In the meantime, I have six crazy classes tomorrow so it’s time for sleeeeep. They realllly know how to test my patience, and without sleep, I have none.

Ashley and I decided to get motivated for our last few weeks here and really focus on the physical aspect of our lives. I’m not big on craze dieting, or thinking that ONLY SKINNY PEOPLE ARE HAPPY because really I think that’s a crock of shit. I’m by no means a skinny mini and I have the greatest life ever. So we are both fully aware it’s not going to drastically improve our quality of life (except maybe provide an excuse to buy a new wardrobe) but I do think it’ll be a good distraction for these next few months and it’d be nice to feel really FIT and capable. It always feel good to just sprint up a flight of stairs without feeling winded, or wake up feeling energized and ready for a workout, and I’d lovvve to fulfill my goal of running a half marathon before I leave. So, WORLD, this is my commitment to really keep at it this time, and workout regularly and treat my body with the care it deserves. Gotta lay off the slothy Sundays and binge drinking and mounds of rice at school lunch. And I might get a little obnoxious about it because I have to get a little obsessive about things before they can take hold as habits.

I also dyed and cut my hair this weekend… Ashley and I had a lot of spare time on our hands. For an at-home project, I’m really quite impressed. It’s always nice to switch it up darker for fall. Speaking of fall, it’s been SCORCHING hot here, but every day the humidity level is lowering (2 weeks ago it was at 95%!!!) and today it actually felt cool and breezy outside. I LOVE LOVE summer, but here summer means muggy and sweaty and a really hot classroom, so I’m ready to welcome fall with open arms.

I still have a few months until I leave Korea, and then a few months until I’m actually HOME, but I’m getting excited about it for the first time since I left. It’s always felt pretty easy to be away– obviously I’ve missed everyone but I just felt really comfortable being here and with my life. That uneasy ready-for-a-change feeling is finally starting to settle in, and it’s a good confirmation that it’s time to go. I just want to make sure to appreciate my last couple months here and not waste any time! It’ll all be over in a flash, and then I’ll go right back to missin it.

What I do know is that this place has changed me. In a bigger and better way that I ever thought possible. Oh of course I expected “6-12 months abroad” to effect my life, but I never could have predicted it would be like THIS. There have been far more happy days than sad or angry ones, a million more laughs than tears, and a daily appreciation of all that I have and all I’m able to do. I’m rarely so sentimental since I’ve been here, maybe that’s why I’m finally motivated to write SOMETHING after such a long absence. As people have been departing Korea in perpetually higher volume, it’s caused me to reflect more often on all these experiences and friendships I’ve gained. These people are my family, in a way that people outside– even other people also in Korea– can’t really understand. I don’t know how our jokingly named “dong crew” evolved to such depth, but I definitely am glad it did. It’s like I moved to another country and gained a whole extra family (not a replacement for my real one, but they sure have taken good care of me while I’ve been here.) Now that everyone else keeps leaving, I can’t help but think about the fact that it’s almost time for me to leave too. I shudder thinking about how quickly these next 11 weeks are sure to pass. It’s truly daunting.

Of course I could stay here, of course I could try to cling to the amazement, but I also know that it’s time to go. I’ve come here and gained so much value for my life, and now get to carry all of it (and all those people) along with me to the next great adventure, whatever it may be.

I’m always so preoccupied about saying something interesting or posting entertaining snapshots that I put off posting to the point of forgetting this thing even exists. But now that I’ve been sure to lose 99% of my readership, I guess I can just move along and post what I like without too much concern for my audience opinions. The domain name IS my name after all, so I might as well say what I please.

• 1/2 c whole wheat flour
• 1/2 c rolled oats
• 1/4 c flax seed
• 1 tsp each of: baking powder/baking soda/vanilla
• dash of salt and cinnamon
• 1/4 c brown sugar
• 1 T butter (melted)
• 1/2 c milk
• 2 mashed bananas
• 1/2 c frozen (or fresh or dried) blueberries

Mix all the dry ingredients, add the wet stuff and mix it all around, bake in muffin cups for about 20 minutes at 200 celsius. Delicious! As a side note should anyone ever decide to try this out— I prefer a wheaty less sweet taste for muffins, so if you’re the opposite you can up the butter and sugar for more “taste.” I think it’s greattt on it’s own though.

Around this time a year ago, I made an age 23 goal list of all the things I wanted to accomplish this year. I’d say I did pretty well overall, although of course there was room for improvement.

Soooo now’s the time to analyze how it went, and then next week I can start compiling a new list for AGE TWENTY-FOUR.

1. 195 countries– completely conquered this one last spring, and even got my time down to like 5 minutes flat. Geography genius.

