Calm & quiet Fridays to myself

Excuse my, yet again, image-less post. I want this to be a blog that is a little more genuine and that comes from the bottom of my heart. It primarily includes my experiences and the lessons I have learned on my journey here in Seoul now that things are coming to a close, and there's much I can look back at.

Being the introvert I am, it is only natural that I bask in the times I spend alone, fully aware of my surroundings without minimal chances of being interrupted or the unexpected happening. Everything is predictable, and all goes as planned on calm and quiet Friday nights where my environment is fully under my control and set according to my optimal room temperature with my favourite perfume sprayed in random parts of my room.

Convenience of Korean Delivery Apps

What is unique about here is the sheer amount of optons on deivery apps; ordering anything is possible. There are little to no boundaries, so you can go crazy with ordering whatever best soothes your hungry belly. An added plus is the ultimate delivery speed at which the food arrives; I am often pleasantly surprised at how warm my food is when everything is set on the table and the beautiful smells and aroma fill my room as if I had just recieved my plate freshly from the kitchen. Take advantage of this!! Bask in the delicious smell of freshly prepared food!!

Importance of Slowing Down

As exchange students our stay here is very limited, and this reality becomes rather apparent with time, which we feel like is running out faster than we'd like it to. With such emotions comes badly made decisions thanks to a clouded mind, and the result manifests itself in either regretting things or pushing yourself too hard and perhaps getting sick. The regret would stem from not proerly taking things in and just going about for the sake of doing things and being able to say you have done them. This is a very mild reminder that we are here for nobody but ourselves, and the great thing about being alone in this new country is that you are the focus of your journey here; do the things that you truly want to do, and take your time doing them. What makes us human is our conciousness and advanced though processs, so it is only natural that you feel whiplashed when you've made 3 different plans within a day.

Although South Korea is a very medically advanced country, there's no need to resort to medical services if you can avoid getting yourself into situations that would require you to obtain them. Primarily, do not neglect yourself and your body's needs at any given moment throguhout your stay - it is not worth it. You are alone, and that fact is inevitable. Nobody will look out for your nor your wellbeing if you do not advocate for that, and it is nobody's job to do so; you can't expect that of people. This is not to say that we are not surrounded by friends and communities that do keep an eye out for you, but it is simply nowhere close to the extent of care you should be putting towards maintaining yourself. It is incredibly easy to forget about putting yourself before that 2 hour hike when you're wearing combat boots, which is nobody's problem but yourself when you're painfully bandaging bad foot wounds from your horrible decision. Now i don't know how suceptible you are to infections, but I'm still dealing with a foot wound that hasn't been able to close up for more than a month.

Plan Downtime

The best solution to properly slowing down is planning unnegotiable downtimes, and no, this does not mean times where you can study in quiet. I mean times where you can properly disconnect from this whole study abroad thing, and just be in full control of your surroundings without any chances of the unexpected happening. Not just cutting the chase with "treating yourself", but actually taking the time to tune in with your body and then somehow engage your five senses to reboot.

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