Positivity Breeds Positivity

Bomun Lake, Gyeongju, South Korea

I've been living in Korea for just shy of three months now, the amount of time that most say people get homesick. Now, I'm not going to lie to you, dear readers. I love California. I love the city of angels. I even, gulp, love Whittier. So it goes without saying that there have been times where I find myself wishing that I could be back, even if just for a nice weekend adventure. Or, you know, a fabulous "cheers to the freaking Wednesday" Wednesday night in Santa Monica. But since that's not in any immediate future of mine and I'm on an anti-complaining kick, I've decided to turn that frown upside down! Yes, I realize that this sounds like a sorority VP of Recruitment talking about how FUN recruiting for 12+ hours a day is, but this post won't go anywhere near that. Here is my list as to why I'm fond of Korea. You really all should know the obvious reasons as to why I love CA (read: BECAUSE I'M A NORMAL HUMAN BEING, loved ones, weather, location, multiculturalism, clothing options, food options, etc), so I'm not even going to bring those up!

Oldest building in Gyeongju

Why I love Korea:

• Healthier Living - I'm not sure exactly what it is, but I'm taking better care of myself, in all sense of the word. I've signed up for a couple 10Ks (something that I had always considered doing back home, but never actually got around to doing), am enrolled in a yoga class and have changed my eating habits (only semi by choice?). I've gotten so addicted to outdoor running that I already want to sign up for a half marathon and, eventually, an actual full-blown marathon as well. Some of this definitely has to do with the fact that I always need to have some kind of control over my life (not knowing the language severely hinders my abilities to lead a normal life here), but I also know that it's a positive change that I've been wanting to start for awhile and it seemed like the perfect fresh start to do so. I'm also exploring an entirely new people, a culture completely foreign to me. It's really interesting, albeit a bit frustrating, attempting to learn a new language/people!

Bike/running trail along the river in Gyeongju

• Friends - The other waygooks (foreigners) that I've met here are kind of awesome. It was really great of EPIK to set us all up at orientation, and my groups of friends ended up finding each other rather easily. We come from different countries (US, Canada, UK, Ireland and South Africa), yet we all seem to have oddly similar personalities and general outlooks on life. It pushes us to have deeper conversations, as if we were all taking the same class in university, except that class is life. Yeah I know, that got deep really quickly. We explore new cities - both like tourists and locals, sing our hearts out at noraebangs until well past sunrise, volunteer at local philanthropies, teach Korean kids English and on top of that, we're all a really good time.

In Daegu, South Korea

Singing at one of many noraebangs

•  My Job - Since I'm assuming that most of you aren't super creeps and actually know me, you'll remember my previous employment situation. My normal 50+ hour weeks, peer immaturity debacle and my own severe lack of passion for the field were not things to brag about. This might be the closest to the opposite of that environment that I'll ever get. I'm at Bulguksa Elementary School 8:30AM-4:30PM and teach a maximum of four classes a day. I'm supposed to teach 22 hours a week, but since my school is so small, I only teach 17 hours a week; the rest of my hours are spent preparing for lessons. Yes, "preparing lessons". I teach grades 1-6 and absolutely adore them. There are some definite attitude problems (duh), but nothing that I can't handle. Plus, when you see them simultaneously learning and enjoying themselves, I feel like I could do this forever. Example: In my fourth grade classes today, kids were literally jumping to read a conversation out loud. They wanted to show off that they knew English. Warms my freaking heart. Also, I have a favorite group of sixth graders and I might take them all home with me. Yes, I know I said that I would only take the orphan of the group back. But now I want all five of them. Inside joke: step kids FTW! I'm not even going to mention that I get two weeks of vacation in summer (possibly three!), two weeks in winter and 14+ national holidays off. Yeah, definitely not even going to bring it up, because that would be cruel.

• Food - Nothing really needs to be explained here. You all know what food is. While there is a much more limited selection than in LA, there are so many Korean dishes that I'm itching to try. Live octopus is going to be in my mouth in winter, when apparently it's 'in season'. That also gives me more time to work up the courage to try it. Speaking of, I've gotten a lot braver about my food choices. I've had crab, oyster and sushi! I know you guys are proud. It doesn't hurt that Korean food is really inexpensive. I keep eating gimbap for dinner because it's only 2,500 won (about $2)!

Demolished Pohang crabs

Dakgalbi, my favorite food

• Pharmacies and Coffee Shops - You can't walk five feet in any direction without passing a pharmacy or a coffee shop, and I'm not complaining. Getting medication is lot easier to do here than it is in the states, particularly because you don't need a prescription for a good number of common pills. Now I'm not saying that you could make your fortune being a drug dealer here, but I can walk into a pharmacy, get my birth control for less than $5/month and be on my merry way. Yeah, less than five dollars. Best believe that I'll be stocking up when I leave here. The coffee shops are also adorable! While the prices are generally about the same as US Starbucks (Starbucks prices here are just too ridiculous to discuss), most have free wifi and cheaper prices for takeout.

Coffee shop in Gyeongju, South Korea

Off to my yoga class - TGIF!

xo