I am in Love with Korea Today so Thought I Should Post

Today I started choking in one of the three the coffee shops in my building and the owner heard me so she made me a special tea and gave me a big bottle of cough syrup to take home. I was so touched I figured I should pay it forward and give back by blogging for my friends.

I'll start by talking about my friends in Korea. We've had a few holidays come and go and I think I've enjoyed them more here than I have since college in the states. It's been hard to get over my feelings of foreboding about the holidays because they've been kinda regretful in the states. I have a had a few good ones with people I love (like t-day in SB for example), but there are a lot of holidays that I sat around hoping they'd get better or hoping I could get away from mean people. Because of that I realize I get nervous about holidays and I may finally be over that feeling.

On Halloween I felt like everyone was fixing to go out without me and that I'd be alone. Everyone I knew had plans to go downtown but they were all going in groups and I wasn't in a group. I made a plan to go with Han who lives on my floor but he wasn't answering his phone or door when it was time to go. I thought about giving up but then a friend called and said I'd better get down there so I grabbed a beer and hopped in a cab alone. I saw some foreigners who looked familiar and followed them to the nearest bar and lo and behold there were some people I knew. Then more people came, and more, and finally everyone was saying how excited they were to see me and glad I made it. Han of course had a piss poor excuse but that's just him. I also found out later that one of my friends had called someone else in my building and asked him to go to my door to make sure I'd left. Amazing. It was a fun night with fun costumes and even though it's similar to college, the big difference is that I'm no longer in college so I'm not making stupid decisions and can have a regret-less fun time. I guess I should add what Halloween is like in Korea. All the foreigners get together downtown (which is a bit like the bar scene in State College but without the lines), and there are tons of funny costumes. The Koreans who love to do western things also get dressed up but I don't think they quite understand the concept - instead of wearing a costume they wear costumes. For example, they wear scary masks or funny hats or USA outfits. I guess that makes sense but westerners have made Halloween so much about making a funny costume that it's no longer about just looking scary so it's weird to see people wearing unrecognizable costumes. Many Korean girls like to dance with me and when they do is probably the only time western guys dance with me. The guys always scare away the girls though. No game. I also don't appreciate being their wingman.

On to Thanksgiving. Since this holiday was a Thursday everyone I know had to work late. It's weird that it was the first time I've ever worked on Thanksgiving and it didn't actually feel weird. My close group of friends decided to have a dinner at the one girl's place who has more than one room apartment, Prisca. She's got three bedrooms, a kitchen and a living room, but shares it with roommates. Han and I headed over there after work (10pm) for a potluck dinner. I had spent the afternoon frying sweet potato medallions and brought some wine as well. Han brought nothing. When we got there everyone was already setting up food. We all chipped in to buy a rotisserie chicken and some ribs. Dan concocted and apple pie by getting sweet waffles at the bakery (a chain called Paris Baguette), heating up apple pie filling his mom mailed to him and topping it with fresh whip and vanilla ice cream. He also had canned cranberry sauce (my fave) and green beans (supposed to be from Han). Prisca made spaghetti with homemade veggie sauce, Katie made mashed potatoes, Bethany and Erin brought mixed veggies and a fruit salad, as well as garlic bread that came with a sweet whipped topping. Surprisingly delish! We all made up big plates and said what we were thankful for, which included clubbing, friends, Korean food, and our favorite relatives. Then we watched Elf and prepared ourselves for Christmas.

