Greetings from Korea!

You guys.

I know, I know. I have been TERRIBLE at updating. As in, totally not doing it at all.

For all of you readers out there that are not Facebook friends with me or my mother (sup mom?!), I made it to Korea safe and sound almost three weeks ago! Let's go into some details:

The Flights
...were all fine and actually quite pleasant. I barely slept on the long flight over but they had some pretty good movies and I had my iPad with books. I was in the window seat and we had the middle seat open so it was quite an enjoyable experience.

The Landing Fiasco
My bag got lost!!! This happened in Norway, too, so I was prepped for it by putting a majority of what I needed in my carry-on. The bag that they lost was the one with all of my extras, including my shoes. It was a pretty annoying situation for four days, but I eventually got my bag. The hardest part was that I didn't have a cell phone number to be contacted at until the day of. What actually happened to the bag is INSANE as is the follow-up:

The actual tag on the bag (yes, the giant fucking sticker) FELL OFF in transit from St. Louis to Chicago. Because of that, they needed me to describe a unique item that was easy to find as an identifier.

My mom got me a mini-calendar of Bichon Frise puppies in my Christmas stocking this year. She thought that it could remind me of my pup when I'm in Korea. I left it on the mantel for two months and totally forgot about it. She must have asked me five times while I was in St. Louis if I wanted to bring it. I didn't feel like I NEEDED to (none of the puppies in that calendar could be as cute as my fluffy boy anyway) but I said I would to make her happy.

Well, a few days before I left, she took the calendar and put it on top of my suitcase herself and said that she wanted to make sure I remembered to take it. As I was packing, I put it in the front pocket as a last-minute item.

Guess what my unique easy-to-find identifier was?!?!

Moral of this story: LISTEN TO YOUR MOTHER.

The First Night
I also found my driver and he was very mad at me for taking a long time with my bag. By the time we were in the car on the way to Suwon, it was late, I was tired, and I was upset about my bag being lost. Just when I was falling asleep in the back, he asked me if I liked K-Pop. I just kind of said 'yeah yeah' exhausted, but politely. Not two seconds later, he started BLASTING some K-pop band at a volume level that I can only compare to a 16-year-old the first time they get their license. WELCOME TO KOREA!!!

After I got to my apartment and my boss came with two other new coworkers, we took my things up and then went out for dinner. After dinner, we all went to HomePlus (I'm seriously going to have to do an entire fucking post on HomePlus because it is so so so amazing!!!) and I got shoes to wear to school since I only had my Ugg boots. All of my other shoes were in the lost bag. Then I went home and got a solid 4 hours of sleep.

That jet lag lasted a pretty long time. I think by the end of the first week, I had gotten maybe 14 hours in four nights. I finished the first week off by a night drinking with coworkers and that forced sleep did it for me. Lesson: always drink to mitigate jet lag.

The School
I will do many many future posts on my school but here are my impressions after two full weeks of teaching:

• My coworkers are amazing and I could not be luckier
• My kindergarteners (Korean 5-year-olds, American 4-year-olds) are half cute, half annoying as fuck. Two of them are super smart and love school and the other two can't make it through a day without having a temper tantrum and crying fit so bad that they have to go to the Korean teacher. And I'm not going to coddle a screaming child. Get your shit together and get the fuck over it. Can you guess which two are cute and which two are annoying?
• Lower elementary (1st and 2nd grade) is terrible. They are just terrible. I teach several classes and they are all annoying as can be.
• Upper elementary (3rd through 5th grade) is awesome. Further evidence of my third grade girls being the best people in the world to come in a future post.
• While the hours are hard and the rules can be strict, I'm pretty happy with my school. I get paid very well and there are a lot of bullshit parts that I don't have to do that I know other teachers have to do at their schools.
• Also, these kids are fucking geniuses. One of my four-year-olds can READ. What the fuck? Can American four-year-olds even form sentences??

The Apartment

...will be fully covered in a subsequent post, hopefully involving an apartment tour video. The basics are that it is bigger than most but it is not ultra modern and chic like some. I wasn't too happy with it at first but now that it's becoming my own, I'm liking it more and more. And the location is amazeballs.

The Neighborhood

Just assume that every section of this post from here on out will have future posts going into more detail. I'm just trying to get my bases covered so that I can move on with my life and this blog and not feel like I have this post hanging over my head. Anyway, the location of my apartment and school is awesome! It feels very neighborhood-y and there are tons of businesses but not HUGE CITY-ish like other areas that I've seen. If I had to describe it in Minneapolis terms, I basically live in the Uptown of Suwon. And if you're not in Minneapolis, reevaluate your life choices.

The Nightlife

Oh where to start. Soju is cheaper than water. It's definitely a capital T that rhymes with P that stands for Pool. Also, I knew it was trouble when I walked in. And there is a HIGH possibility that I could be lying on the cold hard ground (OK, you can do a lot with calling an alcoholic beverage 'trouble'). In summary, it is fun and I will update more.

