Piggy Bank Update

It was back in 2012 that I did a calculation of how long it would take to pay off my student loan debt at the rate I was going. The calculation came back with a punch to the stomach…60 years. It was going to take me 60 years to pay off my $30,000 debt at the rate I was going. 60 years! Would I even be alive for that!? I was working full time with a second job and donating plasma twice a week to survive. SOMETHING had to change. That is what made Korea look soooo great.

Sooooo, 4 years later, where am I with my debt you might ask. Pretty good actually! I came to Korea with a little over $40,000 in debt if you include my credit cards, student loans and my car.

April 19, 2013                                              $39, 641 in debt.

August 25th, 2016                                      $12, 638 in Debt

Debt Paid Off:                                              $27,003

Savings (Pension, Apart, Savings):     + $18,700 (with a few month months I should leave Korea with a little over 21,000 USD)

Basically, I could be out of debt if I decided to pay off the rest of my debt but have pulled back with the idea that I might need that money for some other plans I have in the works. If those all fall through a good chunk of my savings will go to that last 12 grand and then I will be totally freeeeee….sort of.

Some would look at that number and think WOAH! That is so much! Others, might think how do you not have more!? I KNOW I could have easily paid off more if I decided to be a hermit for 4 years and not experience things. I decided that experiences were more important. I also am REALLY bad at saying no to things.

“Want to go to Seoul for the weekend?” SURE!

“Want to sign up for boxing classes!?” SURE!

“Want to go to a music festival and spend all of the money in your bank account!?” Abso-fucking-loutley!

…see the problem?

I also love to travel. In my 4 years here I have gone home to the states twice. Each being a month, unpaid. I also went to Japan, Taiwan (twice), Beijing, The Philippines and all over Korea. I have also been very social. I go out almost every weekend and don’t worry TOO much about money. If I would not have traveled, drank or basically did anything fun for 4 years I would have a lot more money. But…experience is almost always better. SO, I chose experience and am happy I did.

Could I have a lot more money? Fuck Yes. Do I regret any of my trips or experiences in the last 4 years. Fuck no.

I personally think that $27,000 in debt in 4 years was pretty damn good considering all the travel and fun. However, on the flip side of all the fun, I did work hard to pay off that money. I worked a lot. Sometimes too much. I have worked almost every Saturday for the past 2.5 years. I have worked added morning jobs and late night tutoring sessions. I did make sacrifices to pay off those bills but I don’t think I will ever get paid $25 an hour to sing the ABCs and dance to “How’s The Weather” so I might as well take advantage of it while I am here!

60 years turned to 4 years. I could still be living in Arizona, donating plasma twice a month trying to get by…but thankfully I decided against that and made the jump to do something else.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long Time. No Blog.

Uhhh…Hi. How ya been?

I feel like I am meeting up with a friend for the first time after a big fight and not speaking for 3 years. THREE YEARS! How has it been three years since I touched this blog!? I am so sorry. I maybe had 2 viewers outside of my mom but seriously…to you two, I am sorry. By September 2013 I guess I was blogged out. I legit just dropped the blog and walked away…for three years.

I could make tons of excuses but I guess after blogging for 3 years, I needed a 3 year break. I was also finding that my life in Korea was becoming common and mundane. There was nothing excited to blog about when all I did was work and socialize. Then I kinda just forgot about it.

Anyone want to guess where I am typing this three years later…….

drum roll please…..

Korea! Haha, nothing has changed in three years. Well, actually, everything has changed except my job type and location. I am still teaching English, I am still living in Busan, South Korea and I am still enjoying life. However, I have changed. I have changed drastically from the girl woman who started this blog in 2011. I had just graduated from university in 2011 and starting this big girl life. Fast forward to 2013 when I moved to Korea and then go forward another 3 MORE years and here we are.