Chanuka was the holiday I was most nervous about. I tried having a Chanuka party in SD and even though some people came, it was not all that fun and I had so much leftover food. The party had to be Friday night because Steve and I were co-throwing it and he wanted to go away for the weekend, so the start time was 11pm and I had an hour after work to fret that no one would come. The plan was Steve would make the latkes and I would host it in my room (his room is a nasty filth pit). We eventually coerced Han into giving up his room as the beer pong room. Haha. I spent the day before work buying and cutting veggies for a platter and getting jelly munchkins from Dunkin Donuts, and getting E-Mart chocolates as a substitute for gelt. I found some gold coins at Starbucks but I couldn't buy them in bulk so I just bought one for myself. I set everything up after work and then sat in my apartment from 10:15 on worrying. Maybe no one would eat the veggies and there were so many! I set up three makeshift menorahs and lit two just in case no one would want to do it properly. All this for nothing! Some coworkers were in Steve's room and I thought maybe they'd never come over. Then right at 11 Mike came to my room and asked if I was ready. Oh. They came over and went straight to the food and dove in. They sat down and drank and chatted. People were having fun already! Then there were enough people to spill into Han's room and start beer pong. When Steve was done frying he brought in the latkes and gathered everyone around to light the menorah and people said amen after I said the prayers and dug into the latkes. Then I realized none of my Thanksgiving friends were there yet and I worried again. They showed up a little while later with a felt Menorah and little felt flames to add to it, and each girl was wearing a felt flame pinned to her shirt. Adorable! I'd invited a guy from downstairs when I saw him in the street a few days before and figured he'd forget to come. He came with a homemade dreidel and said he'd taught his students to play. oh, he's Catholic. we gathered up the E-Mart chocolates and played dreidel on the floor! An actual real Chanuka party! I'm still shocked by how successful it was. The last people left around 5:30am. Han's room was a mess with a pool of beer on the floor; mine wasn't so bad. Who can tell if Steve's had any damage?

On to Christmas! Christmas is interesting in Korea because it's everywhere like in the states - sings, decorations, music, but it's not celebrated like in the states. I've asked all my students what they're doing on Christmas and they have said, school, sleeping, playing computer games, and one said she's going Christmas camping. Then she drew me a picture of the three-bedroom tent with a fireplace and running water. hm.

*There are Christmas sales in the stores on winter wear and alcohol but I haven't noticed the crowds getting too bad. It helps that I don't have to drive and park anywhere. My favorite ad campaign is ad Paris Baguette: "You are not alone." There is something so lonely about seeing it on their windows. The commercial has Santa Claus putting gifts under the tree forlornly and then the house's family wakes up and brings him a PB (we also call it P-Bag) cake. It's depressing. The cakes are gorgeous though. A PB rival, Tous Le Jour, has a commercial where a whiny girlfriend gets a cake from her bf. I'm not sure if it's a tradition to give cakes to your lover or what but the cakes are not personal sized. It's pretty common to buy the cakes, though; I've seen people eating them at clubs, restaurants, and parties. Like I've said before, restaurants don't have dessert so I guess it's ok to bring a PB cake in. They are also pretty cheap considering how pretty they are. OK enough about cakes.*

Christmas. Last Friday night the people who teach at the three branches of my school in town had a ugly sweater bowling party. Two of my friends and I went out and bought some great sweaters, but not everyone was into it so some people showed up looking normal. Whatevs, we had fun bowling. The three new teachers in town came out and they are cool for the most part.

*The girl, Meagan likes Han for some reason. She seems nice and fun but also like she's from a different world from me. She says literally too much (saying it once is too much and most people here say it too much so you can understand when I single her out as saying it too much) and when she was chatting with me online she called this annoying guy a "f@*got," which kind of blew me away. I only mention these things because they are so foreign to me as being normal. I should start having footnotes, huh? The other new guy at her school is Spencer and so far I am not into him. He is pretty loud and rambunctious, like me, but he's already offended me and some of my girlfriends (which i've also prob done). After learning Prisca's name he asked where she was from and when she said "LA" he said "but where are you really from?" We're not sure if he said this because of her name or because she looks Asian but it was weird. Also, the first night I met him he told me he just wanted to be friends even though he usually had Jewish girlfriends, and then when he was drunk told me he was finally drunk enough to do me. Smooth. It might be my job to tell him he is not good-looking enough to be such an ass. The last new guy is Nick. I have only seen him twice and so far he's been nice. I know he likes Indie rock, ironic glasses, and possibly Buffy because I made a reference and he seemed to get it. Could've just been being nice though.*

