The guy who used fake pictures and then ditched me when we planned to meet sent me some really long messages all in Korean on the only app I hadn’t blocked him on. I read through them a little but only understood a little and forgot about it because basically they confirmed the reasons I knew he had flaked out on me. Last night, though, I met one of my friends who can speak Korean well (actually this guy is white but I think he speaks Korean much better than any of my Korean-American friends, haha) and he translated the messages for me. Basically, the guy saw me and freaked out because I had ‘the most beautiful face in the world’ or something like that and he was afraid to show ‘his true face which could not compare’ and stood there ‘watching me from afar’ until I left (to go sit in the dog cafe and be angry; creepy much??) And he was also afraid of English. And then he ‘had a change of heart’ and called me to meet me half an hour later but I told him to get lost  and ‘crushed his soul.’ But it was a hundred times funnier when my friend read it because it sounded very poetic. So, huh, yeah, it wasn’t because he “didn’t like what he saw” after all. (Not like I thought it was for a second.) In fact, maybe I should stop being so beautiful, because it literally scares men away from me! Ha, ha, ha! Also, y’know, I did tell him right after he told me that he lied about the pictures that it didn’t matter and he should just come say hi to me, anyway… if he had lied about his pictures but then still had the guts to come up and admit it I would have at least had some respect for him and we probably still would have at least talked and grabbed some food. Maybe if I saw that he was painfully shy or awkward and felt bad about it we could have even been friends.

Also that jerk obviously doesn’t feel bad about what he did since he has since added two new photos of the same fake person to his profile! Is he just stealing some random attractive guy’s Naver photos? I still don’t understand why he runs this scam or what he plans to do when he meets women in real life and they’re like “Oh hey you are not the same person you are pretending to be the whole time we were talking before, what’s up with that?” Maybe some people would be cool with that? I find that hard to imagine, though.

Anyway, the mystery has been solved. Case closed.

I mentioned a guy I started talking to on a phone app a few posts back. He seemed really nice and genuine and handsome. I.e., too good to be true. Even in the post, before tonight’s ‘date’ I was positing to myself and the internet what was wrong with him. Of course, something had to be wrong with him. Today I had the unpleasant experience of discovering it firsthand.

So I should mention that I never once got my hopes up with him. In fact, I never do lately with guys. It just never ends well. When we started talking, I was a bit suspicious because the job he claimed he had did not match what he looked like in his pictures at all. He looked like a little hipster string bean, my ideal type, but said he was in college studying physical education or physical therapy or something sports-ish. But, who am I to judge? I don’t think the way I dress or look accurately portrays who I am and what I’m interested in all the time, so I wouldn’t want to pigeon hole someone else, especially when I have no reason not to trust them.

He asked for my phone number and started calling me. A lot. I think he called 5 or 6 times Saturday. I was kind of getting weird vibes from him because he had called so many times and also when I would call him back he would be at work or ‘hanging out alone in a pension house he had rented with his friends at a beach somewhere while they all went to buy beer.’ Actually my suspicion was that he had a girlfriend and only called me at such random times because that was the only time he had to talk to me without her overhearing. So, my suspicions were there. I said I wanted to meet him in person (no use wasting more time talking and calling someone I don’t even know if I’m going to like) and we agreed to meet today.

