"It's the FINAL COUNTDOWN!"
The countdown has officially begun. In less than a month (18 days to be exact!), I'll be leaving Korea to start my new life in Augusta, GA. Georgia! Of all the places in the States, it had to be Georgia. I don't have anything against Georgia, it was just never on my list of places to live...or visit...anyway, I'm not going to hate because I haven't been there yet. I'm just excited to move in with Mark. At this point, I'd be happy even if I had to move to South Dakota just as long as I could be with Mark. Mmm, love that cheese!
Now that I'm leaving, I figured I might as well write what I'm going to miss about Korea. I've already complained in my It's a Strange World blog, so now I have to gush about the fabulous things in Korea that I'm going to miss. I certainly will miss Korea and my little bubble that I've been walking around in for the last year of my life.
Since "winter is coming," the weather has been perfect so walking has been absolutely relaxing. While I was walking home last night, I was struck with how much I would miss something so simple as walking home from the grocery store. Korea is an extremely compact place. There are little neighborhoods in one big city, and in each city, you generally have everything you need within walking distance. I can walk to the bank, to work, to the grocery store and to the gym in under 15 minutes. I've never realized how refreshing taking a walk is, especially during the winter.
In many ways, living in Korea is a humbling experience. Even though Korea has all the latest technology, for some reason they don't believe in ovens or dryers. I know you've heard me gripe about this many times before, but seriously! How in the world am I supposed to dry my clothes in a timely manner when its freezing outside? Like I said, it's a humbling experience. Korea often makes you take a step back and forces you to reanalyze your priorities. Will it really be a catastrophe if I can't wear my favorite pair of jeans today? Am I really going to die if I don't get to eat turkey for Thanksgiving? No and no. America is the land of "I will get what I want when I want it" and Korea is the land of "You have to be extra creative to get what you want when you want it." So, when my tummy tells me I want oven baked chicken breast, I have to set my stovetop pan on a low setting and put a lid on it to make my own oven. I want to wear my favorite jeans tomorrow, but they're dirty? I wash them, then turn the heat on in my apartment so when I lay my wet jeans on the floor tonight, they'll be dry and toasty in the morning. Creative, right? So yes, while I miss the convenience of America and am totally looking forward to things being easy again, I will certainly miss coming up with creative ways to get things done. Korea has taught me that I'm a pretty self-sufficient female. And it's fun to solve these little problems.
Another inconvenience (I know this is negative, but I'm getting to the good parts, I promise) is how small the apartments are, or rather, my apartment. My apartment consists of a bedroom, bathroom and kitchen. In my bedroom, I have a small twin bed with a, what feels like, concrete mattress and the most uncomfortable pillows ever. In my kitchen, my fridge is my counter. I have to squat to look in my fridge, which actually turned into kind of a good thing. And my entire bathroom is my shower. But despite everything, I'm actually extremely comfortable in my apartment. When I first walked into my apartment more than a year ago, my thoughts were "holy crap" but now it's just my home. Again, Korea has handed me a piece of, as Tyra would say, humble pie because I've been able to live quite comfortably in an apartment the size of my bedroom back home. I have everything I need in my tiny apartment and am now terrified to move into my three bedroom home in Georgia. I mean, seriously, my entire apartment can fit into the master bedroom in the house. The kitchen actually has counters and a real fridge. The bathroom has a bathtub (yay for baths!) and more than enough room for Mark and I to live comfortably. It's quite baffling that I'm shocked at the size of the house. Could it be that I'm actually going to miss my tiny, albeit comfy, simple apartment? I'm thinking yes.
Now, while in many ways Korea is inconvenient, mostly for Americans, I find that it's also extremely convenient, hence my earlier comments in the close proximity of things. Another beautiful convenience? Public transportation. Buses, subways, trains and taxis are all there for my convenience. I've certainly used every single one of them and the one I'm going to miss the most are taxis. You can never get lost in Daejeon because there are always taxis honking at you hoping to take you somewhere. They literally drive down the street honking at pedestrians just to say "hey" in case you're in need of a taxi. You can get to anywhere in the country via bus or train for less than $50 and stay in a love motel for about the same price. Oh! I'm also going to miss love motels. They are SO convenient and fun to stay in. You can go to any city in Korea and find yourself a love motel to stay in for the night. It's fantastic.