This year I am part of two secret santas: one is with my group of friends from Thanksgiving and the other is with my coworkers. Last weekend we had the friend party and it was a success for me. The assignment was to buy Korean-style winter wear. This means something cute and maybe a little tacky that one couldn't find in the US. Then we all picked numbers and then chose a gift from the pile to open. I bought a reversible circle scarf (it's the kind that you put over your head, kind of like a really loose mock turtleneck), and super fuzzy smiley face pants. I chose an awesome gift - a red/orange scarf, ski socks, and a squirrel hat. The hat is similar to the ones I bought my nephews. Two other ppl got similar hats - they're pretty awesome. I'm pretty sure Liz, who bought my gift, went over the $20 limit. I'm stoked about the socks because on Christmas day I'm going skiing with my coworkers and I'll get to test them out. The party was also fun - we had another potluck style thing going. I'd brought baked goods from a charity bake sale I went to that day (homemade baked goods are exciting because none of us has an oven). Liz made chicken quesadillas and guacamole (she's quite amazing actually). Bethany brought homemade blue cheese from the bake sale and crackers. Dan brought pizzas, Sylvia and Will brought wine, and Han brought a small bag of chips he'd bought last second. After eating and unwrapping we watched Love Actually and I put out the chips because I didn't want Han taking them home to eat for breakfast. Then I got the flu and went I went to bed that Saturday night I didn't get up until late Monday morning.

Tonight is my second secret santa. This one we drew names for. Guess who I got. Yes, Han. How did you know? We are going to order in food in Will's room and open gifts after work, 10pm. I got out of having it in my room by saying the flu germs were still around. So I tossed around some ideas for Han's gift before settling on one. I wanted to get him a mop but I didn't know if we were going to a restaurant and didn't want to lug it around. I also thought about getting him an etiquette book but I didn't think I'd find one in English. Then I thought about making one but it seemed like a mean gift to give. Also, I'm not really the expert. Oh wait, I'm totally gonna make a fake etiquette book cover and wrap it and pretend it's his gift first. Ok, but what I really got him is an electronic bus pass. Our limit was $10 and the bus pass is $6 so I put $4 on it, which means he gets 4 rides. The bus pass is cool because it saves you .05 each ride, but it's not worth it in price alone if you take the bus twice a week for only one year. It is worth it if you don't want to carry around singles with you whenever you need the bus, though. So it's a nice gift for Han for two reasons: he hates having cash on him (so he says, but I think he's just cheap), and he can save money without having to pay for the pass. Right? I'm nervous he won't like it because it's a cell phone tassel and he might not want to put it on his phone. He's weird like that. In the states I wouldn't want a cell phone tassel either, but here it's normal. Everyone has at least one and some are super bulky. I love my bus pass though so I hope he likes his. I'm excited to see what someone bought me.

I think we're going to have a low-key Christmas eve (teaching until 10pm) and then wake up super early to go skiing on Christmas. Sylvia and I are the only ones skiing, everyone else is super cool and will be snowboarding. I thought about it because I do know how to wakeboard now, but I like skiing so Iim going to stick with it. Then we are all going to come back for a Christmas pot luck. Will bought a big apple pie at Costco (there's one two hours away!) and froze it for this occasion. And then we prepare ourselves for New Year's Eve. I'm not over my holiday fears enough to be excited for it yet.

The Gym

Well, I've been feeling guilty about not having any Korean friends and decided joining the gym would be a good way to meet some. Let me start off by saying, so far it looks like this was a great idea. I joined the gym, took a class, and seemed to be pretty popular there. But this post will not concentrate on my cool potential friends but on two other awesome things at the gym.

