Seoul Speak or a bit of blabber on what I've been doing in Seoul

I have been quiet, yes, this being my first post since April. It's the one thing that's hard for someone living alone in a foreign land, the days are just not enough to finish all the tasks and still find some quiet time to write about the day's events.

In truth, there's really nothing much to say about my days except they are filled to the brim with work. Which means most saturdays are working days and the hours left for myself are spent doing chores and if I'm lucky and not yet too tired, I am able to sneak in an hour at the gym or an hour of indulging in my other passion, baking.

Don't misunderstand me. Being busy is not bad at all. In fact, I get a thrill out of beating the odds and/or the deadlines. It also leaves me no time to be all sentimental or sad or homesick. Because thanks to the wonders of YM and Skype, I usually talk to my parents (one is in Manila, another in Mindanao) and my nieces and brother almost everyday. Sometimes, when I feel especially in need of comfort, I am allowed to sleep with the sound of 700 Club or cartoons (or whatever it is that my mother/niece is watching in Pinas). Yes, in my case, technology holds the key to keeping my bearings when I feel shitty and alone.

Last week, a close friend came and spent his nine day vacation in Seoul. And for that short time, work was not my world. It was not merely for the friend's sake that I adjusted my schedule to join in as much activities as possible. I frankly needed a breather from the daily grind. So for most of the nine days, I spent my after work hours having fun-- taking long walks, drinking vodka cruiser/soju/beer, visiting the requisite tourist places, getting a punchful of adrenaline rush from the amazingly scary rollercoaster ride in Everland (Korea's version of disneyland), and for a night, the first since I transferred to my flat, having someone (actually two, as we're a tight circle of three) sleep over at my place. It was such a departure from my daily routine that when the friend went home, I almost felt a palpable sadness. I wasn't ready to go back to days filled with nothing but deadlines. :-(

But alas, life is back to normal. Which means that my life as I know it is focused on work and a bit of the businesses in pinas which I've been neglecting slightly because of work demands.

There are nights when I wake up at 2 am feeling so alone. Days when I just feel that this life isn't something I can do for much longer. But always, there's the thought, how maybe I am exaggerating again. It's difficult to be alone yes, but there are perks too: a house all my own, a workplace where my bosses are demanding but fair and appreciative, and the biggest factor: a good paycheck which I can't possibly earn in Pinas (even with the businesses running full blast). The good pay allows me to save up for my other plans, and is enough to sustain the lifestyle I want which isn't anywhere near extravagant, really. All I need are good books, an oven, a budget for my baking ingredients, a small budget for beauty products, and some moolah set aside for my one true indulgence (travelling) and I'm a happy camper.


The intermittent burst of melancholy the past days have made me more intent on making a fuller life out of my days in Seoul.

There's the twenty minute Pilates, which I have been doing about three times a week the past month. I've made a promise to myself that I'll do pilates at least five days a week. To be honest, I was utterly critical and wary of Pilates when a friend told me to try it. She was bragging about the effects (both physical and mental) and so I went ahead and tried it, expecting nothing really. But whew, it turns out that pilates is the exercise I've been looking for all my life. It's the concentration, the way you have to be totally into doing the steps that blows me away with this regimen. It somehow relieves my mind of any stress and makes me a bit more cheerful. Nothing, not running on the treadmill at the gym for an hour, can lift up my spirits like Pilates. I go to the gym (not nearly enough though, usually 2-3 a week only) to build my stamina and basically because I have to so I can lose the flab faster and build some stamina for some hardcore mountain climbing in August, it's more of suffering for the sake of a desired goal. But I do Pilates because I have come to love it and I feel sluggish and not-overly-good when I don't do it at least every other day.

Yes, being abroad is not all adventure and stuff. Mostly is pretty banal, boring and well, senti-laced. And to be honest, what's keeping my spirits up now is the fact that in less than two months, I'll be coming home for a short vacation. Finally, I'll have time to indulge in the stuffs and (be with) the people I love. Seoul is fine, but Pinas is still my place in the sun.