I shared before what I miss about America over here in Korea so today I thought I would share what I will most the most when I leave here.
10. I will miss Seoul Grand Park. My husband and I love going to parks, no matter where we are. This is, by far, the coolest park in Korea. It has a zoo, a rose garden, a few museums, and a kid’s amusement park. The whole park is surrounded by beautiful mountains. The zoo is one of the biggest I have ever been to and the rose garden just takes my breath away.
9. I will miss water being so cheap. You can’t really drink the water from the tap here because a) we are told not to and b) it tastes funny. We only buy bottled water or use our water filter which came with our apartment. Most Koreans don’t even drink their own water. A bottle of water at the local convenience store is less than 75 cents. I went back to the states in August and was pissed when I had to pay $2.50 again for just one bottle. Even when you go to amusement parks, water is always less than a dollar in Korea; it is never overpriced like you see at sporting events or amusement parks in the States.
8. I will miss Korean food. We have to stop ourselves from going out to eat every night because the food is just so good, and so good for you. Koreans give side dishes with most of their meals and you can always ask for more if one runs out. I always ask for more Kimchi. YUM!
7. I will miss the shopping. Korea is known for their shopping districts and I’m not going to lie, I like to shop. Not everything is cheap, but most things are, especially socks. I love socks and Korea is the best place to buy fun socks in bulk. I have already bought way too many pairs to count and will probably buy tons more before I leave.
6. I will miss Korean snacks. The snacks here are addicting. I could eat Korean snacks all day, every day, which is why we rarely keep any in the house these days. You can buy the snacks almost anywhere. We buy most of our snacks at Emart (kind of like Target) and at the little convenience store in our building.
5. I will miss Daiso. Daiso is the Korean version of a dollar store and a Five Below. Every item in the store is less than $5 (5,000 Won.) You can buy almost anything at Daiso including my favorites: stationary, chop sticks, stickers, flower pots, and kitchen supplies.
4. I will miss heated floors. Most places in Korea are heated through the floors, which is why many of us have wood type floors. The pipes run through the floors and the heat rises. As I type this, I am sitting on the floor because it is the warmest place to be on a cold day like today.
3. I will miss the pool, also known as, Splish and Splash. We are so lucky to have such a relaxing water park at Camp Humphreys. From mid May – mid September, you will find me laying by the pool, in the pool on my raft, or in the hot tub. It gets really hot here and staying inside or by the pool are your best options. A summer pass is only $150 per family for the entire summer. They also offer half season passes and single person passes.
2. I will miss my friends. Of course in the military people are always coming and going, but that never means saying goodbye gets any easier. I don’t think I’ll ever really get used to saying goodbye to someone, knowing I may never see them again. Thank goodness for Facebook!
And finally:
1. I will miss our apartment. This is the first apartment my husband and I have ever lived in together. We have a huge apartment on the top floor of a high rise complex: three bedrooms, two bathrooms, and a ton of storage space. This is the average apartment you are given OHA for; there isn’t anything smaller, only bigger. Our apartment came almost fully furnished, and included a huge TV. This made moving over here easier because we didn’t have to ship our own TV or furniture, which was good because we didn’t have much to ship!
As you can see, South Korea has it’s high points. I always wanted to travel the world, but living out of the country is a lot harder than I expected. We are making the best of it and enjoying what little time we have left here. This time next year, when we are back in the States, I will be going to Asian markets trying to find Korean food to cook and my favorite snacks to munch on.
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