Birthday Good Times!

Guys! I'm 30!

                                             

Bye twenties, it's been real! Now it's time to be a THIRTY SOMETHING. I can't believe it, but I'm pretty pumped. It got off to a good start, and I think good things are in my future. I've had a very 30 life so far, I think.

For daytime activities yesterday, I went to the "pool" down by the river here in town with my friend that has 2 super cute kids with his Korean wife. She was working, so I offered to help with a pool outing. I should have taken a picture, but I had a handful of baby so I never got around to it. The "pool" is more of a wading pool type situation that is open to the public in the summer. It has a weird shape to it and the water comes up to my knees and is probably filthy. But, whatever, I'm up for anything! Not getting any younger!

So we get everyone suited up, load up the stroller, grab some afternoon Starbucks like all good Koreans do, and walk on over to the pool. Because it's summer, it's packed and there are tons of little kids there, all wearing a swim outfit. I think they're called rash guards? Most of them had on swim caps as well, you know, to reduce drag while swimming. Also, my friend and I were the ONLY adults there wearing bathing suits and were the only adults in the water. So, it was a little awkward, but we just put on our foreigner blinders as one does when pretending to be normal in Korea. We got some stares from the Korean moms but come on...who's really the weird one? You're at a pool in the middle of summer NOT in a swim suit. I was nice and cool, that's all I'm saying. Anyway, I sat in a little corner with the 7 month old baby and had a fabulous time splashing around and yelling at Korean children that got too rowdy. I like babies, especially cute ones, but I am not well versed in proper pool care for them. I guess my friend isn't either because we made some rookie mistakes. We didn't put her in a swim diaper so the regular diaper she was in swelled to an absurd size and literally exploded, which made for one unhappy baby. Oops! Once we got her calmed down, it was time to go and the other one, a 2 year old, was NOT having it. He had a freaking meltdown! Did not want to leave the pool and was not going to without a fight. I got put on stroller duty and happily walked away with the diaper-less baby.

Anyway, I felt like it was a pretty fitting outing for a 30th birthday and I actually had a fantastic time. For dinner, I went to my favorite, Korean bbq and it was, as always SUPER DELICIOUS. God, it's seriously the best food in the whole world. I would eat it every day if I weren't afraid my arteries would explode. After, I found out they now have orange, peach and pomegranate flavored soju, which made for a fun evening but a pretty harsh morning. So then, I was SUPER 30 and slept pretty much all day long today. Those all day hangovers are real, and they are vicious.

Oh! And on Sunday I had a lovely little party that SY planned, since he has to work until 10:30 during the week. We had the fancy Korean bbq (do you see a pattern here?) and a yummy cheesecake with candles and everything. Fancy means it's expensive meat but actually in a cheesy traditional, sit on the floor restaurant where you get serious meat sweats but keep eating anyway because it's so freaking delicious. I got some really nice, sweet presents and had a great time! I'm really happy I got to be here, in Korea, with my SY.

Also, I had super awesome birthday nails! 

So that was my 30th birthday. Diaper explosions, meat sweats, and peach soju. So Korean...I really needed some noreabang (karoke room) but since it was a weeknight, we will have to save it for another time.

Also, I share my birthday with a lot of cool people. Actually, it's kind of absurd how many people have my special day. I don't want to mert any more. It's me, a high school friend, a college friend, a Spoleto friend (when I interned there), a camper I once had in a cabin, a friend I met in Korea, the late great Jackie O, Korean actor Jo In Sung and singer of the fantastic "Kiss Me Thru the Phone," Soulja Boy. It's an ecletic list. I'm in good company, though.

Anyway, my vacation within a vacation within a vacation starts tomorrow! Headed down to Gyeongju tomorrow. Hopefully it'll be nice weather cause it was a stormin here today.

Dream big, people!

Noodle Adventure and Korean TV

Things haven't really progressed in the visa department, so I decided SY and I (mainly me) needed a little excitement to shake things up. So, we went on a noodle adventure and good times were had by all.

