My First Adventures in Spain: Madrid and Basque Country

After a stressful first semester at work, I decided to embark on my first journey to Europe. I spent a few weeks in Spain. While there, I wrote a bit about my experiences. As anyone would imagine, it was like a big side step from the daily life I am used to.

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I spent a lot of time sipping wine and munching on tasty olives when I was in Spain.

My trip took a long time, obviously. I flew from Seoul, to Beijing, to Amsterdam, then finally to Madrid. The middle, long flight was unfortunately terrible! My seat was in the middle of a two-story plane, looking at a blue wall, and next to a toddler. It was a bad ten hours, but it ended eventually. Beijing's airport was messy and disorganized, I and had to constantly ask around to find out what to do and where to go for my connecting flight. It was full of conflicting information from different people. Amsterdam's airport was fantastic, though. Completely the opposite, and I was impressed with everything being automated. I saw a huge tribute to the victims of Malaysia airlines flight 17 outside of the airport. The lawn was covered with flowers and stuffed animals, which I thought was sweet. I wasn't able to get a picture, though.

About 22 hours later, I finally arrived to Madrid feeling like a zombie.

Question: Going Back to the U.S. After Ferguson?

Plenty has been happening while I've been on vacation in Spain

I'm a political and news junkie, and most weeknights you would find me on my bed, reading and watching the news. I'm almost always listening to political commentary whenever I get the chance. Even while vacationing in Spain, I'm still finding out what's going on via my cell phone and trusty tablet PC.

For the last week or so, I've heard the news about yet another black man killed by a police officer inappropriately. Since I've been paying attention, I realize that this is something that happens all the time. I see that black Americans are stopped by police, harassed, arrested for malicious reasons and often killed when they really shouldn't have been.  

However, this particular case has been all over the news, it looks like the people of Ferguson are rallying against it, and the happenings have been posted all over my Facebook feed. Political pundits on all sides are commenting on this story.

In light of all the coverage, I ran into a question posted in a Facebook group. Does the current state of affairs concerning police brutality against black people in the United States affect my decision on whether to go back?

I thought this was a good question to ask myself, especially as an expat that has been living in South Korea for almost four years now. I first moved abroad over four years ago, and I recently have thought about moving back.