Bangkok

I'm on a lay-over in Bangkok right now. I feel like this is one of the airports I know pretty well, given the handful of times I came through here last winter. Feels strange to be in someplace so different but which feels familiar.

Because I'm a worrier, I have been starting to plan out "what-ifs" - what if it is too cold in Northern Vietnam? What if I'm not having fun? What if what if what if. And then I remembered - I'm in Southeast Asia, and a flight to someplace strikingly beautiful is about $50 away. So I'm still thinking about Chaing Mai again, but am also thinking about Malaysia. Or Borneo. Or anyplace, really. Anyway, there are always options, and if I'm not having a good time, I can move on.

For some reason, once I know what my "worst case" scenario is, I feel better about the whole thing. Like, once I know what I'll do if things are bad, I feel better.

I left Mokop last night on the 2:30 am bus to the airport in Incheon. I'll get in to Hanoi at 7:30, so with the time change, that will be about 19-20 hours of travel. Tomorrow it is about 4 to CatBa Island. I maybe need to think about visiting places that don't require me to travel for a full day just to get there. What is interesting is that I will be going to my 4th country that doesn't use a Roman alphabet, and have never traveled to one that does. I sort of like that.

Emart

The Emart in Mokpo (think "everything store" - not unlike Wal-mart or Target) has extended their organic offerings, including things like Peace and EnvroKids cereals! Also a whole-grain (herloom grains) cereal. There was a lot of other new stuff, too, and it is the only place in town I have seen canned tuna in water (Lotte still has the foil packets, but the cans are a better value, IMO).

This may be their attempt to keep up with the soon to open Homeplus. Either way, this pleases me greatly. Peanut Butter Panda Puffs for the win! (Though if I could get Mother's Peanut Butter cereal, I would probably weep with joy. I don't see that happening any time soon).

Speaking of Homeplus, I've heard they open at the beginning of January. I will rejoice, as it is a lot closer to my house and if they have whole wheat pasta like Lotte, I think maybe angels will start to sing, or something. If I could find oatmeal off-base or outside of Seoul, I think my head would explode.

I am officially free until March 2nd. I leave on Sunday for Vietnam, will be there until at least the 13-14th, and then will either head to Bali for beaches or to Chaing Mai for the level 2 Thai massage course and climbing at Crazy Horse. There will be friends in both places when I would be there, so options are open. I'll be back here for a couple weeks, then will be in Seoul from February 2nd through the 25th for an intensive Korean course and the amazing experience of living in Seoul for a few weeks with amazing women and hanging out with both Koreans and Westerners who call Seoul home. Incredibly exciting.

Homestretch

I'm in the home stretch for getting ready to go. I need to do a final store run for things like zip-lock bags, and need to hang laundry to dry so I can shove it in the pack tomorrow. After school today I'm going to the bus terminal to buy my ticket to the airport, and will leave at 2:30 AM on Sunday to get to Seoul. I fly to Bangkok, then to Hanoi. The next morning, I'll grab a bus, shuttle, and boat to Cat Ba Island, and if all goes well, should be there early afternoon. YIKES.

Right now, I'm trying to make sure that I have a room in Hanoi for the night. BREATHE.

Christmas

For the most part, Christmas here didn't really feel like Christmas, but it was really nice to spend time with friends. The weekend before, a big group of us went climbing about an hour outside of Mokpo, with a lot of friends coming back to town afterwards (they didn't have to work Monday, but of us teachers did. There was a Christmas Eve party at a friend's apartment and a party Christmas Day, both of which were great in very different ways.

But for me, the best part of the weekend was a party at one of the nearby orphanages. There is a group of teachers who volunteer at a couple of local orphanages, and they organized a gift drive for all of the kids they work with. About 10 of us went to the party, and it was amazing. One of the Air Force guys who climbs with us dressed up like Santa and handed out gifts, there were crafts and food and decorations, and all in all, it felt more like Christmas there than at any other time. I'm so glad I went.

The orphanages here are more like what we call a group home in the US. Some of these kids are actually orphans, but the majority are kids whose parents are unable to take care of them for one reason or another, and the rest of the family isn't able or willing to take them in, often for the same reasons that there are so many Korean babies available for international adoption - "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree" viewpoint.

While we were watching the kids get presents from Santa, a friend leaned forward and said, "I just can't imagine how someone could give up these kids. I just don't understand it."

Word.

in numbers

1. I have been unreasonably cranky today. I'm not exactly sure why.
2. Does anyone know what the term is when you aren't claustrophobic, but when people stand too close to you it freaks you out? What is strange is that it isn't EVERYONE. Just almost everyone.
3. Several people here volunteer weekly at a couple of the orphanages in the area. I'm pretty sure these would be called "group homes" most places, because many of the kids are not actually orphans (and which could lead to a whole different discussion about why there are so many Korean babies that are available for overseas adoption - the Confucian ideals hold to "the apple doesn't fall far from the tree") and they organized a gift drive for all of the kids. It is awesome! SO many people signed up, and hopefully the kids will have a good time.
4. I'm sort of informally teaching one of the 6th grade teachers and my co-teacher in the afternoons. I'm hoping it won't be an everyday thing, but a few times a week would be really interesting, and after the Korean class in February, hopefully it will be more of a language exchange. Today we talked about the presidential election. Korea overwhelming elected one of the former heads of Hyundai, who left his job because of some sort of inappropriate behavior. And who wants to tie teacher salary to test scores. Because there really isn't enough emphasis on test scores as it is. Oh, wait...
5. Because both of these teachers are young women, I've had really interesting conversations about feminism. The asked me if I thought a woman could be president, with my (VERY liberal) co-teacher saying yes and the conservative other teacher saying no. I pointed out that it shouldn't be gender, but rather ability, and that it extended to school principals, head teachers, department heads... If nothing else, it will be interesting to see where these conversations go.
6. This weekend, it looks like a handful of folks will be heading down to climb at the massive indoor climbing stadium down here. This will be awesome!
7. A friend came down (we didn't have school for election day, so we ran around trying to find a place we could climb that was easy to get to and fun and not too cold) and went to the regular climbing gym Tuesday, and made me feel like I wasn't crazy to think that things were not the greatest environment. I am maybe really American, but I'm not crazy, which is good.
8. I am SO SO happy that I can search for trains in English again! I was able to use the site in Korean, but it took longer. Now it is up again and a million times easier! Yay!

travel and water and running

I'm working on planning out what my vacation plans are for the next couple of months. The only things that are solid right now is that I will be flying to Vietnam on December 29th flying back out of Bangkok on January 20th. I will be climbing with friends at HaLong Bay for a couple weeks, and I REALLY want to go to Angkor Wat in Cambodia, but other than that, I'm not totally sure what I'll be doing. There is the possibility that I will try to take the second level of Thai massage in Chiang Mai, but the idea of some extended beach time sounds really, really nice, too. Once I get to Southeast Asia, it is really inexpensive to travel around so the fact that I'm not totally planned out within an inch of my life is actually okay for the moment. I'm sure that will change in the next couple of weeks as I get more stressed about everything, but I'm trying to approach this fairly openly this time.

In February, I will be taking an intensive language course in Seoul at Ewha Womens University Language Center. A couple of friends and I were talking about the idea, and before I knew it, I was sold. Hopefully this three weeks will kick me over "survival" Korean into a higher degree of comprehension, plus I'll be able to live in Seoul! It will be a totally different way to live in Korea, and since we are planning to study Korean all day and climb all evening, I'm pretty psyched about the whole thing.

