volleyball and food

I have been asked to play volleyball as part of the teachers' sports day today after school.

Please let me not look too foolish. I thought at first this was a friendly type of game, but it seems to be quite competitive. I can sort of play - as in, I can usually hit the ball back over the net and my students in New Mexico liked having me on their team - but even though I am tall, that doesn't mean I'm GOOD. Ugh.

If nothing else, I will look like I am trying, which hopefully will make up for the fact that I am going to be bringing lunch most days instead of eating in the cafeteria. I have a hard time seeing the whole fish on my plate or meat I cannot identify. And while I like the soup to an extent, I can't do it every day. Besides, so far there have been grapes and treats in the teacher's room every day and I have been strongly encouraged to try and taste, which I've done (my stock phrase is "which is your favorite?" and then try that one. So far it has worked out well). I like most of the dok (sticky rice cakes) I've tried. For those of you who know about my texture issues, this is a HUGE thing.

ETA: No volleyball, because trying to set up the internet for my apartment to FOREVER. They wouldn't let me set it up in my name, so I had to have my co-teacher put it in her name. Had we known this, I could have started this process several days ago. But it is ordered, and there is a chance that it will be installed today.

I found a gym near my house. It is small and not particularly well equipped, but serviceable, and they guy who runs (maybe owns?) is actually pretty knowledgeable and corrected my from in a couple of places. When I went last night, it was a little uncomfortable (how was I to know that the 10k bar on the bench press would flip like that when I took off the plate?) but this morning, it was nice. And he put my name in English next to the place for "my" locker key. It is open from 6am-midnight. Rock.

Also, there is a small yarn store on my walk to and from school. I haven't been able to go inside yet, but at least there is one. There is a plant store near my apartment, the guy at the corner market understood my charades when looking for an umbrella this morning, and the tuna comes in a pop-top can (good, as I was lacking a can opener). While a few nights ago i was very upset and wondering what the heck I have done, I now feel a lot more positive and like I am actually able to form a life here.

Oh, and I finished a sweater last night.

I have had multiple incidents of bleach abuse in the past, and at one time had to put myself on bleach time-out. The more things change, the more they stay the same, and as I was trying to find the best place to hang my clothes drying rack (a rather futile attempt at the moment...) I dropped the full rack on the floor, and only later realized that I may not have rinsed the bleach off very well. A tee-shirt and one of my favorite skirts are now "arty" I guess, but whatever. Maybe I'll embroider or something. In the words of Tim Gunn, I'll make it work.

When I walked into the teacher's room, everyone said "good morning" to me in English, and looked very pleased when I replied in Korean. Things are okay.

Well, I have an alien card, I made a good impression by trying to eat Korean lunch with teachers and students, I've opened a bank account, and my co-teacher is calling about getting internet set up. I had a melt down in the immigration office when they said that the card would take two days to get, as I can't get reimbursed for my flight or my relocation allowance or start internet service until I open a bank account, and I can't get the account until I get the card. I have no idea what is wrong with me. But at least my melt downs are in the form of being blatantly on the brink of tears instead of being angry or something. They were able to get the card taken care of in 25 minutes, I think mostly to keep from having to see me cry. While I won't have internet tonight ("but you should have tomorrow!") at least I know that things are in motion. And there is enough need for cleaning that I should be reasonably busy tonight, anyway.

Also, I have re-entry stamp on my passport, so I am free to move about the world.

The bank account went as smoothly as possible, I guess. It is really hard to talk about specific details when there are both problems with content and communication. The woman at the bank was actually pretty good at being able to understand what I needed, and the account is at a bank that can do wire transfers and which has a branch in my neighborhood (Gwangyeong-dong - though I will have to go into town to do the transfers)and which is not horribly far via taxi.

Having to depend on someone else for a lot of basic things is hard, particulalry when things aren't going at the pace I would like them to. I know it sounds stupid, but not having internet at home makes me feel even more disconnected and strange, and right now I could really use a big dose of normal - whatever that may be here. Also, my co-teacher is supposed to point out a gym to me today, and so hopefully I'll be able to go tonight. I'm feeling kind of out of it, and a little bit of the sads, and I'm thinking that the gym will help. Tomorrow, I'll run, even if I have to do it on the cobblestone sidewalks. I just need something to perk me up a little.

I've started to attack the filth in the apartment, and think that I have at least a start on getting rid of the mildew in the bathroom. It has moved into at least liveable at this point.

It is kind of funny - even in Korea I'm teaching in a lower-income area. Some things are just meant to be, I guess.

