How to write a book?

I got a text this morning from a friend of a friend asking if I wanted to help her out with her bachelor's thesis. She was looking for people who are creative, so I thought she was going to ask me about my crochet or make up, but to my surprise she mentioned my writing and my blog. It made me think that I actually haven't worked on it for a while, but that maybe I should? I honestly also didn't think that my blog had reached further than my close friends and it made me believe that maybe I should try and continue to try and write more.

So this brings me back to my website, to the blog I wrote a while ago. I still don't believe I'm a good writer, but I do feel like it's fun to share my stories for anyone who wants to read it, and I would love for it to expand to an actual bigger audience and maybe even a book?

But then my question is; How the fuck to you even start writing a book ??

(( If anyone has any actual tips or guidelines, or any ideas, please let me know! I would really appreciate it :)) ))

With that being said, I do feel like I just want to write and see where all of this goes! When rereading some of the posts I realised I never continued the previous story from South-Korea. And I do remember friends asking me for the next part when I had just posted it.

I don't know how to write a book but I do love telling my stories about boys and sex, so I will just start (or continue) with that.

I arrived at the time when the cherry blossoms were blossoming!

I left off at the point where I landed in Seoul. I remember writing in my diary I had brought with me for just my travels (I was supposed to write in it everyday but only got to like day 14 i think..), when I was still in the plane, very excited and unknowing of what was to come, I wrote about the guy that I left behind. I was sure I was going to hear of him and see him again when I was going to be back after 6 weeks. Little did I know I was going to have enough to forget him myself .

When landing, that sadness (of missing a guy I knew for like 2 weeks lol) was quickly replaced by excitement and being in awe with everything and everyone I saw. Mind you, I was 18, I had never left Europe, it was my first time alone in a foreign country, with a foreign language where I knew no one and nothing.

I did find I was doing pretty well with being independent and finding my way. I remember the first moments so vividly; I took the right subway in the right direction (I might have gotten some help of another Belgian girl who was in the same plane as me), I found my hostel with the help of my screenshots (I didn't have any internet) and bystanders (that didn't speak english). I did realise then and there how little english the Koreans know, so I knew it wasn't going to be easy.

The first thing I was supposed to do when arriving was go to the nearest clinic to get a shot that I didn't get before leaving; it was cheaper in South-Korea so decided to just do it there. A woman that I met through a traveling website, who became a friend, found the nearest clinic for me and called the place to tell them I was coming for that specific shot. So the only thing I was supposed to do was to get to the right place. It was funny as I didn't even have to explain myself when entering, the nurses knew I was the only foreigner there that needed the shot. It was crazy for me to think how easy it all was even though I didn't really know where I was or couldn't really communicate with the people working there. Thinking back on it , it was a weird but very nice experience, it showed me that Koreans are very sweet and helpful people.

Anyways, after I got back to the hostel there was a girl there that wanted to show me around so I followed her and she showed me another district in the city that was way bigger than I could imagine. In the evening I met with the woman that I met online, she was someone I didn't really know but she was so kind to me and we became good friends during my time in Korea.

I remember her treating me for dinner, and showing me around, and trying Korean make up products on me, and drinking together in a karaoke,.. she was like an older sister in another country. :))

Let's say my first day was a great start of my crazy travels!

Now for what y'all really came for haha!

I still had my tinder profile from when I was still in Belgium but my intention really was to just use it as a way of making friends and create connections. And for the first couple of days that really was the case, until my ninth day (oops)!

In my first week I was strolling around a lot, I did have a list of some things I wanted to go see, but I never really made a strict plan to follow, I would just go where the wind would take me! In between I tried making contacts in my hostel but as I said, also on tinder. I was swiping and texting and trying to meet up with guys just as a way for them to show me around.

I had been texting a bit with this guy, Jake, and I (or him, I don't remember) asked to maybe meet up for some coffee. The thing in Seoul is, that you can have coffee even late at night, so we met up pretty late. I was having a good time, I was really enjoying our conversation, we had a mutual interest in film and there's always loads to talk about that! :))

But I also realised he was a bit awkward and stressed out, so I figured he was just a bit shy. He was also always looking around him to see if the other people were looking at us. I didn't think much of it but i'm guessing it was because I was again the only foreigner there, on a "date"!.. I'm not going to lie, I did like the attention I was getting. Even on the street people were looking at me, and at first I thought it was maybe because I had a stain on my clothes or something, but after a while I realised it was just because I'm European.

We continued talking and it started to get late. So we left the place and he asked me why I was on tinder. I told him it was just to make friends, and I'm guessing he didn't like that answer because he left pretty quickly after that. He had to take the subway home and as he left I said: "In Belgium, when we say goodbye we give a hug or a kiss on the cheek!" (pretty smooth amirite? ;)) And his answer to that was "oh, no, I didn't shower!..." And he left, just like that! I wasn't even offended, it just made me laugh to be honest! I figured I wasn't going to hear from him again, but I'm guessing I was wrong but more of that later ;))

On my ninth day I had a flight booked to Jeju Island so in the afternoon I packed my bags and took the subway back to the airport. It was a perfectly fine day, everything went smoothly apart for some light drizzle. I was waiting at the gate for boarding, until I heard that my flight was cancelled? That is when I started panicking!! What do you mean cancelled? What do I need to do then? I can't go home, I don't have a home in Korea!

I followed the other passengers to a lobby and they said to me that I can or get a refund or take the same flight the following day. I figured that that was my best option, so yeah, I went to get my backpack again (oh yeah, did I tell you I was doing everything with a huge ass backpack? While I was not even really backpacking haha!) and took the subway back to the city. It was funny because I was so stressed out that my brain went in to automatic pilot and I just ended up back at my hostel where I had just stayed the previous days.

The guy from the lobby recognised me and I explained my situation; I asked my room back for one more night. But he decided to upgrade my room and I could pay the same price as my previous room! He was very sweet about it and said it was no problem at all!

I got settled for one more night, I saw the people again I had met in the hostel and joined them for dinner (just some instant noodles from 7/11). I decided to also buy a bottle of soju to get some shots while eating. The others didn't wanna join me, which is totally understandable for a casual weekday night. I think it was because of all the build up stress and adrenaline of my flight being cancelled that I was just being a bit more reckless and wanted to feel a bit drunk.

After dinner the girls left me while I was still drinking my soju, and I got the notification of a new match on tinder. I started texting this unknown person but he seemed like a nice guy and he was fluent enough in English to have a decent conversation. I asked him to meet up and he said yes, without realising I meant that same night. But he was still into it and I got ready to go out.

Now, I did take a pack of 20 condoms with me to South-Korea, but that is only because my big brother told me to be safe! But now that I had it with me, I figured why not take one in my fanny pack (my handbag for the trip) and go meet this guy?

It's funny and you're probably not going to believe me but I did still believe at that time that nothing was going to happen. I was just going to get some drinks with a random guy from tinder. Little did I know!...

Bisous,

Lise