My new scooter! :)

I bought a new scooter yesterday!! SO scary... ESP since when I was in the Philippines, I was legitimately freaked out riding them all the time.. Then again, I think me driving & having control of my own will be a little better... who knows?!?!

I'm excited about getting around Seoul on my own, seeing places I haven't seen, and thoroughly enjoying not dying. :) 

Some updated NeWs from SoKo...

Here's a few sites to add to my previous cultural piece:

Just found this website that additionally explains why my life was ridiculous this past year...

To quote the author:
"I believe that living in a cold climate for a certain amount of time, sets off a chain reaction. You are unable to maintain a cheery disposition for any length of time. As a result, ‘the glass is half full’ becomes ‘look at me again like that and I’ll hurl this half empty glass of water at your head’. The feeling permeates to your work, your social life and even your sleep patterns."




Yes, yes... I KNOW that I always wanted to live in cold weather... but I have learned my lesson. :) The warm weather has returned, aka my spirit/ excitement/ & personality even!! :) 
(Can't you tell I've returned?!? My Blog posts are continuing... which means I'm emerging from my cave, LOL...)




This site- you may not get- unless you've lived in Korea... but the cartoons adequately represent Foreigner-frustration.. LOL.


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Now to give you some updated news on the current SoKo/NoKo stuff that's going on: 


The latest news on Soko vs. NoKo... Basically, it's happening & it's big... but I don't hear a lotta ppl talking about it... It's kinda just like- they've been expecting something to happen & the SoKo ppl will be ready in case they go to war agnst. NoKo.. It's an interesting approach- I must say..  It kinda reminds me of the approach the USA "used" to have in regards to war... 
It's interesting also b.c. there's compulsory military service here for boys after they graduate HS.. once they get out of the "service" they are still on reserve- meaning, if SoKo ever goes to war- all the reserves go into action.. It's interesting to hear how my SoKo friends talk about "just going and fighting and defending SoKo" even if they've been outta the military for YEARS.. It's quite nationalistic and patriotic, I must say... very admirable. 

Is this REALLY Culture-shock--- Still?!?!?

Since my first year of living overseas is nearing an end, I figured I'd give some cultural analysis... 

Here's A lil website about sum culture shock that helps to explain what I've been going thru this year & what I describe below... 

When I first got here, I LOVED LOVED LOVED everything Korean... Korean food, Korean stores, Korean language, Korean MEN!!! I wanted to marry a Korean man, have adorable Korean babies, and live in Korea FOREVER!!!! (This was called, what I would later discover- THE HONEYMOON PHASE of Culture shock) 

Around November I started to miss home... I attribute this to my birthday, the Holidays... AND I hadn’t seen a familiar face in 4 whole months... 

BUT it was ok, b.c. I still had Xmas in the Philippines to look forward to and that was gonna be pretty awesome!!! 

As I returned from the Philippines, feeling as if no Holiday season had existed for me- my sadness & homesickness increased... Yet, the major HS APAC competition was keeping me quite busy AND I was SO excited b.c. I was going home in a month for my girl’s wedding so that helped January FLY by... 

Once I went home, I realized why I should have waited to return home until June- one year after my arrival... My homesickness SKYROCKETED and I experienced the RE-verse Culture shock Honeymoon phase... AMERICA!!! OH AMERICA!!! How I missed EVERYTHING AMERICAN!!!! (quite unrealistic, tbh)

On my return to Seoul, I was DE-pressed... this re-introduction to Asian culture in addition to the bitterly, unending FrIgId weather made me HATE Korea... I HATED EVERYTHING Korean.... Korean Food, Korean language, Korean MEN!!!! BLECH!!! (No more Korean babies, thas Fo SHO!) 

I continued to drag my butt to work and simply MAKE IT THROUGH this dreadful existence that was now my international life. I was working ALL the time and when I was not working, I was either sleeping or sitting around eating American food, talking to my American friends, and watching American movies... NOT GOOD!! (This is commonly referred to as THE HATRED & REJECTION PHASE... uh, ya think!??!)

Needless to say, Winter has JUST cleared up and it’s ALREADY MAY!!! I suffered a SEVERE Vitamin D deficiency and it was just NOT COOL... I have finally rediscovered my ability to enjoy hanging out with my friends (doubled by the facts that I dont work EVERY second AND the fact that I don’t hate everything NOT American anymore...Thank God!!) 

