We Finally Get Our Home!

Adam and I have been in a hotel since the 22nd, and frankly, we have both really hated it. I feel so relieved. The housing office sent us a message yesterday to tell us that we will be getting our home on the 30th, which is tomorrow. So the plan today is to find out exactly which apartment we will be in, and start packing everything. That means, Adams barracks, the hotel, everything. Frankly kids, that's a lot of shit, and it's going to take a while to pack up everything. It's going to be a bitch. :(


So, the next post will hopefully be about our new apartment! :)

That's a Wrap!

My husband and I had a wonderful, fabulastic day yesterday, that I think I will remember for a very long time.

We were kind of pressed as to what to do for the day, but we eventually decided upon Woobang Tower Land, a theme park type place. They actually had some really good rides, and I enjoyed myself a lot. A couple of boys were passing us and started saying "HIIII, WE FROM KOREA." and waved at us frantically. They were adorable. In fact, we got stared at more than I expected. People watched us on rides and laughed at us, Adam bought me bunny ears and Bradley. :) Bradley is the little blue thing. That probably isn't what people call him here, but I named him Bradley! When you shake him, he lights up! :3 Adam actually got bit by the dog they have at Woobang Land in the petting zoo. They have a Huskey and a Wiener Dog, and the Huskey went for his finger, so he has a cut now. :( Poor thing.

After Woobang Land, we went downtown and walked around. We ended up going into a cellphone store that had a cute charm and phone case. :) I got Sunglasses too! <3
















We ate at McDonalds, which was nice, and we went back to Avacado's. From there we went to "Beef and Leaf" with Avacado and Jersey, and went back home.

Perhaps I'll upload videos of Jersey sometime. He's quite strange. He eats cigarettes, raw mushrooms, abd soju for 7$, as well as other random crap.

4-8 MORE DAYS until we get housing. It feel like it's going to take centuries.

Rain, Rain, Go Away.

It's raining. For some reason, it's put Adam in a terrible mood where he just does not want to do anything. We were going to walk downtown, etc, but he decided the weather wasn't right for that. We'll just go tomorrow, but I bet it will rain then, too.

Last night Adam, Avacado and I went to 'Italy Italy', a restaurant in downtown Daegu, with really good food, (obviously Italian). [Note about picture: I was proud of myself for writing Sprite in Korean!].

After Italy Italy, we went back to Avacado's room and drank... A LOT. 5-8 beers later and I was drunk as hell.

I don't know what's going on tonight, Adam is at the gym and I'm doing laundry, but we might be going back out again today.

We are also planning on adopting a Golden Retriever sometime next week. :) She is an older dog, and has been in a shelter for awhile, (well, right now she's in foster care), but she's a sweetie, and Adam and I are hoping everything goes through smoothly.

The Scenic Route

Yesterday night was something else.

Adam and I, around 5/6ish decided we were hungry and wanted to go to a "finer" restaurant, so we decided on the Daegu Tower pictured below.



It wasn't a bad restaurant at all, it actually moved on the inside, so as we were eating, we were slowly turning clockwise. Adam and I got to practice our lame Korean when the guy wasn't coming to pick up our card for us to pay. NO, really, it took 20-30 minutes until Adam said "this is for you" (in Korean, of course, which is due to this greatttttt Korean book we have). We got a small steak instead of Robster. Poor Rob.


After the Daegu tower, we went to the Wa Bar (I think that's what it was called.) We ended up trying to park in a small underground parking lot (that would take up to 6 cars.) A man was sitting there, reading the newspaper, saw Adam trying to park and FREAKED OUT and ran outr to where we were. He opened the door for me to get out, and while Adam was parking he was screaming "CRAZY! HE CRAZYYY DRIVER!!!!" Funny, seeing as Adam would be considered a maniac driver in the USA, but here, I think he'd be a "safe" driver. The Wa Bar was nice though, I had a cosmo (3 actually), and Adam had a beer (I'm not a cheap date, Adam told me :P) and then we went off to head home.

