Cheers to 2010 in Korea!

Well, I've survived almost one full day in the New Year, and boy was it rough. The struggles of today were worth it though, last night was a full on blast! Technically last night was really only my second night going out in Gwangju, so everything was very exciting.

After work yesterday (oh yeah, i still need to talk about how teaching has been, but that's not as interesting as a lovely night on the town). Anyways, after work I came home and got awesomely dolled up to celebrate the best Holiday ever, New Years Eve. Well, not the best best. Halloween is pretty awesome too. In classic Molly fashion I wore my one and only fancy dress, my prom dress, which I could actually wear again because nobody in Gwangju saw me wear it to my going away party a few weeks ago, so to them it was awesome and new. I hitched a cab and made my way downtown. Oh, that reminds me. I WALKED DOWNTOWN this week. It's only like two miles, and I did it all by myself AND I didn't even get lost, it was amazing! I will definitely be walking downtown more frequently once it's not so cold out. But a cab ride is only like $2.50 so I'll probably take it back home. Anyways, I met up with my friend Jamie and we decided to go to an Indian place that is fairly popular in Gwangju. As all my food experiences seem to be on this side of the world, it was absolutely delicious. Holli met up with us moments after arriving and the three of us scarfed on some Chicken and Lamb Curries and lots of Garlic Nan.

After dinner we decided that a little wine was necessary for NYE celebrations and we headed to a place called "The Ethnic Cafe" or maybe it was "The Ethnic Bar"? Either way, the name seemed a little weird, but the inside was fucking cool. You walk down like two flights of stairs that are covered in wine bottles and flowers and candles scattered over the brick wall and enter this quiet little dimly lit sanctuary. In the middle of the place was a large pond thing, with some seats and tables (only floor seating) surrounding the pond, and around the sides were special little private booths/rooms where people could chat more intimately. We first sat around the pond and stared in awe at the beautiful surroundings. It really was like a dream. There were trees and shit just hanging out around the pond too. I tried to take some pictures but it was super dark and the flash didn't really let you get a glimpse of its beauty. I will not forget its loveliness though, and I do hope to one day have a Minnesotan visit me and see its loveliness and drink the nectar of the Gods: Fruit Soju. We opted for Kiwi and Strawberry last night.

Do you see that crazy pond thing? With like, shit hanging all over. I feel like Korea in general seems to take great time and care into designing their coffee shops, bars, and restaurants. Of course there are a handful of hole in the walls, but if they're not a hole in th wall they're amazingly nice (and still apropriately priced). I remember in Busan we went to a Burger King that was like nicer than the nicest restaurant I had been to in Minneapolis - AND it had a view of the ocean!

After two pitchers of Fruit Soju and the arrival of Sara we decided to hit up the Bubble Bar, which is also another lovely decorated bar. There we met up with Fliss and as a group decided we will ring in the New Year at a place called The Speakeasy which is easily the most heavily saturated foreigner bar, definitely not very cute though. The free champagne was served in dixie cups and tasted like sprite and soju mixed together, so that wasn't that great either. It was pretty packed and hot but us ladies had a blast dancing and cheersing to a lovely new year in Korea! My night continued with bar hopping, meeting new friends, taking drunken pictures, and doing exactly what's necessary for a New Years Eve and had a blast!

I did get a handful of stares from the Koreans being that I wore heels and I'm already taller than all of them, and a big fluffy polka dot dress, but it's kinda fun. I don't know what it would be like to live in Seoul or back in the states and not be something that gets stared at. So far I like the attention, but I also haven't left the house unless I'm looking decent. I'm sure it will be annoying on a rough day when I feel like shit.

Today I laid in bed practically all day until I got an invite for dinner and a movie that I couldn't deny. I met up with many of the same people from the night before and ate some kinda noodle chicken dish at a restaurant. Once again we had to sit on the floor, which I still have not been able to get used to, but it was worth it for that delicious chow fest. We then had some coffee and ran into more foreigners that other people knew so about a group of ten of us ended up having coffee and seeing a movie together. It was fun, and I really love how people just come together and are so accepting over here. I feel like the fact that we look nothing like the locals makes it a lot easier for us to flock together and bond. I couldn't imagine moving somewhere filled with whiteys but didn't speak the same language as me. Well I could, I just don't know how easy it would be to find friends. According to the more well traveled over here, Gwangju and Korea in general has been considerably easier to meet people, so that's cool. It's weird because obviously I came here alone but I really don't feel like I had even a split second of feeling alone here. Within seconds of my arrival in Gwangju I met Lucy who was awesome and helped me meet so many other people. I've been so busy lately there are seriously times where I'm like "I just want to go to my apartment to be alone!" which is something I didn't think I would crave over here. Anyways, the reason I'm bringing this up is because during dinner we discussed New Years Resolutions and the usual things came up and I had earlier mentioned how scared I would be to travel somewhere by myself (like for a vacation) and how I would never do it. Of course the obvious was brought up - I came here by myself. Anyways, many of my friends here have traveled all over by themselves and I think this year that will be my resolution. I will take a trip somewhere, someday (if I ever get paid) all by myself. But, before that it's pretty much set for a trip to Fukuoka, Japan in February which I'm definitely looking forward to. So, Happy New Year everyone and Cheers to an amazing 2010!