As if all this ridiculous Culture-Shock crap was not enough to deal with and go thru.... it did NOT help that my boss is a manipulative, anal retentive, control freak of a person who would not give me individuality and freedom to be my own person and be my own teacher... It has taken EVERYTHING in my power this Spring to stay in Seoul and not catch the next flight back home to Flo-Rida... 

So, if anything, this experience in Seoul has taught me a few things: 

1. I, in fact, ADORE the sun & NEED Vitamin D in order to be happy and survive... Winter is CRAP. 
2. I love Florida and I love my people... even though I am open-minded, accept other cultures, and enjoy learning first-hand about other cultures-- Dorothy said it best: There’s NOWHERE like HOME... 
3. My passion is HISTORY, NOT swimming... Even though I love swimming, it is NOTHING in comparison to the study of History and cultures and people... Oh!!! How I MISS teaching in the classroom. :( 
4. When someone is treating you ridiculously: Do not just take abuse, disrespect, and arrogance-- I am a strong, powerful, and amazing woman who deserves better, which has taught me to.... 
5. ....stand up for myself when I am being treated  so ridiculously....
6. You can NOT change the way other people are or the way they behave, you can only change the way you react to those people. (this one, I used to “think” but now, I TRULY believe it...) 
7. Although Asia is cool, it’s not the place for me long-term..... which in turn has made me realize: 
8. Relationships w/ loved ones are more important than how much money I make... 
9. Money does NOT make you happy... 
10. It’s important to make goals & dreams and then ACHIEVE those goals & dreams in order to truly understand what you are meant to do in life... IF your goals & dreams are not in fact meant for you, you can at least say “I made a goal, achieved it, and am a stronger person for it today and everyday from here on out.” 

Guam, KAIAC Tournament, & DJ Festival

April- Guam Swimvitational: 

One of my duties as HEAD Coach of THE Morning Swim Squad is “Travel Agent for all international swim meets”... now this might sound pretty amazing, and I’m sorry- not to complain- it’s pretty annoyingly hard work. 

I took a total of 3, count them 3, swimmers to Guam, USA for a fairly dinky meet.. it was ok- the important thing is that the kids enjoyed themselves, regardless of all the junk I had to do.. 

Also, It was nice to go to “America” for 2 days... It was quite interesting seeing a Shell gas station from the airplane window as we were touching down.. SO America... AND  I went to 2 movies in a movie theater, ate Sbarro, and went shopping in a MALL!!! Thank God! I never realized how therapeutic shopping and movies were to me until I no longer had them... :( 

Also- WARM WEATHER!!! It was ABOUT time... 

After Guam, there was the end of the HS KAIAC season... my asst. coach is of NO assistance, so it was rather difficult to manage 30 teenage swimmers and complete all the tasks a Head coach should... needless to say, I worked my patootie off and the end of the season was somewhat successful... 

We had the final 2 day tournament @ SFS... and I FINALLY achieved my goal of bringing some team spirit to these children- we had a shaving party & potluck pasta dinner the night before the tournament & we all went to On the Border as an “After the Tournament celebration dinner”. 

This culmination of the season made me sad to say goodbye to my HSers who I’d spent literally all year with... They are a great bunch of kids and pretty much THE reason I will return next year to SFS... 

After the completion of HS season, I got a TINY GLIMPSE of what having a life would be like... 

(As quoted from a fellow HS Swim coach from another team: “Oh yeah, you don’t get to actually SEE Korea when you’re here... not with OUR job”. Tell me about it Sam, tell me about it! :( ) 

So, my life... 

I was able to go out with my friends once again!!!!! I had forgotten their names and what they looked like during HS swim season... 

I was able to experience ONE whole weekend OFF work before more swim meets ensued... and I didn’t know WHAT to do with myself... 

I went to the World DJ Festival where I saw Fantastic Plastic Machines- my new fave J-Pop band via Frank Kang, my Korean buddy. :) It was here that I thought: “I LOVE Asia, solely for the reason of things like this....” 

Now, I did NOT enjoy losing ALL my friends, which led to me meeting a random One-eyed Jamaican man that almost kidnapped me!!! (I luckily escaped by jumping into a moving cab and fleeing homewards, despite having spent all my money..) It was NOT fun when I could not find my phone and subsequently realized it was gone for good... BUT losing one’s phone DEF beats being kidnapped, raped, and killed... :)