That's when the real "fun" began. We ended up getting lost. Adam had no idea where he had, and It's not like I even know how to get off post, so I couldn't be much help. We left at 9:30 for the Military Base, and by 10pm, Adam was freaking out. He called a Katusa, who told Adam to give the phone to some random Korean and he would talk to them. We stopped down an allyway, Adam got out and found a 20something looking guy, who took the phone from him and spoke to the Katusa... Then he ran off with the phone. Adam and I just kind of stood there, hoping he hadn't stolen it, and he eventually came back, and gave Adam back the phone. (No idea, don't ask) We didn't get home until 11:45 though because we ended up still being lost, it sucked.

Today has been a lazy day, though. Besides cleaning, and doing laundry soon, (and making Adam food), I haven't done much. Adams been at work. :( Actually he just got home, he said "Hi". :3. The plan tonight is to go to a nice restaurant and then to his friend Avacados barracks to drink and hang out. :)

BFFL

I'm actually making progress with making friends here, only all of them seem to be Korean. I don't have any problem with that, but sometimes the small language barriers and humor doesn't translate as well as I hoped! The Koreans I have met so far don't understand my sarcasm so well, but I think this just gives me a chance to try and stop being such a bitch.

It's slightly boring at the moment, because I'm not fond of the idea of going anywhere by myself, but when Adam and I get the off post hotel, I think I'll explore more when he is away. Adam and I bought some furniture for our home today, also, which I also have to start taking pictures of, too! We got some groceries, and I picked up this Orange Soda that I absolutely love!

TT I'm very boring at the moment, but no worries, everything will pick up soon! :P

Hello, South Korea.

link to pictures

I'm finally in South Korea. The trip was long, but it was generally painless -- a few mishaps here and there, but nothing serious. It was pretty hard leaving my parents and my best friend behind, I was on the verge of tears, but I kept it in. The plane to Chicago was short, didn't have an issue. In fact, all the airports besides Seoul were easy to navigate. The only issue I had in Seoul was the language barrier, which required me asking "English?" to nearly everybody. An older lady from the same plane I was on actually helped me when I landed in Seoul with my bags. She was so sweet! :) People were generally helpful and curious, there were a couple of rude people, but besides that, everyone was enjoyable. I met a couple of people at the airports also. One girl in LAX and another in Seoul (also going to Daegu), who I was able to become acquainted with. Of course, more happened than described at the airports, but I think those stories are for another time. (Aka: too lazy to type them all out.)

Adam picked me up from the Daegu airport, in his car. The car was a surprise, and it's not a bad car, I just wasn't expecting it. It's proved to be helpful though. Driving here is something I have no desire to do. It's the scariest experience just being in a car here. In fact, I'll probably make a video of it soon. It's terrifying.

Today, Adam and I bought phones. They're cute little flip phones, mine changes color though :3. I'm going to try and make a video/take pictures of it, because it's adorable. I also bought some language books so I can try and communicate easier. I'm surprised Adam actually knows as much of the language as he does. :O.

Now, with the housing situation, it's frustrating. First of all, they had told us we would get an apartment the week I arrived. Turns out we wont. Instead, we have to wait until July 2nd or 6th. This lodge will only hold us until the 27th, so then we have to leave then and find a new local hotel until they can get us the home.

This blog has been a two day process. I've had some jet lag, and I've been busy, so finding time to blog has been daunting. I'll be able to keep up with the more interesting things get, etc. Until then, I need to clean the hotel!

Gan Gan.

A lot about grandparents has come up lately, and I've started to miss mine quite a lot. This is my GanGan, and I adore him. :)

~

I visited Aimee on Tuesday up until today. I really enjoyed spending time with her and her family, they were quite possibly the sweetest people I have ever met. I'm really wayyyy tired to type up much more about the trip, but here are some pictures. :)

Formspring Question?

"Who is C. Love? Who is Adam? What are they like? What do they do?"

