konnichiwa japan

the difference between american and korean airlines? on an 1.5hr long flight i was served a full meal. enough said.

the flight from seoul to fukuoka was great, despite its ungodly hour. japan customs was a bit more intense than korea's though. i'm talking fingerprints and photos, plus a fancy sticker stamp in the passport. no old fashioned ink here! everything went smoothly though. we got our bags, did a quick reassessment of our plans, found a decent tourist map and headed to hakata train station. so fukuoka and hakata are actually 1 city, but the former refers mainly to the airport area and the latter refers to the train area, which is where we spent most of our time. at the train station we managed to get our JR passes validated, found lockers to store our packs and then we set off to find sumiyoshi shrine. while wandering we came across what would soon become a daily tradition: hitting up the vending machine. seriously, they have vending machine for everything in japan - from food and drinks to underwear and neckties. and the best hot milk tea i've ever had in my life. ever.

this is also when we realized to pay closer attention to the scale of the map.

we found where we needed to be going based on the curves and intersecting shapes of the streets and landmarks. but most streets weren't labeled in real life, despite being named on the map, which made things somewhat challenging. we walked for what we felt was a fair amount, but no shrine was in site. eventually we came to a river - landmark! - and realized we had overshot our distance by a lot. actually we walked twice as long as we needed to. so did a 180, and when we did come across the entrance to the shrine, we both couldn't figure out how we possibly missed it. oh well. it was fairly large, and we saw some monks running around preparing for and performing a ceremony of sorts. couldn't see anything b/c it was behind closed doors, but it sounded interesting.

found our way out again, and headed towards canal city - a mega-complex of shops, restaurants, hotels, etc. i love japanese food back home, so during this trip eating is one thing i was very much looking forward to. because each region of the country is known for a particular kind of cuisine, or meibutsu, we decided that we would strive to eat the specialty wherever we were. and in the kyushu area, it is ramen. we heard about ramen stadium and so what better place to get our food then that? it's an entire floor of ramen vendors, but our experience ordering food proved more arduous than expected.

here's the deal: you walk into this crazy world of ramen vendors. each restaurant has hosts standing outside trying to entice you into their business by yelling, hopefully louder than the next guy. we walked around a bit, a little overwhelmed, but eventually settled on one that had 2 pleasant looking women beckoning us in. however, when we went to enter it, we found we couldn't - and the two women proceeded to flutter around us, speaking to us in very fast japanese and pointing to various pictures. confused, we initially walked away and decided to just observe a bit more. turns out, you had to actually go to this vending machine to pick what food you wanted by pressing any combination of buttons and then pay the machine. it then pops out a ticket which you show to the hosts who then seat you at a counter. the cooks behind the counter promptly take your ticket and within minutes your food is presented. it's actually quite an efficient system! what was challenging was that the words were only in japanese, and it was hard to decipher the limited pictures. so with a leap of faith we picked the 'daily special' on the poster, and hoped for the best. it was incredibly salty. but still very tasty. and our first japanese dining experience was complete.

feeling full and bloated with salt, we wandered some more. eventually we came across a cluster of small temples, including zendouji, myotenji, ankokuzan shofuku-ji (which was founded by elsai - who is given credit for bringing zen and tea to japan), tocho-ji (home of the largest wooden buddha in japan - it was so so beautiful), and mangyoji (which supposedly holds the grave of an 'unfortunate religious prostitute'.. lost in translation?). i realized i wasn't quite as mentally prepared as i thought for such an inundation of all things related to the buddha. and so quietly, i said a small prayer to myself, to allow myself to soak it all in with an open mind and an open heart.

on our way back towards the train station, we also stumbled upon kushida-jinja shrine, where - thanks to a friendly japanese woman - we were able to get our fortunes for 2010. all for only Y10 haha. i liked mine a lot, it was "very lucky - like blossoms in a vernal breeze". here are the highlights of mine:

--fortune: everything will go as you wish, you'll have a peaceful mind (i could use some of that..)

