Dealing and a revelation

One of the things every traveler learns, especially ones who completely move to a different country, is that you will have to deal with feeling depressed. Even if you are the happiest person on Earth, you will more than likely experience it at least once. I plan on writing an entire post about dealing with Traveler's Depression, how you can brace yourself for it and get over it, but that is not what this post is about. No, this post is about something else...

How to deal with being in a new place for your birthday.

I know, sounds kind of silly, right? Well, maybe it is, but I have spent every birthday for the past 6 years with an amazing group of friends. Sometimes it was a big party, sometimes it was just a small(ish) get together at my favorite restaurant. So it is a little sad to think that this year I will be spending it the same way I spend most of my days: at work then having dinner alone.

There are a lot of people that do not make a big deal about their birthday because, really, who likes celebrating getting older? But that isn't why I liked celebrating my birthday. I liked the fact that it was one of the days that I could get together with all of my friends, both old and new, and just hang out and have fun. But since I really don't have a group of friends here in Daegu yet, except my coworkers, I feel like having a get together would be a little silly.

So instead I'm going to be here, online, with Skype and G-chat open. Anyone that wants to drop in for a minute and say hello is more than welcome.

Actually, when I started writing this article, I was a little upset that I would be spending my birthday alone. But now that I've reached the end, I've realized something. I may be alone physically, but I have friends all around the world. And whether I get to speak to them on my birthday or not, that doesn't matter. What matters is that they are, in fact, my friends. And that no matter where I go, I will never be alone.

Thank you all so much.

Korean mornings and the sun "problem"

So this morning (it is currently 10am), I went for an hour long walk. I figure if I want to continue losing weight, continuing to exercise is kind of important, huh?

Now on my walk, I discovered a few things about Korea and the people who live here. First: most Korean shops are not for morning people.

Notice I say most. I know a lot of people who are up and about and working by 9am. However! Just about 1 out of every 20 shops was open or opening when I left for my walk at 8:30am. This increased to around 1 out of ever 10 on the way back, but still. That seems like a pretty small number. And out of all of the coffee shops I passed, only about 6 were open. I passed around 20. So in conclusion: 1 out of every 10 shops were open and 1 out of every 3 coffee shops were open. Looks like I was right to try and get my shopping done last night!

The second thing I noticed: out of all of the people who were exercising/ walking, I was showing the most skin. If you know me, you know that I do not like to show a lot of excess skin, especially when I am working out. This morning I was wearing long pants and a t-shirt. Almost everyone else was completely covered: long sleeves, gloves, hats, face masks, the works. At first I thought maybe there was something wrong with the air or the sun until I remembered that in Korea, pale skin is considered beautiful. Basically the exact opposite from America! Which should mean I am good to go since I'm pretty pale, right? Wrong. Most of the women here always wear long sleeves during the day or carry an umbrella to ensure they do not tan at all. Whew... I honestly don't know if I can do that!

But I think I might look into a hat. Especially if it means I can go and see this view every morning as part of my walk.

The other side of the lake, aka the turning point for my walk.

Busy, jet lag, and a cold

Hey all.

I know, I haven't updated in a few days again and I am so sorry. This weekend was AMAZING and I have so many videos and pictures, but I just haven't been able to get them onto my computer yet.

I moved into my new place and while it isn't bad, there is no wireless. Meaning my iPad doesn't work. Also- I just learned how to turn on the hot water. Yay!

Oh, and I managed to pick up a cold. I thought it was allergies, but I'm not sneezing. I've just got a bit of the sniffles. It doesn't help that I'm still feeling a bit of the jet lag effect.

I promise to try and get some stuff up in the next few days, but this is about all I can do today. Why? I have to leave in about 30 minutes so I can go to the immigration office! Today I finally get to apply for my ARC and, hopefully, get a bank account. I also really want to get a phone, but that may have to wait until my ARC actually arrives (I apply today and it takes 2-4 weeks to get it back). Fingers crossed though!

But to make up for not posting, here are a few pics from this weekend!

I know it looks silly, but there were so many flowers, I just had to get a picture of some of them!

Kimmi, the girl I stayed with, on the left and Carrie, a girl I met there who I ended up riding the bus with on the way there, on the right. This was before our food arrived at the traditional village. 

And this is after our food arrived. There was a lot of food, but it was soooooo good. The dish on the left that looks soupy is a cold noodle dish. And by cold I mean they make it with ice. You eat it on a hot day and you just can't help but start shivering!

Hope those keep you satisfied until I get a chance to fill you in on more happenings!