The Korea Top Ten Lists (originally posted 28 August 06)

[Note: Looking back through these old blogs that I posted on MySpace during my first sojourn in SK has really brought back memories. Some are good; some are at least amusing. Since I'm planning to delete my MySpace account soon, I wanted to preserve them here.]

I've compiled the following lists of things that I expect to miss and things I believe I will happily leave behind. I've excluded things that are completely obvious or things that are lacking (i.e. variety of food).

Top 10 things I will miss about Korea (kind-of, sort-of in order):
10. the occasional thrill of getting to use my limited vocabulary and phrases
9. coffee vending machines everywhere -- 30 cents for a small cup
8. a free apartment
7. cheap knitting needles and other domestically-made goods
6. cheap and readily available buses and taxis, which eliminate the need for a car -- also, the extra money saved on car insurance, gasoline, and maintenance
5. the amusement of reading ridiculous English sayings everywhere (t-shirts, menus, walls, etc.)
4. meeting and working with people from different countries and backgrounds -- we're all some kind of crazy!
3. living 5 minutes from the beach and 20 minutes from the mountains
2. noraebang (private singing rooms)
1. kids who crack me up on a daily basis and really want to learn English

Top 10 things I will NOT miss about Korea:
10. air-drying all the laundry, including towels (ugh...crunchy)
9. my feet being the only "average-sized" thing about me
8. smelly kids who shower once a week (the minority) and/or don't want to learn anything
7. crowds and people getting into my "bubble" far too often
6. soju- and kimchi-tinged body odor (not mine, because I don't imbibe -- other people's)
5. humidity
4. mosquito bites
3. not-quite-right food: whipped cream on a baked potato, maraschino cherries on nachos, etc....
2. the sewer and fish smells that pop up randomly on the street
1. being stared at constantly and often talked about as if I am not there or cannot understand (which I sometimes can)