Winter in Korea

I really like Sundays. I don't know why they're different, time is an illusion and all that. There's something about them that makes me feel productive and refreshed. I guess all week it feels like I have to go, go, go, and Saturdays are all about running errands and meeting with friends and doing this, that or the next. Sundays are me days, though. Days where I can sleep in and wake up whenever I want to and roll around the house in PJ's or a kigu. Days where I have no responsibility to anyone but myself (and the cats) and have free time to relax. Or to get chores done, cook meals that are nice and healthy and sit with coffee and watch a movie without feeling like I've wasted time. Today I watched a movie I've been meaning to for a while, The Help. It was great! I really loved everything about it, especially the hair and wardrobe. I have such a weak spot in my soul for old fashion, and also cute little babies in old fashion. The story was nice and acting on...

It snowed today, it was really lovely. I took the bus home from a friend's house and as soon as I got off at the stop and walked a few feet away, I slipped on some icy patch where they were tearing up the road... AND SPLIT MY FRIGGEN KNEE OPEN. I got home and cleaned it up, it's swollen and bruised and I've got three big gouges in it but I think it'll be okay. Hurts to straighten, but I fixed it up and I'm sporting some bright Pororo bandages but at least they're cute! Sorry for the late late blog but it was a bit chaotic getting home and dealing with it. Stay safe out there, guys! It can be a nightmare.

I think everyone should try and help where they can, with family and friends, with the environment, with situations in general. I mean obviously don't stick your nose in a place where it's gonna get chopped off, but do what you know you can do to make the world a better place. One of my previous posts I mentioned how I just want to save every cat I see, I just keep going and going with what my fragile little heart wants and it kills me to know I can't do it. What I can do, however, is help them get through the summer and winter. Over the summer, I would carry with me 1-2L of water in my purse on my way to school and fill up a bunch of different bowls I had set out in high cat populated areas. On my way out of school, I'd fill the bottles again with ice cold water and do it again. Every day for weeks, food and water in the morning, more water in the evening. Even when I had nothing to do that day, I'd still go out and fill them up. Even if it evaporated, maybe so...

Sometimes life really isn't pretty and it really isn't fun. You get what you get and you don't throw a fit, that kinda thing. A few years ago I had an accident which left me with a brain injury. I struggled heavily with memory loss, photophobia, and cluster migraines for about 8-9 months after I was diagnosed with PCS. I still struggle sometimes. There's good days and bad days and really bad days. I've been having a lot more of those really bad days though, and I've been really trying to push through it to the best of my ability. Sometimes all my body wants to do is lie in bed in a blacked out room with no sound anywhere, just existing in a perfect stillness that will never exist. It's painful, it's frustrating, it's all around terrible in ways I can't explain. Today is one of those days that tips the scale, and all I can do is just slink home and crawl into bed with my cats and wait it out. It's usually times like this where I remember t...

Do you ever stop and think about what life would be like if you took the left path instead of the right? Or what would happen if you put off doing that thing for one more day instead of doing it right now. I'm in one of those situations and I don't quite know what to really do, the roads before me are both grey with fog and I can't see the end of them anywhere. I want to stay in Korea for another year, I really do. In fact I wanted to stay so badly I extended my contract. But staying with my school...? Should I, shouldn't I? Pros and cons, rights and wrongs. What do you do? I have people on both sides and I feel conflicted when it comes to making the choice. After all the choice is ultimately out of my hands anyway, it's not up to me to do that admin work. My head has been bouncing the two sides around all day like a coin in a tin can. It's just too much noise and you can't see the outcome at all anyway. Life is really up in the air and I feel a bit li...

I think November and December are hectic months for everyone. It feels like the world is screaming at you to get things done faster, faster, faster. Especially here in Korea. Almost everyone is well versed on the whole 빨리빨리 culture, where everything needs doing yesterday and you'd better not stand still for so much as a second or else an old granny is gonna come swat you out of her way. Sometimes the speed that the world is spinning now makes me want to scream, it makes me feel so anxious and helpless and I question why we're running at all. I'm guilty of doing it to myself too, as dumb as it is. I've been pushing myself harder in the last semester, in a lot of different ways. I picked up violin twice a week, trying to shove myself into playing pieces before the end of the year when half the time I still struggle to read notes, or remember where to place my fingers on the A string. I've been trying to take care of every cat I can find on the street when I still ...

How do you get into the Holiday spirit? Do you decorate your shelves with fake snow, perhaps buy ugly sweaters? Bring out the tree and weigh it down with sparkly things of all kinds? Do you bake cookies, make a gingerbread house that you're almost positive your dentist would murder you for? Or are you more my speed, and blast Christmas music 24/7 starting in mid-November? I really prefer older things. Older architecture, older whiskey, older fashion, older people, and older music. Not to say that new things can't be enjoyed too, but I always hold classics in my heart, something inherited from my grandpa. (casually blasts Ariana in the background of making this post) That being said, most of the Christmas songs I grew up listening to were by Burl Ives, Bing Crosby, Andy Williams and so on. Most of what I still listen to is comprised of those three. If we're anything alike, which I hope we are, you'll enjoy my top picks for this Holiday Hype playlist. Be warne...

My first month in Korea began in February, down in Daegu. It was cold, it was windy, it even snowed! So this got me thinking, it's December. When's it gonna snow down here? I want it now! I want to make a snowman, I want to have a snowball fight! I want to do stuff. Something that screams winter. I decided to do some searching for activities to do here, and several of these caught my eye. Here's my top 4 things to do in Korea in the winter, all of which I'll be doing once I dig my sweaters out of my winter box. 1. Ice Festivals. Credit: Nara Foundation This event came up on Facebook for me recently, and it sounds like a fun and unique experience. The Hwacheon Sancheoneo Ice Festival is promoted by so many tour groups out there, and even by the Korea Tourism Organization!  There's lights, there's ice sculptures, there's food and to top it all off, there's barehanded fishing.  Come on, doesn't that sound great? What a b...

Hey everyone! I thought I would take the opportunity to make this first post explaining why I'm doing a blogmas, or at least my own little version of it. I'd like for my readers to know more about me as a person, instead of just knowing me as "that one blogger who has a really hard time," so I decided to do blogmas! I can't really do vlogmas since I have a very sporadic schedule and I'd rather keep the safety of my kids in mind, since I spend most of my time at school it would be impossible to vlog without getting them in the frame. I'd love to share my experiences here in Korea and also just give back more to the internet instead of just taking from it all the time. I'd like to offer this challenge to anyone reading this: Start a month of goals. That's right, 31 goals for 31 days. "Winter, that's insanity," I hear you cry. "That's too much work!" Well maybe so, but I'm one of those people that feels like...