March 2021: You Can't Do Everything...
Hello friends!
It’s time for another monthly update, my series in which I talk about my life in South Korea.
Well, it’s springtime—finally. Gone are the days of freezing temps, come are the days of bad air. I’m loving these cherry blossoms, as always. Texas doesn’t really have much of a spring. More like…a baby summer that lasts two weeks before the humidity hits.
If last month was my hibernation, this month was the wake-up call. I was very busy. Let’s see…
My friends and I started rock climbing again. I began freelance writing gigs. My friend, Abbie, and I are collabing on a video series about cool things to try in Daejeon (soon they’ll be up!).
This blog has been really active lately. I, in a flurry of productivity, finally finished that damn article I’d spent forever on. I’ve been inspired by my photo walks and long afternoons of other writing, of course. But my drive lately has been to push out all the Korea content I wanna get done before I leave in August.
Everything is content! …Right?
It’s been a sweet month. My new coteacher and I started together, which has been smooth all things considered. Despite the awkward adjustment to zoom, my students are the most enthusiastic they’ve ever been. If there’s anything that’s energized and exhausted me this month—it’s teaching. I’m so happy to be back in the classroom.
And I’m proud of the work I’ve done lately—artistically, socially, professionally.
Still, I’ve been very socially burnt out. Not that I’m complaining. I just need more than 24 hours in a day. It’s been hard for me to adjust from my winter-time reclusion to a very social spring.
But this past Saturday, I turned down a few invites and stayed home all day in favor of lounging and watching drag race with my best friend over zoom.
I got a haircut from Ria, that curly youtuber I mentioned last month! She gave me bangs and a shag cut. I’m still figuring this whole wavy/curly thing out. Some days it looks amazing, others…not so much. As I write this, my hair is as straight as Ed Sheeran’s music. :/
And I did a little thrifting and switched to a nose ring. Next month I’m getting microblading done as my birthday gift to myself.
My old co-teacher stopped me the other day and asked—Your style is so different now. What changed? I shrugged. I guess my style has changed, but it feels like a slow evolution over a long time. Dunno.
But I do feel like myself more these days. And I like who I am. As I’m about to hit 25, about time, right?
We all know how I get around my birthday (read: I cry a lot and feel existentially weird). Last year’s was weird enough—but then, I was also waffling back and forth over the idea of leaving Korea.
Around this time in 2020, I was nervous about the future. Unsure. I had planned to spend just two years in Korea and even though I was sooo excited for what came next, I still felt like I hadn’t done everything I wanted to yet.
This time around—I don’t feel that way.
Yes, I still have a checklist of things to see, cafes to try, bars to hop—especially as the vaccine edges nearer and nearer (some of my coworkers are getting theirs soon! Korea, hurry please!).
But I feel pretty sure I’ll get all my big goals done in the next five months and even if I don’t…well, as my grandma tells me, you can’t do everything.
…Besides, my favorite pub, Cafe Bidol, closed and was torn down. :( What is there left if we don’t have Bidol?
Other than selling my stuff and writing, I did some art and played some video games—yes, Cyberpunk 2077 again. My friend has also gotten me into Attack on Titan.
This month felt as transitory as spring itself.
I’m impatiently awaiting the warmer months when my friends and I can skateboard and bike and have picnics. Korea in the summer just feels like another world to me. So green, endless, humid as hell…I can’t wait.
Thanks for reading.