Change of Plans

Originally, for Christmas, I was going up to the Pyeonghon region (I could look it up, but it really can be a bitch to get the wifi to move along like a good little doggy at school). My friend Jennifer was wrangling people together, where we’d stay near a big park & ski resort, and all eat dinner at Jennifer and her father’s (I guess) rather large room there (God knows it was expensive!). And I wondered about doing the reliability of booking.com’s distance markers, and did my best to double check it, but Jennifer just found out today that a few of us, me included, were lied to by booking.com about how close we were to her. So we’d have to scrounge up taxis or see if there was a shuttle bus available to the park where she’s staying.

November was a very expensive month for me, what with those extra expenses that I THOUGHT I’d budgeted for but clearly hadn’t. Already, I’m hopefully seeing a new dermatologist on Friday, and the 2 nights in Pyeongchon was going to be another 168,000 won. Not to mention the 80,000 I’m sending tomorrow night to the girl who sold me her oven (which I spent a few hours on Saturday getting it as clean as I could, leaving me wondering if millennials know how to clean). And while nothing is definitive for my birthday, it being my 40^th, the one thing I was thinking of was going to a really nice hotel for the weekend, maybe having friends visit and drink and eat chocolate and nonsense there, and/or go to one of the premiere cocktail bars in Seoul. Oh, and I TOTALLY NEED a shelf on which to put the oven so I’m no longer baking on my floor. Which means, oh you know, money. Not to mention the money I need to ship off every month to pay my bills back home. So, financially, cancelling the trip was kind of a relief. The other thing is, I just don’t mind being alone for any extended period of time, even at Christmas, mainly because Christmas is nice, but it’s not the holiday I care about the most. I spent Christmas at home one year and made a big paleo feast. What with my sweet oven that I’ll be using every day this week, my slow cooker, and saving money on the hotel and expense of getting to, from, and around Pyeongchon, I’m totally fine with staying home.

So there we are with that. Aaron got a promotion in Army (nod to Buster in Arrested Development), so he’s moving to the bigger and nicer officer’s quarters. Or something. Maybe it isn’t officer’s quarters since he was already a staff sergeant, but he’s really excited because it’s twice the size of his old place and has a kitchen. I’m thinking it may also include his own private bathroom (instead of the one he shared with his neighbor. Thank God they were both good at keeping it clean). He was moving this weekend, so I’m going to see it on Saturday.

Lastly, I am actually enjoying the Sunday English lesson, even though it does mean getting up early on Sunday and making impossible my attending anything else in the afternoon, including the jimjilbang outing I was SOO looking forward to. And God knows were they LIFESAVERS during my month-of-running-out-of-money-super-fast. My sister needlessly reminded me that they’re open 24 hours. I haven’t gone to one yet because:

1. Going on the weekends would, I think, mean they’d be super crowded;
2. I’m not getting up early during the week to relax so that I don’t want to go to work, and I can’t go after work because that’s when I eat and workout;
3. I’ve heard enough stories of expats not being let in because we’re foreigners. There are clubs who won’t let foreigners in, and there are jimjilbangs where you have problems too. Not that many, from what I’ve seen, but it has happened. I could tolerate it more with company, particularly if someone with me speaks Korean (plus we were going to a nice one in Seoul with an English page, so it seemed like a safer bet).

Ohhh, I could totally go the week of my vacation!

See that? That 168,000 won I’m not spending on the hotel was already spent a while ago. Though jimjilbangs are pretty cheap, so at least there’s that.

Anyway, we’ve been having our English lesson at the apartment of one woman, who made kimchi jjigae (stew) for me because I love it. We discussed my rosacea quite a bit for some reason, and next week, she’s going to make kimchi pancakes but with rice flour instead of wheat.

Ohhh, and yeah, speaking of, I was off my diet last week because I couldn’t afford to buy food to make for lunch. And the antibiotic I was using for the rosacea stopped working a good 2-3 weeks ago. That dermatologist wouldn’t prescribe anything else. And my skin is an absolute mess. So, I’m trying everything on the natural sites I can til hopefully better options on Friday: meditating to alleviate stress; consuming turmeric and ginger; doing the oil cleansing method so my skin won’t get so dry; and backing off wheat, dairy, and what the hell eggs for this week too. Plus I’ll just do some yoga instead of my usual HIIT workouts, because exercise can be another aggravator, believe it or not. I’ve always known that, but it’s my workout, so I’ve just ignored it. It’s fine, I was probably due a recovery week of sorts anyway.

In January we start the winter intensive where we all get to come in Monday, Wednesday, and Fridays for almost all of January at 10 instead of 1:30. I’ll, of course, be doing the little kids for 2 hours. Not enough kids signed up in July, but I’m pretty sure I won’t escape this time either. Which sucks, EXCEPT for that whole getting-paid-extra part. That I wouldn’t mind at all. For this reason, Sandra said this coming Sunday is our last class. That didn’t last long at all! The other reason it’s ending is because Sandra’s leaving the school at the end of January, and she’s not sure if Sue would be ok with our classes when Sandra no longer works here. Honestly, I’m thinking maybe I’ll suggest we can still meet, and just do an English lesson lunch, because I really do enjoy the ladies.