Hello and Happy New year! Welcome to 2010! So as stated in my previous blog, not many things are strange to me anymore. But I do have somethings to talk about today. First, I am sure ya'll are wondering what a Korean Christmas and New years is like. I will tell you all! Also, so will tell you my newest feeling and emotions here. I know I know, you're thrilled and jumping off your seats! Patients yo!

Lets start with Xmas. Christmas was...well..not Christmas. There were small hints all over that it was Dec 25th, but the hype of it all was not present. I LOVE the holiday feeling!!! So I was a bit sad about not having it. It's weird; w/o all the propaganda, it's pretty much nonexistent. Christmas for me this year, lasted 3 days. The day before, I prepared a small gift for every one (infused soju and some goodies) and the next day, after school, I made my way to Seoul. In Seoul, I met my friend Jean (whom I'm going to Thailand w/...waaaayyyy psyched!), Kelly (from and nearby town), and Jake (a guy I met through Kelly). We got a room for 50,000W (usually 30,000w, but because of the holidays was more) and split it. Still not bad when considering all you will be doing there is sleeping and brushing your teeth. We had all bought Basketball tickets; I was soooo excited because for some reason, I've gotten into Korean Basketball. We arrive at the place we thought was correct...turns out, not so much. We found some lovely Koreans college students who told us to take a cab to the stadium. It took about another 20 minutes to finally grab a cab. When we did, we were lucky. We had a very cool cab driver! Full of sound effects and chitter chatter! We'll never know what he said; but he was fun! We arrived 45 minutes later and it was a blast! I wish I could do it every Friday! We then went out on the town in Itaewon! But...none of us really knew alot about about Itaewon and got kicked out of the 1st 2 places because the first 2 were only for men... Super... We finally found a place! At first there was no where to sit, but within 3 minutes, we were given a huge booth! In my opinion, very Korean; Koreans do alot to please you and will go out their way to make you feel comfortable. This place was cool and loaded with foreigners. But one time, I caught myself looking over the scene, and wondering if it was the same scene my dad saw 20 years ago. A bunch of foreigners trying to do the best best they could to make it on the holidays. Really odd scene, but at the same time, comforting. The four us passed out in a very tiny room (aka, 3 girls on a tiny bed, Jake on the floor). Good times!

The next day, I called my family way later that I had intended (sorry! Love you family :)) and we checked out and made out way to Gangnam were we had a nice hotel reserved. I was IN LOVE! You get used to the idea of staying in tiny rooms with people and suddenly we had a real hotel with a great view. Somehow, we even got the Executive suits (that require a card to even do there on the elevator). After checking in we made our way to the Co-Ex...A HUGE ASS MALL!!!! I'm not even kidding! I can't describe the confusion we all faced in the enormity of this place. People! Stores! Coffee! Food! Twists and Turns! Kelly, Jake, and I got lost going to the bathroom! This place was crazy!!! Kelly and I came in with a list: find a good place for dinner, find gloves (we both lost them the night before), and find good wine...all we were managed to find was "On The Border"...thanks to Samantha. Oh! Sorry, Samantha met us at the Hotel (she came from a town very close to Inje, where I am). I know it seems so odd, but seriously, come visit me, and I'll take you to this crazy, crazy mall! You'll get nothing you came for! IT'S JUST TOO MUCH!!! We finally found "On The Border" and met our friend Brian and had very nice tradional Mexican Christmas dinner. You know what?! We tried! But traditional Xmas was just not in the cards. After the Co-Ex, we went back to the hotel and had a nice night of playing cards and wondering from bar to bar. Christmas? No. But really good people.

New Years was...new Years! Usually for me, this day involves friends and drinking and cheers at midnight. We did all of these! I even got to play pool. Although... did vomit. I will blame that on my allergy to rice, as I scarfed down about a pound of it before bed. Could be the booze, but considering I remember the night AND I didn't had hangover...it was the rice! Here again, I was with really good people. Jenna (from South Africa) and Kelly (whom I was with for Xmas).

Standard holiday season, no, but it was good. I do have to say, I am in a very strange place right now. I am not really happy, I don't feel as if my students are learning from me, and I am more of a bitch than before (oh come on now! You all know! I'm not the nicest of people). But, as I've been thinking about all this for past few weeks, I have say, I'm not ready to go home. Nor is it likely for me to be ready in September. Most days, I'm not myself. Most days, I wake up slight cynical. Most days, I have something really negative to say about this culture. Most days, I think, today will be different. And until today is different, I am here. For the first time ever, no one knows me here. And I must admit, I am not taking it well. But! I Will!! As is in my personality! I know someone who always tells me that life is hard. Life is not hard. It's just life. Relax. To me, the only thing that has no solution, is a death of a loved one, and god forbid I have to face that anytime soon. So until then, life is life. It's not hard. Whether is be finances, relationships, grades, or loneliness, there is always a solution. How hard can life be when you know you can somehow face it's challenges?