In the city

It's that special time of year again. The one where I actually write in here. You know what, though? I dunk on myself a lot for how little I update this blog, but in fairness I've been keeping it going for over three years now. But you know what also? That's not much of an accomplishment considering I only write about four times a year. So let's call it a draw on how much credit I should receive.

I'm actually at work as I write this. I "teach" an hour long class from 7 to 8pm every Friday, but I'm basically just watching over some students as they do their homework. My only function here is to answer questions whenever I'm asked, so by writing in here it at least seems like I'm doing something productive. At least I'm not watching Star Trek. I wish I was watching Star Trek. 

(UPDATE: It is now almost 8pm and I've been asked exactly one question one time. I crushed it though. Go me.)

December is upon us and the weather has been inconsistent at best. It dropped to -5 degrees for about a week and now it's up to around 10. Some are projecting that this could be one of the coldest winters on record for Korea and I'm impatient for those days to arrive. This is the only season in which I'm more comfortable than everyone else and it sure is taking its sweet damn time to get here. I just wanna laugh at all the cold people, is that so much to ask? I have next Tuesday and Wednesday off from work for Christmas, and Chloe and I are gonna spend some of that time moving her out of her apartment. She'll be staying at our place for the most part and spending some time out with her family. We're going out for dinner on the 23rd; our friends booked us at a restaurant in Namsan Tower as a wedding present. I'm pretty excited for that. Gonna definitely try to not steal all her food. No promises though.

Living in Seoul has been pretty great so far. I've been trying to stop and look around more and just enjoy where I am. Living in the moment, you know? I feel like after living here for so long, I've stopped appreciating some of the little things that I love about Korea. Stuff like this: most of the larger grocery stores have a section with specifically proportioned vegetables depending on the dish you plan on cooking. Making some 부대찌개? Well put that recipe book down, idiot, we got you covered.

For everyone who enjoys cooking but is otherwise too lazy or dumb to get the ingredients themselves

Biking to work helped me appreciate this area a lot more. I've never really had to commute in this country before as I was always within walking distance of work. I'm really glad I stopped taking the subway so much and started using the public bikes instead. On my route, I cross a bridge which spans a fairly wide river that separates the wealthier Mokdong area from the, shall we say, ramshackle neighborhood I live in. On more than one occasion I've just stopped and looked for a while before continuing on. The view is quite something.

By day

By night

I've gotten better at noticing little things. It's tough though, because the things I'm trying to appreciate are, by their nature, the sort of things I stopped noticing a long time ago. So I have to constantly ask myself, "Shouldn't you take a photo of this? Isn't this cool? Do you want to remember this thing? Should you maybe stop talking to yourself in public because people are starting to stare?" Some stuff just jumps out at me and I suddenly realize I want to photograph it. Like this sign outside a kimbap restaurant, where they were still steaming dumplings at four in the morning:

Or this crowded underground shopping area:

Or this random side-street, one of probably hundreds throughout the city:

I'm not even sure why these things or why I wanted to remember them. I'm gonna keep adding to this throughout the year though, and just try to take pictures of the sort of things you wouldn't normally photograph. Korea has been such a joy to live in so far, and I think more than anything it's the everyday noise that's responsible.


Today's title: