Ramen and Robots: A Trip to Tokyo (Take II!)

My best friend flew out all the way from Oklahoma to come and check out my second favorite Asian destination: Tokyo!

That Time We Up and Went to Hong Kong!

Wow, it’s been a while! Now that summer’s over and we’re in full swing Autumn-almost Winter here in Korea, I thought I’d upload all the vacations I’ve had since I saw you guys last starting with my May trip to Hong Kong with my awesome co-teacher. If you’re going to Hong Kong, definitely check out:

Disneyland Hong Kong

The Walk of Fame

Sky100 (if you’re not terrified of heights like I am!)

Gaining Self-Confidence in Self-Conscious South Korea

It’s not a secret that appearances are one of the most highly regarded parts of a person’s life in South Korea. Women and men alike go to great lengths to keep in line with the social beauty norms of the country. Everyday life here is saturated with how you should or shouldn’t look, and people spend copious amounts of time and money to make sure that they make the cut. When I first moved here, I will admit to being just the slightest bit intimidated when every woman in Seoul seemed to be sporting flawless makeup on the subway in the middle of the day.

It’s not just that people want to be beautiful, it’s that people here want to fit into a very small sect of “classic” beauty that is just not possible. The typical standard here, though it varies from person to person, is having big eyes, a thin body, a small face and, of course, pale skin. Height certainly doesn’t hurt your chances of success, and having your makeup done on a daily basis is all but a requirement in both the work place and everyday life.

The beauty product market has been booming for the past several years with no signs of slowing down. Seoul is now considered the “World Capital of Plastic Surgery”. There are dozens of mainstream makeup and skin care brands, and, whether celebrity endorsed or not, they make an absolute killing selling everything from face masks, to whitening products, to creams for any part of your body you can think of. Mirrors are strategically placed on even the busiest of streets, littered throughout the subway tunnels, noticeable even inside bars and restaurants. There are entire TV shows dedicated to teaching women how to cover blemishes, showing which workouts will keep men and women in shape, dozens of commercials showing every hour the best lotions to make you look younger.

After your actual facial features and all of the extras that go along with making that look good, weight is the second biggest (no pun intended) hot topic here in Korea. And I’m not just talking about, “I want to be thin!”, it’s “I’m going to skip entire meals today because I had a big breakfast and I don’t want to gain any weight”. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard my Korean co-teachers tell me they’re “just not going to eat” so they don’t gain any weight. No matter how much we’ve told them that they are absolutely, 100% healthy and fine, “I want to lose my weight” is the most common phrase I’ve heard out of any woman’s mouth since I moved here.

Korean diet trends here can be outright dangerous, but because people look at the celebrities here and think, “I need to look like that to fit in, to not stick out”, it becomes normalized. There are celebrities who are revered in this country for going on insane diets, including the Sweet Potato diet that popular singer and actress IU reportedly went on to lose weight a couple years ago. She’s certainly not the only one that I’ve side eyed like, “Girl, you crazy!”. The ‘One Meal a Day’ trend is popular even among non-celebrities, but I’ve also seen crazy diets where singers especially have declared they only eat 1500 calories a DAY, or lose outrageous amounts of weight in just a few weeks or even days.

I didn’t come to South Korea with any small amount of confidence, but seeing the obsession around being stereotypically beautiful here it was easy to start asking myself, “Am I good enough…?”. I am a 5 foot 2 African-American, with boobs, who didn’t even learn how to put on eyeliner properly until I was 22 so, clearly, I was not in my element upon arrival. Still, against all odds, I’ve actually found more confidence living here for the past year than I did in all the years I lived in my own country. This honestly had a lot more to do with other people than it ever had to do with me.

Maybe because they can be so critical about themselves and everyone else, people here are also quick to point out things about others that they appreciate, or are even envious of. Sure, there are days when my co-teachers will straight up be like, “Damn you look a mess today, you going through a breakup?!?” But there have also been multiple instances where they’ve praised little things I didn’t even know about myself. The fact that I have a “small face” never even occurred to me before I moved here. I was extra terrified of not being pale and, thus, unwanted in a country full of whitening products. Yet, I’ve had  students who were tanned that told me I was beautiful because I was brown, that they knew they were beautiful too.

