Entry 34: Rockin' Around No Christmas Tree

It was strange waking up in Korea, let alone it was strange waking up in Korea on Christmas day in Korea. It was a different feeling to be away from my nuclear family on my favorite holiday of the year. Even last year, which was most likely the most miserable Christmas of all time because I had caught the flu and was bed ridden the entire day, still felt like Christmas. Don't misunderstand me though, it was a great weekend, but it just failed to feel like Christmas.

I did get to spend Christmas with a family, just not my own. It was a blessing to say the least to be able to meet Eunice's Grandmother, Aunt, Uncle, other Uncle, and cousin in one weekend full of food, laughter, and GoStop. To the best that I can tell, the weekend was an overall sucess and I definitely enjoyed the company. I must have gained 5 kilos, just due to the constant eating of AMAZING food. Her family showed me great hosipitality, and I think that I can explain it by emphasizing one aspect of the trip: the FOOD. Christmas Eve, they took us out to her Uncle's restaurant where we ate some pretty awesome, high-quality, 상겹살. Christmas morning we had bread (Korea has the best bread, it is heavenly), coffee, roll cake, and milk. It was good stuff, but it was just getting us ready for lunch. We went out to eat sushi at one of those restaurants where you pick your food from a conveyor belt. It was impressive. I was able to be witness and experience the glory of eunice's grandma's 비삔밥, it was the most majestic combination of taste that I can remember. Lol. It was pretty awesome. The motto "in order for the whole to be good, each ingredient has to taste good on its own" seemed to rock my world. Their hospitality was wonderful and made my weekend that much more fun.

But it was bitersweet. I tried calling my family the day after Christmas here in Korea which is Christmas day back in the states, but due to bad cell phone connection, my lack of an internet connection, failure for me to check my email to get the phone number to my grandmother's house back in LA, I was unable to contact my family... on my most cherished holiday. I tried calling early this morning, but still no answer. I have work, so I am not sure when the next time will be for me to be able to contact my family. Being thousands of miles away is a drag during the holidays.

But I had Eunice. The sweetest part of the entire weekend was being able to do the things that we've been wanting to do for a long time, the boring things. There was a lot of down time being at her grandmother's house, and so we spent a lot of that time watching "Dexter", a pretty ingenious TV show, and going to watch movies together like Sherlock Holmes. We spent lots of times just walking around random shopping malls, sitting in coffee shops, eating good food, and just being ourselves. We played some GoStop which was pretty fun, even though I wasn't being a very good student (but in my defence I was tired and just wanted to start playing and learn from the playing, but I was being a bad student). It was fun riding the subway for literally HOURS together, laughing at the silly faces that we both make unintentionally and the most RANDOM people on the subway. The games of scrabble (Eunice LOVES scrabble) we played in random places on our iPods is going to be a part of the long list of memories that I have of my time here in Korea. It was nice having at least one loved one during the holidays.

No Christmas tree this year, but that's okay. It's about being with the one's you love.

Entry 33: Abroad

4 of my closest friends went out of the US this fall and embarked on their own "abroad" experience.

Sue went to Prague
Julie went to Spain
Tae went to Switzerland
Grace went to Korea

It is amazing that our time is coming to a close. I may not be able to speak for the others, but I know that during my time away from the US, there were times where I was excruciatingly homesick, times where I was pumped to be living a new life, times where I would just sit and think of what next semester holds now that I have a semester abroad under my belt.


During the start of my journey I made a list. Let's take a look.

Things that I am assuming will be missed once I am in Korea (not in any significant order):

• family- I got to see my dad a few times in Korea. Skyped with them more frequently in Korea than I did back in Texas. I miss them, but just as much as I do when I'm in college. The holidays do suck when you don't have any family around.
  
• friends- This one is a big yes. There were times when, I would just sit alone in my room and it would be completely silent. That was not last year. Last year I lived with 3 close friends, and I don't think that our house was ever really "quiet". Our class just had a crazy webcam reunion, where we all got on and saw each other. Although I wasn't able to join the festivities for long (they talked to each other for over 2 hours. They love each other very much). I can't wait to go back and see these crazy people. They are my favorite.
  
• steak (since I hear that red meat is rare and expensive)- I each just as much meat in Korea. I've had a steak, and in general, food is decently priced in Korea. You don't pay tip or tax on meals. So if the menu says something is 5,000 won, then you just pull out a 5,000 bill. Done, no change, no jingling metal, just that bill passed on. It's quick, clean, and cheap. I can get full off of 3 dollars in Korea, in a restaurant. That's unlikely to ever happen in the states, unless you go to Taco Bell.
  
