They can take my life...but they can't take my shorts.

Friday morning I woke up feeling like I was hit by a bus because the previous night I had played volleyball, with some super legit ballers might I add, for a good two hours. Today I woke up feeling like I had been hit by a car because I actually had. Yesterday I was running down a side street and I see a car weaving around stopped taxis coming towards me so I pull over so I didn't get run over since she was driving like Cruella Deville. She stopped so I waited for a second and assumed she was letting me squeeze between her and the parked car she almost hit, and right when I started going she stepped on the gas and absolutely hammered me in the side with her side view mirror! It hurt so stinkin bad and I shed more than a few tears while limping down the street. After about an hour the pain wore off but today I'm definitely feeling like I might need a hip replacement.

It's kind of funny that this all happened though because this past week I was cussed out in Korean by three different women and I'm pretty sure it was because of my running shorts. Or maybe not. But something about me definitely got them worked up. The only reason I say that is because, aside from the soccer players, I can count on one hand the number of Koreans I've seen actually wearing shorts. When we were at orientation they talked a lot about how we should be mindful of how we dress due to how conservative the Korean culture is, which I understand especially since we are visitors and are likely to see our students outside of school. I can't imagine that shorts would cause such a ruckus though, especially since I regularly see girls wearing skirts so short that it barely covers their backside. Anyways, by Thursday I was convinced every Korean woman over the age of 60 hated me and yesterday, after seeing that the woman who attempted to take my life was around that age, I was 100% sure they were out to get me. I was on the subway yesterday after my near death incident, in shorts, and this woman probably in her mid-sixties came and sat next to me and asked me where I was from and was so sweet. I felt so silly on my walk home for making the assumption that all women over a certain age in this culture are the same. Anywhere you go, you're going to run into angry grandma's and people that glare at you. That's something that I need to remind myself of daily. Especially since here, people don't really smile at you if they don't know you, but it's not a malicious behavior it's just part of the culture.

A couple of weeks ago my best friend Heather's bro Jason, who is the traveling king, wrote a message on here saying something about how when you're in a culture that is so vastly different it's crazy because nothing you do will hold any consequences back home. I think I know what he means because here, we're stared at constantly because we are so different, so in a way, you mind as well be a weirdo because everyone already thinks you're weird. It might not be a part of the culture to smile at people you don't know, but I'm gonna smile at everyone anyways. There have been a few times where the person has actually smiled back and I can tell you it's an amazing feeling...not sure why...but that one gesture can absolutely make my day. I sing out loud while I run or walk to school and people definitely look at me weird but they would look anyways so why not look like I'm having a good time? Or I can go to Dunkin Donuts and eat 4 donuts in one sitting and not care that everyone around me thinks I'm a fat kid. There's just something that is so freeing about living in a culture that is so totally different and never caring what anyone thinks about you.

Last week, three of us went on a mission to find the cherry blossom festival. We walked in every direction we could go and could not for the life of us find this place. So eventually we gave up, got food, and jumped on the bus. We were riding for about thirty minutes when the bus pulls onto a road in the middle of nowhere and turns into a parking lot with 20 other buses...or the bus hotel. So we climbed off and were all laughing because we had NO clue where we were.

Eventually we got on a bus and rode it an hour back to the subway stop...and on the way back we passed the cherry blossom festival. Haha, I need to learn Korean.






World Cup Stadium in Daejeon


The man I plan on marrying


Last night at around 10pm we decided to go to the Hot Springs so beforehand we bought out a Family Mart's ice cream supply. Haha.


I can't express the overwhelming joy I experience when I see this building. It never gets old.

Friday at my boy's school we were working on dialogue that starts with "Would you like to...?" so towards the end of class they were working in pairs to make their own and then afterwards would practice by reading them out loud to the class. Here's the winners for this week:
Boy 1: "Would you like to have a fart?"
Boy 2: "Boooom! Yes, I would."

Boy 1: "Would you like to show me the money?"
Boy 2: "No, maybe next time."
Boy 1: "Ok then I'll kill you."