Two Fine People, Two Teary Goodbyes

When I first walked off that plane in Korea, knowing not a single soul (was I crazy?), I could only hope and pray for a close-knit friend "family" that would make me feel at home in this foreign land. At that time, I couldn't even fathom developing the kind of friendships that I have made over the past 10 months. I definitely have a "family" here.

BUT my picture perfect Korean family has been deteriorating these last few weeks as I've been forced to say farewell (more like, until we meet again) to my dear friends Kristen and OTS. It has brought out some serious tears.

Kristen was one of the first people I met in Korea besides my managers and directors, seeing as she was the closest foreigner teacher to my desk at work. She was a huge blessing at ELC, showing me around the city, how to maneuver the buses, where the English church was, etc, etc...Kristen and I have been on so many great Korean (and Chinese) adventures together, mostly as a team of 3 with Kat. The triple K threat...haha. Now it just feels strange without her around, and I don't like it one bit! We have promises to meet again and this I am sure of.
ELC is definitely not the same without her. Thank goodness I am down to 6 more weeks or I might just go insane there.

Then there's OTS. Aww, OTS. Maybe you faithful readers remember the blog I wrote soon after I met him (and the other sk8ter boys) for the first time:

"Also this past weekend, Kat and I managed to meet our first counter-culture friends...Korean skateboarders! In America you've got your plethora of counter-culture groups...you've got the goths, the punks, the hipsters, the heavy metal-lovers, etc. In Korea, you never see any of that. So to say the least, we l-o-v-e them and had a b-l-a-s-t hanging out with them. Their unique, outgoing, and fun personalities reminded us of our favorite friends from back home. It did our hearts good. I'm positive many hilarious adventures involving them will happen in the future." -February

And many hilarious adventures with those boys, particularly with OTS, indeed there have been! Birthday camping, trips to the beach, Busan, fishing, scooter rides, movie nights and countless nights out on the town. He's by far the most unique Korean I've met...I mean, he doesn't like kimchi the staple Korean side dish. Beside just being flat out crrrazy, his style and music tastes are very much his own which is what I love most about him.

Now he is off being turned into a square for the next 2 years in the Korean military. He is late going in (most go a year or so after high school) because he had an opportunity to train for the Korean snowboarding team after high school. Now he is 23 and will be considered "old" in comparision to others there. I don't know if it's possible to make a square out of OTS, but I'm worried he'll be a different guy when he comes out.

All Korean men are required to fulfill this duty so it is to no surprise to OTS (or anyone)...he's known he was leaving in June and been counting down the days since I met him. The American in me screams, shakes my fists, and wants to write nasty letters to the government saying their 2 year mandatory military service is BS. Two years is sooooo long. And they generally make it a miserable 2 years. His high school friends have all finished by now and have very little good to say about their time, which makes it even harder for him.

Needless to say OTS was super down about leaving. No phone, no Ipod, no skateboarding, no scooter, no email, no contact with friends or family (except through letters), no goofy glasses or strange T-shirts for 4 months. Plus he was sent to the training camp right at the border, notorious for being harsh. Argh. Bad timing with all the North Korea jazz as well. Oh life.

To make all this short: I am missing them both terrrribly and my life in Korea will be not be the same without 'em. Sarangheyo!

Happy Father's Day!

Dear Dad,

Freestyle rap:

Hip hip HORRAY!
Hip hip HORRAY!
Just a short shout-out on Fa-ther's DAY!

I miss you
I love you
You've always been the BEST!
Guiding me
Training me
on this life-long QUEST!

I hope this brightens your day. Does it bring back memories of when I was so young and adorable? I can't wait until I can give you a big hug again....just a few more months! Thanks for everything you do for me. I think you've done a darn good job raising me. (the others I'm not so sure about....they're crazy!)

Love your eldest daughter,
Kelly

Wallet Scmallet

Once upon a time in Korea there lived a not-so-little but silly girl. She loved to frolic and play. She bought a new camera, then lost it a week later. In the winter she lost her apartment keys and had to buy new locks. In spring she lost her cell phone. Not weeks later she bought a new wallet as her old one had become ragged from use. Most recently she lost her beautiful, new wallet full of money, bank cards, a driver's license, her foreign registration card (very important) and precious points cards for many of her favorite restaurants and coffee shops.....

What will she lose next????

Bongo Bongo

Happy sssssummer! It's great, eh? Unfortunately for teachers in Korea summertime yields no summer break. Boooo. But alas, I must keep trucking, enjoying the precious weekends and push on til the end of my contract.

Oh my! I haven't blogged about my birthday yet! Well, turning 23 was pretty perfect. I wouldn't have wanted it any other way. First, I claimed a whole weekend for celebration....teehee. Selfish but awesome. Gon, Ji, Ots, Matt, Kat, Kristen, Jenny, and I loaded up Gon's car and headed to Jujeon beach for a birthday camping adventure. It was fantastic. Kristen and I raided the woods for firewood, Matt built a killer fire, we cooked some yummy campfire food, played games and fell asleep listening to the waves hit the pepples.

The 1st weekend in June was super memorable as well. Kristen, Kat and I took a bus to Daegu to watch our friend Edwin in a play at his university. It was great, even though it was all in Korean! Edwin was soooo good! Ah, my heart was bursting with pride. Then we met up with some skater girls we had met at Ji's competition a while back for dinner. They took us to this super hip restuarant....it looked like a factory on the inside. And the food was aaamazing! We returned to Ulsan so Gon, Ji, Kristen, Kat, and I could head to a different beach outside of Ulsan to watch the sunrise at 4 a.m. I made the poor decision to go out with a friend Saturday night rather then get a little sleep like the others....but regardless, the sunrise was beautiful!
After taking a bunch of ridiculous pictures we stopped by a beautiful temple along the rocky coast. As expected, I fell asleep in numerous awkward places every time I sat down to take in the scenery Needless to say, I didn't get the most I could of out of the temple stop. Oh well. We pushed on to Haeundae beach in Busan where the annual sand festival was taking place, arriving around 8:30 am. We ate our lunch for breakfast then napped in the warm sun. We spent the entire day (til 10 pm) at the beach cruising up and down, checking out the sand art, laying in the sun, a little swimming and watching an international dance festival being held at the beach as well. So much good stuff.
I loved this past weekend too! Saturday I started the day by running 7 miles. Boy, did that feel great! Phew, a month ago I never thought I could be in shape to run that far. Then I ran off to study Korean at the university. I hadn't been studying much lately so it felt good to get a good study session in. While studying Kat and I managed to convince Jong Won to take us on a roadtrip in his Bongo truck. Bongo trucks are these small, flat front trucks that old men drive around at a snail's pace selling apples or old computers and blaring Korean out of speakers at all hours of the day. Basically, they are obnoxious.
Which is why it's so hilarious to us that our friend drives one around. He attempts to take us to some lookout point but gets us lost in the mountain. We drove through a bunch of rice fields and farms then ran into some little memorial/temple for some strange cult like leader. It was super random which = great. Then he takes us to his elementary school/younger years neighborhood. He even showed us the spot of his 1st kiss....haha which of course called for a mini photoshoot....
This week is going to be a busy one since it's Kristen's last week here....she leaves on Friday! Boooo. Therefore has many goodbye get-togethers planned which means A LOT of meat parties! I'm way sad she's leaving *tears, tears*....so it's going be a bittersweet week.

School has been increasingly frustrating lately (not the teaching but the managing) which just makes me yearn for August and excited for things to come once I'm finished with my contract. The clock is definitely ticking on my time left in Korea....

xoxoxo