My dearest apologies for suckin at blogging the past couple weeks.

The past couple weeks have definitely been busier than normal. In between class projects & presentations, being sick, and having my corneas tore, I haven't had much time or energy to blog about anything interesting.

I was reading fellow EPIKer Christine's Blog, most notably THIS article and THIS one , I had to sit back and put everything into perspective.

When you read her blog, it might sound like:
a) living in Korea is miserable
b) Korea hates foreigners
c) everything is difficult.

While the first two are a little exaggerated, the third one is becoming obviously clear.

Call me a chronic optimist, but I was pretty happy, still excited about living in Korea. I like to think I'm the type of person who can generally be happy in any situation -- which is why I usually leave decision-making up to others. But anyway, while my "honeymoon period" is definitely over, the past 2 months have been fun.

And then I read her blog. And it was absolutely clear that I've been living in denial. I think my "happy-go-lucky-i-love-korea" attitude was a survival mechanism. Or maybe a pride issue.

None of us want to admit that coming to Korea was a mistake. Cause it was not. It is by far and large the best decision I've ever made in my life. But for me, its hard to admit that life here is far more difficult than I planned.

I've traveled a lot. And a lot of it by myself. I've lived in various locations all over the world, albeit all in Western and Central Europe. So it is humbling for me to admit that the culture shock here has been immense.


Of course the culture shock is nothing compared to those experienced by my friends who have moved to Indonesia (Corydon) or (geezus Nathan) Oman to teach English. There are a million other places that could have worse culture shock. Hell, moving back to America will probably be a HUGE culture shock for me.

But for the time being, Korea is proving to be a little more humbling than I expected.

Humbling, and lonely. I am never alone, except for in the evenings at my apartment. I always have people to hang with on the weekends. I have many Korean friends at work, people I consider dear friends. I am never alone. But I am lonely.

I offer the fact that this is the first time I have ever lived solely alone. While I do enjoy it immensely, it often makes me feel isolated. I have no roomies or neighbors that I can just knock on the door and say "hey let's order a pizza." I kid you not, the pizza man laughed at me the other week when he delivered the large pizza to an apartment of one. Laughed. I then stuffed my face with pizza and cried.
OK I didn't cry. But I did stuff my face with pizza. In fact, I think there's still some in the fridge. Because who can eat a whole pizza by themselves? Not me.

I tried to curb my loneliness by purchasing a 5-foot body pillow at CostCo. It has definitely helped me sleep better, but dammit, a pillow does not hug back.

Then, as Christine wrote about so nicely in her blog, there is the need to just have a normal conversation. Don't get me wrong -- my coteachers have amazing English. Young-Eun and Hye-Jin are practically fluent. But I still have to talk at a slower pace. I still have to use simplified language. I still have to over-enunciate things that I would normally just mumble to my Anglophone friends. Monday through Friday, this is the only conversation I have. By the time Wednesday or Thursday rolls around, I am dying to just mumble of bunch of American curse words and colloquialisms.

Ahhh, then the weekend comes. It is my chance to get together with other EPIKers and speak. Most of the time we talk about school, students, teaching, Korea, life in general. We talk. I've never had so many intelligent conversations in my life. Finally, a bunch of people who are like me and are all having the same troubles as me.

So yes, while it may seem like most of my blog is about the weekend adventures or drinking, that's because it is the highlight of my week. While you may be dying to hear stories about my students or teachers, to be quite frank, I don't want to talk about it because you cannot possibly understand.
To be an English teacher in Korea is unlike any teaching job in the world. Much like American Village, it is an indescribable world, which can only sound completely ludicrous and asinine to outsiders. But I love it.

I don't want anyone reading this blog to think that I don't love it here. I love my life here. I love the opportunities it has afforded me, and I love the community (both Korean and expat) that I have become a member of.

But it is exhausting. And it is not easy. Not for one second.

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- Stoplights are optional in Korea. Of course, it is in your best interests to stop and wait due to the risk of oncoming traffic. However it seems scooters, motorcycles and taxis take the stoplights as mere 'suggestions.'

- Sidewalks are also roads and parking lots. It is dangerous to walk down the sidewalk with iPod in ear because you cannot hear traffic approaching behind you on the sidewalk.

- I am still amazed by the inconvenience of NO LEFT TURNS. Every few blocks you might find a left turn somewhere. But most part, U-Turn, U-Turn, U-Turn.

- Every day I get free stuff on my desk -- juices, yogurts, cookies, etc. Most of the time they are from other coworkers or parents that have sent goodies to all the teachers. However, I am noticing that more and more, little old ladies or men are coming to the office to promote/sell their products. Two ladies come with sample-sized juices at least once a week. A man came yesterday selling packages of socks. I bought this amazing stamp from a man selling.... welll.... stamps. What will be next?

- The students do not know "jeopardy" but they absolutely love the game.

- My May calendar looks schizophrenic, with various days off for mid-terms, Children's Day (National holiday), Athletics Day, and Buddha's Birthday. In a country that is pretty much split 50/50 between Christianity and Buddhism, they equally acknowledge both religions main holidays (Jesus' bday and Buddha's bday). Of course Jesus' bday is better cause we get a long winter break, but I'll take a 3-day weekend in the name of Buddha.


That's all for now.