--wish: will be realized shortly (realizing my true wishes are evolving)

--travel: good (that is good!)

--relocation: you'll have many worries (like whether to stay in seattle?!)

--marriage: wait patiently for unexpected connection (HA!)

--employment: will be found with help of others (such as a recruiting agency)

jos wasn't overly thrilled with her plain "lucky". but either way, after we were done reading them we tied them to the designated stringed contraption, said our prayers and wishes, and moved on. me with an extra bounce in my step.

back at the train station, we figured out we could make FREE reservations for the bullet trains, and so away we went to hiroshima. the trains our JR passes allowed us to take were indeed bullet trains, but just not the super super super fast ones. still, i've never been on such a smooth, fast or more comfortable train ride. i can really get used to this. we realized at hiroshima station that we had to take another train to miyajima (where our hostel was) and so after a bit of confusion and question asking, we realized our JR passes also work on the local lines - score!

arrived and checked into our hostel (backpackers miyajima). was a bit nervous about the 20 bed dorm room - but it was split up into various sections of 4 beds each, so much more private than i was anticipating. the staff was very enthusiastic and loved to offer whatever knowledge they had. we set out again to find some dinner and though not much was open this late at night, we stumbled upon a small restaurant that actually happened to serve this regions specialty: okonomiyaki. we settled on the 'standard' and were presented with this noodle-cabbage-egg-veggies-pork thing all fried together into a pancake and served on a hot plate griddle in the middle of our table. yum.

i'm going to like japan.

christmas in korea

merry effin-xmas. i know i shouldn't be bitter, but it's still hard sometimes. part of me wonders how differently this holiday could have transpired if only.. but i must stop. moving on.

we all laid in bed until about 11 - so late! - when ryan was finally brave enough to stir. i had been wide awake since around 830, so was glad someone made the first move haha. and, miraculously, my ridiculous sinus pressure was gone! those magic pills must be working. moseyed around a bit, then ryan suggested we go out for an american breakfast, which sounded good to me. but by the time we all showered and got ready it was about 1pm. and by the time we got to butterfinger pancakes, it was nearly 2pm. and then we had a 45min wait. so we found our way into a coffee shop to wait since the weather was less than pleasant out. finally got to eat, the portions were huge! i knew i wouldn't be able to eat it all, so i got just a small gingerbread & pecan pancake plate. yum. best part? when they asked what kind of butter you wanted, including the choice of "i can't believe it is butter". HAHAHA. it still makes me chuckle.

satisfied, it was around 4pm by the time we left. what a productive day! headed back to the apartment for a bit to book our hostels since we're leaving tomorrow. of course, leaving things til the last minute lends itself to a sense of adventure. but it also lends itself to disappointment when you can't get what you want. which i've come to expect from this year. what can you do. i guess at least we got rooms somewhere.

from there headed over to where i got my bus tour, as there was a christmas light show at 8pm at city hall. it was COLD out, but the earlier dreary rain had given way to gently falling snowflakes. so i got my white xmas after all. thought about G and how i hoped he'd get his first white xmas in seattle. and for the first time this trip, felt good. i mean - like at peace. i'd been thinking so much about a certain someone who has made me miserable for the past 4 months, and being in seoul was difficult b/c everywhere (literally) you go, all you see are couples. i wasn't sure if it was b/c it was the holidays and people naturally want to be around the ones they love. or if it was just the culture of the city. either way, there were several occasions where i had to hold back tears as i've never felt more alone in life than i have the past 4 months. all i wanted was to be experiencing this with him. but tonight was different. and i finally felt a calm that i hadn't felt since my yoga retreat in august. i finally felt i could let him go. i finally felt hope again. and that is a very good feeling.

