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MY SUMMER GOALS 2017

Published by Jessica Moy

OH YES!

My annual summer goals list is here and I am so excited I could pee my pants.

Funny side note: When I visited my friend Dev the other weekend in Seoul we were walking back from dinner and I suddenly had to pee (blame it on the margaritas!). We were in the elevator of his apartment and he was making me laugh.. not a small giggle either, the on-the-ground-can’t-breathe-eyes-watering-probably-going-to-pass-out type. I made him turn around and put his nose to the corner so he wouldn’t look at me squirm but I could still see him chuckling to himself. I started laughing harder. When the elevator opened I ran to his door and bolted to the washroom. He then YELLED at me for running into his house with my shoes on, which made me laugh even more. Before I knew it, I felt a warm flow go down my legs. Yup. I peed my pants. While crouching in front of his toilet. Laughing. Shoes, still on. #bless

Anyway, back to the reason for this blog post, I have compiled my list of summer goals for 2017. YAY! You can read about what I accomplished last year by clicking HERE!

JESSICA’S SUMMER GOALS 2017!

1. Visit Namhae Island and go to the German Village.
2. Attend Ultra in Seoul.
3. Witness the Firework Festival in Pohang.
4. Travel to New Zealand and Australia.
5. Register for the Chunchon 10k marathon.
6. Spend an entire day bike riding.
7. Book trip to Cambodia for birthday in October.
8. Read a new book each month.
9. Grow Get Up & Go Girl to 500 subscribers on YouTube.
10. Be able to do the splits.

MODERN MAP ART: TORONTO

Published by Jessica Moy

Whenever someone asks where I’m from, which is often, I say with all of my Canadian pride: TUR-ON-OH!

They nod their head and say (in a few octaves higher to sound slightly more interested than they actually are) “oh cool!” and proceed to comment one of the following..

Aren’t people really nice there?
Do you know Drake?
How much snow do you get in the winter?
Did you play ice hockey?
You have a cute Prime Minister, what’s his name again?

The questions might get repetitive but, I don’t mind. I truly get warm and fuzzies when I talk the diversity of the city I love, how shitty our hockey team is, and the greatness that are timbits and double-doubles.

Last month, Modern Map Art reached out and asked if I would be interested in a print of one of their city grid maps. My heart skipped a beat. YES! YES I DO! The sleek, matte design now hangs wonderfully above my desk and every time I glance at it *cue* all the feels.

I’m thousands of miles away from the city I call home, but the organized chaos of the print makes me proud to show-off where I come from. The design is elegant, modern, and printed on museum-quality paper so it’s thick and durable.

I chose the 18 x 24 Toronto ON Map Wall Art in White, but if wall art isn’t your thang there are options for map designs on pillows or phone cases. This particular piece was $69.99 USD, which could be $$$ for the average joe but the quality is top-notch and you’ll no doubt hang it with pride. It’s also a conversation starter. When guests enter my apartment it’s the first thing they see and ask about..or shall I say.. ABOOT. Ha. K, sorry.

How very Canadian me to apologize for a terrible joke.

Which city would you hang proudly in your home/office? Perhaps it’s your hometown, or even the best city you’ve ever visited? Comment below or tweet me @Jessica_Moy!

Disclaimer: Modern Map Art sent me this lovely piece, but all opinions are 100% honest and my own.

EATING LIVE OCTOPUS AT JALGACHI FISH MARKET

Published by Jessica Moy

The title of this blog post is a little deceiving because A) I’m not the one who actually ate the live octopus and B) I’m not even going to highlight much of that experience. I’m sorry if you clicked here thinking you’d see a plethora of squirming tentacles and disgusted faces. If that’s what you’re craving, scroll down to my first vlog.

Otherwise, here’s an update on my life!

I’m incredibly happy that my dad, brother, aunt, and uncle visited me last month. I was missing home a bunch and it was nice to be surrounded by FAMiliarity. I took them on a tour around the entire city and according to my brother, we walked approximately 30,000 steps in only one day. They tired me da faq out.

