6 months in

Well, I've been in Korea for nearly 6 months now. It's currently 2:43 AM and I'm leaving for Japan tomorrow night. Ever since summer set in, my sleeping schedule has been really off. The changes between seasons are so seamless, that I don't even notice them. But at the same time, each season is very distinct. It's kind of like a seasonal kaleidoscope - explosions of color, that are continuously changing. Spring was my favorite season so far, and I'm happy to say that it's still green because it's been humid and rainy for the past week or so.

There is nothing I have ever seen that I can compare to Korean landscape. The country side is absolutely breathtaking. The mountains, streams, rice paddies, flowers and nature here are incredible. I feel like I'm prancing through a Studio Ghibli movie.

The past couple of months I haven't been really traveling as much. I've settled into my life, and am getting used to this cozy city. Oh, you probably watched the news and saw that there was a MERs scare back in June. It seemed scarier on the news than it was here. Nonetheless, that's pretty much "over". And I've gotten into a routine of eat + work + sleep. Now it's summer vacation, and I'm trying to get back into traveling. And I'm getting really sleepy, so I'll just end this blog post here.

Here are some pictures, out of order sorry!

Exploring Daegu in 40 degree weather. (100+F)

Rice Paddies near Chuncheon

Street stalls at the Rose Festival in Wonju

Lena in Daegu

Seoul, South Korea

Hosted an Ajussi/Ajumma potluck in Wonju :3

Daegu, South Korea

Daegu, South Korea

On my way back from Daegu

Olympic Park, Seoul

Rail-biking in Chuncheon

Rail-biking in Chuncheon

These photos barely put a dent in everything that has happened sine my last post, but I wanted to post something for you guys. Hi mom! :)

The Lantern Parade in Seoul

During the month of May, brightly colored lanterns line streets of Korea to honor the birth of Buddha. Last weekend, I went to the Lantern Parade in Seoul to celebrate Buddha's birthday (which is actually today, May 25th). While I'm not religious, Buddhism aligns itself closest to my ideals, and ultimately what I think the meaning of life is. I won't get too much into my views on this, but I'll say that Buddhism is worth learning about. Here are some pictures from last weekend. During the daytime, Lena, Ivan and I explored, shopped, and chilled. Then in the evening we met up with Grace and Moon to eat and look at the lantern parade! Sorry about the blurry pictures. Night time photography isn't my forte.

Street carts + the ever present crowd

Lena! My cutest friend. ^_^

Shopping! I forget which area this is, but it's close to Jonggak station. 

We found this peaceful church...

...and after a long day, we decided to meditate here for a bit. 

DJ playing a track for the kids!  They were really getting into it. :3

Surprisingly quiet crowd listening to a monk's lecture.  

It was a good weekend. For dinner we ate a pizza that had a hash brown crust. Yes, you read that correctly. It was delicious. :)

Korea is going well. I've been on my own here for over 3 months now, yet I still feel like everything is new. I'm told that for the first 6 months, teachers tend to just settle in. I'm also learning a lot about myself. Or maybe my tastes and interests are starting to change. I enjoy spending more time exploring on my own, and being around less people. My inner world is rich with life, but I'm trying to get out of my head and live in the present. After learning about Buddhism I tell myself to stop daydreaming, and start living more frequently now.

Paragliding

I went paragliding at 성주산자연휴양림 (Seongjusan) in April:

going higher!

up up up

coming down

landed!

I think I'm ready to go skydiving now! :)

Paragliding is very relaxing. It's not extreme at all, and I really think that anyone can do it! You float off the mountain top, up into the sky, and then land. No biggie! My instructor did a couple of spins mid-air, but my favorite bit was when we were floating really high up. I would describe paragliding as calming and peaceful.

March (part 1)

A couples of weekends have passed now. In the beginning of March I visited Seoul! Wonju is only a little over an hour away by train and transportation in Korea is convenient and easy to use. I met up with the Cutie Pie Mob in Hongdae. :) We pretty much explored the streets, and ate a lot. Because food is one of our favorite hobbies! We also went to a trick eye museum, where we took tons of photos. And we had the chance to take some cute sticker photos which made my eyes bigger and my skin lighter. *~* A very funny thing! It was quite crowded, and there were many street performers in Hongdae. Everyone was out enjoying themselves, eating and shopping. We ended the night by staying in a jjimjillbang 찜질방, which is a public bath, and I loved it! I would definitely do it again. It felt so natural. I remember when I went to an onsen in Japan all those year ago I was extremely shy and nervous. But I just feel so comfortable with my body- and the human body in generadl- so it's not big deal. :) (Even when I did get stared at by ajumas)

The trick eye museum was no joke. 

AHHHaksjhdshjd!!11!!!

I love this mob of cute people. ^__^

And I also spent a weekend at home, just getting revitalized, and whatnot. I cleaned my apartment, took out a bunch of trash, and got groceries. My apartment gets dusty easily so I have to make sure that I mop regularly. I also have so much... stuff. Things were left from the previous scholars before me so I had a lot of items to recycle or donate. And I'm still in the process of doing so weeks later. :P There's are two cabinets that I have to go through + I have 2 guitars. I want to make my apartment feel like home to me. I have never decorated a place that I know I'm going to move out of, but this is also the first time I've lived in my own apartment before. And I must say that I truly having my own space. But I also realized that I really dislike spending the weekend on my own. I'm going to deinfitely have to make an effort to have something planned every weekend. :) It's not really a difficult task though. There is so much to experience, it's just a matter of deciding what I want to do.

I visited Daegu last weekend, and Sheetal kindly let me stay at her place! Daegu is very awesome, and is known for its nightlife. It felt like a less crowded version of Seoul. We chilled downtown, and did some shopping~ The one thing I got that I am absolutely in love is a super cute bunny phone case! The shopping is amazing in Korea. I have never seen shopping like this in my life. And the best part is that nearly everything fits me!! *-* In the future I wouldn't mind flying to Korea just to shop to be honest. Many of the shops are unique boutiques that have a variety of options.

This weekend I "climbed" Mt Chiaksan with Moon and Grace. I love them and I'm so happy that these two amazing people actually came all the way from Incheon to hang out with little old with me. We have mastered the art of chilling (which means we eat and nap frequently). We didn't climb to the top of the mountain, but we strolled along and enjoyed the temple and the beautiful nature along the trail. It was so serene and peaceful. We just felt really happy. ♥ Spring is officially here. Moon and Grace have an aura of positivity, and every time I spend time with them I always feel happy and loved!  I feel like Moon is my older brother, and Mama Grace is so kind and nurturing, and I really look up to her. :) When I see them together, I see real love. They're the kind of people who spread happiness wherever they go. They are rare, magical, and genuine. I feel so blessed to have the both of them in my life!

♥

♥ 

♥ 

Coffee shops everywhere. Even when you go hiking!

Chicken dinna!!!!! OMNOMNOMNOM. So spicy it made us sweat.

2 months have sped by. I can't believe it!!!!!! I only have 10 more months in Korea! And I really don't know when I will be able to visit this wonderful country again in my life, so I want to experience as much as I possibly can. Life is moving at an incredibly fast pace, and I'm barely hanging on. I swear, wasn't orientation last week?! Nonetheless I can't wait to see what Korea has in store for me next. 

Now there's one HIGHLY important part of March that I haven't included in this post. And that's teaching, which has already started to change me as a person. I'll dedicate my next post to what I spend the majority of my time doing - teaching Korean kids English at Jangyang Elementary School.