Blog about Yoo, but me

Well…I’m back from Korea. I had an awesome time. I’ll split it up into “Story” and “Thoughts”. Because the “Story” part is quite long and just explains what I did.

And this is how it goes…

<Story>

I left on the 23rd of December. It was a Wednesday. It’s a holiday in Japan so it works out perfectly. My flight was at 12 so I left the house around 9am. Got to the airport. Ate some Udon before getting on the plane. There weren’t many people on this flight. It was really empty. Kinda sucked I paid a bit more for this flight. I’m sure I could have gotten it a lot cheaper. Whatever, that wasn’t really on my mind at the time. I finally finished the Friends series. 10 series altogether. And I finished it on the plane. Ah, things were going as planned. I landed and hopped on the limousine bus to Seoul, where my uncle picked me up. It was good seeing my aunt and uncle again. We arrived at my aunt’s place and I chilled at their house. I didn’t mind. All I wanted to do was relax. I really needed it. Nothings wrong with Japan, it’s just that I can relax, be comfortable, and be lazy. hehe… I talked to my one of cousin’s, Ashley, on video internet chat. She’s in Germany. So we talked a bit. My other cousin came home, Katie. We caught up and just chilled. It was a day to just relax at home. Well the things is, Katie started working. So she comes home late all the time. And generally, just really busy with work. I’m sure most people know how it is in Korea.

Next day, Christmas Eve!! I went to go eat out for lunch with my aunt’s. We went to this E-mart. My aunt’s love it there. It has just about everything you need. Groceries, clothing, food court, theatre, etc. They go there regularly. Anyways, I decided to eat Jajjangmuhn. Haven’t had it in a while. Boy was it good to eat Korea food again. We later had coffee and talked. I had to meet up with my mom’s side aunt. I had to meet her at Jamsil by Lotte World. There, my aunt bought me snowboard jacket/pants and a dress suit. She spent so much money on me. I felt bad. But she kept on insisting. I couldn’t resist. haha… I was very thankful though. I later had to meet up with my cousin Katie. We were heading over to her church. The church is actually outside of Seoul. It’s quite far. Almost a 2 hour bus ride. We got there, ate a Lotte burger. And headed over to the church. The church was in the middle of no where. In like a mountain’ish area. We couldn’t see anything b/c it was all dark. Thankfully, we had a flash light. We got to the church building. I met some of the church people there. They were practicing a performance for tomorrow’s service. It was actually really good. I didn’t really know anyone but everyone was really friendly. My Korean being limited and their English being limited as well made it tricky. hehe.. But there was one girl, Regina, that spoke a bit of English. So we talked a bit. And later another guy showed up, Richard, that came back from studying in the US. They finished practicing so we headed down to where we were going to sleep. We washed up and some of the younger ones played. I talked with some of the older guys. There was one funny moment. They asked me, “Do you like sports? (in Korean)” and before I tell you what I said, I must remind you that I haven’t spoken a decent amount of Korea in a while. So my reply was “I am good at everything (in Korean)”. LOL… What I meant to say was, “I like everything”. hahaha that was jokes. We had a good laugh.

Next morning, we woke up, washed up, ate shin lamuhn for breakfast and headed to the chapel. There was a sermon and after performances by different age groups. Somehow, I got stuck taking pictures. lol… Well there was no one else b/c they were all performing. It was cool. Later, I saw Sookyung and HyunJun!! I was so happy. They are cutie pies. When we headed back home I went in the same car with them. Me and Sookyung talked in English. It was so funny because she never speaks English to the other aunts or uncles. I had presents for them. They seemed to like them. Later, they had to leave to visit other relatives. Katie and two other church girls came over. I took a nap before heading out. We went to E-mart again to get some wine and snacks. We planned to have a wine party later tonight so we bought a few bottles. We also ate some gimdak. Sooo goood. We had to go. sWe got picked up by my distant cousin, ChungYong or Mr. Seoul (b/c he goes to Seoul Univ). We headed to this house. It’s one of the moksanim’s house. They lent us the house for the night. But the house and land was huge. It was very nice. It’s actually American land that was claimed long time ago. But otherwise, it was a nice piece of land in Seoul. That night we had a wine party. A bunch of people brought wine. Altogether, 11 bottles! We had 11 people. So a bottle for each person. lol. But it was good getting to know some of the people. It was Christmas Day. It was snowing. It was some good times even with new faces. We later played some games. We had two teams where the losing team had to clean up the next morning. We played a bunch of similar games you see on Korean tv shoes. It was good times. Later, we chilled and talked more. I slept around 3 am that night. Tired was I.