from the interestingly entertaining light show, we made our way to chef mile where ryan had made plans to meet up with some friends for a nice austrian xmas meal. it was 3 courses, topped off with mulled wine. jos and i actually split it as we knew we couldn't eat it all by ourselves. and it was already 9pm. the meal was tasty, the mulled wine even better. said our goodbyes to our dinner-mates and headed back to the apartment. we still had to pack, so no korean movie and DD cake for us! having to be up by 445am made for some hasty packing but we managed to have lights out by 1230. phew.

goodbye korea. you've been fun.

yawk-gook?

i don't know who sounds worse, me or joslyn. thought i felt bad the other day. today i feel like 100% crap and resultantly have become 100% indifferent to what we should see and do. not a good attitude, i know. but the one thing i really wanted to do in south korea - go to the DMZ - was a complete failure. maybe when the north and south are reunited i'll venture back.

finally got our acts together and decided to head over to the leeum samsung museum of art. it being xmas eve, and korea being more christian than buddhist (surprised me too), lots of things were closed. including places to eat. we wandered for what felt like forever, and our only option was a diner, where i got tuna salad and fries. not korean, but what can you do. we did manage to stumble across a pharmacy though - score! ryan had written out the korean symbols for pharmacy (yawk-gook), and we'd been looking for one for 2 days. this place even had english in the windows! however, today was not to be our day either. we went in, asked "english?" and tried to mime our symptoms, but the 2 older ladies behind the counter just shook their heads with a lack of comprehension and said "no". not knowing what else to do, we just walked out. it was a bit hole-in-the-wall-ish, so i quickly came to the conclusion that it was more of a traditional medicine shop than what i was looking for. moving on.

afterwards we headed to the museum, which was actually 3 in 1. and for the price ($10) it better be. now, you may say "$10 isn't much of an entrance fee" but really, when every other place we've been has only cost $3, then yeah, $10 seems a bit steep. museum 1 was traditional art, 2 was contemporary, and 3 was a rotating special exhibit. i liked #1 the best, mainly b/c i often have a hard time understanding modern art. one "display" was merely 2 pieces of canvas painted 2 shades of teal. really? i could have done that. quite easily.

found our way to a supermarket to try to pick up some things for ryan (still searching for that gift). we were only partially successful, so decided to go with our plan C of a photo book of korea. back on the subway, it was obvious that it was a holiday. i've never in my life experienced such a crowded place. we became sardines, and they actually had traffic cops with illuminated star wars-y batons directing people. tried to capture it on camera, but really, the pictures do it no justice. eventually made our way to the mall where - this proves what a small world it is - amidst all the 1000s of people, we run into ryan. granted he's white and was wearing a red motorcycle jacket, so easy to spot, but still. and then we had to try to cover up why we were at the mall. he was meeting a friend, so we said we'd split up and meet up again later for dinner, outside the bookstore. convenient for us - since that's where we were going anyway haha.

we decided we'd buy what we've been eyeing the entire time we've been in korea - a dunkin donuts cake. yes, DD sells cakes here. i guess most koreans don't have ovens in their homes, so the thing to do is go to any number of stores - be it a DD, a traditional bakery, even 7-11 type stores, because they all sell these outrageously good looking cakes - and bring it with you, whether that be to home or elsewhere. then it was over to the bookstore. the odd thing is that all their books are wrapped in plastic, so you can't browse thru them to see if you'd like it. and b/c we can't read korean, this quickly became frustrating. admitting defeat again, we gave up on the photography section and headed to the foreign books, where i think we found a good choice. it was 'cultural symbols of korea'. in english.

met ryan (with our gifts hidden) and browsed the mall a bit. managed to get my photo of the couple matching underwear haha. dinner was more of a japanese place with korean influence. it was good, but i'm wondering what my stomach is thinking of all this fried food i've been eating! on our way out of the mall, found a legit yawk-gook - the pharmacists had white lab coats and all. now this is what i'm talking about. described my symptoms and they quickly handed over a magical pink box, saying "take 1 a day, feel better". and that's good enough for me on this christmas eve in korea.

