South Korea: Kimchi, the DMZ and Colgate Day!

I went to visit Allyssa in Seoul, South Korea for a long weekend. Here are some pictures from the top highlights of the trip, which included:

1. Seeing my best friend and celebrating Colgate Day by visiting a large, rainbow-colored poop statue!
2. Visiting the Korean War Museum and the DMZ. (I stood in North Korea! Or, rather, on the North Korean side of the Military Armistice Commission building.)
3. Attending an FC Seoul soccer game at World Cup Stadium. Boy, how I miss professional sports!
4. Meeting a lot of very friendly Korean people, including a man who helped me get a taxi and gave me cab fare after the subway closed down on me.
5. Soju and orange juice.

Other than that, the weather was very cold, necessitating that I wear two coats and a sweater all weekend! Apparently my time in Taiwan has softened me to the cold, winter weather...

Happy Birthday to...me!!!

I love my birthday! Far and away, it is my favorite day of the year. I taught my usual Wednesday course load, made a Mexican feast for lunch between schools, and was surprised with a huge cake by the teachers at San Sing. What a great day!

For the past few years, though, I have also used my birthday as an opportunity to try something new or visit some place special. Two years ago, a few friends and I sought out Abbey Road in the ultimate Beatles pilgrimage. Last year, Erin, Allyssa and I went to visit Big Norm, the world's largest pig (R.I.P.).

This year, Nell, Faith, Brittany and I went to Jiaoxi. Britt and I had yet to visit a hot spring, so we chose Chuang Tang where you can bathe in "flavored" pools of milk or lavender and other scents. We luxuriated from tub to tub, endured stares from the Taiwanese people enjoying their soaks, had our toes nibbled by the dead skin-eating spa fish, and napped on heated stone slabs with wooden blocks for pillows. Oh, we also got yelled at for trying to take pictures inside the spa. Heaven forbid.

After Wednesday, I was content with how my birthday had been celebrated and was prepared to move on with life. A few of us made plans to see a movie on Saturday and visit the night market afterward. It started to sprinkle, though, as the movie let out and gradually people started to drop away from the night market plan. I wasn't ready to go home, though, (it was only 730 pm!) so I became insistent that I would just go walk around the night market by myself. Others less prepared than myself needed to go home first for myriad reasons, but could not understand why I refused to back track with them. I, on the other hand, was getting mad that everyone was so insistent I go home, only to come back to the side of town we were already on.

Little did I know what was really going on. Finally, I got a phone call from Faith that Nell was really sick and needed some ibuprofen, but they had none. So I gave in and headed home with everyone else to get Nell some medicine.

As I opened the door to the apartment (Brittany had "lost" her keys), I was surprised to find the hallway crowded with all of the other Yilan Fulbrighters, plus Victoria from Kaohsiung. Someone popped a balloon as I swung the door open and everyone yelled, "Surprise!" I was so scared I started crying!

It turns out that I'm maybe the worst person to plan a surprise party for. Ever. All of the excuses intended to lure me home just made me mad at my friends. Why were they being so selfish in forcing me to go home and waste gas, when I was prepared to wander the night market in the rain by myself? I do what I want! I don't need to go home too, just because Brittany has to poop or Jamie has to get a pan out of our apartment or Beth didn't bring a raincoat or Adam wants to eat dinner at some restaurant by our house and THEN come back to the market. But while I thought we were trying to sort out what we were doing next, they were frantically calling to the apartment, trying to figure out how to get me home. It took six Fulbrighters, one good lie that tugged at the heartstrings and a bunch of lesser, crappier lies, to finally overcome my stubborness. But in the end, it was well worth it. What great friends I've made, who will put up with my obstinacy while just trying to do a nice thing!