Five months in one post!

Back by popular demand, it’s time for Mobile Molly to do some catch up writing. So, as briefly as possible I will fill in the last five months of my life.

August. What a month. I actually regret not writing in detail about all the things I did. In short, I started the month off with a two week vacation. Half of it was spent in Fukuoka, Japan. The other half was a bit of a staycation (stay at home vacation). During which I just sat at home and celebrated my birthday with my close friends. I probably preferred the staycation more actually. Japan (or at least Fukuoka) didn’t really live up to my expectations. Compared to Korea it was less lively, more expensive, and the beach was nothing to write home about. On the plus side they had a ton of delicious food from all over the world, so you know where I spent the majority of my vacation.

The next two weeks were broken up by another mini vacation through a company called Adventure Korea. Fliss, Indy, Mason and I signed up for this three day two night stay in the Southern most area of Korea in Namhae. Some of the highlights included kayaking, lantern flying, fishing by hand, late night bon fires, and taking a nap in an awesome pagoda right on the cusp of the ocean. Some of the non highlights included kayaking with a hangover, resulting in a massive vomit fest in the middle of the ocean. We also had the worlds craziest old lady as our home stay host for the first night and she spent the majority of the time trying to swindle us for extra cash and saying that we were getting her precious floor wet. Or at least that’s what I think she was saying considering I was the only one who spoke any Korean/ The stuff coming out of her old haggard mouth was pretty hard to decipher.

Kayaking

Crazy old lady demanding money

The lovely pagoda I napped in

Trying to catch a fish in my hand (SUPER HARD!)

Flying paper lanterns with wishes on them

I was too lazy to upload my pics from this, so these are Indy and Fliss's. They're better anyways!

By the time the month ended I had tons of stuff to write about, but I had been so busy there was no time. So September started with the best of intentions to write down everything in much better detail. I soon learned some things don’t always turn out as planned. On a Friday at the beginning of the month as I was leaving work my boss asked to speak to me in her office. With tears in her eyes she handed me a piece of paper stating that she couldn’t afford her foreign teachers anymore, and probably would eventually close the school. Out of no where I was informed that I had two weeks to figure out my life. I obviously cried, got angry, got sad, but ultimately understood her point. I have watched her financially suffer almost since the beginning of my job there. Meanwhile, I was reaping the benefits of good pay and a good job. I knew it would come to an end eventually.

I got together with all my friends that night and thought about all of my options. Fliss effortlessly knew that she was moving to Seoul, but the decision wasn’t that easy for me. If I was to re-sign with another company it would be another year, on top of the 9 months already before I went home. While I didn’t necessarily want to move home, I decided it was the best thing for me to do. I had some of the hardest goodbyes ever as I was leaving Korea. I left my students that had changed me, my job that I loved, my new friends from all over the world, a great boy that I had been dating for a few months, and my amazing Korean friends who have helped me with so many things. I cried all day on the last day of work. I wrote every student a personalized letter and printed out pictures of us together. The looks on some of their faces still make me feel like absolute shit when I think about leaving them. Needless to say, I didn’t take my arrival in America well. I was heartbroken, confused, and didn’t have the slightest clue what the fuck I was going to do with my life.

I was fortunately lucky enough to come home to the best people ever. My family was great and let me be a complete lazy bum without harassment. My friends were supportive and reminded me of all the good things I’ve been missing while I was away. Right after my arrival I got to see Annie and Frederic because they were also visiting from Sweden. I saw my friend Vince get married. I had an awesome welcome home party with family I hardly ever see. Before I knew it, it was October 1st, and I had become a waitress for a Japanese restaurant in downtown Minneapolis.

As you can imagine, going from teaching English in Korea, to waiting tables in Minneapolis made me feel a bit unsatisfied. The problem is, I have yet to find and be motivated for a long term career choice. I have no idea what I want to do! I loved loved loved teaching English in Korea but I also want to travel more, live in other places, and I don’t think I could work with kids my whole life. So, while sharing a cocktail at the local watering hole, my friend Laurie effortlessly talked me into moving to Australia. She has been living there since February and absolutely loved it and it would be very easy to get a job waiting tables and a good opportunity to live somewhere else.

The hard part was saying goodbye once again. In a little less than three months I managed to rekindle some of the best relationships, make some new ones, and get really close with my sister Sheri. Far too many nights were spent bullshitting, smoking cigs, watching TV, and even having a good drink now and then. I always thought I’d hate living at home, but damn do I miss it now! When I left I cried like a baby and I can’t help but feel terrible for leaving people once again. I’m so lucky that so many people have stayed by my side, even when I can’t physically be there, and those people will never be forgotten!

So, incase you didn’t know this already, I’m writing from Sydney, Australia! It is summer, the weather is amazing and the city (or at least what I’ve seen) is absolutely beautiful! I’ve only been here about four days but it already has a hold on me.