August 22, 2016. Hi. How you doing? (Said like Chandler). Me? I am doing great horrible okay fabulous. Ok, so maybe I don’t know how I am doing. Maybe that is why I wanted to start blogging again. To remember this next chapter of my life. I am sitting here with 4 months until my 30th birthday and 4 months until I leave Korea forever. I know, everyone is shocked with that news. How could I be turning 30 AND leaving Korea in the same month? I am trying to see how many life changes I can make in the shortest amount of time without crumbling into a ball of anxiety. Who am I kidding? Anxiety attacks are part of the weekly schedule. They usually fit in right between dinner and Spanish class…or anytime I am alone…or awake…or breathing. If you want to find me I will be in the dark corner in the fetal position waiting for 30 to hit me.

Ok, maybe it isn’t THAT bad. But, yes, I am scared. I am scared shitless of leaving this place. Less scared about turning 30. I am already 31 in Korean age…sooo.. that ship has sailed. But leaving Busan and Korea are causing a bit of a spaz attack. This is home now. I have my friends, my neighborhood, my coffee shops. I have my spot on the beach, bar owners know my name (should I admit that?), I know the subways, I know the buses and I know how to recycle the trash(a big deal here). I know where everything is at the Costco and Homeplus. I have a great loft apartment. I have a hamster who I adore. I have no trouble finding a job that pays the bills..wait…shit…why am I leaving….

Because I have to. I have to move on before this place sucks another 5 years from me. I want to TRY to do something else. I want to add to my resume. I want to travel. I want to spend time with my family. I want to not work every Saturday. I want to understand the cashier when she asks me if I need a bag (that is totally my lazy ass just not learning Korean). I don’t want to be stared at on the subway anymore. I want to blend in. I want to go to the doctor and not have 40 year old women giggle when I use the small amount of Korean I know to tell her what is wrong. And the thing I want the most, I want to be unemployed.

So that is the plan. Unemployment. Sweet, sweet unemployment. Most people are afraid of not working. Me? Well, ok, maybe I am afraid. I have had a job or usually multiple jobs since I was 15. Even in England I had a catering job. In college, at one point, I had four jobs at the same time. I like to work. I’m kind of obsessed with it. How many jobs can I have at one time? I have mornings off? I can fit another job in. These are my thoughts. In my 4 years of Korea, I have chosen to work on Saturdays for extra money. I have chosen to work 12 hour days because I like the money. I like money. But I have been saving now for 4 years. I have paid off a large chunk of debt and have a decent nest egg. Let the unemployment begin!

My grand plan is to leave in late December/early January and to travel. I will be doing South East Asia for an unspecified amount of time. Either, until I am tired of travel or my funds run out. Whichever happens first.

It also just happens to be coincidence that my last day of teaching will be my 30th birthday. What a way to go out! I actually believe highly in signs and listening to the Universe. I have been listening more and more to the universe lately instead of telling it to go shut its mouth. And I find that having my last day of work on my 30th birthday is the universe telling me to “GET THE FUCK OUT WHILE YOU CAN. RUN! BITCH! RUN!” I am sorry for the bad language, my universe has quite a potty mouth on her. But, as much as I love and adore this country…it can suck you in. I am not saying I will never come back. That would be stupid. Of course, Korea is always an option. It will always be my fall back if I find myself homeless, unemployed and out of options. To say I will never come back would be foolish. It feels like I have been in Korea for a week but really it is coming up on 4 years. 4 friggin’ years! It has been 4 amazing years and I will be blogging more in the next few weeks and filling in my fans…readers…my mom (Hi mom!) on what I have been doing for the past 3 years. But for now, I have to run and go teach.

Stay tuned for some blog entries where I will cover fascinating topics such as, what it is like to date in Korea, what I have been doing for the past 3 years, what I have learned in Korea, how much money I made and how I much I paid off and probably some other stories of the comedic shit storms I have been through.

 

 

 

 

The Legit China Town- Beijing

At the beginning of August I had a 4 day weekend and my friends and I decided to hit up Beijing, China with a side trip to the Great Wall of China! I have had the Great wall on my bucket list forever and it usually was up near the number 1 slot.  Even thought the visa for American’s is ridiculously expensive compared to EVERY other country in the world…I coughed up the money and went. And here is what happened!

First Stop- Tiananmen Square

2nd Stop- The Forbidden City

3rd Stop- Pecking Duck!
The famous food of Beijing

Stop 4: Another Temple

Rambo Rachel

A library

Expired food is delicious!

