Happy Valentine's Day!

The Perm!

I know many of you have been wanting to see the pictures of my perm! I'm sorry it's taken so long to get around to posting a picture. I guess that's because my hair is basically straight, like before, just with a bit more of a straw texture! It's much more manageable now that I started using a special conditioner that Aaron's aunt sent with him back to Korea for me! It's like magic! :) So here you go friends... Looks just like before huh?!

Dolsot bibimbap 돌솥 비빔밥

I have eaten Dolsut Bibimbap everyday for the past 10 days! NO JOKE! I'm completely addicted! I'm not sure if it's the food, or the ladies who make it though?! These are 2 of my favorite Korean ajumas (old ladies). They work at the restaurant at the bottom of my hill, and while they don't speak a lick of English, we are always somehow able to communicate our love for each other!

Here it is friends... my favorite Korean food - Bi Bim Bap (Look gross, tastes amazing!) It's rice, chili pepper paste, 1 raw egg (which cooks in the hot bowl), cucumber, zucchini, mushrooms, doarji (bellflower root), spinach, dried seaweed, soybean sprouts, fern stems, tofu, and leaves!

Now, if I could just get them to stop serving me these disgusting little dried fish as a side dish, life would be near perfect!

Time for a Party!

I can barely believe it... A year ago today, I made my very first blog entry (of my entire life) right here on this very blog. (Feb 13th, 2009) As often happens, when we get an idea in our heads (like I did for this blog), we set out, completely unaware of what that idea will actually become to us in the future, as it grows and develops. I, for one, had NO idea (my family and friends included) that I would become such a blogging fein, and that my life and experiences would be shared for the entire interneting world (except for those 5 months when it was private) to walk along with me, and experience my joy, heartache, laughter, and creativity over the past year...

As I stand at the year long mile marker, looking waaaaay back at the girl standing at the starting line, I find that I am incredibly proud of myself. Is that okay to say?! I feel an almost awkward amount of accomplishment in myself. (It must be something akin to finishing a marathon, hiking a mountain, or loosing weight!) I am certainly proud of myself for moving to Korea, and for adjusting to life here... for traveling to distant lands, and for meeting new people along the way. Most surprisingly though, I am proud of the fruitful self discovery that unfolded with clarity and sureness in each line of this memoir of a blog. This was the single most beautiful gift that I received, and one that will push me to continue blogging.

Thank you for following me on my journey and let's pray that there are just as many positive experiences this coming year as the last, and that I will be as safe, as happy, and as adventurous as ever! Happy Birthday Blog!

Yea Freebies!

Koreans are the kings and queens of giving out freebies when you shop somewhere! Today I bought some new makeup at THE FACE SHOP, which happens to be on my way home from school. I bought this: (mascara, eyeshadow, and eyeliner)

...and was given this:

# 1. A makeup bag

# 2. "Mung Beans" Lotion (What the heck are mung beans anyway?!)

# 3. A can of coffee!! This one was my personal favorite, because I think this might have been her personal coffee! hahaha!

*** I think it's worth noting here that I think people like to give me things because I react like it's the greatest thing that's happened to me in a decade! How could you resist giving more things to someone who's ecstatic about your offerings? I really don't do this on purpose to get more stuff... I just am legitimately excited!

So, next time you go shopping at Target, or wherever else you may shop, try smiling really big and seem excited about shopping there and maybe you'll get a freebie too! Ha, who are you kidding?! That would never happen in America... and that folks, is another reason why I love KOREA!!