From the start of my trip here, it’s been pretty smooth. I was lucky enough to have two open seats right next to me on the plane, so traveling from LA to Sydney was basically flown first class style! After getting off the plane I was immediately set up with a phone and greeted by Laurie. I hardly had any jet lag and was fully acclimated within a day. By my third day here I found a nice big room to rent out in a house for a good price (in OZ standards) only two blocks from Laurie!

In terms of jobs, I’m not going to lie, I haven’t been too proactive. I just found out that a friend from Korea is coming to Sydney tomorrow so I would like to spend some time doing some sight seeing and catching up and just relaxing until the start of next week. I move into my new place then, no more couch living, and I’ll have a chance to get into a more set schedule. I did however take my RSA (Responsible Serving of Alcohol) class so I can get a job in a restaurant now. I don’t think I’ll have much trouble, especially with all of my experience.

Hopefully I will have some good stories and pictures in the next few days. I’m not going to lie though, writing in this blog was much easier two years ago when I had never traveled outside of America, let alone lived in another country. Everything was crazy, new, and worth writing about. Who knows if Australia can top the awesomeness of Korea, let’s hope it at least gets close!

I am a Teacher

Despite what I usually blog about, I still do manage to have a job, a teaching job to be exact, 5 days a week. The last few weeks have been filled with ups and downs and all around's but I'll just cut to the more interesting stuff.

So recently Felicity and I have agreed to split up our working shifts. Originally she was working 1:00-6:00 for a bit less, and I was working 10:30-6:00 for a bit more. I obviously love money and was quite happy working more. But as usual my social life has been growing and extracurricular projects flourishing so we decided to switch every other month. One month I'll work more, one month she'll work more. We're both quite pleased with this arrangement. It would mean that all afternoon classes stay the same, she would just take over Shi-Ho and Maya in the morning. Their kindergarten curriculum is non existent to be frank. As you know Shi-Ho is barely three (American age) and Maya just turned five. I've found the best way to entertain them is to shove them some paper (preferably colored if we have that in stock, which we never do) and some scissors and a glue stick. You'd be amazed by the amount of hours that Shi-Ho can sit and cut and paste. So I mentioned this to Felicity before she took over her month of morning shifts.

One particularly afternoon, about a week or two ago, I entered the computer lab/kindergarten room to see Maya up to some very mischievous behavior. As you know, my original encounter with this creature was nothing but shock and horror. I spent weeks dealing with her maniacal tantrums, hysterical crying, and general bitchiness. However, it seemed as though recently we have really been warming up to each other. She has caught on to many English phrases and we frequently talk about the weather and our favorite foods. My most favorite behavior of hers has become her infatuation with origami. I have seriously spent two weeks making the same paper crane for hours with her. She will do it over, and over, and over again, and I am more than happy to have small talk while we fold away. Unfortunately, Felicity wasn't having such luck. This was clearly illustrated that day, as I entered and saw Felicity on her break, playing online, while Maya and Shi-Ho took those scissors that they love so much and decided to remove giant chunks of each others hair! My initial reaction was to yell at Felicity, "DO YOU SEE WHAT THEY ARE DOING!?!" and then I just ran out muttering "this isn't my problem, this isn't my problem, this isn't my problem". But, since they are also my students, it was most definitely my problem. While Felicity took them to our director to face the inevitable wrath, I quietly swept up chunks of thick Korean hair. I could only imagine what my director had to say, and when I went to go take part in the verbal chastising my predictions came true. I had never seen my director in such hysteria and panic. She actually wept in Korean saying something along the lines of "COME ON, WHY, WHY DID YOU DO THIS TO ME?" This obviously effects her more than a normal principal because this is a private school, which parents chose out of many different schools, and could directly impact her (and our) income/reputation. The children sat there silently as she continued on for what felt like hours. Finally I stepped in, in English, and gave them all the words they know, and even spouted out a few Korean words to let them know that I was dead serious about the severity of their actions.

Eventually she calmed down and I took them into the classroom. We sometimes study in a Phonics book, but Shi-Ho can't because it's far too difficult. But today his age was no excuse for his behavior. I sat both of them in front of their books and made them do endless pages. Maya managed to do this quite sufficiently, Shi-Ho was a whole other story. He sat there with his giant crayon, trying so intensely to trace the letters and I couldn't help gush at the cuteness of this poor little guy, trying to make amends for his wrong doings by diligently scribbling away. I took a picture of him getting to work, and another picture of Maya's giant patch of missing bangs:

All of this happened on a Monday, so by Tuesday I was not ready for another day of children. But I got that and then some. During my two hour class with last years kindergartners (who are now so smart!) The students started screaming "바퀴벌레!!!!" (pakwebulleh) which I have since learned is the Korean word for cockroach and I immediately started freaking out. Cockroaches do not make regular appearances in Minnesota, and certainly not in any of my dwellings. But this new school seems to have a bit of a problem with them, which worries me, especially since there is a hospital directly underneath us. I quickly spotted the culprit and realized that I am the adult and therefore the one in charge of resolving this problem. Seconds after that I concluded that I don't care what my age is, I'm not getting anywhere near that nasty thing. So, the obvious solution was to pay one of my students 500 Won (50 cents) to kill it for me. The two boys were both eager and willing but I chose Andy to do the assassination purely on the grounds that I like him more. But I should have gotten a discount, because I still had to take part. That damn cockroach had made its way to the ceiling and I had to hoist Andy up so he could smash it. I should have known then and there that getting directly below a cockroach wasn't a good idea, but I did it anyways. As I quickly pushed him to the ceiling he managed to miss the cockroach and it went flying down... right.. on... us... I started frantically screaming and patting down every crevice of my body to ensure that that little bastard was no where near me. After a good minute or two I gave up, the cockroach wasn't on or near me, but it wasn't anywhere else in the room. Oh well, some poor kid will have to deal with that thing.

