Home base

There's not a whole lot to update on at the moment. I've mostly just been in my work routine and haven't been doing anything super exciting lately. But here's a general update anyway!

The last month has been full of ups and downs as far as adapting to my new home goes.  I've had a rough few weeks as far as my language skills go - people have been talking really quickly and I've been unable to spit out the words that I need - and the weather is getting colder, which is really bad for my social life. I can't handle cold very well, so in winter I tend to shut down and not leave my room except for necessary things. I fulfill my obligations, like school or work, but for most of the rest of winter I just hole up in my room and don't go out to do things with people. If I had gotten here a month or two earlier, I would have been able to do a lot more out in the city because I would have been happy with the weather and willing to go out by myself. Now I need the push of an obligation to someone else in order to force me to leave my room.

On the other hand, I've been randomly struck by a desire to go back to London.  My first reaction was that I shouldn't be wanting to leave so soon after getting here, so something must be wrong.  But I've been forcing myself out into the city more despite the cold, and every time I'm reminded of how much I love it here. I thought about it, and I've realized that I want to leave because I've established that Seoul is my home base now.  I have a routine, I have my regular bars/clubs/restaurants/stores, and I'm familiar enough with things that I feel completely comfortable most of the time.  The language barrier keeps me on my toes, but it still feels like I've actually settled in.  And once I feel comfortable, I feel the need to do something that throws me out of my comfort zone a bit.  I don't want to go to London and then go back to the States. I want to go to London and then come back here.  I'm going to say that wanting to travel now is a good thing, because it means that I feel like I have home base set up here.


The minor news:

• Be on the lookout for a post about the Seoul Lantern Festival, which is going on for the next couple of weeks.  I'm not sure when I'm going to head out to see it, though.
• I have almost all of my usual tea-making supplies again (why can I not find a good teapot???) and have been very happy ever since my tea order got here because tea is important.
• I've pretty much completely transitioned to PC gaming, but I'll always miss my xbox to some degree.
• I'm pretty sure I have an addiction to notebooks - I can't resist buying one or two every time I go out to a stationery store. They're just so cute! (and useful)
• The TOPIK is coming up in 2 weeks and I'm nowhere near ready for my brain to be that fried.