Last Night

A lavish banquet followed our all-day conference. Even after much toasting and stuffing, two former students were reluctant to drop me at my hotel. “Let’s go for drinks and night view!” Well, okay. We headed to a tall building I had seen from my hotel room (second photo), slipping and sliding past Christmas light displays (up through the lunar new year) and a temple illuminated with lanterns. We sipped kir royales—my first since I had defended my dissertation!—and had a wonderful talk as we admired the city, old and new, from the 33rd floor. It was a perfect ending to my short visit to Korea.