Reflections: Month 4

Four months- Are you kidding me?!? 

I really can't believe it's been four months- I know I said that last month, but it's still true. I keep waiting for the homesickness to really hit and for the expat depression to set in, but so far I've been good. There have been some bad days and some rough weeks, but nothing too serious. I think living in Hawaii and being far away from family was a good prep for becoming expats. 

I know Christmas will be a challenge, but Matt and I have spent Christmas alone before and we survived. I also know that the real challenge will be when the 6 or 7 month marker passes. Somehow I've always been able to see my family every 6 months or so, so I know when I pass that marker it will be hard. 

To avoid the holiday blues, Matt and I have been keeping busy. We have been taking part in our advent calendar activities and making sure to go on adventures and explore the holiday spirit here in Korea. We also have our upcoming trip to Japan at the end of next month, so I am pretty excited for that. 

Here are some things that I've experienced this month: 

Remember last month I mentioned all the drinking here? Well, since then I've seen tons more drinking including an old man completely passed out in the middle of the street in downtown Seoul. Like right in the flipping middle of the street. And what was weird, or maybe not weird, was that no one was overly concerned. Someone did go get a police officer, but other than that the people just crossed the street and left him in the road. It was just bizarre. I really wanted to take a picture, but Matt said that would be rude. The drinking is just out of control, but the people here view drinking differently so it's not really a bad thing to be passed out drunk on the street. 

Other thing I've noticed the last couple of months are the ajummas here in Korea (aka old ladies). I take the bus every day and I've found that there are a few ajummas that take it upon themselves to find me a seat on the bus. One time the bus was really crowded so I was standing. When a seat opened up, an ajumma waved me over to sit down. This happened to me yesterday and the bus wasn't even that full. I find it really sweet because they are just looking out for me. 

This last month, I also had another admirer on the bus ride home. {If you missed the last admirer just click here.} As I was riding home on night, I was sitting in a double row seat by myself when an older drunk man came and sat down next to me. He proceeded to spend the next twenty minutes telling me I was an angel girl and shaking my hand telling me it was nice to meet me. It was the longest twenty minutes of my life. I am telling you- sometimes the bus is a strange place! 

All in all my 4th month here in Korea was pretty awesome, and I am looking forward to month 5. 

Happy Thursday! 

{For Month 3's Reflection click here}