we were made for each other

I am feeling my Type A personality come through these days. As a result, this update will be organized into bullet points because it makes my life feel cleaner. Yes, I am a nerd.

- Under the weather
I'm home sick today which has its ups and downs. It's nice because I can relax and I've definitely needed some major R&R, but I'm not exactly feeling peachy, so that's a bummer. My throat is very sore and swollen. I've been fighting a cold for a few weeks now. It's funny - every single time I have traveled I get sick and usually it's with my throat. In Egypt I remember the last few days I could barely talk because of how swollen my throat was. And in Brasil, after 1 week of being in Salvador Bahia I had a wicked case of Strep throat that left me lying in bed for a few days.
I'll be eating lots of Korean oranges and chowing down on veggie soup.

Anyway, I thought I'd share the email I got from 이정남 [Chung Nam Lee] -in charge of English at school - in response to my telling her I was sick: "I'm so sorry~ and.. I hope you will get better soon...Take care of...!!! also... I want to see you soon!! Bye!"

- Writing
Since I've been in Korea I've had the opportunity to write a whole lot more than I did at home. And I'm writing about things that are fun for me. I've recently begun writing for Associated Content and have been recruited by the Manipur Times, a newspaper in India, to write about Korean life. Of course I continue to write for WakeUp Naptown, too. I see WUNT going places.

- Christmas Shopping
I am very eager to begin Christmas shopping for people. I've even got a few things purchased already and definitely have things in mind. I only get paid 1x a month (the 21st) and so with my budget that I've worked out David and I will need to purchase things with my November paycheck. Also, because it takes 2-3 weeks for things to get home from here (unless we shell out big bucks), we'll need to mail everything out by the 2nd week in December! Shopping for others will be so fun this year!

-Korean ID
Yesterday I finally put in the application for my Korean ID. It needs to be done within the first 3 months of being here, and for a second there I wasn't sure if I'd be able to. You see, I started the process the week I got here, but ay ay ay was it a mess. I had to get an all-encompassing physical check up. They took my blood, tested for AIDS, drugs, took my urine, I got an xray, checked my eyes, blood pressure, etc. Then I waited a week for the results. After that I needed to go to the immigration office.

That is a story in itself. We tried 2 times and each time they told us we were in the wrong spot. The REAL spot was at least 2 hours away each time. The third time we finally got to the right place, waited in line for an hour and everything. They told me that I needed to go to a different hospital for my checkup (I don't know why...).

So, 100,000 won later (that's like $80) I had another check up. This time it was a bit more extensive. They checked my teeth (which I was thankful for, I thought I had a cavity but after a tooth xray they said I was cavity free) and did all the other things again. After it was done they said, "pick it up in 5 days."

So that Saturday I went back to get the results and they were closed. I was finally able to go again Wednesday (yesterday) and everything went smoothly. Same goes for the immigration office. Now I just have to wait for 2 weeks until my card is mailed to me. Then I can get a cell phone...woo!

-Missing home
Lately I've been homesick. I knew that after a few months I would really start to miss friends and family and my "old" lifestyle. Don't get me wrong, I love it here and it's a wonderful experience and I'm making new friends and gaining so much insight into the world. That still doesn't mean I can't miss home, especially now that the holidays are here. Funny story: About 4 weeks ago or so I ran across a Starbucks and had to go in. I used to frequent the Irvington starbucks pretty much every day when I was in the US. So when I walked in the familiar smell/sound/look caught me very much off guard. I started crying within 30 seconds. David said, "Everyone is going to think I am mean to you since you're crying!"

-Turning on the floors
With the shift in weather comes cold air and frigid spaces. But warming up a place in Korea is quite different from warming up a place in the US of A. Instead of turning on the furnace, you turn on the floors. That's right. The floors. It's a nice feeling to pad across the toasty floor and it's surprising how warm our cozy apartment gets.

Happy fall. (This is a little pathway near our apartment)

That's all for now. <3