I spent last week driving to Minnesota and back in a car with no air conditioning! It was fantastic. Oh sure, the lack of air conditioning got old really fast, and having to stop every hour or so to put the weather stripping back on the car showed me more of the rural US than I maybe wanted to see, but it was really satisfying to go for hours on end, watching the landscape change and the highway fall away behind me. I was entertained by how many states met my stereotypes - West Virginia was filled with gorgeous mountains and dead coal mines, Wisconsin had cows, Kentucky was loaded with bourbon (though I only saw three horses). My actual destination was really nice, too. Honestly, I'm glad I got a chance to go on a road trip, however slapdash it might have been. It's a good way to remember what it is you like about the US. I like seeing the landscapes, meeting the people, and watching a giant country go by. It's got its own kind of magic.

I went to Minnesota for a job interview, and I'm not sure how the interview went. I showed up sopping wet because I forgot to pack an umbrella and it started pouring down rain on my way to the place, so I'm pretty sure that made a bad impression. It's also the first time anyone told me that they saw the languages I speak as a bad thing (they were worried I might be bored because there's not much call for Korean or Turkish in Minnesota). Overall, I got the impression that they were impressed, but thought I was over-qualified. Ah well. I'll see what they say, and even if they say no, I at least got a road trip to St. Paul out of it.