. : : I am 테런 : : .: I'm a grown-up now

Hello,

I think the reason I forget about this blog is because Korea is no longer some exotic place to me.

It's where I live. It's where I work. And as I come up on the two-year mark of living here, I realize how commonplace that the things that shocked me at the beginning have become.

I ride a bus 30 minutes to work every day, and they only announce the stops in Korean.

Fermented cabbage covered in red pepper paste (aka kimchi) is now present in most of my meals.

I don't own any furniture to sit on. No couches, and only floor chairs. And a floor desk. I don't even notice anymore.

I turn my water heater off unless I'm taking a shower. Saves money.

I bow slightly when meeting people or saying thank you.

I give and accept items from another person with both hands.

I don't get mad when people bump into me on the street.

I haven't owned or used a fork since I was home for Christmas.

I've adjusted to the basic Korean lifestyle - work hard and play hard. Except for me, playing hard means putting two kinds of chocolate chips in the next batch of cookies. Or buying real dairy products (which are extremely expensive).

Aside from Japan (next post), this summer has been pretty uneventful.

Pictures to prove it? Sure.

Here's the little amusement park near my house. I didn't go to it though because I'm boring and decided to just take a blanket and read in the grass next to a Koi pond instead.