Where Did It Go?

Wow, I can't believe the weekend is already over! I had many things on my to-do list when I went to bed on Friday, including catching up on some emails, watching BOTH of my class videos for my stats course that started last week, doing a bit of shopping, finding the hapkido dojang that's nearby and getting in some exercise down by the river.

However...

Saturday morning I got up and cleaned up my apartment. I once marvelled at how little time it actually takes to do a proper clean of the place since it's so small... on this day I marvelled at how LONG it can take when you'd rather be doing anything else!  :)  So a few hours after waking up at 7 I'd played with the dogs (who are doing great btw), showered, cleaned my place, finished the book I've been reading (Weiner's Geography of Bliss, recommend it 4sure if you like that kind of thing), and decided to get on a bus into Seoul to find some new clothes.

Though I did not relish the idea really, having NEVER had much success clothes shopping in Korea, I put on the 'what the heck' attidude and caught the bus. So what if I was going to spend the afternoon squeezing myself attempting to squeeze myself into some Korean clothes, maybe I could fit some of the adjumma stuff in the camping stores, lol...

When I got where I was going, Noon Square and Young Plaza in the fashionable Myeong-Dong neighbourhood of Seoul (which, I might add, I might have not tried if not for the recommendation of a coworker), I was totally intimidated by the size of the stores and the absolute CRUSH of shoppers that filled the aisles. Once I got in there and started picking things up to try on I was so happy I could burst... Korea's fashion district has INTERNATIONAL brands and stores with M Y   S I Z E!!!  Even though many of the items in the stores were WAAAY overpriced (even for my new non-comparative KRW/CAD$ brain): THEY FIT ME! Now granted, many things I tried on did not LOOK nice, but THEY FIT! THEY FIT! THEY FIT!

I can't even begin to explain how good it felt, to try things on and actually be able to pull pants up over my hips, or shirts down across my shoulders without contorting myself into some sort of pretzle-shape!! 4 1/2 hours of shopping, an hour of getting lost and walking until I was sure my hip was going to give out on me, 3/4s of an hour of wandering a new-to-me-palace that I'd stumbled upon, and 2 hours of bus rides later I was back home again. With me were 2 tank tops, 2 polo shirts (more of those to come, the material is incredible soft brushed cotton!), and a gorgeously simple black bead-accented long dress for the wedding I have to go to next weekend. Eeeeee!! I'm still glowing with the self-satisfaction of the whole ridiculous shopping adventure, lol...

Sometimes, happiness is finding clothes in your own size in a country where few people seem to be!

Sunday I woke early again around 7am with big plans to catch up on emails, finish up my blog from LAST weekend away (almost done, but I want to put the pictures in before I post it, it's coming - I promise!!), and attend my courses from last week. I woke in a bit of a funk, so I dragged my sorry butt out for a walk in the early morning sunshine (we have no snow here, sorry 4Us back in Canada, feel bad for ya!). About 6 minutes into my walk my MP3 player died, even though I just charged it 2 nights ago (must have left it turned on again, argh!), and I lost most of my motivation for a long walk.

(That, and my hip was KILLING me last night when I went to bed, and even moreso when I woke up this morning - I have to get that figured out as it's causing me pain even after just WALKing now, not running!!)

I searched out the hapkido dojang (mini search really, a couple of blocks up and down from the bridge) but didn't find it, and then returned home again to get started on school. Long story short, my day included rollerblading, another walk, reading a new book in the park (Coehlo's Like the Flowing River), had ramyeon for lunch and shrimp fried rice for dinner, had a caramel mocha latte for dessert, watched SEVeral episodes of Chuck and Army Wives (all caught up now, thank you Vuze torrents site!), wrote (but didn't photo) last weekend's blog, watched HALF of one class, and played with the puppies... not a lot accomplished, but overall I feel very rested.

Lesson learned at the end of the weekend after spending much time sitting with my back up against a tree in a park, talking with it about life (my life) in general: I need to join one or two more activities that could lead to making some more friends. My coworkers are good at work, but not so social outside of it; other foreigners I've met have been great, but far away and/or a bit flaky and/or reclusive; the girls at Korean class are nice but 20; my Korean friends are also sweet but unreliable (in their early 20s) with making plans... they get a LOT of stomach aches, lol... it would be nice to have a few people to possibly make plans with, even if it's just a movie sometime on the weekend: you know what I'm saying??

So that's on the list this week... along with a visit to my doctor's office tomorrow at 2 for a referral about my hip (accupuncture maybe?), MUCH school work so I'm all caught up in time to attend Fridays' stats course lecture (I can get the first half hour live, yay!), and searching for an english yoga class near home. That, and of course the emails and pictures that I still need to catch up (I'll get to them, I will, really!)...

Hope you are well, and that your own rambles are leading you to happiness and peace in the rain, sleet, snow or sunshine, whatever your case may be!!  Sending you sunshiney wishes from the Korean peninsula.... S.