All dressed up like a dead China doll in a Korean wedding gown.

Seoul. Seoul is....insane.

Koreans are some of the nicest people I have ever met. Also, some of the quirkiest.

Besides eating live octopus, dog, and raw beef for dinner, they also full-heartedly believe that electrical fans are these super dangerous oxygen eating vacuums that under no conditions should be left on while sleeping, because of a fear that they appropriately call "fan death." Wikipedia it, it will make you laugh. Promise.

I live with three super rad chicks. One of them is a friend from Brooklyn, and she is gasp - my age. She is smart and makes films. She is originally from Alaska which makes her instantly about 10x more rad then anyone else. There is an 18 year old Brazilian chick who has more energy and "crazy" in her then any Brazilian I have ever met. She is basically amazing, all the time. She even taught me how to "save" wet cigarettes. Props to Sao Paulo for being way more resourceful then America. And then we have the "just turned 17" (literally) Polish chick. This girl is more innocent then any model I have ever met. She is super sweet, and like most Polish models - smart, with great taste when it comes to pop culture. On Saturday, I woke up and found out she was experiencing her first hangover. Can you imagine? Amazing. She said to me, Shea, I didn't know it was going to hurt this much. Oh man. This is just too classic for words. I think she really decided to push her innocent barriers this weekend, because she moved onto first bender later that day. She didn't make it home until six PM the following night, and I was sitting around the apartment thinking, at what time am I supposed to get worried? Anyway. I have done my best to teach her what a hangover is, and how to cure it - but this girl isn't believing a word I say. You know, just trying to do my part in the world. Not sure if the fashion world is for me, so now I am going for "America's Next Top Role Model."

Cringing at my terrible pun, but moving on.

I got into a lot of "trouble" (I went to college and I regularly read books, I still can't believe this is my life) with my agency a couple of weeks ago. Basically, a guy stopped by our apartment. A guy I know. Somehow my agency found out. Apparently, this is against the rules. And breaking the rules in Korea, is like trying to burn a bunch of holy books on 9/11 in America. It just isn't okay. It doesn't matter why or how or what rule. Honestly, it could be a life or death situation. But breaking "the rules" is breaking the rules here. Now, I am literally being fined thousands of dollars, and working knowing I am probably not making a dime. But. The guy was cute. And. One of the only things I am good at is breaking rules. So, this is all unfortunate, I know - but I am aware of how low the shock value of this story is. The next part of the story, is also just as predictable. The guy wasn't just cute, he was amazing. My relationship life is beyond boring, and I know none of you want to hear about it. Don't worry, I will break it up really quickly. He was super cute, which made me want to hang out with him. Turns out he is also super amazing. This made me totally fall for him. Skip forward a few weeks, he moved back to Canada. I'm not sure who gets out of Canada, and then decides to return. That part still confuses me (Canadian friends - I'm definitely kidding, love you all). But this is the actual, real story of my life. Needless to say, I'm growing tired of it.

The traffic here is the worst I have ever seen. I know I keep complaining about it. But try sitting in a car for one entire day here, and then try picturing that as your existence on this planet. It is brutal. There is bad traffic twenty four hours a day. The mind-blowing part is that no one seems to care. In New York, cars honk their horns, and yell at people for the most minor of inconveniences. And it works. Traffic isn't that bad. You get to where you need to go, about when you need to get there. Damn, New York City - I miss you more then ever. Anyway. Here, it is like it is against the rules to get upset or honk your horn. We have spent days and days drenched with rain because of some typhoon. The other day, in the middle of all the rain, we got stuck in a traffic jam in a tiny alley. We all watched while every driver of every car decided to get out and wander away from their cars. Some walked into restaurants, some just wandered off. Some of them even left their doors wide open. Yes, in the rain. I felt like I was stuck in an ant farm, and there was no way out. My Brazilian roommate almost lost it and screamed things like, In Sao Paulo, there would be blood on the streets if this happened for even a second! My friend from Brooklyn and I quickly agreed this would never go down in any "real" city, and then we pulled out the video camera and caught it all on film. Coming soon. I promise.

Still, Seoul is rad. I can't help but kind of love it. If I could change two things about my life here, I would change my food situation (damn, being vegetarian is IMPOSSIBLE), and please, please, please - I don't want to try on another Korean wedding dress EVER again.


ex-oh.