Fortunately not with Arnold Friend!
Boy, I really hope someone gets that…
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So, as I’m sure you probably didn’t notice, I was on a bit of a hiatus for the past three weeks (give or take a few days), and that’s because, for a while, I was no longer in the home country (‘Merica, that is), and once I got back, school exploded.
(#bangtanshome)
No, but really, the above is what my brain has felt like for the past two weeks, for many reasons.
Anyway, with school driving me insane aside, I guess I’ll officially start this post off by telling you about my leaving the country. It was for my spring break; I booked a last-minute Disney cruise (cause Disney is my life) with my sister and dad and went sailing around the Western Caribbean for a total of seven days and nights–as well as driving up and down the eastern seaboard for a total of 30 miserable hours.
PLANES ARE FOR WIMPS.
Anyway, I plan on really detailing the trip in a post this weekend (I should carrot in there somewhere “hopefully,” for I don’t know if I can actually make that happen), because it certainly was a trip worth noting! Seriously, it was a vacation like none I’ve ever had before…and it’s not because it was everything beyond my wildest dreams. It was more like beyond my wildest nightmares…
*slowly grimaces as she lets her sentence trail off in remembrance*
Sorry, Disney. You’re great, but your cruise made me want to simultaneously book another cruise just so I could get off of your boat–although, I did enjoy being able to once again spontaneously bust out into “I’m On A Boat.” Never thought that would be relevant post 2010.
Well, before I get on another tangent, I should stop talking about the trip. I’ll link the post on my vacation here once I put it up in case you’re curious as to why I didn’t have as much fun away as I thought I would, but that’s as much detail as I’m getting into now, for sanity purposes.
So then, as I said, once I finally got back, school got in the way of making a legitimate post on here. But, after the many mishaps that occurred (which will be turned into my next, next post), I just kind of don’t care anymore. I want to blog, and so I will blog. Screw the 4.0! Screw homework! C’s get degrees!
Haha, yeah that’s the biggest lie I’ve ever told myself! Well, at least it’ll make me feel better for now!
Oh well, enough complaining, Leah! I don’t want to talk about any of the above anymore (because I’m still kind of scarred from it all). Right now, I simply want to talk about the general travel I have done/plan on doing.
Why? Well, why not?
Yes, I know, this may seem incredibly random, but my cruise simply sparked up some nice nostalgia in me. Yeah, sure, the trip I just got back from wasn’t really the best one ever, but I still got to see amazing places, and it’s made me remember all the great places I’ve been to in the past, as well as everywhere I want to see in the future.
Long story short: Disney, along with the bug I caught on your ship (oops, spoiler for the next post), you gave me a travel bug, and there’s simply no way to get it out of my system (and thus get me back on track at school) unless I give it to someone else. So here I am, writing about it in hopes of passing it on to you, the lucky reader, the next victim in the cycle of contagion!
Aren’t I so kind?
Ahh, I’m not at all!
So, travel: It’s one of my most favorite things to do in the whole, wide world, and even though I’ve not been to too many places thus far, I do plan on visiting everywhere I possibly can by the time I die. Yes, seeing every country in the world (that will let me in, that is) at least once in my life is, I think, about number three on my bucket list. Seems a bit crazy, I know, but that’s fitting because I, in all seriousness, really am kind of crazy.
But, looney-ness aside, there are some places that I am simply madly in love with, and so I want to hit them first (and then return to them over and over again) that way I can make sure I don’t die without having thoroughly experienced them, for that would be absolutely tragic!
Wow, that sounds a bit morbid when I say it out loud! But, it’s the truth; they’re just so interesting and vibrant and beautiful, and so they call me. I need to see them in the flesh and live within them for a while, for if I don’t, my life will simply be incomplete. And no one wants to die with a life that’s yet to be lived, now do they?