Last weekend I visited friends and was taken onto base. It made me pretty homesick - the guys tend to call it Little America for good reason. But in addition to some carefully selected good stuff, I think my water issues will be solved as I was able to get a Brita pitcher. It should be too much of an issue to get replacement filters as necessary, so I feel like since I'm pretty sure there isn't bacteria in the water here (because I'd be having more digestive and skin issues - I'm delicate like that) and it should filter out enough of the other stuff that makes it about on par with other filtered/bottled options without the impact of all the plastic bottles.

For running, I am planning to follow Hal Higdon's Spring Training as a prelude to his half-marathon training program. For me, having a set program to follow helps me a lot - I know that I need to complete x-number of miles, so I have something to accomplish - an assignment - that needs to be done at some point that day. Also, the mileage never gets high enough that it would be difficult to do while I'm traveling. At least for the most part - I'm sure there will be exceptions and I'm okay with that, but it should be do-able, even if the weather gets super-nasty and I have to do the runs on the much-hated treadmill.

oil

I think many people know this, but there was a major oil spill off the coast of Korea two weekends ago. Last summer, friends were swimming in phosphorescence off the beaches in Taean, and this spill has already had a major impact on this area.

Because it is a pebble beach, it looks like the oil has seeped below the surface, which makes the clean-up all that more difficult. Last weekend some friends went up to help clean up the area - a couple accounts of the experience are here and here. To read more, Expat Helping Hands is a good resource of what it is like for people on the ground in the area.

Running

Other than a mile when I go to the gym at lunch, I have really fallen off the wagon in terms of running. I HATE running on the treadmill and I know I felt better when I was getting up and running in the morning.

But it is dark and cold and I am whiny. To the extent that even when I set my alarm for 6, I reset it and go back to sleep. Because my bed is warm and comfortable and it is bleak and yucky outside.

EXCEPT!! This morning, I made an agreement to call a friend at 6. My thinking is that if I actually force myself to form words, I can make myself get out of the apartment. And even though it was raining a bit, IT WORKED! I ran a really pathetic 5k this morning and it was great. Well, at the time it was a little horrible, but afterwards it was great.

I am going to look for a running program to follow for the winter so I know I have to accomplish "x" that day, and hopefully gain some momentum in terms of making this a habit again. I'm also starting to think about rebuilding a base from which to train for the half-marathon in Jeju at the beginning of next June. Yes, I realize that I'm planning for a race that is about 6 months away, but if you think about the fact that some training programs are 2-3 months and a half marathon is a LONG TIME TO RUN, I want to have a decent foundation from which to build.

Water, water everywhere

Living in Gwangyang last year, I ALWAYS bought water. For a while, I had the big huge water bottles delivered, but because I couldn't drink enough to offset the cost of the dispenser, it ended up being significantly more expensive option than buying multi-packs of the 1.5liter bottles. There were a couple of reason I bought - it seems everyone in the whole country recommends either buying or boiling water, and I lived close to one of the biggest steel mills on the planet (no, really) and so I really didn't trust what might be in my water source.

I'm pretty sensitive to any sort of microbial ick in water - when I lived in Wingate, I even had to brush my teeth with bottled water - so when I moved to Mokpo and listened to friends talk about not even boiling water and not having any problems, I decided to run a little test on myself. And was fine. I mean, I think about all the people who make coffee (doesn't boil long enough to kill the ick, IIRC) or ice made of tap water, and so it makes sense that it isn't THAT bad, but still, I was a bit concerned. Some folks even talk about running it through a Britta filter and feeling okay with it, but that doesn't kill anything or get rid of the heavy metal content.

And that is my big concern right now. I haven't experienced any digestive issues by drinking tap water, which tells me that there isn't anything growing in there to any significant degree. However, my headaches are kicking in a bit more, and sometimes you can smell the chlorine in the water. Plus, from what I've read, it isn't the bacteria in the water that is the problem, but the metals and other chemicals, and boiling doesn't do anything to combat that.

So I'm back at looking at drinking bottled water again. However, there are the consequences of the plastic used to make the bottles. While there is country wide recycling programs in effect, there is still an awful lot of plastic being used, and I don't want to contribute to that any more than I have to.

So, what is a slighty-princessy, somewhat-green, sorta-wanna-be-hippie to do? Especially considering that I live in the tiniest apartment ever? I mean, one of the good things about the 6-packs of 1.5 liter bottles is that they fit in my fridge, which is one of the few storage places I have left.

I think right now, I'm back on the bottled water train, but I am going to look for a place to buy one of the hand-pumps for the big bottles and then get a co-teacher to look into delivery service again. The big bottles are re-used, so there is less waste, which is an important thing in my book. While I recycle as much as I can living in an officetel (the big apartments have elaborate recycling bin systems, but after living here for 3 months, I'm still not 100% sure where I am supposed to put my trash, much less recycling or compost) I worry that it all gets lumped together when it gets picked up.

I will admit, though, that the bitter skeptical side of me says that they probably just fill the bottles with tap water, but I try to ignore that voice as much as posisble.

and that may be the end of that

Well, it looks like the new climbing gym might be closing and/or going under new management. The guy who owns it is talking to someone about selling.

Though granted, there are both up and downsides - I finally stood up for myself to a Korean man and pointed out that I 1) knew I was big for a climber - particularly in Korea - and didn't need to be reminded about it and 2) if I kept hearing about it I wouldn't be able to go back there. Also, although I got one long, solid route in, he more wanted to talk after that, so I didn't get as much done as I had hoped.

I guess I'm just frustrated. I want to be able to climb inside this winter, but it seems that my only real option is to climb where I don't have a lot of fun. I'm just not sure what to do right now. And I'm co-dependent enough to say things like, "well, really, was it really that bad?" or "maybe I'll feel differently if I only do XYZ" or wonder if I'm just being a big whiny baby.

You know what? Screw it. If there this place stays open, even under new management, I'll climb there, but I was really becoming unhappy and a total crankypants and no fun to be around from climbing at the other gym. And while I was becoming a better gym climber, I wasn't seeing it transfer to climbing outside in a proportionate way. I'll try to get out with friends as much as possible, and will focus on general strength and fitness at the regular gym, but I really just don't want to keep setting myself up to feel bad about myself.

I had my co-teacher call and find out when I could go to the other climbing gym in Mokpo, and it is still open! And so I went tonight for a while, and it was AWESOME. There is a long wall with a route that was challenging but do able, and people were nice, pointing out the route without making me feel micromanaged, then just letting me work things out. . It was pointed out that I would be a better climber if I was a smaller person, but whatever, this is Korea and I'd be better at EVERYTHING if I was a smaller person, and it was done in a reasonable manner and my feelings weren't hurt. There were bright colors on the walls and I had fun.

Also, he is letting me climb for free for December, which ROCKS. And he is SMOKING HOT. Really. Also, he is a giant, especially for a Korean climber. Sigh.

For Mokpo folks, if you are interested in going, I'd recommend having a co-teacher or a Korean-speaking friend call first to make sure someone is there to let you in. I'm probably going to be going twice a week. Let me know if you need contact information - I have a handful of business cards.

climbing and running

1. The indoor gym we went to this weekend freaking ROCKED - a bunch of lead climbing areas, tons of bouldering room, huge and nice. The only downside is the only heat is a space heater. Also, the next few weeks we won't be able to be there since they are doing an alpine course, which makes me a little sad.