I got home from work, spent a half hour doing my hair and makeup and getting dressed up because even if I was getting weird vibes that could have just been a ‘cultural difference’ and he was a total babe in the two pictures I’d seen of him. We agreed to meet at Hongdae even though it takes me a SUPER LONG time to get there, but it was near his house and I hadn’t been in a while and wanted to go. So I get there like 5 minutes late and text him that I’m going to use the bathroom and ask what exit he is at. He tells me he’s at exit 8, so I walk there, kind of nervous. I hate first impressions. I tell him to wait a minute and I’m sorry I’m late but there are a million people everywhere, and he says “I’m so sorry.” I look around and don’t see him so I call him. No response. OK maybe his friend called him suddenly and it’s busy. Wait a little, call him again. No response. I keep looking around but no one who looks like his pictures is near me, although there are a lot of men. Maybe his phone died. I consider going downstairs in case he’s waiting inside the station, but I don’t want to get sweaty so I text him “Where are you? I’m at exit 8” in Korean. His response a few minutes later is “Sorry Melissa. Pic not me.” Um, what?! You just stole some other guy’s pictures and used them on a site where the point is to judge other people by their pictures and then go out with them??! What did you think was going to happen when you met someone in real life and they realized you were obviously NOT the person you were pretending to be? So I’m like “Why? I spent 1 hour coming here… Why did you lie?… Just say hello to me.” Since I already came all the way over here, why not just meet this guy even though he’s probably really hideous and strange and PSYCHO and at least get a free meal? He’s probably one of the guys I saw waiting around the exit earlier and he must have gotten nervous when he saw me and just ran away. Like, were you surprised that I actually looked like my pictures? Because that is the whole point. Or he was just standing there watching me the whole time watching me look around for him, which is creepy. He never responds so I go sit in the dog cafe and bury my face in a puppy and glare at all the couples populating the cafe. Eventually he calls me and I ignore him the first few times and finally pick up and the conversation is just him saying “Hello? Sorry…. sorry… sorry” so I say “Forget it, don’t talk to me” in Korean which made everyone in the cafe stare at me out of curiosity. I block him and then he keeps Kakao-ing me “sorry”s and “ㅠㅠ” until I tell him off on there and then block him so he has no way of contacting me ever again.

In case you skipped the whole thing just read that last paragraph. ^

Before I met him I kept saying that I would give him a chance and also the guy my friend wants to hook me up with but after that I am DONE with men. Especially Korean men. Never met an honest one in my life. The few who I think are honest were crazy. (Excluding friends’ boyfriends and Korean guys who are just my friends.) Now, well, I guess I’m going to meet this other guy since we are both attending the same social gathering. After that, I am finished. I am not even going to think about dating. I will marry someone so they can get an American visa. That will be the extent of my love life.

Like, I don’t even know what to do. I have never had this much trouble getting a boyfriend in my life, and I spent four years at a college without men. People tell me all the time that I’m pretty so I guess I look fine enough (I genuinely like everything about myself except my nose bridge) and I am a nice person and I like to think I am funny and I’m also pretty smart to boot and I have friends and hobbies and interests and I am in decent shape and I don’t have any deformities or other things that might turn some people off from initially approaching me. THERE IS NOTHING WRONG WITH ME, so WTF KOREA, why do you make me feel like an ugly freak who no one will ever love. ㅠ.ㅠ I can’t believe I am a 24 year old woman writing this teenage emo crap. This entry belong on a black and red themed Xanga playing a song from the first My Chemical Romance album in the background.

“I miss you” and “I want to see you” text messages from a tall, built male model showing up on your Kakao every few minutes…. really really can’t beat that!

Thank you to my friend for being my ‘wing woman’ which as you recall was mostly you literally shoving me into this guy! Haha. You could see the ridges of his six-pack through his t-shirt and he is the first guy I’ve met in Korea that I’ve actually had to look up at! And his English was good and we got free drinks since his friend is one of the bartenders at Ellui and I was instantly attracted to him!

He is really handsome and cute and nice and funny… now, let’s just see if I ever see him again! I don’t have much faith in the usually empty promises of Korean boys, but maybe this one is different. 

Since today is a red day, I went out to a bar with my friends last night. I was hoping I would meet an Lee Min Ho look-a-like who speaks perfect English and wears sweater vests and bow ties, because that’s really not asking for too much, but that was not the case. I was hit on by: 1. a large sweaty Indian man who kept putting his arm around me and asking me how many hearts I’d broken in Korea (while his Korean friend laughed at him because it was so awkward) and 2. a Korean guy wearing like an Ed Hardy shirt who kept getting in my face and trying to kiss me; I agreed to meet him for dinner the next day to get rid of him, and saw him no less than one minute later making out with a Korean girl who was slumped over in her chair about to pass out. For some reason there are multiple missed calls on my phone from him and a baker’s dozen Kakao messages. 

Also, the white guy I went out with during the week was a weirdo. I would not be surprised if he ever murdered someone. Our date was so awkward, he apologized to me for being so awkward. Which made it even more awkward. 