The Shopping

KOREAN COSMETICS. THIS LAND IS MY PERSONAL MECCA. HOLY FUCKING SHIT. YES, THIS SECTION DESERVES ALL CAPS BECAUSE IT IS ALL THAT AMAZING!!! HOMEPLUS IS THE GREATEST THING TO COME OUT OF THE LAST 500 YEARS OF INDUSTRY!

The Sights

Because I work a lot, I haven't done TOO much sight-seeing yet but I'm working on that. I went to the Suwon Fortress and that was awesome. There are so so SO many things to see and do in Korea and I just want to do it all. As my friend Sara and I keep saying, there hasn't been a single thing that I HAVEN'T wanted to do yet!

Bottom line: I'm very, VERY happy that I came here and that I'm doing this. 

Even though there are times when I wish that corporal punishment was allowed, I feel like this is definitely the best thing for me to be doing right now. Teaching is SUCH a big challenge and it's made even more of a struggle living in a new place. That's what is so awesome about this: I get to have accomplishments every day! It started with simple things like successfully being able to order a coffee at Starbucks and just today, I got through my first 40 minute class with all four of my kindies without any tears. HOW YOU LIKE ME NOW!?

I PROMISE to be better about posting and to upload pictures!

Thanks for reading this ridiculously long summary!

Today Is The Day!

Well I'm writing this post from the airport in St. Louis. Yup--that's right! Today is the day of the big trans-pacific move! First I'm flying to Chicago and then straight from Chicago to Seoul. And honestly? I could not be more excited to go!!! I normally dislike flying but I can't wait to jump on both planes today!

Packing actually went pretty well. My brother Tetris-ed everything in my bag for me and I was able to fit every single thing that I wanted to take except for my sleeping bag. Small sacrifice to make for more clothes space, though! My bags were significantly overweight so I got slammed with heavy bag charges (fuck you, United. Seriously, go fuck yourself. Asiana charges HALF of what you charge for overweight luggage). While it was expensive, at 6 AM right before moving across the world, I couldn't care less. I'd rather pay than have a crazy stressful travel situation and have to Sophie's Choice my stuff.

Never in my life have I felt so sure of anything as I feel about this. It's kind of crazy and unpredictable, but that's the point! This is exactly what I need to be doing in my life right now and I am so lucky and happy to have this amazing opportunity!

Winding Down and Speeding Up

I've been in St. Louis for two weeks and am leaving for Korea in less than week now. Technically, I will be flying over the Pacific exactly one week from today. In the time that I've been here, I've been visiting family and friends and studying for my GRE.

And I killed my GRE. I mean, I did a lot better than I was expecting. Now, they say that one cannot cram for the GRE but I did it. I went from not remembering how to multiply fractions to getting a pretty solid score in a week. It CAN be done. It just needs a lot of time devoted to it.

Since my GRE on Thursday, I have procrastinated started unpacking from Minneapolis, only to re-pack again in a few days. I also made over 100 cakeballs yesterday for the lovely farewell dinner that my mom threw for me.

Red Velvet, Chocolate Peanut Butter, and Cookies and Cream. Be jealous.

I will really miss not having an oven and not being able to bake while I am over there. I'm sure I'll get creative but I really enjoy making these! In all honestly, I just enjoy the accolade that I receive from everyone when they taste them.

Today I did my big Costco trip and spent more money on medicine than I ever thought I would. I bet if I added up the money that I've spent on medicine for the next year it would rival my REI bill. What I've read over and over again is that you really need to bring a lot of medicine with because their stuff in Korea is just super different than ours. And my health is not something that I want to mess with.

In the next few days I have to finish unpacking, spend more time with family and friends, get everything else that I need from Target and whatnot, pack everything, and then get on the freaking plane! I also have a to-do list like six pages long with everything from my taxes to my dry cleaning. One thing is for sure: a week from now, all of this will be done and over with and I will be off on my adventure!

Mardi Party

I know that it's been a while since I last posted but there honestly hasn't been TOO much going on.

Every day in St. Louis is pretty much consumed with me studying for the GRE and doing little chores here and there around the house. I have started cooking dinner for my family quite a bit which I'm sure they enjoy (and I enjoy, too). Cooking on someone else's dime is awesome!

So yes, back to the GRE bit: I'm taking it on Thursday and I am actually feeling very good about it. My practice test scores have nearly skyrocketed about every day. They say that you can't cram for standardized tests in a week but um, chyeah you can (if you have 10 hours every day to study).

I still haven't unpacked anything from the MPLS-STL trek but I'll get on that just as soon as I finish the GRE. By the same that happens, I'll be ready to start re-packing for Korea!

As many St. Louisians know, the Mardi Gras celebration here is the second biggest in the country (after NOLA of course). I went to my first one ever on Saturday and it was...an experience. I had a ton of fun with my friend from high school and her brother, sister-in-law, and their friends but yeah, definitely an experience. Every single time I try to day-drink/marathon it, I always start out by saying that 'I'm terrible at it' but then I give in and try to do it anyway.

Guess what?

Any guesses?