...This is an odd question, because I talk about them so much, people should know. But for those who don't:

C. Love is my best friend. We've been best friends for close to 3 years now, and we go "on and off." What I mean by that, is sometimes C. Love and I can go weeks to months without speaking, and pick up where we left off. We're very down to earth, we get along exceedingly well most of the time, and we bitch a lot. C. Love likes a lot of the same crap I like. : )

Adam is my husband, we've known each other for years now, and he joined the army a little over a year a go. He's funky and strange, but funny. He's a handful at times, and like any couple we have our ups and downs, but we always come out stronger. He likes to... Uh... Drinks, play video games, and be sweet too me. :3

And there is a little background on them both. <3

Presents & Packing.

Today is the day that I've finally accomplished the horrible job of... packing. This of course was not done alone, and was accomplished because I have a wonderful Momma who did most of the work anyway. I had to pick and choose what I really did want and what I didn't. I wasn't even aware of the amount of clothes I have. Somehow we've been able to fit most of this into one suitcase.

Yesterday, I had a wonderful party thrown for me at my Sister-In-Laws house, with an awesome cake, and reallllllllly good dip. It was really sweet, and I got presents ~*~*~

The keychain thingy that says "Laura" was given to me by my MILB, (she also bought my luggage!) The planner, sketch book, address book, journal and pencils were from my Sister-In-Law, her fiance, and all their children*.













The picture on the right are the presents C. Love gave too me. Earrings, which I had seen in Rue 21 and fell in love with, a journal for "thoughts, secrets and doodles", (and really, who can't get enough of notebooks) a stationary set, and a book about living in S.K. which will be handy for reading on the plane!

Thanks for the presents everyone. :D

Oh! And here is my packing pictures, (I'm THAT proud!) I'm not 100% finished, obviously, I still have shoes, etc to pack!

<-- I know I have a Build-A-Bear stuffed animal in my luggage, :) My momma got it for me for Christmas. <3 When I press its hand, it talks with her voice. :O

I'm sorry, EIGHT days?

Eight days until I leave! It's so nerve wrecking!

My schedule is to spend tomorrow with Adam's family, at his sisters house! They threw a "going away party"! So sweet, I love them so much! Monday is packing. Tuesday I'm leaving for Salem, IN to meet Aimee. Wednesday, I come home. Thursday, possible road trip with C. Love. Friday, pack!. Sat is mommas birthday, packing time and saying goodbyes. Sun, I say goodbye to my closest friends and board the plane for Korea!

I'm so nervous about the plane ride! I'll arrive at Korea on the 22nd (their time), at 9:30... Instead of resting, I'll be getting my SOFA army crap and ID's and other boring stuff. The next day, I get our doggy (Hopefully! She's been in the shelter for awhile, but the people there can't guarantee someone will adopt her before we do!)

That's all I know so far, but I'm sooooo ready to get this all over and done with! :D

North or South Korea?

"So... Are you moving to North Korea or South Korea?"

Believe it or not, it's a question I get a lot. Sometimes, I can understand if it's a small child asking, but otherwise... Seriously?

Yes, I am moving to North Korea, I thought the scenery and the whole "worship our great leader" thing was really 'me.' We all know how much I love N. Korea, and their communism! Yum! I heard their drinking water can make you fatally ill, and for all you losers who die from it in NK, suck it up! You just haven't tasted real water. And hey, what is wrong with you people for having issues with Kim Il-sung and Kim Jong-il. They obviously just want the best for their country!

For anyone who took that seriously, you're stupid.


I'm obviously not moving to North Korea, but what makes me laugh is the people who actually ask.

Hmmm.

Ten days until I leave. I've looked at weather reports for the 20th, and it seems like there will be some thunderstorms. Yuck. It has me stressed out, which is the last thing I need. I've also started doing all my laundry today, so I can get them all into my air compression bag, and into a luggage bag, shown below.