1. The Class

I was on the treadmill and saw an aerobics/dance teacher giving a class to one student in sparkly shorts (i guess the clothes they give us to wear are optional but i'm totally gonna stick with them because less laundry for me!). It looked like a pretty cool class, mostly because of the sparkly shorts and the teacher wearing a backless halter and bandeau, so I decided to join the next one after walking on the treadmill. the class i went to was much more popular - maybe 10 girls, and most were wearing the gym-issued uniform like me, so that was reassuring. Anyway, let's get to it. The first thing i noticed was the heated floor. ok cool. the next thing i noticed was the lack of instruction. normally in a dance aerobics class the teacher will give an 8 count instruction, then we'll all do it, then we'll do it faster, then she'll add on another bit, and so on. In this class we had a few minutes of one song and just followed along with the teacher, who was going at warp speed, shaking her ass, pumping her chest, and swinging her hips. Yes, just like it sounds, it was the best class ever. half-way through, someone turned on the heater and steamer, which was directly behind me so it was hot dance aerobics - like dancing in a sauna. not just like dancing in a sauna but actually dancing in a sauna. class ended an hour ago, i took a cool shower, and my face is still cherry red. anyway, we kept up the insanely fast routine for 40 minutes, stopping between songs to do some sort of exercise (like jumping jacks) while the instructor switched songs. The last few minutes were slowed down to ballet-like moves and then probably a 2 minute cool down of yoga stretching. then all the girls came over to me to ask how i liked it. i was excited that they were excited to see me but i was about to pass out so i said yeah and ran to the water bubbler. the class is monday-friday so i will go as often as possible.

2. The Shower

Now, I've already written about the bath house but the gym bath house is a little different because it's more "regulars." i didn't have energy to go through the whole routine so i went right to the showers, which are just open showers all in a row, no dividers or curtains - a bit like camp. so i sidled up to a shower and started to clean myself and when i got out my washcloth and started scrubbing, the woman next to me tapped me on the shoulder, then pointed to my washcloth. i knew immediately that she was offering to do my back and did i hesitate? No! i was v excited to get my back scrubbed by some strange lady - and it was awesome! woman went to town and i've never felt so clean. now this is awesome for two reasons, the first is obviously because i got my back washed by a stranger (keep in mind, a completely naked stranger, who put her hand on my naked body to brace herself while she rubbed me with my own washcloth), the second is because there is a spot in the bath house where people pay to get rubbed down like that and this lady was doing it to me for free. woohoo! i can't imagine anything in korea being as awesome as that moment for me. maybe next time i will offer to do some other woman's back. also, the woman on the other side of me accidently hit me with her soap while dropping it. that was fun too.

I'll let you know when i have cool new friends and what shenanigans we get up to. these girls must be fun at the club if they're taking this sexy dance class.

A Few Funny Things about the Students

This week I've had students say some gems.

One of my lessons was about sea creatures and their assignment was to create a creature that someone might discover in the future and make up it's characteristics. One student asked this: "teacher, what is it called when male fish and female fish...come come come come come?" then she made a very strange hand gesture that i interpreted as fish cumming all over each other.

My answer was, "reproduce?" still not sure if that's what she wanted.

One lesson involved them using "annoy" in a sentence and a girl wrote "my cousin brother annoys my cousin sister." i asked if her parents were also sister and brother or something. turns out she meant only male cousin and female cousin.

One lesson was about different kinds of love and then they had to define love for themselves in small groups. The best group said, "love is madness because of the chemical reaction in your brain, love is booger kissing because you don't think the other person is gross and you like the taste, love is having someone to drive you to the mental institute because you are crazy, and love is attraction but i'm too young to know what that is." They had me at booger kissing. They were just joking about the booger kissing but i thought it was great anyway. (also, i told them i have an iphone, when talking about what we love, and now they think i'm the coolest person in the world.)

A co-teacher of mine said during break that one of her students said she was unique because of her "thick mouth." we asked if she made use of the opportunity to teach them "DSL" but she didn't.

