Monday, April 8

Since there’s so little else going on these days, I thought I’d at least start sharing my daily outfit posts again. Which could be equally as boring as “what I did this week,” since I have like 20 pieces of clothing that I wear on heavy repeat. So much so that things have been falling apart: seams worn through, holes, not to mention stains (#I’mLookingAtYouRedSoups). Also, right now, because of my knee pain (have I mentioned I have knee pain? HA HA HA HA HA), I am trying to wear things that are loose around my knee when I sit. Which means my way-too-big Athleta pants that are so long that I finally just hacked off the bottoms with some scissors and didn’t try to re-hem them (maybe Korean Santa will bring me a sewing kit…or better yet, one of those little hand-held sewing “machines”) and so large in the elastic waist that I’m constantly having to lean both crutches on the front of my body so I can use both hands to hoick them back up where they belong (right under my boobs)…AND my mustard linen pants that, thank goodness spring is here, I finally pulled out of the “off season” closet.

I could REALLY use some new clothes. I didn’t even buy anything new to come to Korea. In January 2023 I meant to write a “how I unintentionally had a no-buy year in 2022” post but then LIFE…so it’s really been a long time!!! I DID buy a FEW things back in January…Old Navy to Katie, from Katie to Korea, to being stuck here in customs for several weeks while I and my Korean friends tried to figure out what the hold-up was (money. the hold-up is always money), to FINALLY receiving the package of mostly winter items just as it was getting warm here. So they’ve been put away for next winter. Except for one green pullover that I did wear on St. Patrick’s Day.

Now I’m waiting for ANOTHER Old Navy -> Katie -> Korea package, and hopefully we learned some lessons with the last time and it will NOT be held up in customs.  Also, if things arrive and don’t fit…that’s the end of it. It’s way too costly to send things BACK to the US.

I really need to find some places in Korea that sell plus size in styles I like. Plus size is just REALLY not a thing here. There’s a site that always comes up on Instagram called Cider…it seems a little Shein-like, cheap, fast fashion…but I’m a little desperate here. They have a “curve” section and with my next Social Security check I’m going to take the gamble and buy one pair of pants just to see.

Anyway, trying to decide if I should just include the OOTDs here in the weekly review post…or let it be stand-alone weekly outfit post. What do you think? As for me, I think including them here is easier, but making a weekly dedicated OOTD post might be better. 

Anyway, today was the speaking portion of the midterm. It only lasts five minutes. You’re in a room alone with a teacher (not my teacher) and she gives prompts and asks questions…you need to understand and respond appropriately. I think this was my best one so far. I THINK I passed…but the grading on this is more subjective than the written portion, so we shall see. At least I didn’t get as apoplectically nervous as I have in the past.

Then, since it was still early (my time slot was like 2:35-2:40pm), I had Uber drop me at the next door convenience store where I got an ice coffee and another bangeo-ppang ice cream sandwich. Then I played Words with Friends and did New York Times word games for like 2 hours. It was so nice I didn’t want to go inside!

I was so tired I got in bed at 7:30 and think I was asleep around 8. But then I was awake at midnight, and it is now 2:05am as I’m writing this cuz I couldn’t get back to sleep. My sleep is pretty messed up recently.

Tuesday, April 9

This is my new favorite “wear around the house” get-up (my mother always called outfits she didn’t like “get-ups”). I’ll wear it outside my room to go to the kitchen or downstairs for coffee, or even to the convenience store, but that’s as far as it goes.

At this point I have been up for almost 24 hours, ugh. I am bleary-eyed for sure…but need to fnish a few things before I go to sleep (hopefully go to sleep).

Back to normal class, but the Tue/Thur teacher is speeding up like crazy! I can keep up on paper, but when she throws questions out at a million miles an hour, I can’t keep up 🙁

After class I met with LEP#2. I was not my usual dazzling self HA HA HA HA. Last week he said I looked depressed (pretty astute, that one), this week I just looked tired.

I’m preparing my absentee ballot for the presidential election come fall. Don’t want to miss THAT.

Tomorrow is election day here, not presidental…but we have no class because of it. Yay. I just turned my alarm off and I’m headed to bed in a few and can sleep as late as I’m able tomorrow. PLEASE don’t let me wake up 2am and be awake all night!!!

Wednesday, April 10

I would love to have this button-down shortened a bit, and side slits put in the…sides to ease the fit through the belly. I’ve lost 35lbs since I’ve been here and for the life of me I can’t figure out where it came off cuz most things still feel snug!

Well, I made it to 3am. Ugh. Fortunately, I was back to sleep in under an hour, woke up at 6 and feel relatively rested.

Exchanging winter for summer. Not an easy task when there’s lot more “bulk” in winter clothing…and nowhere to put it!

Today was cleaning up my room, getting all the trash out, doing laundry, and packing an overnight bag Just In Case I get admitted when I go to the hospital tomorrow morning for my doctor’s appointment. A couple people have told me it can happen that way.

