I Can Breathe Again! And Other Revelations

I know longer feel like death.  That's a bonus.  The last two weeks were pretty rough.  I'm not a sick person but the last two weeks were probably about the worst sick that I've ever been. Minus that whole ruptured appendicitis thing a few years back.

Things here are getting much nicer though the weather is getting much colder.  I had a revelation last week.  A pretty major one actually.  So, homesickness (and boredom) has hit pretty intensely the last few months.  I figured out why. We used to do really cool stuff all.the.time.  Shark diving. Eric Clapton. Run around town begging random Koreans to say "Merry Christmas" for a camera.  Hiking. and Festivals.  Then I quit doing stuff.  The last major thing I did was ziplining on my birthday-which goes down as my favorite experience in Korea, by the way.  I very clearly remember after that weekend expressing how completely exhausted I was from being so busy every weekend of the last 8 months and I was calling it quits.  4 months later, I still haven't done anything exciting.  And I haven't left Daejeon since my birthday.

One Year In Korea

I have no idea where the last 52 weeks of my life have gone.  It honestly feels like last week that I left the Aflac office with cupcakes in hand, picked up Charlie from his final vet travel exam, and we road tripped our way up to Missouri for a quick visit before hopping on a plane.

5am on October 14th we boarded a plane. 11:30 pm on October 15 we walked through the front door of our new home.

Eight Month Anniversary

That happened really fast. I’ve inadvertently skipped over all the previous anniversaries (and I’ve been really bad about blogging lately) so I thought I needed to write something to commemorate this one. 

First off, Korea rocks.  It’s just a really pleasant place to live, at least from a foreigner perspective.  It’s probably a lot like the experience of those that travel to America for education/internships/etc.  We get to enjoy all the wonderful things that the country has to offer without getting bogged down by all the drama and politics of daily life at home.  Korea is a Happy Bubble. And I really like my Happy Bubble.

Being in Korea has given me the opportunity to just step outside of the box for a little bit.  I’ve been able to get (kimchi scented) fresh air and just break away from the drama.  I’ve made some amazing friends in the last few months.  People that I truly feel were all brought into my life, and me into theirs, for very specific reasons at this incredibly unique period of our lives.  We all came here searching for something and I think we’ve found little pieces of it in each other.

But most importantly, Korea has given me the ability to spend the last eight months with myself.  That’s an amazing gift all on it’s own. 

Charlie Sheen vs Kim Seong-min

I feel a need to write about this…

I’m a huge Charlie Sheen fan. Well, no, I’m a HUGE Two and a Half Men fan.  And while I love the indulgence of celebrity gossip, I also believe in “live and let live.”  His life choices in no way interfere with how I live my life so they are none of my concern nor my place to pass judgment. Until now.  Because his recent antics have brought on the temporary, and likely permanent cancellation of my favorite show, I now have a few things to say about it. 

Since everyone reading this is likely familiar with his current drama, let me introduce you to his Korean counterpart. Sort of.

Thoughts on Blogging

I’ve never been a blogger.  I’ve never thought of myself as a writer. Honestly, I’m not a very funny person. At least not on purpose. I can make myself laugh better than anyone but making other people laugh is a totally different ballgame. Much to my surprise, I am finding that I very much enjoy writing and I very much appreciate all the compliments that have been sent my way over the last few months. By no means do I consider myself a writer but I do think writing is something I want to pursue. The word writer is reserved for people who actually know the difference between dependent and independent clauses.  I don’t.  But I think writing has given me an outlet that maybe I’ve always needed.

I have a point, I promise.

With my overload of free time that has developed here in the Eastern Hemisphere I have been reading blogs from people all over the world.  Some are amazing (http://coffee-helps.com/) and some are incessantly ridiculous and boring.  I hope to make this something that you enjoy reading.  Some entries are funny, some are… less funny.  Some are serious, some are sad, and a few are purely for my memory book and will likely bring you very little entertainment.  These writings are my thoughts, my opinions (of which I have many), and my experiences.  While they are censored, some things should not be published on the internet, they are, in the best of terms, me.  Silly sarcasm, poor punctuation, and emotional breakdowns all included.

Laziness in Korea

I’m lazy by nature.  I love to sleep.  I love to spend an entire weekend in a warm bed with my dog and do nothing but watch TV and eat Chinese food and pizza.  It’s even better if it’s been delivered.  I don’t think this is a secret to anyone who has ever spent more than just a few minutes with me.  Here’s the problem…

SoKo is like one reeeeeally long weekend.  I’ve been here a month and a half and I still feel like I’m on vacation.  A working vacation, but vacation nonetheless.  There are stressful days at work but nothing traumatic like would happen at home.  I don’t come home from work completely exhausted and mentally depleted from the day.  I have gotten exactly what I came here for.  A job I enjoy. An apartment I love.  New friends I adore.  And an incredible city and country to learn all about and experience.  All while leaving behind the distractions and drama that plagued me in Orlando.  Life seems so normal that it's often I even forget I am in South Korea.  I’m happy here.

