#In the winter he wears Winter Coats with wool on the inside. Shirts. Scarves. Pants and boots.

[emionadventure-blog]

Packing Chronicles: How to fit a year’s worth of stuff into two suitcases

Guys. I am five days away from getting on a plane with a one way ticket to Korea! Insane.

As you might have guessed, I have spent most of the last few weeks packing up my entire life into boxes and suitcases and essentially just emptying out my life here in preparation for life there.

You might be wondering how I narrowed down everything I could possibly need or want in a year into these bags. I was wondering that too, honestly. My solution was to read a ton of blogs of people who already did this (which was honestly kind of confusing because everyone says different things) and to pack and repack and re-repack my suitcases until I found a flow and narrowed it down to the essentials. I posted a video on YouTube of the random non-clothing items I’m squeezing in, but on here it’s gonna be all about the clothes.

From what I can gather, Korea has four distinct seasons with distinct weather, which is great because, where I live, so do we! So I already had a lot of clothes for cool, hot, warm, cold, and everything in between.

Let’s start with tops:

I’m bringing a fair amount of sweaters/sweatshirts because I read that a lot of times public buildings aren’t heated, and after three years of working in the inner city I’m used to school buildings being unpredictably cold or hot. So three cardigan style sweaters and three large pullover sweaters for work and four sweatshirts for everything else.

Then I’m bringing a bunch of blouse-y tops for work that are nice and breezy for when it gets hot because I think it might be very uncommon to have aircon in schools? It’s hard to tell...and it’s considered a bit immodest to have a lot of shoulder or chest showing so....thin fabrics are a must. And then just some long sleeve and short sleeve t-shirts to wear around and camis for layering. Fun fact: the mont dinosaur t-shirt was belonged to my husband when he was in 4th grade...

Moving on to bottoms:

I’m bringing one pair of jeans, three pairs of jean shorts, a pair of suede pants for winter, a pair of linen pants for summer and then all the leggings. Yes. That is four pairs of the same leggings (Express black cropped to be exact) because I cannot live without them.

And then literally just a ton of skirts. Apparently short hemlines don’t really raise eyebrows over there, even in a professional setting, but since I have clothes for an American school setting most of my skirts are maxi, but I also have two midi skirts (the blue one was made for my by one of my student’s mothers) and two pencil skirts.

I’m also bringing a bunch of dresses that can be worn in multiple seasons and two sets that are a little more fancy in case the need arises (the purple and green dress in the top left of the picture was made by the same student’s mother). And a mermaid sequin dress because I want it.

So, I don’t know if I’ll be able to join a gym or if my building will have one or what...but I’m also bringing all my workout clothes (well most), and then two bathing suits and some pjs.

I will have a few months before it gets really cold, but I have no idea if I will be able to fit into Korean clothes (5′2, 125 pounds..two inches shorter than their average but 5 pounds heavier! lol), so I’m bringing a warm vest and a wool coat and a giant fall sweater coat made by my mother-in-law. And then a bunch of scarves, including one I got in Russia, and two gloves and three hats, the owl one crocheted by my sister in law!

Shoes were even harder to figure out, because online accounts are so confusing about what sizes you can get in Korea, and on top of that many places require you to remove your shoes so super strappy sandals and heels are impractical. I’m a size 7-7.5, so I don’t have massive feet but I think that’s relatively big for over there.

So I’m bringing two pairs of sneakers, plus running shoes and hiking boots, snow boots, three pair of work flats, although I think I wear “inside shoes” at work, and a few pairs of heels.

And that’s it! I really don’t regret anything I’ve left behind and don’t feel like I want to bring anything else...of course I could keep packing and packing but this is a solid start!

Actually, there is one more thing I would pack if I could...

Check out my YouTube for a video talking about what else I’m packing that isn’t clothing...link in my bio.

Until the next adventure...

Emi

[tabbyfmp]

Zachary Ezra Rawlins

-pg17 - He supposes he looks like a lit major, with his square-framed glasses and cable-knit sweaters. Zachary still has not entirely adjusted to New England winters, especially not one like this with its never ending snow. He shields his southern-raised body with heavy layers of wool, wrapped in scarves and warmed with thermoses full of hot cocoa that he sometimes spikes with bourbon.

-pg28 - He wraps his scarf around his neck.

- He buttons his wool coat.

- He tugs his knit hat down over his ears.

- He pulls on his boots

- He slips his hands into his gloves.

-pg29 - Inside their cashmere-lined gloves, his hands tingle thinking about it.

-pg56 - The one packed in his duffel bag with his carefully rolled suit is of the Zorro variety, black silk and surprisingly comfortable.