2. I ordered quickdraws. Merry Christmas to me.

3. Since I'm not climbing with Mokpo Climbing Club anymore (at least for the time being...) I'm going to join some of my friends who are doing a "running club" and I'm pretty excited. I'm going to use this as a kick in the pants to run more often and to bring times down. I have been flirting with the idea of maybe possibly thinking about doing the 1/2 marathon in Jeju next June (where I did my first 10k this year) but I don't know if that is just the crazy talking right now.

weekend

Overall, this weekend was pretty great, with one small blip of yuck.

+ I did my first lead climb ever! It was a super-easy route on an indoor wall, but I did it! Yay! And I'm psyched to do more.
+ Some friends headed down for the weekend to climb, and while the weather wasn't optimal to be outside to climb, we had a really good time at the indoor stadium.

- A very young friend ended up embarrassing himself at a party. I feel bad for all parties right now (both the friend and the person who was hosting). Kids, let's all remember that Korean alcohol should be treated with a good bit of caution.

Simplest thing in the world

I found this link from the Stumptuous blog which links to Josh Hillis' blog where he quoted:

Calories in, Calories out
You must come to accept the factual calories in and out aspect of weight management; otherwise, there's no point in trying to solve for the motivation aspect. Repeat after me: if you’re overweight, it’s not because of your age, it’s not your thyroid, it’s not menopause, it’s not because you don’t eat enough, it’s not your parents’ fault, it’s not the number of fat cells you were born with, it’s not that you don’t do your aerobic work in your target heart range, it’s not high fructose corn syrup (HFCS), it’s not that you weren’t breast fed, it’s not your medication, it’s not your hormones, it’s not sugar, it’s not trans fat, it’s not saturated fats, it’s not carbohydrates, it’s not because you eat after 7:00PM, it’s not because you had a baby, it’s not because you eat the wrong glycemic foods, and, no, it’s not the fast food industry’s fault if you are overweight and don’t like it...

...So let’s get past the calorie piece and all the misinformation and boil it down to one simple sentence you can apply to your life right now: “I won’t think about anything else except eating fewer calories than I burn until I reach my goal.” Say it again! “I won’t think about anything else except eating fewer calories than I burn until I reach my goal”.

Particularly apt as I get ready to dive head-first into a bowl of mashed potatoes and gravy this weekend, I think.

(oh, and I second Stumptuous when I add that you might maybe want to think about something else some of the time, or you become really, really annoying. Though that thing probably shouldn't be knitting, because as experience has taught me, if there is anything that makes someone's eyes glaze over faster that shooting down diet myths, it is talking about yarn. YMMV.)

:(

I wish I was in Indiana.

~

The past two evenings I've been going back to the gym I went to the first month I lived in Mokpo.

Walking home, I feel so much more at peace now, I can't really describe it. Like, by lifting weights a weight has been lifted, or something redorkulous like that.

climbing

This weekend was a climb with the local club. I'm still sort of processing things, but I think maybe climbing with the Korean club may not be for me.

There were a couple of things I over-reacted to this weekend - things that I took as insults that were more a matter of communication then an actual attempt to be insulting. But there were some things that just didn't make me feel comfortable and some things that WERE insulting. When your friends ask, "do they always treat you like this?" when you don't think they are treating you as badly as they usually do, well, there are problems. There are many people that I like as individuals, but as a group it is just very difficult for me to deal with.

The thing that was the most clear is that when I climb with other foreigners, I have fun. When I'm with the local club, I have much less fun. While physically I'm a stronger climber then I was almost two months ago (when I started climbing inside), I feel like I'm going backwards in terms of the mental aspects and I'm not really sure how to fix that. But feeling like crap about myself isn't helping anything.

full circle

I finished a hat I started on Monday at school as my "school knitting" project - the thing I work on to keep my hands busy while I'm basically just doing crowd control while my co-teacher teaches or while I'm playing on the internet during the massive amount of downtime I have during the day. It is handspun dark brown alpaca with a few stripes of a variegated pinkish awesome-ish yarn I bought in Terre Haute before heading to East Tennessee last summer. I bought the alpaca in Gatlinburg, so it really is fitting that I was working on it as I move into major homesickness time for me (around Thanksgiving. Hits me wicked hard). It is super warm and soft. I'm pleased.

And the warm will come in handy this weekend, as the weather seems to have decided to turn into winter. And I am climbing this weekend with the Korean club. And have I ever mentioned that I am a delicate flower and really don't like the cold much? BUT I have a new fabulous "down" vest, and will be able to wear the handknit sweater that is too warm for almost anything other than a Korean classroom in winter and a new super-cool hat, so here's hoping that I don't freeze my little fingers off.

I'm actually a little nervous about this climbing trip.

Also, if I was ASKED to go, I'd be super-psyched, but since I was TOLD to go, I'm being cranky about it. Because that's how I roll (just typing that makes me laugh out loud. Moving on.).

Okay, happy news again, the yarn I ordered from the states arrived and I have been swatching (!!!! I almost never do that) for a sweater with this stunning brown tweedy yarn, and since I can't even get close to gauge I'm going to risk it and just make the smallest size, which after doing some math, should be close enough. I have also started a pair of mittens in the softest yarn I have ever worked with - La Fiesta Baby Boom in plum pudding. Mostly pink with hints of purple. This is where pictures would be awesome, yeah? Oops. Anyway, Merino, pretty, and the latest school knitting project. And we are full circle again.

10k

Crossing the finish line at yesterday's 10k. The race course was beautiful!! The timing in terms of the trees changing colors was just about perfect, and while the first three km were rather hilly and worried me (I thought the whole course would be like that) it flattened out and was just plain gorgeous for the rest of the race.


Brandon got to hit the gong to start the 10k race (he was cheering on Terri, who rocked out her first 5k race!)


the Mokpo 10k team.

Also, in healthy-stuff news, I went to the gym at lunch for the first time today! I need to work out the timing and work out a condensed routine, but I think it will let me keep the happy endorphin/alone time rush and let me make better progress, while still giving me time to climb in the evenings. Go me.

4 very good things.

1. My mom is having knee replacement surgery, and this morning I got the message that everything went well. There was more damage then they thought so the operation took a bit longer than expected, but everything was fine. She starts rehab right away.

2. The sun was out today!! I haven't seen that for a while.

3. I got to come home early! There was a teacher field trip that was going to go until 8-9 tonight, so I declined, and got to come home after lunch!

4. My co-teacher told me that I can go to my gym at lunch! I thought it was one of those things that I would ask for and get shot down right away, but she said it wouldn't be a problem. This brings me great joy.

corporal punishment

Over the past two years, most of the teachers I have worked with have kept the corporal punishment to a minimum, at least while I'm around. While there are still things that happen pretty regularly, (like kids duck-walking down the hall or kneeling with the hands over their heads) at least I am usually sheltered from seeing teachers actually hit children.

It has been explained to me a "cultural difference" situation, and in the scale of punishment, I thought the teacher who took away the socks from girls who were talking to much (in the unheated classroom, in winter, leaving them in sandals for the day) was more cruel than the times I've seen a teacher hit a kid in any of the schools I've been in.

This year, my classroom is right next-door to a room where a teacher deals out corporal punishment almost constantly. I don't think I have ever walked past his room where there isn't at least one student standing, and almost always there are at least three kids kneeling at the back of his classroom. Today, I walked past the room while he was hitting the hands of one of the girls who has never been anything other than wonderful in my class. And it wasn't the token "tap" that I have seen before - it was hitting her with a stick hard enough that I could hear it while I passed.

