Simply Having a Wonderful Christmastime

Hey y’all! I have made it a month in this new country that I am calling home for a little bit! Thank you to everyone who is coming back every week to my blog to read my new posts! It makes me so happy reading everyone’s comments and simply just knowing that y’all are interested in what life is going like for me and Buddy over here in South Korea. It definitely isn’t West Tennessee, but being able to share about my experiences on here with y’all sure does help make this feel more and more like home.

The main thing that I am having to get used to over here is the air quality. Going outside in West Tennessee I never had to worry about the air that I was breathing in or what was making the potent smell.. unless there was a dead skunk somewhere in the area. Here though, you are supposed to check the air quality before you go outside. If the air quality is high, then it is recommended to limit your time outside or to wear a mask if you have to be outside for a prolonged time. When I took the little pupper out to potty on last Monday and Tuesday, it literally hurt to breathe and had me coughing for a few days. I was only outside for maybe 10 minutes that morning and then that afternoon. It is usually better in the evening. I usually decide how the air quality is by being able to see buildings that are behind our apartment. There is a giant Samsung factory quite a few miles behind where we live, some days I can see it plain as day, some days I can’t see it at all. That is how much smog is in this area. There are also mountains all around Pyeongtaek and can be seen all around Camp Humphreys, but I didn’t know that probably until after a week I had been here because you just couldn’t see them. So still definitely getting used to the air quality difference here.

On Wednesday night, I needed to get out of the house for a little bit. Not having a job nor a car at that point, I am going crazy just being in the apartment all day. I do go for walks, alone and with the pupper, but I am not used to not doing anything, and I am not a fan. Buddy also wanted to go find a chiropractor in the Ville to make an appointment, so we set out to go find it. It took a while to even find the right building, we had to go down two alleyways. But sure enough, we found the building and honestly I don’t know how we missed it because it is a HUGE building. Once we got inside from the insanely cold and frigid wind, we found a sign next to the elevator that said the office was on the tenth floor. Cool we thought, we know exactly where to go. Not cool. The elevator only went up to the third floor, and there was not a different elevator on the third floor to go up any higher. We spent about thirty minutes exploring the entirety of the first, second, and third floors. This is when the language barrier becomes exactly what it is, a barrier. No one could understand what we were trying to ask or even knew what we were trying to find. Buddy even acted out what a chiropractor does (pressed his hands together and pushed down on the air) and no one still understood. So we left feeling pretty down about that, turns out there was a separate elevator on the other side of the building. After that though, we ended up going to a sushi restaurant. We were the only ones in there, but it was okay because they had Christmas decorations and Christmas music playing!!! Plus, the sushi was pretty good.

On Thursday night after dinner, both Buddy and I were wanting some coffee. So we waited until it was time to take the little pupper out to potty, and we ventured next door to the Light Cafe for some coffee. Our favorite barista didn’t even mind us bringing Toni inside as long as we held her! I hadn’t been in a few days, and while I had been gone, they had put up their Christmas decorations! Walking into a place over here whether it be a store, a restaurant, or a cafe, it instantly makes me happier if they are decorated for Christmas and even happier if Christmas music is playing. I appreciate these places for their festiveness.

Friday was definitely the longest day of the week. Buddy got up and went to work that morning, and then I walked down to Camp Humphreys and met him at the food court in the PX for lunch. WE WERE GETTING A CAR THAT DAY!!!! After lunch, Buddy left work so we could meet the soldier who was PCSing, hence selling his car. This is the same car I referenced in last week’s post. It is a long and multi step process in buying a car and getting it registered to come on base in a foreign country. Thankfully, we were able to bypass much of the process because the car was already registered on base, we just had to have the registration and title transferred into Buddy’s name. Still, the process which should’ve just taken about an hour, turned into 3 1/2 hours! It was more mentally exhausting than anything. But, at the end of the day, we are now the owners of a Hyundai Santa Fe!!! Which means that I am able to go to the grocery store while Buddy is at work now (like I did today), and I can finally explore the little area we’re living in. I am no longer stuck in the apartment!

Saturday night we went out to Braai Republic again for dinner.. I know.. fourth time in a month.. and it wasn’t even planned! As soon as Buddy got home from work that evening, we both planned on staying in and even put our pajamas on because we were planning on date day to be the next day! But then Buddy’s best friend said he was craving ribs, which made Buddy crave ribs, so then we ultimately changed clothes and went out! Because there’s only one place to go when they are both craving ribs. Although I do not get ribs, I get their peri peri chicken, and it is so good!!! Plus it’s always a nice atmosphere and everyone who works there is so nice. It was so amazing to finally be able to drive down to the Ville for dinner and not have to walk thirty minutes in the cold and harsh wind. Plus it was only right that we went to Braai on Saturday, as it was officially a month since I arrived and Braai was my very first Korean meal (although it is technically South African).

Sunday was still date day though and Buddy took me to a new restaurant, and it was an Italian restaurant! I have not had anything that was cheesy or creamy since we arrived, and they had the best cream spaghetti I almost cried at how good it was. Plus, they also had their Christmas decorations out and Christmas music playing. It is the same Christmas music you would expect to hear anywhere in America, it’s always in English which is not something I expected over here but that I greatly love. We both decided we would definitely be going back to the Big Bite, plus it’s only about five minutes from the apartment!

I also want to say that I am super thankful to have Buddy as my husband. He is the one over here working hard to provide for us, but he realizes how hard it is for me to be over here too. It’s hard for both of us to be away from our families. This past week was not my best week and there were a couple of days where tears were shed. Yet, he still treats me to coffee dates and surprises me with going to an Italian restaurant because he knows they have something that I will love. Plus, he bought me a car for Christmas!!! I truly do not deserve him, but I am so thankful that I get to call him mine.

Sadly, this was our last full week with our little pupper, Toni. This upcoming Thursday, she is flying back to the United States. Buddy and I have really taken a liking to her, and it is going to be difficult to say goodbye to her. We have loved fostering her for the past couple of weeks, but we are also excited to be able to go do more exploring and knowing we don’t have a sad lonely pupper waiting for us to come back home. She whines and cries the entire time neither of us are in the apartment. It literally breaks my heart if I have to leave her alone for too long. We’ve still had a few potty accidents, but she is just too cute to be mad at for too long. We only hope that her family in the states will love her just as much as we do. I am going to miss my morning nap friend dearly, she always curls up into my side. She has been such a good puppy to us!

As I am typing this (Monday night at 10:30pm, I always post my blogs on Tuesday around 6:00am.. we are fifteen hours ahead for those that do not know), Buddy’s sister is in labor!!! So hopefully by the time I post this in the morning, our little niece will have been born! We hate not being there for the birth, but we are getting updates from the family. So on next week’s post, I should have an update about our little Everleigh Ann!!!

Again, thank you to everyone for reading my posts and coming back week after week!