I hope you all have had amazing holidays this far and have gotten to properly enjoy time with your family and friends. Now that we're in the last days of 2015 I decided to write a small review of this past year and its ups and downs. This year has been one heck of a roller coaster ride and I couldn't be happier for it to end, hahah! I also have some plans & resolutions for next year, so I'm going to write them down to the end of this post. You know, just to kinda make it official for myself.
I started my 2015 with a very unusual way; packed my bags and moved to the other side of the world. Since I was 15 years old my dream was to move to Asia when I finished high school, and being able to achieve that dream was a really, really big step for me. Luckily I had my friend Sara with me so whatever difficulties we faced in the first months that were complete chaos (getting our apartment, paying the first bills, getting all official papers and documents and ID cards done, grocery shopping, school registrations and first days, et cetera) I had someone to share the problems with. Looking back now later I honestly don't think I would've survived alone.
Life in Korea quickly fell into a safe daily pattern and as the months went on and I started getting better in the language I also kept on meeting new people and making new friends and everything just kind of..clicked. I had some rough days and it definitely wasn't easy most of the time but I was enjoying my life, fully, for the first time. I've always been the kind of a person who constantly lives in the future. I spent several years just waiting for Korea to happen unable to really enjoy my days and live in the present. Now that I got to Korea I felt like I accomplished the thing I needed to accomplish and was able to really just live in the moment.
In the summer I visited home for 3 weeks and spent most of the time longing back to Korea. The place really had started to feel like home and it felt weird being in Finland, with nothing to do and no friends to hang out with, because everyone was busy with their own schedule or school and that left me sitting home alone with my cat. It was good to see my family, but even better to go back to Korea few weeks later.
The summer was loong and hot. I'm pretty sure it was even hotter and more humid than in Japan. And Japan was pure torture, let me tell you. We had no summer vacation so we studied even on the hottest days. However on the side of studying I had a lot of free time that I spent with my friends having picnics, eating out, going clubbing, et cetera. I've never been a party animal but Korea's nightlife is just something else. It's great.
Fall came and so did the idea of moving. We'd had some mold problems in our house and everyone kept telling us you can't avoid mold when you live in Korea, but as 2 Finns we strongly disagreed. We cleaned and ventilated the apartment the best we could but there was still mold showing up in the weirdest places, and it was causing headaches and weird symptoms neither of us had ever had before. So we started planning moving away and looking for a new tenant for our apartment. While that was happening school got really intense. I was studying around the clock, almost literally, and there was no time for other activities. Somehow I still ended up taking hip hop lessons in Gangnam and for few months spent most of my left over time there. During the fall I also had a period of time when a culture shock of some kind hit me. Probably the combination of living in a mold apartment and school stress did it.
When level 5, the last language school level for me started we got a new tenant and Sara found a new apartment, I moved to a goshiwon for few weeks before my family came to Korea for a vacation and all things and problems just sort of worked out on themselves. I was really busy studying so time just flied.
I have about 1 more month left in Finland before I go back to Korea. Next year I'm going to put all my energy on school and my main goal is going to be finding a good, safe home where I can see myself living for the next 3-4 years at least. I was originally planning to move closer to school or somewhere between school & Gangnam, but I changed my mind and will look for a officetel apartment from somewhere around Hongdae or Idae. I already have few ideas and I will use January and February on contacting real estate agents and mapping this whole thing out. After one year of living in Korea I'm a lot wiser and have realized the actual importance of a safe, cozy apartment so that's my number one goal next spring. Another thing I want to accomplish next year is vlogging in some form. Maybe I'll add videos here, maybe do a separate youtube account. Maybe I'll do dance covers or makeup tutorials or just videos of daily things - who knows. Everything is still very open but vlogging is something I've wanted to try for such a long time and I keep postponing it for whatever excuses I keep making in my head. So next year I will, no matter what, do some videos.
The third thing is as vain as it can get; investing less on stupid things and more on beauty products and makeup. In the past year I've gotten really interested in beauty and makeup and makeup techniques - pretty much everything in that department. I already made a Sigma & theBalm order - my birthday & Christmas gift to myself - and have another Sephora order pending when my friend goes to LA in February. Can't wait to get my hands on all the pretty products I ordered and get to try them out and play around with them. So in the future you're going to see a lot of beauty-related posts here and maybe even in Youtube. Then there's a bunch of small things like getting a job, travel more, live healthier life, et cetera list goes on! I'm one of those silly people who think that every new year is a new beginning.
I hope you all have amazing last days of 2015 and start 2016 with a new kind of energy, recharged, happy and ready for new adventures. I'm really psyched about 2016, I have a feeling it's going to be amazing.
Love you and thank you so much for this past year! xx,
Julia
