seoulful serendipity: Another Productive Day...

The last couple of days have been a nice mix of lazy and productive all at the same time. I'm on the third book of my trip here. I've completed a couple more lessons on my TEFL class, I've cooked some pretty sweet food, though some not on purpose, I've skyped with friends from home and sort of went hiking today (more on that later). All in all, this week has been great, and the best part is that it's only half way over!

I'm sorry it took me so long to post this picture...

My building

This is the building that houses my apartment. I enter under the white sign on the far left side, and climb up to the fourth floor to reach my apartment. Under my apartment, you can see the Ministop (yellow/blue/red awning) which is a 24-hour mart. The next little shop in the same building is my favorite place to buy gimbap and is a popular hangout for the girls after school. Above the Ministop is a place that offers music lessons, and above that is a hapkido dojo. You might notice that the sidewalk is all torn up in front. I don't know what happened, but when I walked down today, it was a HUGE mess and the entry way to my building was covered in mud. Weird.

In the last couple of days, I have been rejuvenated. Not only am I catching up on sleep and enjoying my time off, thus being physically rejuvenated, but I also feel like my spirit has been rejuvenated. I have discovered several little things about my life here that have recharged my batteries. It's not like my batteries were dead in the first place, but a few serendipitous (!) discoveries and simple pleasures came my way, and I'm not turning them away.

1.) Cleaning has become a point of interest. I vacuumed my apartment and immediately felt clean despite profusely sweating because of the humidity in the air. I scrubbed my toilet and was quite pleased with myself. I even windexed my coffee table just like I do at home at Mom's request. I also rearranged my kitchen a little and it feels much more mine now.

B.) I did a little bit (very little...) of decorating. I replaced the dank picture above my green couch with a collage of photos and cards. I should have brought more pictures with me, but I worked with what I had... While it seems like such a small task to hang pictures on my wall, the presence of these pictures has made my apartment feel so much more like home and less like somewhere I just happen to sleep at night. It's weird how the smallest personal touch can make all the difference. Check out my handy work:

3.) Having food in my fridge makes cooking more of an adventure. Today, I accidentally made sweet potato and garlic rice porridge in my rice cooker. Nice. I've also made several different experimental versions of gimbap!

4.) I started a new shampoo bar today as well. Peppermint and rosemary. YUM. I forgot how refreshing it can be to shave your legs too. I keep rubbing my nice smooth legs together.

E.) I hate doing things by myself. Yes, I enjoy alone time, but when it comes to going somewhere or doing something, I am almost scarred to do it alone. Well, all of that had to change with my decision to move to a foreign country by myself. I am slowly learning to enjoy exploring and having adventures by myself. I have found one exception. Hiking. Today, I went for a hike and didn't even finish going to the top because I wasn't enjoying it. I think, for me, hiking will always be most enjoyable when done with others. Nonetheless, here are some photos I snapped during my (aborted) journey: