im no kate winslet

there were many things i wanted to get done today: belated christmas cards, prep for the week, laundry, etc; there were also many things that i wanted to update you on, yesterday's snowfall or the brutal almost-stabbing that i witnessed on friday come to mind. alas, after a morning out i returned to my apartment and changed my post-christmas wish from snow boots to a rain poncho.

my apartment, it seems, is having an identity crisis. no longer is it a haven from the out of doors, a place to rest my weary head. today, it has decided to play a starring role in a new drama to be directed by steven spielberg. the climax goes a little something like this:

"Captain, we've sprung a leak"
"A leak?"
"Aye, its more like a gusher"
"All hands on deck"

and then a little bit later

"Bail, boys, bail! did your mother teach you to to work like that, man? put your back into it!"

and later still

"Its no use, sir, shes taking on too much water, we can't keep up"
"Abandon ship! Abandon ship!"

so, guess which part my apartment has decided to play. ill give you a hint, it isn't the well-meaning yet clumsy and ultimately doomed captain, nor the sneaky, conniving first mate.

yes, my apartment is taking on water, cold frigid water. fortunately, my newfound spring is concentrated in a little room that houses my hot-water heater and a convenient little drain (at least, its a drain now). so, while the water isnt escaping into the greater part of my space, it does sort of have the effect of a rain forest. it could be soothing if i didnt know how wrong and not good it really is. that, and the fact that i have a sinking suspicion that wildly spurting water and electrical outlets are not a match made in heaven.

unfortunately, as it is sunday, there is not a whole lot of assistance around these parts. i called my boss, who called my korean boss, who in turn called me. his solution? ignore it until tomorrow. im thinking this is a great idea, as by that time I'll be able to ice skate to work right from my bed, shaving 30 seconds off my daily commute of 2 minutes.

the maintenence guy came and tinkered around with it for about an hour, but he had little success beyond what i had already done, which was to stop all water in my apartment all together. somehow, though, he did have surprising helpfulness with the temperature of the place. yes, he managed to make the apartment about 12 degrees colder than when he started working. go team!

so, for the next few days (because of course its about to be a holiday) ill be without water, and as a direct result, heat. its pretty comical, actually. happy new year everyone.

do you have a fish wish?

here are selected pictures from my Japan trip last week. I was in both Fukuoka and Hiroshima over four days.

giesha at the train station for some reason. i think they were promoting or selling something, but i dont speak japanese, so i have no idea.

temple shrine in fukuoka.

temple gate in fukuoka

wishes of the new year hung at at temple in fukuoka

blessed water for drinking at a temple in fukuoka

inside of a restaurant in fukuoka. as i have no japanese skills and they had no pictures, it was quite difficult, but wound up being delicious.

remnants of a-bomb dome, one of the few structures that hiroshima has left standing as a reminder of the horrors of the nuclear attacks. today it is a symbol of peace. the city has returned surrounding this structure.


a-bomb dome from a bridge. they say that after the bombing this river was flooded with bodies of people trying to escape the intense heat and fires. i could get into the details of the horrors that i learned during my trip there, could get into the profound fog that i picked up while i wandered among monuments to the dead in their peace park, could elaborate on how dirty i felt to be an american in that city, but there is really no way to convey any of this.

victory?

despite the alleged moral shortcomings which have been all over the news in the past few weeks, korea has a new president.

game on sportsfans

speaking of rice, as in my post of 20 minutes ago and every other meal in my life, a particular mischievous intimate has recently turned me on to a website designed to deliver the good stuff to those who need it most. its called freerice.com and allows you to donate rice to the united nations world food program simply by playing a vocabulary game. wait, a game thats free, educational, and altruistic? im in. for every vocab word that you get right, the service will donate 20 grains of rice. it doesnt seem like much, but then you realize that the game is pretty addicting. also, the vocab words change to suit your own level, so after a few initial questions every one that you get wrong brings you down a number and it takes three correct ones in a row to move back up. its out of 50, although the FAQ say that it is rare for a person to get more than 48.

my score hovered around 36-38, although i did reach 39 at one point. in the epic battle to be my father's smartest daughter, which katy and kristen obviously are not, i say bring it. show me your smarts and donate some food at the same time. but beware....the site warns that it could actually make you smarter. i know you are all concerned about my brain expanding so much that it no longer fits within my skull, but have no fear. i know what i am doing.

but its supposed to snow on saturday...

far from spirited or jolly, the onset of this holiday season has been much more 'season' than 'holiday'. while im sure that one would agree that nothing quite says merry christmas like a bowl of rice and a cup of tea, ive been hard-pressed to find a carol-singing band-wagon to hop on. the stores have put up the requisite decorations but few others have. you dont walk down the street seeing trees twinkle through the windows of apartment buildings, nor is it really possible to catch snippets of song arriving from all corners of the city. while walking to the store yesterday i wondered, where is the salvation army with their incessant yet oh so christmas-y bell ringing? where was that quiver of tension in the air as people rushed to find the perfect gifts as time runs out?

i havent really noticed a whole lot of cheer here in korea, especially here in daejeon where most koreans i know are overzealous about shopping on an average day. however, i am getting a second free trip to japan on thursday and i will be there through the weekend. hopefully the trip, or perhaps the time off, will allow me to find the feeling.

a card-carrying member

i had always imagined my vocal cords to look like guitar strings, five or six slender strands waiting glamorously to be vibrated whenever i so pleased. i was under the assumption that my sound-emitting organs reminiscent of an elegant musical instrument. so you can only imagine my surprise today when i was confronted, for the first time, by two moldy strips of uncooked bacon fat and told that these, in fact, were the source of every word i had ever uttered. let me tell you, they were far more "jaws" than bon jovi and, in my case, covered in mold. in my opinion, it was a more lichen-esque colony than the more common furry variety (see this post if you doubt my authority on such growths), but the doctor disagreed.

