Hello, hello!
After a very long hiatus, I have returned. "From where?" you might ask … well, I'm not really sure, but regardless … I'm back! haha
The last time I actually wrote was in early October, although I did drop a line to you all around Halloween as well. Since then, it really has been life as normal and a continuation of daily routines. Being here for just a week under 6 months now (wow!), I feel very much at home. Granted, there are things (mostly people and the ease of ordering board games online … haha) that I miss, but being here is really good. I think this feeling also stems from the fact that this is my first time truly living on my own, but the two are practically indistinguishable now. All this to say, things have been moving along very smoothly on this side of the world.
Recap from the past couple months: this has been the first time I've ever been away from my immediate family for "The Holidays," and although it proved to be a little strange, I think that both Thanksgiving and Christmas remained enjoyable nonetheless. I spent Thanksgiving at school teaching for the better part of the day, and then I had a Thanksgiving dinner (unlike any prior) with a couple teachers. We decided to eat some low-maintenance comfort foods, which ended up including tuna melts and ice cream and other simple foods that are presently escaping my memory. Then, during the following weekend, I went to a foreigner-heavy Thanksgiving potluck that was de-lic-ious. As many of you know, my taste in foods isn't usually what I'd label as "refined," but still … the food was great. The best part came definitely at the end when we shared some carrot cake that one guy had made. Wow. That's pretty much the only way I can sum it up. Wow. By far (and not just because of this context), it was the best (carrot) cake I've ever had. Going to this party was great as well; the party-goers comprised a group of people I haven't spent much time around, yet all of whom seem enjoyable and nice and pleasant. Since that party I've even been able to hang out with a few of them some more; making some more foreign friends with good people is always welcome here.
And then there was Christmas. Since I've been here I have Skyped with my parents once and some of my siblings on a couple occasions, but it wasn't until my Christmas morning/your Christmas Eve that I got to video chat with nearly all of my immediate family in one go, and it was … fun. haha. Even for that short time it felt vaguely similar to the opening scenes of Home Alone. For anyone who doesn't immediately understand this reference, here's a little insight: I'm the second of nine children in my family, and maybe because most of my siblings are boys, it's always loud (to say the least) when they're around. Our little video session immediately brought me back to the all the memories of busyness and energy and everything else for Christmas morning … or pretty much any other morning at home, for that matter. It was a very fitting time to see everyone like that. Other than the video call, I ended up spending both Christmas Eve and a solid chunk of Christmas Day with friends here, and we hung out, watched a movie, ate sushi and played games. When it was all said and done, I think it ended up being a very successful holiday. And then I went back to school the next day. haha.
Yes, as I just stated, I did, in fact, teach both the day and two days after Christmas. We did receive a "holiday vacation," but it didn't start until the Wednesday after Christmas, and then it stretched through the following Tuesday (thus I went back to school this past Wednesday). Having a week off was great. It was just like any other break in the past -- sleep in late, stay up late and fill the in-between time with … anything. Mmm (intoned with pure delight). Part of that intermediate time did include the dawn of a new year, and that also ended up being pretty enjoyable. I went to a friend's house New Year's Eve night, and then we all headed downtown around 11pm. In downtown a stage had been set up for the evening, and by the time I arrived things were in full swing. A number of bands or singers performed 2 songs a piece, so even though I arrived pretty close to midnight I still got to see/hear 6-10 different groups perform. And then midnight happened, and 2012 commenced.
Here are two particularly memorable things from that night: first, I was the only foreigner as far as I could see in the crowd of Koreans near the stage when the countdown began, so whereas typically when the ball drops we all hear, "Happy New Year" from every direction, I initially didn't hear that once (because it's obviously all in Korean), but then an arbitrary guy who'd been standing nearby for the last 30 minutes or so turned and wished me a "Happy New Year" in English. Ahh. It felt great. After the clock struck 12, I did stick around to watch other groups on the stage, so I ended up catching a taxi back home close to 1:30/45ish. Now, as a piece of background information, my confidence with taking taxis has increased exponentially over the past couple months. I've now taken quite a few by myself, and I always feel pretty certain that I can tell the driver where I need to go, and we'll get there. On this particular evening, though, I said where I wanted to go, and the driver repeated it back to me, and I confirmed what I thought was the same thing as my initial instruction. So we left downtown and began the trip back home, and during this part of the journey I didn't pay very close attention to where we were headed because of a number of factors, and then, when we had been driving for longer than I thought we should have been, I looked more closely outside and found that nothing looked familiar. haha. And then I noticed some signs with places I knew, and I deduced that -- ta da -- we were headed to somewhere other than the comfort and warmth of my home. At the same time, however, there was that ever-present doubt in the back of my mind that maybe we were still headed to the right place because really, how much of Gwangju do I actually recognize? Not that much. Fortunately, though, soon thereafter we began to slow down close to where the driver was taking me, and he quickly realized that this wasn't my home. haha. I repeated my destination for him again, and with a big "Ahhhhhhhhh" of understanding and a chuckle of amusement, he then turned around, and we began again on our merry way. So after a very long taxi ride, I finally returned home. I'm very fortunate to have had a great driver who wasn't annoyed with my poor directions, since the burden for the mistake does rest on my shoulders, and from that adventure a new lesson has been learned: always repeat and repeat and repeat -- just to make sure (because probably my pronunciation isn't so great).
I think that's enough for now. Next time, look forward to reflections on my Korean dental appointments, a language update and "a day in the life" … and whatever else I can come up with between now and then :). I truly hope that all of you are well and happy as this year is kicking into gear, and if I haven't heard from you in a while, drop me a line and let me know what's going on. I do love hearing from others and knowing a little more about happenings in the States.
Much love to you all.
pfn,
bg
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