Seoul Searching: 2011

This is the end, there is no more.... Day 365: August 27, 2011

"We drive into the future using only our rearview mirror."

Wow! 365 days seemed like a long time when I started this blog. Throughout the process, sometimes it seems like forever, but now I look back and feel like I took some of the earlier pictures just yesterday. A lot went through my mind when I first started. What would I feature? What would I learn? What I've learned that blogging every day is really hard, and I give big props to anyone who does. Even though I had a lot of fun taking pictures, and was forced to really look more carefully at things ("hey i need something to blog today") I am definitely happy to send this baby into the archives.

So thanks for all my loyal readers ( all 5 of you, including the mysterious individual in Malaysia whoever you are). Sorry if my picture choices weren't the most interesting. Maybe there's beauty in the world everyday, and I just have to get better at seeing it (should probably get a fancy nice camera to capture it too).

I think this was a great way to capture my experience in Korea, especially for ADD me who doesn't like to pay attention to details. Hopefully, it was informative, funny and interesting.

So I'll leave you, blog world, with a few of my favorite 365.

Jeju
Mudfest
Pyeongtaek
Sports Day
Gyeongju
Snow
No Caption Necessary
Thailand 1 & 2
Mt Fuji
Heilbrunns in Japan
Namsan Tower
Badgers 1 & 2
Girls Night
Lanterns
Seoraksan
Chuseok
Suwon Lights

Day 365 (7)- August 26, 2011

My goodbye gifts to the teachers turned out pretty nicely. I think they all appreciated it!

Day 365(6)-August 25, 2011

The landmine that is my apartment. My school has been very worried that this debacle (and debacle it was) left me hating Korea. Not Korea or Koreans so much as my landlady.

Day 365 (5)- August 24, 2011

Goodbye dinner with my coteachers! Wow will I miss these ladies!

Day 365 (4)- August 23, 2011

So the # 1 thing I will miss most about Korea is myself. Now I know what you're thinking already and hang on w/ me while I get a bit sentimental. I'm a firm believer that when you have a significant life experience, you take a piece of that place with you, and that place takes a little bit of you. I'm not sure I can exactly say what kind of person I was or what I learned on this year long roller coaster ride but I certainly know this experience change me. And I know there will always be a piece of me here and I will always treasure what Korea has given me in return.

Thanks to Meghan Wong for the picture (really like it).

Day 365 (3)- August 22, 2011

I don't really have a picture of this (as an act of cultural sensitivity) so here's a cartoon courtesy of www.ROKetship.com.

The #1 thing I won't miss about Korea is definitely people following you in stores. Whenever a customer walks into a shop, the store clerk will always get up and literally follow you around the store. I'm not sure if they're trying to be helpful, or think you're going to steal from them, but whenever someone does that to me, I automatically don't want to give them my business. WILL NOT miss that.

Day 365 (2)- August 21, 2011

The # 2 thing I'm going to miss about Korea is without question the people I've met. The Koreans (esp jackie,bruce and charles) have been beyond warm and welcoming, doing everything possible to make my experience easier. My coteachers (english teachers and others) always wanted to get to know me, laugh with me or just help make my day to day work experience go more smoothly. Most importantly my fellow foreigners, who have made my life more fun, exciting and interesting. I wouldn't have survived rough weeks at work without knowing I would have a crazy night in Songtan, an adventure to Seoraksan Park, or even just some korean bbq for dinner with some of my friends. My friends were my family here, and I know when I go back I will feel the void. Each person I ran into this past year made me think, smile, and in someway impacted me. I will definitely miss that.

Day 365 (1)- August 20, 2011

#2 thing I won't miss about Korea. Bathrooms. Smelly ones in particular. My nasty bathroom at home had the worst sewage smell, and all the public bathrooms all reek because people don't flush their toilet paper . Bathrooms also lack hygienic soap dispensers and i'm just over having to hold my nose and hover every time i pee.

