D and I recently celebrated our full year in Korea. On Friday night, we were out with the same teachers who introduced us to Korea when we arrived.
After our meal, we ventured off home to spend some quality time in a cool area (can I talk about HOW FRICKIN HOT IT IS RIGHT NOW??) our living room. Not to mention the bartender there makes THE BEST gin and tonics.
We started a highs and lows conversation, a little stroll down memory lane.
It's more than surreal. It's so strange and bizarre and amazing and weird and hardly possible and many other adjectives not worth mentioning that it's possible that we have been here a year.
We have come a really long way. Longer than I could have ever imagined.
If you had told me I would survive not only a foot break (yes I KNOW it's not that big of a deal but your are talking about a little bit o a drama head) but foot break IN ANOTHER COUNTRY, I wouldn't have believed you.
If you had told me that I after a year I could put 'Can really kiss away boo-boos" on my resume, I would have laughed in your face.
If you had told me, that the sound of a foreign language would just suddenly click and make sense and that even though I wouldn't be able to tell you the words, I would be able to get the gist of what people were saying, I'd tell you to take a flying leap.
I'm such a different person who is absolutely the same. And I realise that anyone obviously goes through changes in their life and they don't need to come halfway around the world to experience them.
But I do. And I'm glad I did. And there were many times, over this past year, that I didn't really think I could ever say that; that there was never going to be a time when I could look back on certain situations and laugh; that I thought my mother might never stop saying 'Well why don't you just come home then?'
We are expecting to leave Korea at the end of this month. Our plan is to go travelling, for as long as the money will take us or until next February, when V Day rolls around again.
I thought I make take this opportunity, to use this month and the postings I have left to share not only what I have learned but what I will miss.
Let me post this disclaimer that, as a blog always is, my OWN experience and opinions about what it is like to live here and what you can expect.
Everyone is different. And everyone is here for different reasons. And this is kinda for my own knowledge as well. To help this last month be about reflection and learning, productive, not negative.
And so, without further adieu..
If you're planning on coming out here, here's A's 1st For What It's Worth and Can't Believe I'll Neva:
After our meal, we ventured off home to spend some quality time in a cool area (can I talk about HOW FRICKIN HOT IT IS RIGHT NOW??) our living room. Not to mention the bartender there makes THE BEST gin and tonics.
We started a highs and lows conversation, a little stroll down memory lane.
It's more than surreal. It's so strange and bizarre and amazing and weird and hardly possible and many other adjectives not worth mentioning that it's possible that we have been here a year.
We have come a really long way. Longer than I could have ever imagined.
If you had told me I would survive not only a foot break (yes I KNOW it's not that big of a deal but your are talking about a little bit o a drama head) but foot break IN ANOTHER COUNTRY, I wouldn't have believed you.
If you had told me that I after a year I could put 'Can really kiss away boo-boos" on my resume, I would have laughed in your face.
If you had told me, that the sound of a foreign language would just suddenly click and make sense and that even though I wouldn't be able to tell you the words, I would be able to get the gist of what people were saying, I'd tell you to take a flying leap.
I'm such a different person who is absolutely the same. And I realise that anyone obviously goes through changes in their life and they don't need to come halfway around the world to experience them.
But I do. And I'm glad I did. And there were many times, over this past year, that I didn't really think I could ever say that; that there was never going to be a time when I could look back on certain situations and laugh; that I thought my mother might never stop saying 'Well why don't you just come home then?'
We are expecting to leave Korea at the end of this month. Our plan is to go travelling, for as long as the money will take us or until next February, when V Day rolls around again.
I thought I make take this opportunity, to use this month and the postings I have left to share not only what I have learned but what I will miss.
Let me post this disclaimer that, as a blog always is, my OWN experience and opinions about what it is like to live here and what you can expect.
Everyone is different. And everyone is here for different reasons. And this is kinda for my own knowledge as well. To help this last month be about reflection and learning, productive, not negative.
And so, without further adieu..
If you're planning on coming out here, here's A's 1st For What It's Worth and Can't Believe I'll Neva:
For What It's Worth #1 - DON'T COME HERE FOR THE MONEY
When I was researching coming to Korea, I found a guy's posting from like 5 years ago. He went into many details about what you should and should not do but I have to say, the one that stuck in my head, was this.
Don't come here for the money..ONLY the money. It's not worth it. You can make a lot of money planting trees or working on oil rigs and you don't have to go through all of the things you will go through here just to make a buck.
You have to want to be here for more than the paycheck. Otherwise, you will be that unhappy sap that the rest of the foreign crowd avoids. And you can forget about Koreans socialising with you cause I'm guessing if you're here for the money, you're not trying to learn the language.
Can't Believe I'll Neva....
...walk into another job where my clients are SO excited to see me, they jump up and down, crawl all over me like monkeys and scream my name for the first 5 minutes.
And this, after I just saw them before lunch. Imagine what Monday mornings are like.
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