Enchanted Rock

I’m no longer in Korea, but I’ll still be posting here occasionally. I spent all of September and a bit of October in my hometown of Austin living with my dad and playing with friends. Two weeks ago, my boyfriend Stuart and our dear friend (and photographer!) Brian came to see what the place that shaped me was all about.

Though a city girl through and through, I still relate to the pull of tough, sprawling land that you find in Texas. This in mind, we headed to Enchanted Rock, just outside of Fredericksburg and one of my favorite places to visit as a child. The hill country of Texas is especially dry this year, but it didn’t detract from the beauty of the trip. 

Brian, at my ladylike and demure suggestion (read: at my brash and bossy command), was kind enough to take photos of the trip. I haven’t seen the ones of just the scenery yet, but for now I’ll post a few of those he took of The Lovely Couple. 

Traveling with cats

I’ve had a few people ask about my trip from Korea to Austin with Queso in tow. In the months prior to my departure, I researched online for the best ways to travel such a long distance with a cat constantly. Unfortunately little of it was comforting or all that helpful. Here I’ll outline the process as it happened for me. I know a few people in ROK who are bringing pets back soon, so hopefully this can serve as a comfort for them. As far as other countries go, I think if you are flying to the US the procedure will be roughly the same but make sure to verify everything. Since Queso was a Korean cat, I don’t know what the process is like going from the US to other countries. Click thru to read how we made it from Namyangju to Austin.

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D A Y V M A T T T: TEN THINGS I LIKE ABOUT SEOUL, KOREA →

dayvmattt:

1. Bathrooms - No matter where you are in Seoul, a bathroom is close by. This may not sound like a big deal, but for anyone who has traveled, being able to find a bathroom when you really “need” a bathroom can be a problem if you aren’t in a “touristy” part of town (and you aren’t a…

Just be sure to bring your own toilet paper into those public bathrooms!!

(Source: dayvmattt, via whoisjing)

Habits to break starting tomorrow.

 

1. Handing items like bank cards, drinks, scissors, anything to people using both hands and a small bow. 
2. Bowing to people I know in cars. Bowing in general.
3. Sucking my teeth at every small annoyance or frustration.
4. Using “Assa!” “Aishh!” “Chinchaaa” and any other random Korean words/phrases I’ve adopted into my vocabulary.
5. Leaving my bags unattended in public spaces while I stand in line, go to the bathroom, etc. without a thought about it. Yesterday I left my bag containing my wallet, passport, and other valuables outside on a table for about ten minutes before realizing I can’t do that starting tomorrow. 
6. Going into full-on Korean mode and thinking nothing of using my heft to push people around in subways or buses lest they step on me first. I have adopted the ajumma habit of shove or be shoved.
7. Reading anywhere I please. I so enjoy being blissfully unaware of what people are saying around me. I can read peacefully in any public place because even if there is a loud conversation nearby, I can’t understand it!
8. Relying on public transit to get me anywhere I need to go. I have traveled all over Korea. I’ve been to rural areas and explored Seoul up and down only using public transit. Having a car will be a necessity in the US for me and I am not really looking forward to it. While public transportation can take longer, not having to worry about traffic or directions makes life so easy.
9. What else? Other ex-Korea dwellers, what say you?

Perfect Sunday

Stuart and I only had three shared vacation days this summer—he has camp when I have vacation and vice versa—so instead of taking a trip, we opted to stick around Seoul and explore this unwieldy metropolis a bit. Sunday found us wandering Jonggak under a muggy and cloudy sky. Following a city-wide search of four bookstores, I finally found a copy of George R.R. Martin’s A Clash of Kings and convinced Stuart after a year and a half of dating to begin the Harry Potter series. For the record, he already agrees that the books are much better than the movies. (I told you so!) Armed with our new books, we headed to a coffee shop nearby to settle in for a few hours. After we got our fill of fantasy, we decided to take a walk by the stream that flows through that part of Seoul down to the Russian district for dinner. Apparently the stream used to be quite polluted and frankly gross, but at some point in recent years the city turned it into a lovely river walk overflowing with bamboo, hibiscus plants, stepping stones, and wide paths on either side. To me, nothing little is more enjoyable than being able to dip my toes in a river while surrounded by skyscrapers. It reminded me a bit of walking the trail at Town Lake in Austin, one of my favorite places in my hometown.

Although I am occasionally mistaken for a Russian around these parts due to my blonde hair and Russian-sounding name, I’d never actually eaten Russian food before tonight. We started with a refreshing and crunch tomato-cucumber-dill salad and followed with heavier, meatier fare. He had lamb and rice-stuffed cabbage rolls while I went straight for the stewed lamb chops. 

This didn’t look too appetizing, but the meat couldn’t have been more tender. YUM.

What do you know?! My own sign in the middle of Seoul. Stuart was pleased as punch to have a famous girlfriend. 

I have grown to love so much about Seoul that it can feel like I know what to expect from it all the time. Unplanned but perfect days like this where I get to see a new side of it remind me that this place always has more to offer. 

Aww, English teacher family portrait

I especially love how enthused my worker John appears. 

Happiness: Part 1 in a series: Tumblr

Over the next two months I want to write posts about the aspects of living here that have brought me happiness. It took me a while to find my rhythm in this country and I want to have a record of what made me feel my best if and when I read this blog in the future. They’ll be material and emotional, personal and universal. It’s for myself and what’s good about living here for me.

Hands-down, the best social decision I made before moving here was making a Korea-specific tumblr. I’ve had another tumblr blog for several years but wanted to have a blog that I could share with family and friends. I didn’t realize at the time how important the connections from this space would become for me. Like a lot of people here, I came to Korea within a couple months of graduating because I didn’t know what else to do. I knew a couple people here but they left a week after I arrived. I suddenly had no friends, no access to the language, no idea how to teach. I was frightened and clueless. 

Enter tumblr. Getting involved with people I met through Tumblr was easily the most important factor in my building a social life here. Although I have close friends who live in my town (one of whom left this morning—I love you Brian), tumblr friends were there before I stepped foot on the plane. People like Kelly and Jessica immediately reached out to me when I decided to move here. Within a couple weeks of arriving, Kelly and I had met in person after months of emailing. Meeting her and later meeting the other tumblrs at the first meetup provided a network that has become a family. We come from different countries, have different backgrounds, different goals, and different points of view. I can’t tell you how valuable it’s been for me to have a group like my tumblr family around me. Although we’re spread across the world now (a few of us are still in the ROK!!), the friendships with them have become some of my most important. I missed out on a lot of gatherings because I’m a) lazy b) coupled up and c) live far from Seoul. Still, the events I attended were always a blast.

If you’re new to Korea, I can’t urge you enough to come to the meetup in a couple weeks. It was one of the smartest decisions I’ve made since moving here. 

"Still, there are times I am bewildered by each mile I have traveled, each meal I have eaten, each person I have known, each room in which I have slept. As ordinary as it all appears, there are times when it is beyond my imagination."

Jhumpa Lahiri (via rockandrollandrobin)

(Source: aleatoricism, via myradventures)

Open class 2011

Korean parents have a habit of grimacing during open class, making teachers all the more nervous. I tried to pretend they weren’t there…

Such a flattering angle!

Presenting their balanced meal to the class.

Antics

It was a controlled chaos, promise. 

The class was a big success. I had a great time. The lesson was challenging but approachable. I wish I could pour that much energy in to every class, but with nine different classes to handle (using nine different books), it’s not quite reasonable. Maybe someday. ^^

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thanksarthur:

Love this GIF

Me too

(Source: briancolella)