Still homeless

Tomorrow will make one week back in South Korea. Unfortunately, it's been pretty uneventful. I did spend the weekend in Gwangju with old friends celebrating St. Paddy's Day - what a good holiday. I've spent most of my time hanging in my friends apartment watching Greys Anatomy, Private Practice, The Real Housewives of    insert city   and Jersey Shore; yes I watch this. Before you judge, I have not only spent my time watching useless T.V., but I've also read. I can't say 100% that I'm enjoying this book. I'm mostly just trying to finish it to add another book to my goodreads.com count. The book is called A Piece of Cake, which is a memoir and I do typically love memoirs, but her story is almost too exhausting to read. I do realize and understand her story is a very common one for a lot of young girls, but to read this book over a period of months is a lot to take in. However, I do recommend reading this book or any book that deals with drug addiction, rape and/or abuse to get a better understanding of what some youth go through.

I leave tomorrow morning to start my hike to Seoul and finally register/start EPIK orientation. Orientation will last five days and then finally FINALLY I will move into my apartment. It will be nice to once and for all be moved in; plus I will no longer be homeless.

Koreabound

I have officially made it back to Korea. I arrived Wednesday March 14th around 4pm. Overall the flight wasn't bad. It honestly was the best international flight I've ever taken, which is odd considering the Korean woman next to me spent most of our11 hour flight complaining about how her original flight was cancelled, how the toddler in front of us was too loud and/or how she had too much sushi which I happily took when offered. I am now staying at my friend Ashley's apartment until I start orientation Wednesday. Thanks for letting me crash at your place Ash - you're totally from a farm.

Rehashing the past two months:
As much as I hated being home, at times there were some great moments. Proceed to checklist.

1. Rode in a semi truck - check.
2. Finally met my niece Annalyssa - check.
3. Attended an AA meeting - check.
4. Went to Vegas - check.
5. Won money in Vegas - check.
6. Lost money in Vegas - check.
7. Attended a Cirque du Soleil show - check check.
8. Successfully unemployed for 2 months - check.
9. Attended a Childserve game night - check.
10. Got a little drunk at game night and no one knew - check.
11. Saw most of my great friends - check.
12. Drove for 2 months without accidents/tickets - check.
13. Gained weight from eating too many delicious foods - check.
14. Visited my mothers side of the family in Texas - check
15. Witnessed a mariachi band serenade my grandparents - check.

My grandparents - Happy 50th wedding anniversary! Is it just me or does my grandpa look like an older Mexican version of Pauly D?

Most of my cousins:

Ticket in hand

Well, it's official. I am heading back to South Korea March 13th. I will be departing bright and early from O*ha*ma. I feel most people would be sad to leave, this probably sounds bad, but I'm not. Of course I will miss my family, friends and great food, but it's time to get back to a routine. I can't wait to finally work again and start another great year. I do know I will live in Gyeongbuk province, but I will not know what city/town I am placed in until orientation. I really hope a city!

Like usual I haven't done much. However, I have been tying up loose ends like finishing my pre-orientation class - thank god, doctors appointments, taxes blah blah blah; just the usual everyday life things.

When I'm not busy with those loose ends I torture my moms dog.

ps--I was able to see my friend Amy and of course Harley, the coolest dog ever. He's also known as Harles or Harles Barkley. Get it? He's a dog bark bark, but that's kind of a real name. I was also very lucky and was able to see all of my old coworkers from Childserve, which again was awesome! How I miss game nights.

What a day

Yesterday I had one of the most fascinating days I've had in a really long time. My mom actually had three different events to attend for the day and it started with a trip to an AA meeting. I know what you're wondering and no I do not have a drinking problem. Here's a little back story. My mother's boyfriend/significant other will be three years sober in March. This is a huge accomplishment and I want to commend him for his efforts at successfully overcoming another year. Congratulations! There was an open meeting on Saturday where members could bring their families. So we went to support Jorge and to celebrate. However, I wont lie and say that's the only reason why I went. I will admit I went for selfish reasons as well. Let's be real...unless you're an actual alcoholic or Edward Norton in Fight Club, who can say they've attended an AA meeting? Plus I absolutely love being able to observe/be apart of different environments and people. I'm a little weird and if I had the chance to be in prison for a day (with the assurance no one would shank me) I would jump on that! Some things I noticed - It really is true that once one stops a habit or addiction they start another! Yes everyone was a recovering alcoholic, but by the way they were chugging coffee and chain smoking they have another habit on board. There was definitely a range of people. Although gender was fairly split up equally, there were people of different age groups, ethnicity and socioeconomic class. If you're interested, check out this website for more stats. It does have an interesting article with more information. http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/alcohol.htm Overall AA was great. It was eyeopening listening to the guest speaker. She couldn't have been older than seventeen years old and to hear her struggle as well as her families struggle with addiction makes you realize how difficult, but amazing life can be.


After AA, there was my mothers work appreciation dinner a complete turn from where we've just been. Virginia (mom) is one of two cooks at a nursing home in a fairly small town. Let's just say the dinner was very Iowan and I loved it! We arrived for cocktail hour and you can just tell people were there to get loose. I had myself a gin & tonic, yes a G&T after AA, and was ready to win a door prize. I held my blue ticket up and waited for my number to be called while my mother and Jorge mingled with friends. Finally the lucky number 252 was called and I won beer mugs! YES! Next was dinner and I just knew it would be what I've been craving. A hearty midwestern meal filled with meat and potatoes. And not just basic mashed potatoes, but sliced cheesy gooey taters that melted in your mouth. Of course there's always a hypnotist at any event. It was hilarious until one lady was so deeply hypnotized (or intoxicated I'm not really sure) she kept hysterically laughing and screaming at the crowd. Needless to say they had to escort her off the stage and out of the room. It didn't end there. Throughout the show she would randomly make her way back to the room and start laughing and yelling at people. Although the hypnotist lost his mojo after her initial outburst this was even better than the hypnotist. I just sat back with my brownie cake and watched her with awe.

Last, we had to attend a Mexican baby shower. I say Mexican because it wasn't your typical baby shower. When Mexicans, not mexi-americans, but true Méjiconos have something to celebrate they celebrate. They didn't have games like guess the baby weight or guess the candy bar by eating it melted out of a diaper. It was a true fiesta with lots of food, dancing and booze. What a great day!