It's been a long time..

I'd say I've been really busy since my last post but then I'd be lying. I did absolutely nothing in the month of December. Well, not absolutely nothing. I did manage to purchase an entirely new wardrobe, a fancy camera (which you three readers will benefit from!), and a kindle. I also consumed enough food to gain approximately 10 pounds, and I got the once in a lifetime chance to be a Minneapolis Blizzard survivor (wait, I think that happens a lot). But all in all, my visit to Minneapolis wasn't a total bust.

Actually, it was great. Even though I didn't manage to see all of my friends as much as I would have liked, it was still nice to have a month of relaxing with the family. And although it was cold as shit, at least we had adequate heating in the house (unlike the current condition of my ill-equipped school). Yes, I'm currently typing this post on my break wearing a tank top, shirt, cardigan, winter jacket, and scarf. And pants too, duh! You'd think I'd be sweating, but that's hardly the case. Anyways, back to my update.

So what did I do in Minneapolis? In short, I spent the very first night in town with my best girl Amelia, shared a delicious paella, ran into some people I knew and drank the jet lag away.

A few days later I managed to unintentionally schedule the most inconvenient happy hour ever in Maple Grove. While it normally takes about 35 minutes to reach my happy hour destination, during what I'll call Blizzard #1 this took two hours (and another two for my sister to return after dropping me off - thanks Val!) Fortunately I was happily greeted by some of the best people at my old job (RCC) and ended up spending the night in North East Mpls with Alissa and Sara (BFCD!).

Meanwhile, I had made a few shopping trips with the ever so lovely Niki Auer, where she was stuck dealing with my tired, hung over, and sometimes sick self and somehow seemed to enjoy every minute of it. Luckily I was able to pull myself together for one night while we attended the Jameson Bartenders Ball. This was an amazing and dangerous event (or amazingly dangerous) which consisted of free, all you can drink, and the only thing you can drink, Jameson Whiskey.

However, just a day later I had plans with two women who really should have attended the ball because of their love affair with Mr. Jameson: Kali and Elizabeth. We had a dinner party with some of our friends and reminisced on the dinners from the past and just the general awesomeness of everyone at the party, and also the array of Korean drinks I had brought over as well. The night ended at Jamie B's with hours of bull shitting and drinking and by then I was ready for a drinking break.

But the break didn't last long. Blizzard #2 came around and this one was a doozy. Stuck at home with the family for 3 days straight and no hope for escape called for a trip to the local liquor dealers. So, Sheri and I gathered our layers, covered every part of our chubby Minnesotan bodies, and walked an entire block to the liquor store and grocery store. The booze selection was plentiful and I took advantage of it, not contemplating how we would actually get it home without a car and 18 arms. But, as I left the Liquor store I was greeted with a warm car armed with 4-wheel drive and Sheri's best friend to take us home that whole block. The night ended somewhere around midnight after a few bottles of red wine, board games, and family fun.

One of the biggest highlights was Amelia's Wheel of Fortune party. She had made it to the show, made it to the end, and ALMOST won the final question. Either way, she came out ahead by about $20,000, had an awesome party downtown, and now is going to be visiting Korea in the spring, hopefully with her awesome sister, Franna! I've also got a few more promises from friends about visiting and you all better come! I actually got an apartment you can walk in now!

By the time people were able to successfully drive again it was almost Christmas. I had a chance to meet up with Jenny, an old school best friend, and also Ali, another girl with the same title and shoot the shit. Of course, by the time Christmas rolled around I was ready to get back to Korea and say my final good-bye's. I was struck with some bad luck and caught a terrible cold on my final days and basically had to leave without saying a word to most of my friends, so if I missed you - I'm sorry, and I'll be back in a year (maybe, haha!)

So here I am now, I've been here about a week and it's been lovely. My flight went about as smooth as possible. The first leg was Minneapolis to Tokyo and besides the insane amount of gas I had (which I have now been told that happens on long flights) was smooth as ever, especially with all of my new gadgets to play with. Then after landing there I only had to wait a few minutes before boarding Tokyo to Incheon. Once I got to Incheon I grabbed my bags, and got on a bus 5 minutes after purchasing my ticket and slept all the way to Gwangju. Smooth sailing (or should I just say traveling) all the way back.

I spent the night in my old apartment with Oliver and Emily and the next day I got to go see my new apartment. It definitely was not what I had imagined or had been hoping for but I'm not going to complain. I got a big raise and it's still larger than practically everyone I know has, so I'm happy. That night Oli, Em, Krish and I sat around and waited for Felicity to arrive. She had been traveling forever as well and she definitely got screwed when she had to wait an additional two hours outside of the bus terminal for a taxi. Oh yah, we also had some snow here, but Koreans DO NOT know how to handle this (I will never complain about Minnesotan driving again!) So finally the 5 of us were in my new apartment, on the floor, drinking and bullshitting over a giant bottle of soju and all I could keep saying is "I LOVE KOREA!" while Fliss and I bonded after not seeing each other for the last two months.

The next night was New Years and as you can assume we hit up the normal spots, said hey to all the people I've missed in the last month, and then the unthinkable happened. MY CAMERA GOT STOLEN! Don't worry though, it wasn't my new one!! But my old one which I had planned to keep around for my nights out and such. The worst part about it is the memory card is gone. Not only did it have like a million awesome pictures from that night, but it's the only memory card I have so now I have to go get a new one for my other camera. Oh well, you live and you learn. It also sucks because I know it was a foreigner who did it because there were no Koreans at the bar when it happened. BITCHES!

Anyways, Monday finally rolled around and I was back to the daily grind. We said our good-byes to Oliver and Emily (they're back to America) and enjoyed their last favorite meal at the rib spot. Yesterday Fliss and I went to the gym, which is now even closer! Oh yeah, we moved up the giant hill by the school so EVERYTHING is like seconds from my back door, which is super nice. Fliss and I have resolved to attending the gym everyday, but only for 45 minutes because I somehow manage to spend half of my night there when I go (so I subsequently burn out from the gym within a few days). But not this time! Anyways, maybe I'll add some pictures later. But my computer at home is on the internet fritz so we'll see. Either way, I'm looking forward to a spectacular 2011 though it will be pretty hard to top 2010! xoxo