Adventurous? Not really.

Well, folks, I'm home. I've been home for about a little over a week now. Some days it seems like I was gone forever and other days I feel like I was hardly gone at all. Thinking back on my big Korean adventure, it's hard to believe that I actually did it.

If you look at it objectively, I really didn't do anything that big. I only did what thousands of other people have done before me and will continue to do now that I've left. Yes, it is a big deal to live so far away from family, but, really, it's not all that different from college in that I was on my own and taking care of my own stuff.

Other than that, I didn't really done anything too huge. I visited temples, palaces, shopping areas, and a few other interesting things. But, again, nothing so big that someone would look at it and be amazed by any particular thing that I did in Korea.

But for me, this year was a huge step for me in becoming a more confident person. I am not, by ANY stretch of the imagination, what you would call an adventurous person. I don't hike off into the mountains to brave the wilds of nature. I don't talk to random strangers in the hopes of making a new friend. Roller coasters make me sick, fast cars set my teeth on edge. Heck, I don't even like to drive on the freeway.

Yet I went and lived in a foreign country for a year. A place where I couldn't even speak the basics of the language besides "Hello." and numbers for money. My year in Korea helped me grow in a direction that, overall, I am really liking. I am more confident about my abilities, my self-image, my testimony of the Gospel. Although I'm still not certain about how the rest of my life is going to go, I do know one thing: this was right. It was a hard year and I'm happy to be home, but going to Korea was the right thing to do. I proved to myself that I could do it and I got a lot out of it. I made some wonderful friends and some lasting memories.

When I first got to Korea, I made a list of things that I wanted to accomplish. I wanted to review how I did on that list.

1. Go to a jimjilbang (public bath house)

Unfortunately, I did NOT accomplish this goal. I flip flopped too much and put it off too long until, finally, I just ended up not going. If I am ever in Korea again, I want to go to one. Overcome stage fright and enjoy the freedoms of public nudity!

2. Take a picture in a hanbok (traditional Korean dress)

Check. At the Korean Folk Village on Dad's first visit to Korea.



3. Go to a noraebang (karaoke room)

I only got to go twice, but those two times were AWESOME. I wish I could have gone more.



4. Taste everything on the table at least once (this rule is exempt in the case of suckers, raw meat, and intestines)

I tried, I really did. I ate a lot of things I didn't like and a lot of things I loved (seafood pancakes, anyone?).

5. Get a "Korean style" haircut

Happy 24th birthday to me! I got a Korean style haircut. :)



6. Go to as many work and church activities as I can

I ended up working on Saturdays so I missed many of the activities, but I did get to go to some of the "break the fast" dinners with the singles from church. :)

7. Take at least one big bite of kimchi anytime it is offered. Hopefully learn to love it.

Yes to the first part. But, no. I still dislike kimchi. Eew.

8. Learn Korean

I got better but it gets frustrating when people can't understand me even when I do try to speak some of the Korean I did learn. Haha!

9. Decide on a career (Teaching? Counselor? Politics? Designer?)

YES! Right now the plan is to become a school counselor.

10. Decide on a graduate program/school

I am applying to the school counselor program at Portland State for Fall of 2012. :)

11. Take pictures, pictures, pictures!!

Considering how many photos are taking up space on my laptop, I'd say I accomplished this goal.

12. Find an awesome counterfeit purse

Dad and I found a lovely "Louis Vuitton" purse for Mom on his second visit to Korea.

13. Purchase frivolously awesome adorable crap for me and everyone else

Most of my luggage home was frivolously awesome adorable crap! :D

14. Take a trip to another foreign country that I’ve never been to

Vietnam with my Dad and baby sister. Yes. We accomplished this goal.



This is the end of my Seoulful year. After a year of adventures and trials, it's finally come to an end. I will miss Korea and, maybe someday, I'll go back. Who knows. But, for now, this is goodbye. I hope you enjoyed reading about my time in Korea. I know I loved blogging about it.

The next few years will have their own adventures, though I daresay they will be as exciting as this last year.

Getting home

My last day in Korea was pretty lazy. That being said, it did kind of start off with a bang.

I got up and then helped Jin move my queen size mattress p to her apartment. I lived on the fourth floor and she lives on the seventh. Unfortunately for us, the mattress did not fit on the elevator so we had to haul it up the stairs. Woo! It was hot work! We got it to her place and realized we'd need one more person to actually get it into her loft. We woke up one of the other teachers in our building and got her to help us heft it up.

After that, it was just wait until 1pm to get out of there. My luggage was all packed and triple weighed. to make sure I hadn't gone over any of the weight limits. The poor dears. They are totally shot. I will probably need to get new luggage sometime. The plastic lining is pretty much gone now. They've had a good run. Rest in peace, pink luggage.


Getting through the airport was pretty breezy. There was a moment at immigration where I was concerned I had not properly extended my alien registration card (which I had done online) because he asked if I had the confirmation papers (of which there were none). However, after I answered his next question about when I would return with, "I won't be returning," it was okay. Phew! Crisis averted!

I had three hours in the airport and so I made my leisurely way through the airport. Along the way I spotted a free cultural event.



Heck yes! I got to sit down and paint a tile to hang up. It was a lot of fun to sit there and try to paint it pretty. My poor tile ended up really ugly and it will probably head to the garbage if it hasn't already. But it took up half an hour of time I would otherwise have spent sitting around the gate being bored.



The airplane ride was really great. It took a little over 10 hours to get from Seoul to San Francisco. I sat next to a very interesting girl who was on her way to start school in Boston. She had spent most of her teenage years living as an expat in China with her family. It was fun to talk with her. The movies were good, my book was great, and I ended up surprising myself with my high scores on the practice CBEST I took in preparation for my grad school entrance exam. Cool. The ten hours went by fairly quickly.

Jesi met me at the airport and we took the light rail back home. It was great to get home and only a little strange. The biggest change has been having TV again. And the grocery store. I love our grocery stores around here. They are awesome. :)