Love the Library

I don't have Internet at my house, so on weekends when Joseph and I need information we go to the Local Library ( which thankfully is within walking distance of my apartment) We have been doing Laptop research and listening to the awful gangster rap of the guy seated next to us ( unfortunately you don't get to pick your seat either)... top off the trip with a few books about travel, cooking and Blacksmith stuff, it was a successful trip.

We have done lots of communicating with Mia and with a couple named Jen and Adam about what to expect when we get there. They, having lived it already, know about what we are going though, and have been a great help to make us feel better about all of our concerns and questions! Also we man our craiglist items that we are selling... So far so good.

It has been really slow to sell stuff, but alot of it we want to keep at my apartment until I leave. Like if I sell my sofa, I have no where to sit, if I sell my coffee table, I have nothing to eat dinner off of! We will do a mad rush of selling the week before we go, I can see it now! I know it will all work out though!

It is hard to believe in one month's time I will be boarding a plane to go to Korea, and I will stay there for a year! I am nervous and excited. I know Joseph is feeling the same way!

So glad that we have such great people waiting for us there! ( though we will miss all the great people here in NC and the US too!)

The Map...

I don't know why it didn't get bigger when you clicked on it... so here is the map again... hopefully it will be bigger this time!

Dinner and a Geography Lesson!

Joseph and I are trying our own planned menus. Last Night we made a fabulous wedge salad like the ones that they no longer sell at the cheesecake factory. We used to go there and order a salad each and then split a piece of cheesecake… well we decided since they cut that particular item ( our fave!!!) off the menu that we could go to our local grocery store and try to replicate it! And we did it was Awesome… add on some of our two buck chuck from Trader Joes and this was a feast!

I plan to do a lot more cooking in Korea when we move, because it is a lot healthier and at least for the first few months we will know exactly what we are eating… We will definitely be brave enough to try local specialties… I have no doubt that living on an island will bring us lots of seafood dishes to try!

I figured out that there is a Baskin Robbins on the Island, so as long as they have mint chocolate chip, and not squid ice cream I am sure I will find a piece of home there to enjoy!

For those of you who don’t know where I will be, Joseph and I will be living on Geoje Island… sometimes called Koje Island. Depending on the area I guess… but it is the second largest Island off the coast of South Korea. My Friend Robert who is currently in Seoul was nice enough to tell me that I was very lucky because where I am staying is considered “The Hawaii of South Korea!”… I am sure Joseph and I will have no problem with that!
We have always been torn if we wanted to live at the beach or the mountains… Both of us each took time and lived in Boone NC, during college, and now we will get to experience beach life ( or something like it!) while In Korea for a year!

Here is a map with a guide to show where exactly we will be!

Last time at Fat Daddy's

Joseph and I have been dating for almost two years, and one of the things we bonded over was a love of Fat Daddy's! We both went there with our families alot growing up and have fond memories of the place. We decided to eat there for dinner last night, Knowing full well this is probably not the last time we would dine in this fine establishment ( because I know we will try to go at least one more time before we leave if our stomachs can handle it)

No burger is worth a day of tummy ache unless it is a Fat Daddies Hamburger (or in my case, Hot Dog Boat)

We sat and talked about all the good time we had at that restaurant. One of our first dates we ended up there. The time we came with Amanda (determined to show her what a real burger was made of!!!), the time the creepy old man hit on me for NO GOOD REASON! ( and his wife didn't stop him) The time we came to Fat Daddies and Joseph met my family for the first time and was nervous... the time we came with my Grandmother Kelly when she visited earlier this year, and finally the time we came with his family and ended up playing that hilarious joke game that Caroline bought for a few dollars in the bookstore not ten minutes before.

So many great memories outshine even the best meal. ( But not the cheese sauce!!!! I love that imitation cheddar goodness!!!!)

We have eaten here more time than we should probably mention, but it is a comfort and a reminder of Raleigh, family and friends and us. No matter where we go we will miss this restaurant!

We even have memorized that if you order a Hotdog, fries and a coke with a Hamburger fries and a coke it comes out to $13.45.

We don't even have to say " hey do you want to go to Fat Daddies for dinner?" one of us will just say " Hey, I think I have $13.45!!!!!!!!"

Everything from the early 80's pictures of vegetables on the walls to the crazy guy at the counter who announces your order. (It is our order even if my Name is not Helga or Selena and Joseph is not Buddy or Zeus) This is not just our favorite restaurant, it is a stack of memories we both want to take with us.

So even if last night was not our last night to eat at Fat Daddies, it was a night we took time to remember and really enjoy home!

Success!!!

