January Snapshots

I will post the Instagram pictures I took at the end of each month. So here... snapshots of my life captured in squares.

01.04.13 Impromptu cheese and wine party at NTMY.
We even opened a bottle I brought from California.

01.06.13  My first successful attempt at ordering delivery in Korean.
McDonald'd delivers 24/7 here.  So bad, but so good.

01.12.13 Walking home from PNU. This river trail runs along the subway tracks.

01.13.13 Making our way to Costco with  two of my favorite allies.

01.19.13 Saw this little model hanging out on the street.

01.19.13 Man on a mountain.  Taken on a hike up Geumjeong with  Brittney.

01.20.13 Shopping around at the vintage stores in Nampo-dong.

01.25.13 At Shinsege, said to be the largest department store in Asia.
I go here to relax at Spa Land, an amazing jjimjilbang.

01.25.13 Also taken at Shinsege.
They had a HUGE food court with lots of food selections.
Of course got my fav fav fav: bibimbap.

01.27.13 Ladies night in, with Renee and Anne.
We spent this lazy Sunday with good food, good drinks, and good company.

집에서

A photo tour of my apartment in Busan, South Korea.

wall stickers in the bathroom

in the loft

desk/computer area

view from the loft

I love coming home to this place!  It's really simple, but I find it quite cozy.  I was able to furnish and decorate my entire apartment for around $200 by:

• purchasing items from second hand furniture stores
• using Koreabridge.net classified ads
• perusing through my residential donation/trash area 
• the generosity of others

Here is video tour of my apartment as well.

Gobby in land

A small tribute to this beta fish I owned for one day.  Gobby, you were one cool fish.

A birthday celebration.

Two of my coworker's joint birthday celebration. Here are a few pictures from the party.

Happy Birthday Vicky and Steve!

From here to there, red cups are everywhere.

oh hai.

A Reflection.

It's difficult to say why I ultimately decided to move to Korea.  I spent months deliberating the idea.  I went back and forth on my decision numerous times, as often happens when I am faced with even the simplest of  choices.

But around that time, I began reading The Alchemist by Paulo Coelho- a novel that even now I consider it to be one of my holy texts.  I believe that this story, above all else, gave me courage to be where I am now.  And this is what I decided for myself:

The entire universe has conspired to bring me to this point in my life-- to learn, to grow, to share, and to love.  To follow the gentle tug of my heart towards the direction of my dreams.  To stand in the wake of  fear, challenges, and hardship because they will teach me exactly what I need to learn.  To slowly, slowly, slowly become the person I was born to be.

My Home Boutique

This post (this entire blog, actually) is inspired by a very dear friend of mine and fellow blogger.  You can check out her fashion blog here: Home Boutique.  The concept of Home Boutique is "making your own closet your favorite place to shop".  I love this idea-- that you don't have to spend tons of money or constantly be buying new clothes to feel good in them.  So here is a post about my Home Boutique!

......

It is currently winter in Busan, which means that average temperatures range from 7.8-3.2°C (46-36°F).  From a California girl's perspective, that's pretty darn cold. 

So how do I keep warm and comfy? The answer is layering and more layering.  Here is a picture of the amount of clothing I will wear out in a day.  This day I was meeting a couple of friends for lunch.

My outfit consists of:

• a thick jacket 
• a long sleeve knit tunic shirt 
• a long sleeve thermal shirt 
• a tank top 
• a pair of leggings
• a pair of fleece-lined leggings
• a scarf
• a hat
• a set of gloves
• two sets of socks
• boots

First few layers.  

It may not look like it, but I am wearing three layers!

outerwear, boots, and hat

and yes, I've traded my fannypack for a backpack.
#upgrade

Pictured

Thick jacket: Crossroads Trading Co. $20-30

Long sleeve knit tunic shirt: Unknown shop in Oncheonjang station $5
Fleece-lined leggings: Walgreens $5
Scarf: Crossroads Trading Co. around $7
Hat: Unknown shop in Dongnae station  $9
Boots: Payless Shoe Store $20-30

Backpack: Unknown underground shop in Seomyeon $33

So my suggestions for dressing for winter in South Korea:

1. Layer. It's freezing traveling from place to place, but once you get indoors or even on the subway it is heated.  And it is heated well.  Be prepared for the changes in temperature.
2. Find fleece or thermals.  The layers keep you warm without adding too much uncomfortable bulk.
3. Stick to similar colors.  So that you can mix/match and wear more pieces together.
4. Buy a scarf, hat, and gloves.  I never really used these items often before and was amazed at the difference it made. #duh
5. Invest in outerwear that you LOVE.  You'll be wearing that jacket or that pair of boots often!

4D & Beomeosa Temple

Anne's sister Renee arrived in Korea, and for the first time since our epic Utah backpacking trip in October we are all together again. 

We celebrated Renee's arrival by going to dinner at The Loving Hut (an entirely vegan restaurant with chains even in California).  Then we went to see The Hobbit in 4-D.  That's right, 4-D.  I have never heard of a 4-D movie before, so you can imagine my surprise as the the chairs began moving and blowing air at me.  At different points of the movie I was flying over Rivendell, smelling the grass of The Shire, and being punched by goblins.  Really fun!

The next day we went to Beomeosa Temple with a friend from our language exchange group.

One of the prayer halls that was unpainted.

Detail of the patterns on the temples

rock piles

Anne, Renee, Vicky, and myself.

Afterwards we went to Lotte department store.  Lotte is like a mall with many different shops, but it is all one store.  On the top floor there are several restaurants.  We went to one specializing in my current favorite food, bibibap.

BIBIMBAP
::DROOL::