We walked along Haeundae Beach where I showed them a little mermaid statue named Princess Hwangok who sits atop of a rock along the coast. She is from Naranda, a mythical sea kingdom of mermaids. As the story goes, she left home to go on an adventure but as time went one she would often sit on a rock, look out onto the water, and feel a little homesick. K BUT LIKE, THAT’S LITERALLY ME THO!

We also went to the Jalgachi Fish Market, a tourist attraction in Busan if you’re looking for fresh seafood or, to gander at all the weird creatures you didn’t know existed on this earth. Outside the market was a nice little pier so I had my brother snap a pic of me breathing in that good ol’ vitamin sea. I truly love living near the water, I’m thankful that I do.

Vlog time! Fast forward to 2:07, I dare you.

I had the pleasure of attending Seoul Fashion Week again this year. The designers of R.SHEMISTE invited me to their F/W ’17 show, and I can never pass up an awesome opportunity like that! I guess you can say SFW is officially a tradition now.

The best part about fashion week is the street style outside the shows. Trendy men, women, and even kiddies stand against the walls waiting for photographers to snap a pic of their carefully curated outfits. I caved in when I saw the cuties below, the little boy even gave me a heart kiss. GAH! ADORABLE!

I stayed in Seoul with my friend Dev who recently moved to the city. The next morning, after SFW shenanigans, we went to Lotte Department Store and grabbed some Vietnamese food. It was delicious, PHO sho. Heh heh. I’m not PHOnny. K, I’ll stop.

Yes, another vlog! In the video below I attempt to be stylish, make a fool out of myself at a drag show, be annoying as can be, etc.

Finally, as you would have seen in the above vlog, I mentioned I will be running a 10k marathon in October. I’m super excited because I haven’t competed in a run since moving here to SoKo. The weather is getting nicer and I’m finally going to make use of the beautiful neighborhood track at Gudeok Stadium. It’ll be a summer filled with daily workouts, mountain sightings, and staying away from all of the visor-wearing ajummas because if I get in the way of their daily fast walks.. they’ll run me over.

I hope you have a wonderful week ahead, and if you’re not, remember that ice cream (with a lot of caramel) cures all.

Jessica

I’M A RETURNING EPIK TEACHER, HERE ARE 4 THINGS THAT ARE DIFFERENT

Published by Jessica Moy

“I’m only going to stay one year!” At least that’s what I told myself when I moved halfway across the world. Fast forward 365 days. When the moment came where I had to decide whether I should go back to Toronto or re-sign my contract, it only took a millisecond for me to admit, “I’m not ready to go.” I’ve been living in Busan, South Korea for a year and two months and as a returning EPIK teacher, here are 4 things that are different this time around:

1. As a picky eater, finding food I like is way easier

For the first few months of living in Busan, I struggled to find food I enjoyed. My stomach wasn’t used to the copious amount of spicy sauce on my chicken, sugar on bagels, or salty seafood soups. Now that I’m familiar with the area I live in and have searched high and low for grocery stores that sell my favourite foods and restaurants that serve dishes I love, I feel better knowing that I always have a go-to meal figured out.

2. Patience when it comes to language barriers

I didn’t speak a word of Korean when I first arrived in Busan and felt constantly lost, frustrated, and remember almost bursting into tears one night because I didn’t know how to tell a taxi driver directions home. I have developed more patience when it comes to not being understood. I’ve learned there are different ways of communicating whether it be hand motions, broken Korean, or even pictures. I keep a photo in my phone of the hospital name near my house so taxi drivers always know where to drop me off.

3. Bonds with my students are stronger

I am lucky enough to stay in the same school this year. My students and I have a great relationship and they were delighted to see me again, and vice versa. The best part of returning to the same school is that lesson planning is a piece of cake since it’s already done! I simply develop the ideas from the past year and intertwine it with what I know will engage my students.