i hate being sick when i travel

it's always the way, right? i managed to not get sick, even while all of my colleagues called out these past few months - not me. multi vitamin, eating right, exercise, H1N1 flu vaccine. yup, did it all. so of course when my body actually has time to relax, in sweep the viruses. i blame jos (hahaha).

anyway, wasn't feeling too bad until the beginning of day 3, when it went from minor annoyance of congestion to full on sinus pressure and head wanting to explode. but i'm in korea! so go away, cold, and don't come back. ever.

on day 2 joslyn and ryan headed out together to go to a church meetup and then to ryan's school so jos could observe a class. this left me to explore seoul on my own. what do to? i decided my best bet would be to take that city bus tour, since i could hop on and off as i pleased, and it would give me a nice overview of the city. the subway is super convenient, but when you do all your traveling underground, you miss seeing what's actually above. it took me about an hour to get to the start, and having just missed one tour, i had to wait for another. i walked around the area to bide my time. it was a bit hazy, so the mountains in the distance weren't as clear as they could have been. eventually boarded the bus, which i learned would take 2hrs to complete the entire loop. good deal, considering the ticket was only about $11 and good for 24hrs. i decided to just ride the whole loop, since the main sites i wanted to see joslyn also wanted to see and we'd already planned to go together.

the bus tour took us by everything: the main markets, the USO, the national museum, war memorial, national theatre, seoul tower, and all the palaces, most of which were closed (of course). it was great, until we got stuck in complete bumper to bumper traffic. the stop and go motions, combined with the exhaust smell and excessive heat inside the bus - i really thought i might puke and/or die. awful. staggered back to the apartment, wolfed down an egg sandwich from 7-11 and stripped off as many layers as i could while still maintaining some amount of modesty. recovered, but not soon enough to get back to the war memorial w/joslyn, which was our original plan.

so we decided on seoul tower instead. yes, it's a cheesy tourist trap, but whatever. timing wise, it actually worked out quite nicely. we arrived at dusk; the city lights were just beginning to come on - which was perfect since the hazy day wouldn't have allowed much of a view earlier. got a bit lost trying to find the cable car up (funny how well marked things are underground, but not so much above..) but found it eventually. favorite parts? all the "locks of love" on the fences - where people write messages to their loved ones. i particularly like the sign that warned people not to throw away their keys - reminding us all how fickle love can be (HA! you're telling me).

the bright lighting inside was a bit irritating when trying to take photos, but i did like how they had all the world's major cities on the windows indicating distance away and direction. took a pit stop at "seoul's highest toilet" which was less than impressive, then made our way to the gift shop where i found my seoul key chain. back to the subway to meet up with ryan and his friends at itaewon (read: super touristy) at a fish and chips pub (very korean ha). actually, saw more white people here that night then i did on my entire trip. the food was yummy, company good, but the smoke combined with my already congested and headachy self just did me in.

hello full blown sinus infection.

yeah, definitely woke up this morning feeling worse than usual. but getting outside in the crisp air and getting some hot tea helped clear me up a bit. we had grand plans for today, and i wasn't going to let anything stop me. today was war memorial day - and i'm glad we didn't try to rush through it yesterday because it took us about hours to get through. i'm a big history buff, and history museums are always my favorite. but jos - who doesn't particularly like history museums - also really enjoyed it and learned a lot, so that's at least one unbiased review of the place ha. we got audio guides b/c lonely planet said english descriptions were lacking - however they were totally unnecessary. the english descriptions were plentiful, though i did use the audio guide if i wanted more detailed info on a particular display.

the museum is set up very well, with arrows marking the best route. it's apparent a lot of careful planning went into it. 1st floor is dedicated to wars when dynasties ruled the land. 2nd floor is where we spent the bulk of our time and was dedicated to the korean war. it also had a "simulated emergency situation" room, which wasn't as serious as it was funny, and allowed jos and i to play dress up. finally the 3rd is a bit of a hodgepodge dedicated mainly to the various military branches. didn't spend much time here, as after 3hrs my head couldn't hold any more information in it.

