Day 30:
Dinner with my aunt (dad's older sister) and cousins; this time, most of them were the ones who couldn't make it to the lunch prior. This also meant that Hyeonji, my cousin who's a year younger than I am, also came. She gets a special mention because she's the only girl cousin who's close to me in age, and therefore we've always been very close with each other.
She had always been pretty, and even now she was as pretty as ever. (unfortunately, I don't have pictures for proof, alas) And for some reason, she always seems to look like she had Gaussian Blur effect on Photoshop, only in real life. I think it's because she has such clear complexion and soft, dark eyes and hair. And yet she thinks she's not pretty enough and wants plastic surgery as soon as her college entrance exam is over. Cue me going "Don't change your faaaaaaaace you're pretty as it iiiiiiis" about five times.
I also saw my other two cousins who I haven't seen in a while, along with other familar faces. We ate at a meat restaurant, and the food was great, except... smoke. You know, when you cook meat on a grill, there's smoke? There was no ventilation system in the entire restuarant, which resulted in very teary eyes. The dinner went as the following:
*eat* *chat* *tear* *crouch and close eyes* , rinse and repeat.
After dinner, we all went to a nice cafe and had fancy drinks. Green tea latte was awesome. (Though I soon fell sick from drinking something cold straight after eating pork, and staggered home, and couldn't move).
It was my first time at Apgujeong, and gee, it really was like in the Korean chick-flick book I read. The rich people were parking in front of a cafe, and, oh, is that a Mercedes? And that's an Audi! And look at the number of plastic surgery places! Look at the beautiful people and fancy schmancy buildings! I'd like to come here sometime and look around properly... though that requires company for it to be fun. AHAHAHA.
On a side note, one of my older guy cousins gave me something aking to life counselling. It's uncanny how much he knows about my traits and tendencies though we don't meet that often.
Day 31:
Summary: packing, dinner, nostalgia, packing.
I packed from the morning till we had dinner.
My family had asked me to buy a bunch of stuff, and all that stuff was barely fitting in two suitcases. I take stuff out, rearrange things, put it back in, and go mad from the progress.
Intermission came with dinner; since it was my last day, my aunt, uncle, cousins and grandma ate out. Vips is now on my "like" list; their salad bar is quite decent, and they have the most delicious mangoes I've had in a while. Also, they have really tasty yogurt and green tea ice cream.
Since the place was near my grandma's old house, I told them I'd run around in the playground there for digestion, and went nostalgia-seeking with my little cousin. I'm glad I had company, since if I went alone my emotions would have gotten the better of me and I'd just have felt a bit gloomy. Instead, it was wistful and nostalgic.
The neighborhood itself was the same, just the way it was when my brother and I were little kids, running to grandma's apartment after getting out of the taxi, forgetting any fatigue we had.
Some of the places that I knew were still there, some have changed in time, obviously, though the most heartbreaking was the disappearance of the stationary store, which had been there the last time I went (5yrs ago?), that very place that existed since... I was born, probably. The arcade game in front, hoola-hoops hanging near the door, the toys, the school supplies, stickers, dolls, all... gone. Even my little cousin was saddened by that, and he's only lived in that neighborhood when he was practically a baby.
We also visited the playground. Though I knew it was small to begin with, it was suddenly smaller than I used to remember. The slide, see-saw, hanging bar, and swings, which was there since I was born, had gotten older and rustier in the years. We played there for a bit, though I couldn't recreate the feeling of playing there as a child anymore, though I've tried.
That was that; and after coming back home,
more packing. Till 10:30 PM. Geez.
And now I'm typing this blog, after I've pumped up my iPod with new songs, including ones which I considered dumb and repetitive. This is me sounding hypocritical, but hey, we sometimes crave for the dumb things in life. And though I really must go to bed, looking back on what's happened here... I keep wanting to stay awake against better judgment. The month had gone by so quickly, and I keep wanting to stay here for one more day, or two, three. Even though I haven't lived here most of my life, even if I may not have people to hang out with, it's still my home country, its where I understand everything (though the same applies to English-speaking countries, it's... not the same) and it's where my relatives are.
Sounding a tad sentimental at 2:30 AM, I wish I can come back next year. I've enjoyed my experience (asides from that little angst-time regarding my social life), had a great experience with the translating job, and I'm already missing Korea though I'm still on land.
Okay, really need to go to bed.