4. Do more, see more, travel more

I jam-packed my schedule last year with events and festivals I wanted to attend yet still didn’t check everything off my list. Now that I have extended my stay I can finally go to Daegu’s Lantern Festival this month, travel to New Zealand and Australia in August, and run the 10k marathon I didn’t have time for last year in October. So much to do, so little time.

This post was created for EPIK e-Press.

HOLI HAI & SHOPPING AT COSTCO

Published by Jessica Moy

Hello friends,

I can’t believe it’s the end of March! This month flew by! It’s been a hot minute since I’ve updated you on my life so grab a snack and let’s get right into it.

My new dentist and I are BFF’s, I’ve seen the man four times this month.

The first visit was meant to be a check up but, that turned into an immediate procedure because I had an infected cavity. I was drugged during the appointment, which made the journey home challenging, especially because I got on the wrong bus but felt too drowsy to get off and figure it out. At least the view at the end of the line was nice.

I eventually made my way home three hours later, and if the day wasn’t long enough I stepped off of the bus, tripped, and smacked my face on the cement. I was still numb from my procedure so it didn’t hurt too much, but safe to say I stayed in for the rest of the night.

Second visit to the dentist was so my new BFF could make a mould for my aforementioned infected cavity. Third visit was to fill the cavity. Final visit was my regular check-up, which I’ve categorized into one of the top five most uncomfortable experiences of my life. You know how people hate the sound of nails on a chalkboard? For me it’s the sound of metal tools scrapping my teeth. I squirmed the entire time and the dentist had to keep telling me to stop moving.

Eventually I made it out alive, but barely.

I do have to go back in a couple months because he found another small hole on a tooth that he wants to fix in case it gets bigger. Oy vey. I explain more about it in the video below.

On a lighter note, March 8 was International Women’s Day. I wore a bad ass “Girl Power” t-shirt to work, which I found at a random boutique in Seomyeon. It’s now a new fav.

Two weekends ago the weather was absolutely perfect. I went shopping in Nampo to find little trinkets to Spring-ify my apartment, and my favourite pick of the day was a Rosemary diffuser I found at Daiso. Every time I enter my room it smells like I’ve softly fallen into a pile of cherry blossom flowers, and I am into it.

Speaking of cherry blossoms, they’re starting to bloom!

Ohhh a second vlog! Lucky you! I hope you’re still enjoying your snack because you have MORE entertainment for your eyeballs as you watch my friends and I attend Holi Hai at Haeundae Beach, a colourful festival to celebrate the arrival of Spring. It’s also known as the festival where you give permission to strangers to throw paint in your face.

Also, I go to Costco for the first time in SoKo and bought ALL OF THE MUFFINS!

A SHORT HISTORY OF NEARLY EVERYTHING – BILL BRYSON

Published by Jessica Moy

I first came across Bill Bryson while browsing the interwebs and stumbled upon this quote from his book, A Short History of Nearly Everything.

“To begin with, for you to be here now trillions of drifting atoms had somehow to assemble in an intricate and intriguingly obliging manner to create you. It’s an arrangement so specialized and particular that it has never been tried before and will only exist this once. For the next many years (we hope) these tiny particles will uncomplainingly engage in all the billions of deft, cooperative efforts necessary to keep you intact and let you experience the supremely agreeable but generally underappreciated state known as existence.”

Pretty powerful stuff, huh?

I read the first few pages on Amazon and immediately put the book into my cart and hit the purchase button. This is the type of book EVERYONE needs to get their hands on to simply get a better understanding of our universe and how we have ended up where we are now.

I learned that the universe is vast and our brains cannot comprehend infinity. Atoms are made up of more atoms that are made up of more atoms.. they have no end either.

Japan is laid upon three tectonic plates, which is why they have so many earthquakes and is a country just “waiting to die.”