outside in the fresh air, and passed what seemed like the entire korean army, made our way over to changdeokgung, the "must see" palace. we just missed one tour, so got tickets for the 1530 one and headed to insadong to explore. it was a maze of small alleyways lined with shops and restaurants. touristy? yes. but also cooler than i expected. found a great restaurant and got my "big dumpling soup" - and yup they were big! browsed a bit more, decided to come back later, and headed back to the palace. our guide was really funny, at least jos and i thought so, though because most of our group were not native english speakers, they didn't quite get some of the jokes and references he made. ah well. per lonely planet, the best part of the tour was the secret garden. alas, due to time of year, it was not in bloom and was under construction, so a bit disappointing. the other grounds still made for pleasant strolling.

we headed back to insadong as it was too late to see "the blue house" or cheongwadae, where the president lives/works. managed to get all of my main souvenirs here (with the sole exception of my short strand buddha beads), including the celadon green pottery i wanted. generally satisfied, we decided to make our way to costco. i know what you're thinking.. why is there a costco in korea, and why did you want to go there? well, we wanted to get ryan a birthday gift and a thanks-for-letting-us-crash-with-you gift. and what better than a gift card to costco. well.. try explaining the concept of a gift card in a foreign country. apparently either the language barrier was too much to overcome, or they just don't have gift cards in korea. they kept trying to sell us a membership card, so we finally accepted defeat and left empty handed. what a day.

heated floors and toilet seats, oh my!

okay, so the best thing about korea? heated floors and toilet seats.

seriously.

ryan's apartment is not alone in this. i guess it's super common, probably because you almost always take your shoes off before entering homes and sometimes even businesses. i'm totally going to have heated floors when i build my dream house one day.. and public toilet seats? heavenly! no need to balance a squat here - they have automatic cleaners prior to each use with one push of a button. koreans like their buttons. and they are also apparently easily embarrassed by loud bodily noises (ie: farts), and so toilets come with buttons that play music or a flushing noise so your eh-hem's are drowned out by other (more pleasant) noises. there are also buttons for a snazzy bottom cleaning in two levels, simple butt spray and full on bidet. i'll admit, i didn't try ALL the buttons..

so day one in korea. and discovered that on mondays, everything is closed. all the museums - closed. even the bus tour that would give us a nice overview of the city - not running. so there go the plans we made last night! after some more research came up with a decent plan B, so we headed over to the cheonggye stream area to walk around. it's primarily a shopping area, but had a few 'places of interest' which was better than sitting in an apartment all day. navigated our way on the subways fairly easily - they're very user friendly and well marked (overall). above ground is a different story..

the only map we had was a schematic, so we could only guess distances and directions. and there was no signage above ground. grrrrrreat. and so of course we walked in every direction except the one we needed to go into. we did wander by namdaemun (great south gate) which is actually korea's national treasure numero uno, kinda cool. and we saw a ton of carpet selling shops, in case we needed a carpet. asked a cashier at a convenience store for help, but she was a native of thailand, so not only didn't speak much english, she didn't speak much korean and wasn't familiar with the area. through sign we communicated "water/stream" and she pointed us the opposite way we came, so that eventually we found the stream. YAY. it was exactly that. a stream. lined by really tall buildings.

we walked along the stream, which was pretty, especially with the water running over the partially ice-covered river stones. after a while we were nearly frozen from the cold, so wandered back up to street level and found our way into probably one of the most memorable parts of my time in korea. this market - which was probably one of many around the city - was unlike anything i had seen. the food! it stretched on in every direction. i didn't recognize any of it, but it all looked incredibly yummy. i wanted to try it all. we wandered around to try to find if any stalls had english words, but eventually just followed the lead of another person and, after a lot of confusion (which included the owner scolding us in korean - hey! we did exactly what the man in front of us did!), ended up with this pancake thing. satisfied we headed back towards the stream, passing countless xmas shops. then tool shops. then fabric stores. it always makes me laugh how they cluster stores together - you think they'd all fail from the competition.