I am discouraged about this whole dating thing. Nothing is wrong with me physically; in fact, I think I am lovely^^; so I’m not sure why I am having such bad luck. I’ve never had a dry spell like this in my life. Is it Korea? Is it me? 

However, I am meeting my friend (and maybe something more!), Bus Guy, today. I call him that so often I sometimes forget his real name. He is the extremely tall and pretty handsome Korean guy I met on my local bus. We have always just been friends but maybe today will be the day. Who knows. I’m pretty sure he likes me, but as usual I am just ambivalent about the whole thing. :/

I had two dates this week. With foreign guys. By foreign, I mean from America. (Isn’t it funny how even though I’m American I think of other Americans, Canadians, etc. as foreign now?) I haven’t been out with a foreign guy, honestly, since last September. There was a cute hipster guy at orientation who somehow decided he was interested in me, despite the fact that the weather at orientation was like 100 degrees with 100% humidity and alternated between buckets of rain and scorching sunshine and I couldn’t use my hair straightener or hair dryer and I was covered in sweat by 9 AM every day and I was just repulsive… we went out a few times when we first got here, back in the days before any of us had cell phones and we still had to carry around copies of the subway map in our pockets. I thought we were a good couple, but then he stopped trying to meet me, because someone had told him, our mutual friend said, that I was only interested in Korean guys, and he thought I didn’t actually like him. But I did! Oh well. If we had dated, I’d be living in America now, and practically engaged, most likely…. the girl he started dating after me is now moving into his place in America. I can’t even imagine being that person!

I already wrote about my first date, kind of (barbecue and dog cafe guy.) He’s Asian-American and was very cute. He’s into bow ties and sweater vests and a lot of the same movies and music as me. But I felt like he came on a little too strong. By that, I mean he kind of put his arm around me in the cafe and I freaked out at the touch of another human and ran into the bathroom and then sat really far away from him when I came back……….. I am so awkward. The guy tonight was really nice- another American guy (but black, not Asian) who is also obsessed with being stylish. We spent like an hour talking about how well-dressed Korean people are and where we like to go shopping. He owns 12 suits. However, despite him being really nice and attractive and well-traveled and easy to talk to, he really had no sense of humor, and that’s really important to me. The best part of this is that he went to film school to be a comedy writer. Maybe he was just too nervous. He also works split-shift and ends at 9 at night… an hour from my house… so we can only meet each other on weekends. The odds are not in our favor to begin with.

So dating people from my own country for the first time in a year and a half, as opposed to dating only Koreans, has made me realize a few things. The first is that there’s a lot more to talk about with people from my own country. Which is kind of to be expected. I don’t need to explain things about America or TV shows and movies I like because they both were familiar with everything, things a Korean person would probably not know. It was kind of nice. Communication was a lot easier in general. Another is that American guys are much more likely to not pay for everything. I’ve never gone out with a Korean guy, unless we were already dating, and had to pay for anything at all. The Korean guy has always made sure to pay for all the food and drinks and entertainment. Even though I always ask. For both the guys I met this week, I halfheartedly offered to pay for half our food and drinks, and was really surprised when they actually took me up on it. I’m just so used to having everything paid for. Of course, it’s a bit unfair for the men, and I did offer, so I gladly paid for my half of the food each time. Also, a downside to dating foreign guys in Korea, and an upside to dating Korean men, is that the Korean men know all the good places to go and can find directions easily and help you do everything you can’t do yourself, like handle your GMarket deliveries and apartment bills, because they speak Korean. My Korean was so much better than both the Americans I met this week, and that’s not saying much. Although they’ve both been here less time than I have. The guy I met tonight got into a cab with me and told the driver to “Please give me a Noksapyeong station.” I definitely snickered a little. Neither of them knew of any good places to go in the areas we went to, so I had to be the leader. I’m used to following, not leading, so it was different for me.

I am not sure how I feel about either of these guys. I can imagine being friends with them, but I can’t imagine dating either of them. I don’t feel any sparks. Am I supposed to feel sparks or something? With the Korean guys I’ve dated, I’ve instantly felt something. Maybe it’s because I just thought they were hotter? I guess I’ll just meet them again and see what happens. However, I don’t want to lead them on, which is something that I know I do unknowingly all the time, because I’m too afraid of hurting someone’s feelings to be honest about my (lack of) feelings.

