Toronto

Before I went to Korea, I had to stop off in Toronto to get my visa. Kind of the wrong direction, but at least I got to stay with my uncle and his family for a couple days. My uncle taught English in Korea in 1996.

From my first trip to Korea, I found this old memento: a picture my uncle's employers took when I visited Korea the first time with my sister and cousins. Kind of creepy.
Here's my uncle's dog, Button.

I had the good fortune of visiting Toronto when the Uptown theatre collapsed during renovation, killing one student at a college next door. I went with my cousin Elaine (left) and her friend (uh, little help?) to see the wreckage the day after.

I haven't even left the country, and already I'm seeing some pretty atrocious Engrish. Apparently this is a popular brand, but if a student walked into my class wearing that, I'd give them a hefty beating.

The best disasters are always Christmassy.

The stay there was only two nights. On Tuesday night I left for Korea, destined to arrive Thursday morning after 15 hours of travel.

I took this picture when we were about to go out the door.

The Korean man in the middle is Jekyung, the Toronto recruiter, with his wife. We took this at the airport.