Obligatory 6 month mark reflection piece...

So, once again/still I am having internet problems. So I spending the first part of my Friday night at Holly’s coffee shop (a place I adore) to use their internet again. On the up side, my fridge might be partially fixed and I am heading to Seoul for a window shopping trip --mostly due to my lack of funds recovering from last month still and because I can still have a great time hanging out with the girls who decide to go. First a reflection post as today marks me here for six months:

Six freakin’ months. Half a year. Not even a full percentage of the average persons life, but enough to be amazed at how fast time comes and goes (as I often am and as I am often reminded).

What I love: The kids (92% of them); the music; fruit soju (I will not lie about that one I am slightly addicted); the fashion (or lack thereof due to their ability to wear anything-and I mean anything and make it look amazing;; Korean’s ability to be eating kimchi and BBQ at 7 am; seeing a person walk through Lotte Mart (target) in scrubs dragging their IV with them; misspelled and/or grammatically incorrect Non-Korean Language (English and French) on everything from clothing and notebooks to menus and billboards; service (they extra things you will get at restaurants or randomly packaged with the food); traveling around the country; meeting many new people and learning about Korean culture.

What I don’t love and don’t hate, but feel is worth mentioning: gimbop (rolled rice/seaweed with [for me] radish (not pickled, but something like it) carrot, egg, cucumber, and various other vegetables sometimes (I really enjoy it, but cannot believe that it is healthy and sometimes just doesn’t hit the spot); THE GOOD-walking out the door and finding a taxi waiting ( so handy ) THE BAD-the cheapness of the taxi’s (because it encourages me to use more often);

What I hate: My lack of discipline in learning more of the language to be able to communicate more effectively and my lack of mastering reading the language; Not being able to participate and see my family daily; How I feel that I am always on a 9-5 ish schedule since I cannot communicate to call in repairs (internet/fridge) myself; how much I love sleep in a place that rarely sleeps; the smell(s); pickled everything; the mold; not having a dryer or an oven (mostly a dryer); fruit flies (this is not a new development)

What I am learning: Patience, patience, and if I didn’t remember to say it-patience; that what teachers really do at this level is the same as animal trainers-only their pupils can’t back talk; we not only teach language, but also culture; that I am reaping what I sowed-aka karma is a bitch with an iron fist (meaning things I did my kids are doing);

I am sure there are many things I am forgetting to write about. Over all I just cannot believe that it has been so short yet so long a time over here. So there it is the customary marker column…

Other things I just thought of as I finished up: Communal foods, squatting toilets, bar soaps and tie-dyed dogs—all under the still in disbelief category.