Golden Birthday!

Happy Birthday to me!

Wooooo, today I turned 28 on the 28th! So that means it's super special and awesome. Mainly because I decided it is. :D But, yeah, I've a really great time, especially since I am also on vacation!

Last week a co-worker and I went to down to Busan, which is the big beach city at the bottom of Korea. We took the "luxury" bus down and it took about 4 hours, and wasn't a bad ride at all. It has seriously been raining here for the last 3 weeks with no breaks, but we finally caught one! It was very lucky, the three days we were down there, the weather was amazing! It wasn't crazy hot, so we had a lovely time laying on the beach. For the first and last days, we were at the really big, popular beach. It was a little too intense for me. It was nice and I enjoyed it, but there were soooo many people...even for a weekday. We got down there Wednesday and also spent Friday at the same beach. It's so different from beach time at home. First off, pretty much everyone sits under an umbrella, which you can rent from 100 different people up and down the beach. You can also rent chairs and tubes, as well as buy chicken, beer, ice cream and an impressive array of other things. The water was super cold, but a ton of people still swim and most of them are in the tubes. It's actually pretty funny. The waves are pretty high so everyone screams from the cold and the waves, so there are tons of people just in these tubes, floating and screaming. Koreans are also interesting with their swim wear choices, so there are a lot of people wearing like, a full set of clothing in the water. Also, for whatever reason, tons of people wear hats and hardly anyone wears sunglasses. But, Busan has been one of the most chill places I've been in Korea. There were lots of people with tattoos, which you rarely see up my way.

Wednesday night there was some sort of outdoor concert on the beach and it was so random. It was basically a deejay outside on a stage with a bunch of people standing around watching. Koreans are pretty terrible at dancing and getting enthusiastic about concerts (from the ones I've been to), so there were only a few people busting a move. And I guess since it was a Wednesday night at 8, there were a lot of young kids there. Even some babies cruising around. I find there are often babies in unexpected places in Korea. Anyway.

Our hotel was SUPER nice in Haeundae (the first beach)...it had a huge bathtub, bathrobes, lots of cute toiletries and our own personal water cooler! Can't beat never running out of water..hot OR cold! When we went to the other beach (Songjeong) the next day, we found a pretty decent hotel a 5 minute walk to the beach for a really good deal. It wasn't as nice, but it was clean and had a huge TV in it. Plus, super close to the beach so I was thrilled. I just love the beach so damn much. It was so fabulous to just lay on it all day, even if there were lots of crazy things going on around me. Songjeong had a lot less going on and there were less people, so I liked it more. You could rent chairs and stuff (we did) but not quite as much craziness as Haeundae. They did have outdoor norebang (karaoke) at night, but overall, pretty quite and peaceful.

When we went back to Haeundae Friday, it was PACKED! The stage that had the deejay Wednesday night was hosting a some sort of beer and sunscreen promotion and it was completely ridiculous. There was a guy in a Psy mask dancing around with some girls and they played his songs, as well as a beer commercial he's in for like, 5 hours straight. I love Gangnam Style probably more than anyone, but it got pretty old after about hour 3. Other things that got old: the same 5 people wandering up and down trying to sell chicken and beer. The girls next to us that took hundreds of pictures of themselves. The girls on the other side that spent an hour putting on makeup and doing their hair with these huge mirrors that they brought TO THE BEACH. The girls in front of us that sprayed an entire bottle of spray on sunscreen on themselves, which got all over us. Basically all the girls we saw at the beach. Things that didn't get old: people watching all the ridiculousness. The super cute kids that were perplexed by my friends and I's foreign-ness. All the super hot men wandering around. Men that weren't super hot, but were hilarious to watch. And basically just being in the sunshiney goodness that is the beach.

On the way home I decided I'll be taking the train from now on. The bus ride isn't bad, but they only stop one time halfway through, and I had to pee so bad I thought I was going to die. I was seriously contemplating how I was going to successfully pee in a bottle when they announced they'd be stopping soon. Then I bolted off the bus and just barely made it to the bathroom. It was horrible.

Anyway. Then I came home and had an epic birthday party that lasted until 5 in the morning last night. A pretty good way to ring in 28. Now I'm going to use the rest of my vacation to recover because I am SO OLD. Then I'll have another party next week, but maybe slightly less crazy since I'll only have one day to recover. We'll see.

So yeah. Thanks if you sent me a birthday wish. There is still time if you haven't! Plus I'd love you anyway...even if it is my super special amazing golden birthday. I'd forgive you.

Dream big people!

Home of the Free...and Frumpy

Heyyyyy Oohhhhh.

Oh my! It has been SO long! Right? How are you friends? Me, I'm doing just dandy. It has been QUITE the interesting last few weeks. I mean, what was even going on last time I posted? Was Lincoln still in office? I don't even know. Sorry for the huge break. I know all of you were heartbroken.

Whoa. I just checked the last post and I skipped over all of May and June! Goodness! Now it's July and it's almost my GOLDEN BIRTHDAY!!! WOOOOO. That means I will be 28 ON the 28th! I am so old! I kind of can't believe this is really happening! I am also a little nervous that it's not going to be epic and awesome. It is over our summer vacation and almost everyone I know here will be out of town...or having babies. I will have to round together a rag tag group to make it awesome. Totally possible, don't worry.

Anyway. So much has happened! I'll rewind and hit the highlights. And then I'll try to start posting more often...I'm sure people need to know things.

