Plain Vanilla Vent (Cough-Free)
My length of stay here in South Korea is long enough to mold and bring forth a child into this world, had I actually been a pregnant mother who arrived here last August. Recalling the nine months that I have wrestled for my independence in this country, I can now understand why and how I am able to have this time to do some thinking... or reflections, if I should get any deeper.
I just got back from a one-week vacation, thanks to the three days of sick leaves that I took on the working days that came in between the May 1 and May 5 holidays of this year (following the South Korean working calendar). Well, I must say that I have always been a smart ass in requesting for leaves in the office on “sandwich-ed working days” so I can have the luxury of calling these short leaves as ample vacation time.
A friend dragged me into this informal Korean Language class that he said he randomly caught online, and I must say that this has a more “multi-cultural” feel compared to the one that I have been attending in Hyehwa every Sunday. Most of the students in this one-and-a-half hour class in Sookmyung are Westerners and Middle Easterners. Taller creatures, yes they all are to me. Haha! It is also informal in a sense that all I get every week are a few sheets of paper that has the week’s lessons, compared to the textbook that I have to bring every Sunday to my class in Hyehwa. One thing with the informal class though, is I get stamps every time I attend a session, which, if I reach ten, will get me a gift! Similar to drinking much, much coffee at Dunkin Donuts for the stamps, to eventually get a free cup after a dozen! Teehee.
Being the ultimate Winter Sonata freak that I am, I checked out this famous island in South Korea— Nami Sum (Nami Island), located in Chuncheon, Gangwon Province so I can catch the last day of the said island’s “Foreigner’s Free Festival”. The said event celebrated Nami Island’s third anniversary of independence. It declared its independence in March 2006 and renamed itself as Naminara Republic. Now, what’s cute about this half-moon shaped island is it has invented its own passport, currency, and stamps since then, as it now promotes itself to other countries. Talk about living up to its “independence”, eh?
Jason Mraz is one great artist whom I truly, truly admire— someone I am definitely willing to trade decent lunches for a week or two, just so I can finally buy a ticket to his concert. The guy already had two concerts back in the Philippines which I knew about, though I frustratingly did not get the chance to catch both. The first was due to lack of the 
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