Wibbly Wobbly Timey Wimey

Hello, year two thousand and thirteen! twenty thirteen! 2013! Did you know this is the first time since 1987 all the numbers in the year are different? Weird, right? And what's also weird is the fact that Marybeth and I have had this blog for over a year. Woah. We sort of missed our blog birthday in October. Were we supposed to do some kind of ritualistic ceremony? I sure hope not. We can slaughter a hot dog, or something, when I get back to the states, if you want, Bette. Or we can carry on, and damn the blog gods.

 -Anna-

shirt, skirt: thrifted HERE in KOREA 

(a tough thing to manage. like, really thrifted, not just old shit sold for too much. this ensemble, minus the tights, was 6,000 krw, which is like $6. my kind of stuff.)

tights: (doubled up because it's cold) black, h&m and navy (like you could tell) stolen from Marybeth

"pearl" necklace: thrifted

"pearl" earrings: icing

cat: Korea

Now I'm going to reflect on the year past and year to come because it's half my blog and I want to. So pipe down or get out! .. No, no, stay. It's nice here. Ahem. 2012 was good to me. I wasn't sure there at the start, worrying about getting out here, to Korea, to teach. I was living with my parents (whom I love and loved living with, by the way) after graduating college with a liberal arts degree, wondering what sort of year was in store. It was nerve racking not being sure of your future, as I'm sure any recent graduate (or perhaps some adults) can attest to. Gosh, all this growing up. I did my fair share in 2012, which I'm sure I can and should say ever year, but this year was my first full year out of school, in the real world, getting a job and having a salary and living on my own and not writing last minute essays at 3 in the morning.

I also ended a two year relationship with my first long-term boyfriend. In coming to Korea, the change and distance were finally enough reason for me to end something important, but exhausted. And that new freedom had the added bonus of allowing me to explore and have fun doing things I wouldn't have been able to do had I been in a relationship. Nothing has stuck like Cole since Cole, and quite frankly, I'm okay with that. Long distance relationships are hard, and I don't envy anyone who has to deal with one. I'll be leaving soon after 2013 ends and I don't want to worry about who I'm with and where we'll be going. All I should manage is myself, for now, until I'm in more stable situation. But then again, who am I to argue against the gushy-mushy-good-time feelings and their (sometimes tricky) implications? Ah, let's just see what 2013 has in store.

chris, greg, and me, the daewoo crew (as our apartment building named daewoo), out for new years. we had a fun night at our most frequented restaurant and bar. then we hit up a nori bang (singing room or karaoke) and rang in the new year there. it was my kind of night!

So now, what about 2013? What are my hopes for the upcoming year? I'm not really one for resolutions, because it shouldn't take a new year to make a new you. But I do have life resolutions and goals I'd like to achieve, so I'll state those.

I'd like to continue to be happy, healthy, positive, and hopeful. I have control over all of those things, and I'd like to maintain that. I need to create more. I need to draw more and I need to write more. I need to connect more with the people I love and value. I don't do it enough, and I'll wish I had when I don't have them anymore. Similarly, I will apply the lessons learned from the mistakes I made with past relationships, be in any form, to my future ones, as best I can.

I don't know about this blog though. I won't make any promises about it, but that's okay. It's nice to have here sometimes. I have pictures I'd still like to share, and this can be more personal than facebook. I can say more here, open up more, explain more. So it stays, but in varying degrees.

And to you! Reader! I hope your year is a successful one, however that applies to you. I hope you're happy. I hope you're healthy. I hope you are rewarded. I hope you fail, but just enough so you can learn and grow. I hope you make it to 2014!

Sweetly and sincerely,
Anna

p.s. I've been watching a lot of Doctor Who lately. Like, a lot. Maybe it's rubbing off on me. The skirt is sort of Tardis blue, and the stripes, kind of like the windows? And I have myself a companion? I even have my own galaxy of stars in my room. And, I mean, I am a bit of time traveler since I made it to 2013 before anyone else in the states... Eh? Eh? No? Just me?

Ray of Sunshine

I recently went shopping in a neighborhood of Seoul called Myeongdong. It's a big shopping district and features a four story Forever 21. Woo! I hadn't really had a day of shopping since being here, so it was nice going somewhere familiar. Also, fitting rooms and recognizable sizes helped a lot too. Of course, I went straight for the dresses and picked up four! I wanted to get some dresses that I could wear at school that weren't too revealing on top (tits and spaghetti straps. they love leg here, which I totally appreciate).

Also, once again, I saw some of my students out while I was taking these pictures. Since I live so close to school, I live close to my students, so it's inevitable that I will see them around the neighborhood. A little weird, but whatever.

 -Anna-

dress, tights: Forever21

shoes: ebay

sunglasses: Old Navy

necklace: Etsy

watch: gift

i didn't focus this one right, so it's a little blurry. darn it!

All for now!

Anna

Oh yeah! I went to a dinner meeting with the school faculty on Friday and after we had steamed pork (kind of weird..) we went out for octopus and squid. LIVE octopus and squid (and I thought the steamed meat was iffy...). The tentacles are chopped up, but they continue to wriggle and squirm on the plate for awhile after, especially the octopus (pronounced san-nakji, meaning 'small live octopus'). both were strange a chewy; I'm not one for seafood, ESPECIALLY when it's still moving around in your mouth. But I'm glad I tried it. An interesting experience to say the least!

Big Kid

We're getting a little childish today. Cartoons. Polka-dots. Dinosaurs. Who doesn't love a good romp around outside? I even hopped a fence to get to this location, which was just fun for the sake of climbing shit. I could've walked around to the gateway, but that's not fun... I've always been a big fan of climbing trees, but I don't remember the last time I climbed one.. I was never a very physically active kid. Bette was always better at that, but tree climbing, I liked. There's not much opportunity anymore, I feel. Sure there are tons of trees around, just asking to be climbed, but it's just not as easy to decide out of the blue to climb a tree. Maybe I should designate my next excursion to be a tree climbing one. Go tree climbing hunting. What did you do as a kid that you don't do much anymore?

Korean shopping: I got this "Totoro" sweatshirt at the traditional market near my apartment for 5,000 won, which is the equivalent to, like, $5. Huzzah! Who doesn't love Totoro? Who hasn't seen Totoro?! Because you need to experience Totoro. He's just so cuuuute and funny. He's like my dream man. Er... Anyway, the tights are from a subway station. Yep, subway stations here have a lot of shops including restaurants and convenience stores and clothing stores. I usually just walk by because I'm on my way to meet someone, but I decided I wanted to stop one day and buy these fun polka-dot tights. And they've been so much fun to pair with different things.

 -Anna-

Totoro

sweatshirt:

 Korean Market

 shorts: ebay

 tights: Hapjeong subway station

 shoes: Target (they say Divided?)

 dino earrings: thrifted

Go do something fun this weekend! I'm going to a lantern festival today! Yaaay!

Also, this post is dedicated to our floofy cat, Chippy, who passed away this week. She was our sister for 19 years, most of our lives, and she'll be missed a lot. She went while being outside in the sunshine. We love you, girl. 

 

-Anna-