halfway around the sun

In some ways it’s hard to believe i’ve been living here for 6 months.  Part of me feels the same as I did when I arrived here--alien and out of place.  Yet so much has changed in my time here.  It’s hard for me to believe that I was scared of the subway, the streets seemed overwhelmingly frightening and I couldn’t figure out how to eat a decent meal without a guide only a few short months ago.  So much good has come out of growing comfortable and finding my feet, but the novelty of my life here has most definitely worn off and there are many things that have made it difficult during these winter months.  This is not to say that I don’t still love and enjoy it, it’s just coming to the realization that it’s not all bad food, poorly translated signs and a big joke for me to laugh at.  But i do still laugh at it. Most of it that is.

Some of my life as of late...

The food has grown on me and by grown on me, I mean i’ve learned to stomach it and enjoy it - sometimes and moderately.  I eat kimchi.  I eat squid and octopus.  The abundance of seaweed is still a little disconcerting, but i’m living with it.

I walked outside this weekend and for a moment...just a moment...I think the sun warmed my face.  If this really happened and wasn’t just a figment of my imagination, things are looking up and there is a light at the end of this frozen, frigid, drafty, inescapable tunnel.

Cat Class got a new member the day we returned from Christmas vacation.  He cried for 3 days straight. And when I say he cried for 3 days straight, I mean this child cried for 6 hours straight, from 9am-3pm continuously for 3 whole days.  At one point I sprinted out of the room and cried a bit myself.  Thankfully, he’s doing better now and has turned out to be quite the little sweetheart.  It was a terrible start, but things are looking up for Henry.  Here’s a video from one of his first days in class.




A while back I lost my coat and i’ve been searching for a new one all over Seoul, but it’s become very clear to me that people here have T-Rex arms.  This is in no way an exaggeration.  I have actually pointed this fact out to numerous other people and many of them also agree that, proportionately, Koreans as a race simply do have shorter arms.  I’d be happy to place a wager with anyone who disagrees with me.  I’ll gladly video document my trials and failures of coat shopping for anyone who cares to lose a bet.  

Putting up the double peace sign started as a joke, but it’s become my standard move in photos, thus proving that Koreans are rubbing off on me far more than i’m influencing them.  God knows i’m speaking more like a Korean child then a college educated American these days.

These past two months haven’t been a cake walk here, but hopefully the food will continue to sit well, the sun will keep getting warmer, Henry will save the crying for times when Lena teaches, i’ll find a jacket that hits below my forearm and the peace sign heyday ends. Here’s to hoping.