My students love to ask my age, and my relationship status. Those might be the only two things they all ask. One pointed to his nose and said "these are called freckles?" i said "yes do you like them?" and he said "no." Another asked (and this is my favorite of all time maybe), "teacher, why is your face so small?" what on earth kind of answer do they expect to questions like that? i simply said "because i was born early." a co-teacher told me they think small faces are a good thing though.

Finally, Some Thoughts on Korea

1. Koreans hike in lots of clothes, even when it's balls hot out. I thought this was because of all the cute outfits available (who knows which came first, though) but I think it's because their sweat don't stink and they hate sunlight. Well, they hate letting the sunlight touch their precious white skin. Which brings me to

2. Koreans are obsessed with white skin. Most of the lotions available include "whitening" agents (like you'd find in toothpaste - which i'm also against) and apparently if you look close enough you can see their faces are a little whiter than their necks because of the cream. They do not think my freckles are cute, and at the waterpark the lounge chairs are indoors instead of in the sun. Also, they like the blonde white teachers the best. When i'm in public kids sometimes say hello to me because they think i' weird or something, but when i'm in public with a blonde coworker it happens all the time and the kids are relentless. I also found out that teachers get hired based on these facts. i'm surprised i got hired at this point.

3. Koreans know how to use a water feature and aren't afraid to overdo it. There are fountains all over the place and they are all pretty damn cool. I see them randomly all over the city and am always excited by them. I wonder when the novelty will wear off. Although they will probably all be turned off soon for winter. sad.

4. Koreans are not the ritualized tea drinkers i thought they were. They are more coffee shops than imaginable. in my building of 8 floors and maybe 15 apartments per floor (from 4-8), there are 2 coffee shops on the first floor. there is one across the street and at least one per block (2 including the backs of buildings) for as long as i can walk. They are pretty cool though - they have wifi and nice seating and are a great place to study. Although the one i went to recently did not have a bathroom that i could find (sometimes they share a public bathroom with the building but i didn't look further than the shop). The coffee drinks i get (lattes and such) are anywhere from 3,500w-6,000w, which is approx $3-$5.50 or so. I try not to frequent any place that charges more than 4,000w though. I still have not figured out why i like them better here than in the states. maybe the convenience? maybe it'll wear off soon. But back to the original point - they don't even serve tea at restaurants like chinese restaurants do in the US (and maybe china?) which brings me to

5. Korean do not drink fancy things with meals. At restaurants, there is a water cooler and cups next to it for people to drink water when they feel like it and that's it. Often people can order beer or soju with dinner but no one drinks soda or juice. I don't even think it's offered or available. I didn't realize this until today because i've never been one to order a drink with my meal but looking back at my first meal here i realize that my friend ordered sprite and it took a while to convey the desire. Also, the sprite drink here is called chilsung cider and it's offered in vending machines all over. I saw one in the park today next to a fountain. i had to ask people what it was because i thought it might be alcoholic at first.

5a. two more observations about drinks. at fast food joints (burger king, mcdonalds, and this place called lotteria) they do not ask what drink you want - you just get coke. i kind of like not having to decide. once, i saw that there was sprite and asked for it and got it. fun! also, can you believe i've had enough fast food in the 2.5 weeks i've been here to know that? more on that later.

5b. people drink some nasty shit at the bars here. i'm not sure if it's because people are younger than i'm used to hanging out with or what but i took at least 3 pictures of horrible looking tables of drinks at a bar one night. i would see people drinking something gross looking and go over to pretend i wanted to chat with them and then once they got cozy i made them do a "cheers" pose. one table of girls had blue and yellow drinks, one table of russians had like a choco martini, a blue drink, and something even worse looking, and one table of guys had a row of shot glasses like 20 deep. Then one night we went to a third bar (i got home at 5am) and we ordered some sort of strawberry pitcher, which apparently was alcoholic, and ordered soju to mix with it. we only drank it in shots, which may explain why i was not ill in the morning. i also could not sleep well (maybe due to the sunlight streaming through my window) and drank water every time i woke up.