I am still so angry about this. I told my co-teacher how bad horrible I thought he was, and she did the token "cultural differences" routine. I pointed out that I understand that, but he does something EVERY DAY, and she admitted that it is common knowledge in the school that he punishes kids too harshly, but no one has made him stop.

I don't even know what to do. I may take a picture of his class the next time I see an army of kids kneeling, and when he asks why, tell him that no one in the States can believe that teachers would really treat students that way without being arrested.

yay, lists.

1. Every time I read this shirt I laugh.
From threadless.

2. Walking down the 6th grade hallway, I saw the entire range of classrooms in Korea:
6.1 - teacher facilitating, students answering questions and filling out the schedule for the day. Interactive, but under control.
6.2 - the entire class was holding their hands over their heads. I'm not sure why.
6.3 - students were working in groups on projects. Amazing - kids having fun AND working, of all things!!
6.4 - students sitting up straight, chairs in rows, choral recitation of the lesson.
6.5 - 1/3's of the class reading independently, 1/3 of the class walking back and forth across the back of the classroom in deep knee bends with their hands over their heads while the teacher hollered at them, 1/3 kneeling with their hands over their heads, waiting to get hollered at.

3. What the heck happened in the 4th quarter of the Colts game? I was checking the score until I had to go to class, but I come back and they lost? What?

4. I have no idea why, but last weekend I got scared while climbing. And it was being scared of falling, which really, I should have gotten over at this point. No idea what was going on. Maybe it was karma getting back by making jokes about the "Litany Against Fear" from Dune when a friend was getting psyched to lead on the drive over. ("I must not fear. Fear is the mind-killer. Fear is the little-death that brings total obliteration. I will face my fear. I will permit it to pass over me and through me. And when it has gone past I will turn the inner eye to see its path. Where the fear has gone there will be nothing. Only I will remain." Frank Herbert) Or maybe it was the threat of singing to her, "Everything's gonna be alright now" while she was climbing. In my defense, the person thought it was funny. Anyway, it was on climbs I've worked on before and there was no good reason for it.

NaKniSweMo

For those who don't know, for several years NaNoWriMo - National Novel Writing Month - gets thousands of people to commit to writing a 50,000 word novel in the month of November. About .009% of participants are eventually published (If you don't count the people who self-publish) but for the next month, about 100,000 people on the internet will think of themselves as writers.

More people reading, more people writing, more people thinking about the power of words. All good things. But I think that calling myself a "writer" because I can crank out 50,000 words would be like calling myself a chef because I cooked dinner.

So instead of NaNoWriMo, I will be participating in NaKniSweMo, where I will commit to knit a 50,000 stitch sweater in a month.

And I'm almost enough of a geek to figure out how many stitches the sweater I want to work on actually has.

1. I was just invited to join the other 6th grade teachers in the staff room for something to eat. Walking down the hall, my only thought was, "wow, this doesn't smell appetizing at all." When I walked in, there were plates of red pepper paste with still live octopus wriggling on them. STILL LIVE. WRIGGLING.

I walked over to my co-teacher and (I thought rather calmly) mentioned that I would be coming back to the classroom since I couldn't deal with the LIVE OCTOPUS. And her response was a genuinely surprised "Really?" Then she laughed. Not really in a mean way, but still.

(For the handful of people in Mokpo, I know this is common, but it is something I've been able to avoid for the past 2 months. Ick and yuck.)

2. Dear People on the street during my run yesterday,

Listen, I get that you maybe don't see many foreigners, nor do you see many women running, so when you see both those things all in one person, it is a bit of a shock. To the cool old dude who smiled in a non-creepy way and said "fighting!", thanks. For those old men who stood in the middle of the running path to stare, the old women who took up the whole path and refused to move to let people pass, the dudes on bikes who slowed down to watch, the people who almost ran into me with their bikes because couldn't both stare and control the bike, and the idiot peeing on the sidewalk, I really hate you. And old men who smell like soju? I hate you most of all.

No love at all (except you, "fighting" dude),
Me

am boring.

This is my week.

work, climb, socialize, knit.

I am boring but busy.

And I need to decide what I want to do and where I want to go when I move back to the US.

Also, you should play the on-line game Free Rice. Basically, a multiple choice vocabulary game, and every time you get an answer right, 10 grains of rice is donated through the UN. Plus, it makes me feel a little less like my brain is atrophying.

heels

I strongly recommend against wearing high heels the night before going rock climbing.

Not only does it hurt like hell when you try to toe-in, but the next day you are essentially crippled.

Though I will say, the shoes are hot. Still, I'm not looking forward to my hobble walk to work this morning.

recorders

My school is preparing for the Winter Festival. This is a very big deal, and students have been practicing since the semester started. There are now multiple hours each day dedicated to rehearsal.

One group is what seems to be a recorder chorus. If you haven't had the joy of listening to the same song played eleventy-million times each day for MONTHS, there is no way you can imagine the pleasure of that same song being played by 30-40 elementary students. On recorders.

Halloween and the plague

1. Having stolen some ideas this weekend, I'm having a blast with Halloween mini-lessons so far. This includes scaring the crap out of kids by actually screaming when I give them a clue for the movie Scream. Also, having them watch the intro to The Nightmare Before Christmas and making them sing, "This is Ha-lo-ween, this is Ha-lo-ween" like monsters. Makes me happy. There was a kid who thought he was too cool to sing, so I went up to him all monster-like while the other kids were singing and "Rarrrgh!!"-ed at him. He shrieked. It was awesome.
These are 6th graders - I'm not doing this to little kids.

2. A gaggle of first graders came up to the English lab looking for my co-teacher. They sort of tripped all over each other like a litter of puppies, and said "Oh! Teacher!! Meguk-saram ayo?" and then to each other, like I couldn't hear them, "Yepoda!! Neun!!" (Are you American? Pretty!! Eyes!!) and then tumbled down the hall.

3. I have the plague. Or at least a cold.

Usefulness

Last week, a friend found out that her niece was diagnosed with Aspergers, a condition that is usually described as "high-functioning" autism.

I'm not an expert on autism at all, but based on my somewhat limited knowledge, for kids with Aspergers, the main interventions are in behavior - intellectually, the kids are usually at or above the level of their peers, and it is in terms of behaviors that their special needs are manifested in the classroom. And I DO know a fair bit about behavior management and the steps that go into the creation of an effective series of interventions.

Basically, I was able to talk to a friend about what I knew about the process and what steps should be taken to make sure the child would be able to function effectively (for my friends who know SPED jargon, FBA, BIP, lather, rinse, repeat). I also was able to suggest a few interventions that might be useful, based on what I had heard about the student.

This, on top of talking with a few friends about the basics of behavior management (function of the behavior, how is it being reinforced, blahblahblah) reminded me that I know stuff. That sounds silly. Basically, it reminded me that even though most of my day is spent trying to make a textbook interesting or communicating via charades and short sentences, there is stuff about this teaching gig I know a bit about, and I miss feeling like what I'm doing is useful. Don't know where I'm going with that, but there you have it.

Oh, and even though I think I'm being teased, I've gotten a bunch of folks to start using *person-first language when taking about their students with special needs. My professors would be proud. (Yes, I know it means the same thing, and yes I know it is pedantic and annoying, but it IS different, so there. *flounce*)


* person-first language means that when you are talking about people with special needs, you say the person before you say the disability. So you would say, "my student with special needs" rather than "my special needs kid." If nothing else you have to _think_ about the fact that they are a person before you talk about their disability.

