Where to start?

 The beginning is the best place to start, I believe. So, this story starts with an apology for missing last months posts. I really do want to commit to a minimum of two posts a month and have kept to that pretty well. Last month, though, those two posts felt too much.
I was off to Asia. So much to do and get ready!
The Medical Women's International Association was meeting in Seoul, Korea. I've attended some of these meetings before in Tokyo, Japan and Accra, Ghana and a couple of regional meetings in Melbourne, Australia and a cruise from Boston, USA to Montreal, Canada. The big meetings every three years are quite spectacular with grand entertainment as well as a scientific programme (non-USA English used) and House of Delegates meetings. Lots of pomp and ceremony! Really, very fun. If I was going half way round the world I wanted to see more than just Seoul. It's challenging since I'm not physically up to a lot of activities and I'd be travelling alone. Nonetheless, I bravely figured out a trip that included three days in Jeju Island, Korea before the conference and a trip to Bangkok for a couple of days and then 11 days in Myanmar. Whew! Just writing that out was exhausting! It was a fantastic trip and it was exhausting though I got much help everywhere. Wheelchairs and assistance at airports and helpful guides and drivers as well as travelling in Myanmar with some women who shared many of my physical challenges with bad backs. It'll take me a bit to recover but much, much longer to review my adventures and process my photos and reflect on my experiences.
My husband asked about my most memorable experience. I think it was the moment when our grandfatherly tour guide in Bagan, Myanmar was discussing the younger generation and how he did not understand what this "Gangnam" song was that his grandson liked so much. I whipped out my i-phone where I could let him watch a video of a group of Korean medical students dancing to PSY's hit "Gangnam Style" and women physicians of the world joining in. This sometimes Buddhist Monk and serious scholar's (of physics and archaeology) expression as he watched my video was priceless. Wish I had a video of that! I will edit the video that I shared and try to post it soon!
Meanwhile, here's some photos of me at the Teddy Bear museum with a slightly different take on PSY.

Yes, I think the next post will be about Teddy Bear museums!