So I've been living in Seoul for 7 months now! Wow how time flies!

We are in the midst of Korea's long winter now, with average temperatures of minus 6 Celsius. It snows every few weeks and the temperature rises to above freezing every so often and some of the ice thaws so for the most part the footpaths and roads have been ok. But it's not going to get warmer til the end of March! WHAT?! I seriously should have researched the climate here a bit better before jumping into this and unwittingly experiencing my longest, coldest winter ever! But I have adapted to the cold, wearing lots of layers and ugg boots everyday. There's no option of looking fashionable in this cold! I guess it's something I'll be able to look back on and say that I survived temperatures of minus 20 at one point in my life!

I went to Thailand for 3 weeks for Christmas. I really don't know how I would have coped with this winter if I hadn't had a sunshine break! Thailand was wonderful, as ever! It feels like my second home. Although in the lead up to Christmas here (with all the snow, cold, Xmas decor etc) I was beginning to feel homesick and wished I could have flown home.... Being in Thailand made it easier to forget that it was Christmas which was good for me. But fear not, I will come home for next Christmas! I spend a few days in Bangkok and then travelled up north to Chiang Mai where I stayed with my friend Agnes. I spent my time visiting friends that were still living there, cycling around the markets, doing Crossfit and dining at all our favorite cafes and restaurants. We had a huge potluck BBQ at CrossFit for Christmas, it was amazing! So much good food and great company. A friend hosted a Hawaiian themed Xmas party aswell which was incredible. She does a themed party every year and decorates her whole house for the event; it's very American, I loved it! Then I travelled down south to the island of Koh Tao to meet another friend Henriette for New Years. She had been traveling around SE Asia for the past few months after leaving Chiang Mai a few months after me. It was so great to catch up again. Her brother joined her for this the last leg of her trip before she returns to Canada. We spend our time chilling out on the beach, snorkeling or lazing by the pool with other backpackers from the hostel. It was an incredible 3 weeks! But then I had to go back to freezing Seoul!

Being away made me look at life in Seoul a little differently; through less rose tinted glasses if you will! In Thailand I was able to buy all my favourite fruits for next to nothing, that was something I really missed living here. Fruit is so expensive in korea, it's all imported, overpriced and genetically modified! You'll pay $2-4 for an apple, an avocado will set you back $5, a punnet of strawberries $10. It's crazy! Even Costco is expensive here as it's all imported foods, here's an example: a jar of mixed nuts for $25, Lindt chocolates $15, olive oil $20, a bag of coffee beans $25. Prices are highly inflated at all the foreigner food markets too as they know they have the monopoly on these foods. I order a lot from iherb.com as it works out cheaper than buying stuff here. I once saw a small jar of coconut oil in my local foreign food store for $45, and that same product sells for $10 on iherb with shipping of $4! Things like that annoy me.

Anyway enough about food! Although it is one of my favorite things to talk about! Another is CrossFit.... And I entered my first CrossFit competition last weekend! This was a big deal for me, I don't think I've ever competed at anything (or wanted to compete at anything) since primary school! I talked a friend into entering with me. There were various events: individual WOD (crossfit term- Workout Of the Day), team WOD, kids WOD and a bootcamp event. We entered the individual WOD, it was a huge event so they had 4 heats of about 25 people in each heat. Every athlete had a judge who counted their reps, watched their form and encouraged them too! We had to do front squats with the barbell (75lbs), jumping squats, pull ups. The next round was double unders (skipping but the rope passes through your legs twice for each jump), wall balls (throwing a weighted ball to an 8ft target, and toes to bar (an abs movement). There was a certain number of each movement that you must complete (which is usual in a crossfit workout) and there was a time cap of 10 mins per round for you to do as many sets as possible. It was such a fun event, the crowds cheering everyone on, the community spirit, and the experience of being part of it. I loved it!

On that note I leave you with some positives and negatives of life here as I venture out into another winters day in this never-ending winter!