In other news, I went climbing again this weekend, and even though I still feel like I'm struggling and cursing up the wall, I'm doing better. I still chicken out if I think I'm going to miss a move, but I'm starting to feel more comfortable with a less-than-tight belay, and learned how to clip as part of my prep for lead climbing. Also, the only time I feel this week was when I was working on an overhanging start (at the end of the day). This is progress.

rocks

I found this through a link on the Craft magazine blog and thought they were beautiful.

Last night I was waiting to get into the climbing gym and a group of middle school girls walked by and started to talk to me (Nicola, they were your students). WOW, do I miss middle school girls!! They spent about 5 minutes asking me where I was from and telling me that I was beautiful, and then pointing out qualities they found particularly attractive. And these girls had been taught that "big nose" and "high nose" are two very different things, and that "big nose" doesn't sound as complimentary as they think it does. Which is nice. I don't get as much "beautiful teacher!" as I did last year. Sad. I think that middle schoolers are better at sucking up.

Suncheon 10k

1:10:20 (1 hour, 10 minutes, 20 seconds).

This is one minute and twenty seconds faster than the Jeju-do 10k last June, for which I was actually pretty well trained. As in, I was running more than once a week. Though in my own defense, I was running at least 1 mile most days up until two weeks ago. Still, one mile is a lot less that 6 and a quarter. This is also about five minutes faster than what I thought I would do, which is awesome. The past few weekends, I have been doing longer runs and/or played ultimate frisbee, which essentially is interval running.

I had fajitas last night, too. That also brings me joy.

Fiber

Yesterday, a student gave me 4 bottles of one of the fiber drinks. It was very nice of her, but the only think that went through my mind was that she must think I'm full of something...

Teaching this year is a lot different from last year. This year I teach only fifth and sixth grade and I see all of my students (about 350 total - 10 classes of about 35 students each) about two times a week - a lot nicer for me than the two times a month if classes weren't pulled last year. I DO have to teach from the text, but I can play around with the "game" they have every lesson, and so I'm still able to bend things a little. My co-teacher and I usually divide the class time in half, so I rarely teach more than 20 minutes of my four classes a day. For me, it is nice to have a Korean speaker show up for all of my classes, but it also means that I have a bit less flexibility in how far I bend the curriculum. Still, I'm able to have a lot of fun, and I feel like I have a much better idea of the personalities of the students I teach, which for me was a big part of the feeling of not being a real teacher last year.

+/-

+ I ran 10k yesterday - in the rain - in a pretty good time for me.
+ I went climbing outside Saturday, and it was fun
+ I can already see that I'm improving my climbing technique after only a week in the gym. I'm at least thinking and using my feet more.
+ I feel like I passed some sort of test tonight at the gym. I don't know how to explain it or exactly how or why, but anyway, a good thing.
+ I feel a lot better about the 10k I have coming up next weekend.
+ A box that was sent from the US arrived at a friend's APO address (finally!!!)
+ Another order will be sent to me from a different friend on base.

-It ended up raining so hard (when I was as far as possibly from my house, so turning back was a moot point) that I really couldn't have been more wet if I had gone swimming in my clothes.
- The box that arrived at one friend's place is too heavy to have sent, and he is getting ready to go on a trip for about a month.
- I knew it would happen eventually, but on my second day in the gym I was told I should eat only rice and kimchi for breakfast and lunch, then drink milk for dinner. I cannot imagine the gastrointestinal disaster that would be.

I'm really happy there are more pluses than minuses in that list.

climbing

Tonight I joined the Mokpo Climbing Club.

The club I was going to join (further away but more beginner friendly) closed down, so the only game in town is the more intense club, which actually, in terms of me getting better at climbing, isn't a bad thing. There are enough foreigners who are interested in climbing and I liked the session I went to tonight. I think for the time being, I might just train at the climbing gym and run. My contract is over at my regular gym, and at least until it gets too cold to run outside, I should be fine. If not, I should have time after school and before the climbing gym opens to do both. We'll see.

yesterday

Yesterday I woke up with one of the worst migraines I've had in a very long time. Ugly. It also meant that I wasn't able to head over to Yeosu to climb, which was sad.

So once the drugs kicked in and I was able to do something other than wish I was dead or that someone would come and kill me to put me out of my misery, I went for dinner with friends, then came home instead of going out in the big city.

This morning was cool and overcast, and I went out for a run. I'm horribly under prepared for the 10k I have in two weeks, but got 9km in this morning, then went and played Ultimate for a few hours. I'm beat but good at this point, but had an excellent time. It was the first time I have played since I lived in New Orleans, and while I still catch like someone without thumbs, I'm SUCH a much stronger runner now! Yeowsa.

And I'm exhausted and will be sore tomorrow, but in a really nice way.

Jeju continued

(Note: I was just going to continue on, but life delayed my blogging again. Anyway.)

Day 2: Continued
After a gray day with too much time in the van, we were all a bit... edgy. When we passed a sign for ATVs and someone said, "we should try that tomorrow..." we decided to go for it right then.
Sloane getting geared up (also, proof that we were wearing safety stuff).


It scared the crap out of me, and I never really felt like I was in as much control as I would have liked to be, but at least I tried it. And the parts that weren't so rocky I thought I was going to tunk over were fun.

day 3: The beach part 1

We woke up to partly cloudy, which actually was an improvement. Living in hope, we brought bathing suits on our way to do something cultural I never got around to, while a couple of folks took off on their motorbikes. The sun came out, we saw the beach, and spent the day jumping in waves and soaking up the sun. As one of the palest people on the planet, I ended up with an incredibly attractive sunburn everywhere I missed with the sunscreen.
Sand and beach and islands, as the tide was going out.


I spent the entire day at the beach, and it was awesome.

Day 4: Climbing

On Chuseok day, my friend Dan headed out with his friend Danielle, Stu, me and Ty to climb in a riverbed. The day was exactly what I needed, and it was really great to be able to hang out with such a positive, supportive group of people. Also, I learned how to belay with a gri-gri (that means nothing to almost everyone, but still, cool to know how to do.)


Day 5: Beach and boat home
While a bunch of folks left on the early ferry back to Mokpo, a handful of us were on the late boat, so after I made banana pancakes (!!!! ME! AND I didn't burn them! WOO!! Also, resident chef JP was on the early boat. Anyway.) we had another day at the beach.


After which we took the ferry back to Mokpo. No fancy bunks, but there was the sunset to make up for it.



An excellent trip, indeed. More photos on Flickr, if you are interested.

Jeju

This week was Chuseok in Korea. Chuseok is the major family holiday in Korea - imagine the family importance of both Thanksgiving and Christmas rolled into one. So we had a 5 day weekend, and I went to Jeju-do with a big group of friends. What easily could have been the longest 4 days any group of people has ever spent together actually turned out to be an incredibly amazing vacation, and I was really sort of sad to leave the island.


The ferry over was great. For some reason, when my co-teacher helped me make reservations, she said there was only economy (in the depths of the ship, can be kind of smelly and bad) or second class bunks. I went with the bunks, and it was awesome, if a bit more expensive then I would have liked.


Though I have to admit, I spent most of the time out on the deck. It was nicer than being inside.

Once we got there, we checked into our cabin/pension, and walked down to the beach.


And sent people off for food. Monique and Stu and I held down the fort and made sure that the soju was fit for consumption.

Then the boys cooked - YAY!

And the girls offered positive reinforcement in order to perpetuate this behavior. For the most part, it worked.