About five minutes later, while listening to a student tell me in far too much detail the contents of their dinner the night before, I felt something slowly crawl right out of my sleeve. That bastard pakwebulleh had hidden away in my shirt, undetected for a whole five minutes, silently waiting to make a grand entry onto my arm! My class of 6 and I all went nuts. They were scared of it, I was scared of it, they were laughing at me, I was shouting at them to be quiet, I couldn't stop shaking every part of me, I'm surprised a tit didn't slip out! Finally, Andy, my superhero, took his yellow crocks and showed that cockroach who's boss!

The rest of the week went much, much smoother. I topped it off a lovely Friday night feast at my house. After the previous weeks trip to Busan and the fresh taste of Mexican food in mouth I decided to have a dinner party featuring my attempts at making Mexican food. From what I was told, it was quite delicious. I was a bit drunk and overly excited by the time it was all finished so I can't vouch for it, but the left overs sure hit the spot. Of course we ended the night singing. First we went to a local noraebang (there must be at least 10 within a two block radius of my house) and then we went to a bar that had a giant stage where we could sing in front of everyone. Except there was no one there, so we sang on stage to each other all night long. Just another good week in the 'ju.

Busan Never Fails

And neither does my traveling bad luck. Though this time it wasn't hardly as bad. But let me start at the beginning. Half way into last week I had decided that I needed to get out of Gwangju, not just because I do the same shit every week, but I also need to reconfirm my love for this city and see what else is out there. My original plan was to head to Seoul, since I haven't really spent much time there, but my traveling buddy, Indy, suggested Busan and I knew I couldn't go wrong with that. So I booked a motel and some tickets and by 11am on Saturday we were off to Busan.

Four hours of sparkling conversation later we arrived at our destination. The Busan bus station is awkwardly stationed on the ass end of Busan, luckily so was the motel, so we got on the Subway and rode a few stops down to our destination. But not before being harassed by numerous Koreans trying to be helpful. Unfortunately their helpfulness came off more annoying than useful. Even though they barely spoke English, they were sure they knew exactly what we wanted. They practically were forcing us to buy Subway tickets and I wanted to do no such thing! Instead we were looking to purchase a subway card and recharge my existing one. Finally after trying to tell them in Korean and abandoning all hopes of communication we came across the card vending machine.

After we got off the subway we were very harshly greeted with Korea's rainy season. They say this time of year lasts a few weeks, but I could have sworn it seems to last all summer leaving only spring and fall to be enjoyable seasons. This Saturday it should have been renamed "heaviest downpour ever season" because by the time we reached the motel we were thoroughly soaked. Then, because in Korea motels are used primarily for one reason (coughsexcough) we were informed that we could not check in until 10:30pm! This would have been fine if I wasn't super dirty and rained on. Oh yes, that reminds me, I managed to go about two weeks without a hot water in my apartment. Apparently they had to fix something and all of our buildings went without hot water for what felt like months. I've since never appreciated a hot shower more!

Eventually, through my lovely Korean friend and impromptu translator, we were able to convince the motel owner to at least let us leave our bags there while we check out the city. So, with umbrellas in one hand and cameras in the other we got on the subway to check out 범어사 (Beomeosa) Temple. According to the Official Site of Korea Tourism:

"Boeomeosa Temple is located at the edge of Mt. Geumjeongsan, a famous mountain in Busan. About 1,300 years ago it was constructed by monk Ui Sang in the 18th year (678) of King Munmu (reign 661~681) of the Silla Kingdom. The original Beomeosa Temple building was lost during Imjinwaeran Invasion (Japanese Invasion of Korea in 1592) but was renovated in 1713, which remains as it now is."

The one good thing about sight seeing when there is torrential rain is the lack of tourists. We were practically the only people roaming through the temple. It was also a bit hidden away, with a nice stream heavily flowing down giant rocks. Despite the terrible weather it had a very calming feeling, and it was nice to hang out there for a while and attempt to take some pictures in the rain.

