10 things I've learned in Korea...

1. Some plants for my apartment were the best investment ever.

2. Koreans think I'm so strange for "ooh"ing and "ahh"ing over the tanks of animals that they plan to eat.

3. Koreans, though poor, have way better clothing and shoes than Americans.

4. No matter how little food you order at a restaurant they will no doubt bring you 10 side dishes.

5. Koreans are friendly. We made best friends with an old Korean lady and 5 of her friends at the bus stop.

6. Korea is supposed to have a way more advanced cell phone network, but everyone has crappy phones, some without caller ID even, and no one has an internet browser. I call shenanigans, Americans have WAY better phones and service!

7. There are always new and awesome movies on TV. I'm catching all kinds of movies I missed in the theater recently!

8. You can get vitamins and cans of air from the "claw" machines on the street. Weird.

9. Koreans LOVE to dress their dogs up and give them fancy hair designs and color.

10. Though the language is much harder, it's much easier to find comforts from home than when I lived in Europe.

Korea, the first days

This is where I live... on the left


So, Korea has been a wild ride so far..... here's how it went down.


After I arrived at the airport I went easily through immigration, gathering luggage and loading it on to a cart, and exchanging my US dollars for Korean won. When I excited the terminal much to my surprise was Yun, from my school, with a giant sign saying "Welcome to Korea MELISSA!!!!" It was sooo nice, i was really worried about navigating the bus situation on my own with so many bags. So he took all my luggage loaded it up into the super nice car, and off we went towards Seoul. I must say Korean navigation systems are WAY more fun than American ones. They sing to you, and have little kid voices telling you when to slow down or turn. I was pleased! After we arrived in Gwangjin-Gu we stopped by the school for me to meet everyone after we dropped off my luggage at the apartment. I wasn't really happy about this, as I had been awake for over 24 hours and just wanted to sleep. It was quick and painless though. Alicia took me to buy water and some snacks, and took me to an internet cafe to check my email, because my internet at the apartment wasn't turned on yet. We chatted and hung out for a bit, then I really needed some sleep! When I got back to the apartment I did have a mini meltdown about the bed (it's a twin size and HARD as a rock). But I eventually calmed down and crashed out.

Thursday morning I woke up SUPER early, 5am. That gave me plenty of time to unpack and get things around the house cleaned and organized. It was a quiet morning, much to my liking. Thursday was my first day at work, and instead of any training they just kind of told me my schedule and to have fun. ACK. I spent most of the day tired and in a daze. It was fun with the kids, they were very helpful and adorable. They loved all the pictures of Arizona and my life, and to my surprised asked questions about the desert and my family. During our "dinner" break (15 mins in the evening) went to the grocery store across the street from the school so I could get a few things. I was happy to buy some fruit, fruit loops, peanut butter and jelly, and some noodles. I came home after work and went to bed at a reasonable hour, because I had a feeling I'd be up early, haha.

Not to my surprise, I woke up around 6am on Friday. Jet lag is a bitch! Emily and I had made plans to go to Star City, one of the big malls near the house. We hopped on a bus and arrived at the mall 4 short stops later. I was really happy to see Starbucks, Baskin Robins, burger King, and Cold Stone in the mall. You never know when you need a comfort from home. When I was living in Europe they had NO comforts from home and sometimes I got really homesick for something as small as food I recognized. We went into Emart, which is like the target/wal mart of Korean. They have EVERYTHING under one roof. I got to pet hedgehogs, shop for groceries, try on hats, ooh and ahh over the beautiful electronics and rugs, and everything in between! It will be my favorite place I think!

After our Star City adventure we had time to run home to put away our finds and get to work. Work was much more stressful the second day. I came in during their testing period, so apparently I have to write and administer oral and written exams for 80 students that I have never met. Gah. The day went pretty quickly though, and then it was time to go out with all my coworkers and boss for a night out! We went to the Korean BBQ place near work. They cook all the meat on grills in the middle of the table, and we had lots of sides to go with it. I loved the salad, it looked like a mix between grass and green onions. I'll have to find out what it was. We drank LOTS of soju and beer. I was surprised how much Koreans drink! Everyone in the restaurant was putting away shot after shot of soju! Woo woo! I thought my Boss, Brian, was kidding when he said "What next?!" but he wasnt! We all went to the Karaoke bar across the street. They have tambourines, flashing disco lights, more alcohol, and snacks! We all sang some classic American songs, and they sang a lot of Korean op songs as well! It was a fun night, they seem like a great bunch of people to work with... so far! I went to bed later than I had been, hoping to sleep in a little!