Day 2
It rained. And rained. We went to Loveland, the sex museum and sex sculpture park. This is the only picture I can post:


And we saw a waterfall and the ocean being dark and dramatic.


(TBC - need to logoff...)

Climbing - Mokpo folks

This is mostly for the kids who are in Mokpo, and have mentioned being interested in climbing,

After talking to friends last weekend, I will be going to Ironpalms, and my plan for right now is to head in the Thursday after Chuseok. A bunch of folks have mentioned being interested in learning to climb, and I think this will be the best choice for me, and probably for most folks who are at the beginner level, too.

It isn't cheap - the first month is 80,000\, but includes instruction, After that, it is 50,000/month. It is in Hadang, and if you would rather do drop-in, it is 7,000\/day, but I don't know if that includes training. I think you can rent shoes there, but no clue about the quality/available sizes. I know that you can buy gear in Mokpo, and can find out where (Ricky?), but I'm not sure what the guys will be able to find. I know that you can order stuff on-line in Korea, but unless your Korean is a lot stronger than mine, you will probably need assistance to do so, as it is mostly in Korean.

There is a climbing gym in Old Mokpo (Mokpo Climbing Club) but they are not as beginner-friendly. Also, it was suggested that if there is a group interested, it might be a good idea to head to the same place, and I've heard good things about the guy who owns Ironpalms.

For general information about climbing in Korea (and a good way to connect with other foreign climbers here), Korea on the Rocks is a great place to start. I plan to climb as much as I can before it gets too cold, and would love to have folks to travel with.

If you are not on Facebook and want my phone number, send me an email.

Typhoon

This weekend, Typhoon Nari was aimed at South Korea. I, in my brilliance, decided that I would hold the course and head up to Ganhyeon, a climbing area pretty darn close to as far away from Mokpo as you can get.

It was great! Well, really, it was wet - it had been raining the night and a chunk of the morning before we got there - but wasn't actually raining until about noon on Sunday, so while the rock was wet, we got in at least a little climbing and I got to hang out with some awesome people I hadn't seen in a while.

Of course, today is sunny and stunningly beautiful and I am stuck inside. But don't worry, the weather is supposed to go to crap again in time for next weekend.

On the bus, I had time to talk with some other women who climb and live here in Mokpo. My "get better at climbing" course of action for right now is to join the climbing gym in Hadang (for Mokpo folks, Ironpalms) after Chuseok for at least a month in order to build a stronger technical climbing base. After the first month, I'll then decided if I'll switch to Mokpo Climbing Club (which is closer to my house but less welcoming to beginners from what I have heard) or if I'll stay there over the winter.

So between race entrance fees and memberships at the climbing gym and the regular gym, the bulk of my monthly spending will be in fitness-related areas. I'm okay with that, but it still seems so bizarre to be at this point, given where I started. Not bad, just strange.

Time flies

Time is going by so quickly! It seems like last weekend was just here, and now I'm back at Friday again!

This weekend will involve me getting up at a time when I should be GOING to sleep to catch one of three buses that will deliver me to the site for this week's climbing meet and greet. I don't think I've ever regretted a climbing trip, even the time I had to sit on the floor of the bus from Gwangyang to Deagu and back, so even though I'll be traveling almost as far as one possibly can within Korea, I'm thinking it will be worth it. Fingers crossed.

I won't be heading to Beijing for Chuseok, as the only tickets still available were out of my price range. Instead, a fairly large group of us will be heading to Jeju-do, an island just south of Korea, and where I did my first 10k run this summer. It should be amazing, and I'm psyched that I'll be going with an awesome group of friends.

An interesting note - with being around all the plague-carrying children (and my resulting plague-ridden respiratory system) and adjusting to the... interesting... air quality of Korea, my asthma attacks have been getting worse and I needed a new fast-acting inhaler. After a chest x-ray and pulmonary functioning test (the most through medical treatment I've had in Korea) I have been diagnosed with severe persistent asthma. My take is that it is severe is frequency, but NOT severe in terms of the effect of the attack itself. And while the doctor prescribed a pretty hefty new treatment inhaler, he neglected to give me the emergency fast-acting one - the main reason I went to the doctor in the first place. Which with this lovely cold is somewhat... interesting. And by interesting I mean sucky. Anyway, thought my folks would like to know that.

Busy, but not all that exciting

As it has been pointed out to me by several sources, I have been lax on the blogging. I guess in part it is that while things are busy, they often don't feel like they would be all that interesting to anyone other than me.

The new school is going well. I'm adjusting (somewhat) to teaching from the text, but it is weird to have a co-teacher that also teaches, and so I'm still trying to find the balance in this relationship, which will change in a couple weeks, anyway (she is getting moved to 1st grade for some reason that I'm sure makes sense to the administration but is beyond my understanding). My apartment is tiny tiny tiny but livable, and I'm getting settled into a life here. At the moment, I'm not balancing alone versus social time very well, but I think that will work itself out once I'm more used to having more people around.

Also, I'm getting a cold. I'm about as happy about this as you would expect.

Last weekend was revelry in Gwangju again, and an extremely good time was had by all. I'll be heading north this weekend to climb, and then Chuseok will be here. The plan right now is for a group of us to head to Jeju for a few days of beach, touristy-stuff, and for some, motorcycling. It sort of makes me sad that I sold the bike.

Please stop raining.

I swear, it seems like there has maybe been 5 minutes since I've been back that it hasn't been raining or about to rain.

Other than that, things are going well. I'm almost through my first week as an elementary school teacher, and all things considered, things are going well. It is so great to be in a place where it is easy to have a social life! Yay!

Catching up.

I'm finally at the point in my apartment where things just look messy instead of still packed, which is an improvement. I also went to a school luncheon today, and go back on Friday for the ceremony of the old principal leaving and the new one beginning. My new co-teacher seems to be really great, and I think things will go pretty well. Other than that, most of what I've been doing is being social, which is a HUGE novelty!!

I'm doing some catch-up photo posting, and will post pictures of the apartment once I can post "after" shots that show it as something a bit more... liveable. But first, here is a picture of the restaurant/coffee shop a handful of us went to last night:



Mokpo rocks.

One night in Gwangju

Last weekend a big group of us went to Gwangju, ostensibly to meet the incoming teacher. Since they didn't actually go out that night, well, that was a bit misguided, but we had a very good time.

First, Nicola, who left in April, surprised Virginia by not only coming back to Korea, but by moving to Mokpo. Here is a picture from the restaurant.


There was dinner in a Western restaurant (Outback) and then onto the Speakeasy:




And then a group of us splintered and went to a very odd noraebang.


Aliens and Christmas trees. Why not?


There are more pictures on the Flickr account/will be more on Facebook, if you are so inclined, but really, they are mostly variations on the same.

Up on the roof

View from the roof of my apartment in Mokpo

protest

Here are some of the pictures from the protest in Suncheon two weekends ago:

This shows the actual size of the protest at New Core a couple weekends ago.



If you click on the pictures you can see greater details. This shows a bit more of what was going on. Not a lot of people, but pretty dramatic nonetheless.

Mokpo

I like being able to say that yesterday I moved across the country. Which I did, but I have helped friends with moves across town in the States which took longer, driving included.

So basically, I've moved from the East coast of southern South Korea to the west coast. Both are port cities, but while Gwangyang was developing and mostly based around POSCO, Mokpo is bigger and an older city. For folks who want to see/read more:

The Wikipedia entry on Mokpo.
The Mokpo city website (in English).