The first dinosaur bones were discovered in America but the person who found them didn’t know what they were so he threw them into a closet to later have someone say “hey, these are reminisce of creatures that roamed the earth for millions of years so let’s get them out of this closet you fool” (maybe not exactly like that, but you get the gist).

I learned what oort clouds were, why geysers are cool AF, and that a comet the size of a house can hit earth and the impact would be so powerful that we, along with everything else on this planet, would die.

MIND. BLOWN.

I wanted to share a few more of my favourite quotes from Bryson’s book and I hope you too become as fascinated with the history of our universe as I am now. SCIENCE IS COOL!

“The average species on Earth lasts for only about four million years, so if you wish to be around for billions of years, you must be as fickle as the atoms that made you.”

“We live in a universe whose age we can’t compute, surrounded by stars whose distances we don’t altogether know, filled with matter we can’t identify, operating in conformance with physical laws whose properties we don’t truly understand.”

“It is easy to overlook this thought that life just is. As humans we are inclined to feel that life must have a point. We have plans and aspirations and desires. We want to take constant advantage of all the intoxicating existence we’ve been endowed with.”

“We have arrived at this position of eminence in a stunningly short time. Behaviourally modern human beings-that is, people who can speak and make art and organize complex activities-have existed for only about 0.0001 percent of Earth’s history. But surviving for even that a little while has required a nearly endless string of good fortune.”

KOREAN BEAUTY: PEEL-OFF LIP TINT

Published by Jessica Moy

You know the colour of your lips after you finished eating a cherry red popsicle? The stain is not perfect, it’s faded on the outside and it’s even a little patchy, but you’re kinda into it. If you ever wanted that wash of red to stay, you’re in luck with A’PIEU’s Harutatoo peel-off lip tint in RD01.

Watch as I peel-off my lips and experiment with this k-beauty innovation in my latest video on Get Up & Go Girl.

3 TIPS ON GOING TO THE DENTIST IN SOUTH KOREA

Published by Jessica Moy

I’m not the biggest fan of the dentist, never have been. No part of me fancies sitting in the plastic covered chair looking up at fluorescent lights and having someone pick at my teeth with metal foreign objects. I’ve been putting off a visit for a year (horrible, I know!) so last month I decided to put on my big girl pants and booked an appointment.

I’ve never had teeth cleaning done outside of Canada and I wanted to provide a few helpful tips for those who plan on going to the dentist as an EPIK teacher in South Korea.

1. Ask your social circle all the questions

The best way to find a dentist, especially an English speaking one, is to ask friends or fellow EPIK teachers. Luckily a friend of mine sent me the email address of her dentist and that’s how I made an appointment. When you go, all you need to bring is your ARC card and bank card.

2. Some procedures are covered under your medical insurance, some are not

From my understanding, teeth cleaning and teeth extractions (such as wisdom teeth) are covered under your medical insurance. I had an infected cavity and the procedure to fill it was unfortunately not covered. I was given a bill of ₩250,000 (YIKES!). My dentist was kind enough to offer a discount so I ended up paying ₩200,000. It’s still a hefty price but, you can’t put a price on your health. If you’d like a regular teeth cleaning my dentist priced it at around ₩14,000 and extractions around ₩50,000 per tooth.

3. Relax, they’ll take care of you

As I sat back in the chair, my dentist told me step-by-step what he was going to do before he did it, which was necessary since he covered my entire face with a paper mask so I only heard sounds of what was happening. I felt anxious when he started checking my teeth but relaxed as time went on, especially when I realized the entire process and the tools he was using were similar to what I’m used to back in Canada. During the appointment I had to get a numbing needle for my infected tooth and the dentist made sure I was comfortable and even took the time to show me graphics and pictures from a binder to explain what was wrong, which I appreciated.

This post was created for EPIK e-Press.