A little backstory. There is a variety show in Korea called Running Man and it's freaking hilarious. I'll watch it even without the English subtitles, but you can watch it on YouTube or DramaFever with subtitles. I don't really know to describe it, since there really isn't an American equivalent, other than hilarious Korean tomfoolery. There is a cast of 7, 6 men and 1 woman (because that is how sexist Korea does things) and each week they do these completely ridiculous missions and compete in a race of sorts. Sometimes there are special guests, usually actors, singers, or other various Korean famous folk. Korean TV, in general, is quite ridiculous (that's for another post), but this show really is just too much. Each of the regular cast is famous in their own right and they are all just really funny and entertaining to watch together. They have to do these challenges each week, and where the production team gets these ideas, I have no idea. I'm not sure that one would like the show without having some sort of knowledge/appreciation for Korean culture, but you should definitely check it out!

When I returned to America in April, I went on a Korean TV binge. I started out with Korean dramas, but they tend to be depressing and slightly annoying. Plus they are hella long and you have to stay up all night and watch all 20 episodes, so it really messes up your sleep schedule. So I switched over to Running Man with English subtitles and never looked back. In this particular episode:

(take a gander if you have a spare hour five)

All the members and guests are paired up (except poor lonely HaHa...yes, his name is HaHa and he is a Korean reggae singer), and have to go on these missions to various restaurants to eat different kinds of jjajangmyeun, which is a Korean Chinese noodle dish. 

                                                      

Once again, I'm at a loss as to how to describe it. Wikipedia tells me it's a noodle dish topped with a thick black soybean paste, with pork and vegetables or sometimes seafood. I don't know, just travel to Korea and try it sometime. It's a popular dish, and though it looks disgusting, it's actually pretty tasty. A fun fact, April 14th is called "Black Day" in Korea, and if you're single, you're supposed to go eat this dish all by your lonesome self. Drown your single sorrows in that thick gooey sauce. The black sauce matches your pathetic dark lonely soul. 

Anyway, I'm watching the show and one of the dishes is a variation of this dish covered in what looks like a pie crust. And they are given a little wooden HAMMER to break it all up and then eat it! And I'm all, oh, I need to try this if I ever get myself back to Korea. I was surprised at myself because of all the things I love about Korea, it's cuisine really isn't one of them. Most Korean dishes are too spicy for my taste, or are made with gross things like squid and tofu. 

Well, what do you know, here I am back in Korea and I actually convinced SY to take me to the restaurant that serves this hammer time noodle dish! (Another side note, SY never wants to do anything fun or different, so this was HUGE!) So off we went on this rainy Saturday night. Korean blogs scared us into thinking there was going to be a huge wait, but it wasn't crowded at all and our food came super fast. 

Yoo Jae Suk and Kim Joon Hyun

Running Man was here! 

The dish was a lot spicier than other jjajang I've had before and surprise! There were also squid and octopus bits so that was a tasty "treasure" for SY (his words, not mine). 

So that was my super exciting Saturday night. I also learned that tomorrow's episode of Running Man will have soccer player Song Jong Guk as one of the guests and yet another FUN FACT-I met him! His daughter was in my class my first year teaching and he came to her birthday party, and Parent's Night. When he was there, the assistant teachers at my school were asking for his autograph and then laminating it in the office. I didn't realize how famous he was at the time, but I should have done the same! Dammit! Anyway, if I can figure out a way to get in touch with him while I'm here, I WILL because I have NO SHAME! I wanna be on Korean TV and and I want to meet the Running Men!! Jong Guk, holla at meeeeee! His and his daughter were also on a TV show for a bit, but I think they have left the cast. I'm sure she remembers me fondly and wants me to be on TV, as well as get a work visa. 

Ok, back to Korean TV. SY has been into this show called "Show Me the Money" and it's the WORST. It's a reality competition show for Korean rappers and guess who showed up the other day...Snoop Dogg! He was fine, but these wannabe rappers are just painful to watch. I don't really like rap, so maybe it's not as bad as I think, but these goobers are too much. They are all like, yo yo whats up I'm hood but what the hell, Korea there is NO HOOD in this country. I mean, posers to the max...but also still with weird Korean manners and such. Also, they currently keep saying "Ooooh, snap." WTF, I'm telling you Korean TV is SO weird. Sometimes I just watch it, even though I have zero idea what they're saying. It's that entertaining. 