Hope this sucker was worth the 20. :)

Laura, World. World, Laura. Now Shake Hands.

I really wanted to blog about two things, but thought I could just incorporate them both together instead of seperately. Travel & Moving.

Obviously, I'm moving to the 3rd largest city in S. Korea, which is more than appeasing for me. I'm much more city orientated (I really hate the term 'country/city girl') than some other people, so Korea is exciting. I live in a place where, if this place was seriously considered a major city, it would be extremely pathetic. It's boring, it's bland and lacking color, and I hate it here. I'm a person who adores change, adores the sound of cars, people, etc.. So leaving here is a dream come true!

As of late, however, on top of Adam and I's possible plan to move to my home country, the United Kingdom, I've also weighed some other possibilities. New Zealand is one I'm particularly fond of. Wellington sounds like a fun city, and France has come up a couple of times in Adam and I's conversations, but he really enjoys the idea of New Zealand, over France. Another country that I have recently become interested in? Sweden. Why Sweden? The fact is, I didn't even think about Sweden until I was perusing Facebook and happened to stumble on somebodies profile with a Swedish name that really caught my attention. I stalked their wall to see if they spoke English, and they didn't, so using Google's Handy Dandy Translator I was able to figure the language out. (Yay, Facebook stalking) So, I've had a fun hour looking around the internet, figuring out the cost of living in Sweden, as well as the culture. The only issue I wonder about is if Adam would take the time out to learn a language.

Adam and I are planning to stay in Korea for a year and a half, and if we really like it, maybe more if possible; but after Korea, (unless we decide we really love it and stay forever, which I doubt because I don't know if Adam would like that) what then? Adam doesn't want to stay in the US, and neither do I... And I love the UK, and I defnately want to be there, but I also want to travel and live in many other countries. Maybe in Africa for awhile to help people there? It's a lot to think about, and a big decision, so I'm keeping all my options open until the time comes to leave Korea.

Going Anon.

I've decided to go Anon (in a way), but not completely. I'm still going to be taking pictures of myself, friends, family, my surroundings, etc, I just wont be posting my friends' real names. "Why?" Because 95% of my traffic comes from my facebook page, which includes family and friends for the most part - - however, the more traffic this blog has, the odder I feel about people knowing my family and friends' names, etc (& believe me, some of my friends have ODD names.) So because I don't want weird people stalking them, I wont post their info. Plus, some of these people have blogs which I know they don't want to be found, either. :) I will however, be posting something at the side for you all to be referenced too.

My husband and I will have our real names in tact though. :) We love stalkers.

To Shine A Light.

Some good news. Adam recieved a call from some Army guy, and we're definitely getting housing the week I arrive. So, that means that the longest we'd stay in a hotel in 4 days, which isn't bad. The not so good news? The lodge on the base is full at the moment, so we may have to find a place off post. Ah well. Just some good news to start off the day at least.

On a side note, when C. Love and I went out the other day, we saw this near the Micky D's.


It looked like they were taking burgers out a trashcan. Odd. Getting ready to go help C. Love run errands today, haven't even slept. :(

i just saw ur blogger post and ur an athiest right? ur going to go 2 hell.

Dear reader of my blog,

Thank you for your concern! Although it's quite endearing, I must say that I don't believe in hell, therefore, the prospect of going there seems very unrealistic to me. Instead of saving my soul, maybe you should go back to school and learn some grammar. Thank you, come again.

<3 L

Ask me anything

Edie and Thea.

I usually wouldn't blog about this, but...

Today I was watching those Independent Films on the Sundance Channel I love so much. It's past 4am, and I don't think I'm going to bed anytime soon, so why not, right? Well, I stumbled upon "Edie and Thea: A Very Long Engagement." A documentary of sorts which recounts the story of two lesbians in the 1960's.