"teachers' nodules" he declared. common among those who strain their voices due to prolonged use, they would not kill me. they also, however, could not be cured. alas, it seems that the only way to rid myself of them is to quit speaking. i looked that doctor square in the face and laughed at him. me deigning to speak is about as likely as me giving up chocolate. dont my gills know that this is WEEK 1 OF A NEW TERM!? dont they know that i have to speak for the better part of ALL three hours of each class this week? how could my body betray me like this? and then i thought about it and realized that yes, my vocal cords probably did realize this, and now they are getting together to giggle with my esophagus, windpipe, and little dangly thing. but silently. bastards.

in all honesty, my trip to daejeon's dunsan-dong emergency medical center was more of a last-ditch attempt to prevent my voice from abandoning me for the second time in as many months. it was saturday when i began to feel the fist of doom closing around my throat and my typically melodic (sic) tone took on a froggy quality.

while i expected the trip to be an exercise in futility, i must say that i was quite impressed with the care that i received. i have heard from many that it can sometimes be a large hassle here, complete with long waits and frustrating communication. i only spent an hour and a half at the hospital, which is impressive in the states even when you have an appointment. furthermore, i had an english interpreter within 20 minutes of my arrival who assessed me and passed me off to an rn from the international travel division. this rn escorted me through the rest of my process, which included a trip to an ent specialist, the one who inserted the camera into my throat and revealed to me the horrific reality of my vocal cords. they even gave me my own identification card. now, whenever i go to the hospital, i have a file with information which is directly tied to my card. i also got and paid for a follow-up appointment in two weeks to check my nodules (its such a disgusting word, no? especially now that you know that they look like lichen-mold growing on uncooked bacon fat. you're welcome.)

i think that is pretty impressive for an hour and a half. the best part? even though i dont yet have my insurance card (another story) the whole thing--special nurse attention, ent doctor, id card, and 2 appointments--cost me $35.

a fried rice thanksgiving

in my former life, my 747 packard college-house life, there were days when i would look around the stinking cesspool fruit-fly haven that some considered our kitchen and i would want to scream in frustration. i have never been a neat or clean person by normal standards, but there are limits to what any health-loving person should be expected to endure. a never-ending stack of dirty dishes that were not my own and a floor sticky with beer from an evening two weeks prior jumped to the top of my list of pet peeves. but we were eight busy and motivated college women. housework was not necessarily high on our set of priorities. i understood, but there would be those moments, those i-cant-take-this-anymore moments, when i would feel like kevin in home alone. you know the scene, the one where he finds out that he has to sleep with a bed-wetter and he is also getting shoved around physically and emotionally by every member of his extended family. "when i grow up, im living alone. do you hear me? im living alone, im living alone."

i live alone now. my apartment is not perfect, but it is mine. the mess is mine. the clean is mine. the one piece of furniture is mine. no one fights me for the bathroom or tells me to take out the trash. no one borrows my clothes or eats my peanut butter. and for the most part i like it.

but everything is a little bit different here. it is korea after all. a trip to the store is so much more, as is a drive in a cab. i expected difficulty although i suppose i never really spent time thinking about what that would be like. maybe was better that way.

korea is definitely different. regardless, living alone anywhere means really being alone, and being so often. there is no one else making coffee in the morning, no one else brushing their teeth next to me at night. but the differences extend further than the day to day. my first holiday alone went fine, but everything was skewed. where was the cranberry sauce? the pumpkin pie? the biscuts?

where was my family?

im not kevin. i love living alone and the independence it provides me, but i would really love it if my thanksgiving had less fried rice and more olsen/rebos.

sniffleupagus

day three at work with no heat.

such stuff as colds are made on

dreams? forget dreams. we semi-insomniacs do not have the luxury of talking about dreams, let alone making them from deep in our drug-induced REM cycles. no, dreams do not emerge from tylenol pm slumber. colds, on the other hand, would be content to snuggle up against the bosom that is today's series of events, would get right under the covers, would sigh deeply and would make themselves at home.

lets preface the rest of this entry by saying that i am not sick. i know that many of you find that hard to believe given my track record and the ominous preamble, but, and ill say it again, i am not sick.

currently.

if i were to get sick, however, today would be the day.

it began as one of those deceptive fall days that trick you into thinking they are much more innocent than they are. from my 5th floor window the sun danced happily on the pavement as the descending palette of autumn's trees played hide-and-seek with the workers trying to collect them into neat piles.

but somehow, as if overnight, the dr jekyll of autumn transformed into the rash mr hyde of fall. the sun i thought to be dancing held little more warmth than a lightening bug. the leaves gently swirling rather whipped about upon a wind that weaseled its way into the cracks of my coat. but it was still a pretty day, at least for the time being, and my walk to work was a short one.

i arrived at work on the second floor of the sky building to find that, of the two floors that cdi inhabits in the building, one of them was having trouble with the heat. and by trouble, i mean that there was none. of course, the floor with the malfunction was my own. while it was quite comical to see teachers running about in parkas and ski hats, i must say that in those six hours i became thoroughly chilled.

a trip to the gym will save me! i thought as i trekked the ten minutes towards the waiting facility. and it did. by the time i left i not only had regained full use of my fingers, but i was pretty close to losing the use of my legs. alas, retention of this miraculous recovery was not in the cards, for as i walked out the doors i discovered that korea, as the us, suffers from brutal fall rains.

have no fear, as i write these words i am safely snuggled up in my nice cozy bed. i do not describe this story for you because i am feeling pitiful or because i require sympathy. contrary to the aforementioned conditions, today was pretty good day. i merely am trying to relate a turning point in a season that i hoped would be different from that in the northern united states. it is not different. but for the time being i am not sick and for that i am grateful. i am not sick. i am not sick. i am not sick. i am not sick. i am not sick. i am not sick. i am not sick. i am not sick. i am not sick. i am not sick. i am not sick. i am not sick. i am not sick.

business

for a country that pays disappointingly little attention to a holiday as intriguing as halloween, there are an awful lot of random mask attacks here in korea. frequently i have just been minding my own business when BAM! theres someone in a mask that you have never expected to see in your entire life.

take this blatant advertising move, for instance:


who knew that an umbro-head was even possible? that isnt even remotely like a normal head. furthermore, who, aside from racho, knew that umbro was still popular? didnt it fall from grace, even in the soccer world, sometime in the early 90s? regardless, there we were minding our own shopping business and surprise! umbro head.

next, we have the not so clever "unrelated marketing" ploy:

this guy was loitering close to a popular nighttime hangout. me, wandering down the street, minding my own business, had to do a double take. pig! but person! all at the same time. koreans are tricky. im not quite sure how a pig head is related to his sale of street meat, but if he was trying to get me to purchase something that included pork(which im pretty sure he didnt even sell), this mask definitely did not work.