Day 364- August 19, 2011

# 3 Thing I will miss about Korea: Cuteness. They love to make everything CUTE & "Happy." My sister will attest to that. Happy spa, Happy bathroom, Happy Happy Happy. Mirrors are cute, shirts are cute, calculators are cute, you get the gyst. While it's definitely not my personal style, I never stop being enterained by it, and it is something that is so quintesentially asian.

Day 363- August 18, 2011

#3 thing that I won't miss about Korea...teaching (or lack there of). Now I want to be clear, my school has treated me amazingly, and I have met some amazing students with a strong passion to learn English. At the same time, I rarely taught in comparison to my fellow teachers (both korean and foreign) and was generally unfulfilled/ unpassionate about the job itself. Most importantly, the year give me exactly what I needed, time off (mentally) from school, and the opportunity to travel and evaluate my priorities. Additionally, this year has made me realize that I want to help students in ways other than teaching them the reading writing rhythmatics. (Good thing I'm going to be a psychologist). So while I will greatly miss my coteachers (a hint for a later blogpost perhaps) and some of my students, I will not miss teaching at all!

Day 362- August 17, 2011

#4 thing I will miss about Korea: Korean Food. I've kind of fallen a bit in love, and that's pretty cool because I'd never eaten it before I came here. Here is my tribute with a few of my favorites!

Bibimbap: Rice, Eggs,Mixed Vegetables and Red Pepper Paste

Korean Barbeque: Galbi (Beef) or Samgyapsap (Pork)

Dak Galbi: Spicy chicken stir fry (always good with stir fried rice after)

Rice Cakes: My guilty pleasure. Weird texture, but IDK they're just special!

(Chamchi, Tuna) Kimbap: Korean sushi. Tastes nothing like sushi, and is a flavor all its own. My go-to easy dinner snack

Samgyetang: Ginseng Chicken Soup with Ri(iiii)ce. Such comfort food. Great on a super hot or freakishly cold day!

Day 361- August 16, 2011

#4 thing I WON'T miss about Korea. Sleeping arrangements! Koreans can seemingly sleep on anythign, and actually prefer to sleep on the floor. My bed was impossibly hard, and as you all know, my bed is kind of my sanctuary. I will not miss jimjilbang sleeping, or floor sleeping AT ALL!

Day 360- August 15, 2011

#5 thing I WILL miss about Korea: little korean nuggets. They never stop being cute! I'm obssessed and should probably be treated for this condition! Don't leave me little gogi mandu!

Day 359- August 14, 2011

In the spirit of my friend Oscar's (theoscblog.blogspot.com) going away a few months ago, I am going to spend the next 10 days doing a top 10. I'm going to blog about the top 5 things I won't miss and the tip 5 things I will miss about Korea. Today were going to start with the number 5 thing I won't miss about Korea. It's really hard to narrow it down to just 5 things each i have to say!

# 5 thing i WONT miss about Korea. General Noise. Everyone and their mother has a microphone, and they all love to use it. Grocery stores, outside beauty stores, in school, on the street at 11pm. People really want to be heard. In addition, everywhere there is music (specifically kpop) blasting from the speakers. I will be very happy to come home to the quiet lack of overstimulation that is the US.

Day 358- August 13, 2011

Finally found a camera that takes great night pictures. KL Tower, Malaysia

Day 357- August 12, 2011

Petronas Towers. Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

Day 356- August 11, 2011

Cool Church. Hanoi, Vietnam

Day 355- August 10, 2011

Wondering around Hanoi Vietnam. Beautiful trees and lake. Very Parisian city.

Day 354- August 9, 2011

The gorgeous view on my epicly long train ride from ho chi minh city to hanoi, Vietnam

Day 353- August 8, 2011

The highlight of my day in Kuala Lumper was probably the food market that I went to. I just pointed to a bunch of random stuff that looked interested, and 90% of it was good! And all this food was probably less than 8 dollars!