Renewal

To be honest, Korea isn't always my favorite place (read: I don't like it, but I can make it fun). A friend told me about this great blog, and there was one post that really resonated with me, if you want to read it. The past few weeks have contained a lot of built-up frustration and some really intense anger... and these are not feelings I do well. It's been unpleasant to be in my head, and I have been clinging *very* tightly to the prospect of vacation (which, by the way, begins in exactly 48.25 hours).

Enter this weekend: relief and renewal.

It's amazing what dancing with friends, beautiful dramatic clouds, and heart-to-hearts can do for your spirit. I feel so much better and so much more ready to tackle the next 48 hours/5.5 months than I did when I left work on Friday. :)

Gwangju's Mt. Mudeung covered by clouds. Awesome, awesome clouds.

It really is all about perspective. One of my coping mechanisms has been to break down the future by things that I'm really excited about. For example, this is my thought process right now:

1. JEJU-DO vacation!!!

2. A visit from Ariel in August!

3. End-of-summer day trips and my birthday!

4. Chuseok holiday vacation in September!

5. OCTOBER! FALL! HAPPINESS!

6. November: Harry Potter!!!! more fall!

7. CHRISTMAS/last month in Korea/getting ready for our big Asia trip!

See? Look how nicely that breaks things down! And when I look at that list I put aside the annoying frustrating crap from the Monday-Friday work scene and think about how much stuff I still have to fit into these next few months, and my entire perspective on my time in Korea becomes what I wanted it to be again: focused on growth and adventure. Assa!

A Breath of Fresh Air!

80% humidity on average? no thanks.

smoggy foggy cloudy skies? not so much.

a day in the cool, green shade of a bamboo forest? YES, PLEASE.

Here are some pictures of a looooovely excursion the girls and I went on last Saturday to Damyang's Bamboo Forest. Day trips are definitely a cure for the doldrums. Green life is definitely the cure for everything else. :)

look, only a little bit of Korean-ization!!!

isn't this wonderful?!

it is extremely rare to get a picture with no one in it in this country

dear trees, thanks for the shade. love, kelsey

me, Megan, Bess and Danielle :)

Best ending to this day of green?! A ride in a bike built for four :)

In other news, I will be leaving for vacation in exactly two weeks! Bess, Danielle, and I are heading to Jeju Island, and get this. We're staying in a HOTEL. Stay tuned. 

what does it MEAN?!

Can everyone please just go listen to that man? I mean, being moved by nature is one thing. But this....

this is just something ELSE.

Just Like Home?

There are ways to make living in Korea feel like home. I think foreigners here have mastered that art. Rather than talk a lot about the silly and wonderful ways we find to make a niche for ourselves here, I offer some comparison photos:

these are the fireworks I saw in 2009...

and these are the ones we set off on a roof in Korea on July 4, 2010 :)

This is my favorite brunch EVER on the day I discovered it in DC:

And this is my new favorite brunch in Korea (in GWANGJU!):

ya, that's stuffed french toast. no big deal.

this is how Conrad and I recreated the Count of Monte Cristo (Roman Carneval edition) for ourselves a few years ago, masks, capes and all:

and here is a new way Korea's offered for me to look at one of my favorite stories:

yes, that's a sign for The Count of Monte C-uh-risto: the Musical-uh. Asian style.

Oh, Korea. You never cease to amaze me.