Next morning, we had our lamuhn again. lol. We cleaned up a bit. I headed out early because Sookyung’s family was leaving and I wanted to eat lunch with them before they left. So I met them at this bookstore and we headed back home. We ate samkyupsal. Sooo gooood. I later played with Sookyung and HyunJun. They eventually had to go. So I said my byes before leaving. I was sad. Probably won’t see them again for a long time. Later, I met up with Katie and the two girls again. We headed to Dongdaemoon. We ate. I had bibimbap. Good stuff. But the funny thing was, I ordered it and the person taking my order knew I wasn’t from Korea. I guess it’s my 2nd gen Korean accent. lol. Later, we shopped around Doota tower, had some waffle dessert, and headed home. I was actually glad to be home. I was exhausted from the lack of sleep the past few days.

I don’t know how I woke up the next day. I was knocked out cold. But we had to head to church early. Got there. Played some pingpong and later headed to the chapel. Had service. Met with some of the other church people. It was good. I was meeting a lot of new people. Later, we had lunch and I talked with Regina and Richard. Eventually, had to say our byes. Probably, won’t be seeing them again. I got one of their emails. So I hope to keep in contact with her. I later played some more pingpong with Jae Hyung. He beat me again. Bah. I’m so rusty. It was all good. We had to go. It was snowing hard in Seoul. They say it hasn’t this badly in a very long time. But we got home safely. Later, we decided to go watch a movie. Avatar! Not 3D though. It was good and long. I enjoyed it. Later we ate some dakkalbi. Good stuff. We were going to head to NamSan. But the weather was terrible and the bus was taking forever. Instead, we went to go Karoke. One of the dongseungs, Chris or Tail, was an amazing singer. The other two girls were fun too, Rebecca and Sally. haha. I gave them all English names so i wouldn’t forget. Later, called it a night and headed home.

It was Monday. The plan was to go snowboarding today. But we had to cancel b/c of all the snow. Sall good. That day, I didn’t do anything. I decided to relax for a day. So not much to write here. Ohh…I went to eat jimdak again at E-mart with my aunt’s and uncle. Other than that, nothing else exciting this day.

Next day, I went to go meet up with Amy. Katie’s friend. She came to Canada a few years ago. So, I met her at a Seumsung?! We ate some joulmuhn. Good stuff. We later walked around talked. It was good catching up with her. I had to go meet my mom’s side aunt again. I had to glasses. Got them. Awkward they are. Picked up one of the dress suit b/c it was getting resized. And later headed to get something to eat. We had some shabashaba. So good. Something happened later. I don’t want to write it but everything was fine. I headed home. It was snowing a bit as I headed home. I almost got lost. But found it.

Now it’s Wed. I headed to Seoul Station to meet up with YoonJin and her sister. We had some jajjangmuhn and tansuyuk. Ah sooo gooood. It was good seeing them again. I haven’t seen her sister especially, in a long time. We chatted and caught up. We headed over to the electronic town. I had to get a case thingy for my iPhone. We found it. I totally forgot to ask for a discount. YoonJin tried but it was too late. lol. W/e. We later said our byes and I headed home.

Next day, I was invited to go snowboarding for 2 nights with Mr. Seoul’s family and SeungSu. But before that I had lunch with my aunt’s. I had soondoobu chigae. It was good. So around 3pm SeungSu and I headed over to Mr. Seoul’s place. We had to drive to Pheonix park. It was a long drive and plus the traffic didn’t help. We eventually got there. There were so many rental shops. I guess a lot of people rented. We ate samgyupsal. Yaaa. I love samgyupsal! It was New Years Eve and the resort had count down party. It was pretty good. They had some skiers come down the hill with torches in their hands. They spelt out 2010. We all had mini fireworks. Shot them off. Wow! It was a different sight. A dangerous one too. lol. This rock band played some songs and we headed in. It was freezing that night. Overall, it was a good and different New Years experience.

