Dear Mama....The Pitfalls and Lonely Holidays

I feel like I have to start all over since I started my second contract here. I have to find new friends, I just realized how to use some of the appliances in my house (like the heat), and I'm vulnerable to getting sick again. After my exhaustive first couple of weeks in October, I caught a cold. It was a real cold, not just a scratchy throat. It's so interesting how little my co-teachers care when I am sick. The weather was horrible outside because it was cold and rainy yet my co-teacher would never offer to give me a ride home. The never said anything like I should stay home and get better. Their culture is very strange when it comes to spreading germs. People at my last job would have been like, "Don't come here spreading your disease. Stay home!" It took me almost two weeks to get better because I was definitely mentally and physically exhausted.

After that, my computer crashed. My hard drive crashed for the second time in two years! Fortunately, I live beside the only Authorized Apple Repair Center in Incheon. They fixed it in a day...For FREE! I love it!! The only thing is that I lost all my files and programs and had to start all over again. I wanted to submit a video about my experience in Korea for a contest held by the English Program in Korea (EPIK). Unfortunately, with all that was happening, I missed the deadline. I still finished the video so I will share it here, so it won't feel like a total waste. It is a good wrap up of my first year in Korea.

I dressed up for Halloween in two costumes. A couple days before Halloween there was a English Festival at another elementary school and I dressed up as Cookie Monster. The kids loved it because they really wanted the cookies hanging on my dress. On Halloween, I dressed up as "Cleopatra" and gave candy to some students, especially if they came to the office and said "Trick-or-treat." Unfortunately, I did not have any friends to go out and party with, which is really sad because Halloween was on a Friday.

The next day, I got my first filling. It was quick and painless. Then, I did some sightseeing around Dongdaemun Plaza before going to meet up with Seoulmate for a tour at Olympic Park. Daniel was there who I haven't seen since the basketball game but we didn't really talk which confirmed for me that we never really clicked as friends. Seoulmate is always fun to hang out with and it was a gorgeous fall November day. It was probably one of the last days of nice weather. We played a charades style game for an icebreaker and then went off in groups to take creative pictures around the park. We later came back together to share our photos and have a picnic. It was my first picnic in Korea so it felt like a very special day.

At school, there have been a couple outings like dinner and a Korean English teacher's play, Mamma Mia, which was (not surprisingly) performed mostly in Korean. If I had not seen the movie before, I would have not known what was going on...but it was definitely interesting. I feel a little more at ease with my after school class because I was able to make it more art/design centered. One of my students even said, "Teacher, this playground is more fun than the last one!" Yay! A couple weeks later I went on a scavenger hunt with another group called Seoul Sync. I was two hours late and was about to not go but they called me and said they were waiting for me. I am glad I did make it because it was a lot of fun. We had to find strange things like find a stranger that would give one of us a piggyback ride. It was great! We even saw a Kpop star (Dasom from Sistar) while we were out and about, which gave us extra points. My team won third place so our prize was movie tickets. I went out with the Seoul Sync team for drinks later and they are a pretty cool group of people from all over the world.

Not much has happened since the scavenger hunt, except that it's been getting colder and I've been staying in more. I found a mall near my house, which is always nice because it's somewhere I can go and walk around indoors. I've just been trying to do things indoors like got to the movies but it is very lonely so I really wanted my Thanksgiving to be with other people. Unfortunately, I could not find anywhere to go or anyone to hang out with. I even contacted people I haven't seen in a while like Hyung Won and Anakaren. One thing I find weird is that I texted Hyung Won just to say "hi" and he ended up asking me to his church on Sunday. I felt awkward because I don't feel close enough to him to go to church with him, especially after not seeing him in so long, so I don't know how to respond to that. I decided I would make the best of the holiday and challenge myself by cooking for Thanksgiving. I cooked some popcorn shrimp before that was delicious so I felt motivated. My fridge and cabinets are the most full they have ever been! It took a very long time but I actually made a lot from scratch. I peeled and chopped potatoes and chopped broccoli, garlic, onions, and mushrooms. I made garlic mashed sweet potatoes, a mushroom gravy and broccoli and onion chicken. It was okay but the butter that I used was a little gross so it distorted my meal. It looked great though! Maybe I can do this cooking thing.

The following weekend I was getting anxious being home alone so long so I went to the 2014 Seoul Design Festival. There were some mesmerizing and inspiring things to see but overall I was looking for more...not sure what, but more. Along the way there I also saw a Christmas symphony. Next week is December, so Christmas is coming soon. I need to make a real plan for Christmas so I don't end up being alone again. We'll see what happens! 

P.S. - I trimmed my hair and I think I did a great job. What do you think?

Dear Mama....One More Time to Make it Count!

