Transient Community

Moving to Korea, expats have many opportunities to make great friends. I am know friends with people from Ireland, Australia, the U.K, South Africa, Taiwan, and many other places. The reality is that the expat community is a transient one. Many people are here on 1 year contracts. Some people stay longer and some don’t. There are some people that  had it not been for my experience here I would have never had met.

I forged a great friendship with a fellow EPIK teacher, Anna, and one week ago I waved goodbye as she got on a plane to go home. We talked all the time, traveled in Korea together, and had great memories. While there are others who I will leave behind in Korea and may never see again….Anna’s stuck with me. I really miss her. I’m already trying to plan a trip to Texas to see her.

Birthday Weekend Fun

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I had an awesome weekend to celebrate my birthday.     Friday night, I went out dancing in Hongdae. It’s a college area with plenty of restaurants, clubs, and places to hang out. Several friends came out to party with me!

Saturday night I found myself freezing with Danielle, Lauren, Anna, and Art at a free concert at World Cup Stadium. The first Korean Pop song that I really liked was Hot Summer by F(x) and they were scheduled to be there. Art and I stuck it out the whole time, but Anna and Lauren had to go into HomePlus and buy a hoodie. Anna ended up catching a cold the next day. T.T

Sunday, despite coming down with a cold Anna, along with Matt and Damien, came out with me to a few shopping district. Namdaemun market is a traditional market with different booths and sellers. This is where I can try to bargain! I found a really nice scarf to complement my red coat. Anna had the sniffles, so we stopped into a place that was said to have great chicken noodle soup. That it did! Great for the body and soul. The noodles were huge! While I did have a spoon, there was no way to eat those noodles without chopsticks.

Before we moved on to the Myeongdong shopping district we stopped in at the Alpha supply store. Its a office depot, michaels, and art store rolled into a giant 5 story building. This is the dream store for any artist, scrapbook maker, teacher, or supply freak. My mother would not want me shopping here in fear that I would bring more craft supplies home.   (Note to MoM: There were so many beautiful journals!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! Don’t worry I resisted the urge to buy some.)

Myeongdong has boutiques and high fashion stores as far as the eye can see. Prices ranged from reasonable to ridiculous. Its also where I can find stores like H&M and Forever21. It was super crowded, but I want to take another day in the future and really explore the different boutiques.I know Valencia wants to go back and look around. I may have to join her…..after payday.

On Monday (my actual bday), Danielle made me a birthday cake. We ate at Anna’s apartment and my other friends Matt, Anthony, and Lauren showed up as well. They got me a card and $60 to the new camera fund (to replace the missing camera that never made it to Korea). All in all, I had a wonderful birthday. ::happiness::