DO YOU SEE YOURSELF, SIR? 

Earlier today I got sucked into watching a PLASTIC SURGERY MAKEOVER SHOW. I need a job SO bad, yall. This show was also painful, but I continued watching because I couldn't stop. Basically, there were two "fat" Korean woman on this show called "Let Me In." Yes, they were overweight but seriously, Korea, there is a TV show in America called "My 600lb Life" so you don't even know fat! Anyway, they showed the backstory of these two ladies and they are basically just sad sacks because they're sooo fat and can't lose any weight and their parents are so ashamed. (I am guessing all this since it was all in Korean). The REAL problem, and this was actually making me quite angry, is the fact that these women cannot buy any clothes in this country that FIT them. Yes, ok, they don't eat healthy and want to lose weight, but life is going to be pretty miserable if you can't even find clothes to wear! I felt so terrible for them! Being "bigger" in this country is hard enough but now you have to be incredibly uncomfortable as well. They were seriously stuffed in their clothes. And then it got worse! Apparently only one of these women is worthy of help, so they bring them both out on the stage and one gets a red light and the other gets a green light. Sorry other sad fat lady, you have to go back to your fat-hating family and keep living a sad fat life. The lucky lady not only gets help losing weight but bonus!! Plastic surgery! She got her part of her chin shaved down, as well as a new nose and some new eyes.

I'm pretty sure there was actually a show like this in America at some point, but I thought I remembered it as being people with like, severe disfigurements getting a chance at a normal life, and not just people that could stand to lose some weight. I don't know, TV is cray no matter where you are. I also watched a National Geographic show today called "Live Free or Die and those people are also insane and I'm sorry, but there is no way that show is for real. One guys name is Thorn. What? Are you kidding me! And one of the other guys has like, the most perfect curly hair I've ever seen. I was legit jealous. How does he get it that way?? He spent half the show in the ocean! There is no way his curls would be that perfect living in wild. He literally slept in a pile of sea garbage. Or maybe he uses the blood of the fish he gutted BY HAND as hair gel.

I think the point of all this is-I NEED A JOB. Please someone give me something to do during the day.

Dream big, people! 

Meanwhile...

Ok, so a quick update.

I've been avoiding it because I don't know 100% what is going on, and over here, you have to watch what you say. I have written out the whole long saga, but I'm hesitant to put it online because the slander laws are no joke. Also, just when I think everything is said and done, some other opportunity pops up and I realize this story may never end.

So, for people that want to have some sort of update: sorry, things are still not resolved. (For people that are out of the loop: Sorry. Basically I'm trying to get a work visa in Korea and am having some issues. Long story.) I got past immigration in the airport without any problems, and there were mixed reactions at the immigration office in Seoul. Met some nice people, dealt with a lot of attitude, but mainly got the runaround about what happened, what can happen, and what might happen in the future. Things didn't look good, but another offer presented itself so I'm giving it one last (maybe?) chance tomorrow. I really don't know what to expect because literally everything has been a surprise this trip, so you just never know. Actually, the last two months have been a total surprise so I'm just never going to plan anything ever again, because what's the point, life does whatever it wants. I am slowly learning to be a little more flexible and just go with the flow.

The first few days (and last couple of months, really) have been kind of a struggle. I don't really like to talk about it for a lot of reasons. For one thing, I live a privileged life. I am lucky, loved and taken care of by so many people and I really have no right to complain. I've traveled to tons of cool places, I have an amazing family that supported me 100% abroad and at home, and I am doing pretty damn well by anyone's standards. But, I was kind of in a funk after coming home from Korea. Reserve culture shock, boredom, weight gain, missing Korea, laziness, etc, etc made it really hard to accomplish anything. Don't get me wrong, most of the time, I was having a great time readjusting to American life, and visiting family and friends. However, I am someone that needs a schedule in order to get anything done. If I don't have anything to do, I will do absolutely nothing. I had all day, every day, to work out, apply for jobs, work on projects, blah blah. I did none of these things and had no motivation to do so. I love to sleep and I had tons of TV to catch up on, and the beach was calling my name almost every day. Plus Golden Girls is on like, all the time so it was a good excuse not to do anything.