2. Ran four 5ks and one 10k…. but no half marathon. I’ll have to try that one again this year.

3. I read 10 out of 12 books. Life of Pi, Alice in Wonderland, Slaughterhouse Five, For One More Day, Fahrenheit 451, Lolita, Candide (again!), Nelson Mandela’s Autobiography, and 2 more I loaned out in book club and now can’t remember the titles of. So close… but still not the full 12!

4. Blogging… big time fail. Hahaha oops.

5. Pay off one credit card… I’m actually remarkably close at completing this one, and will succeed by May. Silly plane tickets always get in the way of everything…

6. I actually DID lose quite a bit of weight this year– about 25 pounds. Unfortunately it was the same 25 I GAINED during my first few months in Korea, but it still feels good to be rid of it again.

7. Malaysia, Philippines, and a whole new section of Thailand. Counts as 3, I’d say.

8. YESSS I can read and write Hangul.

9. NOOO I’m not even close to being an intermediate Korean speaker. I need to take a class. This crap’s hard.

10. Basically I’m a master cook. Well, ok just a regular cook but I did try out a lot of new recipes this year and had a good time at it. Apparently I realllllly love cooking. So much in fact, that I think I’ll dedicate an entire post to all the delicious foods I’ve made this year.

Annnd that’s the Top Ten Countdown.

We started in Dongdaemun which includes a traditional Korean market, and 5 GIANT MALLS. We only went through one mall and Kathryn was still overwhelmed. I try to tell everyone how amazing the shopping is here, but most people can’t quite comprehend until they see it. Then we jumped on the tour bus and went to Gwangwabuk Palace which is this mega old palace and walled gate place where old kings used to hang out. We saw the “changing of the guards” and some scary looking old Korean dudes. Thenn after missing the bus and me chasing it down like a bird (thanks to Kat for the kind description) we walked over to Insadong area, bought a million macaroon cookies, and caught another bus there. We stopped at a Korean Folk Village for a quick 20 minutes… it was cool and we got PLENTYYY of jumping pictures, but it was mostly just cool old style buildings to look at. Our last main stop on the tour was North Seoul Tower which is one of the main attractions of Seoul. It’s a huuge tall tower that sits on top of a mountain in the middle of Seoul. We got to the top of the mountain right at sunset and saw a beauuutiful pink canvas drop down over the whole city. By the time we got to the top of the tower it was already dark, but it was cool to see the lights of the city stretch on foreverrrr.

After we got our fill of the tower, we met up with Adam and he took us to a traditional Korean restaurant in another part of town. It’s an old style Korean place where they bring like 20 delicious side dishes of all variations of vegetables, seafoods, and meats. SOOO GOOD. Kathyrn was a little hesitant of most of it at first, because it’s definitely all new to the eyes. But, in the end she liked all of it! Adam was nice enough to drive us home so we didn’t have to deal with the subway in our exhausted state, and then we jumped right in bed and passed out.

Todayyy we’re off to see my school and classroom and meet all my coworkers, and then we’re attacking MYEONG DONG. This is definitely going to be a highlight of the trip for both of us. Giant shopping excursion.. this could be dangerous, but I’m sure we’ll survive.

Wellll this was a day of random touring and mostly relaxation. I wasn’t sure how jetlagged Kat would be so we decided to take it easy around town and check out the sites in my neighborhood. Since I live in the boondogs it wasn’t much, but at least she got her first bowl of realllll bibimbap and a good dose of being stared at nonstop. I thought it was bad when I was alone… 2 mega blondies together is like the most shocking thing people have witnessed in a while. Now she knows that I mean it when I say “people stare at me ALL the time.” But in a nice way so it’s okay.

We wandered around Dongducheon and saw the little fashion alley and the big outdoor market. Then we wandered around Jihaeng and looked at all the little shops. We ate dolsot bibimbap and kimchi mandu at a yummy little hole in the wall, and then finished it off with some Baskin Robbins. YUM. She also had the chance to meet a couple of my friends- Joseph, Ashley, Ben, and Jono and proved her self titled “I’m awkward” title to be completely false. This girl was meant for world traveling, I’m sure of it.

Today we woke up a bit earlier- Kat’s schedule is off so she’s probably been up for hours before me.  We’re off to SEOUL for a city bus tour that’ll take us around to all the big touristy spots and palaces. Picture mania!

She arrived last night and looked GREAT despite a 12 hour flight. We took a bus and taxi to our home destination, and fell asleep watching Glee. Her schedule’s a bit off thanks to a 17 hour time difference, but we’re not wasting any time! Today we’re off to the local shops and markets so she can see my little neighborhood, and then we’ll advance to big city Seoul tomorrow. I’m sooooo happy to have her here!