It’s true what they say

You can’t run away from your past.  You can try. You can run all the way to South Korea if it so behooves you. But it will find you.  In a sweet and unintentional way it will pop up out of nowhere. And apparently it will only take three weeks.

Serenity

I've said it before, but life is easy here.  It’s probably because I’ve only been here a few weeks and haven’t had time to stir up any drama, but truthfully, it is easy. Of course there is the obvious “I don’t speak the language” thing, but that’s really only a problem if you allow it to be.  I haven’t had a functioning cell phone since I flew out of LAX on October 14 and I have tell you, I don’t miss it.  No drama, no stress. This is how it should be.  Maybe life was easier before we became so technology obsessed. I will get one eventually, but right now I just don’t want one yet.

Daejeon is one of the largest cities in South Korea, however they have an incredibly low foreigner population.  Unlike Seoul, I can walk around all day and see no other foreigners. I feel like I have complete anonymity here even though I have just the opposite.  I am the only blonde hair, blue eyed girl for miles.  Then add in the silly looking dog that tries to attack everyone and yep, I’m pretty much famous here. But in my mind I’m still completely anonymous. And I love that.

First Week in Review

I flew half way around the world with my dog. A feat not to be taken lightly.

I have found the local Starbucks, KFC and Krispie Creme but I have yet to find a McDonald’s.  That’s a bit disappointing.

I learned my first Korean word.

I learned my first Korean cuss word too.

I ate real Korean food, sitting on the floor of a real Korean restaurant.

Fearless

I guess it was the six months of planning that went into this whole Korea thing but I’ve never been nervous. I’ve had my moments of apprehension but literally they were moments never lasting more than a few minutes. I realize there are many of you out there whose initial reaction was less than trusting about this idea. I had my doubts too. Not about the stability of Korea, but about the stability of Amy. I mean really, I’m the girl that can’t be on-time to save her life, I lose my cell phone at least four times everyday, and my socks never match. Moving to South Korea, really?  and taking Charles?!?!  hahahaha

However, I’m also the girl that’s always been fearless.  Always.

My Pursuit of Happyness

I realize there are millions of people all over the world going through terrible struggles and heartache everyday and that most everyone, hopefully, is working towards finding their happy place. I would never want to compare my self-induced drama to other’s true and real devastations that are out of their control or their ability to fix. I can fix mine, it just takes a little bit of out of the box thinking.  It is very uncharacteristic of me to get personal on such a public format, well really on any format, but it shouldn’t be a surprise to anyone reading this that the last 12 months in the world of Amy have been very difficult. Somewhere in between belting out Kelly Clarkson’s angry girl lyrics repeatedly and watching the public education system go up in smoke, I realized if anything were to change I was going to have to make it happen. It was time to make a decision.  Either 1. Give up the dream of what you were born to do (at least temporarily) and make a new plan or 2. Find a more creative way to do it. Enter Stage Right - South Korea.

The 3 C’s

Chinese food, a crappy hotel room, and cable.  I’m simply in heaven.

I’d be remiss to not acknowledge that my 7 year tenure in Orlando is ending almost exactly how it began-eating Chinese food somewhere in Georgia with everything I own packed up in my car and fiercely holding my breath until it’s time to make the next big step.  Last time it was only weeks after graduation and I was so anxious and excited to begin my career that I had been planning for so long…  This time it’s anxiety and excitement in unbelievable proportions as I prepare to adjust to life on the opposite side of the planet for a year. 

South Korea

South Korea, huh? I know, you’re baffled. That’s ok. I figured you would be.


I’ve spent the last few months talking with people that are currently teaching  or have taught in South Korea and decided this was something I had to do. I desperately want to be in a classroom again and the reality of it is that I just can’t do it here right now. The last few months I have spent selling everything that I own, getting transcripts, passport, and apostilling things (I didn’t know what that was either.) The hardest part, however, was the application video. Really that was the only hard part. I have to give my friend Matt the sincerest of thanks for helping with that. I don’t think it occurred to him when he offered his assistance that he was going to lose an entire day of his life helping me with this video. (7 hours to make 2 minutes worth of usable material - it was really awful!)

Lessons Learned 2009

This is the same posting from January 2009 on Facebook. I’ll have a new one for 2010…. don’t you worry.  This has nothing to do with Korea, except possibly a window into  why I am going.

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Inarguably 2009 was a pretty awful year all around the globe. Here is what it has taught me. Some from my own personal experience, some from my beautiful and spectacular girlfriends, some from movies, and some from simply observing life. Many of these were inspired by multiple people or events. It’s in no specific order, but fortunately and unfortunately, there’s a lot. It was a very educational year…