The girly men in Korea have a special place in my heart. From their purses, to their perfectly coiffed hair, to their skin tight capris, I have come to love the Korean men who embrace their femininity, without realizing that they're doing so. One of the funniest things happened while my dad and Lisa came to visit me (I should probably blog about that, come to think of it...). Lisa was in need of some new shoes and as you know, or maybe not, Korea doesn't believe in selling shoes bigger than a size 8. Because of this, Lisa was forced to look at men's shoes that would fit her. As she was looking, she happened to spot a pair of shoes that could only be a woman's shoe because of the girly design and colors, but when she asked the salesman, he informed her that they were, in fact, a man's shoe. Lisa's mouth dropped and she started to say, "what self-respecting man would wear this sh..." when I interrupted her and said, "you'd be surprised." The salesman spoke some English, so I was scared that he would understand what she was saying. It was absolutely hilarious though and better illustrates the femininity of Korean men more than I can by trying to explain it. In America, I know I'm going to be searching for my beautiful Korean men. I'll miss them terribly.
The public restrooms are a wonder here in Korea. While there might not be toilet paper, there is almost always soap and the restroom is, in general, pretty clean. Unlike the American restrooms that look like someone sprayed gallons of water all over everything, Korean bathrooms are generally well taken care of and aren't disgusting to go into. I'm definitely speaking in general terms here because I have, on occasion, happened upon a totally disgusting bathroom with squatty toilets. But yes, in general, the public restrooms are clean. Another wonderful thing in the public restroom is the "polite" button which can be pressed when you feel you are about to make an...embarrassing noise. You simply press the button and it makes the sound of a toilet flushing and your embarrassing noise is completely masked by the fake flushing toilet. It's completely genius if you ask me, though I've never particularly been one to be shy while in the restroom. TMI
The first time Mark took me on base here in Korea, I went into reverse culture shock. It was the first time I had been around a significant amount of Westerners and I was completely thrown off by everything. The thing I was most conscious of was the fact that they could understand everything I said. Weird, right? On a day to day basis, I can generally say whatever I want and not have anyone understand me. This, of course, includes me saying not so nice things about peoples clothing or behavior, but since they can't understand me anyway, why not comment on it? I had gotten so used to behaving that way that the second I went on base, I was a giggling hot mess afraid to say anything because I didn't want people to overhear what I was saying. I wasn't even saying anything bad or obnoxious. I just didn't like the fact that people could understand me. Now what's up with that? How can I complain about the language barrier with Koreans and then complain when I get to a place where people can actually understand me? I swear, sometimes I don't even understand myself. With that being said, I am going to miss being able to say whatever I want with no consequences. I sincerely hope I don't get myself into trouble when I get to the ol' US of A.
Now of course the thing I'm going to miss the most are the friends I've made here. How can I possibly make a list of things I'm going to miss and leave them out? They have contributed in a large way to the person I am today and I cannot sufficiently express how amazing they all are. We've become a tight knit group of friends who have shared everything, and I mean everything, together. They've made Korea the amazing place that I'm so sad to leave and I know that I would not be gushing about how awesome Korea is if I didn't have them to share it with. I'm not really sure if that sentence made sense, but I'm just going to blow past it. Anyway, I'll try not to be too cheesy, but to my friends in Korea, I will never forget the things you've done for me and the experiences we've shared. I hope that we'll continue to keep in touch even though I'll be on the other side of the world. A part of me doesn't want to leave Korea because that means I'll be leaving you, too. You all will be greatly missed.
So. Am I looking forward to going home to, as a good friend of mine says, the land of "ovens, dryers and M&Ms"? Most definitely. I can't wait to have Pookie-free clothes after I pull them out of the dryer. I'm so looking forward to cooking Mark cordon bleu in our oven. I'm thrilled to not have language barriers, personal space issues and a soju/kimchi/fish scented hallway.
But of course I'll miss Korea and the life it gave me. I found amazing friends, a perfect husband, a job that I enjoy and life-altering experiences. It gave me my life back plus more than anything I could have dreamed up.
My time here is finished and even though I will probably be a crying hot mess on my flight home, I am so excited to start my new life with Mark in Georgia.
I still have a couple more blogs to write, so I will keep my blog up for a little bit after I'm in the States, so stay tuned for more Korean adventures!
I've run out of profound things to say, so I shall leave you with this for now, because really, what is better than big hair, beautiful, girly men, smoke and guitars?
