Kimchi Chloe!: gwangju

If I could spend one more year being 23, I would be super happy about it. But alas, time marches on and I am ready to embrace 24. My new friends in Gunsan were really sweet and celebrated with me on the day of my birthday with fried chicken and Baskin Robbins ice cream cake.

On the weekend, I headed down to my old city, Gwangju, to celebrate more! We had one of my favorite meals Saturday night: shabu shabu.

Dinner was delicious and super filling. Afterwards, we went to a photo booth to do sticker pictures. The guys sat out for this activity haha.

Inside the photo booth

The hardest part of doing sticker pictures is choosing which ones you want

Ready for dessert, we headed to Korean Dessert Cafe for bingsu and cake.

Of course, no good birthday is complete without norebang (singing room)!

Singing "Allstar" by Smash Mouth

Big thanks to all my Gunsan and Gwangju friends for making my birthday so incredible. I really am touched by how selfless everyone was. I'm grateful to have friends to be goofy with!

Bonus picture of my view from a bus stop near one of my schools:

Also I have a fun anecdote to share:

Embarrassing moment in Korea #127: my coteacher had to tell me this morning that I was wearing the office secretary's slippers and she wanted them back pronto.

In Korea we wear "slippers" inside the school. We call them slippers but they probably aren't what you'd expect when someone says "slippers."

I really need to buy my own...I've been using the guest slippers at my three schools for the past few weeks. At two schools, it's no problem at all. But at my third school I am reminded how large my feet are every time I take a step, my heels trying their very best not to hang out the back of the slipper.

This past Friday, I celebrated my 10 month-iversary in Korea! Pretty wild, right? It's hard to wrap my head around the fact that I've been in Korea for almost a year. In just a couple short months, I'll be flying home to visit my lovely family and I am so psyched!

Before this happens, have many activities lined up here in Korea (spoiler alert: May is going to be incredible). But let me back up a little bit and fill you in on yet another great week in Gwangju.

1. Spring is in full swing here. The greatest evidence: cherry blossoms (벚꽃)! Last Saturday I went to a Cherry Blossom festival which was conveniently located directly across the street from my church building. The downside? The weather! Right as the blossoms were blooming, we got some heavy rainstorms. Everyone was so concerned about the poor blossoms. They took a beating but they were still pretty.

Poor blossoms!

It was very rainy so I didn't take many pictures

A corn dog covered in fries?? Good job, Korea! A+

Back at the church, there was conveniently an activity with food! I ate delicious seaweed soup, kimbap, and chicken ^_^. Johanna, a classy French girl in my ward looked super French with her French beret. I convinced her to let me try it on too. Who wears it best?

French?

American?

Korean?

Clearly Johanna is the winner hahaha.

After dinner, we headed downtown for dessert. Mmmmm bingsu. I could eat bingsu every day.

You can't see the bingsu...because we ate it. But trust me, it's delicious

Since that day, I've been a little more successful with finding good cherry blossoms:

2. Yesterday, I had an adventure that was, uh, interesting. Very new and different haha. I went to a jimjilbang (Korean spa). If you don't know anything about what goes on in a jimjilbang, I'll fill you in with this Conan O'Brien clip:

Yes, I even did the full body scrub...yes, it was painful. But I felt so smooth and reborn afterwards! It was definitely an eye-opening experience. Jimjilbangs are nice because it's a cheap place to get cleaned up and sleep for a night when travelling.

3. My mom sent me so many peeps in my Easter package! I've been really excited to try the unique flavors she sent but I haven't had an opportunity to share the experience with anyone. So I went ahead and tried a couple on my own:

4. In the States, taking selfies is shameful! But in Korea, it's very normal and very much embraced. I can take vanity selfies with pride and confidence! A new friend from Australia introduced me to a Korean picture app: Candy Camera. This app is popular because it pretty much makes you look perfect. Here are some good ones I got today next to beautiful flowers my friends and I came across walking home from church.