EAT KOREAN BBQ WITH ME

Published by Jessica Moy

Last night I met up with a friend who suggested we go to one of his favourite K-BBQ places for dinner. We made our way to PNU (Pusan National University) in Busan and thought it would be fun to take you along with us on a typical Friday night in SoKo. Bring on the samgyupsal, banchan, and meakju! 😉

This post was created for EPIK e-Press.

ATTENDING EPIK ORIENTATION AS A LECTURER

Published by Jessica Moy

It’s Sunday night and I’m shovelling handfuls of organic granola in my mouth. I think I’m addicted. It’s the kind with dark chocolate and red berries mixed in and I may eat the entire bag in this one sitting (no shame). I haven’t made dinner yet, but all that sounds appetizing right now is granola so, this is indeed supper tonight.

Speaking of dinner, not too long ago I went to Loving Hut, a vegan place that is walking distance from my apartment. I went in, took off my shoes, sat on the heated floor, read a book, and munched on delicious curry. I never used to eat dinner by myself at restaurants, it would actually make me feel uncomfortable to sit there and not have anyone to talk to. Since living in SoKo, solo dinner dates have been the norm. It’s actually one of my favourite things I do and highly recommend taking yourself out and enjoying your own company every once and awhile.

Last month I went to renew my visa at the immigration office, which was an easy process and I was in and out in 15 minutes. Afterwards I had the afternoon off and since it was a nice day I went to Songdo Beach for a stroll. While I was walking along the see-through glass boardwalk (yup, that’s a thing!), I remembered that exactly 365 days ago on that day I was on a plane from Toronto to Busan. My life has changed enormously since I’ve moved here and it’s surreal to think a year has gone by already. I had no idea what I was in for when I initially moved, but I knew this was exactly where I needed to be.

One thing I have been happy to be a part of lately is volunteering at Soyang Orphanage. A group of us (English teachers, university students, etc) go once a month and bring activities such as face painting, soccer balls, or skipping ropes and play with the kiddies for a couple hours. I did a mini photo shoot sesh with the cuties below.

Spring weather is *almost* here and I did a Spring Style Lookbook (click title to watch) on Get Up & Go Girl. You should check it out. Right meow. I’ll wait.

This will be my last year in South Korea. CUE ALL THE SADS! I feel like my entire first year was spent floating on a cloud in a dream-like state since everything was shiny and new. This year, I feel more like a resident and plan on picking up more of the language if I can. It’s been a struggle thus far and it’s embarrassing to tell people I can’t have a simple conversation in Korean. I’ll learn, eventually. At least I can read Hangul. It’s all about baby steps.

In the meantime, watch my vlog to see me celebrate my first year anniversary in SoKo! Woo!

As I was walking to the convenience store the other day I looked up and saw this pup glaring down at me. Relatable. It’s the same stare I give when I’m waiting for the pizza delivery guy to arrive.

Oh? What’s this? Another vlog? Lucky you! This year I was invited to be a lecturer at this years EPIK orientations. I felt honoured to have been part of it all, especially because I got to meet the lecturers that spoke during my intake and all of the incoming teachers who are so bright-eyed and bushy tailed. Bless them.

That’s all the recent updates from me. I hope you’ve had an amazing weekend! If you didn’t, may I recommend handfuls of granola, dark chocolate, and red berries. It’s seriously giving me all the happy feels right now.

WISE LIFE ADVICE FROM A VOGUE EDITOR

Published by Jessica Moy

I stumbled upon a Vogue article written by Contributing Editor Molly Guy about the 40 things she’s learned on her 40 years on earth. I loved her honesty and rawness and wanted to share a few of my favs.

1. Smoking cigarettes is the stupidest thing you can do.

2. Don’t believe the hype about high school sex. Anything you learned about losing your virginity is a marketing ploy invented by Aaron Spelling to make your 14-year-old self feel ugly and in need of new breasts. In two decades a lady named Lena Dunham will appear on the scene and relieve gals everywhere of the burden to be a mute hairless newt with no subjectivity during sexual intercourse. In the meantime, if it doesn’t feel good, say no and stop.