I’ll admit that there are still some times when I want to be able to look as nice in a skirt as the girl on TV, or even just want to fit in despite my foreigner status. But I’ve come to realize by watching all of these people who are obsessed with keeping their skin lighter, their waists slimmer or their eyeliner on point I just want them to embrace themselves as perfect the way they are. So often I tell my younger students to go against the crowd and be themselves, and I’ve slowly but surely come to find peace because I have to practice what I preach.

Getting LASEK Surgery in South Korea

Bad eye sight, like high blood pressure, runs in my family like a brisk stream. Every member of my immediate family and 90% of my extended one all wear glasses or contacts of some kind. LASIK surgery is something that I never considered but had always wanted in the back of my mind when I was still back in the US. However, a fundamental fear of anything going into my eyes, much less potentially slicing them open, along with the sheer ridiculousness of the price of surgery definitely made contacts look like a “the rest of my life” decision.

Even after I moved to Korea and heard about so many of my ex-pat friends getting LASIK, I wouldn’t say I was fully convinced. I mean, the benefits sounded amazing. LASIK/LASEK is literally a fourth of the cost in Korea than it is at home, the doctors are just as good if not better, LASIK is virtually painless and recovery time is quick for both surgeries. Honestly, there were no real downsides that I could see except potential pain of LASEK and giving myself time to recover since I work fairly long hours. What did finally convince me to at least look into my options was my Korean contacts tearing my eyes apart. I’m still not sure to this day if it was the change in environment or simply the change in weather conditions, but I was eventually forced to stop wearing contacts here altogether because I was at the eye doctor so often for inflammation or dryness after wearing them.

After I decided I was staying in Korea for another year, I thought it would be okay to at least do some research. Here in Korea you have the choice of doing LASIK surgery, which is the most common one, or LASEK surgery, which is a fairly new procedure that comes with less complications but far more pain. If you’d like to know more about the differences between the two surgeries, this is the website that gave me the most information.

After my little bit of research on cost and each of the surgeries themselves, I decided to go into my eye doctor’s office to get some tests done. I went to the largest eye hospital in the city of Chungju, a very nice 3 story building with incredibly patient and professional employees. Honestly, testing took longer than my entire surgery plus some. It took about an hour and a half going through every test known to man, including the dreaded, “Which is clearer, 1 or 2?”, and, “What number is this with your left eye closed?”, before I was even allowed in to see my official doctor.

Here he told me, completely in English, about every aspect of each of my eyeballs. There’s something a little unnerving about seeing pictures of your eye blown up to about 100 times their actual size so you can see each and every thing inside of the them (ew). After walking me through each of my eyes, my doctor explained to me that due to several factors, including the thickness of my cornea, he was going to suggest I get LASEK surgery instead of LASIK. I was a little nervous at the news because the LASEK healing period is longer than that of LASIK and is, as I pointed out, also supposed to hurt.

Like, badly.

However, he also told me about all of the benefits of getting LASEK over LASIK, including the much lower risk of side effects when I finally returned back to the States. In the end I was convinced, and after another small meeting with the Ophthalmologist consultant, I knew everything I needed to know. This included where my eye sight was, where it would be following surgery, the total cost and the date which would be 3 weeks later.

The morning of surgery, my co-teacher and I went back in to see my consultant first and, in a mix of English and Korean, they walked me through everything from what medicine I was going to need post-surgery, to what my doctor was going to be expecting (fear, essentially) when I walked into his office. After that, I was sent back for more last minute tests which just included checking to make sure my vision hadn’t drastically changed over the course of 3 weeks since I’d been in the office. Once they were satisfied I hadn’t gotten any worse, or magically gotten superhero vision overnight, I was directed back to my doctor who asked me at least 3 times how I was feeling. He also reassured me another dozen times that there was nothing to be worried about. He walked me through everything he was going to do in surgery, which was honestly more helpful than anything else he could have done besides hand me a coffee. Finally, he told me it was time to go and my co-teacher and I headed upstairs to the surgery floor.

Once I was upstairs they put me in a little head scrub thingie and another nurse started applying eye drops like there was no tomorrow. The first few drops were just anti-bacterial stuff, but then she started doling out the numbing drops and I honestly had absolutely no worries at all after that because I knew I wouldn’t be able to feel anything less than a sledgehammer going through my eyes. Even then, I’m sure I’d have only blinked and simply felt the pain later.

