alcohol, donuts, mud

oh my god, i am about to burst with emotion. i start to cry when i think about how much i have digested within this little corner of the world, and how much greater everything is than i've imagined. it's all too easy to whine and kick and scream about going back to american mickey mouse culture when there's still so much to learn here. i have met so many wonderful people that i will refuse to give up until the very last second possible.

if i were to stay here for another month or so, there's no doubt in my mind that i would become an alcoholic. today we started drinking at 3 o'clock in the afternoon at a school-sponsored event with school-sponsored alcohol. it's difficult to explain, but Korean ideas about drinking and smoking are pretty different from in the states. no matter how conservative they are (very), koreans just tend to drink a lot, all the time.

and just for the record, i realize that although i tend to make mad generalizations about an entire culture based on one extremely sheltered 6-week study abroad program, it is wrong.

hey, we have just figured out that the FRESH light in all the krispy kreme stores is always on. i mean, that's insane! i have had way too many free donuts (as in, one every single time i step outside of campus). this is such a mystery- how do they make money? how is everybody stick-thin when they eat krispy kreme donuts all the time? how are they always so fresh and so wonderfully delicious?!

hm, i was gearing up to write a lot, but to tell you the truth, my eyes are getting too heavy. okay whatevs, i have a good playlist going: the stars, panic! at the disco (new guilty pleasure), metric, and the new guster.

korea is amazing. korea is amazing. how many times can i say that? so much hidden history that is nonexistent in america, globalization taking place right before my eyes, skewed traditional gender roles in the 21st century, and a more or less connected country physically and emotionally.

today i went to the boryeong mud festival at the beach. it was: awesome. we left mid-morning, all on 3 hours of sleep or less, and after a rough two hour bus ride with karaoke (of course), we got there. the basic appeal of the festival, besides the fact that you get to play in mud, is that the mud is really rich in minerals and it is great for your skin. we wrestled in the mud and sat in the mud pool and went through a mud obstacle course and swam in the huge ocean waves. sigh. i have a new crush on mud.

and i can't stay sitting upright any longer. good night, good morning!