Thankful

Many people wonder why we need a car in a city that has such great public transportation, and so I just want to tell you how incredibly thankful I have been in the past few months for our car.

I'm thankful when it's 90 degrees out and I can hide from the sun. I'm thankful now that it's down into the 50s in the morning.

I'm thankful when it's raining and I don't have to rely on an umbrella to protect me right before I go to school. I get wet enough in the dash from the car to the bus and back again. I can't imagine how bad it would be if I had to walk Cade up the hill to get on the bus and then walk all the way down the hill to try to catch a taxi in the rain. (Not to mention how difficult it can be to get a cab when it's raining anyway.)

I'm thankful that I can count the number of taxi rides I have taken since our arrival in Seoul in July on one hand. Considering the fact that without a car, I could be taking taxi as many as four times a day, I am beyond thankful that I haven't had to do this. The stress from finding one when you need one and the headaches I get from crazy drivers and smoky cars are enough to make me wish I never have to take another taxi.

I'm thankful when I have soccer practice. I can make it home to change my clothes, pick up Cade, and back in time to get a few more papers graded before practice starts. At the end of the day, when all of the buses home are long gone, I don't have to try to find a cab, and I can even give somebody else a ride home!

I'm thankful when I can give another teacher a ride home, save them a few steps or a taxi ride. So many people have offered me (or us) rides in the past two years, and I'm so grateful that I can return the favor to singles who don't need a car or couples who are still holding out.

I'm thankful that I don't have to take the school bus to Costco on Thursday afternoons. I'm grateful for the years that I took advantage of that service, and I'm thankful that it's available to me when we're so busy that it makes the most sense. But, I'm so thankful that neither I nor Kennedy have thrown up on the way to Costco in the past six months. I'm so thankful that I don't have to deal with the stress of Costco compounded by the one hour time limit that is imposed by the driver and fellow shoppers. I'm so thankful that we can drive to pick up our groceries now!

I'm thankful when we have a lot of stuff to bring to school. In the past, it has sometimes taken us a week to get everything we need to school because we just don't have enough hands to carry it all onto the bus. We may have to take several trips from the parking garage up to the classroom, but that's no problem compared to several trips home!

I'm thankful when we have to carry suitcases. There are few things more stressful than trying to find a taxi for a family of four when everyone has a suitcase. Most taxi drivers will take one glance at us and speed right by. When one finally does stop, there is the rush to try to fit everything in followed by the rush to get everything out again. In our own car, we can stack those suitcases wherever we want!

Our car isn't particularly photogenic--though we did get a car wash yesterday--so, I thought I would share these pictures of the sunset our last night on Maui, instead. We attempted a silhouette picture, with help from Evan. The only view of the sunset that we get around here has a lot of buildings and power lines in it--and we have to drive to find even that!