After the temple we moseyed around a shopping area and retreated to the motel where I took the most amazingly long hottest shower ever. Since it was a Saturday night I also took a good while getting ready and by the time we were leaving the motel it was almost 10pm. Before leaving on this trip we had both agreed our one main motivation for going to Busan was just to go to a Mexican restaurant, so if for some reason we were unable to do that it would be heart breaking! On the subway to the Mexican restaurant in Haeundae I started to worry that we may be too late to eat! I did remember it being open very late for drinks, but I didn't know if they stopped serving food too. When we finally got there we sat down and quickly ordered some delicious burritos. But, as I had feared, we were indeed too late to eat! They offered us some nachos instead and we took them with a side of Margaritas to help swallow down the pain of missing out on Burritos. Inhaling both of them in record time still was not enough to cure our hunger or mission for Western food, so we headed to the the next stop. Some meaty burgers, a pitcher of beer, a rare encounter with a Canadian micro-brewed Cider, and one tasty mojito later it was time for bed!

The next day the combination of said food and beverages had a toll on my stomach and I did not wake ready and willing to conquer Busan. If there wasn't a check out time I'm quite sure I would have spent the day in bed watching a big screen TV (with cool English channels!) in a monster size bed. But since there was a check out time, I ended up doing something way more awesome, but required far more effort than TV watching.

First, we headed right back to Haeundae where we were greeted with brunch! The excitement that we both felt as the much anticipated Western meal was approaching dissipated when they dropped a disgusting plate of wannabe brunch down. My hunger forced me to finish some of the strangely cooked eggs and off-putting sausages but I finally gave up in order to save room for our second attempt at Mexican food later that evening.

We then hopped in a cab to go to our second destination, 해동용궁사 (Haedongyunggongsa) Temple. This temple was a bit more hidden away as well, and the view once you got there was simply amazing. That day, unlike the day before, was incredibly sunny and a bit hot but very very beautiful. I managed to take a few pictures that I hope captured the beauty of the spot. I could have sat around staring out at the ocean all day, but we just ended up staying an hour or two, since we were on a time constraint for our mini vacation.

A long, crowded intercity bus ride later we were back at the beach and ready for Mexican food attempt #2. This time we were successfully given the goods in addition to a much needed Bloody Mary. I watched in awe as Indy finished one giant burrito and two additional tacos (or was it three? I don't remember!) As for me, I could only finish one giant burrito and two delicious overpriced cocktails. That was more than enough to leave me satisfied and feeling a little less depressed about having to go back to Gwangju so soon.

I slept the majority of the bus ride home, I was absolutely pooped after our little mini vacation. I can't wait for my actual vacation, starting July 30th-August 15th. I'm going to Fukuoka, Japan for 8 nights, spending a few days in Gwangju (one of which will be my birthday!) then headed off to some islands with a Korea traveling group and some friends.

Happy Canada Day!

I know what you're thinking, "Canada has a day? How did you hear about such things?" Well, it's strange really. Since moving to Korea, roughly a million bazillion miles from Canada, I've met tons of Canadians! Oddly enough, when I lived in Minnesota, a few feet away from Canada, I never met a single Canadian. I'd like to go ahead and dedicate this post to my favorite Canadian, Dominique Colucci, who is living the Candian dream as we speak, and is greatly missed in the 'Ju. Not that this post is going to have a lot of content, but I suppose you can't get any shorter than the last one.

Look at that Canadian Love!

So the big news this week is about Summer Vacation #2. I had spent the last however many months mentally preparing to go to The Philippines and spend maybe $300 or so on the ticket and get some pretty cheap beach side hostel. Well, turns out that if you wait until last minute, like I usually do, tickets go up drastically in price. It's now about $1000 to get there, not including the cost of room & board.

After realizing that my summer plans had been sabotaged because of my laziness I began to feel quite sad. I spent the majority of the beginning of the week in a slump, trying to figure out how to get out of this country without breaking the bank. Finally, it dawned on Fliss and I that nobody in their right mind wants to go to Japan, BUT WE DO! So, we checked Travelocity and found a flight and hotel for 7 days for just under $600. I know what my Mom and Dad and other paranoid readers are thinking, "Noo, the radiation, the earthquakes, don't go!" Well, I'm going to the bottom Island, Kyushu, to a city called Fukuoka and is practically equidistant to my home in Korea (give or take a bit) so I'm not too worried.

So Thursday morning I booked the package and I'm pumped and ready to leave the first week of August. I also have the second week of August off too but haven't decided what to do yet. I think I'll just relax at home and enjoy a quiet non-travel vacation. As far as our destination is concerned, it's actually a long anticipated trip. I started studying Japanese when I was in 7th grade, took a stint of Chinese in High School, and then Japanese again in Community College and the University of Minnesota. I ended off my college career with an intense summer course (one year in two months) and graduated with a firm grasp on the Japanese language. Things have since changed dramatically. I barely remember some key phrases and get caught up thinking in Korean if I try to speak it. So for the next month I am going to pop open the books and see if I can get any useful phrases embedded into my brain.

This particular city is also quite significant because I had been wanting/planning to move to Fukuoka basically since taking Japanese at the U of M. I researched the city and it seemed awesome because its on the beach, it's an old meets new Japanese metropolis and the pictures always looked amazing. While we did get the whole deal for a portion of what I would have spent if I was coming from America (about $2,000) I'm still worried about the expensiveness. So, if any of my dear readers would like to contribute to my pre-birthday (August 10th) Japanese Summer Vacation just let me know!

