June + July 2018: Summer is Here

Oh, hello, where did June and July go?

Truthfully, it’s been a weird two months. Besides the normal, “What the hell is going on in America?” stress, I had some difficult moments paired with some really exciting ones, so I guess that kind of neutralized everything. I can tell I fell into a funk because I totally cut off my hair by the end of June, which usually means three things:

  1. I’m feeling stuck and insecure about my looks.
  2. Summer is coming and the thought of dealing with my hair when it’s long sounds excruciating.
  3. I keep seeing images of bloggers or celebrities with super cute short haircuts, and I want in too.

This was all three.

I also had a really bad weekend where I stayed home and ordered an embarrassing amount of Pizza Hut in one go and felt like I’d just hit rock bottom in terms of my health. It’s been followed up with me breaking out my Fitbit again and exercising, so, you know, progress.

Anyhow, enough about my hair and eating habits. Let me see if I can remember what I got up to in June an July!

June

June started off with me having lunch at my friend’s house. She and another woman are two of my students from last year, and we’ve been having fun traveling around on the weekdays! She asked me to come over for lunch one day, and it turned out she made a little of all my favorite foods. I’m used to Koreans asking me what food I like, and I pretty much love all Korean food, so I just named a bunch without even thinking. Imagine my shock that she made everything from Ddeokbeokki (and not too spicy!) to jeon to even omijacha, which is my favorite Korean drink! I could have cried from the food baby.

I followed that up Skyping my two best friends in North Carolina and catching up beside our sporadic group chat (which is mostly me sending them my Buzzfeed quiz results related to my love life and ranting about stupidity in society). I’m so used to keeping up with friends via FB chat or texting that I forget how nice it is to actually talk to people.

Obviously, I saw Oceans 8 on the day it opened in Korea and loved how fun and glamorous it was. I went down to Yeosu, and Stacey and I made a little girl’s day of it. She even forced me to go for a mini-hike afterward so I burned off all the popcorn a little!

I know I went to church two weekends in a row, and I managed to visit Naganeupseong finally when Stacey’s friend came to visit, but otherwise, it’s been a pretty big blur of writing-writing-writing!

July

July was the start of the new quarter, and my final one in Suncheon! I’m not going to lie, I’m pretty excited to finish my contract and visit home again. I have a lot of exciting trips planned, and I’m in a much better place than I was last time leaving Namwon.

The first half of July was pretty uneventful, just some Yeosu hangouts, church, and helping my neighbor with some catsitting while she went up to Seoul one weekend. I did finally go hiking up the mountain behind my apartment, and now I know I need to go again with my camera.

I then took my vacation for the final two weeks! I went up to Seoul for Pride, finally got to visit the Trick Eye Museum, and had a cooking class in Bukchon. Also, I discovered my new favorite jimjilbang near Seoul Station.

After that weekend, I went home and got ready for my trip to Jeju! It was a super relaxing few days staying near Seongsan — swimming at the beach near my pension, visiting Udo, and just relaxing. I read a lot and listened to a ton of audiobooks. You know how behind I was on my reading? I blew through 7 books in July alone!

After Jeju, I basically vegged and did some work back in my apartment. When I got back, the humidity was in full swing, and all I wanted to do was lay under my AC. Which I did for a week until I had work again… *cough*

August is my final month in Korea, and as I write this I have exactly 4 weeks left! I’ve booked my flight home and have been planning, budgeting, and scheduling out the rest of the year.

What I’ve Been Reading

(I wrote about some of these in my book challenge update and the rest I’ll add to the next one! These are affiliate links)

  • [amazon_textlink asin=’1627790527′ text=’A Fighting Chance’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thereshegoesa-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’4200ff01-9913-11e8-9ba9-c9056b6a34ad’]
  • [amazon_textlink asin=’0316322423′ text=’I Am Malala’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thereshegoesa-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’540a9d05-9913-11e8-a9de-3b4df0094e07′]
  • [amazon_textlink asin=’1501139290′ text=’Close Enough to Touch’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thereshegoesa-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’627c1f8b-9913-11e8-88b3-df8d4ab3e619′]
  • [amazon_textlink asin=’0062439596′ text=’The Hating Game’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thereshegoesa-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’69d9f443-9913-11e8-94ab-3b186908c0dc’]
  • [amazon_textlink asin=’1455563927′ text=’Pachinko’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thereshegoesa-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’71d6f09b-9913-11e8-85f8-77d170fba536′]
  • [amazon_textlink asin=’0544980700′ text=’Tango Lessons’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thereshegoesa-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’7b134a2d-9913-11e8-8a25-d9cd120d2d76′]
  • [amazon_textlink asin=’1442426713′ text=’To All the Boys I’ve Loved Before’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thereshegoesa-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’81a7db87-9913-11e8-9864-d5b9e4d46024′]
  • [amazon_textlink asin=’1503933547′ text=’The Light of the Fireflies’ template=’ProductLink’ store=’thereshegoesa-20′ marketplace=’US’ link_id=’899e208c-9913-11e8-9a0c-db65f1b7f991′]

What I’ve Been Watching

You know, now that I think of it, I haven’t really been watching much of anything lately because I’ve been reading or listening to books/podcasts. Mostly it’s been quick Youtube videos. Two shows I can think of are:

  • Love – I liked this but then I was also kind of bored by it. I haven’t finished it, and I started it in June, so that should tell you how enthusiastic I am about the characters haha.
  • Anne with an E – I was super pumped for this to come out last year, and then I just didn’t really love the tone of the show. I don’t remember the books feeling so unnecessarily dramatic and dreary, which is saying a lot because Anne is the most extra character ever. I’m giving it another shot. I like it, but let’s not kid ourselves, it’s barely related to Anne of Green Gables after the first few episodes. I do like how they expand on different character backgrounds, as Gilbert was a dreamboat for me as a teen (RIP Jonathon Crombie <3), and I do enjoy the thought of Marilla and Matthew having a little romance in their younger lives. I’m in Season 2 now, and I do like it. I’ve accepted the show just isn’t going to remotely follow the book trajectory but at least they’re true to the characters’ personalities for the most part. I just hope they continue on throughout the whole series because, gosh dammit, I want a Rilla of Ingleside adaption!

What I’ve Been Listening To

Oddly nothing really new here either! I’ve been catching up on my favorite podcasts — Stuff You Missed in History and the Simple Sophisticate — and I’ve added the following to my Spotify playlist:

  • 11:11 by Taeyeon
  • Stay by Taeyeon
  • Come and Get Your Love by Redbone
  • Over My Skin by Tiffany Young
  • I Like Me Better by Lauv
  • Bloom by Troye Sivan
  • Shivers by Rachel Platten
  • Curious by Hayley Kiyoko
  • Back to You by Selena Gomez
  • Girls ft Cardi B, Bebe Rexha, Charli XCX by Rita Ora
  • I’ll Be There by Jess Glynne
  • 2002 by Anne-Marie
  • Cut to the Feeling by Carly Rae Jepsen

What’s Been on the Blog

And that’s about it! What’s new with you guys?

 

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