Before we went into surgery, my doctor came out to check on me one more time, reassuring me and making sure I wasn’t going to flee. Honestly, it was more amusing than anything to have so many people checking that I wasn’t going to start hyperventilating or possibly burst into tears. Though to be fair, they’ve probably seen lots of that from nervous patients. I was too tired to be scared or even vaguely nervous. The surgery was at 9:30 AM during my vacation time, I was supposed to be in bed for at least another 4 hours but instead was being rolled into surgery!

After nearly 2 hours of prepping, they took me into this all white room that honestly looked just like the TV room in the original ‘Willy Wonka and the Chocolate Factory’ movie, except there were four nurses, my doctor and a huge alien laser thing hanging from the ceiling. So, you know, totally normal.

The nurses laid me down, put a protective blanket over and then unceremoniously covered one eye. Now, at this point, I should reiterate that I was completely numbed up and could not feel anything, because here’s where things start getting a little squeamish. My doctor immediately started talking before he did anything and was calling out all his moves as he was doing them, though I couldn’t do anything but lie still and maybe occasionally say yes or no.

First, he put something in my eye that was going to hold it open for the remainder of surgery. It was vaguely uncomfortable and immediately made me want to struggle against what I could only assume was a metal CLAMP, but I could still (sort of) blink and I couldn’t feel anything anyway so I calmed down pretty quickly.There were other other things that got set on top of my eye, including this circular ring thing that I’m literally just guessing was to help the laser know where to go.

The doctor had warned me even before starting that I would go through 2 different laser…thingies. The first was a green “laser” that just made everything cloudy. This and the quick rinse they gave me after was honestly the worst part of the whole surgery only because I immediately assumed they had blinded me and the water was cold as hell. Then, here’s the grossest part, he took a q-tip and was literally wiping my eyeball with it while I (sort of) watched. It was so bizarre I started giggling which only made my doctor think I was going insane so he told me to maybe think of a song to keep myself calm.

How could he have known this would make it worse?

Just before they turned on the actual laser that was going to start slicing through my cornea, I started thinking of literally every eye related song in existence. Even when the laser started doing it’s job and I could literally smell flesh burning, the only thing I could think of was ‘Eye of the Tiger’. I was trying so hard not to laugh I actually totally missed the rest of what happened to my right eye, and the left eye went about the same.

Total surgery time was about 15 minutes, then they slapped me on the butt and sent me on my way. The doctor and consultant both told me the first 3 days were going to be pretty bad, which I had heard from another friend who got the same surgery. I had 3 different bottles of eye drops and enough prescription pills for three days with an instruction to come back for a check up in a week. Y’all, within the first 5 minutes that surgery ended and the numbing drops wore off, my eyes started falling apart.

I could barely open my eyes for any reason at all for the first 72 hours. It seemed like even the air was too much on my sensitive eyes. The only thing I could do when I got home was go to sleep. When I woke up, I had enough energy to eat my next meal, take my next packet of medicine, put in the eye drops I needed and then pass back out. This continued for 3 days: wake up, suffer extreme pain, lie around with my eyes closed, ice my poor sore eyes, eat what I could find, take medicine, put in eye drops, pass out again. I’m not going to lie, that I’ve never experienced any pain like that before, especially in such a sensitive area as my eyes.

Luckily it was almost like I was on a timer because when I woke up on day 4 I was totally fine again. I could open my eyes without wanting to die, blink without thinking I was going to pass out, and I was even able to see better. At my one week appointment my eyesight had markedly improved. I went from a -4.75 in both eyes (which is not bad but certainly not good) to a 1.0 and 0.6 in my left and right eyes respectively. Now that it’s been a month, I’m actually at 1.0 for both eyes and it’s holding steady. There are times when it’s late at night, or my eyes are really dry or I’ve been staring at something too long that one eye or the other will start to blur just the teensiest bit. For the most part though my vision is excellent and I look forward to even continuing to improve for a while yet.

Our First K-Pop Concert: Big Bang ‘MADE’ Tour in Seoul!

Okay, so this wasn’t necessarily my first concert in Korea, but it WAS my first solo K-Pop concert and it was absolutely worth every penny! This year’s adventure was to see the incredibly popular 5 member boy group Big Bang, a group under the same label as the internationally recognized Psy.