6. also at the bars, Korean dudes dance in the best way ever - by themselves at a distance from me. Love it! at least this is what happened the one night i went to a club. koreans are so homophobic that they don't believe in gay and therefore are comfortable touching same sex in a way americans are not. they don't mind dancing in a sausage party away from the girls. i liked it so much i wanted to get this one group of guys numbers but i felt like i needed at least a month before i started hitting on random dudes.

7. ok so the shit i've eaten. before i left i ate a lot of cheese because who doesn't love cheese? and i thought there wouldn't be any here. well, traditionally, there isn't cheese in the meals, but there are so many restaurants that are not korean food that i've eaten my fair share of cheese. in fact, i ate a whole pizza 3 times last week! wait, 2 times a whole pizza and one time sharing, except the sharing one had more cheese than any normal pizza. i still haven't had korean pizza yet, which has all kinds of weird shit all over it. last week was a holiday so i had to go to mcdonalds to find something to eat, and we went to the bus terminal on our way to the waterpark, which has the city's only burger king and everyone raved about it so i had to eat it then, and at the bus terminal in seoul i needed something easy to get wtih 150lbs of luggage so i had to go to lotteria. those are my excuses. my coworkers claim the fast food here tastes healthier and less greasy than the US but i don't think that's significantly true. the traditional food here is also served in big portions. i feel like we're supposed to share or something but it's pretty easy to eat a lot. korean barbeque is also just as popular and easy to get as i'd hoped except grilling food all the time is like asking for cancer so that's bad news. and there's a market on the first floor of my building so it's way too easy to get ice cream bars and or cookie things on my way up to the apt. the ice cream treats are awesome too. 500w for a cheesecake bar is hard to resist. and some of the coffee shops have amazing gelato. i think i might actually have to exercise if i want to lose any weight. damn. oh i forgot to mention the fried chicken. why is it that i eat shit here that i would never eat at home? anyway, the fried chicken is amazing. the hot ones are hot though. like i mean it. and they don't give you ranch or blue cheese ever.

So basically, Korea is way more like the US than i expected or wanted, but it's made my move pretty smooth. The shit the teachers complain about missing is super weird and not at all universal - one misses dill pickles (they serve sweet pickles as kimchi in some places), one misses quesadillas (not hard to find the tortillas and cheese though), one misses personal space (i remember get annoyed with that in the states though), one wants guinness, i'm kind of into the cheap beer here though. Cass is no more than 3,000w in a restaurant and sometimes under 1,000 at a market - and we can drink it in the streets, and on the busses adn in the waterpark no one stopped me from walking around with it and drinking it in the dr fish. maybe i'll find something to hate on after a little longer.

Golden Spa

Korea has been fun and interesting so far but nothing has stuck out as particularly blog-worthy because it's all just normal travel stuff... until now. This week is "Korean Thanksgiving" or Chuseok so we got a couple days off of work (i've only worked one day) and each teacher got two nice bottles of wine from the school. Score! I was worried about the holiday during training because I trained in Seoul but moved to Gwangju to teach and didn't think I'd know anyone in time to do something for the break. The problem was basically solved immediately because most of the teachers live in the same building so they can't really so much without me (although one guy already forgot me when he went to the tea plantation. so sad). So the plan was to go to a waterpark, unfortunately named, Golden Spa. I was not too excited about it, especially because I've heard horror stories about foreign water parks, but then my neighbor teacher told me everyone was going so I decided to go last minute. We took a bus to the main bus terminal and then hopped on a free bus to the waterpark! It was pretty empty so we didn't know what to expect there. The ride was nice though - about 45 minutes.

When we got there the ticket counter lady spoke no English and we spoke no useful Korean; luckily one of the guys had been before with people who'd previously been before so he knew what to do. Also we thought it was 56000 won but it was only 22000 and we didn't know why so we were worried that the whole park wasn't open - now we think it was end of season price or holiday price. woot! We got a bracelet that looked like a watch to unlock our lockers and buy food and beers with. We then opened a locker near the cashier to put our shoes in only. Strange, ok. Then we put some cash on the watches at a counter labeled "calculations." Then we went into another room and separated to men and women - oh the locker rooms! There were more lockers there for us to change and store our stuff. So fancy!