But, with all that aside, even though I really want to talk about the places I can’t wait to visit, I also want to discuss some of where I’ve been, for I’ve fallen in love with a lot of those places, too, but I’ve never had the chance to thoroughly experience any of them, and so I want to go back in order to finally do so
So below *[and following, as will be explained at the very, very end of this post; you can thank my last minute editing decision that I’m too tired to fix in the rest of the article for this tiny bit of confusion. You’re welcome!]* is going to be a list of the places I’m going and the places I’ve been, as well as explanations as to why I’d like to go to/return there. Hopefully this will get the travel bug out of me and help me settle back into boring, old school work for the next few weeks until the semester is over.
WHERE I AM GOING #1: South Korea
(It’s odd thinking about it now; I grew up taking tang-so-do lessons, and it never really ever dawned on me that the above flag, which was sewn on the front of my uniform, along with the numbers and words I was saying were all Korean until this year when I really became interested in the culture and began legitimately learning the language. I mean, I knew tang-so-do was a Korean martial art, and I knew I was speaking the Korean language/honoring the Korean flag every time I went to my lessons, but it just never really sank into me that it was Korean. You know what I mean? I hope so! And if you do, it’s weird how that works, right? We get so used to something that it just doesn’t even register with us as to what it truly is. Huh, what a funny thing the brain is when it comes to familiarity! Oh, well! Tangent over! Sorry!)
Anyway, below is the beloved land:
And I believe this tiny peninsula is now my most favorite place in the world.
*Record scratches to a stop* SAY WHAT NOW?
Yup, you heard me: South Korea is my most favorite place in the whole wide world!
Ehem, excuse me while I go lock my doors…
Lol, just kidding! Kind of…
But in all seriousness: Sorry, America; Korea’s simply one-upped you. Granted, I’ll always love you, since you’re my home and all, but…you’re kind of lacking on the front of sexy boy bands. 
And when Nick Carter of the Backstreet Boys was my first love in life, you can say that any place with a plethora of sexy boy bands automatically wins my overly-hormonal heart. Sorry, but I’m not really sorry.
Okay, so maybe it’s not all due to the sexy boy bands, but I gotta say that that does play at least a little into it. (Teehee!)
Well, all jokes aside, if God ascended from Heaven and told me I could redo my whole life, I think I would choose to be Korean the next time around. From the incredible (for many reasons) culture to the gorgeous language to the beautiful people to the breathtaking nature to the FANTASTIC music and television, I just can’t get over South Korea. I love it more and more every single day, and every single day, I long more and more to be there.
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WISH I COULD BE PART OF THAT WOOOOOORLD!
But I would so love to not be a creepy mermaid whilst there, if possible.
Okay, now I’m done with the lame jokes. I think.
Anyway, I’m going to live in Korea one day. Mark my words, I’ll be a resident; I’ll be one of those crazy foreigners who lives all alone in some crappy, old apartment and who does who-knows-what with her life and who is looked down upon by all the natives around her, and I’m so pumped for it!
Hopefully, though, by the time I get to live there, writing will have worked out well for me so I don’t have to live in a crappy apartment and can not worry about finding a real job (a.k.a. I can do whatever the heck I want and not fall into serious debt, not that the won is worth a whole lot as of now compared to the dollar, but you get my drift).
But if writing doesn’t end up working out, who cares! I’ll still head on out east to the grand SK and, oh, I don’t know, become an English teacher? Maybe even write English correspondences for some company in their entertainment industry? That is, of course, if they’re even still trying to break into English-speaking markets.
Actually, I’m going to rephrase that: That is, of course, if they’ve yet to take over the world.
That’s right; I have a strong feeling in my gut that South Korea is going to become a huge world power within our lifetime. So who knows. Maybe they’ll need me, and maybe they won’t. But either way, I am going to live there! And my extreme want is all due to what the pictures below show:
^Seoul, which is where I will live if I have the choice, and who can blame me!
^Incheon, which I would also not oppose living in, especially if I could get me whatever apartment that is that comes with its own private helicopter landing pad! Sign me up! But only if the helicopter is included, of course.
One thing I will not be signing up for, however, is Busan, which is what you see below.
NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE. NOPE.
I’d rather have Yeosu, with their freaking cool fountain!
Also, I’ll take the countrysides:
(But only if I get to take up this ad’s offer, which I just so happened to stumble upon:
EXPERIENCE CHEESE
And improper capitalization. And poor advertising.
