A White Christmas

I'm in snowy Edmonton now, visiting with Amie and her family. We've just had a delicious Ukrainian Christmas feast. A bit colder than I'm used to, but I'm enjoying every minute.

To catch you up: after Vietnam we travelled to Laos, which was quiet and peaceful, especially compared to Vietnam. We checked out Savannakhet and the Four Thousand Islands, and then continued on down into Cambodia, straight to Phnom Penh. We were having a good time there until we got into tuk-tuk accident on our way to the Killing Fields. Four of us were slightly hurt, but unfortunately Amie got the worst of it, with a crushed arm. Our driver tried unsuccessfully to avoid a motorbike, veering to the right and tipping us over to the left. Amie and her younger brother were in a worse position than the rest of us, facing backwards on a bench without protective armrests. She had her arm wrapped around a the metal bar beside her for stability, which is what crushed it when we tipped. Anyway, she's got a bulbous-looking hematoma now, and has to keep watch for infection. We are measuring it every day and hopefully it will just heal on its own. The motorbike driver seemed okay and drove off after the collision, and our tuk-tuk driver walked his tuk-tuk over to the side of the road and tended to a bleeding toe, as we were led by a good samaritan to a little clinic. We heard later that day from other drivers around our guesthouse that our driver had hurt his leg and driven back to his hometown.

From Phnom Penh we continued on to Siem Reap and checked out amazing Angkor Wat. Then it was out of Cambodia and back through Thailand to Bangkok, where we indulged in a bit of a shopping spree. We flew back to Korea again for a few days, where we said our final goodbyes to our coworkers and students. It was great to see them again, although it was strange knowing that for many of them it would probably be for the last time.

I hope you're all having a very Merry Christmas! It's good to be back, and mostly in one piece!