Ok nitty gritty: There are three parts to this water park. Let's start with the outdoor part. This part had awesome slides, and a pirate ship, and pools, a lazy river, and best of all... a shallow pool with doctor fish! It took me 5 tries throughout the day but I finally got my feet in for a significant amount of time (also I had a beer in hand the last time). Best ever! My feet feel so smooth now and I might have to try that again soon. There were men sitting in the pool but I could only get my feet in. I can't imagine what it was like having fish near their junk but whatever floats their boat. The slides were all awesome too and the place was so empty that we never had to wait in line, also this meant we had to go up all those stairs at once instead of waiting in line on them so we got a workout too. We also got to go on the slides as much as we wanted.

And the indoor part. This part had two more slides, but more importantly it had water massage stations in the pools for every part of your body. We would go to one station, lie down in the pool, push the button, and then jets of water would massage our backs and legs. or feet, or neck, or butt, or painfully the head. At times I felt like I should be in a private booth because it was so intense. There were also co-ed saunas of varying degrees and they were really pretty inside. One had paintings of cherry blossoms and another had a rock mosaic. The boys went in with their beers! One of the indoor slides was super crazy too. We had to walk upstairs and then the slide part went outside the building so we couldn't see what was to come. It was a dark tube that twisted and turned and then all of a sudden i was spinning around a funnel and then dropped into a huge dunk tank. Underwater I felt someone pulling on my arm to bring me to the side of the tank. It was this guys job to sit in the dunk tank all day and pull people up to the top! Quite a scary feeling not knowing what's going on and then some strange hand is groping for me. Only did that one once.

Finally the third part: a mini jimjilbang (Korean bath house). This, along with the doctor fish, is something I did not think I would end up doing, let alone within my first month. It was a mini bath house only because there weren't massage tables or people scrubbing anyone else down. It was still a whole bunch of naked ladies freely chilling in hot tubs and cold tubs and jet stream massage tubs. Girls were chit chatting while steaming, and in the showers moms and daughters were washing each other's backs. Pretty friendly place really. One of the saunas was 85 celsius! The highest I went was 66. There was also one pool that was half a foot deep with smooth but still painful rocks just for us to walk back and forth on, I think.

At the end of the day we took our watches back to calculations and got our remaining money back! Then We went to the convenience store for snack and beer and took them on the free bus back to Gwangju. Success! Now I feel like I can lounge in my apartment guilt free for the 2nd day of the holiday, and it's raining today - perfect!

Moving...on

I will be spending the summer at my mom's house in New Hampshire, which is something I haven't done for literally 20 years. And even back then I had things to do - I took summer classes in elementary school and went to day camp for a few weeks. I have no idea what to expect. I know there will be mosquitoes and humidity and crickets chirping but I just can't fathom what that will be like. I also don't know what I will do the whole time. I want to watch TV and get a job (kinda), and rollerblade like I used to but that's not really much. So I'm making a list of things I'm looking forward to in NH to try to make it more real.

Wicked starry nights. Are they as good as I faintly recall? Sometimes at night in SD I look up at the sky and see the big dipper and think of how amazing it is that there're so many stars in the city and I'm hoping that I've forgotten just how many stars there are.

Rollerblading for travel. Obviously SD has great rollerblading opportunities but it's not a way to get around. If I want to go somewhere close I have to walk and if I want to go somewhere far I have to drive. Nowhere in Merrimack is too far to rollerblade and it's pretty flat too. Also, the weather won't be perfect so I won't have the excuse of "I can't just rollerblade tomorrow."

