Update

It's been a little while since I've last written. I've realized that I do my best writing at night when I should be sleeping. Since I've been trying to develop good sleeping habits, of which I've failed at recently, I haven't been writing as much as I have wanted.

Weather
December and January have been the coldest months of my life. No joke. The cold is nice and all but damn, having weather in the teens is pretty chilly. If it's windy, it's even worse. Some days I just bundle up at home and just leave only if absolutely necessary. They say this winter is the coldest winter Seoul has experience in a century. Now I know why people say Californians don't know what cold really is. I envy all my friends back home for sure. Also, I don't understand why people hate on California's "one" season, you really can't beat going out in shorts and flip flops in January.

However, I will say that when dealing with the cold, that's mainly the only thing you have to deal with. In warmer climates, you have to deal with things like bugs and stuff. I remember my first week in my apartment I saw this ginourmous centipede on the wall. Needless to say I screamed like a frightened adolescent in a slasher movie until the centipede met its doom from Mr. Paper Towel. Thank you Mr. Paper towel.

Also, when it's warmer I actually have to be fashionable and I just can' t compete with Koreans in this avenue. Right now, I'm literally wearing the same thing every day. Jeans, t shirt, sweater/hoodie, puffy jacket - I'm good for the day. I've been way too lazy to actually iron anything.

Stuff that happened in December
Perhaps one notable fact is that I'm a year older. The main things I remembered from the night was that my friends were there, it was fun and it was nice seeing everyone, and when I was totally drunk I asked my British friends to say "aluminium" and I'd say "Haha, you guys are funny, it's aluminum. Hey, can you say 'garage'."

Sorry guys!

Actually, December was pretty fun. As many of my friends know, I'm kind of a whacky guy, so for my class I managed to get my hands on a Santa costume as part of the holiday lesson. In addition to using it for teaching I also would wear my Santa get up around town. It was pretty awesome and random. I'd have little Korean kids coming up to me on the way to the subway saying "Hi Santa!" I actually had my Santa bag with me and I'd give them candy. They'd be all smiley and walk away with their parents. This one time I was waiting for the subway and this older Korean lady approached me and asked for directions. I told her I didn't speak Korean. Needless to say, she didn't believe that Santa wasn't Korean.

I also experienced my first Korean Christmas, it was pretty nice in that it was cold and such. It actually snowed a few days after Xmas even though all the forecasters said it would snow on Christmas. Lies.

When it did finally snow, it was wonderful. I was running in it in the jackets my friends and family sent. I made snow angels, slid in the snow, slipped and ate shit, and learned to walk in the trails that people have walked in before. Pretty cool overall.

The Perfect Spy
Apparently I have a very ambiguous face. Those that have known me for longer periods of time have known me to complain about how I don't really look like anything. I have come to accept this and in fact, enjoy it.

When I went down to the Vietnamese area in Ansan many Vietnamese people would ask what I was because I looked kind of, sorta not really Korean, but I spoke Vietnamese. I told them I was half Vietnamese and they said "...naw, I don't see it." So I told them I was Chinese and they said, "...Nawwww. You look too Korean for that."

I can't win.

One thing I never quite understood is the Asian obsession with the second eyelid/fold thing. In Korean, I think it's something like "Sam ga pyul" or the like. Everyone in my family has it so I just assumed all Asians had it. It wasn't until college that people started telling me "Oh wow, you have really nice eyes. You have eyelids!" I blinked and said, "Well...you have eye lids too. How else do you blink?" My friend would then try to explain it to me and I understand that a little crease does indeed exist. I simply find the obsession a bit humorous.