Fortunately, several weeks ago when I thought surgery was imminent, I ordered some things off Coupang that my “hospital packing list” was lacking (or out of), like a new 10′ phone charger, US:Korea ac adaptors, chapstick, new toothbrush, a book, etc. I’ll share my complete hospital packing list in an upcoming How To Hospital post (that I’ve only been meaning to write since 2017, so…). So be sure to hold your breath for that.

Then I left around 4pm for a restaurant 45-minutes away to meet Hyungeun for dinner.  It’s in an old traditional hanok building and their specialty is samgyetang:  ginseng chicken soup. And they make ginseng wine which I’ve been dying to try. I always see huge jars of this in kdramas, with the ginseng roots still in it.

I got there first, so I walked around for a bit until he got there.

The soup was delicious, but so many Korean foods are so hard for me to eat! So this soup is an entire chicken (intact) in a pot of water (with seasonings and stuff). But so what is brought to you at the table is a whole chicken, still on the bone, in practically boiling water. And a spoon. And chopsticks. So while your dinner companion is deftly removing all the bones from his chicken and then happily eating away…you are WORKING for every small bite. If I was alone at home I’d have just pulled that sucker out of the water, put on my plastic gloves and pulled all the meat off, returned the meat to the soup, and gotten on with my life. But. I’m not at home. I’m in Korea. So I’m trying really hard to do it their way but DAMN. The net is I never eat quite as much as I want 🙁 And this was really good.

So the plan is, you’re supposed to pull chicken parts apart with the chopsticks (it’s very tender and falls apart pretty easily) and place them in a shallow bowl, where you really separate the meat from the bone. The bones go in a little bowl pot…then you dip the boiled chicken in a little dish of salt and pepper to eat. It’s quite tasty.

Plus, the ginseng wine. That was interesting. The bottle still has the ginseng root in in, so that’s cool. The wine itself is sort of like sweet/medicinal. Like dessert echinacea (dirt water that staves off sore throats). And at 20% alcohol has a nice little kick.

If I had my own place I’d like to have a couple bottles on a bar cart cuz they’re nice to look at.

After dinner we walked just a short distance to a 술집 (small bar) and had gorgonzola pizza (which I LOVE), served with honey for dipping (YUM how has the US not picked up on this yet) and just one bottle of beer + soju between us. The ginseng wine had done its job well.

Question. Not advice, just curious. Two people here (Korean), when hearing that I have been drinking with my hurt knee, have been ADAMANT that YOU CANNOT DRINK WITH YOUR HURT KNEE. Which…I don’t really understand. On a physical/medical level, alcohol is not going to further damage a torn ligament. I’m not on any kind of medication. And even when I *was* taking the (useless) pain relievers, it’s not like I was driving or operating heavy machinery. So the only thing I can think is that they’re concerned I get falling down drunk and further injure myself. Which a) I NEVER get falling down drunk. I’m EXTREMELY self-aware (well, always, but…) when I drink and never go past that point. B) I’m drinking with a person I trust to not LET me get falling down drunk…or even fall down. And c) If I was a person who got falling down drunk, maybe be concerned about THAT…

Is there some part of this I’m missing?? One of them is a known non-drinker, so that I get. They already have an opinion about drinking. But the other one references drinking frequently so I don’t think it’s an alcohol bias, per se. So I’m just not sure where this “don’t drink with a hurt knee” sentiment comes from.

Thoughts??

Thursday, April 11

Well, today was stoopid. I had the doctor’s appointment at 9:30am. I was trying to get my “just in case” hospital bag together and was finally like this is stupid, there is NO WAY they can admit me today…we haven’t done any pre-op testing, they haven’t told me to not eat for x hours before surgery, etc…so I left the unfinished bag at home.

It was a longer wait to see the doctor than usual. This was the surgeon who will be doing the procedure. It was the first time I’ve spoken with him. His English was okay, not 100%…and he maybe understood 50% of MY english. In hindsight, THIS was really the day I should have had a translator with me. The net of the convo was…the surgery will not be for two more weeks and he is not optimistic that it will relieve all the pain…and a knee replacement is not suggested for another 5-10 years. And don’t go to Japan in May.

It was a lot of disappointment in a very short time.

Then we did the pre-op stuff: EKG, blood, urine, x-ray. Then I met with the scheduling/pricing consultant. She spoke maybe 5% English, so we struggled. We used our phone translator apps but those are just not that reliable for complex conversations. I’m not exactly sure I understanding the pricing. Plus, there’s a lot of add-ons. If the dr gets in and sees THIS, then he can do it for $xxx, but if he gets in and sees THAT, he’ll have to do THIS thing for $xxxx. If there’s room in a 4-person room that will be less money, but if there are only rooms available in a 2-person room that will be more money. And so on. And while it will cost much less than it would in the US, it’s still going to be a lot ($3-5,000?) and to think that this may not even relieve the pain…

I am feeling very discouraged.

