Oh, where to start?

I'm slightly confused as to where I left off, but all I know is that I haven't written about Seoul at all, so I guess I'll start there! 

To be honest, I wasn't as enamored with Seoul as I thought I'd be. I kept hearing great exclamations of what a wonderful city Seoul was, but truth be told...I like Daejeon better! Okay, let's back up. Helena, Kellyanne and Laura took the KTX to Seoul, which took an hour. It was blazing hot that day, which should have been an omen for me. I don't like being hot. At all. Ever. I appreciate the cold and have, on many different occasions heard many complaints and grumblings from everyone about the arctic temperature of my apartment in Austin. My apartment in Daejeon is no different. I like it cold people! Get used to it!

Back to Seoul. By the way, I am not going to go blog about everything that happened in Seoul. It's honestly not worth my time, nor is it worth your time to read it. We arrived in Seoul Station after the hour train ride and immediately got on the subway so we could drop off our stuff at the hostel Helena found for us. We got lost trying to get to the hostel due to people's inability to navigate the subway or even read directions that were written verbatim from the hostel website. After 10 minutes of walking around, we discovered that we had, in fact, gotten off at the wrong stop so we needed to get back on the metro to get to the next stop. It was hot. I was sweaty. I was cranky. My shoulders hurt from carrying my bag. And I hate it when people don't fully research where they're going. Some people might find it fun, perhaps even exciting, to get lost in a city that they've never been to. Some people might even call it an adventure to go to a city with no plan, no itinerary and no research. I am not that person. I like to at least know where I'm going. At least. 

After I took over navigation (Katherine, if you remember, you also handed me the reigns of navigation in Europe), we found our hostel that was located on the fourth floor of some random building. I was looking forward to setting my stuff down, and maybe even laying down on my bed for a couple minutes to let the sweat covering my body dry. And I thought that might actually happen because the lobby/main room of the hostel was nice and cool. Then they opened the door to the room that we'd be staying in. There were five bunk beds crammed into this little room and the only ventilation in the room were two, small rotating fans. The door to our room was closed so that the hot air from our room wouldn't filter into the main room. Are you freaking kidding me?! I was absolutely DREADING going to sleep in that room. 

Our ridiculous room - and the two useless revolving fans.

Anyway, after discovering that I'd basically be drenched in sweat all night, I was slightly more cranky. I tried to shake it off though. I was in Seoul! In South Korea! I can rough it! This is going to be great! So I did shake it off. For the time being. 

The day was spent traveling around Seoul. We went to a Buddhist Temple:

Three gigantic Buddahs in the temple.

The temple entrance.

Apparently water is the best thing to offer. I should research why.

Then we went to N Seoul Tower:

Seoul Tower.

And rode the cable car up to the tower.

And saw lots of fantastic sights.

The purpose of the Seoul trip was to meet up with some Irish folk at an Irish pub. So after we were done at the tower, we set off to get lost a few more times on our way to the Irish pub that no one thought to google before going. Perfect. The Irish pub was all right - I drank some sangria and had some sausage and mashed potatoes. Weird combination. I was pretty exhausted after walking around all day in the heat  so I was ready to go home at maybe 1:00 am. So we all left. Upon arriving at the hostel, I was just looking forward to a shower. And why not? I was drenched in sweat 99.9% of the day and was covered in Seoul's gross pollution and nasty stench. So we got to the main room where there were three drunk guys sprawled out on the floor eating ramen and watching what could only be youtube videos. I immediately asked for a towel because the gentleman from earlier in the day (who was no longer in the vicinity) said that they had towels. The drunk kid got up and got me a hand towel that might only manage to clean one of my large thighs. "It's fine," I though. "I'll make it work."

I got in the bathroom that probably hadn't been clean in maybe 19 years and proceeded to take a cold shower. It felt good. In that moment, I was happy. I felt clean, not sweaty and cool. Perfection! That is, until I opened up the small hand tower to dry off my face and the stench of mildew assailed my nostrils like elephant poop that had been rotting in the sun for a few hours. Gross! 

