Thanksgiving weekend in Korea was more than I could have asked for.

It started on Friday morning with a hillarious and overwhelming Thankgiving skype call with my whole family... grandma, aunt, uncle, baby cousin and even a few neighbors. It was a knee-slapping good time.. literally. It was so nice to see everyone. Oddly enough it didn't make me homesick or terribly nosalgic...just very happy. It was a perfect start to the day, especially because it was the start of a workday. Meanwhile, my friend Joe, who is stationed in an airforce base in Gunsan just south of Cheonan was chilling in my apartment and exploring/getting lost in my neighborhood. I met Joe once a few years ago through our mutual friends, Grace and Alec, when they visited VT. We tossed around a football for 20 minutes but let's be real, I was just gossiping to Grace the whole time. Despite our very meager aquaintance, we hit it off exceptionally well from the moment I picked him up from the train station. All of my coworkers and a few Korean friends (Daria and Judy) went to Boom Bar that night, and I introduced Joe to everyone. The Koreans especially loved him because he was a "fresh face" in our little SLP school crowd.

Saturday morning, Joe and I went to the gym. It was empty. He met Sonhun, the trainer, who told him he was very handsome. I love the trainer despite all of his impositions on my workout routine. There are gym bros and gods and then there are gym nazis and he is one of them. He is such a sweet friend though. Then, we went with Josh, Jenny and Krystin to Home Plus, a six- story super store. We were in the food court when Jenny and I ran into our students Diana (Jenny's student) and Tom (my student) who are brother and sister. Next thing we know, our two adorible students are dragging us to pick out what we wanted to eat so their mother could buy our meal. It was so sweet. It melted my heart. She wanted to pay for all five of us but we begged her not to. She brought us so much food... more than we could shovel down, but we managed. Her generocity amazed us and put us in such a good mood all day. As soon as we got home, we started cooking for our Thanksgiving potluck... ok Joe started cooking while I made little stars out of paper with Daria. He brought turkey, ham and stuffing from the base. It was amazing! We had a lot of food, even more alcohol and tons of people shoved into a tiny little apartment, but it was so much fun! The lack of space made it cozy and intimate. I met two new Korean friends, Pete and Sunbin, who were both excellent and hillariously witty in English. As corny as this is, I felt really thankful and lucky. It was a perfect Thanksgiving Korean style.

Today (Sunday), Daria invited Joe and I to her apartment for lunch. I think she really liked Joe. We met her cute litte omma (mother). And whatever it was we ate (looked like rice and seaweed rolled in a ball) was amazing. I wish I'd seen her cook the food, but she wanted us to sit and relax. After a nice little lunch, she took us to Independence Hall, which I wasn't expecting. I wanted to take Joe there this weekend. It was like she read my mind. I hadn't been there either. It's mostly a museum about the Japanese invasion of Korea. I had such a nice day. She's so inviting. She and I are becoming good friends. A lot of times we have a language barrier, but we're getting to know each other so well that sometimes we don't even have to communicate. She'll talk in Korean ad I'll answer in English and we understand each other.. of course this rarely happens, but when it does it's pretty amazing. I also pick up on her habbits as well as most Korean habbits. It's happening to all of us foreigners in just the tone we speak in, the Konglish (English/Korean)phrases we use now, and other little quirks Koreans have when they communicate. It's only my 3rd month. I can only imagine at this rate I'll become Korean by the time the year is over.

Not to leave on a sad note, but Korea has a kimchi crisis!!! What is this??? you may ask. Well kimchi, which is spiced cabbage, is a staple in all Korean meals. Everyday kimchi. Everywhere Kimchi. All day kimchi. Kimchi. Last year there was a surplus of cabbage, so farmers planted less. Bad call. The cabbage produce this year suffered a little with weather issues, and now there is not enough. Korea has had to resort to buying cabbage from China, but of course, Korean cabbage is superior, so succumbing to Chinese cabbage is an outlandish idea. Kimchi crisis. When asked which was scarier, the North Korean conflict or the kimchi crisis, a few Koreans answered kimchi. So there you have it. A sad year for Korean cuisine.