The rest of this week, it seems that I have time to prepare and adjust. So, I'll be online on aim or msn in what will be evening for most of you. Though the basic version of Trillian doesn't have a spell check (and therefore all bets are off in regards to spelling...) I would love the chance to talk, even if just through text, with people with whom I don't have to think about every word. If you need the usernames, let me know.

When I look out the window of the teacher's room, I see a huge green hill that goes almost straight up. There are trees that look like crepe myrtle, and kids playing in the hallways sound about the same anywhere. People have been very kind, and if this is harder than I had hoped, it is not nearly as bad as it could be.

Updating from a PC room in Gwangyang. I have an apartment, but no internet at home yet. Hopefully that changes soon. I should be able to apply for my alien resident card tomorrow, and hopefully get a bank account right away, so that should change tomorrow, I hope. I have no idea when I will actually be teaching, what schools (if more than this one) I will be teaching at, and really, not sure how to get to school from my apartment (my co-teacher is in the same complex, and is supposed to stop by tonight, so hopefully more of this kind of stuff can be outlined then.)

I was meet by an English teacher and the schools "inspector" today at the hotel. We dropped the inspector off in Suncheon on our way here, and I went to the school, where I met the pricipal and vice principal, was given a desk in the teacher's room, and talked with the principal for a while. They dropped me off in my apartment, and while not particularly clean, it is larger than I expected. I think I looked upset about not having internet, but after a lot of time on cell phones, it was determined that I needed the bank account first, so nothing could be done. There is a gym being constructed fairly close to my apartment, so that will be nice.

I haven't figured out where to run in the nearby area - all concrete sidewalks in the immediate area - but hopefully my co-teacher will be able to help with that later today. I'm going to stop by a store to get some basics, taxi home and start cleaning.

I'm tired and overwhelmed.


On a good note, I have been told I'm beautiful more often today than I ever have before. I guess blue eyes and a smile take you pretty far.

ugh

Minor food poisoning. Not pleasant, but not overwhelmingly horrible - I've had worse, and at least this only lasted about 12 hours.

Still a little iffy, but at least water and toast is staying down. I have an idea that perhaps just scooping the egg out of the bipimbap wasn't enough - at least that is the food that even thinking about makes my stomach roll.

Today we head out to our towns and apartments, and I am looking forward to learning more and starting to get started. Also, being able to select and choose my own food. Oatmeal and eggs (that are fully cooked) sounds really good to me right now. Hopefully the internet will be connected in my apartment (but I'm not counting on it) and it will be nice to have some alone time.

More temple pictures

temple entrance.jpg
Originally uploaded by recklesswater.

These are some more pictures from the temple visit a couple days ago. The colors were so amazingly vivid, and these pictures don't really give them justice.

100_0803.JPG
Originally uploaded by recklesswater.

100_0804.JPG
Originally uploaded by recklesswater.

teaching

Today was the last day of presentations for the orientation. Tomorrow is a visit downtown, and on Monday we head to our schools.

We finally started to talk about actually teaching today - how shocking! I was reminded that I actually know what to do for the actual job part of this whole expereience, at least from a theory standpoint. While I will most likely have to reduce the level, the basic "how to plan a lesson" concept is there, and it was nice to be reminded that what I know about good teaching will still hold true. Not that I thought it wouldn't, but I just needed an "oh yeah, I'm not too bad at this" kind of reminder.

It's hard to talk about how I'm feeling or dealing with everything that is going on because there is so much up and down to this adjustment. This is hard, but not a lot harder than I thought it would be, and not more than I can deal with. Tonight was good. There are some really, really wonderful people, and walking through downtown Gwangju I ran into five people I knew. Out of the group of us talking in the street, four are going to be pretty close to where I'll be living. This totally balances out the folks who are like nails on a chalkboard.

And the not having a co-teacher here today isn't the end of the world. Rolling with the punches and all. I have friends here - and friends of friends - who have been through this (including many who have done this through this program) who will help make sure I know what I need to do and how to go about getting it done, and while I don't have as much information as I might like, I need to get used to not having what I want when I want it.

Breathing. It will be fine.

Today I ran a little more than three miles, and I'm getting better at dealing with the hills and all. The concrete is hard on my knees, but nothing that can't be managed, though I'm holding off on any long runs until I get a little more settled, I think. At the gym the other day, I lifted 85 kg for sets. Crappy, barely full-depth squats, but nonetheless, 85 is a lot of kilos! (that translates into a little more than 187lbs, which is a lot of lbs. and a rather big chunk greater than 100% of bodyweight at this point) I'm not thinking I'm ready for that all the time, but DANG. Also, I'm almost done with a sweater I've been working on. There is at least a little more than culture shock and jet lag and orientation sessions going on.