Before we could even think past anything else, we had to fight off half of Korea to get actual tickets. There were a few ways you could get the tickets themselves, but everyone’s best bet was to get them through GMarket, a popular shopping site in Korea similar to Amazon in that they literally sell everything. Once tickets were purchased, both for the concert itself and for the couple of hour bus ride to Seoul, it was another, slightly shorter, subway ride to the concert venue. Though I’ve been to Jamsil, another popular concert venue in Seoul, Big Bang were set to perform at the equally popular Olympic Park stadium which is where the Olympics were once held when they were in Seoul in the 80’s.

Once we stepped off the subway with a horde of excited fan girls and boys, I mean the MINUTE we exited, we were bombarded by small street vendors selling Big Bang merchandise for the concert itself. What merchandise you walk in with can be almost as important as the concert itself when it comes to K-Pop. Every K-Pop group, especially the more popular ones, have their own light stick with their official group color that you will light up and wave during the concert (Big Bang’s official symbol is the crown since their fandom name is ‘VIP’, their official color yellow). Not only will people have group memorabilia, you can also purchase items that are just for your favorite group member. This can be anything from a towel you hold up during the concert, to headbands with a member’s names on them, to fans with their actual faces on them. These are by no means the only things you can buy to show your favorite member you love them, but they are some of the most popular.

After we got our official merch, it was time to get to the actual building. Then, came the lines. When I say lines, I mean lines that went on for days. Lines for those with standing section wristbands, lines for extra merchandise they have to sell at special stalls, lines for food, lines to pick up your tickets, lines to the ends of the EARTH! Even though we got there about an hour early, the line to pick up our tickets was basically around the block. We completely lucked out and ran into a few of our friends who were near the front of the line, but there were more lines to come don’t you worry!

Once we got our tickets, we had to line up to present said tickets to go in. Then, of course there was the line for the bathroom which stretched just about the length of the entire building itself. It was a relief when we FINALLY got inside and to our seats so we could settle in and wait for it to begin.

There were so many people that the staff had to get inside that the concert was running about half an hr late, but they kept us busy by playing the more popular Big Bang  music videos on the big screen at the front.

Popular groups like Big Bang always attract celebrities who can make it to their concerts, so it wasn’t a surprise when DARA of 2NE1 showed up, but at one point the rookie group WINNER showed up and every female in the building about lost their effing minds.

Still, it was far more entertaining to watch the standing sections begin filing in and immediately start pushing and shoving to get a good place close to the stage. They were half mosh pitting before anything even started. There was a strict ‘No Photography’ rule that was pretty strictly enforced so we had limited time to get our pics in while we could. Especially once the concert started the staff was ever vigilant about cameras of any kind.

When the lights finally dimmed, the light sticks came out along with Big Bang, and everything after that is basically a chaotic, fan girl-y blur. There was lots of standing, screaming, light stick waving and people losing their shit during seemingly random moments. Still, it was great to sing along and dance with other people that you knew also enjoyed the same music you did. The energy and excitement in the building was nothing short of electric, the group doing a great job keeping it going the entire time.

Big Bang did an amazing job live, moving seamlessly from hype songs to more relaxed ones, then simply talking to their fans before introducing their 2 new songs, giving each member a chance to show off some of their solo skills while simultaneously and then making all the people who have been fans for a while nostalgic with some songs that went back to just after their debut.

The concert went on for about 2 hours, but then the encore was about half an hour so by the time it was all said and done I was a ball of exhaustion and excitement. Once outside the new street vendors were there to make sure you went home with as much merchandise as physically possible to carry on the subway.

I was pathetic and bought everything from a mug to a pillow with my favorite member’s face on it, but it was all worth it because they did an awesome job. If you have a chance to check out a K-Pop concert while you’re here I highly suggest it!

What I’ve Learned From Travelling as a Lone Female

I’m sure other females, or even other males out there, can relate by being told nearly everyday by various family, friends, even strangers on the bus, to “be careful out there”. As a fairly small (I’m 5’2″ on a good day, 5’2.5″ on my tippy toes in the shallow end of the pool), and fairly independent woman, I’ve always taken these warnings in stride. After all, I know exactly all of the terrible things that could happen to me while I’m out on my own, or even in a crowded place. My whole life I’ve heard horror stories about what could happen as a lone female, hell even females in a pack. I’ve been taught invisible codes to give other women in public places if I feel like I’m in danger, taught to protect at all costs if I see a female in a harmful situation, to be on the defense long before I’ve even considered if I will need an offense.

