and change before heading off to class. Once again I decided that it would be a better idea for me bike to class rather than ride the subway. I thought it would be a good for me to go the longer route, but the way that I knew to the lesson, turns out this was not good, not good at all.

I am making pretty good time downtown and I see myself being a few minutes early, (I have thoroughly tried to shake the nowlan syndrome, an inability to arrive anywhere on time, and have had mixed results.), things are looking good. About 25 minutes into the bike ride, right after Chungnam University things go to hell. I am on the bike path crossing a small side street when a scooter comes whipping around the corner. I am about a half second away from clearing the street, but I was just not fast enough. He plows into me and knocks both of us over. Now I am fine, I don't even hit the pavement, but my bike wasn't as lucky. Now a few seconds after the collision both of us get up and make sure the other is OK, unfortunately he speaks English a little bit better than I speak Korean, so its more hand gestures and bows. He speeds off and I try to gauge the damage done to my poor bike. At first glance it seems as if my bike is fine, but upon further examination I notice that the rear wheel is shot to hell, and looks more like U than a circle. I am livid, I just was trying to be good and go to class to learn the native tongue all while being conscientious about my health and energy usage. Well all that gets me is 100,000 Won down for a bike that can't be used until I find a bike shop that can repair it.

I begin to call my friends and boss to see how I should get my bike home, as I am a few miles from my apartment. No one seems to know if I can take it in a taxi or on the bus and I am still standing 10 feet from where the accident happened. I'm there for about 15 minutes when low and behold the man who hit me comes back. He starts talking to me in rapid Korean, and I am just lost. I call my boss and hand him the phone to talk to her. Turns out this man wants to take me to a bike shop to get my bike fixed! So he turns out to be a standout guy who wanted to make up for his mistake by fixing what broke. What a lovely idea. We end up spending the next hour together walking through the streets of Gungdong looking for a bike shop to repair my bike. He ended up paying for all the repairs and even walked me back to the main street, also he left me his number with instructions to call him if anything else is wrong with the bike. What a nice, guy. So yeah, I missed Korean class tonight, but I had quite the experience, and now an increased drive to improve my skill so that should this situation occur again, I can be more assertive. Well now I'm off to the movies I think? Late start tomorrow.

Until later yesterdayers.