Gamagol Village

We spent today at the Gamagol Village today, and learned a little more about Korean traditional music and crafts. Also, our co-teachers were supposed to be there.

Guess who was the only person whose co-teacher wasn't there.

They contacted the school, and she was at a university training something, and someone (not her) will be here Monday to collect me and my stuff from what I understand. But still, I felt pretty left out.

The music part was pretty great, though.

haute.jpg
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There are only a handful of people who will appreciate this. Me? it cracked me up.

Temple visit

This is one shot of the temple ground and mountains we hiked today. It was lovely, and nice to be out of the city, be able to walk around and just be outside.

I have some photos that at least attempt to show the amazingly vivid colors of the temple inside - which were breathtaking - but they still need to be resized and uploaded.

I love the fact that I have both mountains and green. While my knees are not happy with the return to running in a place with changing elevation, my eyes love having something on the horizon and being surrounded by so much green. It is a little bit like getting the mountians of New Mexico plus the lushness of the New Orleans I knew.

temple2.jpg
Originally uploaded by jesjmurphy.

Okay, before this story, I should probably explain the "zoo exhibit" thing a little more. Not only are white people an anomaly around here, white women my height and size running up the street at 6:30 in the morning are even MORE of a shock and surprise. So not only are folks watching me, they are staring. Like, "what is that thing?" kind of staring. Once I get to the park, all the ajummas (grandmas) in their white gloves and windbreakers in incredibly hot and humid weather just kind of look at me like I'm a run-of-the-mill weirdo as they walk up hills backwards, but really, we kind of accept that we are all a bit strange, and their looks are more out of interest than objectification, anyway.

So, at the gym last night, there were three of us - all white women - in a fairly small area, and two of us are reasonably strong and close to being the tallest people in the whole place. Once the poor guy at the front desk finally figured out what we wanted, we were good to go, and the guys who worked there were very nice and friendly. We were most definitely subjects of intense interest, but not in the same way as the people on the street. This was a lot less... Insulting? Invasive? I'm not really sure of the word I want here. It was a lot less. Not zoo exhibit. They were more impressed than anything else, and some of the women were laughing WITH us as we played around on this twisty little ab thing for fun as we finished up. (also, they have - and use - those vibrating belt things that shake your fat around. Yeah, I tried it. There may be pictures taken on a return trip, just for documentation purposes...)

Tonight, it was a little different. We went in earlier, and I was the only one really lifting - my friend was only doing rehab-type work. The older man who I guess is the manager was there, and I am still trying to refine the switch to kilos instead of pounds and adjusting for the weight of the collars that hold the weights on the bars, so I have to think and sometimes try to move something that is a little bit heavier than I expected. He kept coming over, wanting to adjust things (the height of the rails or the pins, adding collars, stuff like that) and then had one of the younger men follow me around the whole time I was there to keep me from hurting myself, I guess. It was a lot less fun, there wasn't the same sense of... normalcy maybe? of community or something. Just me being the weird foreigner zoo exhibit again.
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A friend I and wandered around downtown tonight, and went into TGIF's for a drink. In there, we met the Canadian who runs the ex-pat bar in Gwangju. He told me that he would be able to make me tortillas when I got desperate. He may be my new best friend.

adjusting

I'm finally starting to be a little less shell-shocked, I think.

When I was in Tokyo the first week, it seems like there was no English or Roman letters anywhere. After returning from Aizu, I was able to see that there were a lot more cues that I just hadn't been able to see.

I feel like I am already starting to be able to notice those cues here, which makes me feel a lot more confident in my ability to function reasonably well in this environment independently. I also am getting better at least with the consonants in Hangul, and while a lot of the time the vowels still throw me for a loop, I am getting closer to being able to figure stuff out.

My roommate here lived in the part of town where I will be teaching and living, and there is a good likelihood that I will even be in the same apartment she had while she lived there. I feel very lucky to be able to ask questions about the specific location and was able to see pictures of the neighborhood where my home-base school will be located.

I know this will sound kind of silly, but I never realized exactly how "American" I actually am until I was surrounded by so many Canadians. It seems that I somehow have a distinctive "accent" (or maybe I should just start working "eh?" into sentences more often...) and while I don't have a good way to explain it, we are pretty different. At least the guy from Atlanta makes my accent look positively neutral. :)

a few points

1. I am even more clumsy with Korean metal chopsticks than I am with wooden ones. Which is saying A LOT. They are heavy and slippery and I look like an idiot.

2. The chopstick thing is only a little bit of a problem as I'm really not a huge fan of pickeled/fermented foods. This will be a long year in terms of culinary experiences, I think. Good thing I like rice.

