Ok, before I left I posted a blog about those things that drove me crazy while living in Seoul. I decided to start the year off on a more upbeat note and write about the things I love. Throughout my blogs, I have mentioned many things about Seoul that I like, so I'm going to focus more on the minutia - the small, every day things that make life here so much easier.

Korea doesn't gouge you on prices. You can buy a bottle of water for 800 won, which is about .70 cents. In the States you pay upwards of $2.00 for a plastic bottle of water.
The subway and buses are cheap. A ride on the bus is about $1.00, same for the metro. And if you buy a metro card, it's even cheaper.
The bus stops all have digital signs that tell you exactly how far away in minutes each bus is located. And it's amazingly accurate.
They have mastered the electric hand dryers. The States have started using those Dyson hand dryers, but the ones in Korea are even better. They actually work and dry your hands in under 10 seconds.
At the movies, a small popcorn and a drink costs less than five dollars. And they serve multiple flavors of popcorn - my favorite is the caramel popcorn.
There are clean bathrooms everywhere, and they're free. And they have stall doors that go all the way to the floor. And the bathrooms in the malls are so fancy they have heated toilet seats and cleansing sprays!
They are respectful of the senior seating on the subway. The train could be packed, but the six seats reserved for elderly passengers will remain empty unless an elderly person is sitting in them.
They speak quietly on their cellphones (well some do - the occasional old guy who still has a flip phone will scream his conversation). It's amazing how you can stand next to someone on the metro as they're on the phone and not even hear them!
You never hear talking in the movie theater. EVER.
Everything can be delivered. For Free.
Banking is a breeze. All bills are paid through ATM transfers. No checks, no banks.
You don't have to carry keys. Most things have key pads - apartment doors, cars, office doors. I never carry keys (except for my car - which is old).
There are translator services available 24-hours a day - for free. Having trouble communicating? Call this service, tell them the problem, and pass the phone!
I get my entire apartment cleaned weekly for $8.50 an hour.
Credit cards are rapidly disappearing. There are apps now in which you just scan your phone and the money is deducted from your bank. Even with credit cards, nobody bothers signing their name. They just make doodles - and certainly no one compares your signature to the one on the back of the card.

Coming back for a third year was even easier than Year 2. Seoul feels familiar and like home - after a while you almost forget you're living in a foreign country. I hardly use my GPS anymore, nor glance at my subway map. I'll walk into local businesses with ease and communicate just a few words, but those few words makes a huge difference in customer service. In my neighborhood the local coffee shops gives me free treats, the dry cleaner greets me on the streets, the guy who works at the deli grins broadly every time I enter. Basically, I've assimilated- just in time for me to move to another country!