Humidity. I think I may be underestimating how awful this will be, but I do remember enjoying the AC more because it was so humid. It's hot in SD in the summer but the AC in all the buildings is overkill and makes it cold. I think with the humidity in NH the AC will actually feel good. Also, my mom's basement is so nice and cool that it will be enjoyable. Maybe.

The pool. I've been trying to find friends with a pool since I moved here and have failed. The ocean is nice but it's not as fun or safe alone, which is what I will be in the middle of the day. The pool is close, which means I can walk home for the restroom or a snack or a nap. The problem is, I have no idea what it's like at my mom's house since I haven't been there in 20 years and am worried that it will be crowded and loud. I'm pretty sure I can go for an early swim with that old lady who floats in her raft though.

The woods. I haven't forgotten how much I miss the woods. I think there aren't as many as there used to be but there's still a lot. The hiking in California is just not my thing - there's rattlesnakes and low brush and sand. I can't wait to be back with the trees and the the dirt and the rocks and the green stuff. Maybe someone will go to Mt. Washington with me. Oh maybe my mom will want to! But that's getting ahead of myself. There're woods all over the neighborhood to walk in. and streams and it'll be nice and cool.

The crunchies. San Diego has some really great ice cream and the soft serve at the zoo hits the spot every time, but no one has crunchies like King Kone. I'm excited to get a cone - maybe a weird banana one, top it with crunchies, and then walk down to wildcat falls to sit in the cool stream and eat. Here's hoping no dead bodies float by.

Rainy days. This one is weird. I don't think I really want it to rain but I think the rain will be way better there than it is in SD. First of all people will be better drivers. Secondly there will be indoor things to do. Thirdly there might be thunder and lightning! I haven't seen summer rain in five years. Is it hot?

Summer TV. Aren't there like special summer shows that I've never seen? Like guilty pleasure shows that they can't run during real TV watching seasons? I've never had a summer TV and think it might be awesome. Also, I wonder if my mom has HBO because I'm pretty sure they have good summer programming. If she doesn't, I wonder how I can convince her.

Tax free shopping. Obviously this one is pretty awesome. Today I bought something for $7 and it ended up being $7.61 with tax. 61 cents! That might as well be a dollar because with one quarter I can't even park downtown long enough to return a library book. Now I don't exactly have any money to shop with but I will need to buy some things for my trip overseas, right? or gifts. or something. Do they tax on deodorant and shampoo and stuff? I'll just have to stay away from the mall most days. Or get a job there! oy.

Seeing old friends. No idea who is around or who will want to see me but there must be a lunch date waiting somewhere, right? I think this one is more aptly titled, anticipating who I will see, because that's really what I'm excited about. I have no idea who I'll run into or who I'll end up hanging out with (please, someone!).

Spending time with my nephews. Kinda. It could be great or it could be a disaster. Here's hoping it's great. Also, it could never happen, knowing my sister.

Playing DDR with my mom. I wonder if she's ever played. She's gonna love it, right? HOw could she not? I think seeing her play will prob be one of the funniest things of the summer. I'll post the youtube link. And it's way more fun to play with someone else than it is to play alone. No matter how frustrating it is to watch someone mess up and want to bogart the game.

OK now here are a few of my concerns: what do people where? are they fat? will i fit in because i'm fat? are they homophobes? does that even really matter? will the food be unbearable? will i lose weight because my mom can't cook (well that's not quite a concern and more a hope)? will my mom let me buy wine for dinner? will i sit in front of the tv until i kill myself (unlikely)? how will i pay for my student loans? how will i pay for anything? will people not want to hang out with me because i'm a loser living with my mom? will my mom get netflix? will my mom be unbearable (i'm hoping she's as busy as she usually is)? will my friends in SD answer my phone calls to chat? who will see movies with me? is everyone married? will there be an ultimate frisbee team still? will the ladybugs attack the house again? will i hate them just as much? and on and on.

There's a chance it won't be so weird at all. I spend the majority of my time in my media room watching DVDs anyway so at least there's that to fall back on I think.