back down to the stream, saw "the largest ceramic painting in the world". it was neat, actually. basically a picture of a royal procession. came across an underground art gallery with a display of paraplegic sporting events (later found out the exhibition is always changing). at the end of the stream was a giormous xmas tree, sponsored by citibank ha. frozen again, found our way into a very americanized coffee shop (tom toms) and got a splendid mint hot chocolate. made our way back to the apartment to meet up with ryan. after chatting for a bit made our way to our first buddhist temple, bongeun-sa, the leading training center for zen meditation. despite my trepidation about facing anything buddhist related (thanks to my heart break in boston - maybe traveling to 2 buddhist nations at this time wasn't the *smartest* idea) i must admit that under the moonlight, the temple's beauty erased those fears and the sadness, even if only for a moment.

afterwards, made our way to our first sit-down meal, the korean bbq. it was.. interesting. all sorts of side dishes, including red bean paste, bean sprout soup and the ubiquitous kimchi, as well as the main dishes which were pork based. quite spicy too - my mouth was definitely tingling! found our way through a massive mass where we encountered plenty of couple matching (including matching underwear HA - i'll have to remember that in the future!) and, possibly the best sight for sore eyes - dunkin donuts. mmmmm. back to the apartment to process all the sights, culture shock and emotions i'm just beginning to experience on this trip. it will truly be a journey, in all aspects of the term.

hello asia

the only thing i don't like about traveling is the actual traveling part. the getting to the airport. the getting through security. the waiting and waiting. and then waiting some more. the excessively long plane rides that at times seem never ending. the customs and border patrols. the drug sniffing dogs. the jet lag! but despite all this, there is always the excitement of going somewhere new that makes all the torture worthwhile.

that said, funny story i need to share. i'll preface it by saying i'm a fast walker, for those of you who don't know. like really fast. despite my shortness. okay. gareth was kind enough to walk with me to the train station where i would catch the light rail (maiden voyage!) to seatac airport. while crossing one particular street, i was probably 10ft or so in front of him, and the little white crosswalk man was still on. but the hand started blinking when i was about halfway across. unfortunately, that hand stopped blinking the moment gareth stepped off the curb. there was also a car waiting to make a right hand turn. and this car was waiting patiently, politely, as most seattleites do.

but gareth, after pausing for a brief moment, then decided to make a run for it to catch up with me. and OUT OF THE BLUE this obnoxious voice comes booming over a loud speaker and proclaims: "next time don't cross when it says don't cross" (long dramatic pause) "unless you want me to TICKET you". my first thought was, "god? is that YOU?" but no, there was a cop behind that patient turning car. we both spun around, probably with very shocked faces of disbelief. seriously? you're going to ticket us? you honestly don't have more pressing issues to contend with than people crossing the street? to make matters worse, there was a mother with two young girls standing on the corner, who also loudly proclaimed: "see girls, THAT'S why you listen and read the cross walk signs". the cop thing was somewhat funny (i've actually met 2 people - native new yorkers ha - who have been ticketed for jaywalking in seattle), but i don't like being made an example of. seriously, one more reason i'm glad to get out of this city for a while!

the light rail was nice, cheap and convenient. it literally was making its maiden voyage that day to the airport, so i was surrounded by camera crews from local news stations. and the whole time i was praying i didn't end up on tv somewhere. ha. managed to call home to NJ to say my goodbyes to my family since would be missing the holidays with them. got a pleasant surprise when i boarded my plane. i was under the impression it was a middle seat b/c of its letter on this particular plane (D) but because it was the last row, there were less seats in the row due to bathroom space, and my middle seat became an aisle! major score! i always want an aisle since i rarely sleep on planes and like to walk around, especially on a flight that takes 11 hours.

the plane ride was uneventful, thankfully. switched planes in tokyo and boarded another to seoul. again, another uneventful plane ride. got my bags (they made it!) and got through customs. then almost seamlessly connected up with joslyn (who had flown in the day prior) and ryan - our host. took a bus to central seoul, then a cab to his apartment.