I broke up with my boyfriend! I'm the one that did it and I'm ok with it now, but man oh man it was quite the dramatic experience. Seriously, more drama in a week than I think I've ever had. It was a little ridiculous and I was all, "is this real life?" And it was and it sucked. But, that's over now and I'm moving right along. I've never been the one breaking up with someone, I've always been broken up with, so it was a new experience. I didn't really like it, so I'm going to try and avoid it for the rest of my life. My plan is to just do whatever I want and not be called anyone's girlfriend until I think I'm with the person I'm going to marry. Good plan, right? I thought so.

Anyway, I also went home! Dang, I really can't believe it's been that long! A lot happened at home and it was all fascinating, but I'm going to just gloss over it since it really deserves it's own post (but probably won't get one). Main thing, my sister got married. Yay, good for her. Her new husband is very nice and has lots of fun, interesting family and friends. I guess they're my family too now? I actually don't really know how that works. The wedding was very pretty, she looked amazing and I looked pretty awesome as well. I still think my hair looked very 50s mom-ish (I was told repeatedly it didn't), but my make-up was amazing. Basically I was smoking hot. Quite pasty and fat, but my face was looking good.

I also went to my 10 year high school reunion while I was home. It happened to be at the same time, so I figured why not? It wasn't bad, but it was pretty boring and uneventful as well. Sadly, not very many people I was interested in seeing were actually there. I had a fine time in high school and didn't really have any grudges to avenge, but it would have been more fun to see people I was better friends with. I did go with my good group of girlfriends and were (obviously) the life of the party. Seriously, no one else was dancing. No one else as drunk as us, but I hardly doubt the two correlate at all.

My two best college friends came to visit me while I was home, from Florida and Texas and that was an awesome time too. Probably my favorite time. Other than all the time I spent at the beach. There are not even words to express how much I love the beach and how I wish I could be at it all day every day. Sadly, it rained quite a bit while I was home so I didn't get to spend as much time as I wanted there, but I did get a pretty good tan. Which was mentioned literally every time I saw someone for the first time when I got back to Korea. I guess it was kind of a big difference from when I left, but I thought it was pretty funny that it got mentioned all the time. Also, Koreans are more into having very white skin, so I don't think most people were impressed...more shocked I was happy being so dark. And I was! Quite proud of my tan...and very sad now it's fading.

I also ate a ton of good food while in the States. But, because I had some stomach issues while I was there (stress and different water, I think), I didn't eat as much as I wanted. Which, was probably for the best, in the end. I think I would have gained a lot more weight if I could have eaten 3 STP Dippers a day, like I wanted. I am sad that I didn't bring back a proper amount of food (mainly candy) with me, so feel free to send some my way...I have a list. I also didn't buy as many clothes as I wanted either. I got kind of conservative with my money, which I realize now was a stupid decision. However, I did invest in some good quality under garments for the first time in my life and it has made a HUGE difference. So yay for that.

So that was America. Lots of good food, good friends, good driving, amazing beach time, just an overall good time. It was actually quite strange to be home. People are so different! Mainly, in the way they dress. Most of the men here are SO stylish and put together. At home,everyone seems so frumpy because they wear ill fitting clothing. Don't get me wrong, I am pretty frumpy myself, but I like to look at men that aren't. But for some positives, the grocery stores are amazingly huge with so much selection, I almost cried when I for the first time. I also went to Target like, 7 times (in the first week) and spent so much money. I had to put myself on Target restriction. I realize now that was stupid, but at least now I'll maybe have some money saved for a kick ass winter vacation. So, yeah, America was great. But, I was happy to come back to Korea. It was nice to be welcomed back by all my babies and my lovely co-workers. I think that's a good sign...to be happy to go back to work. I was so excited to see my class! I feel so lucky to have a job that I really love and enjoy and am looking forward to the rest of the year!

On that same vein (skipping ahead 3 weeks), we had Parent/Teacher conferences on Friday and it just further solidified my satisfaction with this job. I wasn't really looking forward to them because it means sitting in a chair all day, mainly just listening to my co-teacher and the mom speak Korean while I pretend to look interested. Sometimes the moms can speak English and we chat and my co-teacher translates some as well. But mainly I just sit. BUT, point is, the moms were just so nice and grateful, and it's just another reason I love the job. First off, a lot of them bring us presents, which is AWESOME. All food, since we are not "allowed" to accept real presents, but I love food, so no complaints here. A group of moms brought us peaches, which are crazy expensive in Korea. Also, they told me they brought fruit instead of cake because the students told them I was on a diet. Which I find hilarious....they thought this because I usually eat an apple at lunch and the kids see it. I also eat pizza, fried chicken and a host of other unhealthy dishes, but that one piece of fruit indicates a healthy diet. I love it! They also had lots of good things to say about how much their kids love coming to PSA because they love me and my co-teacher, and how they are all very impressed with how much their kids are learning. I love (and need!) positive feedback, so this is all just fantastic for me. Love it. Then I celebrated with noreabang (Korean karaoke) and we sang all the musical songs they had in the book...'Do You Hear the People Sing,' 'Under the Sea,' 'Do Re Mi,' all the things Korean people want to hear while they're drunk.

Anyway, nothing else exciting going on. Well, that's not all true...but they are not family friendly things. So, in other news, it has been raining like no one's business here, so I've been spending a lot of time indoors. I'm not complaining though because if it's not raining, it's hot as mess.

My vacation starts this week, so I'll be going to Busan (a big beach city) for a few days and then will be back to celebrate my BIG SPECIAL GOLDEN CHAMPAGNE BIRTHDAY!!! It's going to be awesome!

Dream big people!