Who needs a title? How about..."I love Korea and Korea loves me?"

Two of my girlfriends and I email often. They are so good at coming up with hilarious and catchy subject lines for their emails....My friend Dana has an incredible blog. I am usually already laughing at her title before I even get to the actual blog. I am not this kind of person, so bare with me. I also realize that many people I don't know are reading my blog. There are some AMAZING blogs out there. I know because I spend hours every night reading them. This blog is not one of them. There will be grammar mistakes. There will be nonsensical order of things. My co-worker wrote a beautiful account of our trip to the DMZ....I did not...Le sigh ;)
I am not exactly doing my best, but enjoy it anyway.

On to my thoughts of the day :)

Something that has been on my mind is how to act when you see a Westerner on the street. I have chosen to smile if they make eye contact. If they don't, I ignore them. I have talked about this at length with my friends here. Just because we are both from AMERICA!!! doesn't mean we should talk. I want friends from everywhere in the world, but you are going somewhere and so am I. It can be a little awkward. I remember when I worked at Six Flags Saint Louis. I rode the city bus where everyone was African-American. There was one blonde/white girl other than me. Do I talk to her? Sit by her? Ignore her? Ahhh the pressure. I ended up ignoring her. Ai yi yi. It is like that here.

Second, I think I am really down with culture. I am sometimes brutally aware that I am not. Three times I have met a person of Asian descent. All three times, I assume they are from Korea. All three times, they have been from either the US or Canada. All three times, I say I won't make that assumption ever again. Today, I went to Mass. I was surprised that everyone was Asian. There were 3 white men and their Asian wives. I asked a teenager why did she goes to English Mass. She said in accent free English, "I am from Toronto and I am not accustom to the Korean Mass." DUH Ellen. oi. Shame on me.

I am also happy that I am getting the swing of things. I easily enter my passcode to get in my apartment. I can get around on the subway without stressing. I know how to get home. I have a routine. Every day gets easier. (As soon as my ARC comes, I will be unstoppable!) If you have a loved one itching for adventure, then Seoul is a great place to start. So easy. Everyone is so willing to lend a hand. I met a group of Koreans through a meet up. They knew it was my birthday. They bought me bangle bracelets, tea, and a fancy cake from Paris Baguette! They didn't even meet me yet. I love Korea. I really love Korea :)