and then we have this phenomenon:

lego people! im not quite sure what they were promoting, but i guarantee it wasnt legos. wait, didnt quite catch that one? here it is again:

this second one is a terrible shot, but i wanted to be sure to include my personal favorite, the unhappy camouflage lego person (proof that even lego people are anti-war). it is amazing what one bumps into while wandering the streets of seoul. you know, minding your own business and all. i never quite imagined, however, that these sights would include nine lego people walking down the street.

the best part of this experience was when, as my four american friends and i were taking photos, all of the koreans also taking shots of the lego people stopped and began to take pictures of us. have i mentioned before that we were MINDING OUR OWN BUSINESS? because we were. we werent even looking for lego people or anything like that. (in my experience, lego people prefer to come to you, they dont really like to be hunted) the fact that every korean in a 20 foot radius was taking pictures of us really threw me for a bigger loop than the lego people themselves. im sure that if the lego people actually had opposable thumbs, they would have taken some also. strange that we were such a novelty. i mean, this was seoul, foreigners are everywhere. must have been that my unshowered-sunday-looking-for-breakfast-and-needing-coffee-at-2(3?) pm face was so incredibly breathtaking that they had to preserve the moment for all time. im sure i will turn up in a "trendwatch" section of some korean magazine or another within a month or so. keep your eyes peeled.

on a side note, i was asked if the lego people were korean or foreign. i must say, its pretty hard to tell given THE HUGE YELLOW LEGO HEADS. arent they all made in china anyway?

happy pepero day

wait, there's a holiday thats sole purpose is to facilitate the exchange of chocolate covered cookies between loved ones? i knew that i loved korea for a reason.

self indulgence

every day i exit my apartment building and am met smack in the face with a woosh of air coming from the dunkin doughnuts doughnut-making factory across the street. the rich, fatty, greasy, sugary friedness assaults my will-power with the force of a freight train and i spend the next 2 hours fighting (giving in to?) sugar cravings. they do not actually sell doughnuts at this secret location, they just produce the pillowy doughballs atop clouds of deciptively persuasive odor.

i have a sweet tooth, i admit. actually, all of my teeth are sweet teeth. i have no escape from these cravings.

i had been considering the shiny pointy heels i purchased (impulsively!) last week to be a special gift to myself. on closer inspection of my love handles, today i got myself a gym membership. it was my first trip to the gym, and, consequently, my first run in korea that wasnt stopped every 30 seconds to wait at some of the longest traffic lights in the world. it was a great workout and i left feeling refreshed and healthy.

i exited the building, and could have tripped over the dunkin doughnuts conveniently placed right across the street.

6000 of my closest friends (that look at me funny. and dont understand me. and laugh)

Saturday I went for a hike at Gyeryong-san National Park. I went alone in hopes of gaining the perspective that being alone in the woods (decidedly not the city) during the height of autumn might lend a person. And it was beautiful, and perspective lending, and, i might add, quite a rigorous hike. It was almost everything I had hoped for in a Saturday away (deliciously, blissfully away) from the city. To be sure, the one thing I wasnt on that trip was alone.

When I got off the bus, I thought I had misread the guidebook and the careful instructions of my friend. I must be at the circus. There are balloons here. And lines. It smells like elephant ears. But no, I was at the park. For the first mile or so of the "hike" (quotations used at this point to emphasize the fact that there were women in stilettos and men in suits so it can most definitely not be a quotation-less hike), there were stalls peddling sweet cakes and assorted chachkes lining either side of the path.

Videographic proof that it was, in fact, crowded:


Gyeryong-san Mob Scene from ali on Vimeo.


However, after that first mile or so the path did diverge and I selected the one with lighter traffic (very Robert Frost of me, I know). It was absolutely beautiful as the fall colors were at their prime. I dont think I could have picked a better time to go.

sorry about the lens flare on that one.

In other news, given my recent inability to sleep, I have been able to do some surprising things. My marble floors are smelling deliciously of pine-sol. I have read the New York Times, the Korea Herald, and the less boring parts of the Wall Street Journal. I have caught up on celebrity gossip (which I dont even like) and what is going on in the blogging world (fascinating). I have seen what the 8 am sun looks like reflecting off the Rodeo Town (pronounced ro-day-oh like the snobby californians would) windows opposite mine. I have taken pictures of my feet:

This may be what your foot would look like, say, if it got stomped on by a high heel at a dance club (except maybe not as fat as mine).

In my inability to sleep, I have not, however, been able to do the following:
the dishes
send the mail I have been meaning to for two weeks
sleep, obviously
prep for my classes
stop thinking about the two boxes of presents hidden under my bed (I know theyre there. they are taunting me)

youve come a long way baby

"Wouldn't the two Koreas reach a step closer to unification if we have similar eating habits?" Choi said. "I'm just hoping this will pave the way for inter-Korean peace."

profound.

check it. (that means click here)

Lucky you

My my, are you lucky. No posts for a week and then three in one day. I realized I didnt post any pictures the entire month of October. So, happy November!

floats at the lantern festival, but it was pouring

bondagee, or cooked bugs. they are sold to be eaten but smell terrible.


the waterside where I run

fountain outside the art gallery

flawed like me

As I have mentioned before, the parents in this country are crazy for education. The school where I teach is of the afternoon variety, which means that students go to their normal schools all day before getting their 3-hour dose of English from me. They are typically here twice a week, but go to a variety of other hogwons, or extra-curricular academies such as mine. English, math, science, orchestra--their structured learning does not cease when they exit their primary school.

Its insane the pressure these kids are under to succeed! I have students burst into tears if they get a B+ on their review test. "My mom will kill me," they whimper. They are constantly being pushed, to do better, to study harder, to work more.

Their mothers extend that pressure onto us, the teachers. I was not two weeks into school before a few mothers complained that I wasnt giving enough homework. A week after that, the complaint was that I didnt call on their student enough. Now, in my defense, they have the same complaints for every teacher, and the complaints come in the same order during the same weeks of the semester. It is as though there is some secret parent meeting where they decide what they are going to do next. (and for the record, I assign the same homework as everyone else and I call on every student).

Anyway, the most recent complaint is one that, I must say, took me by surprise. A parent called saying that her child is coming home from school and using the word like too much. As I am an American, they had to have learned this from me.