Anyway, I made it home without crying that much (I had to ask for a tissue in the consultant’s office cuz tears kept slipping down my face), but when I got home I had a good sob and then took a nap.

I have not been sleeping well. On bad knee knights, no matter what position I’m in, the pain is distracting enough to keep me from falling/staying asleep.

I didn’t get to class cuz the hospital took longer than expected and I was exhausted and the thought of getting myself up the %*%#@ hill just…was too much.

Oh, so the surgery will be on April 25th. One night stayover, will be released on April 26th. And then it’s sort of unclear what follows. He said recovery would take six weeks and I should not walk. I was like AT ALL? Or “much”? Because…I can’t not walk AT ALL. That is just not feasible.

It’s just all frustrating and hard to understand and WHY??? I know that’s a stupid question, “why did this happen to me – why did this happen to me NOW?” Well, it happened cuz I’m old and overweight and in a situation where I have to do a lot of walking and climb a lot of stairs and get up a lot of hills. I was never in this situation before. At home I was old and overweight but drove everywhere and stairs/hills were not part of my everyday existence. So now I am broken while in a very inconvenient situation.

Sad.

Friday, April 12

Sleep, while still broken, was a little better last night. Some days the knee takes pity on me and hurts a little less…so at least I got some rest. And now I have to catch up on classwork I missed yesterday. But it’s Friday, THANK GOODNESS. Oh, and I should get my midterm grades today. Fingers crossed. I feel there’s a good chance I might have actually passed everything.

My one goal for the weekend is to get myself out of my pity party for a bit and do something fun (fun but easy), even if it hurts, because…just staying home/close to home most of the time is really getting me down.

a few hours later….

BIG NEWS. BIG. I actually passed my midterms! All the parts! Even the speaking and listening! I’m a little in shock. But pretty proud of myself. Go me.

Saturday, April 13

The tables all had these purse holders so purses didn’t need to be set on the floor.

I almost backed out (sometimes, even things I WANT to do, I don’t want to do), but I FORCED myself out of the building today. I went to nearby Seongsu, a nice town just like a 12-minute taxi ride away. I literally walked home from there one day (unknowingly). And I like the vibe there. It’s very “Williamsburg, Brooklyn before it got too big for its britches.” It was a very industrial, warehousy type of area before gentrification began…and its specialty was shoe makers. So there are still some shoe makers and “shoe visuals,” to keep the history intact. But really it’s full of nice cafes and little shops. But not all bunched together (for the most part). You have to walk down a warehouse block to find one or two new things, and I like that feel.

Anyway, I went for breakfast – and it’s hard to find actual BREAKFAST, they’re mostly just coffee and pastries – but I found a place with french toast that was LOVELY…it was like a deep-fried brioche with some kind of cream on top…and blueberry puree. Very nice. But the best part, outdoor seating under an awning (aka IN THE SHADE, my favorite place). Of course since I was a solo diner I was just on the edge of the shade so it wasn’t perfect but…it got better as I sat there awhile and the sun moved more overhead and out of my line of sight.

The people-watching from my spot was excellent. It was a gorgeous day and the people were OUT. In their best cool girl/guy Korean street fashion. What a pleasure. Like Pinterest pages come to life. I WISH I could have gotten pictures but…that’s awkward and difficult and weird and then I usually don’t feel right sharing them on social anyway. But I really enjoyed my time there, in the (almost) shade, with an iced coffee, and the entertainment free for the watching.

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Then I went (and mind you, this was Uber to Uber, I’m still not walking any real distance, though I AM walking) to Seoul Forest Park which is a giant park that I think used to be a horse racetrack, which…horse racing in Korea? Sounds so not like a thing to me, but apparently it was (and still is, just somewhere else). I’ve been here before, in the fall. Now it was spring…the cherry petals were all on the ground, but the tulip beds were bursting with color…and people taking pictures.

This is a VERY picture-centric city. And they KNOW how to take a picture! They’re getting ALL the angles – high, low, good backgrounds, where’s the best lighting, etc. *I* want a Korean Instagram boyfriend/photographer!

Anyway, I walked a few very short distances, mostly from one shaded bench to the next, without getting very far from where I could get an Uber when it was time to leave, but still…had a nice little change of scenery, saw cute families, eavesdropped a bit (a VERY little bit) on conversations…and basically just had a nice, much-needed, little outing.

Then went home and took a nap.

Sunday, April 14

To offset yesterday, I never left the abode today. I puttered, napped, straightened, studied, and ordered pork cutlets for lunch and groceries to be delivered throughout the week. Just a quiet day in preparation for the week ahead.

Tomorrow is Tax Day. Sadly, because I only worked half of 2023, my refund is going to be drastically smaller…but at least I don’t owe.

Another week down. Another one ahead. Theoretically.