no more tiny violin

Wherever I go, Life follows me. I have been neglecting loving myself, and so I was recently inspired to remember where my love is and put it to good use.

On Valentine's Day, I'd like to say I began (but did not fully execute) that philosophy again. After a rigorous belly dancing class and a small lunch with some new pals, I had a successful language exchange session and then met up with my girlfriends for dinner at the creatively-named "Foreign Restaurant" that serves Indian and Arabian food. I had matsu puuri, which was wonderful, and one of our friends bought dinner for everybody!

We went down to Hongdae again, where many foreigners and Koreans flock to drink and dance, and that's exactly what we did. It was inadvertently the arrival to a Singles' Party hosted by the bar, but really I don't think that meant anything because the atmosphere seemed virtually unchanged since we were there on New Year's Eve.

I drank quite a bit, and danced to my heart's content all night, sometimes with a friend, sometimes with a stranger. I think one of my girlfriends may have been dismayed that I danced with so many strangers, but I was having a grand old time flirting my way around the room. I didn't do anything wrong or disgraceful, except for maybe falling on the floor once...which I choose to think of as "getting down."

Considering there were so many foreigners in the area, this certainly comes with its fair share of anonymous hookups, particularly with military personnel. I was not spared from those invitations, but was actually able, despite my inebriated stupor, to DECLINE! Hooray me! I call that an example of self-love, right there. I'm so proud of me.

I joined some other friends for an after-bar meal at a restaurant upstairs somewhere (I honestly do not remember why or how we ended up there), and then managed to make my way to the subway station with my remaining buddy, Tae-Seung. He made sure I got on the first train, which was awfully good of him. From there, I was conceivably an hour away from my home. The trains start running again at 5:18am, so it wasn't going to be long before I could be at home in bed....

But then at 8:30 I woke up and had NO CLUE where I was! Luckily the train I was on makes a full circle, so after I made a bewildered round of the subway station I got back on the train and proceeded to FALL ASLEEP AGAIN! Sometimes there were lots of people on the train, sometimes very few, but every time I woke up there they were staring at me. I certainly could have hooted, "Whoo! America! Obama!" and then passed back out, that would've probably satisfied their suspicions.

By the grace of God, I woke up seconds before my intended stop, and wandered out through the station to buy some gimbap for breakfast and out into the harsh 9:30 overcast daylight. I spent Sunday in and out of bed, which was actually really nice. I made some tasty healthy food, and enjoyed my quiet time.

This may not sound like the healthiest recommencement of loving myself, but I can most definitely see dramatic progress deep down. Plus, I went out and danced like it was my job. That would be a good job.