I can’t decide what to do tomorrow. I usually spend all day Sunday watching TV in bed until I nap at least twice, but I came home early tonight so I could actually do something productive… I am really itching to go to Myeongdong or Coex or Dongdaemun or D Cube CIty but I would be crazy to go to any of those places on a Sunday. And I don’t need anything at all. Ah, what to do.

PS- I know some people are waiting for me to answer their emails and I have just been too busy or doing other stuff to remember. I will really try to do that tomorrow. Sorry I’m so slow! Responding to emails days or weeks later is my worst habit; I really need to change it. The problem is that I usually read them on my phone, and then forget to write back once I’m in front of a computer. T_T

I was recently having this conversation with one of my single female friends. Where do you go to meet potentially date-able men? It will be getting warm soon and I want someone to take me to Lotte World. ^____^

I do not really want to meet guys on the internet. While it’s nice to get an idea of what someone is like before you agree to actually meet them, the pictures most people put of themselves on the internet are misleading, and you could end up stuck on a date with a really weird creepy guy whose weirdness evaded your senses through your text-based conversation. I did meet two guys online here in Seoul, and one was Romeo (who was kind of crazy, but in an innocent and misguided way) and the other ended up being kind of a crazy stalker and strangely obsessed with me (as in, over a year after our third and last date, still attempting to contact me from random phone numbers since I blocked his number long ago.)

I am not against meeting someone in a bar or a club but I do not think these places are really conducive for lengthy conversations. Plus, at 2 AM on a Saturday night, most men are not really looking to meet women they can take out on nice dates and actually get to know. 

I am really at a loss for how to meet a nice person in Seoul. I have my language partner and the really tall cute guy who lives near me to fulfill my need for Korean Man Time, and all my foreign male friends to talk about bro stuff with, but I think it would be really nice to have a boyfriend as well. I like going to movies and holding hands and taking couple selcas and buying presents out of the blue and all that other cute couple stuff. Unfortunately my friend group is pretty closed off and none of us are big on meeting new people. I’m wondering if I should join a language exchange (like CulCom- I need to study Korean more, anyway) or join some sort of activity group, like the Seoul Hikers, to meet people. Unfortunately, I do not really regularly practice any hobbies, much less hobbies that would appeal to most men, so I’m not sure how I can translate something I’m interested in into an opportunity to meet some new people. 

I am really curious how other people have met their boyfriends. In my group of friends, dating apps, language exchanges, and, for one friend, a very successful night in NB in Gangnam have led to some very cute long-term relationships. 

I still have not lost hope in the Fashion Guy, but he is way too busy working and rarely messages me and I’ve been through that once before and am not interested in dating someone too busy for me again. And I still think the US army guy is cute, although he changed his Facebook status to “This is so gay” which was a big turn-off for me.

This is the long version of the story of why I told the seemingly perfect guy who would drive to my house unannounced to give me flowers that I couldn’t see him again.

He had wanted to meet some of my friends and go to a certain area of Seoul to which he’d never been, so I told him to meet up with us around 9 PM on a Friday. While there, he slipped away and came back with a bouquet of three red roses for me. What a Romeo. (I had nowhere to put these flowers and had to awkwardly carry them around all night, until I eventually abandoned them later in the night.) 

However, a misunderstanding occurred, which I guess was stupid at the time, but suddenly everyone was telling me something he had said or did, and he was the only one who insisted it wasn’t true. I guess it was a problem with him being really naive and over-friendly and also not speaking the best English. 

When I tried to ask my friend about it and we tried to go outside to talk, he got really, really clingy and kept grabbing at my wrists (oh, the Korean wrist grab! It really does happen) and trying to force his face on mine. Not cool. My friend and I returned. His clinginess/grabbiness got worse and I started getting really annoyed. I kept pushing him off and yelling “Stop it!” but he wouldn’t stop. Then my friend’s boyfriend wanted to talk to me outside, and we were able to talk for all of three seconds before Romeo ran out, grabbing at me and trying to drag me back inside. Again, I told him to stop, that he was hurting me, and I would talk to him in one second. He wouldn’t listen and just stood there, latching on to me.