hello asia. nice to see you again.

goodbye seattle

so once again, i am on a travel holiday. and it's times like this that i am thankful i don't have a real job. now some would argue - probably in an attempt to make me feel more worthy or grown up or something - that i DO have a real job. and i guess i can see their point. when i'm working, i have a pretty standard 8hr day, in which i help people recover from various illnesses and injuries, a job that is very rewarding. however, most people with real jobs, at least american real jobs, do not have the luxury that i have, which is to take off as much time as i possibly want. or - at least take off as much as i can possibly afford to. but, because i am a pretty thrifty person in my every day life, i manage to save up enough that i can afford to take off for a month or more at a time. and this my friends is why i love my job. because it allows me to follow my biggest passion - traveling.

now that that's over with.. welcome to my trip to korea and japan!

i'm so glad to be getting out of seattle for a while. don't get me wrong, it's a pretty cool city. but after the disaster that was 2009 in boston, i had really high (probably too high - is any place actually perfect?) expectations. and i've been let down. i have a few theories as to why..

(1) i moved at the exact wrong time of year. october. which means gray skies and drizzly dreary weather for the next 9 months. no sun. ugh. i never thought i'd be so affected by the lack of sunshine. but i can see why people develop SAD.

(2) i moved here knowing no one. this was somewhat intentional. i really felt like i needed to completely start my life over. and what better way than to go somewhere where no one knows you. but moving somewhere where you know no one is difficult, because you realize quickly how lonely you actually are. and moving at a time when you're completely depressed to begin with - yeah, not the smartest decision either. so spent a lot of time crying in my studio apartment. alone. and really wondering if it was all a mistake, since my gut has rarely been wrong, and prior to moving it was screaming 'don't do it!'. ah well.

(3) seattle is full of geeks. not that i mind geeks, in fact i'm usually attracted to brainy people. but one thing to note is that though i realize there are some geeks that are very social, most are not. and i'm pretty social, once you get to know me. bad fit?

(4) people are super nice, and polite, and friendly - on the surface. seriously. this is the weirdest thing. everyone's all "oh, nice to meet you. let me get that door for you. no, i insist, after you". they're even polite when driving, which coming from boston took a little getting used to. BUT. very few will go the extra step to invite you into their circles. into their lives. i will give you an example conversation:

--person: "oh, so what are you doing this weekend?"

--me: "well, i'm new here so don't really know much about what there is to do"

--person: "oh, well... enjoy, have a good one!"

no mention of - hey want to grab a bite to eat, see a movie, get a coffee? i don't even like coffee, but i'd be willing to try it if you would just invite me! i'm not one to invite myself places. i have no problem doing things on my own, but sometimes you just want a buddy. especially when you're sad, lonely and depressed.

(5) speaking of coffee. i don't like it. and i managed to find myself living in the coffee capital of the world. or, at least america. how's that for a bad sign?

(6) i'm not a big drinker. why is this a problem? because all of the meetup groups and other social networking things i've done tirelessly to try to make friends - they all revolve around bars. and happy hours. and drinking. and sorry but that gets old after awhile.

okay, enough of the babbling about the cons of seattle. there are pluses too, and as i spend more time here, it grows on me a little at a time. but - my two best friends i've made here are leaving me. one's already gone (thanks frank) back to austin tx. and the other leaves with his yacht for tahiti (thanks gareth) three days after i return from my travels, though i guess i can't say i blame him. tahiti? yes, please! i just feel like i'm going to have to start all over again. and i'm getting tired of constantly starting over.

that said, i've never looked more forward to a new year. 2009 was seriously the worst year i've experienced thus far in my 27 years. no exaggeration. and despite me trying to let go of things that happened and move on with my life, even moving clear across the country wasn't enough. so i have faith that 2010 will do it. the literal turning over of a new leaf.

so goodbye seattle, hello korea and japan and 2010!