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?