It’s occurred to me while I’ve been in Korea that being free of expectations heightens my experiences. When I least expect anything, anything at all, the most amazing things seem to happen.

This weekend holds pretty true to my previous statement. On Friday, my friend, Daria, set me up on a blind date. I didn’t expect much, but to my surprise, I had a lot of fun. She doesn’t speak much English, but we’re becoming good friends. My date on the other hand spoke well, but of course it was awkward at first as most blind dates are. After drinking a few bottles of soju (the Korean version of watered down vodka… at least that’s my take on it), the night went smoothly. Daria stayed with us for dinner, which was nice to ease the tension. We had a Japanese sushi type meal, but there was so much foreign seafood I didn’t even know what to do, so Daria acted like a little mom and showed me how to eat all these different shells and fish foods. She left around ten and blind date and I went to Wa bar near my house and kept the conversation going for another few hours. It was a nice time. He’s not quite my type, but he was genuinely kind and very mature. I’m not sure if anything will come of this and I’m not expecting it to. I’ve learned to expect nothing from most men. I’m a little jaded by them.

Saturday was another amazing day I did not expect. I hadn’t even planned to go to Seoul, but last minute I decided it was a good idea, so I took off with Josh and Jenny. Unfortunately, we are complete idiots and jumped on the train going south rather than north and we had to backtrack and lose half an hour. Luckily, we were able to catch a train north within 2 minutes. It was a miracle. We walked around this market area, Dongdaemun, where we found a bunch of cheap crap we probably didn’t need. After shopping a bit, Josh told me he thought he saw Hannah and Stephen, and to my surprise there they were just a few feet from us. I knew they were in Seoul and we had plans to meet up for dinner, but I never thought I’d bump into them so casually on the street. They informed us of this lantern festival along the Cheonggyecheon stream so we tagged along. It was absolutely amazing and beautiful with the lanterns glowing against the dark night. And the night wasn’t too cold. The G20 Summit is taking place in Seoul currently, so there is a bit of international attention in the big city. This was one of the attractions for the event. After finishing our stroll along the stream, it was exactly the time we planned to meet for dinner anyways, so together we headed to On the Border to meet Reuven and Ben for a real deal Mexican meal. It was the best margarita, chips and salsa and enchiladas I could’ve asked for in Korea. Pure bliss. Every time I’m in Seoul, Mexican is always a special treat. I planned on going back to Cheonan that night, but Jenny and Josh told me to just stay on their motel floor and leave later, so I took them up on their offer. We went to a makali (rice wine) bar and then noribang (karaoke room). I was exhausted and actually passed out in the noribang with everyone belting ridiculous songs. This morning we had a delicious Irish brunch, did a little exploring and headed home. It couldn’t have been a better and easier little weekend escape. Sometimes things just work in mysterious ways, especially when I’m least expecting it.