I admit that I do inadvertently insert this word into inappropriate locations in my everyday speech. However, I try very hard not to use casual language in my classroom. Furthermore, I have these students one day a week. I scarcely think that is enough time to pick up on my bad habits. Nevertheless, my boss mentioned that I may want to pay attention to such "trash language" in the future. I agree, and Im trying.

At the same time, though, I kind of like knowing that theres actually someone paying attention.

get fired up

So, I have recently discovered a website that will allow me to embed any video that I take onto this website. As a result, you may now be able to see in real time some of the things only offered to you photographically. Obviously, Im still partial to photos, both because the quality is better and then I dont have to hear my own voice (that always is awkward, no?). Its not like Ive been doing a stellar job uploading photos for you anyway, but that isnt quite the point. At any rate, I will start taking more blog-friendly videos. Here is your first installment...its a video of my beloved Daejeon Citizens scoring a goal off a header. They lost in the second round of the playoffs, but I love them anyway. Careful, because it gets a bit loud.

Header goal from ali on Vimeo.

pencil case redux

direct quotations as seen on the duffel bags disguised as pencil cases in my classes over the past few days. please note that in addition to these wonderful sayings, the cases are usually covered in smiling cartoon animals and copious amounts of glitter.

i think about you everyday i want to be with you

hellow sweety friend

play with me

draw me on the wall

i prey for you

happiness is just the corner

booby

not quite generic

i have always known that hallmark is a flawed enterprise. i dont really have anything against the company, theyre great at cards wishing someone a happy birthday with some hunky guy on the cover or using slapstick humor to declare someone officially old, but when it comes to those in-between situations, the sticky moments when you would really like saying or two to take up some of that empty space on a "blank inside" card, the greeting card industry has hopelessly failed us, as a society.

i have been more attuned to this situation in recent weeks because i have yet to find a single card here whatsoever. im still not quite sure why this is. perhaps koreans like to create their own sentiment rather than selecting from amongst pre-packaged emotions. or, it is quite likely, they do have card shops, but they are tucked into an area or a district that i have yet to discover. i find it hard to believe that hallmark would allow an entire global market to escape its clutches.

it has been in looking for a normal "cheers to you happy birthday thanks a million congratulations" type of card that i have been reminded of the other cards that, if conceived, never quite made it into production. i can just picture the hallmark newbie burning the midnight oil, hunched over his desk and muttering to himself, with rejected cards littering the ground around him like dead leaves in autumn. cards for the average joe; the guy who doesnt have the perfect life but still needs to send something in the mail:

hey! congratulations on not getting deported! we are all really happy for you! (even if we do have to cancel the party celebrating your departure)

im not quite sure if we are just friends or dating, so happy birthday ________(insert pal or sweetheart here)

im sorry that you failed the exam you just spent the last 3 months of your life studying for, and now you will not get into your professional school of choice, thus rendering your current existence a sham.

welcome back from rehab!

i miss you (why arent you answering my phone calls?)

happy birthday to my married boyfriend (dont worry, this card will self-destruct in 30 seconds so she will never find it)

congratulations on your new apartment even though it smells like a foot and floods every time you do laundry. i wont get into the cockroaches.

i dont know. but these are the things i think about sometimes.

an ode to the pencil case

oh pencil case of the korean student, how truly magnificent you are. somehow, despite your multitude of colors and flowery designs, you mange to remain decidedly unisex; your functionality is admired by boys and girls alike. you manage to pull off the most improper english in such a way that i can not help but laugh. every time i read your faithful declarations of friendship and love i have to stifle a chuckle. "a piece of remember" and "friends makes happy" serve as exalted examples of your infinite wisdom.
regardless, i have never before seen a hypersexed pubescent male embrace an electric pink hue such as when a student dug a highlighter of such color from your depths this evening. and, speaking of your depths, what exactly do you hide in the dark interior of your printed fabric? i have permanently withdrawn my awe after seeing exacto-knives, large pepperoni pizzas, and full length mirrors emerge from your inconspicuously compact frame.
at any rate, pencil case of the korean student, i salute you. you at one time are the holder of multi-colored pens, the cheat-sheet of choice, and the secret source of power of my students. searching for some mystery object has saved millions of desperate pupils from having to answer with a complete sentence the dreaded open-ended question. because of this, you have also saved me from having to pretend that i could understand them and have allowed me more time in the spotlight, which i, of course, relish. furthermore, without you the papers i collect would be limited to the silver-gray of a #2 pencil rather than the day-glo works of art that glow in the dark and make me wonder how much radiation i contact each day. also, my students would never comprehend the wrath that is a teacher fully fed up with them pulling fake rose bouquets, trained lions, and fully packed clown cars from amongst erasers and white out. i dont quite know how you do it, but you keep their attention better than anything else i have ever seen. because i can not unlock your mystery i must pay homage. you have foiled me again, pencil case of the korean student, but rest assured that in the end i will conquer.

until we meet again (tomorrow, and every day thereafter),
a

me, on tv

if my life were a tv show, today, definitely today, would be the opening credits. the cool autumn breeze in my hair, theme song pumping in the background, finally, after weeks of searching, a good latte in my hand, and me feeling as though i could conquer the world. if my life were a tv show there would be no subtitles. i dont understand what is going on, why should anyone else? or, perhaps, the subtitles could be just as confused as i am. "did i just say 'i dont understand' or 'how much does that cost?'" the viewers wouldnt know either. but it doesnt matter, we are only on the opening credits. if my life were a tv show, the credits would include a gaggle of girls yelling hello to me and then screaming with glee when i asked them how they were in korean, like what happened today. if my life were a tv show it would be cancelled in a week. but today, opening credit day, good latte day, screaming korean girl day, i dont care one bit.

finethanksandyou

i know, i know. ive been doing a terrible job keeping this up to date and filling you in on all of the important things that are going on in my life, and in korea. its funny, too, because its not like i dont have anything to tell you about. i think of things all the time, cool things, things that i would want to hear about if i were you. things like:

-its become autumn here suddenly, but what is interesting about this is that during the day it is still nice and warm. at night, however, it is about 20 degrees different. i wasnt expecting this; it happened so suddenly that one night i couldnt sleep for wishing i had turned on the ac and the next i was wishing i had closed the windows.