In lots of ways all of the warnings and ‘what-ifs’ have certainly affected my everyday life. Of course I understand the need for caution, but when I decided that I was not only going to move abroad by myself, but then additionally have the nerve to TRAVEL alone, I will admit to being slightly annoyed when someone’s first reaction to my news was, “You’re going alone? But what if something happens to you?”

To this I almost always responded with, “I’ve got it, I promise”, when instead I should have said, “Anything could happen, but I’m always wary of just what “anything” could be and that’s the best I can do.”

Lots of women will think that just because their women their not able to travel anywhere, internationally or otherwise. But as someone who has both lived, worked and traveled to other countries abroad, all by lonesome I can tell you what my experiences have been and how they’ve not only made me a better traveler, but a stronger person as well.

1. Always be cautious…

Obviously you’re going wherever you’re going because you want to have a good time. You don’t want to be limited by anything other than possibly your bank account and physical capabilities (how long you can dance in the club before your legs just say no and give out). I get that, I totally do, but if you read any part of the first few paragraphs you’ll know that you should always be careful.

Be wary of guys AND girls that look a little…off. No matter how hot that guy/girl is, we’ve ALL seen Taken (if you haven’t, a hot guy asks to share a taxi with the main home girls then saves this location to later kidnap said home girls) and we know that pretty faces can still kidnap you. Keep any and all possessions on your person limited to the bare essentials and NEVER carry anything super expensive unless you plan on it being literally connected to your hand at all times. My typical rule is if it can’t fit in my pockets I need to re-think what I’m taking with me. The less you carry the more it looks like you’re from around that area and don’t need those things anyway. You could just be going down the street to a friend’s house, those people don’t know your life!

There’s obviously so much more, but the last thing I’ve got for you is if you feel like you’re in a situation where a guy/girl is bothering you, do the fake phone call. This seems so obvious, but so many of my friends have said, “I just didn’t think of it at the time”, or, “They would have totally known it was fake”. The latter might put your acting skills to the test, but I absolutely believe you can do it for the few minutes it will take you to get to a public area.

2. …but don’t limit yourself because of fear!

I know I’m probably contradicting myself here, but just because you know that craziness could happen doesn’t mean that you should only do what’s “safe”. When I first decided to finally go to Japan, I will admit to being a little terrified of the subway of all things. Originally, I was going to absolutely avoid using the subway at all costs. I found out pretty quickly that this was a crappy plan since that meant I would have to a) stay in the small area I was in for 5 days, or b) Take an expensive taxi ride to anywhere I wanted to go for 5 days. Neither of those options quite appealed. Then I decided I wasn’t going to go out past a certain time of night, but half of the fun things in the world don’t get going until after 10 PM! In the end, I went way past my comfort zone and was so grateful I did in the long run. It was absolutely worth it to make memories and friends I wouldn’t have if I’d stayed in my room.

3. Make friends!

Here’s where I unashamedly put in a travel plug for staying hostels. Before I moved to Korea I was all about super cheap hotels/motels, mostly because I had never even seen a hostel, let alone stayed in one. Hostels in Europe especially get kind of a bad rap, but it’s honestly here that you’ll meet other people who are just like you. This is where all the travelers are going to be staying, and trust me when I say they’ve probably got at least one plan that’s cooler than your original one. Not to mention this is where you’ll most likely find someone to hang out with so you don’t have to wander around a strange place on your own. Also, new people are super fun. I find that they’re the best part of my trip, especially since travelling in packs is always safer than wandering alone.

4. RESEARCHHHHHH…

Before you go anywhere, make sure you actually know where you’re going. When I say know where you’re going, I don’t just mean checking out what you’re going to be doing. Your schedule won’t necessarily be important until you actually arrive. Knowing what kind of area you’re going to be staying in, though, is something you should be a little more aware of. Especially in larger cities or more popular destinations you should know things in terms of: amount of people, places to avoid, areas where most of the young crowd likes to go, etc. Though looking into the area doesn’t guarantee any kind of safety, it’s good to feel like you know what you’re expecting and what you’re walking into.

