The Most Innovative--aka Weirdest--Pick-up line ever

My first full night in Thailand, the gang and I got dressed up and went to downtown Patong in search of some good nightlife. Eventually, we found a bar (which I can't remember the name of) with live rock music...I think it was called Rock'n'roll Bar or something...Anyway, we were all sitting at a table talking and enjoying the live music when this kiwi walks over and plucks out one of my hairs--a hair that was still attached to my head, I might add. My (obvious) response? "OW!! What's wrong with you?! What are you doing?" (but also laughing b/c it was probably the craziest way anyone's ever introduced themselves before) "Well, I liked your hair...and I wanted to meet you..." Ok so really idiotic I realize, but he totally cracked me up...AND he was super attractive AND had a gorgeous New Zealand accent...so I didn't mind so much and spent the rest of our time there talking to and dancing with him...Good times! 

I've got no pictures of the Kiwi (sad), but I did get a few shots from that night, as you can see above...

A short story

Namoon. It's one of my favorite places to wander and people watch in Korea and it's only about 10 minutes walking from my house. This last weekend, a couple of friends and I decided to browse the market, looking at everything from live eel and baby octopus to hats and gloves to whole pig heads...and feet...and ears...and every other pig part. Anyway, that's beside the point...So we were wandering around and decided to stop for some street food...a fried pancake-type thing with brown sugar or cinnamon/sugar or something in the middle, but it also had onions and stuff...sounds weird but really quite good. So we were standing there eating our pancakes--I was making a mess of it, I might add--the brown sugar stuff was dripping all down my front...Anyway, then a camera man from OBS channel 13 came up to us and just started videotaping. Then he left. Then he came back with another guy and filmed each of us eating our pancakes individually. Then one of the guys had me say it was delicious in Korean to the camera...(Sounded like "Hot dog moshi-soyo" but I know that's not how you spell any of what I said...haha) Anyway I was amused so I thought I'd write about it! :D Sorry I don't have any pictures; I didn't bring my camera along that day...silly me. What was I thinking?

The Quarter-Life Crisis

The quarter life crisis is an all-too-common malady that plagues so many 20-somethings. It's that (oh so frustrating) stage between college and real life where you're trying to figure out what the heck you're supposed to do next. It's the time when all of your friends have spread out across the region, the state, the country, the world, even...

It's the time when half of them have gotten married and a quarter of them have had or are having babies...and your own love life has hit a dead end without a prospect on the horizon. You get stuck in relationships because they're comfortable--even if you know they're going nowhere...or you just date all the wrong guys (or girls) because the right one is taking too long to show up and sweep you off your feet...or you simply decide to stop dating because you just get so fed up with the pettiness of it all. And the relationship stuff isn't the toughest part.

The worst of it is figuring out what to do with your LIFE--that little thing called work. It's that stage where you get stuck working at a job you don't want to do so you can pay bills you don't want to pay. And you have those dreadful nagging thoughts that constantly plague your mind: "What am I supposed to do with my life? I know it's not what I'm doing now, but I can't quit 'cause I gotta pay my bills...But it doesn't matter anyway because I have no idea what I want to do in the first place! Aaaaaugggh..." Yes, these are the rantings that once occupied my mind. But the rantings finally stopped! They began to decrease when I left the world of sales and were completely silenced when I got to Korea. I never realized how fulfilling teaching could be! A big part of me wishes I would have done this straight after graduation, but then another part of me says the timing would have been wrong. 

Life really just kind of sucked between the time I graduated and the time I left Wells Fargo, so three years ago I probably wouldn't have appreciated it as much, nor would I have had some of the life experience (like living alone) that I brought with me to Korea. Everything works together...At any rate, I am in such a good place now and am so thankful to God for it. 

All this to say, for those of you facing your quarter-life crises, I'm sorry. I know it sucks. But hang in there; there is a light at the end of the tunnel. You will figure it out, and in the end, somehow, all the crap you're dealing with right now is not going to seem like such a big deal in the grand scheme of things. In fact, you'll probably be thankful for the journey; as tough as it was! I know it's cliche, but "What doesn't kill you can only make you stronger."