Random Thoughts

I've had lots of random thoughts cross my mind today. I should've written them down as they came to me, but I didn't. So, you're going to get a completely random compilation of thoughts from Korea. Please enjoy. ^^

*The smell of icy hot now makes me think of bug bites before sore muscles (there's a med here for itching that smells like icy hot).
* I enjoy the adventure of not having access to, nor the appropriate Korean vocabulary for reading, a lunch menu. I really do enjoy going down to the cafeteria everyday and just hoping for the best, knowing that exactly what's on my plate might be a mystery to me right up until I put it in my mouth.
*This ^^ looks more like a smiley face to me now than this :)
*I am still processing the fact that, aside from brain blood, the thought of cooking live shrimp in a pan in front of my face, then eating right afterwards was not an issue for me.
*My camera, the one I saved up and spent so much on (along with money from everyone else) is absolutely nothing special here...everyone has really nice cameras. I think they're cheaper here.
* I feel like my phone is more useful for the dictionary within it than to actually communicate with people. That dictionary saves me SO often.
* Coffee...REAL coffee....it makes my heart so happy. I think I started to take advantage of it back home. Here, I appreciate real coffee so much, especially when drinking it halfway up a mountain. ^^
* As much as I love real coffee, I've actually started to embrace Maxim...iced is preferred.
*I have learned so much recently to appreciate my language, and have been challenged to be able to explain things about it that I've never had to explain before. For example....give me words, not motions, to describe fold, dot, dimension, believe, accept, mind, etc. etc.
*I don't understand how in the same moment I can feel so homesick and ache to see the people I love back home, and yet completely fall further in love with a culture that I'm embracing here. I feel like it should be one or the other, you know? Like if I truly like Korea, I'm not allowed to miss home....or like if I truly miss my friends and family, I'm not allowed to really like Korea. It's silly, but that's how I feel.
*I never thought I'd be using myself as an example for the definition of strange...I was explaining to my kids that strange sometimes just means different or not normal to what you're used to. I then went on to talk about how most little kids in Korea stare when they see me on the street. Why? Well, I'm a little strange.
*I had a teacher talk to me yesterday that hasn't spoken more than 10 or 20 English words to me in my 3 months here. All of the sudden, he said "Tori?" "Uh...yeah?" "I want to speak to you often. But my English is problem. I will help you Korean and you can help me English. I want you to come badminton every week [he is my badminton coach] and we will talk. My girlfriend tells me....cheer up!" [cheer up is what they translate one of their phrases to that means something like work hard/you can do it/i'm cheering you on...that kind of thing]. All of this to say, I was baffled. I am pretty sure that he's been rehearsing that speech for a while. I was super excited that I got another teacher in my office to come out of their box a little to talk to me. Next mission: the teacher who sits across from me and hasn't spoken a WORD of English to me....
* Fall is coming, and the weather is getting cooler. I really enjoy being able to walk to school without breaking a sweat. Sometimes, I even drink coffee when I get to school!!!

Ok, the bell is about to ring. During passing period, I am NOT able to concentrate on anything...too much motion! But, I'm sure there will be many more random thoughts to add to the list at some point. I'm hoping to write at least 5 blogs this month. I know, watch out, I'm armed and ready to go! :P