Thumbs Down to Alternative Korean Medicine:
So I had some acupuncture done today for the first time. We met a Korean doctor at a bar last night, he said he’d give us free treatment if we had a conversation with him. I let the boys do the talking and I took advantage of a free anything. "Acupuncture?" You say. I’m a free thinker, I’ll try anything once. God knows I’ve tried enough unnamed, uncooked foods here...I can handle some measly pins. I realized several things at this "medical" visit:
1. I don’t know my address. If I had to tell someone where my house is, near the 7-Eleven is the best I could do. This might be a problem in the future. I only know my phone number because I have it written in my wallet. If I get mugged, I’m in serious trouble. But atleast I’m not lying when I use the excuse, for guys, that I don’t know my number or where I live...I should have thought of that sooner.
2. When talking to older foreign men, always pretend your in a serious relationship. This particular doctor mentioned he was 36 and single, and I was 22 and unmarried...convenient. I told him I was likely to be married soon, and infertile. He tried to sell me a $300/month medicine plan...I’d rather kiss the toothless vendor selling fried pork feet.
3. Don’t ever do acupuncture. First off I "have trouble with my small intestine"...why? how? I don’t know...apparently "faulty intestines" tattooed on my face. The needles at some points on the body weren’t painful, but others like the toes and palms...GOOD GOD, it hurt, bad. The worst part (if you’re squeamish, don’t read) is that I could literally feel him move the needles around inside me, touching my innards. So I had my 15 minutes of torture, ready to get out of their ASAP. I go to sit up and see a HUGE pool of blood by my left calf. WAIT, I don’t think I’m suppose to bleed after this. The nurses freak out, I freak out, check for any gushing arteries, then leave with no promises to return. No more puncturing anything on Alicia, not even for free.
PS they have corn and sweet potato ice creams here...butter not included. yuck.

Day Off
Its my first day off, and I'm watching CSI:NY reruns and sitting online. I would like to be somewhere, seeing something, talking to someone...but I can't. Why? I told myself I wouldn't go somewhere new without enough money to take a cab home, incase I get lost. We dont get paid till 1/7 and my cash is low...that means I lay low for the next week. The only thing I can think to do that is free is walk around in the cold, I say no to that. And so I will enjoy some more inside alone time...woohoo.
But on the upside...the guy who lived in this apartment last left his "5 year plan" on the wall...which involved "getting married." Alicia laughs. Good plan. Shouldn't we title that "5 year hopes"? I don't "plan" on getting married in the next 5 years, I hope to. Lets be real...we can plan on keys being lost, cars running out of gas, and my mom calling me once a month. But beyond that we don't have much choice. We're all guilty of plans. My plans have proven to be very invalid in the outcome of my life, so I quit and hand the baton over to God...I'll just let him deal with it.

Merry Christmas Korea!
I woke to a centimeter of snow on the ground...my FIRST white Christmas!!! While it is a national holiday here, most stores were open and bustling with business. Not so much of a family holiday, like America. I took a bus home from church thinking it would loop around after having missed my stop. Nope, end up in the middle of a field at a "bus depot" getting pushed off by the driver. Great, its Christmas, I'm in the middle of a field, butt-cold, I have a backpack full of carrots to bring to Christmas dinner, and I have no idea where I am. All I could do was laugh. I trekked my way back to a road and eventually got home.
I almost cried while singing "Silent Night" today, realizing this is the first time in my 22 years that I've not been singing this song on Christmas surrounded by my family. Sadness. I called home and the fam was at their typical Christmas Eve dinner. Needless to say the whole restaurant heard my story about the kids singing "fra ra ra ra ra" instead of "la la la la la" via speakerphone.
I am finding my niche here, and I am thankful for that. Last night Baskin Robbins had ice cream cakes on display outside...why? Cause its too cold for them to melt! I told myself I never wanted to live in a place like this. Its funny how those people you wouldnt choose for friends normally become amazing friends under different circumstances. Anyways, life is good. Korea is good. Merry Christmas from this side of the world.

Late-night ramblings:
I never understood why I didn’t fit into the bubble the majority of people were placed into. I desire love, marriage, family, and mortgage one day...but for now, it had not been bestowed upon me yet, and I will tap dance these days away till the music changes to a waltz. I am happy with my decision to step outside the lines, to face my fears of loneliness, to stretch my mind, boundaries and expectations of this life. These days, I look at each day for what it is...in this timezone and zipcode, and not in any other. I enjoy the single life, knowing there is far less responsibility than will be one day. I enjoy perusing the idea of love and life with different men, rational or not, celebrity or real. I enjoy living in another country, with all the fears and challenges it poses. I enjoy being "that person" who does not have the same plan for her life from day to day, week to week, year to year. I am a woman, and indecisiveness is my trait, my method. One day I will be tied to soccer schedules, nap times, and work luncheons...but for now I am tied to wherever my avocado green Chuck Taylors take me. I am a walking enigma; I enjoy the comforts of home, but unpredictability too. My life’s meaning consists of my friends and family, yet I am 15,000 miles from them. I seek to do that which I will not regret in 20 years. When my loafers and Eddie Bauer shirts get a little too tight one day, I want to look back at the times I set my foot upon a Fijian island, or jumped out of a plane in New Zealand, or kareaoke with Koreans and smile, contentedly. I attempt to live life to the fullest, whether thats at my home or on foreign soil. God created life to be lived, not survived.

Little America:
So I made a trip down to Osan military base today; 20 minutes South in the city of Songtan. It was weird seeing people like me...Americans, white, blonde. The city itself was normal Korean, but inside the gates of the base was like little America, very much the way we have little Italy and Chinatown in the states; a few square miles of the United States transplanted to Asia. Restaurants, stores, candy, colors, and smells of America; but a few thousand miles west. It saddened me. Why? I understand the nicety of comforts of home, but its taken five McDonalds and a Starbucks too far. These soldiers (God bless them) often rarely travel outside their transplanted bubble to see any evidence of this other culture. They are merely temporary year-long guests passing the time. They had Subways and KFCs (with actual english menus) and apparently all food has to be USDA approved...so it even tastes like home! It was refreshing but also disconserting. Apparently most of the military people stay in this Americanized bubble, most just passing the time in stinky cold weather till the sunny days of home come.

I on the other hand say Korea...bring it on baby. Show me what you got! I am past the inital "shell shock" phase, and now where I am more comfortable with my surroundings; starting to explore, stand on my own two feet! I don't intend to cross any oceans alone, but the confidence is growing! So in short, I am glad to know there is a little bit of home a few miles away if I need it, but till then I'll continue to widen my Korean walls...

So I've been in Korea 48 hours and I'm officially ready to go home. Unfortunately it would exceed my credit card limit, and therefore cant. I want to call my mom and tell her I need to come home, but I can't even do that. I sit in solitude occassionally distracted by occasional english TV shows, eating my nuts and berries. Why would I do this to myself? Australia was bad enough and they spoke english...but now I come to a place that can't even say "english". Great. I've already given myself room for a month of misery, 30 days and counting...27 if that month is February.

Getting my pack on...

T-minus 3 days to Korea...I'm faced with the eternal question:WHAT TO PACK?? Minimally, right? My suitcase sits omniously empty, to pack means admitting I am leaving for a year. Procrastination’s key. Scared? Yes. Nervous? Yes. No idea what I’m getting myself into? YES!

In the mean time,while avoiding the inevitable, I will: hang with the fam, sing in the car with my sister, enjoy 70 degree days in December, eat niko-niko sushi, laugh with friends, and watch ocean sunsets at my happy place ...