All seven of us got on the plane to South Korea! 17 hours later, our nights became days, and the jetlag was legendary. The airport we landed at was on an island, and we took a train to downtown Seoul. The train was my first worldschooling lesson. I sat close to a man from China who flew back from a trip to Canada with his wife and one child. He shared all sorts of knowledge about life in China and was wonderfully curious about life in the US. It was amazing and eye-opening. I’d love to go to China at some point. Hearing his perspective was invaluable.

We overnighted in a hostel before we went back to the airport and flew to Bali. Bali Taxi travel takes some getting used to, haha. It’s like watching a gaming pro play space invaders. Close to calamity at every turn, but somehow, they remain unscathed. It’s the scooters. They zip through traffic getting inches fron the the other vehicles and there are everywhere. Hundreds of them. They also drive on the other side of the road and barely regard road lines. It was horrifying, but we made it to our villa.

The first morning (and every one since) has been beautiful. Flower nectar is on the wind. It’s easy to breathe, and you can hear birds all day and the frogs in the rice patty all night. It’s rained a couple times and it’s just so peaceful. Perfect for dozing off to. Even the rock wall separating us from the rice field smells like spice. Everything smells fresh. I read a book, and I’ve been tinkering away at hobbies every day. I’d say the beauty of this place in with the statues and shrines forces creativity, but honestly, I think it just unlocks the creativity that has always been there but dormant. One of my favorite things about Bali is that it’s not paradise. There’s garbage on the side of the roads, some poverty, and a lot of struggle. Still, there doesn’t seem to be a drive to over sterilize the life out of everything, resulting in incredible biodiversity with humanity built into it. Life here seems to grow out of nature instead of being built over it.

We’ve had struggles, too. It’s a bit like covid with the forced intimacy of all seven of us in close proximity all the time. It makes or breaks families. We’re figuring it out, though. We’ve been taking trips and exploring as well as making rules to protect each other’s sanity. All in all, I feel incredibly blessed. Life is amazing here.