Extreme Dating

Having a boyfriend or girlfriend seems like a necessity for Koreans.  But dating here isn't quite like dating in the U.S.  The more serious you are, the more matchy-matchy your wardrobes become.  You know a couple is madly, deeply in love when they become identical twins.  Picture same colored shoes, same type of pant (generally jeans), and matching shirts or sweatshirts.  No, I'm not lying.  They actually match.  On purpose.

Being in a relationship doesn't just mean dressing the part (wow, big shocker here in Korea).  There are also a plethora of couples' holidays with their own rules and regulations.
11/11 - Pepero Day: The 1s look like a treat the Koreans eat called "Pepero."  It tastes and looks like a very skinny pretzel or breadstick that's covered in chocolate.  Both men and women exchange Pepero on this day.
12/25 - Christmas: Enough said.
1/1 - New Years:  Most couples don't kiss out in public, but on midnight all the lights Myong-dong (a popular shopping area and tourist attraction) are turned off so that all the couples who have gathered there can kiss without others seeing it.
2/14 - Valentine's Day: Only the women give men chocolate.
3/`4 - White Day: Only the men give women candy.
4/14 - Black Day: On this day, all single men and women go to Chinese restaurants and order "black noodles."  It's a yummy noodle dish with a black bean sauce poured over it.  Supposedly it's a way for the singles to mingle and hopefully find a significant other.
5/14 - Rose Day: All the men give their girlfriends roses.
6/14 - Ring Day: This is a big day for engagements, but both men and women will exchange rings.  Even those in middle and high school will exchange simple bands.
7/14 - Kiss Day: I think you get the pictures.
8/14 - Sex Day: Yep.  They have a day dedicated to sex.  I was totally shocked, too.

I believe September and October 14 both have special meanings attached to the date but Peter (my former Korean tutor) couldn't remember what they were.  I think all Americans would stop complaining about remembering and buying gifts for their significant other on their anniversaries and Valentine's Day if they knew what happened in Korea.  I hope everyone had a great Valentine's Day!

Thailand

 I spent 5 amazing days in Thailand and I can't wait to go back.  Coming back to Korea was so hard.  I stayed in Krabi (a.k.a. James Bond Island) which is near Phuket.  It was one of the most beautiful places I've ever been.  I've never seen foliage and rock formations quite like this anywhere else in the world.  When we landed in Krabi we took a bus that was bursting at the seams with people and luggage to a pier where we had to take a boat to our hotel.  When we got out of the bus we were informed that we had to carry our luggage to the boat.  No big deal right?  Wrong!  We had to drag our suitcases down stairs, through sand, and then carry them over our heads onto the "boat."  If we had known this maybe we wouldn't have packed so much!  The boat was a long wooden boat that went no faster than 20 mph.  We bought a few beers and then crammed together all the while praying that the boat wouldn't sink from the weight of the bags and people.  The beers weren't twist-offs like we thought, so with the use of a sturdy belt buckle we were able to pry open the tops.  We quickly forgot about all our worries and went into pure vacation mode thanks to the beauty that surrounded us took.  It literally took our breaths away.

Once we got to our hotel we changed into our suits and laid out on the gorgeous beach.  The tide in Thailand is quite drastic.  At high tide there was about 20 ft. of beach to lay out on.  At low tide, though, the water receded out so far it looked like it would never come back.  The next 4 days were spent in pure bliss.  The weather was perfect, the people were kind, the food was delicious, and the Thai massages were so cheap we had a couple throughout our stay.  Everything in Thailand is ridiculously cheap: delicious curry for $2-4, fresh fruit smoothies for $1.25, and hour-long massages hovered right around $10.  We did some shopping for handmade goods and bartered with the locals.  We even got to see monkeys swinging around the trees at our hotel.

We explored the surrounding islands by kayak, boat, and snorkeling and scuba adventures.  Kayaks were so cheap to rent so we explored some caverns and a neighboring island.  One day we took a two hour boat ride to Ko Phi Phi (where the movie "The Beach" was filmed and also rated one of the best beaches from a movie) where we went scuba diving.  The water was so warm and we saw some eel, giant sea clams, bright coral, beautiful fish, and swam through caves.  I felt just like the Little Mermaid.  There were only about 6 other people with us so we got to know them really well.  It was a great day.  The next day we went on a 4-island snorkel tour.  There were so many people we had to split up into two boats.  There was a huge Italian family with 13 people and they were quite the party.  Unfortunately they weren't well versed in snorkeling etiquette and stepped all over a bunch of coral and then onto a sea urchin.  Needless to say our 20 year-old German guide was not to happy.  He was quite the character and was the epitome of a laid-back, carefree, "no problem man" islander attitude.  I thought he was hilarious but he definitely got on the nerves of some of our companions.  We had a beach bonfire after watching the sunset and ate delicious curry.  Then we did a night snorkel where we saw the "glowing" kelp.

I was not excited about leaving this tropical paradise and return to the frigid arctic of Korea.  Ok, frigid arctic might be a slight exaggeration but that's what it feels like to me.  Let's just say I'm ready for spring to be here.  I was not made for winter so hopefully spring will bloom soon.  I'm hoping to get to Japan at the beginning of June to climb Mt. Fuji!  After being to Thailand I'm dying to see other parts of Southeast Asia.  Whenever I leave Korea I would love to spend a couple months going around Cambodia, the Philippines, Singapore, Vietnam, Bali, back to Thailand, and maybe Laos.