3. Miracles happen. That girl you thought would never fall in love will fall in love. That sibling who pledged to never speak to you again will speak to you again. Your friend with three failed rounds of IVF and two miscarriages will soon call you from the hospital cot post C-section, a baby on each breast. After a lifetime of wishing you were a different sort of person living a different sort of life, you will one day be walking down to the train, look at your feet on the street and think: I am where I want to be.

4. Fuck luck. Results equals humility plus hard work. Suit up, show up, shut up. Do the same thing, day after day, year after year, and good things will come your way. Talent is nice but not necessary.

5. Contrary to what your mid-20s, intoxicated, star-fucking, smeary-eyelinered self might think, the warm, worn body you have now is beautiful. It has housed and fed two humans who like to lie on your lap and legs like furniture.

6. Salad dressing: maple syrup, shallots, lemon, olive oil, dijon. Roasted vegetables: olive oil, salt, pepper, 425 degrees for 20 minutes. Smoothies: milk, yogurt, frozen blueberries, banana, honey, blend. Seamless pad thai when you get home past 6:30 p.m. String cheese and pear in purse, always.

THE 10-STEP KOREAN SKINCARE ROUTINE

Published by Jessica Moy

There’s a secret behind the luminosity of Koreans and their porcelain skin, and it’s a complex 10-step system. This highly popularized Korean skincare regime is the norm for beauty fanatics, including myself in SoKo. I get asked all of the time about product recommendations and it’s taken a year to finally put together the perfect lineup for my skin type (dry/sensitive). Below is a better understanding of each step and brands I actually love/use to inspire your own Korean skincare quest.

STEP 1: Oil-based cleanser

NEOGEN Real Fresh Cleansing Stick Green Tea (Olive Young, ₩18,000)

First step is massaging a gentle cleanser all over the face. This one from NEOGEN is my favourite because it contains 13 natural oils that breakdown my makeup (including eye area) and green tea to help reduce inflammation. Bonus: It’s travel friendly since it’s a stick, not a liquid.

STEP 2: Exfoliation

Bamboo Charcoal Peeling Gel (Amazon, $27)

I use this chemical exfoliant from Aritaum twice a week and it literally lifts and rolls dead skin from my face, which is kinda gross, but also kinda satisfying.

STEP 3: Water-based cleanser

Tea Tree Soft Bubble Foam (SKINFOOD, ₩11,000)

This step is commonly known as the double cleanse and it gets rid of anything my cleanser or exfoliator left behind. I love this one from SKINFOOD because tea tree is an anti-bacterial ingredient, which means it will reduce irritation and acne.

STEP 4: Toner

Tea Tree Clearing Toner (SKINFOOD, ₩11,000)

I squirt three pumps on a cotton pad, gently swipe my entire face, and love the tingly feeling this toner leaves behind.

STEP 5: Essence

Time Revolution The First Treatment Essence (MISSHA, ₩49,000)

One of the most popular skincare products in South Korea, this miracle water revives my skin to make it brighter and clearer. I pour a few drops in my hand and gently pat all over my entire face and neck.

STEP 6: Face mask

I’m Real Aloe Mask Sheet (TONYMOLY, ₩1,000)

I do a sheetmask twice a week, and this one is my all-time favourite. I leave the sheetmask on my face for 20-30 minutes and my skin is supple and glowing for a solid 24 hours.

STEP 7: Eye cream

Orchid Eye Cream (Amazon, $20)

I take a pea size amount and apply the cream by gently padding my finger tips around my eye area like I’m playing the piano. Orchid is an ingredient that has been used in Asia for centuries to reduce fine lines, and this one from Innisfree has fancy shmacy orchid extracts from Jeju (an island in SoKo!).

STEP 8: Ampoule

Time Revolution Night Repair Science Activator Ampoule (MISSHA, ₩49,000)

Ampoule could be a foreign word to the average beauty lover, but it’s essentially a serum that is highly concentrated. There are a ton of powerful ingredients in this one from MISSHA such as Fermented Bifida, known for it’s skin healing powers.