I can't believe it's already been two months since I renewed my contract and started a new year here in Korea. There has been so much that has happened. I figure I have one more year here so I have to make it count and do all the things I didn't before. After Chuseok, I was still trying to do as much as possible before summer ended. It was like I was chasing summer. Every weekend I was going somewhere. First, I went to the Seoul Drum Festival with Hyung Won (my speed date match whom I haven't seen since this festival). It was very interesting because I just expected to meet him there and hang out while watching some drum performances. I didn't expect it to turn into a date but that's what it turned in to. We got there too early before the performances started so we walked across the street to Deoksugung Palace and caught the Changing of the Royal Guards. After it finished we walked in to explore it and the small art museum inside. When we left we walked along the palace walls in the Jeong-dong neighborhood. It dawned on me that we weren't just hanging out when he said, "this area is known for being a romantic place and walking here is good luck for relationships." I said, "Oh, I didn't know that...I came here before by myself." He said, "Well, now you're here with me."

During September the much anticipated Asian Games were held in Incheon so I had easy access to such a monumental event. It was so cool to walk down the street and see so many athletes from all across Asia. To kick off the start of the Games, there was a Kpop Concert. I was so excited to finally be able to go to my first Kpop concert. I listen to so much Kpop and had not gone to any concerts in my first year. It was wonderful because there were so many popular groups that performed. Some of them were a little lackluster but others really put on a show. I, of course, felt like I had to go to a couple of sports events even though I don't really like sports. I went to a basketball game with Daniel who I went to Modo Island with. I realized that with a third person with us at Modo, he was easy to get along with, but when it was just the two of us it was very boring. He did not stay the whole time and left me by myself to watch the second game. Luckily, the second game was more entertaining! A couple weeks later I also went to a tennis game.

Before the end of September, I did a couple more outdoorsy activities like going to Namiseom Island (which is east of Seoul) with my friend Sunny. It was beautiful, calm and relaxing. If it was not so far away I would go there often. I got to make my own glass jewelry there and the glass-maker was so nice he made another one for my friend and gave me a special one with a snowman on an icicle. I also went with the WinK group on an overnight trip to the Andong Mask Festival. I met a lot of down to earth and funny people there but, as usual, there was no one I made a really strong connection with that I could hang out with back in Incheon/Seoul.The festival was also great and I loved the serene nature of Hahoe village. It was country but made me feel the real beauty of Korea.

Luc Amoros artists

In early October there were still a lot of Korean holidays so I was off once a week for a couple of weeks. There was a long weekend that I could go to the famous Busan Film Festival. Before going to Busan, I went to an upcoming movie screening "Seoul Searching" by director Benson Lee, the Hi Seoul Festival and a Gangnam Fashion Show with Soozie. I talked to a couple people at the movie screening and there was this one guy that looked soooo familiar but I couldn't figure out where I saw him from. I talked to him about where he was from, what he thought of the movie, etc. and he seemed just like a regular person. As soon as I got home I googled his name and it turned out that he was an actual TV star here in Korea. I had even seen some of the TV dramas he was in! Even on the bus to Busan, his reality TV show was playing. Now back to Busan...I was so tired from the movie screening the night before that I missed my train the next morning (by 5 minutes)! So, I had to quickly think of a plan B. I decided to head to the local bus terminal and took the bus which added an extra 5 hours to my trip. I was still very determined to get there. One thing that's great about Korea is that you automatically get a refund if you miss your transportation. I finally got to Busan and I was running all over the place. I ran to the ticket booth, then to check-in to the Guesthouse Coooool hostel (which was beautiful by the way), then the movies, then to get food, then to another movie, then to dinner and back to the hostel. The weather was taking a turn and getting colder. I kept trying to block the cold air from my ears by holding my scarf over them and one thing that really angered me at the end of my night was when a group of black people walked past me and said, "Damn, it ain't THAT cold." Who are they to tell me how cold I am and why did they have to be the ones to say it? Why did they have to criticize me with no censor, when I was just walking, minding my business? It just made me think how being in Korea, I still can't escape people like that. I was soooo tired I couldn't stay up any later, which was definitely disappointing. The next day, the hostel hosts made a delicious breakfast and I was off to watch one more movie before heading back home. The thing I love about film festivals is that the directors come for Q&A after their movie. It's very insightful to hear their intentions for the movies. I saw three diverse movies and one was actually a Korean mainstream blockbuster movie. I didn't see any Korean movie stars though. The good thing about taking the bus back is that it goes straight to Incheon Bus Terminal down the street from my house.

Director Jochen Alexander Freydank Q&A

The next weekend, I hung out with Anakaren who I have been seeing less and less (she has new friends). We went to the Itaewon Global Festival and walked around fast paced trying to find space. It was ridiculously crowded and frustrating but it was a unique experience in Korea to find so many diverse food booths in one place and it all smelled so good. There was some entertainment but we didn't watch them for long. The only moment when me and Anakaren sat down and talked was when we sat in front of a pie store while she ate...and on the train. Other than that it was pretty hectic. It was interesting how Koreans came up to us asking to "interview" us. That was a first for me. We departed on the note that we would hang out again on Halloween. Fast forward to the end of November and I have yet to hear from her, let alone hang out again. I did reach out to her about Thanksgiving but she was not really trying to meet up again. It's sad because I don't have many friends here and holidays feel even more lonely so spending it with the few friends I have is always nice. I guess she's doing her own thing. It may be a good thing because it gives me more time to work on my design....or so I thought. 

P.S.- The #HappySeoul video I participated in finally came out. You can catch me toward the end. Look hard!