Okay, people. I like to say that I'm the kind of girl that can rough it. I can hike in the woods. I can go weeks without wearing makeup. I can go without shaving for months. I don't blow dry my hair. I don't paint my fingernails. I'm perfectly content in sandals, workout pants and a tee-shirt. I don't wash my jeans more than two times a month. But please, please don't make me dry myself off in a nasty smelling towel that has probably dried off the bodies of countless grungy backpackers and most likely hasn't even been washed in a year. So this is what I did. Because I can rough it. I dried myself off with the clothes that I had worn that day. I wrapped my hair in my tank top and used my skirt to pat myself dry. Since I'm an idiot and forgot pajamas (because I usually don't WEAR pajamas), I wore a tank top that I planned to wear the next day and panties. I really didn't care if people saw me in my panties. I was preparing for the sauna that I was about to sleep in for an entire night. 

The night was as expected. Hot. I was the first to wake up, at 9:30. Surprisingly, I felt rested. As soon as I woke up, I took another shower (and used my sweater to dry off) and played around on the computer for a while. There were people sleeping everywhere. On the floor, on the couch, in the bunk beds...it was somewhat amusing. There was this guy sleeping on the floor behind me (the drunk kid from the night before who handed me that atrocious towel) that kept farting. It was slightly amusing.

 

That's the kid that kept farting.

Anyway, long story short, Laura and I went off to find a French village that must have had magical invisibility spells around it, because we didn't technically find it. We did, however, make it to a French bakery, which made the whole trip worthwhile. 

Pain au chocolat - the best snack EVER.

We got the train home to Daejeon and arrived during an outrageous thunderstorm. The loudest clash of thunder sounded the second Laura and I walked outside. It was terrifying. A sweet, old taxi driver drove us home in the pouring rain to my apartment. 

So that's Seoul. I am fully aware that it was not the most positive trip I've ever had, or blog I've ever written. There were definitely parts of the trip that were fun and weren't all negative. It's just that the majority was bad. I probably won't go back to Seoul until it's cold. I hope my blog will be more positive.

So now that I've written about Seoul, I really don't know what to write about next. SO much has happened and I wish I were more disciplined so I could have kept track of it all. Procrastination has always been my downfall. I think I'll write about what I've observed here in Korea. Nothing of great importance has happened since Seoul - I haven't been on any more grand adventures. 

First off all, Rachel (a girl from Philly who lives in my apartment building) and I went on the longest walk in recorded history. I swear we walked maybe 12 miles. It was incredible though. We walked from our apartments to the Expo bridge, then from the expo bridge to the arboretum, then from the arboretum to Home Plus. It was a fabulous walk and it was a beautiful day but MAN I was sore. My feet were throbbing but it was totally worth it. I had great company. Rachel is fabulous. She's so sweet and adorable and we get along really well. She's 6'0," which is also a plus. Katherine, watch out! Baha. 

Another thing to note: on the bus today, there was this gorgeous Korean guy. He was so adorable with big pouty lips. And he was tall! It was too good to be true. And yet...I shudder to think that the only men I'll find attractive are men who wear skinny jeans, have perfectly coiffed hair and carry man purses. Are feminine men in my future? This gorgeous guy spent the last five minutes on the bus staring into his camera phone whilst fixing his hair. And I wasn't even turned off. Ugh.

Teaching is going really well. It's nice having a job that you actually enjoy going to every day. The kids are so adorable and offer you candy on a daily basis. The eight year old girls love me the most. They get excited when they see me and like to play with my jewelry. Is teaching teaching me to love children? Perhaps. 

I love my co-workers. Maria, a 24 year old Korean teacher is so sweet.

Maria, at Starbucks.

Jude, our receptionist, is also so sweet and helpful. Jason, another Korean teacher, is so funny:

After dinner at a Korean/Italian restaurant.

Long story short, I feel like coming here was the right thing. Granted, I might still be in the honey moon phase of South Korea, but it feels RIGHT here. I had a friend ask me today what the best part about Daejeon was, and I honestly answered that just being here was the coolest part. I've loved getting used to living alone again. I've loved arranging my apartment just how I want it. I love cleaning my kitchen and doing my laundry. SHOCK, I know. I love riding the bus alone. And I love walking around Daejeon - whether it's a five minute walk or a 20 minute walk. I don't care. I don't mind walking. My feet like to protest a little bit, but I ignore them. 

I'm sure a lot of you have been wondering about my food situation here (or maybe you really don't care) but my food habits have changed a lot. Food is no longer my all-consuming thought. I'm trying to rebuild my relationship with food to where it's not detrimental to my state of mind or well being. It's a work in progress for sure. 

Well that concludes my ramblings for the night. I've been typing for what seems all night and am losing focus on my stories. I'll write more later and soon.