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Wednesday, January 26, 2011

I hope you're not getting sick of Korea yet...

My interview went fabulously!  I felt comfortable and spoke clearly and articulately (and intelligently!).  By the end of the interview, Joseph, the interviewer, was saying things like "when you're traveling in Korea" and "when you arrive in Korea."  Gah, I was so excited!

When I hung up from the twenty-five minute conversation, I immediately hopped onto the Footprints site and checked out what their forums are saying about Korea and such.  I've learned about the weather, the the language, the living costs, the bathrooms, and on and on.  Now I'm reading about what to bring, and it's just all so exciting.

This part listed under "what food things to bring"was anything but exciting, though:
Cheeses - Korean stores are started to offer more than just processed cheese- the equivalent of Velveeta, cheese in any form is expensive and hard to find. In the import sections of some department stores you may come across the occasional lonely block of cheddar, but it will cost the same as a mid-sized sedan.
:'(  I love cheese.

Adorable Korea fashion
Image: Shankws
If, like me, you're interested in what the Korean fashion scene is like, I recommend checking out this Korean Fashion blog.  There's also a Korean branch of Vogue.  And, I love this spread of sweet, pretty, girly clothes.

Korea is a very image focused culture.  My friend told me of just how vain they are: around 80% of Koreans 20-30 (including guys) have already had plastic surgery.  I've heard foreign teachers have a better chance of getting positions if they're attractive.  And the students aren't shy about what they think of your appearance.  Is it bad that I really, really want to lose some weight before I go over there?  Treadmill, here I come!  I'm also working on strengthening my tolerance for spicy foods.  I only hang out with mild salsa now, and I'm a little frightened of kimchi right now.


I know that I could be making a mistake by planning so much on something that isn't set in stone yet, but, I'm really counting on using this energy to keep me focused on making this dream happen.  I'm not letting myself doubt this right now.  And so, because of course this is going to happen, go ahead and plan!

So here's my other plans:  My BFF Millie's getting married June 25th, and I'm going to live with her for the whole month of June.  July would be taken up with trips to family in other states, trips to see Millie (and her husband!) again for the Harry Potter VII, and then back to Georgia to hang with the people I love here.  It's gonna be good.  And something that's super cool?!  I wouldn't be working in retail anymore!  I'd be able to stop at the end of May!  (Understand that, because this is going all over the internet, I'm not completely exposing my true feelings on the subject.)

And, I looked into Vampire Weekend for the first time a couple weekends ago.  There's this cool I know who kids me about being interested in them just because they were the hipster band for a while there, but, honestly, I like what I've heard.  M79 especially.  And, this song is totally perfect for your next dance party.
Enjoy!

3 comments:

  1. So proud of you. And Zach Terrell likes Vampire Weekend. He had on a tee-shirt this summer, and I thought it was just a funny, Threadless-esque shirt. I mean, really. It said, "Vampire Weekend." So I laughed, and then felt dumb when I realized it was a band.

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  2. Oh cheese... I think Vietnam has more cheese than most Asian countries, thanks to the French influence, but it does cost a fortune.

    A Korean family lived in our apartment before we did which is evidently why our refrigerator still stinks. Someone told me recently that many Koreans have a separate kimchi refrigerator...

    I just found this link again so I'll catch up on the rest soon. Sounds exciting!

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  3. Yay!!! Yay!!!! You're going to Korea!!!! I have a good friend from there named Seung Eun. She's awesome :)

    And... I love Vampire Weekend. I saw them in concert with Colton. And once, I posted the music video of Cape Cod Kwassa Kwassa on my youth minister's wife's facebook wall because we have similar taste in music... but I never understand the lyrics of songs. I didn't know it was about sex. So then I read the lyrics, and promptly took it down.

    But I must admit I still think it's really, really catchy.

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