And August is upon us

It seems like we've been waiting forever for August to arrive, and here it is. I don't think Joe or I can fully wrap our heads around the fact that we'll be leaving Korea in 3 weeks. It seems unreal. We're starting to make plans with friends back home, and that too feels unreal. I think in some part of my mind, I never thought the time would pass. Which makes it sound like I've been willing the time away and couldn't wait to leave. That's not entirely it--it's just been a hell of a slog. We don't love Korea. That much is true. We have had moments of falling in love, like when we snow-hiked at Wolchulsan National Park, or when we spent the weekend on the beach in Jangsa, or when we stayed at one of our first hanoks near Andong. Beautiful moments of connection and kinship with Korea. But I suppose, to extend the metaphor that much further, I'd say that living in Korea has been an on-again/off-again kind of relationship, filled with a lot of ups and downs. We never really made it to that head-over-heels in love stage, but we had our good times.

So, here are some recent things that we have really liked about Korea:

1. It costs $6 to go to a professional baseball game, and $2 to buy beers there. Outside the stadium are hawkers, selling beer, fried chicken, kimbap, dried squid jerky, and much more. And it's all cheap. No $7 stale jumbo pretzels here. And the people inside the stadium are NICE. Everyone is happy. People are with their families. No one gave us any dirty looks (unlike earlier in the day when an old man pushed past us onto the elevator we were trying to exit, muttering "waygooks" (which means foreigners) under his breath in thinly veiled tones of anger). When Joe bought a Samsung Lions baseball hat, he got looks of happy surprise and then of comraderie.

2. The National Pension Office, where I applied for a hefty pension reimbursement from the Korean government, was a breeze from start to finish. We were greeted with cold green tea and smiles. Unlike any government office I've ever been to. Filled out some forms, provided evidence of our departure from Korea, and that was it. Money will be deposited in my account soon after my arrival back home. Thank you, Korea, for that one.

3. Our local market. It's taken a while to suss out which stalls have the best produce and the best meats and the best side dishes. Now that we have, visiting our market is like visiting friends. The cap-wearing, bearded, strangely Hemingway-esque man and his friendly wife sell us our chicken. The other day we actually succeeded in having a fully intelligible Konglish conversation with them, where both parties understood what was being said. Score! The ruddy-cheeked, slightly obese mother and daughter sell us our side dishes--some of the best kimchi, pickled mushrooms, dried fishies, etc. we've had in Korea. Took a while for them to smile at us, but once I mistakenly tried to order $20 worth of kimchi, instead of $2, and we all had a good laugh over that, we've been friends. The mother always has a twinkle in her eye when she sees us coming, and I feel like if she spoke English or we spoke Korean, she'd definitely give us a good ribbing about our earlier kimchi mishap. The husband and wife duo who smile and laugh and chat at us no matter that we don't understand them sell us our pork. We recently learned that one of the old women who sit outside of the shop at a vegetable stall is Butcher Wife's mom. Now, whenever we pass by, the mom shouts "Hi!" at us, as her cronies around her laugh and nod. Joe always responds with "Hi, Oma", which means mom. These and many others make up our market family, and we'll really miss them.

4. Joe and I have recently discovered our love of the food courts here. I'm not talking about Dog on a Stick, or Orange Julius, or Sbarro, where the food is sub par, at best. These places are delish. There's noodles and sushi and dumplings and fried rice and spicy soups and skewers of meat. We just choose from the glass showcases of beautiful, plastic recreations of what will soon be a reality in our mouths, and enjoy.

My brother is coming soon to visit and travel with us, and I feel like his presence will make me appreciate Korea even more before I leave. Like showing off something that seemed momentarily lackluster. I feel like it'll be good for my parting feelings toward Korea, and his new ones, to think of all the things I want to show him, of all the restaurants I want to take him, of all the things I'm dying to tell him. I think Joe and I will see Korea through revitalized eyes; not new eyes like when we first got here and everything was a little too strange and unfamiliar, but fresh eyes--with all the things we like and have liked before us and now are excited to share.