happy anniversary to me!

deery-lou.
can you believe it? i have officially been in korea for one year. where did the time go? it only seems like yesterday that i was packing my superhero toys and taking them to a storage unit. but on the other hand it seems like ages since i've been in san francisco. its kind of like the glass is half empty/full. depending on my mood is how i feel. i can honestly say though that i'm still enjoying my time here. reflecting on the year gone by, here's what i've learned:

1. its never what you think [ex: noodles are often fish]
2. there's no understanding kl [korean logic]
3. socks and sandals go hand and hand
4. manual labor is done wearing sandals
5. its ok to nap on the job
6. cellphones are actually necklaces
7. if your cellphone doesn't have a camera, you're a loser
8. red lights don't mean stop
9. scooters always have the right of way
10. you can get by for a whole year with knowing only "hi, goodbye, and thankyou"
11. strangers are kind
12. you must hold on tight while riding the bus
13. middle school girls like to giggle alot
14. the korean wave is taking over
15. korean dramas rule
16. the same goes for korean game shows
17. all the foreigners on tv are d.u.m.b.
18. being unhip is hip
19. koreans t-shirts say the darnest things
20. kimchi is eaten at every meal
21. fried squid is a midnight snack
22. kalbi rules
23. i like kimbab
24. dalki and her friends are better than the shortcake gang
25. tvs are a must in every store
26. acupuncture is the best thing ever
27. chinese medicine really works
28. koreans will cut your hair however they want
29. sugar coated things are a staple
30. you can take the boy out of san francisco but you can't take sf out of the boy
31. starbucks is everywhere [as is dunkin donuts and mcdonalds]
32. family and friends are important
33. i still manage to watch too much tv
34. procrastination follows you
35. i have a thing for asians
36. the coke and pepsi is always semi flat
37. pineapple sodas are the new best thing
38. banana milk [need i say more]
39. vcds are a cheap and easy way to watch korean movies
40. teaching is hard work
41. too much soju is a bad thing
42. noraebangs are F.U.N
43. subways can be clean
44. one can o.d. on too many temples
45. ajumas love me
46. taekwondo takes discipline and hard training
47. one must always carry toilet tissue with them
48. koreans like to look at themselves
49. saunas are a great place to spend a hour or two
50. smiling makes all the difference
51. you can eat noodles with chopsticks
52. and the list goes on and on and on…

last night i met up with the sisterhood cult. they took me to a seafood restaurant for seafood soup. there were things in that soup that i don't even want to know what they were. i did try everything except the intestines of some fish. that was a definite no-no. i did try some kind of sea creature eggs that was a giant lump and tasted kind of dry and gritty. there wqas something else i ate that i thought was a potato but it wasn't. there was also the chewy thing with a suction cup that was neither a squid nor an octopus. and lets not forget the little round thing that when you bit into it some hot liquid squirted out and then it got kind of crunchy. it's amazing how daring i've become with food. all in all the soup was actually good. after dinner me and two of the cult members went to see a live band. AWFUL! they played mostly covers and i thought i was going to rip my hair out. the worst part was that i had to pretend i liked it. the people with me were digging it. i think i promised one of them i'd go again. oops! i munched on dried squid and peanuts pretending i was somewhere else.

be well…