Long story short. I was in the train with a friend when a boy, let's call him Mr. Car comes up to us and asks the usual thing that Koreans ask me when they hear me speak Korean. How I learned, where I was from, etc. As I said in my previous post, I've been here for two years and get these questions a lot so it was pretty normal for me to talk to a stranger. I don't know if it's just me being me, or me being a Filipino, but we're pretty known to be open and talk to strangers and treat them nicely. So I did, to the point where I gave him my number because we had a mutual friend and said it'd be nice to hang out next time (mistake number 1). Now, a lot of people can tell me I'm crazy for giving away my number but it's nothing too big for me even when I was back in the Philippines. I didn't give it to anybody who wanted it, but gave it when I knew that there was no harm in knowing the person I was giving it too. Anyway, he starts texting me and we start talking and he was pretty nice. Into the conversation, he starts telling me how pretty my eyes looked, how I spoke good Korean, how nice I looked at the train, etc. I say thank you for his compliments and appreciate him. He asks me out for dinner and said, "Sure" because we were going with friends, and I like meeting new people. A few days before our meeting, I was with my boyfriend when Mr. Car calls me at 1 in the morning. My boyfriend asks who he was and told him he was a new friend I made. I didn't answer the phone cos I was talking with my boyfriend but called him a few minutes later (mistake number 2). I ask why he called me to which he replied, "Because I wanted to hear your voice." Uhm... What was I gonna say to that? Aside from the fact that my boyfriend was right next to me where he heard everything..? I told him just go to sleep and I'll see him soon. My boyfriend got pretty upset with this and I understand. I'd be pretty upset too so I explained to him that we were just going to have dinner. But he didn't like that idea either so I told him that I wasn't going to meet Mr. Car anymore.

The next day, Mr. Car kept on texting and texting about what time we were gonna meet or where etc. I felt like I needed to get out of this. Call me rude but I'd rather have him angry than have to risk getting into a fight with my boyfriend. So I told him I couldn't meet him because we had practices for our play that evening (which was true), and that he had to stay til 10 if he wanted to have dinner, which he couldn't because he had to go back home. I'm soooo glad that dinner didn't happen. He told me he wanted to see me and even dressed up properly for our 'date'. Date.. Huh.

A few days later he kept on texting and trying to call me, telling me how much he missed me, how he fell for my smile and how I looked, and how he wanted to see me play guitar and sing, etc. I can't for my life be rude to somebody so I tried to delay and shorten my replies to a few 'Yes,' 'No,' 'Okay' and 'I already ate. Bye.' But he still kept on texting. 

I was actually doing a good job with being patient about it but being patient can only get you so far. Tonight I put up a picture of me and my boyfriend and this was our conversation.

Him: 나리야 (Hey, Anna)

Me: 엉? (What?)

Him: 사진 너랑 니남친이야?? (That you and your bf in the pic?)

Me: 웅~왱 (Yea why?)

Him: 아...그냥 니 남친 뭐하는 사람이야? (Nothing.. What does he do?)

Me: 얔ㅋ 대학원생이얌 ㅋ (He's in graduate school)

Him: 아.. 저사람 차있어? (Oh.. Does he have a car?)

Me: 아닝없엉ㅋㅋ (Nope)

Him: 난있는뎁 ㅋ (Well, I do)

Me: 그래서? (So?)

Him: 그냥 그렇다구^^; 왜정색해 (Nothing ^^ Why do you have to be so serious)

In Korea, there is a polite way and informal way of speaking. My boyfriend is older than Mr. Car so he still had to talk in a polite way even if they weren't the ones in conversation. I thought that was very rude. This conversation was the final straw. THAT'S IT. I tried to be nice and tell him. "Hey, I have a boyfriend. I've been really busy with practices." And he's like, "You have time to meet your boyfriend but no time to meet me?" Uhm.. To answer your question, yes..? The difference is that I actually want to see my boyfriend.

That is insulting if he thinks I am going to throw myself at him just because he has a car. 어쩌라고. Whenever a guy tried to court me with their bling I get so insulted and I make sure that they know how I feel because girls deserve more than that. To all the boys of the world: although there are some girls who are blinded by all your bling-bling, there are still some who'd appreciate you for who you are and not what you have. To this shallow-minded boy: 꺼져. 

