Happy New Year!  2016 was an even busier year for me than 2015 and I thought 2015 was pretty intense.

I got to go home and visit my family for a few weeks in February and go on vacation with my parents, aunt and cousins, and grandparents to New York City.  I had never been to New York City before but I didn’t end up taking many pictures.  I was soaking up family time.  It was also bitterly cold and I didn’t want to sacrifice my fingers to take a picture.

NYC

I had my first visitor to Korea this year.  My mom braved the long and uncomfortable overseas flight to spend 10 days with me.  We got to tour Seoul and explore Cheonan.  I think she enjoyed herself, and I was sad to see her go.  She also helped me clean my new apartment which is always a daunting task.

mom in the Seoul subway

My big international trip this year was Tibet.  It was incredible.  I loved the mountains, the friendly people, my brief look at a field of yaks, the Buddhist history, and the blue skies.  I wish I could have had more time, but I have a feeling I will be back =D

overlooking the city of Lhasa

I was able to move to Seoul this year and experience life in the big city.  While moving and adjusting was stressful, I look back at my time in Seoul fondly.  I didn’t stay in Seoul for very long though, I moved back to Cheonan this summer for a new job.  I would not recommend moving between cities twice in one year.

temple right outside Cheonan

I visited several Korean cities this year and while it was hard to pick my favorite one, I will have to go with Andong.  I liked it so much, I changed the banner picture on my blog to the folk village of Andong.

Hahoe folk village

2016 was nothing short of busy!  I feel more adjusted to living in Korea and I feel like I’ve come to appreciate my life here more during this year.  Even though living overseas has always been my dream, it is impossible to escape culture shock completely and the stress of full-time jobs.  I needed to learn some hard lessons this year and while I can’t get into the details on this blog, I think I came out a little wiser.  I think that’s all anyone can ask for when they look back on an entire year.

I am thinking about moving to a new country sometime later this year.  Korea has been good for me but there are some new job opportunities I would like to pursue outside of Korea.  In the immediate future, I have my winter vacation coming up.  I’ll be going to a few countries, most of which I have never visited before.  I am looking forward to whatever 2017 will bring.