I was really fed up so said I needed to go to the bathroom. Unsurprisingly, he followed me into the nearest bathroom I knew, which was a jam-packed bar/club. It was hard enough squeezing through all the people, but even harder when he wouldn’t stop grabbing at my wrist. Then when I got to the bathroom, which was a shared sex one (I’m sure you’ve seen them in Korea; there are stalls for the men and women but then there’s a urinal or two right in the middle,) this dumb girl was like “Oh yeah I’m just waiting until no one is using the urinal before I go in! I don’t want to be rude!” and I just stared at her in silent hatred while pushing off Romeo’s grabby hands every two seconds. 

Went to the bathroom, left, he was right outside the door, followed me the whole way out yanking and grabbing at me. Finally, when we were outside the place where most of my friends still were, I really flipped out and shoved him and screamed “Stop it! You’re hurting me!” while crowds of young Korean couples gawked (so embarrassing.) My friend saw and came outside and distracted him while I marched sulkily over to the taxis and waited for her there. She kept telling him to wait until tomorrow and that he was making it worse by grabbing and pulling at me when I obviously wanted to be alone.

We finally got in a taxi and I had a suspicion that Romeo would be waiting for me outside my house. My friend got off, and when I got to my place, I saw him there. I was worried because he was drunk and had already over-powered me with his arm-yanking, so who knows what could happen next? Luckily there was a woman walking by this street at 3 AM for who knows what reason, and he had just turned around a corner to wait under my building’s parking garage, so I was able to sprint over to the side door and get inside without him even knowing. I told him I was sleeping at my friend’s house. He still waited outside my building in the freezing cold for at least another hour. I know this because he kept buzzing my apartment, even though he didn’t think I was at home. I was terrified and my mouth was dry and I was shaking. 

The next day he apologized profusely, and I told him he scared me and I can’t date someone who hurts me. He said he was sorry, and that he didn’t know he was hurting me (because me yelling ‘You’re hurting me!’ didn’t make that clear enough) and that ‘that is how couples in Korea fight’ (meaning the guy dragging the girl around and yanking her arm out of its socket.) 

Deep down I feel bad, because the misunderstanding was dumb, but he should NOT have acted like that. I’d said to him a few days ago ‘you couldn’t even hurt a fly!’ but it was like I saw this crazy, dark side of him, and it made me uncomfortable. Also, he had been moving way too fast on the emotional front, like telling me he loved me and couldn’t live without me by the second date, so I’d already had some weird feelings about all this, but that crazy night really sealed the deal. Now I have a ton of unanswered heartfelt emails from him that I have to respond to. 

If you’re ever dating a Korean guy who tries to push and pull you around and says that it’s OK because it’s part of Korean culture, tell him to shut up. That is just violence, plain and simple! Just because people do it, doesn’t mean it’s right. 

And so, my perfect K-drama relationship ended. But actually, I feel very calm about it. 

Get home from work and put on my over-sized Big Bang t-shirt and crawl into bed and start reading Norwegian Wood with which I am almost finished and get a call from ‘Romeo’ who tells me that he’s in his car and outside my apartment building. He comes in with a rose and a pink cactus flower in a yellow pot. (He didn’t even know that I have been secretly longing to own a plant which it would be nearly impossible for me to murder!) And then we order Chinese food and watch all of 10 minutes of an old Hyun Bin movie (A Millionaire’s First Love- the only Korean movie on my computer I haven’t yet seen) before I fall asleep and have a dream about the orange cat that jumped out in front of me while I was walking to school today and scared the bejeezus out of me and I kind of screamed and an old lady chuckled at my terror. PERFECT DATE NIGHT. Can’t stop smiling like a total goon.

Romeo, Romeo, wherefore art thou wearing a bag on your head? Oh, yeah, because I put it there…

Looks gross, tasted awesome.

“I want to smell at your hair.”

[5 minutes later]

“But I’m not sexual pervert!”

Also one of his friends just added me on Facebook. I guess he really is gushing about me. Cute.^^

“While I met friends today, I was unaware of the passage of time. Because of you.”

