The end of 2015

My parents came to visit over Christmas, and the time we spent together was some of the best that I have had in Korea. We went to lots of tourist attractions (including Seoul Tower, the DMZ, and a furniture museum). I have to say that Busan is my favorite part of Korea-- or at least, I like it a lot better than Seoul for whatever reason, I just felt more at home. Also, my mom and I went to one of the most famous spas in the world while we were in Busan and I have to say that dipping yourself into pools of boiling water while nude and surrounded by naked Korean women was surprisingly soothing. I love going to the spa. Also, in the interest of providing you with some other humor, my parents and I tried to go to yarn shopping areas at least twice because my mother likes to knit, and for whatever reason, it never worked out. However, we did have really good Korean barbecue two times. Also, while we were still in Seoul we went to a celebration for New Year where we saw hundreds of riot police forming a roadblock and the bell near Jonggak (which literally translates to bell house) rang continuously for 24 hours, helped along by a team of volunteers including Santa.
In all honesty, exploring things with my parents re- opened my eyes to some of the amazing things that Korea has to offer, and I am incredibly grateful for that. In addition, the thought that I only have a month left at my project in South Korea is allowing me to have more of a "no day but today" mentality, and the whole thing feels more like a vacation than "the Neverending Story". This change in mindset is also allowing me to make good on one of my New Year's resolutions, trying to live more freely, to adhere to what is fast becoming my personal mantra "whatever happens works".
In some other random news, I will be moving out of my host family's apartment and into the apartment where Den, Mark, Switzerland, Finland, and Germany are all already living, so that should be fun, though I am not looking forward to lugging my things around on the Subway. Also also, I am beginning to plan my trip to China, something that is proving to be a bit more complicated than I had hoped, since an itinerary for every day of my visit is required in order to apply for a visa... urrrgh!
I love you, dear ones, and I hope that 2016 is an amazing year for all of you!