February!

Wow, I haven't updated this thing in a long time. Sorry about that. Not that nothing has happened. Lots has happened in fact.
I went ice fishing, I went to the US, I partied in Gangnam, I've continued to be involved in my North Korea Peace group...
but somehow i haven't felt compelled to write anything. Still don't really but am feeling a bit of insomnia so here I am.

So what can I write about this time?

Well, here's something: I think I really am improving in my Korean. I've probably been saying that for ages and in a way it's been true. But now I'm really starting to feel like I'm starting to get it.
Don't get me wrong. It's really quite difficult and I still have some real pronunciation issues on the whole 'double consonant' thing. But, I'm getting there.

Today I saw a sign that I've seen since I first came to Korea and it was the first time I've actually been able to understand all of it. Woo! It was exciting.
Also today a car was being towed while i was in a restaurant and the lady asked me if it was mine and I fully understood and said no, I don't have a car. It wasn't much but it was probably the most confident I've felt in an exchange like that yet.

I guess really not much has happened since I came back from my visit to the States.
Which was great by the way, even though I was really jet lagged most of the time and I never did make it to Cosetta's. Luckily I slept almost the entire trip back from Minneapolis. In fact I fell asleep in Tokyo and woke up just in time for the second boarding call of my flight. So, I had no trouble getting back to work.

Work is...well, it's work. They've been pulling some unsavory crap lately with springing things on us at the last minute. But really that's pretty standard in this business, based on my experience and hearing my friend's stories. So it annoys me but I've learned by now to just deal with it and take it in stride. My coworkers haven't gotten there yet. So, it sometimes gets a bit tiresome to hear their anger about it. But I remind myself 1) That was me one year ago, too and 2) Not everyone deals with frustration in the same way that I do. So, it's not so bad.

Taekwondo is still fun. When I returned from the States they presented me my official black belt with my name embroidered on it in English and Korean and the name of my school and my rank. So I'm official. Tomorrow I'll get my Cho Dan certificate from Kukkiwon with my picture on it so i'll officially be official. Well, I already am, but I'll have the papers to back it up.
My friend and I may start running together after work. Although I am not sure I can get up the energy to do so. Maybe I'll put it off until it warms up a bit more. The last few days it's been in the mid-30s but i'm sure soon enough it will drop back down to the 20s or perhaps even the teens. Now it's more of a typical winter in Korea. Hopefully it ends soon.

the Adventure Korea group I've gone on trips with in the past is going to Jeju-do in March. It's 350 bucks for airfare, hotels, food and sights. And it's just a normal 2-day weekend. It's somewhere i've been wanting to go for ages but haven't gotten around to and probably wouldn't have, either. Well, maybe, but weekend trips on an airplane aren't usually on my radar when I'm thinking of things to do. So I think it will totally be worth it for the convenience of having it planned and also I'm sure it will be fun. These trips always are. I was going to go alone but a girl I know (though have only met a few times, but she's cool) decided to go too. So I'm glad to be going with one friend. She's actually from Wisconsin and went to Mankato State. So we've agreed that even though there are lots of foreigners around, it's nice to talk to someone from 'back home' sometimes.
So I'm really looking forward to that trip.

Other than that...there's not a whole lot to report. Same old, same old here in Korea.

I was sorry to miss some of you, but I had a great time seeing people back in the States! Thanks for taking the time to meet with me!