Seoul of a Woman

I'm learning more about myself every day and I have to blame that at least in part on living and working in Seoul. For whatever reason, one of which is probably the limited communication I have with others here because of the language barrier, I am much more reflective outside of my native country than in it. I've come to define myself lately as a wife, mother/daughter/friend/sister, and teacher.

Living here has shown me that I'm much more than I thought I was, I can be more than I am, and I have to be more than I ever dreamed I could be for myself as well as others. When I arrived, I thought of myself as the kind of person who could do just about anything, but I didn't necessarily think of that as a positive thing. I considered myself a "jack of all trades and master of none". That opinion has definitely changed. I now believe that I can be and have started to be much more than that now that I've focused my efforts on one career path and have settled down with one person. Because I'm not just my own person anymore and have to think about the child growing inside of me as well as the "man/child" I call my husband -- I say that with the deepest love and adoration of his playful character -- I now know that I have to be more than a Jack and more like a Queen who rules with kindness, fairness, humility and strength over my ever evolving family.

I am a wife who often hears people say that they didn't know my husband was married or they didn't know that I was here in Korea with him. My first inclination is to be upset and wonder if he spends too much time out and about without me. But upon closer examination, the truth is that I'm the one who's usually out somewhere without him. I miss out on things he usually does because I'm at work -- a choice I've made because of my strong need for independence and an individual identity apart from "my husband's wife".

Seoul is one of those cities that really doesn't sleep; therefore, students don't think twice about scheduling English classes until 9pm on a Friday evening because they have plenty of time to go out after class. I don't share their enthusiasm or energy level, especially these days, and can seldom bring myself to venture out into the night to go anywhere but home after a long day; thus, leaving my husband to his own devices, to amuse himself with his friends, colleagues, and of course their wives while I sleep rather soundly at home without giving the situation a second thought.

But I wouldn't trade being a teacher for much of anything, especially not being a housewife. I give kudos to those who do it, but when you love what you do as much as I do, going stir crazy at home after everything is clean, tidy, and in its place is not an option. I am a teacher because I want to be, but moreover, I feel like I have to be. I don't just think that I'm pretty good at it and other things the way that I used to, I think of it as part of my nature; something that was hiding in my soul, waiting for the right time and place to emerge.

I'm proud to classify myself by these new terms and look forward to growing into them over the next year here. Seoul has brought some very special things out of my soul.

Seoul Baby #1

And now for the moment you've all been waiting for: We are pleased to announce that Seoul Baby #1 is scheduled to make his/her international debut in late August. This marks the first time in either of our families that a child has been born this far away from our home state.


Although there has been some discussion as to whether or not mother and baby will make the 15-hour trek back to the U.S. so that baby can be born on American soil, we've decided that Korean soil is just as good -- and has definitely proven itself to be fertile enough for this little family to grow.

Seoul Baby #1 will join a highly diverse pool of "new recruits" arriving this summer at the acclaimed Yongsan Garrison in Seoul, South Korea.

Stay tuned for up to due date information about our little Seoul Man or Seoul Sista.

Live from Seoul it's Saturday Night!

So this post is a little late, but should prove to be a pretty interesting one, if I do say so myself. Last weekend, my adventures in Seoul took me to the ultra-modern Blue Square Theatre to see Mama Mia! for the first time. As a theatre nerd, I am ashamed to say that I've never seen the show before; however, that didn't keep me from jamming along to all the ABBA songs and dancing with the gal-pals during the curtain call.

It was a fantastic show (in English with Korean subtitles) with everything that I've come to expect from living in Seoul. There were bright lights, loud music, flashy costumes, and of course a completely foreign cast (and by foreign I mean British -- I told you this place was totally international), which never seems to matter much here as long as the subtitle screens are working properly. The predominantly Korean audience packed the intimate theatre interior dressed to the 9's in their evening wear and my two companions and I fit right in...you know, except for being American and all.

We laughed, we sang, and after the show we went out into the crisp night air in search of a late dinner. No problem, we thought, in a city that seems to be quite lively after dark. To our dismay, many restaurants close their kitchens around 9:30 pm and only the bars are open after that. I'll begin by saying that explains a lot considering how many extremely drunk people I've seen wandering, staggering, falling, and puking about the streets, and finish by saying THAT'S INSANE!!! While I'm sure that clearing the tables of everything but glasses drives liquor and beer sales, clearly these people need food to soak up the alcohol.

As my tummy grumbled and curfew for the mommies with me grew close, we finally found a cute Spanish tapas restaurant that was still serving food and sat down in a cozy corner of the restaurant. We raved about the show, started to make plans to see another, laughed and talked about life, thoroughly enjoyed our food, then departed.

We had a wonderful Saturday night in Seoul. Maybe next time we'll even bring the hubbies along...maybe.