The Most Wonderful Time of the Year

The past few weeks in Korea have been simultaneously busy and restful, if that is possible. Work-wise things have slowed down as we finished the fall session so I haven't had any stress on that front. However, it is the holiday season and I've had plenty of things to celebrate in my first Christmas season away from home.

To start, I ended up having an amazing birthday weekend thanks to my friends in Korea. A good friend of mine who lives in Seoul came down Thursday night for dinner and trivia, and brought me some delicious cookies and tea! My coworkers surprised me with cake and sparklers at lunch and then Britny and I had people over for an End of the World party, where I got some truly thoughtful presents. It was so nice to spend the day amongst friends and it definitely made me feel less alone and more settled heading into Christmas.

I spent Christmas day in Seoul as the guest at my friend's work potluck gathering. I had such an great time and about half of the people there were from Virginia so I was able to play the "what-friends-do-we-have-in-common" game. Its funny how small the world can be sometimes! Anywho, I ate yummy food, stole some presents during White Elephant, and had a blast playing Catchphrase. I headed back down to Anyang for the evening so I could prepare my first solo Christmas strata and skype into Christmas morning back home. My parents connected me to the TV so I could see everyone and it was almost as good as being home. I'm a little surprised at how easy it was to be away from family during the holidays, although I have to give a lot of credit to technology for making communication so easy.

It may be the season, but I have been very contemplative the last few weeks. I have been examining my  friendships and figuring out why the people in my life are so important to me (many of you will be getting letters about this in the near future). Since I have been in Korea, I have found myself questioning many of my beliefs about life and what I want out of it. It is slightly terrifying because I consider these beliefs to be central to who I am, and without them, I feel less sure of myself. I feel like I am in limbo; behind me are the things I thought I wanted, in front of me are the things I actually want, but I am in the middle and can't see either very clearly. I'm trying to embrace the confusion and stop over thinking and just enjoy whatever life chooses to bring me.

Hopefully, my vacation will give me some time to sort things out! That's right, tomorrow I leave the snowy, 13ºF that is Seoul for sunny 82ºF Palawan! I have never taken a trip with less planing, and my only real goal is to swim and hike and read. My satisfaction threshold is really low, so something would have to go outrageously wrong for me to be disappointed on this trip!

xo Julie