What else is new? Not much. Since I've came back from Berlin I've completely changed my schedule from being super busy, to doing nothing at all, working a rugged 5 hours a day. Basically I currently love my life and my awesome schedule. I did take a minor pay cut, but I still have a more than livable wage and hours upon hours to paint my nails, study Korean, go to the gym, read, and watch countless episodes of whatever my current TV fetish is.

As always the weekends are jam packed with fun with the gang. Emilie, who I love dearly, is always good at taking pictures so I'll post a few. I'll also post again in a few days about my heartbreaking devastation because of her leaving. But not now, I can't think about that until after she's gone! For tonight, we will have one last hurrah, and once again say goodbye to an amazing friend that I met in Korea.

Katie's Birthday Party last week, looking super cute with her man Krish.

Erica and Indy, two new awesome friends who have been hanging out with the group!

Me, Em, and Fliss singing our heart out to Adele (they had a new song at the noraebang!)

One of many pictures prompted by strange scenarios. "Imagine you are a monkey and she is trying to steal your bundle of bananas!"

Fliss, Katie, Me, Erica, and the lovely Louisa, who is also a new friend. All out for Katie's Bday!

"Omg?! You are so funny! No you are so funny!" I actually think this picture was also prompted by a scenario, but we do look cute!

And that's all folks!

Today I Love Teaching

Why? Because after having a fiber filled dinner last night and breakfast today I've been a little gassy. As a result I had to try and hold them in during class, but unfortunately failed. Andy, a student I've had since I've moved here, was quick to recognize the sound of my flatulence and called me out. "Molly, you farted!" I sheepishly denied the accusations of 8 year old Andy, but he was destined to prove me wrong. He quickly came up to my chair, took a giant whif of my back side, and screamed with delightful horror as he confirmed that in fact, I did fart.

Moments like today are priceless.

Summer Vacation #1: Berlin!

I'm back. To Korea that is. I arrived a handful of days ago but have been incredibly busy since then. I've taken on a few extra projects here, and basically my life is completely booked 12 hours a day Monday through Friday indefinitely. I'm sure my weekends will remain the same crazy fun filled drunken mess but I almost don't even have time for that now. And we all know about my FOMO (fear of missing out) so I must continue to make an appearance at every weekend event that I can.

So on to the good stuff. As you may have read, I recently made a trip to Berlin with my buddy Krish. He was originally my friend in Minneapolis, then moved to Gwangju and has since adopted all of my friends here and been a great addition to the Gwangju crew. Because I so expertly negotiated his contract, it was almost as awesome as mine and has many weeks of vacation, so we decided to go to Germany for one of those weeks. Why Germany you ask?

1) I wanted to go to Europe again, especially in hopes of meeting up with Annie (my Minneapolis-moved-to-Sweden buddy) .

2) Neither of us have been to Germany.

3) His friend also wanted to come meet up with us from America, and he loved Germany, and studied the language.

4) And maybe most importantly we found tickets really cheap to a destination not in Asia.

And a few months later we were on a plane. That is, not before I spent the entire night before at Sky Lounge sipping on bottles of Vodka with my buddies. As usual travelling without a giant hang over isn't an option. And honestly, I wouldn't even recommend it. The hangover makes it so easy to sleep, and then the flight is over in a hop, skip, and a terrible movie jump.

And now I will begin to explain the giant pain in the ass we started our vacation with. Upon planning this trip Krish had mentioned that he really wanted to stop in Moscow, since we'd have a layover there any ways. Those of you who know me, can attest to my general "I don't care" attitude, especially when travelling. I'm just happy to be out of my room, so being out of the country is more than enough to please me. I told him that it's on him to go ahead and take care of all the plans. I don't want to look into hostels, itinerary, transportation, etc. I basically forgot that we were even going there until a few days before when Krish mentioned we needed to get a visa and I immediately thought...now? My one and only visa process involved a month of paperwork, so I was a bit worried. But he reassured me that he had read there is a consulate in the airport where they issue one day visas for people in our situation, on a layover.

The moment we arrived in Moscow my heart sank. The cheer and demeanor of the Incheon Airport, along with all the Asian based airlines and their amazingly charming and sparkling staff, was no where to be found. It was a bit dingy, hot, and everyone looked like they were working there as indentured servants. While walking through the security check they were screaming, "GO GO! YOU! Shoes. Take off!" Which amazed me because you'd think after saying the same sentence over and over in English they could at least get it grammatically correct. When we got to the transfer area Krish asked about the location of the consulate to a very unhelpful lady with terrible 1980's hair and crusty colorful makeup. In fact, she even gave us a sarcastic, "good luck" when she heard we didn't already have the visa. At this point I was feeling even less hopeful. However, the fact that we were in Russia, and they have a funny accent and eat potatoes and drink vodka was enough to entertain our feeble minds for a while as we searched through the smoke filled airport (yes, you just smoke in the middle of the airport).

