The calm before the storm

This week is the calm before the storm. Last weekend was my one trip-free weekend until finals start. On Thursday I had the pleasure of meeting with my Korean friends from India again. We had chicken and beer for dinner, then we went to my favorite hookah bar, Shiva Pub, to smoke and talk some more. While I've met Hisu and Wonjoon since I've been here, it's been 15 years since I met Donghoon. Despite that super long time gap, when we were catching up it felt like no time passed at all. Luckily we were all able to keep in touch through Facebook since I left India, so we had plenty of things to talk about. It was crazy how many details we remembered from when we were 5-6 years old, such as friend's houses, the school food, and areas in Chennai. I'm so thankful I have friends like Hisu, Wonjoon, and Donghoon that I can keep in touch with and talk about so many past memories. When I moved back to the United States from India, I moved to Brighton, the whitest of the white towns where virtually no one knew about India. I kid you not when some did not even know it was a country. I got used to not talking about India, then, when I moved back and the topic was dormant until I entered college. In James Madison College I met people like me who have a basic understanding of world geography and a passion for international affairs and studies. I've slowly become more used to talking about the 4 years I lived in India and it has culminated when I met my fellow students and friends from there in person. Meeting all 3 of them at once probably won't happen again because they all happened to be on break from their military service at the same time, but I hope to visit them in the United States when they go back there for college. I think it's funny that they all go to schools in the East Coast yet we waited until I came to Korea to meet, haha.

Left to right: Hisu, Wonjoon, Me, and Donghoon. 

I spent the past weekend being very productive, mostly because I have to. When I go on weekend trips I don't do my homework, so I have to make sure to complete it all during the week. For the next 3 weekends, I'll be taking trips to various places. This upcoming weekend I'll be going to Boseong, Suncheon, and either Wando or Yeonsu in the south, next weekend I'll be going to Jeju Island for a week, and the weekend afterwards I'll be going to Busan. When I return, my finals and final presentations begin. I completed what I set out to do on the weekend, though. I finished my final papers and presentations for my history classes, and I wrote and memorized my speech for Korean and worked on memorizing the vocabulary and grammar points we learned so far. I broke up my productivity by taking it easy during the nights. On Saturday I got pizza and beer with Kate and Patrick, a craving I've had for awhile, and on Sunday I got together with friends and co-interns to eat at Vatos in Itaewon. Of course I ordered a mango maekkolita and I also ordered a really tasty burrito. Even typing this sentence is making me have cravings, haha.

This weekend was also when my close friends, and what would have been my graduating class if I didn't come to Korea, graduated. I knew it was going to be a strange time for me and one that I wish I didn't miss out on. I had to remind myself that this was the best time for me to come to Korea and even if I miss my friends' graduations, I will see them again when I return to the U.S. It's strange to think how one decision can affect your life so greatly. I remember sitting on my porch at my house the summer after my freshman year in college, and I decided I wanted to study abroad in Korea. If I didn't make that decision, I would've been graduated by now and on a who-knows-what career path.

I've also faced the problem of fruit flies this past week and weekend. Up until now it has been fine to keep and throwaway fruit in my apartment, but now I have a fruit fly infestation. I threw away all my fruit in my trash outside and made sure to store the rest I have left in a safe area to eat it out of my apartment. I also poured boiling water down my drains to prevent eggs from hatching. Despite killing a few by hand, there's still about 10 that fly around. I'm hoping that without a food source they'll die out in a couple of days, because right now they are the bane of my existence. I love the coming of summer, but I hate that it brings fruit flies with it.

Lastly, Lea and I finalized our travel plans for the end of June. We'll be going to Vietnam and Cambodia! We'll be in Hanoi for 3.5 days and Siem Reap for 2.5 days. I'm beyond excited to travel to Southeast Asia again. Now with my 3 trips, traveling to Cambodia and Vietnam, and the warm weather, it is going to be REALLY hard to concentrate on my schoolwork. I'm surprised I've survived this long, haha. Anyways, I'll talk to you next week, which by then I'll have some fun traveling adventures to recount.