Antipodal Points

Ever wonder what's exactly on the other side of the world? When I was a teenager in Germany, I remember telling a friend something about digging a hole to China. She laughed and said that the saying in Europe is to dig a hole to Australia. While I didn't know it at the time, we were discussing the mathematical concept of antipodal points, any two points that are diametrically opposed to each other on a sphere. Incidentally, the antipodal point of the most the USA is not China but the Indian Ocean, and the antipodal point of most of Europe is not Australia but the Pacific Ocean. To dig a hole straight through the center of the earth to China, you'd have to be in certain parts of Argentina or Chile. I guess "digging to the Indian Ocean" just doesn't have the same ring to it. Dad and I were discussing this at lunch today. How far away can you go before you start coming closer again? When I first looked into the possibility of a longer-term mission trip, I wanted to return to Mexico. Korea looks to me to be about the farthest place from Mexico! (As it turns out, Korea's antipodal point is just off the southern tip of Brazil in the Atlantic Ocean, so it really is about as far from Mexico as anywhere else on the planet!) Even though it isn't exactly the location I originally had in mind, even though I've never in my life thought "Gosh, I'd like to go to Korea!", I'm really excited about this opportunity to be in ministry on another part of the planet.