-konglish exists. it is the hybrid version of english and korean. in korean writing, there has to be enough vowels to pair up with consonants in syllables. it is also the reason that the pasta rio restaurant across from my window is pronounced pas-uh-ta rio. likewise, i got my first bank statement the other day and alexandra is written 알렉산드라 and pronounced al-leg-sun-de-ra. and the ls and rs are pretty similar sounding

-playing soccer with my coworkers is pretty much the highlight of my week. i look forward to it for days. we play at 11 pm and dont score on goals but rather by hitting one of two mannequin torsos. i love the excuse to play soccer and run around with my friends.

-the last 2 weeks were middle school breaks, where my second class, the middle school one, was canceled because the students had really intense exams at their daytime school. as a result i only worked 3 hours a day but got paid the same. we are back on our six hour/day schedule and i forgot how tired i could get. its been taking some getting used to.

-i am now in my seventh week of teaching. this, to me, is beyond belief. it feels like not so long ago i was still living in the sty that was 747 packard, complaining about the hotel guests and hanging out in the garden. now i live alone and the cleanliness status of my apartment is on me. i miss the mess sometimes, or rather, the people that made it.

-korean students have been brainwashed from an early age to provide a standard response to "how are you?" ask any of them and you will get "finethanksandyou". it's monotone and without any real concern for the answer so sometimes i wonder if they have ever even thought about what they are asking. theyre bright kids, really spot on, but so much of their education is memorization. i like that as a school, we dont do that as much as others.

anyway, thats life here i guess.

ADD

it is a cultural universal. and it might make me strangle someone.

the upper hand

i am relcutant to admit it, but i had been a bit down on korea lately. perhaps it was the persistent rain that was supposed to stop in the beginning of august but hadnt; perhaps it was the lifecycle of an english teacher in korea, where friends are continually finishing their contracts and leaving the country, as one of mine did friday; perhaps it was the fact that i still have the korean whooping cough which, for the past 4 days, has rendered me entirely unable to speak. for whatever reason, korea and i had been duking it out in my mind for the past few days. the debate was not in a "will i make it here?" sort of way, that i will goes without saying. no, the grappling was more in a "how will i make it here?" manner, that is, how will i take the way of life here and adapt myself to fit into it.

i went on a couple of long runs in the past few days, despite the obvious handicap of the aforementioned bronchitis/pneumonia. these runs took me over to the river where it was possible to see the great variation of korean life. on the weekdays, the fields between the highways and the water are vast wastelands with patchy grass. on saturday, however, they were transformed into cultural hotbeds of activity. beneath one overpass sat 12 older women practicing korean music with bongos and gongs. moving forward, a man was testing out his parachute in the strong wind. cranes were everywhere, a feature i hadnt noticed before. and, once i crossed over the river to return on the other side, i got caught up in a strip of tot bumblebee soccer games. for some reason, the combination of all of these things made me feel as though i do have some connection to korea after all. i finished the run feeling as though korea had redeemed herself.

today, on a similar run, i was crossing a busy street via an underpass. as i began to descend the stairs, i was bombarded by people going the other direction. little people. 4 year old people. 45 of them. 45 little 4 year old people screaming hello. wearing gold lame' cowboy suits. well played, korea, well played.

photos, finally

so i realize that it has been quite some time since i last uploaded some photos. as a result, there are 38475602 to choose from because i am such an addict.this is me with a korean soldier at the dmz (demilitarized zone, aka border with north korea) as you can see, the d in dmz is pretty much a misnomer. its one of the most heavily fortified areas in the world.

that concrete block running between the two buildings is the actual border between north and south korea. here, you can see north korean soldiers lining up right at the border to take pictures of themselves with us in the background taking pictures of them. hard to believe that these are the "bad guys". they looked like little boys playing dress up in their fathers' uniforms.

this photo is one of my very favorite korean meals, tacalbie (obviously i cant spell) its cooked right in the middle of your table. this dish is chicken, cabbage, potatos and a kind of rice noodle thing all mixed with a delicious spicy sauce. mmm.
soccer fans go wild after a goal is scored by my beloved daejeon citizens. they won this game, making them like the second worst team in the league. its a really good time.

korean countryside out the bus window on our way to the beach.

the beach at sunset. we got so sunburned the next day that my students made fun of my red face all week. and i couldnt say anything about it because i didnt have a voice. still dont, actually.

fireworks on the beach at night. everyone was lighting them off, it was almost alarming to see roman candles in the hands of 5 year olds. but nobody died, so i guess it was ok. it was a holiday and all.

et fone home

new phone and new number:

010-4401-0415


yay

surreal

i swear to god i just heard chumbawumba's "i get knocked down" blaring from somewhere in the distance. at one pm. on a saturday. in korea.

other things i could have done with the time i spent waiting around for nothing this morning

1. played nine holes of golf
2. slept an entire rem cycle, eaten breakfast, and ironed my clothes
3. watched four episodes of sex and the city and made a sandwich
4. played a full soccer game and gotten ice cream afterwards
5. taken the slow train to seoul
6. played a full game of risk
7. prepared for both of the classes i have left to teach this week
8. called my parents, sisters, and four or five other people
9. gotten my hair cut at aveda
10. gotten a hair cut, manicure, and pedicure at any other salon
11. read 8 chapters in my book
12. listened to my current playlist twice
13. cooked a small turkey
14. made 43 bags of microwave popcorn

congestion

i woke up this morning and it was saturday. glorious, beautiful, cloudy saturday where i can wake up at noon and not feel guilty that ive slept half my day away. saturday, where i can see the weekend stretch out before me like a billowing cloud of lazyness and...who am i kidding? i dont need a saturday to feel this way. it comes with the territory.
actually, this tuesday is chusok, the korean thanksgiving. korean families make the pilgrimage to the home of the eldest family member and give thanks for the "harvest". these days they just hang out with family. many of my students seem pretty underwhelmed about it, but this may be because the middle schoolers face intense exams from their public schools right when they return. regardless, the streets are packed with honking frustrated fathers with backseats full of kids who need to go to the bathroom. likewise, the markets are packed with the traditional gifts of chusok. and when i say "traditional gifts of chusok" what i really mean is spam gift sets. honest to god, there exists such a thing, and there are people waiting right now at my local homever food store to gift-wrap it for me. i almost bought one to mail to my parents, but then i realized something: SPAM IS DISGUSTING. so i didnt.
at my work we only get two holidays off during the year, and this just so happens to be one of them. by some small miracle my bosses gave us monday off as well, most likely because they knew no students were going to come to school. unfortunately, this decision was made a bit late, and there are no planes, trains, or buses to anywhere. seriously. daejeon it is.
it would have been nice to travel, but, as it stands, a delicate case of korean whooping cough or perhaps consumption has taken residence in my chest. so rather than do anything exciting, im snuggled up in my bed for the afternoon (have a pillowcase now!) with a steaming bowl of spicy ramen noodles, some tea from my new tea set (the bosses know that spam is gross), and an edward norton movie. and yes mom, im taking my vitamins.

