Wait...I live in Korea?

So, I've managed to land myself a great running buddy, which is a huge deal considering I'm used to running with some of the greatest guys/fastest-runners-that-kick-my-butt-every-time back home, and today we ran up to a point where you can see the entire city. We were standing on a bench where you could literally see all of Daejeon plus layers of mountains for miles and it was one of those moments where it suddenly dawns on you that YOU ARE ACTUALLY LIVING IN KOREA. Yup Ash, this isn't a dream. And yes, you are the only person in the entire country with curly hair.

This week though, spring practice starts for PLU volleyball and there is no other way to put it other than it's absolutely killing me. For several reasons, too. First, for the past eight years now, I've either been a player or a coach in the program so I've never had a spring or fall go by that doesn't involve volleyball. Good volleyball. And for those of you reading who aren't/weren't players in this program, it's a program unlike any other. I can't even begin to explain it to you to be quite honest, but I'll just say that it's one of the greatest things on earth. Seriously. And it's not necessarily the program but the people in it. I can honestly say that it's had one of the greatest impacts on my life compared to anything I've ever experienced. Coaching the past 4 years has multiplied that times a million, too, which is weird because when I first started coaching I pictured myself as some bitter, washed-up old player that would sit on the bench and just yell at the girls because I was angry that they got to play and I didn't. Haha, not really. But I definitely wasn't prepared for the profound impact it would have on my life. And there again, it's not even something I can explain. I will introduce you to a picture, however, that will absolutely rock your world.
Are you ready?
Ok, here it is.

Sweet? Yup.

But while I'm feeling totally sorry for myself I must say that I'm pretty stoked about one thing. My running buddy, Joe, as I mentioned earlier (who happens to be from England which is awesome in itself) came up with this brilliant idea that we do an event to benefit some sort of charity. (He may kill me for putting this on my blog considering we didn't talk about making it known to everyone-but I assume most people reading this aren't living in Korea). Anyways, we're running down the street, dodging all kinds of Koreans and cars and we decided we would run the subway line here and try to get sponsors so that all proceeds will go to some sort of charity that benefits kids in some way...so a subway-a-thon if you will. We think that since the subway is about 22 stops, that it would be about a 15-20 mile run, but then again, I was the one who projected that distance and we all know that I know nothing. Anywho, pretty stoked about it.

The cherry blossoms are starting to come out which is very rad, and this weekend I was able to take a lot of random pictures (some not including cherry blossoms at all) so I thought I would share!


Hahaha. Hope this doesn't mean what I think it means if you know what I mean...but I dont think that's what it means.




Ok, now THIS is the coolest thing ever. My friend Laura and I were walking around Saturday and she noticed all of these people sitting around pools. There are these super hot pools where you just sit and soak your feet. For free!


If you feel like you burned a few too many calories at the Wellness Center, you can hit up the grocery and Dunkin Donuts afterwards. Perfect.





Yup, I'm definitely living in Korea:) It's crazy to think that just two months ago I was having regular panic attacks and making the lives of my loved ones rather miserable because I wasn't sure if this was actually some kind of practical joke. Just nutty.