Christmas time in the ROK

While talking to my family on Christmas, my beautiful cousin Jenny informed me that it's been too long since my last blog... and I agree. So, I'll attempt to catch up on my life in Busan. My last post was almost 2 weeks ago, and these days tend to blend together, but I'll do my best. Last weekend was super busy for me. I stayed in Busan, and explored a lot of the city. On Friday, I went out w/ a new friend. Her name is Becca and she is from Seattle. So, without really knowing each other, we have something in common. It's always nice to have someone around from your 'hood.' We met up late Friday night (since neither of us get off work till around 9). Headed out for drinks and had a blast. Made new friends and stayed out till the subway started to run again! That was a first for me, and surprisingly, I wasn't ridiculously tired. After attempting to sleep in on Saturday, I met up with a friend from Bellingham who lives about 2 hours outside of Busan. His name is Milo; we worked together at the Colophon for about a year, so I was super excited to see a familiar face. We met at Centum City- it's a HUGE shopping mall in Busan. After a typical Milo hug, we explored our surroundings and came across a super fun bookstore. We perused for over an hour in the stationary, etc area. The sentences that are produced due to lack of English ability is absolutely hilarious for a native speaker. After I get paid this month, I'll have to head back and buy some to send home, and to laugh at some more. After our many giggles, Milo and myself headed to find a record store in Busan's city center. Unfortunately, we came up empty handed and couldn't figure out where it was. So, sadly, we departed and he headed back to his small, rural town in the middle of the sticks of Korea. After talking to him about his adventures, I feel so luck to live in a large metropolis. I can't imagine living the way he does- I am really enjoying the large city I'm in. After I left him, I met up with work friends. We headed to Seyeomson ( the downtown of Busan) and grabbed dinner then saw Avatar. The movie was absolutely amazing, and I plan to see it again. We forked out the big bucks to see it in 3-D, and it was completely worth it. Post movie, all of us headed out to enjoy some drinks, laughs and photo-ops. I was exhausted, so I called it an early night (which, in Korea is around 3 am... who would have thought). The next day, I met up with a friend from high school- Tori. She JUST moved to Busan and lives about 40 minutes away on the subway. So, I venture out to her part of the woods. We grabbed coffee and walked around, caught up and I told her how excited I was for her to be around. I think we'll become pretty close this year. We hung out for a couple hours before I told her I needed to head back home to sleep; a department I was completely lacking in.After a week of work, the weekend arrived, which makes life fly by... I still can't believe I've been here for 2 months already. Friday was Christmas, so we only had to work four days, which was a nice change. I wrapped and brought Washington State calendars for all my co-teachers as gifts; they all screamed when I handed them a present. Korean's are very vocal about their thankful-ness. I really love all the girls I work with, so it was nice to see that they enjoyed my present. AND, I got to show them how beautiful Washington is. Christmas Eve, all of us ordered pizza, then headed out to drink out sorrows away! Not really, but what else is there to do while in a foreign country without family? We all had fun, headed to Haeundae and before we new it, it was 4 am. So, Tori and myself headed back to my place, she crashed on the couch. The next day I had to catch a train to Daejeon to meet up with Mara and her friends for a Christmas weekend. After a forty minute subway ride and a two hour train, I arrived and was picked up by Mara and her friends (Maximus- her Korean friend, whose house we were staying at, Gemma- another Korean, and Amelia). We headed back to Max's place to drop off my stuff, then headed to dinner with his parents. His family is Buddhist, so we grabbed Chinese food, said our goodbyes to his parents and headed out to do our own thing. The night was fun, I really enjoyed hanging out w/ several Koreans- their ability to speak both languages is very impressive... and it came in handy throughout the night. We went to several different places in Daejeon before stopping at a huge dance club. I never thought I would be dancing 'till 3 am in Korea on Christmas, but I had fun. After our night out, we were all exhausted and headed back to Max's place to pass out. The next morning we woke up late, semi- rested and ready to eat some good home made Korean breakfast. I couldn't believe the amount of food Max's mom made us. Eggs, kimchi, fish, chicken, soup, rice, veggies and tea... FOR BREAKFAST! Before I sat down to enjoy breakfast, I was able to skype my family in Mossyrock- my aunt lives there, and every Christmas we all meet up and have a wonderful time together on Christmas day. And, being in Korea, I wasn't able to make my way... so skype came in handy. I was so happy to see them and talk to them, but sad I couldn't be with them, drinking, laughing and playing Apples to Apples.

After breakfast, we all headed to grab coffee and then decided to call it a weekend. I was dropped off at the train station, and made it back to Busan around 7pm on the 26th. I was exhausted from a fun day and evening in Daejeon, so I kept it chill, watched Love Actually and fell asleep- super lame for a Saturday, but I needed to rest. This week, my school starts "winter intensives." This means, on top of our regular classes, we have extra ones. Students in Korea are on Winter break, but some take their vacation time to enroll in classes we offer. I would hate to grow up in Korea- the kids I teach have no life, no free time and are constantly worried about their education, grades and tests that they are required to take. So, my plate becomes a bit fuller starting tomorrow... which I'm not completely looking forward to, but the pay increase (for over time) will be nice. Cheers till next time!