STEP 9: Emulsion

CHIA SEED Hydrating Emulsion (The Face Shop, ₩25,000)

After all of the above steps I apply an emulsion, which is a tad lighter than a regular moisturizer, to lock in all the goodness.

STEP 10: SPF

Perfect Daily Sun Cream (YesStyle, $10)

The sun in the number-one cause of aging skin so a high SPF sun cream, like this one from Scinic, is your BFF. Pat it onto your face before applying makeup OR when purchasing BB creams or compact cushions, look for ones that have SPF included because coverage and skincare rolled into one is a win-win.

Have you tried any of these products? Do you have a Korean skincare staple? Let me know in the comments below or tweet me @Jessica_Moy.

This post was created for EPIK e-Press.

HAPPY VALEN..TUES..DAY

Published by Jessica Moy

HAPPY VALENTINE’S DAY! And if you don’t celebrate the commercial day of love, um, happy Tuesday? Or, best of both worlds, Happy Valen..Tues..Day. Heh heh. I’m not funny, but these cards from Emily McDowell are..

I’m currently desk-warming and spent three consecutive hours catching up on the latest season of ANTM.

A few notes:

I need a new wardrobe, specifically cute crop tops and bralettes because all of the contestants wear them in each episode and they look fly AF.
Rita Ora and I need to be BFF’s.
I appreciate that the show is focusing on branding these models by incorporating their business and social media skills and not just producing a pretty face. #slay

Beyonce’s Lemonade album is currently blasting in my ears, and I’m trying to kill another couple hours until I can escape from this desk. TBH, I have no game plan when I started writing this blog post so I’m going to go ahead and do a stream of consciousness.

It’s V-Day today, and throughout the week I drafted two posts about love and relationships but trashed both because they didn’t seem quite right. It felt forced because I am soooooo far removed from dating and romance that anything I wrote was cliche and didn’t feel authentic. If you want to read a V-Day related post, I wrote one last year: 5 DATING TIPS TO CONSIDER OR WHATEVER.

At the end of the month I will be attending three EPIK orientations – Busan, Daejeon, and Kongju. EPIK has invited me to critique lesson demos which I am excited to be a part of, especially because I get to meet, answer questions, and interact with some of the incoming teachers. It will be a lot of traveling and early mornings but should be fun, looking forward to it.

My one year anniversary since moving to Busan, South Korea is this Saturday and you best believe I will be getting myself a cake and eating it on the exact same place on my apartment floor where I ate ramen on the very first night I officially moved to Asia. Wow! That was a year ago.

I remember my co-teacher picking me up from orientation and dropping me off at my place late at night, leaving ramen packages for me to survive off of, a serious lifesaver since the direction to the grocery store was unknown to me at the time. As I ate the ramen I looked around at my empty apartment, it was dark and quiet. There was nothing in my closet and walls were bare. After I finished eating I pulled out the biggest sweaters I had from my luggage and put them into a pillowcase I brought from home. I had to sleep on THAT the first night because I didn’t have a proper pillow.

I felt slightly paranoid because I’ve never lived on my own before. I made my rounds and locked EVERY door and kept the bathroom light on like a nightlight. I put on a baggy t-shirt, texted my mom to tell her I was fine, and fell asleep.. sort of.. I woke up every now and again when I heard the wind clattering my windows or when a cat meowed (those damn cats still make noises during the night).

The below photo is me the morning after, ready to seize the day, and then unexpectedly dropping $300 on bedding. LOL. Good times.

Fast forward 365 days and here I am. Here, we are.

This will be my last year in SoKo.

In another 365 days I will be back in Toronto, Canada figuring out the next stage in my life. I’m not quite sure what those next steps are but, the only thing I’m concerned about is what flavour cake I want to eat on Saturday.

Jessica