“How can I sleep if you aren’t sleeping? I will sleep after my angel sleep.”

“I’m happy person the reason you are my girl.”

He carries all my bags and even my purse in public (the purse thing is actually kind of annoying because I have to ask him every time I need to use something from it…)

He always washes the dishes after we eat. Today I walked out of my bathroom and saw him sneakily cleaning my floor with a dustpan. 

He insists on paying for everything even though he’s just a student and I have a job and I always try to pay (just let me pay! I want to pay!)

He travels 3 hours round-trip to meet me and refuses to meet in between our houses because “[I am] sensitive to cold and will get sick” if I go outside for too long (waiting 5 minutes for the bus is “too long,” I guess. I am a woman therefore I am fragile and delicate.)

He is very in touch with his feelings and always talking about his feelings and asking me about my feelings (and I really hate talking about feelings. I wish we could just stop talking about feelings for 5 minutes. It’s driving me crazy.)

As you can see, he is very sweet and caring, and that would probably be perfect for a Korean girl, but I’m not Korean… I want to carry my own bag and help pay for stuff we share. I don’t want him to feel like I’m using him. 

I have basically spent the past four days with him. This is another thing that bothers me. I really like alone time. It’s impossible to have alone time when someone else is in your house. If I drop hints for him to leave, he won’t get it. I was getting a little moody yesterday and kind of ignoring him and going around cleaning and doing stuff I couldn’t really do if he was there, and then he was like “I’m sorry. I’m bothering you. I will go home” and then I felt guilty and said it was OK. Don’t you know that absence makes the heart grow fonder, 오빠? I like spending time with him but I also need time to myself to look at my blogs and news sites and write emails and watch my TV shows and read and just not have to worry about being sociable and entertaining and pretty for a few hours a day.

I’m pretty sure my old boyfriend knows there’s something going on because the new guy uploaded a picture of us on Facebook, and it’s on my profile, but he hasn’t said anything. I really wish I had been able to resolve things with him. The truth is, I am still in love with my old boyfriend, and sometimes I feel like I’m lying to my new boyfriend. He’s really wonderful, but my feelings aren’t all there. In my mind, I keep comparing the two of them, which I know is bad… and yesterday I opened my phone and saw an update for a game he’d downloaded for me and started almost crying… and I miss being able to talk freely with him about anything, because he was fluent in English… I need to stop it! No feelings.

I bought a ton of stuff for people back home today and it’s cute so I’m going to go take pictures of that now and stop thinking about feelings.

It is such a beautiful day. Sunshine is wonderful.

You are more cuty than I look.

If we meet later, call me 오빠.

I don’t speak English well. If I drive you cracy, understand me. 

When you fall asleep, you seem to be a baby.

(After news of Kim Jong Il’s death) The war should not occur in here. Here are many people who I love.

(After I told him what I learned in Korean class that day, which was like “Why did you come to Korea?” “I came here to learn Korean.”) Very cute. Want to embrace you tightly.

(Before meeting him) Time is coming up. My heart is a bit pounding.

I never forget your kiss! …Very soft like sweet candy.

You are busy today. You possess a good character.

(I asked him why he hadn’t had a girlfriend in 4 years) I had my affection. But my ex-girlfriend betrayed me. While hanging out with me, she met another man and got merried (sic; awww.) For many years I distrust women. [WTF! How could a cold-hearted Korean girl hurt my new oppa?! I’ve heard stories like this before: Korean girls who have two boyfriends suddenly tell one that they can’t meet anymore because she’s marrying the other boyfriend she’s been dating for years without him having any idea! “Second”, or “se-kon-duh”]

When you at poke [pork] yesterday, very cute, hehe

(After sending me a selca) I blush with shame.

I want you to clutch my hand in the pocket.

I think your home seems to be best landscape. 

Favorite: Oh my god. You have many picture in Facebook. Do many people use Facebook in USA?

Edit: one more! For me, you are an angel such as cherub!

Please note that I am not making fun of him or his English ability. I would never do that to anyone, seriously. His English is quite good, considering it’s his third language. I just love how everything he writes is so cute. And how it’s even cuter because he wrote it. He always tells me the nicest things, and he is just melting my heart…. 

