추워

As Taylor Swift says, "this is me swallowing my pride..."

For those that know me back home, you probably know that I hate the Texas heat. I complain. My face turns red easily. I sweat. My hair frizzes even more than usual. I always fight with my Dad about the A/C. Hannah can't ever sit in the front seat when I'm in the car, because she gets too cold.

I always said, "I can't wait for winter!"

However, I've come to realize that there are different definitions of winter.

Texan winter- a mildly cold season ranging anywhere from one week to two months; average highs in the 50s, possibility of snow one day a year resulting in a holiday

I know Texas has had some freaky weather this year. Be glad its freaky and not normal.

Korean winter- the closest one can get to death without actually putting one's self out of misery, ranging anywhere from 3 months to eternity; average highs in the -200s, possibility of sun one day a year resulting in absolutely no snow or ice melting

Even though winter is coming to an end, I still feel as cold as ever. The happiest moment of the day comes when I walk into my apartment, immediately throw on my sweats, and jump under the covers for an hour to thaw out.

Oh how I miss thee
let me count the days

I miss the days flip flops didn't give my feet enough breathing room.

I miss the days of walking around my apartment without socks and a hoodie on.

I miss the days of needing to put ice in my water.

I miss the days my A/C blew 100 degree air for the first 5 minutes.

I miss the days when more than 2% of my body could be exposed to the sun.

I miss the days of wearing flip flops on Christmas.

I miss the days when I could feel my toes.

I miss the days I couldn't sit in my car without putting a towel down to keep my legs from getting 3rd degree burns.

I miss the days when I had to watch out for mosquitos at night.

I miss the days when it was too hot to even go swimming.

I miss the days when I had to change my shirt during the day because I was sweaty.

I miss the days when my nose didn't run...all the time.

I miss the days I would burn the bottoms of my feet when walking to the pool.

I miss the days when ice cream wasn't cold enough.

I miss the days when Uggs were ridiculous.

I miss the days pants simply were not an option.

I miss the days when my shoulders didn't have to be tensed up in order to walk.

I miss the days when the only bumps I had were from dull razors, not geese.

I miss the days when my breath was invisible.

I miss the days of sunburn, rather than windburn.

I miss the days of showering to cool off.

I miss the days when scarves were an accessory, not a necessity.

*Shout out to my 친구, Laurie, for her input with some of these!

Christmas Eve

Even though I had to work today, a few little things made it feel like Christmas Eve. My coordinator gave me a Christmas present, because she knows how big of a deal Christmas is in America. I'm fairly certain she is the sweetest person since Mother Teresa.

I also had a Christmas card in my mail box from the parents...and I got my Christmas package from my Grandparents! As hard as it is, I'm going to wait until tomorrow morning to open it.


As for my Christmas eve night, Just Friends is on TV, pizza is in the fridge, and I've still got some "gold" left! I just hope my friends will still recognize me when they see me tomorrow.

Merry Christmas to all, and to all a good night!

Answers Part Set

Question: What do you miss most about Texas?

The vastness, the long country roads, the sports culture, guacamole, salsa, cheap red wine, the familiarity, the smell of hay and cows, cowboy boots, muscles, everybody knowing English, seeing the flag everywhere, Lake Kiowa, being able to eat oatmeal, wheat germ, hummus, and spinach everyday, peaches, strawberries, blueberries, raspberries, hearing y'all, Barnes and Noble, as Good as Gold Toffee, fireplaces, yards, barbed wire fences, my car, Mom's deliciously unsweet spaghetti*, Mom's strong coffee, Mom's dump cake, Mom's peanut butter cookies, Mom's lucky cats, Mom and Dad's back porch, Dad's grilled vegetables, and jalapenos.

It goes without saying, of course, that my family, dogs, and friends are at the top of the list. :)

Question:What do you wish you had in Texas that you have in Korea?

Subways and buses everywhere, unlimited healthy side dishes with every meal, kimchi, kimchi pancakes, tofu soup, crazy fast internet, K-pop, cute Korean guys, the ability to walk around with just white noise because I don't understand what everyone around me is saying, mountains and rivers everywhere, cheap cute socks, scarves, earrings, and rings, Konglish!**, Laurie, Keara, Alex, Jodi, Misty, Rosalyn-to name a few, a free furnished apartment, extremely affordable health care, the ability to not ever be affected by advertisements, cheap popcorn and coke zero at the movie theaters, street food, fall colors, a real winter with snow, having a pizza place, rice porridge restaurant, and kimbap restaurant on the first floor of my apartment building, noraebangs, and my walk to work.

*Korea's tomato sauce is SUPER sweet...like you can feel the granules of sugar in the sauce. Gross.
**Konglish-the use of English words in a Korean context aka hilarious phrases that make no sense, but somehow, make sense. You will most likely see some examples on my clothes when I return. Buying sweat shirts with funny Konglish phrases is my new hobby.

Santa Never Loses an Address!

I received my parent's care package complete with Christmas presents...

...if only it was December 23rd instead of November 23rd!

THIS is Halloween.