I am in talks currently to sell my bookshelf, dresser and rug... this may actually end up to be a good day after all. And I might even be able to get rid of my coffee table. It is worth alot though.





Joseph and I walked around Best Buy and Office Max yesterday to price laptops... just one more thing we need before we can leave, and we have narrowed it down to a smaller laptop with web cam!





I think we are just going to split the cost since it is going to be used by both of us while we are there. It is only going to used for music, e-mail and Skype ( which we have not yet learned how to use, but will have to get up and running so I can talk to family and friends... either that or I may resurrect my aim account... who knows. )
I am still working out how to use this blog site. I have not done this kind of stuff in forever. I used to be a pro at formatting and posting for my free open diary... but this is a way different format... I like it.

I have a ton of work ahead of me. I have to also figure out what to do with my cell phone ( can't use it there)... finances are proving to be a bit more challenging. We shall see what all I have to get in order in the next few weeks... literally... it is only a few more weeks until we leave. I am excited and in shock even when I think about the reality of the situation.

I hope I can sell my stuff!

more than anything though, I would just like to go home for the weekend. ... is it 5 yet?

Project: Craigslist!!!

My mission now, is to try and score as much money for my stuff as possible using the local craiglist posting site I have put up ads for a few items that I want to sell ( a chair and my christmas decorations and a random set of candles).... I know certain people at work and close friends I am going to try and sell things to in person.

The hardest thing is going to be my sofa... I will miss it incredibly... but storing it is not going to be a good option. I will deal with having no stuff the same way I did when I graduated college... buy crappy stuff to live, and then save and buy things I really want. I am coming to terms that stuff is just stuff.. it doesn't make me a better or worse person if I have better or worse stuff... I am going to have to get used to that idea when we move to Korea. None of it will be "my stuff"....

anybody want to buy a book shelf? I plan to keep the books though... sorry!

Preparing to leave.

As we try to downsize and think "hmmm can I sell this?"... it is starting to become more real what we are doing. Not that I am sad or nervous... Excited is the word I would use right now... As it gets closer and closer and we realize " ohh this is the last time we will ______", those are the moments it really sets in.

I think of my life right now, and I know I will miss a lot. I will miss the conveniences of my current city life, I will miss my car, and my bed and my security here in Raleigh. Raleigh has always been my security and my home. Raleigh is the place of my family and friends and I do feel an immense sense of guilt as I gladly pack to move. It will be different when I return. I know that. I have learned over and over that things are never the same when you leave and then come back. It happened to me when I left for college and I will be shocked if it is this city is the same as it is now upon my return. Things constantly change, but when you are around it all the time you don't notice. When I come back from Korea... I will know. A lot can happen in a year. It will be interesting.

Of all the things though, I will miss family and friends the most. I have lived near my parents at least within a three hour drive my entire life. Korea is a 12 hour flight that I won't be able to take for the weekend when I had a rough week and just want to chat with my mom. Letters, phone, E-mail and web cam will be my communication from my new home.

Friends will be missed too. My old time friends who have always been there, and I know will be there when I get back, but also friends I have made in my art classes and at work. They will be missed as well. I want to use this blog to keep them updated, and have them feel they are part of my life as well. I also hope to use it to document my travels, my triumphs, my failures and my adventures.



Life on Geoje Island will be my first of hopefully many amazing Adventures.



Last night I started the process of downsizing... I have two closets bursting at the seams with clothes I have held on too... some since middle school... ( sad I know) But I put them in garbage bags and I intend to drive them straight to the Good Will. I will only be able to pack what I can take into two suitcases, instead of the two closets, chest of drawers, and chair full of clean clothes I have not yet put away, that I have currently had my clothes residing in. I am slowly but surely organizing my apartment so it will pack easier... Never in my life has my apartment been so clean. I am sure my mom would be so proud.



I think I have also come to the decision, I am going to sell my couch... it makes me terribly sad, because my couch was the first major purchase I ever made after starting my new job. I picked it out, and it was comfortable and wonderful... but I just don't have the money to store it away for a year. It would cost more to store it than it did to purchase it. And I will need the money for other reasons. I will miss it, but I am sure I will find another one I love just as much when I come back.



With things rapidly coming to a halt in the US, before my beginning in Geoje Island, I try to enjoy each day, and make note that this is the last time I will __________insert anything_____" before I go. It will be different, but exciting and new... and that is what I have been looking for all along.

First entry

Upon deciding to go to South Korea, the most interesting and helpful tool has been the internet. With technology as amazing as it is, I feel that I will want an outlet while over there to let family and friends know what I am up too. I have so many adventures here in Raleigh NC to show and I want to post in preperation for South Korea... So here begins my chronicles of adventure... enjoy.