5. Stay in the thick of things!

Which leads me to you staying as close to as many people as you can. Now, there’s a huge asterisk next to this one because sometimes you just want to be in nature and the complete opposite of near people which is also totally fine. However, if you’re trying to stay in a city or a huge touristy area it’s best to stay close to where other people can help you if you need it, or if you need to make a quick get away you’ve got an area where taxis or public transportation are plentiful. Of course here you’re going to need to be more cautious than if you were outside of the big city, but in my experience I’ve found that being around more people has actually made me feel a little safer. Contradictory in some people’s cases, I know, but trust me that the best way to go unnoticed is by being in a huge crowd.

How To Buy A Bus Ticket Online in South Korea

With so many people living here, it’s no wonder that it’s so easy to grab any kind of public transportation you want in Korea. Whether it be plane, train, cab, bus, subway, there’s always a way to get where you need to go. The transportation I take most often, however, would definitely have to be the bus. I take the city bus to school everyday, but it’s the inter-city buses that stole my heart away within the first few weeks of being in Korea. Of course you can just stroll up to the terminal at any time and ask for the next bus that will take you to your desired destination, but I quickly learned with my first few visits to Seoul that sometimes just hoping and praying isn’t necessarily going to help you get the ticket you want when you want it. If you’d like reserve a bus ticket definitely the best way to do so is through https://www.hticket.co.kr/main.action.

*NOTE: It will greatly help if you or someone you know is able to just read a little Korean so you can read your city name.*

*NOTE 2: You will need EITHER a Korean Alien Registration Number or Korean bank account number for the transaction to go through.*

1. If you have a Korean keyboard you can type in ‘이지티켓‘ in Google or Naver. There may be two top options, but please click on the one about ‘hticket’.

2. Once you click on the website it will take you to this page:

3. On the left hand side 출발지 (Departure place) is the first option. This is where knowing your city in Korean will be crucial, but after the first time you find your city you can just go by the number to the right hand side and it will be easier to find.

Since I live in Chungju I will choose the [460] option.

4. Now for your second option, 도착지 (Arrival). When coming from Chungju I can only choose options for Seoul, so I’m going to choose the Gangnam (Central City) [020] Terminal because I go there most often.

5. Now you’re going to choose your departure date. I’m going to choose Friday’s date because nearly everyone is trying to go to Seoul on a Friday (but seriously). So, next to 출발일시 (Departure date and time) choose your date!

6. As you’ve probably guessed, 출발시간 is the time you want to leave. Be careful here that you choose morning or afternoon appropriately. I’ve had that mishap before…:P

7. Don’t worry about the last box. but click on 조회 to continue!

8. The next page is like the Terms and Agreement page so to continue click on the bottom left hand option that says 확인.

9. Now you can choose your bus time and what kind of bus you’d like. The more expensive buses, the one that says 10,900 won, are typically Express Buses and are more expensive because they’re more spacious and allow you to get your own seat if you choose to. However, if you’re in for a shorter journey and don’t mind sharing the space, the cheaper buses are just as comfortable and, well, cheaper! Pay close attention to the times of each buses as well as the prices on the far left hand side, and then, once you’ve chosen your bus, click on the blue button on the far right that says 선택 (Choose).

Scroll down to the bottom and click on the green button on the right that says 이천 to go to the next page.

10. Before you can choose your bus seat, choose how many adults will be riding at the top next to where it says 어른. Then you can slick on any seat number that does not have a red [x] already in it.

Scroll down to the bottom and click the green button that says 예약하기.

11. You’re almost there! Here on the last page there’s going to be a lot of information but don’t let it deter you! At the very top of the page it’s going to have all of your ticket choice including your departure and arrival cities, time of your departure, seat number, the whole shebang. This is your last chance to check everything out to make sure it’s correct.

Now scroll down and, in the second gray box that starts with 이용약관, click on the only open box to make a check mark.

12. Last step! Now it’s time for you to put in your card information. Next to where it says 카드구… you won’t have to click on anything as long as the first option is already clicked. The next box down, however, is where you’ll put your card number. It shouldn’t matter whether this is a  The next two boxes are the expiration date, and the bottom is the last six digits of your Alien Registration Card number. These digits are your birthday starting with the last two digits of your birth year, followed by your birth month and the day.