I started to apply for jobs a few times, but it was too overwhelming to even try and figure out where to start. Even though I loved teaching in Korea, I knew I didn't want to do it in America. Actually, I couldn't even if I wanted to, since I don't have an education degree or, really, any other qualifications to be an actual teacher.  Even re-doing my resume seemed like an insurmountable challenge. I never actually did it, so maybe it was, we'll never know. People kept telling me, don't worry, just take a break, enjoy it! But it was kind of hard to actually give myself a break. Outward appearances may have seemed otherwise, with most of my days spent at the beach, or on the couch. While all of this was awesome, in my head, I was constantly freaking about what I was going to with my life and how I was going to find the motivation to actually do anything besides sleep and eat. So, when the chance to come back to Korea presented itself, I jumped at the possibility of having structure and productivity back in my life. Even though it's probably the most ridiculous and counterproductive decisions I've made in my life, I am just now starting to feel ok about having made it. Anyway, we'll see how long that keeps up, after tomorrow.

I don't know where I'm going with this, but it feels good to get it all out. I sometimes don't like to talk about all the issues because no one likes a complainer, right? Well, turns out, as long as I'm not complaining all day, every day, people are helpful and nice. Not only is it great to get it off my chest, but I have lovely friends that help me see the humor, think of new solutions and remind me that everything, as always, is going to be just fine.

Last week, after the first round of bad news, I spent the entire day in bed. I kind of needed at least a day to adjust and pull it together, but now I'm happy to be back in the world. I got SY's bike fixed, have already mastered the bus route near my house and stuffed myself with Korean bbq, so things are looking up.

So that's where we are now. Tomorrow will bring new changes and then maybe I'll get around to posting all the back story to this hot ass mess I've gotten myself into.

Until then, dream big, people!

It's 2015!

Oh haaayyy.

Yeah, it's been a while. I took a break for a minute. The haters got me down, but I have since brushed them off and here I am! Back to bask in my 15 followers blogger glory. Hide yo kids, hide yo wife and hide yo husband cause I'm bloggin everybody up in here. Also, you are so dumb!

That video is THE BEST. I digress.

SO MUCH has happened since my last post, in August of 2014. I am kind of sad at my lack of posting for 2014. What was I even doing? Oh yeah, traveling like a BOSS. Remember when I was all, I'm going to make 2014 the year of travel? Here is a direct quote from January 5, 2014 for your reference:

"I've also decided this year is going to be the year of travel. I know, you're thinking, Jacky, you traveled a lot last year, what on earth on you talking about? Yes, you're right, I did and it was awesome. However, this year I want to take advantage of ALL the holidays and go somewhere awesome for every one. I also want to plan ahead because last year I did everything last minute and that was stupid. Planning for Buddha's birthday NOW, who's in?!"


So there you go. And then I went and owned 2014 and went to five different countries. Sadly enough, I still did not make plans for Buddha's Birthday. I ended up going on a trip down to the southern part of Korea, which was not very fun. For a lot of reasons, but mainly because the food sucked, it was freezing and everyone we encountered was rude and not helpful. Also the train was a ridiculous mess, but we did stay a nice hotel for 2 of the nights. So not a total bust I guess? One of the nights was spent on the floor and with a deceptively nice grandma.

Anyway, yes, 2014 was a doozy, and now here it is halfway through 2015 and I have yet to make a post. I had to get my passport renewed (for $115!!!!), so it was sad with only one stamp in it, but things have really picked up since then! Maybe I'll do separate posts for all these places one day, but probably not. So here are some quick recaps:

After Taiwan in the summer, I went to Tokyo for the Korean Thanksgiving holiday of Chuseok. We had five days this year (in years past, we've only had 3 or 4), so it was a perfect little getaway. And I wen to TOKYO DISNEY SEA and it was SO awesome. Man, I love Disney so much. After doing some extensive research about Japan Disney, I realized there are a lot of people out there that like Disney a lot more than me, but I still think I'm a pretty big fan. I also love Japan. The food is fantastic, the people are so wonderfully weird and Tokyo is a really cool city. Also, they have Old Navy! With normal people sizes! After a year of Korea making me feel like a fat, unfashionable cow, it was a really nice to go shopping and actually be able to buy some decent clothes. Plus I got to see my good friend that lives there, and she is best tour guide!