ubication

my address at work, it is easier to send your letters, packages and sweet sweet love there than my apt.

ali olsen
c/o cdi daejeon
sky bldg 2F, Thangbangdong, Suh-gu
Daejeon Gwangyeok-si Korea 302-859

a dentist's paradise

i have been putting off posting pictures of my trip to busan last weekend largely because posting pictures takes so long. however, in the interest of putting off preparing for the upper-level class i teach tomorrow, i have suddenly found the time to upload these images. its incredible how that works out, no? anyway, we went to busan over labor day weekend to celebrate the birthday of my friend liz. please note that labor day does not exist in korea. perhaps it would be better to say that i went so that i could avoid being cognisant of michigan's heartbreaking loss in a throw-away game. regardless of the reason, we went to the beach town to celebrate by swimming with the sharks in the large aquarium they have there. yes, i said it. we went to swim with sharks.

big ones.

but we didnt just hop into the tank, no, we went laden with full scuba gear, breathing with artificial lungs. when i put on my wet suit, i felt like i was transformed into a ninja. i was still trying to think of my superhero name when i discovered how complex scuba diving can seem. throughout the entire training process, i was fixated on not killing myself. breathe in, breathe out. use your mouth to breathe. dont go down too quickly. breathe. equalize early and often. breathe. dont hold your breath or your lungs might explode. breathe. it was a lot of pressure to put my own life in my hands in this manner. ok, i admit, the tank was only 15 feet deep at the deepest point. there was no real way that i was going to drown. but breathing in this unnatural way was intimidating.

i spent so much of my energy worrying about the ways could mess up and accumulate undue pressure in my sinuses that it was not until i was sitting in the bottom of the shark tank that i actually realized that there were SHARKS. IN THIS TANK. not just baby sharks, but HUGE GRANDDADDY SHARKS. and not, as i had imagined, just a few sharks. there were no less than 30 sharks swimming amongst the tuna, stingrays, eels, and me.

i have got to tell you, sharks are scary s.o.b.s that need some braces in a major way. they swim by you casually, flexing their theoretical muscles by opening and closing their jaws. they own the tank, and they know it. what the hell was i doing there?



despite all of this, the experience was exhilarating. we went on to check out our tiny sliver of busan, which was decidedly less than i would have liked because we were there when korea was still trying to make everyone miserable by raining every single day for 5 weeks. thanks for that, by the way.

anyway, it was awesome to see the ocean, even if i couldnt get in it. and i didnt get eaten by sharks. all in all, a successful weekend.

walk like an egyptian, or american, or wagook

i am exhausted from recounting the events that came to pass this weekend. i appreciate the concern of good friends, but much of it is difficult to admit even the first time. suffice it to say that it was a paradigm shift from the role that i typically play amongst my friends. add that to the stress of a situation i had neither responsibility for nor control over, and you might understand how i have been quite a distorted mess of heartburn and insomnia.

at this point i think that everything will be ok. at least, that is what everyone keeps telling us.

i can not begin to describe how unnerving it is to have your fate decided right in front of you in a language you can not understand. i have had to rely almost entirely on body language, something that here in korea is often deceptive or counterintuitive. i increasingly discover how handicapped i am by my lack of language skills. however, another great asset has been the support of my bosses and a good korean friend who defended us despite racist allegations against her.

i know that this weekend has been tough. this kind of stuff happens. it happens everywhere. it happens to anyone. i harbor no hostility for korea or its people.

regardless, life is good and i am fine. i love my job and my life here. sometimes a difficult series of events results in something positive. i think i have now paid my dues to the karma gods, so i am anxiously waiting for my positive energy.

multiple identities

it seems that my nocturnal wanderings have once again left me wide awake in the wee hours of the morning. it is, i concede, not the most ideal of bed-times; at the same time it is quite close to unavoidable. when one works until 1030 or 11 at night, one needs some time to release the pressures of being a three hour comedy show for surly 14 year olds.

i never thought that i would teach. for a long time it was one of the possibilities furthest from my consciousness. i must admit that the idea both frightened and repulsed me. who is a bigger cynic than a middle schooler, and what does one do when filled with and entire room of their hostility or, better put, apathy?

i suppose the realist in me never thought that i would so willingly act the fool. after just 8 days of teaching, i have begun to jump at any chance to connect to my very own rotating collection of statues. often this acting includes dancing across the room, yelling quite loudly, leaping on furniture, distorting my face, contorting my body, or doing just about anything to get people to pay attention to me. it has been an interesting experience, because i have never so distinctly sought the spotlight.

my first days of teaching have provided me with humility without egotism. i wonder how many teachers have left days spent with me and my peers craving the cool frothy taste of the beer of freedom. how many of them have struggled to lure me into the magic that is "the five regional divisions of the united states" or something equally painful, while at the same time making it seem as though they have no personal life, and, therefore, no personal problems. im not there yet, although im sure that i will be at some point in the next year. i hope to have their strength.

i guess i would like to express my sincere gratitude for any of the teachers (parents included) i have ever driven to insanity, if only for a moment. cheese, i know, but there are times i wouldnt wish this on anyone.

but there are the times i wish could last. lets go with that.

another view

i came across this video on one of the sites that i frequent, coolhunting.com. it does provide some really interesting views of seoul, although i think it portrays it a bit too...hmm, whats the word...i guess "third world" for lack of a better term. the seoul i know is more populated with business suits and high heels than what is shown here. i think the guy that mentions that one can hardly see the traditions in the street has hit the nail on the head. of course, there are traditions, they are everywhere, but not in the way one would expect when coming at it from the common perception of an asian culture. i dont know, check it out. let me know what you think.