I guess I've always been liberal on the subject of homosexuality, because it upsets me that people who love another gender are usually automatically discriminated against in some form. As someone said in the comment of this video I'm about to post:

"

• Oh, gosh. I could go on forever about this.
  Okay, first of all, marriage is a human right, not a heterosexual privilege. If I wanted to get married to another female (which I don't; I don't believe in participating in any and all religious acts, marriage included), why shouldn't I be able to? If I were a homosexual or bisexual Christian, is it not my right as God's child to be able to live with my lover and be married?

  But enough about the religious aspect; I want to talk about the political aspect. Originally marriage was a property thing, and it stated that the woman was the man's 'property'. Now, I know I would never want my lover to be my property, but it's about love and happiness, no?
  And the constitution guarantees a legal citizen's right to pursue life, love and happiness?
  If I want love and happiness, and I also want to be married (because it seems to go hand in hand), does the GOVERNMENT or the CHURCH have ANY RIGHT AT ALL to stop me?

  When you get right down to it, if religion didn't exsist in the first place, homosexuality would not be questioned like it is.
  Just wanted to throw that out there.

  Just one last thing;
  Love is Love.
  No matter if its being felt by a man and a man, a man and a women, or a women and a women.
  And I'll never understand people who think otherwise.

"

This isn't an "atheist" thing, (as some of my friends have suggested.) Even those years when I was a Christian, I was 100% for LG&B couples. Bigotry and intolerance just upsets me. It also upsets me when people befriend "gays" for the fact that they are gay. C. Love and I talked about a girl we know who befriends every homosexual she comes across. Yes! It's GREAT to be open minded and befriend people, but homosexuals are not collectibles.

Formspring Mayham!

I got a new formspring. For whatever reason, I wasn't getting any "questions" on my old one, even when I knew people were asking me stuff. :(. I posted the new box on the blog already. :) It's http://www.formspring.me/lauraallover

A couple of videos.

A stop motion video C. Love and I made a few days ago on our way to Penny Lane Coffeehouse.



A cute video of my cat. :)

One, Two, Three, Four.

I haven't posted in a couple of days because really, I don't have anything to post about. I'm still counting down the days until I leave, I'm still procrastinating packing, and I'm still getting nervous butterflies when I think about leaving for Korea by myself. Adam and I found out the hotel would be $80 a night, which will be stretching out budget a little, but we should be alright. (Or so I'm hoping.) What makes me most nervous is that something will go wrong on the plane, and I'll either:
A. End up stranded somewhere
B. Wont be to see Adam in Korea

It's two weeks from today until I leave! 14 days! So far, I've been living off Blueberry Bagels & Diet Dr. Pepper. (My coffee supply is low, sadly. It really kills me.) As it gets closer, I keep getting more and more excited, yet missing my friends and family already. My mom has been pretty upset about it, but she's really trying, and I can respect that.

On a side note: Why do people have train obsessions? I find it odd.

Hurry Up, Please.

The army is annoying. Not like I'm some kind of anarchist, but I have to say, they're quite unorganized.

"What do you mean by this, Laura?!!!1111one ~*~*~*~"

What I mean is, Adam went down to housing the other today to check that we have housing available. "Yes, around the 28th." Around the 28th isn't really preferred, and that's the problem. This means, we're going to have to stay in a hotel for 6 days, and pay for it out of pocket (they pay back, but still, paying out of pocket could get expensive.) Yeah, we might get the apt sooner than 6 days, but what if we get it a week or so later? They will definitely have an apartment, but we're not made of money, and I don't want to spend 24 hours on a plane to go to a hotel. I want to settle down in our home.

I know I might be coming off as ungrateful, and I swear I'm not. I'm frustrated because we I just want to finally be in my home after waiting for so long, and I feel like this should have been sorted earlier. :(

Meh.

I feel so shitty tonight. A lot is on my mind.

Alos on Danse

C. Love is coming over tonight to spend the night, it should be really great! Also means I have to clean my room, which still is not 100% accomplished. Adam and I find out if we get a house on the base or not soon, also. Besides that, nothing new. :/