Birthday!

I taught, I got a cake and happy birthdays from students and coworkers alike, I came home and cleaned in anticipation of a visitor tomorrow, and then the SCOTUS upheld Obamacare. With just an hour to go before midnight KST, so it happened on the calendar date of my birthday on both continents.

I don't like to get political here, but that last one pretty much made my day. I don't think I've been this stoked about American goings-on while in Korea since the Phils won game 1 in the World Series back in 2009. Incidentally, that was also a Thursday.

I don't think I'll drink quite so heavily this time around, but I will have a little makgeolli to celebrate. And some of my cake.

It's also another weird expat thing, how much more deeply you feel about news and goings-on at home while you're living abroad. I was at home when Obama won in 2008, which was AWESOME but also sort of like....yeah, okay, whatever. I don't know if it's the distance, or the shift in medium (I found out about Obamacare via Facebook), but something is different and you get so AMPED. You want to call and text and Skype all of the other American expats you know (either in rage or glee), you feel a particular surge of pride to represent your homeland even though you simultaneously know that most people around you don't know or care about it.

It's a good feeling.