At the end of the conversation, he tried to save himself by saying that he was just kidding, that he just wanted to be friends with me, and that he actually had a girlfriend a few days ago - a girl he met through a friend. I told him to stop texting me, focus on his relationship and delete my number as I already deleted his.

He asked, "So you're telling me to stop texting you?"

"Yes."

"Okay whatever have your fun with your ancient motherfucking boyfriend."

My life is way too much of a comedy. Thank you for being the clown.

I had a fight with my boyfriend a few days ago. It started out as a small misunderstanding and lead to this big dramatic thing. I'm surprised I forgave him that easily. I was so upset and angry (which is rare for an optimistic little ray of sunshine like me) that I was shaking. I actually thought we were gonna break up! I was so upset that I sent my mom a message on Facebook and simply said, "Mom. I think we're gonna break up." This I kinda regret saying. But here's one thing. Friends, never say anything when you are angry. Just.. don't. 

So today my mom sees the message and asks me to log in on Skype. She asks me what's wrong and just like a highschool friend during recess, she listened. She let me write down everything and didn't reply 'til the end of the story. When I was still young and living in the Philippines, I never had enough time or chances, or maybe had too much teenage angst and an I'm-too-shy-to-talk-to-my-parents-about-my-love-problems-because-it's-gonna-be-really-awkward-because-they're-my-parents mentality that made it so hard to talk to her about my boy problems (albeit they were never really about the love type).

Anyway, we talked. I told her how I felt bad about what happened. How scared I was that maybe I was doing something wrong. That I didn't know what to do. I talked to her like how a mother would want a daughter to talk.. Open, honestly. She listened. And then, she spoke. She asked me, "Do you know who your soulmate is?" I literally stopped what I was thinking. Who is my soulmate? I wanted to lie to myself and tell her, "It's him. He's my boyfriend, anyway," just to make it seem like I'm living a fairytale at this age but sometimes being honest was always the easiest thing to do. I really do care for him and he's an amazing person. But I'm still young and marriage is.. just.. not yet. Not yet. So I told my mom I don't know who my soulmate is but I have a good feeling with him. It wasn't a fairytale answer, but it was right. At least for our story. 

When she mentioned soulmates, it reminded me of my dad and mom's story, and how my dad and mom always called each other 'soulmates'. It's so wonderfully beautiful that I wish I could have that kind of love, too. How did my mom know my dad was the one? Because she had asked for a sign.

My mom and dad married later than the rest of the world. I guess they gave each other time to find each other. When my mother was in college, she was in a very smooth and steady relationship with a boy. She had asked for two signs: a red rose if they were going 'til the 'very end' or a white rose if it meant that they had to break up. One day, she received a white one. My mother didn't tell the boy that they had to break up then and there. She didn't tell him about the 'sign' she had asked for. She told me that she just kept her distance until they naturally just ended. So with my father, she asked for those signs again. My mother was in the office for a contract growing in a company where my dad was a part of too and out of the blue she received three beautiful red rose. It's those little things. It's those little signs.

Another time where my mother asked for signs was when my grandfather passed away. She prayed and asked for a sign wanting to know if her father, our grandfather, was in peace. I remember her telling me this. The sign didn't come in physical form but it was still a sign for my mother because she believed in it. When my mother asked a priest about it, he gave the perfect answer. "Signs will come in different forms but the message is still the same." 

For myself, when I have to make really important decisions, I pray really hard because I know when I wake up, there's always gonna be answer. These signs have worked for my mother, and I'm sure it'll work for me too if I just believed in it as much as my mom did. I always believed what my mother says because they always turned out to be right. Mothers always know best. 

"If the signs are not to your liking, just go with it. It's a reminder that God has other plans for you. Don't be afraid to ask for signs. It'll be your guide. If the sign isn't to your liking, then it just means it's not meant to be. If you see one that you don't like, you can get hurt, but remember it's from Him and He knows better than any one for what's good for us."

Just believing that there's somebody looking out for me up there makes me feel so safe. And having these angels here like my mother always looking out for me makes me realized how truly blessed I am - not materially but with treasures like family and friends.