What Doesn't Kill You Makes You Stronger

Wow, there are no words to describe all the things that have happened in the last month. Well, I just started my one week summer vacation and I have a little bit of time to kill, so let's give it a try....

The beginning went well. I enjoyed the rest of June with my sister. Honestly, at times she drove me crazy, but it was nice to have someone else around at my place (even if it meant snoring in my ear). We went to dance class, exercised together, met a family friend, did tons of shopping, went to a housewarming party, ate lots of food and dessert, and Norebang. The day Smelly left, it started to rain, which matched the way I was feeling! After I saw her off on the Airport bus and walked back into my apartment, it felt so empty. The minute I closed the door, I just burst into tears. ㅠㅠ

Ah, I had one of my wisdom teeth pulled. The dentists had previously informed me that they were going to have to put me to sleep because my wisdom tooth was still deep inside. So I popped some Valium before the operation. I was all right because I knew that I would be asleep and I wouldn't feel anything. He gave me a shot of local anesthesia; that wasn't painful. Next, I laid there breathing in the gas, waited and desperately tried to fall asleep, but nothing happened. Every little sound I heard, my eyes flew wide open. They gave me 2 more Valium pills and some more gas. But nope, nothing. So I heard the dentist say, "Let's just do it." That's when the tears started to flow... I cried like a little baby. The assistant tried to comfort me, but the tears kept on coming. Before I knew it, the dentist told me I was done. I didn't feel anything at all. =_= Nowadays, there is a just a huge hole back there. And I hate how a grain of rice fits perfectly back there!

The next week in mid-July was crazy! Some of our new friends were here in Korea on vacation and were heading back to good ole Tennessee, so we tried to spent as much time possible with them. That meant very little sleep that week. And I mean very little. We had a good time though... good food, going out, good conversation, but most of all, good company. They need to come back and visit now!

After they left, homesickness hit me like a tidal wave. I wanted to be in their positions heading back to the states to all their friends and family. I miss everyone so much. Therefore, I did some more crying. Okay, I admit it, I'm a crybaby. I know it. To combat the homesickness, I went running a lot more - racked up about 12 miles last week. Yay! But man, is the common theme of this month crying, or what?!

The crying doesn't stop there. So two nights ago, I'm heading back home from Gangnam. Not too late, I got on the bus home around 11:30pm, got off the bus a little after 12. I'm walking back to my place. My feet were killing me (breaking in my new shoes), so I was just slowly making my way home. As I was about to turn the corner, I kinda saw some guy in the distance running a little. I figured that he was late going home. I turned the corner and I could sense him getting closer, a little too close for my liking, so I stop so that he could pass me. I didn't like him walking behind me. I was watching his shadow, and I saw that he kinda stopped, too. As I was turning around to see where he was, his hand covers my mouth...

So I freaked out. I screamed, but his hand was covering my mouth. Honestly, I am not even quite sure of the next series of events. It all happened so fast. All I remember was struggling for my bag. He had me in somewhat of a headlock; he was simultaneously trying to grab my bag and covering my mouth. I tried hitting him, and hit him on the back once or twice, but as many of you know, I'm not exactly the strongest person alive. Then I remembered that pinches to the armpit are supposed to be really painful and effective (Thank you Oprah), so I aimed for that area. I don't quite remember if I was successful, but next thing I knew, we both fell down??

He then got up and tried to grab my bag again. As I was on the floor, I was able to grasp the handles tightly with both hands. So now, he tried to shake me off, and dragged me along for a good 20 feet. This time, I was able to scream, so I did as loud as I possibly could. Then he freaked out and ran away. I saw him turn back as he was running, and that's when I saw that I was holding his bag, too! WHAT?!?!?!?! I guess sometime during the struggle our bags got tangled. I was hysterical, I dropped to the floor and sobbed. A woman and her husband came out to see what was wrong. They were so kind, I tried to explain as much as I could. She calmed me down a little, gave me some water, and she helped me call the police. I am actually shocked someone came out to help, since I've studied all about the bystander effect and Kitty Genovese's tragic story. I am so thankful to them, but I wasn't able to properly thank her since once the police arrived they asked me a bunch of questions. I went in and out of hysterical crying, having to repeat over and over what happened. I had to call a friend to help translate everything in detail to the police (my Korean is not good enough).

So this bag I grabbed from him... I'm actually looking at the police's list of the things in his bag right now. The items include: a picture envelope, 4 pictures, a Boston Red Sox hat, Louis Gatos glasses, shirts, key and key holder, earphones, and a cell phone battery. The envelope had his name written on it! The next day, the police caught the guy and supposedly, he's in prison now. We headed to the Yongin Police Station to file a formal report. I didn't understand everything, but from what I could understand, supposedly this guy was broke with tons of credit card debt, and had a girlfriend. Any correlation?! Correlation DOES NOT equal causation though. Ha... but somehow, I feel bad for the guy, too.

Anyways, I think the day after and yesterday I was in so much shock and still very traumatized. Walking past the same area made my heart skip a beat and all the incident just replayed in my mind. But now, I realize that I am so incredibly lucky. I just have some minor injuries - scraped knee and elbow, some back and neck pain, some bruises, and ripped clothes. Seriously, I could have easily been hurt more or things could have been a lot worse. He could have just kicked me in the face and ran off with the bags, but he didn't lay a hand on me. The main thing he was after was my bag. In Korean, there's this word 액땜, which basically means an escape from misfortune by undergoing one of a lesser degree beforehand. Exactly how I feel, I do consider myself very very lucky.

So from now, I'm looking on the bright side of things. Because of this, I'm a stronger person. Heck, I was the one who ended up mugging him, right? And as Nietzsche said, "What doesn't kill you makes you stronger."

Word!