Much to my surprise, I actually did sleep in today! Until 8am! yay!! Today was the day to explore Seoul a little further away. Emily, Alicia and myself decided to go to the Art Fair over by the art school. It was about a 45 min subway ride away. I was totally grabbed and smacked on the legs by this old Korean guy who kept telling us he had visited Kentucky. The subways are VERYYYY crowded, so you cant really escape being felt up. Something to adjust to! I was happy when we finally got off the subway, and I saw white people! Woo woo!

We spent the next hours exploring the area, getting Smoothie King (YAYYYY!) and buying cute jewelry, art, and odds and ends. The stores were all cool, and the streets were just lined with vendors, food, clothes, people, music.... it was unreal! I was impressed, for sure. We left the street vendor area and went into the art fair area. I saw TONS of stuff I would love to buy, but some was expensive! I ended up buying a clock thats also a painting. It's dark background with a red outline of a tree. I really like it and cant wait to hang it up. We then walked around a little more and decided to head back to our part of town to go to the mall and get food.

After another 45 mins subway ride we made it back to our neighborhood. We crossed over to the mall, and looked for food! We decided on this really cool looking place that had lots of types of food. I got some fried rice (which isnt normal Korean fare) and I was pretty happy with it. Once our tummy's were full and happy we headed over to Emart to do some shopping for our houses! I found a lot of stuff I needed, and made a wishlist! It was a successful trip, so once we had our fill of shopping we hopped a bus back to the apartment. It's actually close enough to walk (we walked over this morning) but since our hands were full we crammed onto a full bus anyway.

Now I'm home debating about what furniture I should buy, considering we will only be here a year most likely. I'll think about it and decide another day!

Sooo thats been the highlights of Korea so far. I've left out a lot.... but I only have so much time to type! I'm exhausted!

Getting to korea....

It's a good thing I've memorized blogger's layout, because when I clicked on the site it's all in korean!!

I’m on the plane to Korea. I got through the airport with a lot less tears this time, thank God. The plane ride only has about 2 hours left. The flight has been uneventful, which is always a good thing. I must say, I absolutely love the planes with personal entertainment systems. I’ve watched 4 movies I missed in theaters, what good luck!

I’m excited and nervous to land in Korea. Once I land it’s final. I’m there… no turning back. Deep down I know everything will be ok, but the fear of the unknown is always scary. The fear of being lonely in a strange place is terrifying. I hope I like my apartment, I hope I like the school, I hope I can find something I like to eat, I hope my cable has CNN. CNN was my savior when I lived in Europe; it was the only English channel on TV.

I really miss my boyfriend. I can’t wait for him to get to Korea. I want to hang out in bed reading and watching movies, just like we used to. I want to wander around the streets of Korea, exploring our new home. I want to adopt little fuzzy kittens and argue over the names. I want to cuddle, damn it! Our relationship has changed drastically in the past month. While I believe we were in love before, its different now. I think we are both starting to think of the long run, not just living in the moment side by side. When a lot of my future plans start with “we” instead of “I”…. well, that’s when I’m in deep! They say that distance makes the heart grow fonder. I don’t know if that’s true, but I know life isn’t as shiny and colorful without him by my side.

So I’m going to spend my last 2 hours watching movies and playing games on the plane. It’s not a bad way to pass 12 hours. I just wish I could sleep on planes!!!

Stay tuned, I’ll be updating a lot in the new few weeks I’m sure. I’ll be home alone a lot, and that leads to boredom!

L is for the way you look at me....

I’m not sure what time it is, I forgot to change the time on the DS before I boarded the plane and I obviously can’t turn my cell phone on to check. The entire plane is dark and quiet; there are maybe 3 or 4 other little lights glowing away like mine. I’m guessing we are over an hour or two into the flight. I read some more of my book but couldn’t stop crying (damn you sappy love stories) so I played the DS for a few minutes. I’m antsy and just want to be in his arms, so ill do what I do whenever my heart is hurting…. write.

We had a movie script ending, all tears and the wave goodbye as I ascended the escalator. I sat on the plane and cried like I was a teenager again, with my first high school heartache, but this pain was a little more substantial.

This man has caused me plenty of heartache before, but never quite like this. My heart aches for his warm hugs, understanding eyes, and soft kisses. I am wrapping my head around the fact I will not wake up to his handsome face, not go to sleep safe in his arms. Just thinking about it brings tears to my eyes, but for my neighbors sake I’ll stifle the cry that will surely follow at some point soon. I’ve grown accustomed to these routines. We prop ourselves in bed to watch TV while I read and he plays video games. After the sleepy medicine has kicked in we pick our “sleepy time” movie and wrap ourselves up in blankets and each other. It’s not long before I’m fast asleep, probably with my mouth hanging open, or my arm curled up around the pillow, and he is engrossed in whatever movie was supposed to put us to sleep, and will remain that way for a while before he passes out along. Yes, this is a much different hurt. This hurt, instead of making me bitter, angry, or confused, has made me realize how hard it will be to live without him for the next month. Only a month, right? A month feels like an eternity when you are used to spending the majority of your waking hours together. A month feels way too long, when you’ve just discovered so many new things about him, and you realize you love him through and through. Not the fleeting love I once felt for him, which could be squashed so easily by some dumb actions. This love resonates deep in my heart. This is the love that sticks with you for a long time, willing or not.