7Eleven and Expired Food

5th Stop- The Night Market
Scorpions on Sticks!

Stop 6- the Great Wall!

We went up in the car instead of hiking up the steps (cheaters!)

We got to take the toboggan down!

Stop 7- The Olympic Park and the Nest

They make homemade yogurt and then sell them in these cups. i didn’t try it but my friends did and they said it was good.

Teaching us how to make tea

A really awesome pond in the middle of Beijing.

Letters home

TempleStay 2013

My friend and I were given the opportunity to do a TempleStay. A TempleStay is the opportunity to go to a Buhdist temple and spend anywhere from a few hours to a few weeks with them. They are very popular here and quite the experience. We only stayed 30 hours there was it was the most jam packed 30 hrs ever.

We rode the subway about an hour to the pick up point. A nice Korean man in a van picked us up with a group of other foreigners. We drove about 10 minutes out of the city area. As we drove up to the temple we saw a HUGE buddah on the top of the building. It was about 3 stories tall and the gold glistening in the sun was hard to miss.

We were greeted with open arms and welcomed to the temple by the staff. There were about 30 foreigners here for this TempleStay. We signed in, paid our 20,000 won and were handed our uniforms for the day. We were asked to bring white shirts and they would supply the very flowy, baggy linen pants.  And oh were they baggy but so comfortable. We were given room keys and made ourselves at home in the (air con!) rooms. We slept on the floor of the rooms with minimal padding and blankets but we all barely slept so it did not matter.

We were asked to meet in an hour for meditation and the opening ceremonies. We shuffled into the temple and sat on pads on the floor. We were introduced to the staff and the “guest monk.” We were told that she is actually from Texas and came to korea to teach but decided to study to become a monk! It was so great to have her talk and to listen to her story. It was also nice to have a native English speaker in the house.  She talked to us for awhile and explained everything. Then she dismissed us to explore the grounds and have an hour of free time.

We came back into the temple to find our dinner sitting on the floor in big bowls and drums. The head monk had us sit in a large circle with our bowls in front of us. He showed us step by step how a traditional monk dinner was. It took us about an hour and half for the entire thing but he went slow. He also kept warning us that we need to eat everything that we put in our bowl….EVERYTHING. So as the food was being served I asked for a little of everything. I am not a seafood fan and the dinner was kimchi, seaweed, sprouts and seaweed soup. Sounds delicious!? It was not. It took everything inside of me to get that food down. I kept looking at my friend next to me and trying not to throw up… I am so dramatic!

After we were done eating we realized WHY the linmonk told us that we have to finish everything….. He explained that they do not waste anything. So they came around and poured hot rice water into our bowls and we then scrubbed each of the 4 bowls clean using rice water and a piece of radish. The radish acted as the sponge. We poured all of the water into one bowl and then had to….drink it. Yep, we drank all of the leftover food from all of the bowls. It was possibly the worst thing I had to do. I felt sick. The monk then asked us if we thought this was gross? DUH!? He explained that it was the same food before. It was still the seaweed soup. Still the kimchi. Now it was just in a different form. It was all mental what we were feeling. It was interesting to do it but I hope to NEVER have to again. Please just give a sponge and some soap.  We had a bit more free time after this and I went and laid on the floor of my room in the aircon getting over the food trauma that just happened. I have yet to eat kimchi since.

We shuffled back into the temple a bit later for our meditation practice. Our token American monk talked to us for awhile about meditation.  us for a long time about meditation, not thinking and removing yourself from all the stimuli that surrounds us on a daily basis. We then meditated for…ever. We literally sat there for an hour. It hurt. It was hard. I am not good at mediating. I am not good at sitting still. I am not good at not talking and I am not good at not thinking. It was hard for me. It was hard for alot of people. She allowed us to stand up if we needed to. She knows how hard it is too! In the middle of the hour we did a walking meditation. Where we basically just walked around the room in silence…not thinking.

By this time it was nearing 10pm and we had a snack of watermelon, corn on the cob(?), and rice ball cake things. We crashed around 10, not before setting our alarms for 3:30am.