I really am terrible at day/marathon drinking. I didn't get sick or pass out anywhere public or anything like that. I just think that I have about a 5 hour limit to partying and anything that goes beyond that, I get disinterested. Needless to say, I was back at my parents' house, sober, and in bed by 10PM.

I'm sure that there will be some amazingly fun times in Korea in the next year, but I am just fine with none of them including the challenge of sustaining a buzz and an excited attitude for 12 hours straight.

Roger Murtaugh in Lethal Weapon absolutely had it right:

Into the Valley

It has been a little while since I last posted. I am now writing from my parents' house where I will be for the next (almost) three weeks before I go to Korea. My to-do list here is quite small in comparison to the Minneapolis to-do list before I left:

-study for and take GRE
-unpack everything I brought here
-buy extra things that I am bringing to Korea that I haven't gotten already
-learn a bit of Korean
-repack for Korea

Pretty simple list for three weeks!

My goodbyes were all really hard and very tearful. I want to extend a huge huge HUGE thank you to all of my friends that came to last Friday's event, who tried (but couldn't make it because of the snow), who helped me get ready to go, and especially to my best friend in the whole world for helping me pack my life, sell it, destroy dispose of some pieces of furniture, being my emotional support, driving with me down to St. Louis through the worst road conditions imaginable (the snow wasn't that bad; it was maybe two inches TOPS. But instead of plowing the minute it stopped snowing, they waited hours to do the biggest highway in the area!), and for being one of the greatest people I  have ever known. 

But back to the other friends: they just rock. They all said such sweet things to me while I was sobbing in the VFW (go screw yourself and stop judging me, hipsters) and I can't imagine better friends and people in this world than my group in Minneapolis. I'm typically really bad at goodbyes but this provided a huge amount of closure and felt pretty good in a weird way. 

So now I'm here, living with my parents and my puppy, with pretty much nothing to do aside from study, for now. It honestly feels really good to not have anything else going on but we'll see how long this feeling lasts. I tend to get pretty restless.

I guess if I get bored, I can just reconfigure my Pack It Cubes and luggage again!

Everything I Own in a Box to the Left

So yeah, I totally did wait until the last minute to do all of my packing and yeah, it's really hard, both physically and emotionally. I never realized how psychologically challenging it would be to literally Sophie's Choice my entire apartment.

'I can take my Magic Bullet but not my mixer.'
'I can take my pink ski jacket but not my red pea coat.'
'I can take my black boots and brown boots and grey ankle boots and black booties and riding boots but not my heeled black boots.'

OK, homegirl just has a lot of shoes. But really, these are hard decisions to make. Instead of being able to return to all of my things when I get back from Korea, I'll only return to the items that can fit in my Corolla. I ended up selling nearly all of my furniture and the only things that remain are my little IKEA Lack tables. You know, those ones that like $7 a piece that everyone buys. Seriously, that is all of the furniture that's left in my apartment that I haven't sold. I lucked out and the people who are moving into my apartment after me need all new stuff so they bought a ton of it.

I love this apartment. It was perfect for me in almost every way. The walls were painted the exact shade of silvery blue that I would have picked out myself. The bedroom was spacious enough to fit my stuff while still being somewhat cozy. The living room was open and inviting. I even grew to love my Barbie-pink bathroom.

Time to get back to packing. At the end of the day, I get to keep all of my make up, all of my DVD's, and my skis. What else does a girl really need?

Amazing Friends and Loose Ends

I'm officially in the home stretch of my last few days in Minneapolis. I have two more nights in my apartment and then two nights at my friends' apartment before my trek back to St. Louis. I didn't think that I'd freak out at all about leaving but now I'm starting to get really overwhelmed with moving out of my apartment. I'm not freaking out about leaving and I'm not nervous for Korea; I just have SO much to do in the next few days!

I have almost all of my furniture squared away except for my bed but if it's not gone by tonight, I have a contingency plan for it. The huge majority of my packing will be my clothes and if I can knock that portion out today like I'm planning to do, I will be 100X more relaxed about the rest of it. I still have a few other miscellaneous non-packing things to do before I move but I feel like I have time to get this all done. Once I get packed up and out of here on Thursday, I have little-to-no-responsibility save for my GRE before my departure.

On the flip side, the biggest things keeping me from packing are my awesome excursions with my friends. I am overwhelmingly ecstatic by the amount of people coming to my farewell evening on Friday and everyone has been incredible at making time in their schedules to hang out before I leave. I had one of the best Sunday Fundays of my life with two amazing friends and yesterday I did something really cool: the behind-the-scenes tour at Sea Life at the Mall of America! I highly highly highly recommend this to anyone visiting or living in Minneapolis! It was seriously so cool. I also found out that they have snorkel and dive options, too. If I would have known that before my last week here, man I would have taken that up.

Overall, I think I'll be just fine with getting everything done and if I'm not, there is always my preferred method of moving: waiting until 7 hours before I'm set to leave to even start thinking about getting it all in boxes.

DISCLAIMER: I TOTALLY WOULDN'T RECOMMEND THAT AT ALL TO ANYONE.