I think my blog is going to turn into a Korean dating blog. Oops; sorry. 

Life is short. My time in Korea is short. So I don’t like to waste time. Especially when it comes to romance, because I don’t like being alone. A few weeks ago when I was out with my friends at a bar, a lot of people were messing around on Who’s Here and Grindr to see, literally, who was here. Feeling left out, I downloaded Skout on my phone. (I have an Android phone, so I couldn’t get Who’s Here. And I didn’t want Grindr for obvious reasons.) My inbox was immediately flooded with messages from creepy Indian men calling me white angel and equally creepy 35-year-old Korean men and potato-headed US army bros. The prospects were not good. However, if I found a cute Kboy on there, I would send him a virtual ‘wink’ and then, if he messaged me in return, start talking to him. One guy I winked at ended up being strange and kept asking me to take pictures of my legs. No, thanks. The other ones were nice at first and then made it obvious that they only wanted one thing (ddeokbokki, duh!) But then I got a message from this guy, and since this is a Korean dating blog now, he needs a food-related nickname so no one will ever discover his true identity, even though every Korean person shares a name with a million other Koreans. Should I name him Bundang, since that’s where he lives? Should I name him Long Hair? Ni Hao, because he studies Chinese? JHx2, not to be confused with JHx1, my first K-Bf? I don’t know. Someone read this whole thing and then tell me what his name should be.

So, I met him yesterday, and was so nervous, because I was convinced that he would be hideous in person and have all kinds of serious personality flaws. He looked good in his pictures. He looked a little like Lee Min Ho. But Koreans are master photographic liars. They know all the best angles to give them the smallest face, and Photoshop the crap out of even elementary school children’s school pictures. I was waiting for him in the subway station, already thinking of excuses to leave early. And then, he approached me, and… bam. He was beautiful. A little taller than me, but I’m already tall. Beautiful long hair. Big eyes, big nose (I love big noses. He promises they are both real, but I can’t believe it.) Gorgeous smile. I can’t decide if he’s more handsome or more adorable. He is seriously cute. He looks like he should be in a Kpop band. Not something ‘manly’ like 2PM, but like SHINee. Maybe 2AM because he likes ballads.

We had galbi for dinner and then he suggested going to a ‘place that is like a noraebang, but not a noraebang’ for awhile. We ended up at what was basically a noraebang where you could order a lot of food. We stayed there for about 3 hours, talking and singing. I even sang some Korean songs, and did pretty well: ”Lonely” and “Ugly” by 2NE1 and the “그 남자” song from Secret Garden. Unlike every single other Korean man I have ever been out with on a first date save for my previous boyfriend, he didn’t try to make a move on me. He was genuinely interested in getting to know me. I’m hoping that because he told me that one of his hobbies is ‘church,’ he will be a good guy. Yet his second favorite hobby is ‘drinking soju’ so I’m not sure. ㅋㅋㅋ 

He tried to accompany me to my home so he knew I had arrived safely, but I assured him I could manage, and that I didn’t want him to go all the way to Northeast Seoul and then back to Bundang. Since then, he’s called me every night, and messaged me dozens of times throughout the day. Today he sent me two pictures of himself posing for me, and a video of the library in which he was studying Chinese and English. 

Also, speaking of messages… this guy [Korean dating blog name still undecided, someone help] writes the most adorable messages. And sends me the cutest pictures. For example, even before I met him, he drew a face on an orange and wrote “Fighting, Melissa!” on it, and sent it to me. And last night, he wrote my name and a heart on the fog of his bus window, and Kakaoed me that as well.  I’m going to write a new post and feature some of the sweet things he has sent to me.

We are meeting again on Christmas Eve. Yes, the major couple holiday. It seems like it could be serious. But, I don’t know. I don’t want to get my hopes up, because he could end up just wanting to try out a foreign girl. Or he could have another Korean girlfriend, although I doubt it; you can see why in the next post I’m going to write. Anyway, I’ve been smiling all day and I feel like a nerd. Someone pinch me, because I haven’t felt this happy in MONTHS, and I must surely be dreaming.