3. Two friends came over to visit! Yay!

4. I found a park not too far up the road this morning, which was much more plesant for today's run.

5. I hate jetlag, but i love that for at least a few days I'm a morning person.

6. I haven't run hills for a LONG time.

7. While the canister of oatmeal kind of exploded in my bag (most was salvagable, but there are oats EVERYWHERE the Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter came through practically unscathed. There is some meaning there, I'm sure.

8. For the record, "whole and all" breakfast cereal is really pretty good. And I feel like a grown up for passing on the coco-puff looking box. at least for the time being. (the cap'n crunch will be saved for first-week-of-school emergency comfort food)

Gwangju

After about 29 hours of travel, I arrived in Gwangju last night safe and sound, albeit tired. The flight was uneventful, but long enough that I was REALLY greatful for the seat-back self-select movie option - I could pick whatever I wanted from a list of movies. BTW, if you haven't seen Akeelah and the Bee, you really should.

Jet lag is always lovely, but right now I'm doing pretty well - I finially stopped pretending to be asleep at around 7 and went for a run. That plus shower were key. I've re-pack my bags so that they make a little more sense for the next week of living out of them, and am ready to roll.

We have today for recuperation, and tomorrow we actually start in training sessions. Friends are coming to visit in a few minutes, and other than an appearance at lunch and dinner, the rest of the day is my own.

I know this sounds silly, but on the plane it really dawned on me that I was on a plane, getting ready to live somewhere else, not just visit. So much of my energy was spent getting ready to go that I haven't really connected with the idea that this will be my home for the next year.

So anyway, here, safe, good.

I finially found out how to connect my laptop in my room, so that is good.

Leaving

In less than 24 hours, I should be on a plane to South Korea.

That blows my mind.

Because more information seems to make people (and by "people" I mean "my mother") feel better, I thought I would extend that a bit:

* I land in Incheon (just outside Seoul) at what will be Saturday at 4:45 pm in Korea - that would be the equivalent of 5:45 am Eastern - and once all the people in my program arrive, we will take charter busses to Gwangju, where we will be in orientation until Monday the 28th. Monday I will leave for Gwangyang with my co-teacher (with whom I may or may not be actually teaching - I haven't figured that part out yet) who will be the person who will basically be telling me what's going on and will help with communication in the school, showing me where my apartment is, where the school is, and how to negotiate some basic transactions in a new country.

* I know very little about details like internet access and stuff like that. I'm sure I will have some, but no clue as to how much or when or where. I will be able to have access in my apartment, but again, I'm not sure exactly when, and I should be able to connect in my hotel room in Gwangju.

* I set up a skype account, so if you want to get in touch with me through that, let me know. (if you don't know what Skype is, check it out - it is pretty wonderful.)

* there are 48 people in this program this year alone, and one other will be going to the same town I am in. There are a number of folks who are returning to this program there, and there are other English teachers in the area. I'll be about 20-25 minutes away from friends in a nearby town where there are also 6 people from this program this year, and a little closer to another city where there are about 6 more folks from this year.

* if you want to email me, you can do so through a blog account I set up at (replace all CAPS with the appropriate symbols) ofrecklessnessandwater AT gmail DOT com. I'll reply from my regular address.

* my bags are weighing in at about 60-ish lbs. each, so a total of 120#. which is a little less than how much more I weighed at this time last year. Little realizations like this are startling.

I can't think of anything else.

I wish all of you starting school the best of luck and a wonderful year.

At this point, I'm borderline freaking out, so this is a quick, bullet-point kinda thing.

* Spent the weekend in Chicago - my family is amazing.
* I leave for Korea Friday morning - as in, in three days.
* My ridiculous knitting project was a disaster. Don't want to go into it, but I'm thinking there are some things that just shouldn't be knit.
* Did I mention three days? And that I am bordering on the crazy?
* I bought a skirt today that is exactly like the skirt in the picture a few posts down. Only it is TWO sizes smaller. But I love that skirt and wore it all the time - it can go almost anywhere - and it was 50% off. And TWO sizes smaller!!

shawl

I took pictures of the Silk Garden shawl yesterday, blocked with ends woven in and everything, but the light was too bright. But DONE!! I've accomplished SOMETHING in the past few weeks!

I'll get more pictures in better light - the colors deserve better than that, and the weird ghostly halo thing is just, well, odd. But my mother said she wanted more pictures, so here you go.

running

6 miles. no walking.

slow, but not a lot slower than my normal daily run mile average.

when my watch lost the gps signal in the last .2 (i'm guessing the combo of tree canopy and cloud cover was too much), i started to cry. was at least 6, even if the watch only says 5.91. (69.30 min).