some interesting experiences abroad.

 It has been about a year since I went to Korea to study abroad. I earned several experiences and thousands of dollars in student loans during that time. However, it was well worth it. My friend who I will make a name up for and I recently discussed the experiences we could have done without.  My friend Spanky and I got to talkin’ and we began to discuss our equally awkward social behavior.

                                     

 Spanky and I have discussed her possible Asperger’s; Something I’ve worked around for years and have learned about enough to notice specific signs, such as not recognizing certain social situations, and patterned behavior. And we discussed my anxiety issues and not being able to do anything solo because I was so anxious.

I got to the point I would avoid food if there were too many people. 

One person I befriended, I begged to go with me EVERYWHERE.

I am so grateful for that awesome piece of sass! 

Spanky at The Palace.

Anyway back to Spanky an’ me.

She asked if I remembered her  “awkward moment”?

I had to ask her to narrow it down.

            She’d had so many, as had I.           I began listing them off:

The overly religious dude confessing love? * the dude believed that god brought them together in a union and they should be together, regardless of the fact she had no interest in him.

Chat room buddy attempting to get you to meet in a hotel. *several of those, for us both. self explanatory. 

The guy that wanted to meet you in

 Daegu, after your friend left? *while on a trip Spanky's friend leaves early. A guy from a chat room offers to drive all the way to Daegu from Busan if he can stay the night with her.  Then says he's "only joking" when Spanky says no. 

Oh how about that guy that was “dating” your roommate and then started hitting on you. * guy had been seeing semi-roommate for a while, even confessed feelings. One night they all meet for dinner movie and general hanging out. At the first opportunity the guy asks for Spanky's number and Kakao ID. Then proceeds to hit on her in the same way he had the roommate a few months before. 

This wasn’t even all of it.

“Well there was the time when our mutual friend decided we should go out to his aunt and uncles and also decided we should sleep together while we were there.” she replied. I remember her telling me about the awkward drive home... "long silences after that shut down."

I got one, how about the class trip where the guy took his clothes off.  *before bed in a room of  40 people, a very drunk guy stripped down at bed time and proceeded to try to cuddle with the ice queen. 

Oh, movie and a hotel room – guy. * self explanatory, more than one.

I future-husband-guy. * Guy in a chat room who kept saying he wanted to marry me. 

Now if you’ve been fed a steady diet of K-Drama’s and you’ve never been exposed to the reality this could break your widdle hawrt. However, I know better and that shows are just that, shows. Reality is something different. Yes, there are guys just as pretty as on the dramas, women too~ Nothing like seeing the actual locations by chance, but it’s real. For the most part people are a bit shy to talk to the foreigners, although you will be stared at  ... 

Somethin' on my face?

and may even have photos taken of you. Sometimes you may be asked if you are lost, or if you speak English. Those both happened to me. There is little gallantry in the wild, although I found it in abundance in class. The men were such gentleman in my class, I really adored everyone in there. It makes me regret being so shy.

For every weird experience there was a good one. At least I think there was.

*Everything shared has been Ok’d by Spanky- whose name has been changed for privacy purposes. Certain locations dates as well as other descriptions & names have been changed as well. The base story itself remains the same.