An open letter to the Republic of Korea

dear korea,

i wanted to be sure to thank you for your insertion of a public restroom on every city block. it brings me no small amount of joy (and relief) to know that help for an emergency situation is always just around the corner. at no time is this more appreciated than when i walk past the "pig intestine" restaurant on my way to work. the odor released from that establishment is enough to take down a large elephant. (did you know that before cooking their wares they clean them in the alley that is my route to work?) regardless, thank you again for ensuring that i do not have to regurgitate in the street. im sure you can appreciate how that would add to the air quality of the area.

sincerely
a


ps. my co-workers at the work bbq and daejeon at sunrise.

sharpened all my pencils

teaching is exhausting

domo arigato mr roboto

i realize fully that this blog has been a gross misrepresentation of what my life has been like since i have moved to daejeon and i assume full responsibility for this. the next time that you link to the page and your heart falls painfully at the lack of new information, please picture me pitifully crouched on the floor in the hottest corner of my sparsely furnished apartment in order to maintain the internet quality necessary to convey these thoughts to you. do this, and we will all be better off.

that being said, i will try to catch you up on what i have been doing for the past several days.

saturday was a big day for everyone at my hogwan (korean word for english institute). it was their last day of intensives, a month of hell that happens twice a year where the teachers teach an extra class in the morning, adding up to nine hours of class per day. needless to say, they were all pretty excited to go back to their normal 4:30-10:30 teaching schedule. we celebrated this by hiking a mountain on the outskirts of the city and having a picnic at the top. it was alleged to be an extremely easy hike by the three who had done it before, so, laden down with kimbap (kind of like california rolls), soju, and beer, we set out.

after several minutes of hiking it became clear that this was not going to be the cake-walk we had anticipated. the three who had hiked it before admitted that ours was not the trail they had walked previously. but we were there already, so all 25 or so of us trudged up the steep incline, pausing every 20 minutes or so to cool off. it just so happened that sat was also the most humid day we had experienced in a week or so, and thirty minutes into the walk we were all dripping. we saw this guy on the way up and had to give him props for his support of the tigers. i think he thought we were crazy.


we finally reached the summit, ready to eat and play frisbee, only to realize that we were at the wrong summit and the one we wanted was on the other side of the ridge. as we had still several hours until sunset, we decided to walk over to it. by this point many were cursing their gods that they had decided to come, or perhaps that they had consumed beer instead of water on the walk up. regardless, we made it to the top, explored the fort wall ruins, played frisbee, had our picnic, and saw a mediocre sunset. it was too hazy. this is about half the group at the top.

we left the top a bit too late, not realizing how long it would take us to go the direct way down. and so, our group of 25 unprepared foreigners descended in the darkness without a single flashlight. we only killed off 2 or 3, but i think it was more the bears than anything else.

the next day was volleyball, a sport that has never been my strong suit. but i did alright and my team was undefeated for most of the day.

that evening was my first game of the DAEJEON CITIZENS, daejeon's own soccer team. it was awesome, with fans lighting off flares and chanting all game. the stadium was about 1/10th full and the team is really pretty bad, but it was a great time and we got to meet some of the players afterwards.

then i was on to fukuoka, japan to get my work visa. im legally a teacher, if not yet in practice. the hotel where they sent us was out of this world. this is a view of the sunset out my window.
as going to the consulate took about 30 mins both mon and tues, we had a lot of time to play. (i was with 2 coworkers). we spent monday evening on the beach meeting japanese people and hanging out. it was a really good time. these are some of our new japanese friends. please note that it is not just the peace sign that is popular, but also the spiderman webslinger.

tuesday we did some random exploring, finding a park with a huge lake in it and koi fish the size of my leg. against the warnings of a friend who had just been to the same city, i forgot sunscreen and got a bit red. oh well.

anyway, that should bring you about up to speed. in theory i will be getting a real apt this weekend and starting teaching some classes (i dont know which) on monday. ill keep you posted.

mishmash

the longer that i am here, the more things i come to understand about the culture in which i have immersed myself. im not on cultural overload, but rather something just before that point. each day brings a smattering of new phrases, customs, and experiences. i am trying really hard to learn the alphabet. i have about half of it down, but it is really difficult to remember. while i remain utterly amazed that i am living in a country where i have little to no language skills and yet somehow have managed to survive, i know that my ability to navigate life will be greatly improved once i have some korean down.

other things that i am realizing:

- most koreans are markedly more feminine than their american counterparts. for this reason, i often feel strangely bumbling and masculine. although i would not claim to be overly girly, it is really strange to see so many men who are "prettier" than half the women i know, including myself.

- koreans are insane about education. they go to school all day and then spend all afternoon and evening in academies, like mine, honing their talents (english, music, etc.) many of them rarely see the light of day and "fun" is relative. it is currently summer break, and the kids spend this time attending intensive academic camps, like those given by my school. parents, especially mothers, complain if teachers don't give enough homework of if they dont think their students are working hard enough in class.

- i have never seen so many wearers of glasses in my life.

in other news, my one-night trip to japan is officially scheduled for monday. its going to be an early trip (the bus to the airport leaves at 3:50am) and some legs of the trip are very closely timed, but i think it will be really fun. its sort of a rite of passage for english teachers in korea, and everyone seems to have a story about their experiences there. im also pretty fired up for what the trip means for me: not being an illegal. well, technically im not illegal because im not teaching yet, but having my visa will allow me to register and registering means i can get finally get a cellphone, a bank account, and therefore MONEY!

anyway, not much else going on here. just loving my korean life (and the food!).

call me sergei

i am still a nomad. i moved to daejeon on monday and began staying at a hotel/motel. after two days i was moved here, to the former apartment of my boss. it is a large 3 bedroom that i will inhabit for the next 2 weeks or so, until another, closer apt is open. so i still cant unpack but no huge deal. the view is great and i have a ton of space, 5 rooms and 2 bathrooms to chill in (plus a semi balcony). only thing is that ... well the only furniture in the place is my bed. no fridge, micro, oven, etc. i have a washer, but otherwise i am alone in this empty space. and i am still stealing internet from the neighbors. for this reason, i will still hold off on posting photos. (my camera works again!).

i have been sitting in on some classes at my work, which has been really helpful. its been great to see what i have been trained on applied (or not used at all) in a real setting. i am getting really excited to start.

the people from my work are really cool. today a bunch of us met up at about 11 pm (classes end at 1030) for an intense 2.5 hour game of soccer, korean style. this was followed by some very korean beer drinking outside the nearest convenience store. i had a really good time and surprised myself by not being as bad at soccer as i expected to be after such a long hiatus.