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Valley View ISD, ya heard?

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Jammin' with the fam

Personalize funny videos and birthday eCards at JibJab!

Where my girls at?

Christmas Came Early!

Oh, How I love my parents...



After 6 weeks of living out of a backpack, this felt like Christmas! All my clothes, and I have an actual closet to put them in too. And I especially enjoyed the other vital things, like the Texas Magazine, an American flag, a Texas yo-yo, and most of all, the Lake Kiowa Communique.


As you can see, the Texas/Oklahoma battle still remains...even in Korea.


Thank you Mom and Dad!!!!!!

Wait, Was That Today?

Last night I went out with some of my friends from the TESOL course. When I say out, I mean out. Almost two bottles of whiskey were drank before we even left the hostel. More drinks were consumed at both clubs we went to. So when 4:00 am rolled around, it felt like 30 minutes had past. I had so much fun, and today have had a relaxing lie in with plenty of water, my usual breakfast from down the street, and The Girl Who Kicked the Hornets' Nest.

I take a break to check facebook when I see a wall post from somebody. It says, "Congratulations Jared and Jessica Stobaugh. The wedding was beautiful." I was told by somebody that it was this weekend, but completely forgot. Furthermore, I was having a fabulous night out with girl friends and cute boys while on the other side of the world, my ex of almost 6 years was getting married...to the girl he started dating very soon after we broke up.

It just hit me today how lucky I am that our relationship did not work out. I can't imagine getting married right now, and to somebody completely wrong for me. I'm sure I would feel upset if I was in Gainesville, but the fact that I have been in Thailand for a month and about to move to South Korea is just icing on this single lady's cake.

Things that don't work out in life are just as important as the things that do.

Ok, back to reading! I must finish 300 pages by tomorrow morning so I can give my copy to an Irish guy before he leaves.
PS- I am reading in the lobby, and looked over at one point noticing that two other people are reading The Girl With the Dragon Tattoo. My Irish friend is also reading that one. I love it!

You can't escape Texas...even in Bangkok

After my exhausting hot shopping experience at the weekend market, I decided to take a tuk tuk from the metro station to the hostel instead of walking an extra 10 minutes. After a horrible night's sleep on the train from Chiang Mai, walking around outside in a crowded market looking at things I can't afford right now just was not my idea of fun. After being around people constantly for 3 weeks, suddenly knowing nobody in a city as huge as Bangkok can be a little overwhelming. I was feeling pretty homesick, when the tuk tuk driver asked me where I was from.

"Texas", I proudly but tiredly said.
"Really? I lived in Bastrop, Texas for four years!"
"Uh?" Obviously that threw me through a loop.
"Yeah, I worked at a Thai restaurant. I loved it there."

So I guess it goes to show that there's a little piece of Texas everywhere you go, even in Bangkok.

A Reply to Grandma's E-mail

I just received an e-mail from my Grandma with all of these great questions I never even thought writing about. So for everybody else who might be wondering the same, here are some answers:

We'll start with the personal one...why do I love tattoos? Because they're freaking awesome! No seriously, I don't know what made me love tattoos. Maybe its the artistic quality of them that I don't possess; maybe because its a way of individualizing (if that's not a word, I'm coining it!) one's own body; or maybe its because I grew up in the tattoo era, & it seems as normal as getting my ears pierced.
And no, I haven't gotten one in Thailand if that's what you're now thinking. :)

How was the flight? Well that question needs to be rephrased...How were my flights? DFW to Chicago was fine. Chicago to Seoul was LONG and uncomfortable. I sat next to a man who had no concept of personal space and ate loudly. But, the Korean food was very good, they served free wine, and I watched four movies. The flight from Seoul to Chiang Mai was terrific. I had two seats to myself, and at that point, it was like having a king sized pillow topped bed with chocolates on the pillow and a Paul Walker look alike warming the sheets. Heck, maybe even Paul Walker himself.

How is the weather? She's mildly warm and the most humid I've ever experienced. I thought being from Texas and having lived in Florida would prepare me for the humidity. My hair has never been so frizzy! I can drink a liter of water and never have to pee because the sweat just pours out. But, having said that, the nights and early mornings are quite nice, I don't need lotion, and my skin looks great.
Also, it gets dark here at 7:30 and is light by 6:00...which is great because once the sun goes down, the evenings are so pleasant.

Everybody knows you can't drink the tap water....but they have these drinking water machines on the side of the roads. I was buying bottled water at the 7-11 (they are as common as Starbucks in the US) for around 15-20 baht everyday. But since discovering the machines, I can pay only one baht and fill up as many bottles as I can carry! Its approx 30 baht per $1.

I hope that fulfilled everybody's curiousity about the little details.

I will post a blog sometime soon about the food (with pictures!) and how cheap and great it is.

Until then, everybody please keep your fingers crossed if you believe in luck, pray if you pray, or whatever else it takes! Three of us are still waiting to receive our contracts, so we can go to Bangkok after training to get our Korean visas. If this falls through and I don't have a job, I have no idea what I will do!