• my guitars (I'm not sure if I will be able to bring it on the plane)- I miss my electric. I miss my acoustic since it left me a month ago. :( This was quite true. but I was able to write a song. So its not all a failure.
  
• being in a reasonable similar time zone- eh, the time zone issue wasn't THAT big of a deal. I am a morning person, so when I wake up, I am able to talk to all the people back home at a reasonable time.
  
• mexican food- :(, I do miss good mexican food.....
  
• my car- When I go home, I'm going to just drive. Anywhere. I miss driving SO MUCH. I'm scared I have forgotten how to drive.
  
• TEXAS FOOTBALL (it gets caps, just deal)- Thank God for Justin Tv.
  
• IM football- I miss playing football on Saturdays. I'll be calling people to play. People better come out.
  

While I'm at it, here is a list of things that I am looking forward too about Korea:

• Authentic Korean food- My favorite kind of food in the world.
  
• Cheap Korean food- The same dish in Korea is usually 50% cheaper than in the states, depending on what you get, because of tip, tax, and just the fact that Korean food is common.
  
• Buying a pair of glasses- done. Ray Bans. I love em.
  
• Buying a nice coat- Bought a jacket... my dad brought a coat from back home.
  
• Taking pictures- Pictures have slowed down since I started to teach, but I've taken a few... hundred.
  
• Making new friends- Done. I love em. (mostly girls... but its all good)
  
• Getting a clean slate- Done. It helped me realize who I am to a greater extent.
  
• Teaching little kids- Done. I came, I saw, I conquered! I'm sure these kids learned something.
  
• Improving my Korean- Done. It was bound to happen since I'm living here and interacting with mostly native Korean speakers (and having to meet family friends, who speak primarily korean)
• Running- FAIL. I went out running a half dozen times. It's WAYYYY too cold now. But I could have run much more
  
• Hiking- Done. Teachers took me out and we climbed a mountain.
  
• Learning more about myself, in the context of a new country- Done. I learned a lot about myself. Unlike the common belief, I was able to live alone and thrive. I weaned myself off of the need for other people and really refined my self identity. I'm still marred with issues and problems, but this trip was necessary for me to learn a whole new side of myself.

I pretty much completed my list. Now its time to enjoy the rest of the month and do all the things I would have never dreamed of doing. The beginning of my journey was intense, the end is going to be just as intense.

Entry 32: December

I know that it has been quite some time since my last post, and I probably have lost a considerable amount of readers because of the lack of consistency (according to J Lee, only three people read my blog, so I guess that means that there are 2 of you left).

Update: This Thanksgiving was most random Thanksgiving that I have ever had in my life, and hopefully ever will. I had a great dinner with Grace, Ahyoung, and Michelle at some buffet. It was nice just to sit down and just enjoy myself at a table full of food and company.

Last Friday I had dinner with my teachers where we ate loads of pork and just had a good time laughing and talking to each other (I've built up some decent relationships with the teachers so these times are awkward). They are all great people. It is funny though, how when I see them outside of school or outside of class, its like I am interacting with completely different people. I would say especially the 1st grade teacher. During class she rarely speaks to me and sometimes I feel like I'm getting the cold shoulder, but as soon as we are out of class she is all smiles and even gives me the occasional high five.

Today we had another dinner, but this time the school invited some other people (they were teachers who taught the electives for the after school program, but they didn't come every day like I did, so I never rarely would see them). It was a good dinner and it was nice not having to be in the spot light. It was also interesting how I had become a "regular" in the teachers circle. I knew this was the case as the vice principal went to the after school teachers and said "see you on _____" the certain day, and he turned to me and said something along the lines of "I'm going to beat you in ping pong tomorrow".

Today is December 1. This date doesn't really mean much on its own, except for the fact that it marks the beginning of December which in my minds marks Christmas season, BUT what it does do is give me a reference point as to when Eunice is coming to Korea. 16 more days. 16 more days. 16 more days...

There really hasn't been anything to update on (except maybe the fact that I can touch my toes, almost do the splits, and I've gotten pretty good at ping pong), so I'll just leave the fun stories till after Eunice comes. I plan on making this one of those trips that I will always look back on. I've already gone through the "Korea is AWESOME" phase. I've gone through the "Korea sucks" phase. I've gone through the "Eh, Korea isn't that bad" phase. And I think I'm somewhere in the "Korea is cool, but I just want to go home now" phase. I hope that when Eunice gets here, we can both enjoy the "I don't want to leave Korea" phase so that it would just be that much more fun.

Ok, thats it for now, My blog is boring.... crap....  so much for making a blog showing how exciting my trip to Korea is. (its not that exciting...)