Once you’ve put all that in, click on the green button at the bottom for the all clear! The next page it should take you too should have two choices for you to put in either your card number or Alien Registration number to confirm your reservation. You are also able to cancel your reservation by clicking on the 최소 button next to the reservation, though it will be a small fee to do so.

And that’s all there is to it. Happy reserving!:)

A Day in the Life in South Korea

I’ve officially been in South Korea for a year some chance and I’m finally putting up my first video on life teaching abroad! Even though I’ve moved halfway across the world my day to day is about as normal as I could come to expect. Here’s just a small snippet of my everyday life as a foreign teacher in South Korea!

Dating in South Korea

I’ve actually gotten lots questions from friends and family back home about whether or not I am, and this is a direct quote, “a prematurely made cat lady who is obviously lonely out of her mind” because I’m a foreigner living in another country. The question had so many wrong parts to it it was hard to know where to begin, but I’ll go ahead and start with the fact that I am actually allergic to cat hair and therefore don’t think I’ll be a cat lady until they discover a permanent vaccine for said allergy. Also, of course you’re able to date in Korea. Dating in Korea is a big deal. Like, of everywhere else I’ve ever been it seems that being alone here is one of the number one problems you could ever have. Everyone wants you to be in a relationship. It’s addressed in every movie, sitcom, and drama you’ll ever see here. One of the first questions anyone will ask you when they first meet you, often right after your name and where are you from, is “Do you have a boyfriend/girlfriend?”. This question is off limits to absolutely no one. Our bosses asked all of the foreign teachers on our first day about our relationship statuses and were wholeheartedly flummoxed and disappointed that all 4 of us were single. It’s like being single here is as novel a concept as Americans not having Starbucks. (For the record, my friend from South Africa insists there is no Starbucks there and all of us were horrified at the mere idea that there was a place in the Free World that did not have the option between a tall or venti latte. But I digress.) So yes, dating is a big deal. Fortunately, I have had the opportunity to date both Koreans and fellow foreigners since I’ve been here and they were incredibly different experiences, but certainly no better or worse than one or the other. First off, everyone wonders whether Koreans are into dating foreigners and I can absolutely, with conviction, assure you that they are just as into foreigners as they are into other Koreans. And it doesn’t matter what color you are, or what country you’re from, or even whether or not you speak Korean. It’s mostly the younger generation that has no problem dating outside of the “traditional” dating scene, but I’ve seen plenty of middle age Korean men out with younger foreign women as well. My experiences, along with other friends of mine who have dated a native, have been varied when it comes to dating Korean men, but one thing we can all agree on is how attentive Korean men, and Korean women from as far as I’ve been to tell, can be when in a relationship. What you have to understand is that traditional Korean couples often spend anytime they’re not actually together texting, talking on the phone, and then actually hanging out as often as possible. When dating a foreigner, most Koreans expect that you want the same treatment, or else they just like to give you lots of attention. Texting non-stop is definitely to be expected whether you’re dating a male or female. Whether it’s checking to make sure you are still alive, or even simply that you’ve eaten (the latter is far more common than the former, but not by much), expect at least a few messages in your inbox while you’re with your significant other. They are often very concerned about your well being. I can’t tell you how many texts I’ve gotten warning me to be careful I don’t get a cold, that I’m eating properly, to go get medicine if whether I think my runny nose is just allergies or not. I had a friend whose fairly new Korean boyfriend looked up and then sent her the name of every hospital within a 20 miles radius of where she lived, and then sent her directions to each one because he lived in Seoul and couldn’t take her there himself. It was sweet that he cared, but definitely caused me to raise a curious eyebrow. I can’t think of many men who would just up and do that back home, not because they didn’t care, but because they could just as easily bring me soup and make sure I made a doctor’s appointment for the next day. Honestly his checking on her was great, I was just surprised at how much he seemed to care when they’d only been dating a few weeks. Dates themselves are pretty much like every other date I’ve been on regardless of where I am in the world. I’ve gone to normal lunches or dinners, walking through the park, ice skating, lots of normal things that I’d do anywhere else. The only difference, I think, is when I’ve gone on more than one place on a Korean date we switch off paying for one thing or another. So he’ll pay for lunch, but after if we get coffee or dessert I’ll pay, which I totally don’t mind and even prefer. So, yes, in my experience Korean men like to take care of you, like being around you and enjoy your time together a little more than I’m used to, but there’s nothing wrong with that. Many girls thoroughly enjoy being loved on in such a way and have perfectly normal relationships as far as I’ve seen. Being so actively into dating isn’t necessarily my cup of tea because I’m very used to being independent. Still, my relationships here can be a nice change from the norm of what I’m used to. If you’re coming here and, like I was, are certain you are going to remain totally alone for the better part of your stay because of your being a foreigner, I’d say don’t sweat it. There’s someone out there for everyone, and I wholeheartedly suggest you get out there and experience any new adventures you decide on for yourself!