Eventually we found a door, with the blinds drawn and no sign even making it recognizable as the consulate (we had to confirm with a nearby vendor). We entered and some grimy dude came out, looking like he just woke up and/or finished masturbating to inappropriate Russian porn and asked us what we wanted. We stated our desires, and without even a seconds thought, he said you can't get visas here.

"Okay, so... Where can we get visas?" I asked. He gave a general point in a direction and mumbled something that Krish understood and we walked out. At our second destination we were informed that no, we can not get Visas here, we must go back to the consulate.

Round two: Enter naive Americans.

This time there was a different man in there with the creeper. He was a little bit more helpful and said that, yes, in fact, that first man was full of shit and this is where you get visas. But no, he would not be giving us one, without any explanation as to why. At this moment I was no longer laughing about potatoes and vodka and funny accents. I was then contemplating the 15 hour layover in the hottest, dingiest, creepiest airport ever.

Krish and I quietly exited the consulate and were faced with a general "oh shit" feeling. This sucked not only because we were stuck there until noon the next day, but we had already booked a hostel in Moscow. The one good thing about the airport was it's free WiFi so I got on my ipod and skype called the hostel to cancel. The bad thing about the free WiFi was it was generally shit WiFi so I couldn't get a hold of the hostel easily. I kept trying to call back but they kept straight up yelling at me not to call back until I got a better connection. In which I thought, HOW WILL I KNOW IF ITS A GOOD CONNECTION UNLESS I TRY TO CALL!? After finally making contact, I discovered that the 30 minute effort was fruitless because they were still going to charge us for the whole night and deposit. Current extra money paid: $40 USD.

Next, we had to find a way to NOT be in that airport for 15 hours. So we headed to our airlines transfer help desk. We were in luck! There was a plane leaving in just two hours with over 100 open seats! Well hot damn, that felt good to hear. Then she said she'd have to check on the cost. Obviously I'm aware that flying is expensive, and they will rape your wallet at any chance they get. In this situation, we were told that if our original ticket was quite cheap then this ticket would be too. A few moments later she returned with the quoted price: $170 USD. My jaw dropped and I began feeling a giant hatred for everything Russian related. I didn't know if I could even go back to drinking vodka after this outrage (and that's saying a lot!) It made no sense since we had already paid for a ticket from Moscow to Berlin, but now we had to buy another one, because I could not have stayed in that airport any longer. The ticket was booked. Current extra money paid: $210 USD

Krish and I headed towards our gate, called up our hostel, arranged to come a day early and finally felt a bit of relief. I looked up the directions on my iPod to the next hostel and fell fast asleep.

About two hours of shit sleep later we arrived in Berlin. We gathered our bags and I took out my handy dandy iPod to get the directions to the hostel. But the directions were gone! They were replaced with the inbox of Krish's email. It hit me that he had used my iPod and I forgot to load the directions up afterwards. There was no free WiFi, there was no way to get directions because all the information was on that page. And that's when I cracked. I had somehow managed to keep a smile on my face, think positive, and stay calm for the last 24 hours of travel but that was no longer an option for me. My brain could hardly function and I just wanted to collapse and somehow teleport to the bed of the hostel. I didn't cry on the outside, but inside I was heavily weeping. I then remembered that I have the worst luck travelling, and I don't know why I continue to do it and expect a different outcome. Eventually we found a computer portal that gave us directions. And as my travel luck would have it we subsequently got lost on the night trains that we had to take to our hostel and my head did not touch the pillow until 3 hours later around 3am. The never ending Saturday finally came to a long awaited finale. Current extra money spent on NOT going to Moscow: $240 USD. Ugh.

Sunday came far too soon. Around 9am Krish's friend, Ryan, came barging in and they had a long awaited reunion. I quickly learned that Krish and Ryan have a bromance of epic proportions and they would be spending a large portion of our trip holding hands, cuddling, and being as gay as possible without pure admission of it.

I then somehow managed to force myself out of bed, shower, and get ready to see the city with the boys before Annie and Frederic arrived later that evening. Our first stop: Beer and gyro's (or Kebabs, or whatever you want to call them) Right next to our hostel was a little food shop and we sat and consumed a giant delicious lamb gyro and had my first authentic German beer. The verdict: It tasted like beer. It was EXPONENTIALLY better than any Korean beer, but I have had a large variety of beers back in Minnesota and many were much better. Either way, the cost of the giant gyro and giant beer was less than $7 USD so I was happy. But I soon found out my body wasn't. We went walking all around a beautiful park for a few hours and my legs decided they hated me almost immediately. Apparently sleep is important to function, who woulda thought? On the plus side we got to see some lovely outdoors. The park had almost everything you could ever imagine in it, every kind of court for every kind of sport, skate parks, sculptures, picnic areas, etc. We stopped in this hidden gem we found and took a few pictures.

