I am aware that we are not at the end of the year. However, it has been a year since I uprooted my life in the States and landed in Korea. When I first came here, I had all these grand ideas of updating my blog religiously and taking pictures of everything I saw. But the reality is far from my original goal. The first three months, or as they call it the "honeymoon" phase, are filled with pictures and trips. Everything was new and exciting...as it should be. But here ends my blog entry.
As I rolled along my month 4, I was settling into my life pretty comfortably. So here is a abridge version of my life in Korea thus far.
Christmas Eve, Eve in Seoul as we ice skated near City Hall, the snow fell. Then off to Jinbu, Gangwondo: a beautiful snow covered village, about 3 hours east of Seoul. Sledding, eating, and opening Secret Santa presents filled our short stay. Those of you who know me may be asking, "Who is this girl? Ice skating, sledding?" Yup, apparently I do all those things in Korea. Who knew!
New Years in Daeju- everybody needs a drink in a bag. By bag, I mean an IV bag with a straw! "Yes, make it stronger!"
Winter vacation with Kim and Mysti:
1) Ulsan- Ilsan beach
2) Busan- fortress and accidental 3 hour hike, temple, English pub
3) Gyeongju- Astrological tower, burial mounds, and museum that was closed
4) Samcheok- Penis Park, no that's not a typo!
5) Seoul- Palaces, Seoul Tower, and shopping
End of February-the dreaded orientation and lock down. So this is what being in prison feel like. Since I missed my orientation, as I got here the day it ended, I was sent off for a 7 day training...to learn everything I knew (because I had been here for 6 months). To be fair, it had a lot of informative stuff that would have been helpful...in the beginning. And did I mention that it was a lock down?!?!? Meaning, we were not allowed to leave the facility (similar to a very small college campus) even to buy laundry detergent or toothpaste. Usually in these events, one would have some drinks to relieve the stress and boredom. But there were no alcoholic drinks to speak of. The only relief people found were cigarettes in between breaks. Too bad I don't smoke.
May to June-Terri, Kelly, and Katie's visit
1) Seoul Hanok Village, Yeuoido Park as we walked along several famous kdrama filming spots!
2) Seoul Lantern festival in honor of Buddha's birthday
3) Cheongju- an attempt to rediscover out maternal lineage
4) Yongjin Folk village where they film many historical kdramas
5) Gongju- the site of an old Baekje capital
Girls' Wicked Weekend: There is nothing better than a girls' weekend in which we get dressed up with our pretty, pretty hats and head for the races. Then we get to the race track to find out that rather than Kentucky Derby, it was more like middle-age men's convention with bare-footed men sitting on the floor with the newspapers spread out all over. After which, we headed for dinner and to watch the Australian cast of "Wicked". I will say that this was one of my favorite musical! There are not enough words to describe the emotions that poured out of me.
August-finally my vacation
1) Lasek eye surgery- I did a ton of research. Who are we kidding. This is me. I make a PROS/CONS list before embarking on any new venture. And they were going to shoot lasers into my eyes. I thought this may be one of the most important research of my life. So after carefully research and weighing the costs to the benefits, I made an appointment for the surgery. It is the best money I have ever spent and I am so happy not only with my vision, but that I had the opportunity to get such a state-of-the-art surgery for the fraction of the cost back in the States.
2) Off to Ulsan to hang with Mysti and friends: Mostly consist of eating, drinking, multi-bang, and the Love Push!
3) to Seoul to spend the last few days with my soul sister, Mysti, before she left for the States. Again, mostly eating and drinking with a little museum to throw in for some culture. Finally, 90 minutes of ass-kicking disguised as a Sports message. I'm pretty sure my back was covered in bruises. Lesson learned-NO MORE SPORTS MESSAGES!
To top it all off, I have been studying to retake my GREs and looking into graduate schools. I even bought a guitar because I apparently cannot be left alone to do nothing. During this time, I have managed to pick up enough Korean to get by on a day to day basis without embarrassing myself or getting into trouble. I still haven't learned enough Korean to converse with people beyond the very basic. But I have felt comfortable enough to want to stay another year. And I have also realized that Korea is not for me long-term. I love the people, the food, and the culture. But I do feel like an outsider, who is here temporarily. That isn't to say that I will definitely leave here next year. Although that is the plan, life has a funny way of changing any plans I make. So stay tuned to see what happens...
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