Wow...

Between work and my parents' visit to Seoul, the last month and a half has been a blur.  But they just left this past Thursday, and now it's time for a little "me" time.  I stayed inside today to avoid the cold and the rain, but mostly it was a self-imposed time of isolation.  Some much needed reflection made me realize that I've more or less reached the halfway mark of my expat journey in the motherland.

The pace of life out here can be break-neck.  I don't know if I can even aptly convey it in words.  It is both exhilarating and exhausting -- infuriating and indulging.  Perhaps it's the manner in which I chose to come out here and engage this city.  Perhaps it's the intrinsic nature of the beast.  In any case, Seoul is everything and nothing that I expected it to be all at once.  I sit here with a strange sense of accomplishment for where I've gotten myself but one that is hampered by a greater sense of urgency for where I know I have yet to go.

I almost have to let out an audible chuckle because I think that this stirring, swirling feeling of disjuncture is what I was meant to face from the beginning.  The dichotomy was already implied in the perennially debated, hyphenated identity by which I am labeled -- Korean, American, and everything in between.  The name of the game seems to be "reconciliation".  I guess I'm still learning the rules.

Hahaha.  I'm sorry y'all.  I really like metaphors... and have a penchant for melodrama.  What can I say?

However, there is a lighter side to the process thus far.  I've had a chance to carefully experience and document many things to share.  I'm so thankful for all of you who are vicariously along for the journey with me.  Here's a little bit of catch-up on some of the goings-ons via photos and videos.

FOOD

Yup!  I've been eating alright.

Suwon Wang Galbi and...

Dak (Chicken) Galbi and...

Deh Ji Joo Muk Bap (which literally translates to pork fist rice -- pork because it's pork, and fist because the bite-sized ball in made in a person's fist)

FRIENDS

Good times getting to know friends and family out here.  People say my cousin and I look a lot alike, but I just think it's the picture here.  Oh, and did I ever mention that I gave out free hugs with random strangers because I had nothing better to do when I first got here?

FUN

Amusement can come in the everyday or when you least expect it.  Take for example this video of some school girls descending upon a celebrity signing.  It's not that I haven't seen a crowd before, but it's just that they haven't been all been uniformed with the exact same haircut.  I kid you not when I say that virtually the entire nation has bangs.  I am guilty of this too, but I cry ignorance as I was the unsuspecting victim of a new hairdresser!  Social phenomena can be fun too!

And of course the new is always exciting.  Here's a vid of the finale to the Lee Young Hee fashion show.

That's a lot, but it's also it for now.  Phew.  Nuff said.