After roaming around a few hours we all were decidedly quite tired. So rest, reading, and relaxing time was due. When we woke up we stopped at the local liquor store, grabbed a bottle of wine, and patiently waited in the lovely courtyard of our hostel for Annie and Frederic to arrive. One hour passed, and I started to worry. I remembered how long it took us the night before though, so I let it slide. Finally, it had been about three hours and I checked my facebook. Frederic left me a message saying they were in the courtyard too! I stood up and it turns out that quite a while ago when I made a bathroom break they came and sat down on the other side of a wall and I somehow missed them!

And so began the four day reunion. Which basically meant many nights of wine, food, bull shit, and general happiness to see one of my best friends and her awesome boyfriend!

The next morning I surprisingly woke up quite refreshed and hang over free and had one thing on my mind: Clothes. In an effort to make room for all my preplanned new purchases I only brought a few outfits. Also, since I packed drunk 20 minutes before I had to leave my house I also forgot many essentials, so I needed to go spend some money, and boy did I ever. I found an H&M, stocked up on some must haves, and decided to play it cool until my next shopping trip that week. But to save you from reading in unfathomable suspense for the next page or so, I'll let you know ahead of time that the rest of the shopping trips were a complete bust! So who wants to go ahead and send me a new wardrobe? Email me and I'll send you my address!

After shopping we went for a walk back to that park with a picnic and some beers and spent a few hours shooting the shit, eating delicious turkey sandwiches, and sipping tasty beverages. Annie, Frederic, and I opted to sit in the shade because I now have the Korean mentality that sun is bad, and Frederic is just a redheaded Swede, which is self explanatory. I managed to avoid a tan that day, but as the days of outdoor exploration continued I got a small hint of color. It's not so bad, actually. I think my lack of sleep, and water along with binge drinking and cigarette smoking is ruining my skin at a much faster pace than my brief sun exposure. Oh well..

For Tuesday we decided that a trip to the zoo would be a good idea, so we hopped on the subway and spent a day relaxing at the zoo, enjoying the lovely weather and exotic animals. We made a few pit stops to relax, take pictures, and drink beer, because that's what vacation is for!

For dinner I searched my Lonely Planet book and found that a Thai Restaurant that was near our hostel and was rated quite high. So Krish, Frederic, Annie and I headed down there and were all quite happy with the results. It was so good and neither Sweden nor Korea had been able to perfect Thai food (or even offer it in my city). At this point we were yet to have even had German food, but that's fine because everything was so delicious.

We decided to attempt to get a little rowdy that night, but after all the food and a busy day at the zoo we didn't make it too far. Our first stop was a cute little bar/restaurant with an outdoor patio. Oh, did I mention that almost every restaurant in Germany has an outdoor patio? It seems as though it's a requirement to serve food. Or maybe a requirement for the city, along with bicycles and graffiti. On the other hand there are literally like 4 places in Gwangju with outdoor seating, and they're never even that popular. But you know my friends and I here will definitely be there. So we stopped first and sat at the bar, and had a cheers to Krish's new found alcohlism (he hadn't drank for two months prior to the trip) and chatted it up with the bartender. Annie and I decided to go for a smoke and ended up spending the majority of our time outside and having some much needed Annie/Molly time.

After a few more drinks and a new, swanky location the group had decided it was time for me to start flirting with the Germans. This isn't my normal behavior, but when in Germany! So I figured my best luck would be with the bartender because a) I knew he spoke English and b) he was stuck behind the bar, thus forced to talk to me regardless of any interest. While this plan seemed fool proof he quickly pawned me off to two haggard looking guys who were also speaking English. I introduced myself, told them my story about being an American living in Korea and this being my second time in Europe and they found this hilarious. In fact, one guy laughed so maniacally that he sounded like some freakish hyena (think Lion King style). I never did understand what was so funny, because I wasn't popping out any jokes. It finally became apparent that they were just assholes ready to take the piss out of an American gal. So I went back to my friends, with my tail in between my legs, while the hyena continued to laugh. That ended any attempts at meeting a cute German boy. Whatever though, these Koreans may be much smaller and less manly but they're more than eager to have a chat with this amazonian American gal!

By Wednesday Annie and Frederic wanted to have some alone time and they headed off to do some romantic sight seeing. In fact, the romance was so heavy that day that Frederic, who has been with Annie for over three years, decided it was time to pop the question! I had known about his plan to propose for many months now and I was super anxious for him to do it in Berlin, so I could be there for the engagement celebrations (if I can't make it to the wedding). So when we finally met up after our separate day of more random excursions I was so excited to see Annie with tears in her eyes, calling all of her family to tell them the good news!

That night we went to a tasty Indian restaurant and sat on a lovely patio. Krish, being the token half Indian, made some guided suggestions for people who wanted to try something new. I, on the other hand, wanted to go for the tried and true Chicken Tikka Masala, the creamy curry filled chicken deliciousness, but I only saw something called Chicken Tikka. Krish assured me that this is what I wanted so I ordered it, only to receive some dry pieces of chicken and a few vegetables. If you or I have learned anything by now, it's don't trust Krish! It was still pretty decent, and like I said, better than the shit in Gwangju.

