January

I haven't done all that much this month. I've been busy with traveling and visiting friends, attempting to learn Korean, and sleeping. I feel as though my body is finally catching up on all the sleep I'm missed in Korea. See, for over ten months now, I've had my mattress on the floor in the crawl space upstairs that some refer to as a loft. For three months, the shotty-lookin' drawers that came with the officetel were downstairs, making it easy for clothes access post shower and clean-up post laundry day. However, this meant that my "bedroom" was half downstairs and half upstairs, which made no sense. So, I asked my co-teacher to help me move it. Soon after moving it, I regretted the decision. Now nothing was convenient, I was bending over all the time, and the stairs, well, those are just sketch. Even a Korean friend told me that he thought they were dangerous. I wouldn't even wanna go to the bathroom in the middle of the night, and would procrastinate getting out of bed in the morning. It was summer, and upstairs was got ridiculously steamy-hot with almost no help from the A/C wall unit. I found myself trying to "sleep" downstairs on the cool, concrete floor, thinking "why don't I just move my bed downstairs? If I do, and don't like it, I can't get it back up." I never had anywhere comfortable to be downstairs. I did score this really cool chair when I first moved in, but I never sit in it because I never had a reason just to sit in chair. I found this sofa in the garbage pile at school as asked if I could have it. Well, it was super-small, not comfortable, and I never used it. However, it did take up space in my apartment. Now it's winter, which means it's super cold upstairs because my crawl space is wood and the floor heat is only on the concrete. I wouldn't leave my heat on at night because I was no where near it, meaning I would just be wasting money running it. Alright...I have a short time left in Korea and wanted to do this all along. I asked a girl named Elizabeth who lives near the station if she could come help me one night after we had dinner together. Fabulous! We moved that crumby couch out of my officetel, along with a student's desk that I used as a microwave stand. We brought down the drawers and pushed my bed over the banister. I could have done that part alone, but pulling the mattress against that carpet was like pulling rubber against rubber, so I needed help moving it; not pushing it. One, two, three...duck for cover! Nothing happened; not loud sound; no broken lightbulbs..nice! Just imagine what my co-teacher would say when I told him that I broke the officetel. My life is complete. I sleep better and feel better. I have very little walking space, and I'm ok with that.

I have this friend, 걍하, whose English name is Grace. She is Jehovah's Witness who tried to convert me in E-mart several months ago. She attends college in Ansan. The other night we met for dinner at her house. I have to ride the subway and then take a bus there. We had spaghetti because all Koreans assume Americans love spaghetti. They used Prego sauce, so I told them that I would teach them how to make real spaghetti sauce when I get back from vacation. In return, they will show me how to make a Korean dish that I haven't made. After dinner we went upstairs to watch a "movie," and yep, here's the moment I've been waiting for...not anticipating, but waiting for. Together Grace, her sister 진하 whose English name is Gina (I named her by the way), and I watched an hour long video on Creation. I felt like an idiot, and somewhat awkward. I wonder if sometimes this is what Christians make non-believers feel like. She wanted to talk afterwards, but I told her I had to go. I later emailed her why I wasn't impressed that she showed me that video, which she apologized for.

I made떡만두국 (Deok-mandu-guk) last night. Turned out nice. It's a warm soup made with fish broth, soy sauce, black pepper, sesame seeds, onions, carrots, rice cake, and dumpling with pork inside....super warm and delicious! Not sure how to make my own mandu or rice cake, so I just bought that part.

I went to KEB (Korean Exchange Bank) yesterday to get THBT (Thai Bot) and Rupees. Turns out they don't have Rupees in Korea and don't have Won in Nepal, so I got some USD instead, and will change them to Rupees at the airport. I was kinda nervous about my trip, but got a nice email from my homestay host saying that she will be waiting for me at the airport in Chiang Mai. I wish I had more than four days there. In fact, I wish I had the whole two weeks. I could have gone to Nepal the last week of February (Spring Break), but I didn't know about it until last month. So I've been thinking about other places in Asia.... who knows. This is good. It will be good. I'm excited for my first ever solo travel!!

I emailed my travel agent today to re-confirm my flights, and hope to hear from them soon. I washed clothes and bleached my bathroom last night. I wish I only had to take my backpack, but seeing as I am traveling to two different climates, I will be bring more clothes. We'll see what I can do.

Love to all!! Oh, and Daddy..don't worry :) I love you, and I will be fine ^o^