i think that my japan visa run date is now set for next thurs, although that, i have discovered, is really up in the air. i have to go soon, so i am really excited.

anyway, there is so much going on that i would love to get in to. i would also love to respond to your emails, but for the next bit while i am stealing internet, please know that i love you all and i will get back with you when i know i will be able to have uninterrupted internet.

a less transient life

in about two hours i will be making the trip from seoul to my new hometown, daejeon. im pretty fired up about seeing my new city, apartment, job, etc. im also so ready to stop living out of a suitcase. so, the move will happen today, but i dont know the next time that i will have continuous access to the internet. i am assuming that my apartment will not have it to begin with, so it might be a bit before we are back in contact.

things here are really great, especially now that training is over. everyone has begun to disperse to their respective locations, although most of them will be in and around seoul. we signed our contracts on saturday afternoon, which was extremely exciting.

anyway, ill let you know how the move goes asap. also, my camera stopped working randomly last night, but im going to try and get some more photos up here soon.

my vision was so much better before i got here

we are deep into the week of training, a week that has been extremely informative yet also brutally boring. within each session we are working to prepare a single lesson that we will teach the first week of class. it is really helpful to see how other people would approach the same material, but if i have to watch one more mock class on the five distinct regional divisions of the united states i might stab myself in the eye with a pen.

i have also concluded that there is nothing worse than mock teaching in front of your peers. when trying to throw "childlike" situations at you, it really just winds up being annoying. i can not wait to get in front of a real class of real people. although with this material they might mutiny.

otherwise things are going really well. i have not yet drowned. (new york city can stop whining and try seoul out) and training ends with tomorrow's evaluations.

to each his own umbrella

today dawned grayer and gloomier than those we have had so far. although i have yet to see the seoul sun, today was exceptionally moody. the sky opened up with a muggy hot rain which drove me directly into the closest convenience store to purchase an umbrella. i shall not part from it again. somehow, seoul still manages to be pretty cool.

we started training for my new job yesterday, rather, we had orientation, which was markedly easier than the beginning of official training today. i had two training sessions today, and i found out that i will be teaching (and therefore training on) the "listening and speaking" and "reading and writing" portions of the curriculum. this mean that while my students can be either elementary or middle schoolers, they will all be at the intermediate level or slightly higher. they threw a lot of info at us today, and tomorrow we will have to teach mock classes to the rest of the class. its going to be interesting because we are all going to be teaching the same lesson...

today we also had several tests. there was the code of conduct test, which was pretty basic, and the grammar test, which is said to have a pass/fail ratio of 50/50. considering that we have to successfully pass everything during training to maintain our positions, some people were pretty freaked out about the test. while i wasnt overly stressed about it, i must admit that i did my fair share of gerunding and adverb clausing last night. i think it went fine. if 50% fail, then 50% have to pass, right?

after class we had to get a physical. i guess some guy in the past turned out to have TB. despite the multitude of tests, it took the four of us who went at the same time about a half an hour. had that been the us or chile, i guarantee you we would still be there. quite efficient.

below are some photos of the hotel room that alicia and i currently share. sorry, not that much exciting going on. ive been unemployed for a bit, so im trying to get back in to the swing of real life.

almost famous

the first 24 hours in seoul have gone pretty much according to what i had anticipated when deciding to move to asia; i expected to be pretty clueless and it turns out that i am. i dont know an appropriate way for a person to prepare oneself for a move to the other side of the world, so i have been making it up as i go along. and i daresay im doing ok.

the place where i am staying is comfortable, and i was assigned a roommate, alicia, by my future employer. she is not only an enjoyable person, but she also has been living in asia for 2 years now, an experience that included several trips to korea. this makes her a valuable asset.

apparently my western appearance makes me a small object of fascination here. it is not chilean style lust or machismo but rather my presence attracts not-so-covert glances whenever someone thinks i am not looking. at dinner last night a friend and i were minor celebrities with the waitstaff, eliciting both said looks and copious amounts of giggling. this evening, while trying out my very first korean dish "beep and bop" (spelling accurate to my own pronunciation), the waiter made sure to point out that "this one is for the american" (thank you alicia for the translation).

and so i am working on the story of my fame and trying to think up my "fame name", in case anyone asks. i was considering using my porn star name (ask any 5th grader if you dont know what this is), but lyn aberdeen takes about .5 seconds longer to write than my current moniker. the unacceptability of this fact is insurmountable. ill keep working at it.

in other news, my body really has no idea what is going on. a 13 hour time difference really did a number on my sleep schedule, and so training that begins tomorrow will be interesting. the session will begin in the afternoon so as to coincide with the time of day i feel the most like im back in a college all-night essay writing marathon. excellent.

--> the photo at the top is seoul from the bathroom window of a department store. many more photos to follow. major fashion trends noticed: vests, ruffles, and (cristina miller get excited!) suspenders. bonus points for combining all three.

HEY MAN, YOU CHANGED or I HEAR SALINE IS MORE LIFE-LIKE

yes, things definitely have changed around here, as any of you dinosaur chilean-day readers may have noticed. things like this happen when one:

graduates from college

gets a diploma



and decides to move to korea.
(yes, that is SOUTH korea, the one without all the bombs and communism and whatnot)

im not sure if this sequence of events is a common precursor to remodeling a blog, but oh well.

regardless, the fine city of daejeon (also spelled taejon or 대전 if you are feeling adventurous) is going to be my home for the next year or so. i am quite pleased with things that i have read about the city, which is located about 55 minutes from seoul by train. it is considered the silicon valley of korea. i know this because my stateside contact wrote in an email:

Daejeon is known as the Silicon Valley of Korea.

i took that literally. he also mentioned that:

The clean air and western conveniences make it a great location for you.

i think he might be being just a little presumptious, seeing as how he doesnt really know me or anything, but im still going to take his word for it. i will be working for a company called cdi, teaching english to children of some sort. i dont really know yet. but it looks good; im pretty fired up about it. its going to be an interesting experience, with the funny factor compounded by the fact that i currently speak one word of korean, which is "thank you very very very much" (i know that looks like 6 words, but i promise you it isnt). wan began teaching me the essentials last night, his favorite swear words, but of course i have already forgotten them all. i think i will get very good at hand signals. maybe when i come back i can be a mime.

i am most likely leaving aug 3, so if you are reading this before that date, lets hang out.

at any rate, that will be my life. this will be my blog.