3:30am….BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP BEEP….Time to get up and start the day. My friends and I moaned a bunch, stumbled around and thankfully slept in our comfy baggie pants. We walked outside to find it still dark outside and a line of white shirts standing stalk still and waiting. If I would have walked upon this site I may have run for my life. It was kinda freaky. But I joined the line. We did a walking meditation around the grounds and headed into the temple for….the bows. This part is what we were all scared of. 108 bows at 4am. A bow is sort of like a religious burpee. You stand up, then kneel, bring your head to the ground, hands hovering above your ears, palms up, and then you rock forward and pop back up. I am not good at burpees and I am extra not good at religious burpees. But…108 burpees later we were a sweaty, exhausted mess. Then…we meditated again. I didn’t try as hard this time and mostly sat and made a grocery list. I am going to hell for that one.

By this time it was 6am, the sun was up, the birds were chirping and we had already gotten in our work out and meditation in for the day. Assah! We hung around the grounds more. Had breakfast of…you guessed it, seaweed, rice, kimchi and sprouts… NOM NOM..

We then had a very tiresome craft time of making bracelets and then we were off to home by 10:30am.

My first stop? Lotteria for a damn hamburger.

It was quite the experience and I am glad that I did it. Not sure I would do it again but hey…gotta try everything once.

Enjoy the pics!

The girls with the big ol’ buddah!

My Temple Bracelet

Baby Monks!

White Shirt Crew

The bedding for 4 girls

Baggin’ Saggin’ Rachel!

After the “delicious” dinner

Head Monk explaining how to eat correctly.

Getting read to chow down

My bowl.

Whats up Buddah! ?

Buddah’s View

a

See no evil. Speak no evil. Hear no evil.

The hallway to our rooms..very futuristic.

Holi Hai!

On Easter Sunday I went down to the beach to take part in Holi Hai. The history of Holi Hai is as follows:

Holi is an ancient festival of India and was originally known as ‘Holika’. The festivals finds a detailed description in early religious works such as Jaimini’s Purvamimamsa-Sutras and Kathaka-Grhya-Sutras. Historians also believe that Holi was celebrated by all Aryans but more so in the Eastern part of India. 

It is said that Holi existed several centuries before Christ. However, the meaning of the festival is believed to have changed over the years. Earlier it was a special rite performed by married women for the happiness and well-being of their families and the full moon (Raka) was worshiped. (Holifestival.org)

It was a lot like the Color Run that I participated in back in the states except I didn’t have to run a 5k and they were handing out shots of soju. It was fun dancing around and throwing color at eachother. It was 95% foreigners. However, many Koreans did show up to the event. They stood around us in their suits, ties and church clothes taking pictures of the crazy people dancing, drinking and covered in color at 11am.

It was a wonderful event to take part in and I am glad that I dragged my hungover self down to the beach to take part in it.

 

Spring Walking

After a week of being sick and barely leaving my apartment except for work I decided that Saturday i had to get out of the house and experience life again. I found a hike online that would take me from my neighborhood to Songjong Beach. With my headphones in I grabbed my backpack and had an amazing day seeing Busan.

The walk down the mountain

The red tape that I walked through to stay on the trail. All the Korans were doing it so I thought it was safe.

The flowers are blooming. South Korea has amazing cherry blossoms here. They aer all starting to bloom. You will be so sick of cherry blossom photos when I am done with you.

I finally found the beach! It only took 2 hours of walking.

This crazy cool pagoda on the beach

The walkway through the wood from the beach to the pagoda. Notice the exercise equipm

ent!

I think there was some sort of college event happening. These students were from all different Busan Universites and competing in events all along the beach. Was extremely entertaining to watch students wrestling, playing dodge ball and some strange game where you spin around and try to run in a straight line.

It was pretty warm out and I had just hiked 4 miles so I treated myself to a fish shaped ice cream. I prayed that it wasn’t fish flavored. It was actually vanilla ice cream with a chocolate layer and the fix was a chewy wafer. Nom.

This view has to  be one of my favorites in Busan so far.

Geeze. I love this city.