These new discoveries helped me really get to know him. Yes, we’ve told stories, we’ve shared pictures, and we’ve tried to paint these visual images for each other about that growing up was like… but it’s always hard to understand without seeing. He has spent so much time with my family, learning about me, seeing me with them, that it was really wonderful to be able to do the same for him. His mother is ten times better than I ever could have imagined. Warmth and love just radiates from this woman like you wouldn’t believe. She is sometimes very quiet, but won’t hesitate to interject a witty remark when it’s needed. She has a profound wisdom to her that only comes from a mixture of book smarts and a heavy dose of life experience. You can tell just by how she talks to her children how much she loves them. There is never any doubt she was meant to mother. She reminds me a lot of my own mother; maybe that’s why I felt an instant yearn to be close to her. I miss my mom SO much and it’s nearly impossible to find someone that reminds me of her, so when I do, I realize what a rare gem that person is.

I don’t think there was a single person in his family that I didn’t like. I think his sisters are just great, and his grandpa could easily become one of my favorite people. His grandparents were so endearing I just never wanted to leave their house! He told me he knew when she walked into a movie theater when she was 10 that she was the woman he would marry. They started dating at 14, and the ring on her finger was not far behind. He still blushed while looking at her! That’s the kind of love movies are made about, books are written about, and girls like me spend their youths searching for. I sleep better at night knowing some people get their “happily ever after.”

While meeting his mother was a great part of visiting Maine, it was just a small portion of the magic we shared last week. Watching him watch the ocean was quite an experience. I know he has spoken off his love for the ocean before, but I never quite understood it until I saw it first hand. He had a calm about him, something about the rhythmic crashing of the waves, the stability of it, the magic of it…. it was a calm I have never seen in him before. While most times he is the calm when I am the storm, there is always that hushed turmoil deep inside him, and for the first time I believe that deep inner turmoil was quieted by the lapping of the water and sand under his feet. There is no doubt in my mind that this man belongs near the ocean. It brought peace to me to see him so tranquil.

The trip wasn’t all unearthing of my deeper feelings for him, we did have some fun and games as well. We spent a day in Salem with his sister and mother and it was a magnificent day. We started out by going to a Witch Museum to learn about the Salem Witch Trials and all the fervor surrounding it. I was very amazed to re-learn about the incidents, as it had been so long since we covered that in school. We also visited the Memorial for the people who died during that time. A really old cemetery with some famous names adjoined the memorial; some of the graves were dated as far back as the 1600s! We looked at a lot of the cute shops, had some amazing pizza at The Upper Crust, and even got to see a parade of the little ones dressed up in their costumes, trick or treating down the main street. I was least impressed by a haunted house we visited…. that’s something Ill have to do when I get back to AZ, I LOVE being scared in haunted houses!

Another really fun day was the day we went to the orchard to go apple picking! I’ve never been apple picking, but now I wish I had an apple tree of my own! So delicious! I enjoyed visiting the little farm just down the street, which I think was run by Quakers. Either way they had an amazing garden and some delectable apple cider. I picked out a pumpkin that I never got to carve, kind of sad about that! Boo! Old Orchard Beach was another one of my favorite sites, but I will need to see it in all its summer glory to appreciate it fully, I think. I used my imagination to picture what the pier would look like, jammed with tourists, families, and lovebirds, but my scene would probably pale in comparison to the real thing.

Last night was the perfect ended to my trip. We drove out to New Hampshire to visit a corn maze. The corn maze was fun, but not as impressive as the others that have visited I hear. So while I wasn’t completely blown away by the experience that all changed when we stumbled upon the animals! Nick’s sister made the pig fart, we got to pet the donkey, and watched the goats bound around on the rocks in their habitat. It was enchanting! We followed up the adorable animals with probably one of the best ice cream sundaes I’ve ever had! Yummm! Of course going home and snuggling all night was just adding to the enchantment of my night.

I could write all night and never capture the magic I felt while in New England. Not only the magic of the place, the rich history, and beautiful weather…. but the magic between my love and I. It’s something I treasure and will keep me sane until we meet again in Korea.

I’m out of tissue so I’m going to sign off for the night, but I’ll be back with tales of our cross-country road trip soon!