For Christmas I went back to the Philippines, had a super amazing stay on a private island in Palawan and watched the craziest New Year's Eve fireworks I've ever seen. A coworker and I went to a private resort recommended to us by a different coworker, and it was probably the best vacation I've ever had. It was a little awkward, since she and I were the only non-couple on the island, but whatever. They had a little library there, and the "kids" section had a bunch of Roald Dahl books, which was a fun trip down memory lane. I LOVED those books when I was a kid. Oh yeah, and the weather was amazing and the scenery was beautiful. We also went to an underground river, which is apparently one of the new wonders of the world, in Puerto Princesa. For NYE we went back to Manila (which has the WORST aiport I've EVER been to), and enjoyed the party, even from our hotel room.

Instead of renewing my contract for 2015 in Korea, I opted to leave for good. I needed a break, and the job I was offered in Seoul wasn't exactly what I was looking for. I wanted to leave with a bang, so I went to Hong Kong for a week, and Vietnam for two. Hong Kong was expensive, and super foggy the whole time. I kind of liked traveling alone, because I stayed in a hostel and met some cool people that way. I met a Korean girl, who introduced me to her native Hong Kong friends, who bought us a delicious dinner and translated a tarot card reading for me. Meeting the locals is the BEST way to travel. They always know where the best food is! Sadly, all the attractions in Hong Kong are geared towards admiring the views, but I couldn't really see any of them through the fog. Maybe next time. I also went to Disneyland, and the super awesome light parade was being "renovated" that week, so that was another huge disappointment. But, overall, HK was a good time with lots of really great food.

Vietnam was a totally different experience. It also had fantastic food but that country is a hot ass mess. I loved it, but it definitely took some getting used to! I didn't do a great job of planning for either place (I was going crazy trying to pack and finish up the school year), so if I had done some more research, I feel like both places would have been a bit easier to navigate. I really should do a separate post for all these places one day. But if you must know right now, I started in Ho Chi Minh City (Saigon), spent a weekend on the island of Phu Quoc, went up to Hue and Hoi An and flew out back to Korea out of Hanoi. There were a few hiccups, but most of it was fabulous. My short and sweet advice is: go on tours and don't choose the cheapest options, even if you are on a super budget. I met some amazing people, both locals and travelers and had some REALLY amazing food! I would love to go back one day, and spend even more time there. Vietnam was the longest time I spent in any one country on all my trips (2 weeks) but I still feel like I didn't get to experience it all.

So, after that adventure, I went back to Korea and spent a few short and sweet days with my friends and headed back home. I've been back for 3 months now, and it somehow seems like a really long and really short time at the same time. I've done a lot, but also feel like I haven't really accomplished anything. I went on some really fun trips, to Pittsburgh to see family, and Belize just for the hell of it, and a recent trip to North Carolina for a Fourth of July family fest. My boyfriend also came from Korea for his first trip to America and we had a great time! I also have a pretty awesome tan, and have watched ALL the TV. I had forgotten how much I loved Golden Girls, but thanks to Logo and Hallmark, I get a daily dose these days.

ANYWAY. This is so long and getting out of control. Here I am now, and I decided to go back to Korea after all. Because of a long, ridiculous story (for another post), I am having some trouble getting a work visa, so going back is kind of a gamble. It will be nice to see my boyfriend and friends so it won't be a total waste of a trip. But, if I don't get a work visa, it will definitely suck. A lot. We'll just have to see what happens. And now that I've started back with this fabulous blog, you will be able to follow me on my potentially disastrous journey. Stay tuned! I could be wallowing in self pity in just a few short days.

I'll try to post a few more things between now and then, to fill in some gaps, but until then...

DREAM BIG PEOPLE!