When “place where I live and work” suddenly became “Home”

The first time the words casually came out of my mouth I was shocked.

During a week long vacation in September I went to Tokyo to just kind of get away for a little while, but also to start on my “I want to see it all!” fantasy. The trip was great, but on my last night as I sat in the living room of the hostel with about a dozen others I sighed and mock lamented, “Man, it’s going to be so weird speaking Korean again when I get home.”

A few people nodded in understanding, one of my new friends giggled a little, but no one acknowledged what I had said because they obviously didn’t understand the implications. I remember tensing up a little because for the first time I realized that home was not where it had always been for the past 20+ years of my life. I will admit it was slightly terrifying to think that when I said ‘home’ I didn’t mean a suburb in Texas, my extended families’ homes on the East coast, or in any of the United States in general. Subconsciously I had been calling my little studio apartment in the middle of Chungju ‘home’ for months, but saying it out loud was an affirmation that I had abandoned any pretense that it was anything more than a place I simply lived.

My home in Korea is the first one I have made for myself with only the slightest of guiding hands. I’m the one who decided that decorating my apartment meant just taping pictures on the walls, that found out which restaurants are healthier and, therefore, to be avoided at all costs. No one else in my family back home knows the places I like to eat at that are simply closer to where I live, the cooks who know my name and face because I’ve been so often, or what I like to do on the weekends when I’m not doing my best to imitate a hibernating bear. I know all of the intricacies involved with taking a bus, a train, the subway, even flying. I have favorite foods now that I’m not sure whether or not I’m going to have withdrawals from when I finally leave. I have hobbies that are entirely my own (for a brief moment I took up cooking…?), I’ve conquered fears, learned a new language (sort of), met new people and taken myself on journeys I never thought were possible.

It’s a combination of all the little things that have helped me to make this place home, but the moment I bought my plane ticket back to Texas to visit my family was the first time I realized how attached I really was. I was actually on the verge of a mini anxiety attack as I searched for flights. After a long minute I finally discovered why I was being so weird. So small but so glaringly obvious, I nearly slapped myself when I realized the problem was that, while I had been searching, I hadn’t clicked ‘Roudtrip’.

Immediately after I subconsciously recognized that I was, in fact, coming back to Korea I relaxed. My shoulders completely relaxed, my heart stopped pounding, and I laughed a bit at my overreaction. But it wasn’t an overreaction at all because for a second I truly thought that I was losing what I’ve taken so long to build: my new home.

This past month, nearly exactly a year to the day, I finally visited my friends and family back in the good old US of A. Of course I was excited, happy to finally be somewhere where I understood everyone and I knew exactly where to get all the products I’ve been without while all the way across the ocean. But in the back of my mind, late at night so I couldn’t examine it too closely, I found myself wondering what was going on “back home”. I couldn’t exactly remember if I had turned off the heater and nearly groaned at the bajillion won bill I was going to find if I hadn’t. I wondered what my friends and Korean families were up to, if the kids I saw once a week were studying hard, if the very nice barista at the Starbucks down the street from my apartment was going to think I had moved away or died since I see her at least once a week and hadn’t been in nearly 2.

I’m not going to be so dramatic as to say I was itching to get back or that I would rather be in Korea than my original home. I absolutely treasured every moment I had in America like it was my last, but I also acknowledged that it was no longer the only home I had. It’s not crazy that I finally think of this place as more than a foreign country or just my place of employment. It has been over a year after all! It is however, strangely comforting, to find that I finally find myself equally comfortable in both places, something that I didn’t think was ever going to be possible no matter how much I loved living here.

In short, anywhere I feel comfortable enough to dance around the room in my underwear while doing laundry is home to me and honestly probably always will be.