Oh, Korea! This is why you need me! To fix what you think is right but is so not! *End tangent*)
And, to speed things up a bit, here’s everything else I love about Korea and therefore want to experience:
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ALL THE FOOD
Except (and here’s where things unexpectedly slow down again)…
WARNING: THE FOLLOWING IS VERY GRAPHIC. PLEASE, IF YOU ARE SENSITIVE TO ANIMAL CRUELTY, DO NOT LOOK AT THIS NEXT IMAGE.
I am being dead serious here. Please, if you can’t handle anything sad involving animals (or if you have a pet), do not look at this next image. I’m crying now just thinking about it, but it’s a sad truth that needs to be mentioned. As an animal rights activist and journalist (and dog lover/owner), I simply can’t ignore it, as much as I’d love to.
What I’m not looking forward to possibly seeing/having to avoid eating is something that still runs rampant in many places all across Asia, and that is the consumption of dog meat. You may joke about this from time to time, but it is still very much so a reality, and a very, very sad one, at that. Below is an image of it, so please skip it if you do not want to see; there’s slaughtered pups laying on a table right next to a cage full of live ones. It’s horrifying, so please don’t look if you’re sensitive to that kind of disgusting stuff. I’ll even make the image super tiny so you don’t have to look if you don’t want to.
But the truth of the matter is that it’s a horrifying reality, and I’m terrified of happening upon it whenever I do finally get to go there. I’m mostly terrified because, if I ever see that in real life, I know I’ll lose it, and I’m not just talking about tears in the middle of the street. No joke here: If I see dog meat for sale, I might just end up taking the butcher knife off the table and slaughtering whoever it is working the stand, I love dogs that much. It’s just so sad that people still eat like that. Now, I get that some people in poorer parts of the world are forced to eat such, but in Korea, where many people are not impoverished, there is simply no need. It’s a stupid tradition that needs to be made illegal.
Rant over. I don’t want to think about it anymore. Luckily, though, love lasts through the good and the bad, so this little bit of horror isn’t going to keep me away; I mean, America has its violence, Korea sometimes eats its pets… I love ’em both still, though. I really do!
Anyway, on a brighter note, let’s get back to the last (and real) reason why I’m going to one day live in Korea: the beautiful, beautiful men! Ah, if I can eventually find me a Korean guy who doesn’t think marrying a white woman would defame him, I’d be the luckiest girl in the world! See what I mean below; they’re all simply gorgeous! (And by gorgeous, I very literally mean gorgeous: pretty, beautiful, and not at all rugged or rough. They may be a little different from your typical taste, but just be prepared and keep an open mind. Cause they really are pretty little things!)
Oh, and before anyone hates on me, yes, I do understand that the majority of Korean men nowadays aren’t racist; however, it has been brought to my attention by many Koreans that they still don’t want to marry non-Koreans. So don’t hate me. That’s simply what I’ve been warned.
So, pretty Korean guys open to marrying a white girl, if you’re out there, I’m single ;*
Wow, that was one fail of a winking kissy face…
Like I said, probably not your type, but the longer you stare, the more attractive they become. Trust me; that’s how I fell in love! So go on and stare! Let them take you over! And if they don’t, well then, one man’s trash is another man’s treasure! More for me!
Okay, so I could definitely go on for days about Korea, but I’m going to stop here and save some water for the other fishies before I exhaust you entirely with my impassioned blabbering. Case in point: I love Korea and therefore want to go to Korea, and I hope that you can now see why and maybe want to join me in visiting.
Yay!!
*[And here’s where that bit of confusion from earlier gets explained. Even more yay!!]*
So, I actually think I’m going to break this post up into installments, for I have a lot of places I want to talk about, and this is already super long. I don’t know when the next one will be (hopefully soon!), but for now, I guess you’ll just have to deal with my Korean obsession as the only one on the list of places I am going to. Hahahahaha, lucky you–not!
When I finally post the next one, it’ll (hopefully) be linked here. But until then, that’s all for now!
ledandev 