I'm going to venture out and see if I can find a market nearby. I think I'm VERY close to the Jayu Market, which means I'll get to see old ladies selling vegetables out of plastic bowls on the street, which I LOVE. Seriously. The bowls of seafood kind of sketch me out, but I'm a big whiny baby who likes her animal products safely behind plastic, thankyouverymuch.

Moved

I'm in the new place. It is even smaller than I thought it was going to be (in some ways) but so much better now that I'm HERE and I can start working on it. I took pictures to show the absolutely insane amount of stuff I plan to fit in here, along with trying to show how small it really is. But seriously, not as bad to be in here as I thought it was going to be, so all good. But then I might be drunk on air conditioning. If nothing else, it will push me to be more creative, right?

The person who drove me over was the brother of the person I thought was going to be driving me over yesterday (or something like that - not totally sure of the relationship - it could be "brother" as in "good friend") because he "knew Mokpo." Yeah. Not so much, really. Eventually my co-teacher came and led him here, but it wasn't an easy find. The guy then wanted significantly more money for getting me here than I thought I would be paying. I ended up paying a little more, but about half of the increase he wanted. Jerk. Anyway, I have no idea how I'm going to tell someone (as in, a taxi) how to get me to my new home. Eep.

Two friends were here waiting for me, which was amazing, and it was pretty fast to unload the truck.

Tomorrow I will go with my co-teacher over to the school to meet the principal. I don't think I need to go in until next week at the earliest.

Moving

Within the next half hour or so, the person who will be moving me to Mokpo should be here. Hopefully before the folks in North America go to lunch I will be moved into my new apartment!!

Friends will be meeting me at the other end, so we should make pretty quick work of the stuff i will be bringing. I was a little concerned by the number of boxes I have, as it would mean that I have a lot of stuff to go into not a lot of apartment, but then while moving them to get them ready to head out the door, I realized how light they are. I feel better.

This weekend has been good - busy and fun and seeing people and things and being reminded that being here isn't bad at all. Tomorrow night I'm moving into my new place, and while I'm a little sad to leave here, I will be SO happy to be settled in one place! I've been living in suitcases and boxes for so long, a real place will be nice.

In Suncheon last weekend, some friends and I were going to go and get our nails done. What can I say, I yield to peer pressure. Anyway, we had to make an appointment and go back a few hours later. After wandering around downtown for a while, we went back, but couldn't get in because of a protest outside the New Core Department Store. Basically, the company that owns New Core and Homever fired a LOT of part time workers country-wide(in addition to falsifying employment records) so that they didn't have to give part-time workers benefits.

When we went past, there didn't seem to be many people there, but when we got closer, we saw that there were waves protesters pushing themselves against police in riot gear. It wasn't too worrisome for us - we kept a fairly good distance, and we were talking about how it was good to see people standing up for what they believed in here. Until they fired off the tear gas - then we headed back to the apartment where a friend was staying.

When I left a while later, there were still protesters sitting in the street in front of the store - actually, it looked like there were more people there - and they were watching some younger men do a group dance routine.

I took pictures of the protest, but haven't uploaded them yet. I'll do so when I finally unearth the cord.

Back in Korea

I'm back in Korea, safe and sound. about 30 hours of travel all told, but all in all, not bad. I had a window exit row on my Chicago-Incheon flight! It was the most comfortable long-distance flight I've ever had, bar none. And while I missed the last flight down here from Seoul, I was on one of the nice buses with big seats and slept almost all of the 6 hour ride.

So, all in all, long but not bad. More when I'm a bit more coherent.

for sale

I'm taking steps to sell my motorcycle. I like riding, but I don't love it. And while it is fun while I'm on it, there are so many people who have been hurt recently! I guess I feel like if I don't LOVE it, it might be more dangerous than it's worth to me, at least in Korea.

I'm a little sad about this, but I'm trying to focus on the stuff I'm willing to spend my money and my time on. Right now, I'm sort of all over the map, and if I'm going to think about taking a yoga class or joining a climbing gym, I need to cut some expenses out.

Packed

I think I'm finally packed to head back to Korea.

There is a new weight limit on bags for Economy tickets (50lbs), which I knew about. My cunning plan was to send myself a box surface delivery, which usually took about a month+. So I packed up a couple of boxes of things I would be very happy to see around October.

Except the US postal service no longer offers surface shipping.

And sending just one of the boxes I wanted to ship would have cost over $90.

After several back and forths with bags and a scale, I got one of the boxes of stuff into my checked baggage, but there is still one more very heavy one. I am waiting to hear back from some friends on base in Korea (and therefore with an APO, meaning the same cost as sending it within the US), but the time difference isn't making the communication any easier. I'm pretty sure they won't have a problem with it, but I don't want to just SEND something without making sure it is okay first. So it is looking like my folks will either have to send it to my brother, who will then send it using his FedEx discount directly to me, or they will send it to one of the military folks. I'm so grateful that I have people here who are so willing to help me out, but it is frustrating that I need their help.

But everything will be fine, I'm sure. I've been mumbling "I'll be ok" to myself over and over today. I'm really not excited about going back. Having lunch with a friend was great, and it makes it even harder to leave here. I mean, I wouldn't want to live in Terre Haute again, but leaving the US is hard.

And in my totally and complete baby-ness, the fact that it is hot over there with 80%+ humidity and I don't have AC in Gwangyang and need to clean and finish packing makes me even MORE grumpy about all this. BOO!!

Goin back

Two more days, and I fly back to Korea.

I keep giving myself little pep talks - I know that the reasons I chose to stay a second year are good and valid, but I'm not all that jazzed at this moment. Maybe I'm dreading physical act of moving a bit. I mean, I want to not have to do it - rather be magically transfered to my new place sans stress and sweat and messiness.

Next year will be a different experience for sure, and is one that I am looking forward to. But in a lot of ways, I sort of don't want to leave. It has really been nice to just be normal. No one stares at me. I go to the store and there is food I like to eat, I can fit into the clothes and shoes, and transactions are easy. The eye candy at the gym is much more appealing. I can drive. (and WOW is that a nice part! I feel a little guilty about how much I love it!!)

I didn't have a lot of the "reverse culture shock" that a lot of people talk about, maybe because I was mostly around family. Yes, I still think that everything is big (people, coffee cups, cars) but more in a "wow!" rather than an "eww!" way. Also, proving that nurture is a powerful tool that extends far beyond just what one learns from ones family, there is just something about a big ole corn-fed midwestern boy in carharts and a non-ironic trucker hat. Especially when they hold open doors for you.

Anyway, I'm trying to get my head set into a mode that will let me get as much out of next year as I can. I will be studying for personal trainer certification, trying to figure out where I will go and what I will do once I move back, and really trying to see and experience as much as possible in Korea. I want to run and climb and visit islands. I want to go to temples, have dinners with friends, and learn more about Korea. I want to get better at the language, do a temple stay, and get to know the teachers at my school.

This will be good.

Oh, slightly related, I bought a new camera yesterday since my old one bit it. I got a Canon SD1000. It is the hottest thing!! V. exciting!

Things overall have been pretty great. I'm in Tennessee until tomorrow morning, at which time I'll be heading back to Indiana (and I still get the song, "Back home aggaaain in Indiaaaaanna" in my head every time I say that) tomorrow. I've been hanging out with my nieces and nephew and sister-in-law, and Memphis is moving up on the list of possible places to end up this time next year.

I'm less sad about going back to Korea than I was a few days ago. I'm now a bit more resolute about the whole thing, and I know that once I get back and get settled, things will be okay. There is a lot I need to do and figure out and learn. I'm looking forward to that.