The rest of the night was spent bar hopping and me consuming wine like it was water. I have to remember I am not Jesus and those two aren't easily interchangeable. I also have a really hard time rising from the dead during my next day wine hangovers. But I did, bright and early because it was Annie and Frederic's last day and they were heading off to catch their plane. The jealousy that overwhelmed me as they talked about their quick effortless flight over to Sweden was enough to lighten the sadness as I said goodbye. I know I'll see those two again soon. We even talked about next summer in Turkey, so that's something exciting to look forward to (and it will give me SOMETHING to write about in this damn blog).

Anyways, as suspected we all spent Thursday in bed. We had no TV so I had to read Joy Luck Club on my hangover. While the book was quite good and entertaining Krish and I couldn't help but make Asian inspired speech jokes and continued to refer to it as Joy Ruck Crub for the remainder of the trip. I live in Korea, you think that shit would get old/inappropriate, but it doesn't.

Friday was Ryan's last day in Berlin and also his birthday so we made the most of it. We did a handful of sight seeing and roaming around. I shall let the pics do the talking.

After a day of roaming we were in desperate need of a big ol delicious meal, and it was about time we got a German one! Man, was it delicious. I didn't know what I was ordering but I saw sauerkraut and decided to go for it. It's hard to imagine I used to absolutely hate the taste/smell of it. I remember my Grandma cooking up some sour smelling sauerkraut dishes for family events and my aunts and uncles being so happy. Me? I was running as far away from the kitchen as possible, coming near only if I was guaranteed turkey or mashed potatoes.

By night time we headed back to our hostel, which I must mention was terrible! The first one was lovely, cozy, sweet, filled with a nice staff. This one reminded me of the Russian airport, except without hot water. Yes, no hot water to shower with. On top of forgetting all of my favorite toiletries in Korea I now had to attempt to bathe in a dirty shared cold water shower. Ugh. Somehow the three of us managed to clean up for our final night on the town, in which we were going to experience a real German night club!

We headed down in the direction of the club but saw it wasn't open yet, and rightfully so it was only about 8 o'clock, and we figured probably 10 would be a good time. So we plopped down at yet another lovely outdoor patio and started consuming birthday drinks. Now, as you can imagine I was pretty much over drinking at this point but I'm the kinda gal that loves birthdays, even if they're not my own! So I did my best, deciding to get the most bang for my buck and ordered vodka gimlets (vodka and a splash of lime). Five gimlets, a half a pack of cigs, and a handful of hours later we were ready to attempt the club. But not after convincing Ryan that a white-tee shirt under a nice dress shirt was so unnecessary (yes, Krish and I are the fashion police).

Now, lets keep in mind the key word there is attempt. Because as we approached this club we realized that it still wasn't open. It was just a bit past 11:00 and we figured it would have been open by then, but we guessed wrong. So we grabbed a little snack, a beer, and checked back 30 minutes later. Finally people were lining up and it was confirmed that this club was still in business. When they finally decided to let people in, around 12:00am, Ryan was right up front, ready to go! The bouncer checked his ID and let him in. Next was Krish, who was wearing a similar outfit to Ryan, both without the teeshirt underneath, but he was quickly denied due to a lack of a teeshirt. "You have to wear a teeshirt? What the fuck? Ryan just got through!" Oh, but I spoke too soon. Ryan came moping back saying that he was denied during the second round of bouncers because he didn't know who the DJ was! Why wouldn't they have asked that in the first round??? All I know is I missed the Korean clubs where we were always happily escorted in, usually without having to pay cover because we were foreigners! Thankfully, we mutually agreed that we were good and drunk and also quite happy with going home and going to sleep before 1am.

So Krish and I got a full nights sleep, Ryan had to wake up early to leave, and we spent our final day wandering as usual. The last night was a little bittersweet. We wandered into a new neighborhood that was supposed to have amazing Moroccan food, which it did, but it also had all the amazing shopping places that both of us had been wanting to go to all week but now we couldn't because it was too late. On the plus side, I spent less money, and I may have ended up buying too many Berlin inspired articles of clothing (mainly neon colors and early 90's style) and you can only have so many of those in your wardrobe.

The flight home was fine, minus the fact that aeroflot has disgusting food and no logic on how to serve it. Both times, because we were in the back of coach, we ended up getting the last choice in food, and man were they gross. You'd think they could start in the back the second time around?! I hope I'm never poor enough to have to fly with them again, but I'm sure I will if that's the best ticket option.

All in all it was a lovely trip, and it was really good to get out of Korea. As for the post travel depression, I think I managed to avoid it this time around. I did have more fun in Sweden, and I've also come to love and appreciate Korea the longer I've been here. Which brings me to a whole other blog to write about: What to do in 2012??

Oh, I must give credit to Krish for a handful of the pictures, mostly the ones that have wider angles and where my head is like a giant cartoon hovering over my German food.