Homesick

It's June! I can't believe it! Four months has flown by and it's finally the Summer time. I've made it through a quarter of the year so the rest should be easy....!? I'm not sure if it's the fact that I made the trip home, in early May, or if it's because it's the Summer time (and I love the Summer time-being with friends/family) but I'm severly homesick. I miss my family so much and I miss my nephew and hanging at the pool with Laura and Jaydon and Danielle and going to Mafiozzas, with Carrie, on Tuesdays and seeing my parents and all of the kids I babysit...oh and going to the lake-I have way too much fun at the lake with the Cornelius', Gags, Moores and Rossi families! I don't regret going home when I did-it was great seeing everyone, I was able to see, but I can't help but feeling like I'm missing out on my life, in Nashville. I told my mom, the other day, that I miss home so much, that I can't even listen to country music, right now. It's almost painful talking to my parents and sister and nephew. I want to tell them everything that's going on here and hear about what's going on there but it's hard. Seoul is great and I'm still enjoying it...the weather's been beautiful so it's allowed me and my friends here to get out more and enjoy the city. I'm hoping to take a few trips to SouthEast Asia, over the next several months (before I leave) and make the most of my time here. School is going well and the children are starting to show signs of improvement and growth-it's always encouraging to see that you're making a difference!
Monsoon season is approaching...I'm not quite sure what to expect, other than torrential down pours! I hope my wellies are on their way...(mother)? As I write this I'm hearing thunder-the first of which I've heard since I arrived here, in January. Spring and Summer in Seoul are proving to be wonderful time-It's been a while since I've experienced real seasons, as oppossed to the back and forth that Nashville experiences during the Winter/Spring time. In my neighborhood there are open markets everyday and everyone is out until late at nite; enjoying as much as they can of the beautiful weather, before it becomes so humid, it's unbearable. The humidity, here, is supposed to be much worse than what I'm even used to, having come from the South! Wherever there's an open market, there are mounds and mounds of garlic. I've never seen so many stalks/cloves of garlic before-it's crazy! And since the warm weather is here, I've been wearing my Summer clothes, which have prompted more stares, than I was receiving before. It's not that they don't approve of my apperal (although, they may not be used to the bright colors I wear) but rather they love my white skin. It's really weird. Koreans love white skin and all I can think about is how I'm going to lay out the first opportunity I get. My Korean friend has told me that I shouldn't lay out, because my white skin is so beautiful. Thanks, but I'd rather get my tan, during the Summer. Here in Korea, and I may have explained this before, white skin is associated with wealth; whereas tan skin is associated with the working (farming) class. They put whitening cream in everything here, so they can appear lighter skinned than they really are.
I can honestly say that I feel completely adjusted to Korea. I've found so many foreign markets that I can buy imported (western) foods. I've even discovered that one of the foreign bookstores here, will allow you to subscribe to American magazines, so they can be delivered to my address here! The other foreign teachers, and myself, disoverd an EMart (like Target) just down the road from us, that doesn't require us to take a bus and can be easily walked to and the cab ride there/back is super cheap! Life is good, but I miss everyone at home terribly! Anyone up for a trip to S. Korea?