Awkward Duck has Moved

Awkward Duck has moved to Wordpress
https://thatawkwardduck.wordpress.com/

A Serious Blogpost Interspersed with Sad Ducks

        Life in Korea has its ups and downs, and while I try to focus on the ups and laugh at the downs, life isn’t always as fun and happy as my Facebook statuses might make it seem. Of course, I hope we all know that’s true about everyone on Facebook already. I’m not saying my life isn’t really great and a lot of fun, but sometimes things just get hard.

        My first year in Korea included a lot of hard times that I didn’t write about. The first few months here were a whirlwind of making new friends and trying new things until January, when I went home for a month. I was so busy during my first few months here that I didn’t really experience culture shock, and had relatively little time to be homesick. But when I came back to Korea after my visit home, things changed. Mistakes I had made in the first few giddy months here came back to haunt me, and I lost my closest friendship.

At my lowest point, I did nothing at all for two days- I went to work and sat at my desk and then went home and slept. I didn’t even eat.

I’m able to look on the bright side now, and see that although it was a really difficult time, it was also a very important growing experience. I realized I had come to rely far too much on one person, and that I had other friends who were there for me. Close friends. Friends who show up at your door with a quart of ice cream when you need them, and get angry because someone made you cry. It also opened a place in my life for new friends who have turned out to be so very important to me as well. 

So although I have wonderful adventures in Korea like when I buy too much pizza, or get lost on the train and somehow end up in the town where I will eventually live, and accidentally go on dates or get stuck in revolving doors, I also have lot of tough times. I’m so grateful for the friendships that have pulled me through those times- the messages of encouragement that came at just the right time, the assurances from my family and friends back home that they are praying for me, and the unexpected happiness in realizing that so many many people care so much about me.

Thanks, everyone.

The Russian Fish Master

I'm back from vacation at last and newly determined to write and post more, and I shall begin with the adventures from my journey home.
I arrived in Seoul late on Tuesday night and spent the night in my favorite hostel before beginning the next leg of my journey- a long trek through the subway and bus system to Donghae. I managed to navigate the subway without losing any of my luggage and got everything safely onto my bus. When I arrived in Donghae, however, I made the huge mistake of not double checking under my seat to be sure I had everything.
I somehow manage to leave behind the most vital thing possible. I didn't even notice until I was heading towards the taxi stand and reached for my wallet only to discover my purse was not on my shoulder. I ran after the bus waving my arms frantically, but it was already pulling out of the parking lot. I went inside where several helpful Korean bus station workers gather around me to determine the cause of my distress and assured me the bus would be intercepted in Samcheok and my bag would be retrieved and put on another bus back to Donghae.
I sat down to wait, looking, no doubt, very exhausted and forlorn. Since my wallet was in my purse, I couldn't even get a coffee to drink while I was waiting.
Luckily for me, some entertainment for the wait came along in the form of group of Russian fisherman. One of them sat down next to me and began speaking to me in Russian. When I stared at him blankly, he realized his mistake and asked where I was from and we began chatting. His English was a little difficult to understand, but we could mostly understand each other. His name, he said, was Sasha, and he was the fish master on his ship. He pointed out his friend and told me what job each one had on the ship, and then began talking about the places they've gone fishing, including Indonesia and New Zealand. While talking about New Zealand, he said, "I spend six months in New Zealand. The English language, it is no problem! I spend one year in Korea, but Korea language it is big problem!"
After this, he announced suddenly "I go drink, smoke now. I am Russian man!" and wandered off the to the convenience store with his friends to buy some soju.
After his drink, he returned with an ice cream for me and we chatted some more, he mostly reminiscing about his time in New Zealand and complaining about the price of alcohol there. Then he continued on a slightly different topic: "And the, women, yes? In New Zealand, great women, but so expensive. You could make a lot of money in New Zealand!"
Thankfully just then the bus from Samcheok arrived with my bag and I made my excuses and headed home.