-pg60 - It’s not a specifically literary costume, but even without the mask he feels like a character in his black suit with its near-invisible pinstripes. He bought the suit two years ago and hasn’t worn it much but it’s well tailored and fits properly. It looks better now, paired with a charcoal shirt instead of the white one he’s worn it with before.

-pg134 - He puts on a pair a brown linen pants and a collarless moss green shirt with polished wood buttons. He takes out a grey cable-knit sweater that reminds him of one of his own favourites.

-pg135 - Zachary puts the room key and his compass and, after a moments hesitation, Dorian’s sword back around his neck.

-pg151 - She grabs a hunter green wool coat with brown elbow patches plucked from the chaos like a perfect condition vintage store treasure.

-pg315 - So clothed in history and myth the son of the fortune teller looks towards a light in the distance.

-pg327 - The painting Zachary stands toe-to-toe with the actual one, in the same suede shoes, the same blue pajama pants that somehow manage to look elegant and classical in oil paint.

-pg358 - When he frees the scabbard and its leather straps it does fit the sword, not perfectly but well enough that he will not have to carry it.

-pg387-8 - A coat. A very old coat with a great many buttons. Zachary discards his travel-damaged sweater and carefully put-on Simon’s long-lost coat. The buttons are emblazoned with a crest, though in the light he cannot make out more than a smattering of stars.

-pg404 - There is a sword strapped to his back in an ancient leather scabbard. He is wearing an antique coat that has been lost in time and found again.

-pg427 - There is a new figure carved from ice with him now. A smaller one, bespectacled and curly-haired, wearing a hooded sweatshirt and carrying a backpack.

-pg443 - He is back in his body. Or a version of his body. He is lying on the ground wearing pajama pants and no shoes and a coat he still thinks of as Simon’s though both the coat and this death-worn version of it know they belong to the one who wears them. On his chest is the mark of a freshly burned key but no wound, no blood.

[rennybu]

12, 14, 20, 27, and 29 for clan building asks cause holy shit they're all phenomenal!!!!

14 and 29 answered here!

12. Typical style of dress

Layers. Lots and lots of layers. Inside their aravels and on warm days elves will wear light cloth shirts and thicker wool-derived pants. Pants are usually heavy and baggy for comfort, mobility, durability and warmth! They keep the cold out of their necklines and sleeves with scarves or woven wraps. Going barefoot isn’t an option in the Frostbacks so the clan all wear footwraps and tough leather slippers, and have boots for traveling.

They’ll keep warmth in with a fur-lined cloak, robe, belt, anything. Oversized coats tied around the waist with a bright sash are the most popular!! The coat-half-on look with one shoulder out is very stylish among hunters.The clan mostly favors earthy or berry-toned dyes but they have an affinity for obtaining bright ochres and blues in trade. Embroidery is really popular among the Hahrens of the clan, and Lavellan has a distinct scale armour that’s a hybrid of salvaged Elvhen technique and Avvar stitching.

Their buttons and thread are mostly animal bits! Bone and gold are the most common forms of beads and jewelry. The clan also fashions soft suede leggings specifically for dancing.

TL;DR, they’re well insulated and know they look GOOD

20. What stories does the clan have with moral lessons?

Within clan Lavellan, the most popular cautionary tale told to its children tells how a hundred years is not enough time for a Halla to grow a mountain ram’s hooves.

Lavellan is a sizeable clan, spanning several semi-permanent camps along the Frostback mountains, and it is not uncommon to find a child or teen’s body at the bottom of a sheer drop after playing too far from the paths or climbing too high on a dare.

The clan’s members don’t leave the steppe or pine forests of their territory unless they have to, and even in the mountains, they stay close to the paths they’ve charted. Dirthamen once had a city in the mountains, but this is not that city, and they must revere their territory as a wild and foreign place even as they call it their home.

27. What are the most monumental parts of life for clan members?

The seasonal migration. Absolutely everyone, down to the youngest able child, will ensure that rations are prepared, aravels are in working order, Halla are healthy, stores are good, clan members are accounted for, etc etc.

During the summer, the clan is one mobile town of tents and aravels. They split off into smaller groups during the winter and relocate to semi-permanent (and much warmer) camps. The switch between these lifestyles can get chaotic, and this time always sees a few elves slipping off to try and find a clan in a gentler environment, or the acquisition of a new member out of the Dales or an alienage. The whole occasion has celebrations to Ghilan’nain peppered throughout it, as well as dances to celebrate a job done right, or a job finally finished. The Frostbacks keep ‘em on their toes!

(Childbirth is also a big deal. Lavellan has sought help from Avvar midwives in scary situations, and has offered it’s help to ailing Avvar mothers in return. The clan has a superstition that if you don’t name your child before it’s born, it’s more likely to die within it’s first year of life. Mahon’s parents didn’t name him until he was four days old, though, and he’s ok!)