We woke up early and ate some buffet breakfast. It was hard to believe that I was spending the first day of the New Year snowboarding. =P We had to get our boards from the rental shop. Well they delivered it to this area. But they took forever. Finally got our gear and we headed to the hills. I didn’t expect the hills to be that good. But boy was I wrong. They were decent. A bit icy. But the hills were a decent amount length. Not that many hills to choose from though. The hills near the bottom were overly crowded though. I mean so many people that you had to avoid. Not only that, the lines were massive. Ahhh!! I guess this is why snowboarding in Korea is not enjoyable. lol. It had a good time. It was good snowboarding again. The snowboard was long and heavy though. Whatever, this was my warmup before I go to Hokkaido. We snowboarded until 4:30. It got really cold near the end and my knees were aching. So we headed in. We went to the sauna. Similar to Japan. Relaxed in the hot tub and headed up to our room for dinner. The plan was to sleep the night and head back early in the morning. But watching the news, there was suppose to be a snow storm in the morning. So we headed back early. I’m kinda glad b/c I didn’t want to wake up really early. We got home and saw Katie. It’s funny b/c I haven’t seen her since Tuesday.

I slept in. Woke up at like 11. It was my last day in Korea. We were going to go out eat at a buffet but b/c of all the snow we ate in. We ordered all this food from Dominoes pizza and chicken wings from BBQ’s. We had  a lot of food. It felt like a buffet. I was stuffed. We chatted and ate and ate. Good times. I had to go out later to meet up with Ellice at Hongdae. I met up with her. Walked around a bit and grabbed some coffee. She had already ate and I was going to eat later with my cousins so we just had coffee. We chatted about life in Korea and Japan. It was good seeing someone from back in Canada. We said our byes and I headed to Jamsil to meet my cousin, HyunJung. I was surprised b/c my aunt came and my noona MinJung. I haven’t seen her in like 8 years. I was so happy to see her. She took us to eat at this restaurant that had grilled eel. Good good. Later we drove around to find a 2nd place to eat. Eventually, we found a place that had jimdak. I know AGAIN! haha I love it. We caught up. I was so happy and sad  at that moment. They drove me home with a bunch of Kimchee, Kim, and Gogee. Love my aunt. haha… I packed up. Talked with Katie a bit and called it a night.

I couldn’t sleep at all that night. I was thinking about my time in Korea. Woke up early. Finished up my packing. My aunt drove me to the bus stop. Katie came with me. How nice of her. I guess b/c I was so nice to her when she was in Canada. haha. We ate before I had to board and said our byes. I headed on the plane back to Japan.

<Thoughts>

Well…after going to Korea, I feel that I want to go back. I met a lot of old faces and more new ones. I want to see them again before I go home to Canada. At first, my plan was to do a bit of traveling in Japan before I go home. But that may have to change. Well I’ll go to Tokyo first to see some people then head to Korea. Then go home from there. I would like to more traveling. But I wouldn’t mind traveling within Korea. I can always do an Asia trip another time. Plus, I would rather travel with a friend. I feel that after living in Japan alone, it can really take a toll on your body; physically, emotionally, and spiritually. In the meantime, I’m in Japan. I want to make it the most out of it. I came to Japan first and there’s still more to experience. So, I’ll be focusing on that before time runs out.

It’s hard to believe I only have 5 months left though. I can say that I have experienced a lot so far. 2009 has been a good year. It really showed me that God has really answered my prayers. I know Japan was all because of Him. I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t ask. I’m so thankful. This year was about challenge. I really wanted it. And I got it. But it’s not over yet. I think first, He showed me that the challenge is there. Now it’s up to me. This year is about me taking that challenge and overcoming it. Here I come 2010. Are you ready for me?

<Side note>

I’ve been listening to a lot of Korean music lately. Ahhh…like Girls Generation =P