It has been so great to just be normal here. People only pay attention to me because they don't know me, not because I'm some aberration. There is choice in EVERYTHING. Clothes fit. I can buy shoes.

But there are things I need to do still there, and I'm starting to gear up and get more in the head-space to take that on.

time

I'm already starting to think that it will be hard to get on the plane.

I know so much more going into this next year than I did at this time last year. I also know a lot more about what I will be giving up. Blah. Time moves too fast.

A moment

Yesterday, I was almost overwhelmingly angry at Korea. I was driving (!) to Target (!!) and passed an Indian grocery store.

I was in a small suburb of Memphis. Not even a big suburb - a small one.

They don't even have Indian RESTAURANTS in some fairly large cities in Korea, and this neighborhood in Tennessee has a market! That is SO NOT FAIR.

The past week, I've been noticing the things I've learned over the past year. To be more accepting, to keep my mouth shut more, to in general, just let go and trust that things will work out for the best (while still having a back up plan, because I'm like that). I appreciate the efficient, inexpensive, and easily navigable public transportation system, I miss friends, and I'm looking forward to going back next year.

I do NOT miss the uniformity and lack of options that I have when living in Korea. I don't miss having everything I say, do, buy, noticed and remembered. I don't miss the lack of anonymity.

And I am really, really angry about the lack of food choices. I know that sounds so stupid, and it isn't anything new, but my goodness!! That little store seemed to epitomize all that bothers me about Korea.

Tennessee

I'm now just outside Memphis, after a really pretty wonderful week with my family in a "cabin" (and by cabin I mean enormous, lovely house on a mountain) in East Tennessee. So, since I'm just coming back from almost a week of no-internet, bullets:

* It is interesting to see all of us (my brothers, sister, and me) as adults. Good interesting.
* When I don't get enough exercise, I get short tempered. A sign of being a grown-up is that most people don't notice, or at least don't notice very much. I think Korea has taught me to keep the "WTF!!?!1!!" in my head.
* Children are loud. Often cute, but loud.
* Man, I miss being able to shop in the States. From food to clothes to yarn - WOW.
* I don't know if this is horrible allergies or if I just have a cold, but the past few days have seen all the fluid in my body trying to escape from my head.
* While there are many things I'm looking forward to back in Korea, getting on the plane will be difficult.

My mom will be arriving here tomorrow, and an aunt on Friday. Until then, I'm going to try to recover from the head cold of doom, find a gym for the next week, and help my sister-in-law with the little ones (4yo, 2yo, 3 months). Sometime in the next week will be trips to a fabric store, COSTCO (!!), Target, and possibly a running shoe store. While I love my Brooks, I can't get the ones I want in Korea and there are Adidas and Asics and New Balance stores all over, so I'm going to see if someone who knows what they are doing can recommend something that would work in one of those brands.

Just a note:

I saw and ad for Diet Coke. With vitamins and minerals.

They have finally created a perfect beverage. Nay, a new food group in and of itself.

Home

I'm back in the USA!! It is interesting to think about how I'll be changing from updating this blog about life in Korea for friends and family in the States to updating about life in the States for people in Korea for the next few weeks.

So. The past few days in bullets:

* Left for Seoul/Chicago on Saturday.
* Bought the new Harry Potter at the airport. I mean, really, a 13 hr flight! Anyway.
* read a lot on the plane, only got about 4 hours of sleep out of an Ambien (SO NOT FAIR!) watched part of a few movies. Could have been a lot worse.
* Arrived in Chicago, got to hang out with my awesome family.
* It's really cool to realize that people you are related to are people you would want to hang out with even if you aren't related.
* Went to a gym where the treadmills were longer, pullup bars were higher, people racked their weights, and all in all, just more Western sized.
* Got back to Indiana, ended up at Sam's with my step-mom. Right now, I think that is one of the greatest places on earth.
* Finished Harry Potter last night.


Some observations:
* Corn and rolling fields are such an indicator of "home" to me!
* Everything is SO CLEAN!!
* Streets are huge! Heck, just about everything is huge! I was on the plane and the flight attendant brought me a diet Coke. It was in a full-sized can and it seemed enormous. Coffee in cups the size of my head.
* Baked goods!!! My goodness!!


Soon I'm going to head out and drive a car for the first time in almost a year. I have a series of errands to run in order to get ready to head to TN on Thursday.

last day

Tomorrow morning I leave for home!! I should be landing in Chicago in about 30 hours. Things have been crazy with the packing and getting things ready to move (I head to Mokpo three days after I get back from the US). Right now, there are some last minute things to throw in boxes, trash to take out, and a last cleaning. Easily done in a day.

Today was my last day at school, and that really is kind of sad. I'll miss the people here. It's a shame that my principal makes things so difficult and that I'm so far from everyone and everything. Because it is only a semester break and not the end of the school year here, there isn't the sense of closure I got when I had left the other schools where I've taught.

Korea

A friend asked (with the caveat that it is a rather broad question) "So, how's Korea?" - a question I'm sure I'm going to get asked a million times in the coming weeks. And I've been thinking about it, but am still not really sure how to answer.

Korea is: awesome, awful, filthy, and strikingly beautiful. People are offensive, offended, sometimes hostile, and often incredibly kind. I am told that I'm beautiful and that I'm too fat only minutes later. Children shout out my name and walk me home and old men spit when I walk by. Cities are crowded and polluted and the countryside is open and gorgeous. There is a wonderful recycling program and a horrible litter problem. I have been mistaken for a prostitute and given a great deal of respect for my position as a teacher.

Like anywhere, it is a place of contrasts. I cannot wait to go home next weekend, but I'm also really looking forward to coming back in August.

good things

My country school wanted me to be there on Friday so they could say goodbye, plus they wanted me to go to the end of semester lunch.

It was great! We drove out to this beautiful area on Baegun Mountain and they had set up tables and were already grilling the meat. I made sure it wasn't dog (it is summer, and that is the season for it, so I'm careful) and it was awesome! We sat in a shelter on the edge of this gorgeous, rocky, fast-moving mountain stream all afternoon.

I'm mostly done with packing - a few things here and there to throw into boxes over the next couple of days, but that's about it. I fly home Saturday!! Cannot wait!!

Bad Korea days

The past week+ has been made up of mostly bad Korea days. Well, more accurately, bad Korean school days. I don't really want to go into it right now, so I'll just say it is good that I'm going home for a while, and then moving, and that soon the ceaseless gray will go away.

Also, I like oranges. To an extreme extent. Especially cold Mandarin oranges.

Learning Korean

Today in the taxi, I was talking to the driver in my horrible Korean/English combination, and his Korean. After, Monique said something like, "Wow, that was a... conversation...well, I mean, you know..." (it was a conversation only in the most technical sense of the term, as there WERE some ideas conveyed.)

My Korean is bad, but in the past few weeks I've noticed that I'm able to use a LOT more Korean to clarify in my classes, and I can talk to kids and other teachers with a mixture of my broken Korean and their broken English. I am able to joke with the other teachers at volleyball, and have a far, far better idea of the general gist of what is going on around me than I did before. If I have to repeat myself in a taxi it, it is usually only once. I can charm children by telling them that I don't think they are are insane (michin), just a little crazy (babo).

Blurbles

* This weekend I went to a party in Mokpo.
* I'm even more psyched to me moving there next month!!
* Mexican Food. OMG. Y'ALL. So.Good. I want to eat so much Mexican food when I'm home!
* Waking up early, but bribes of coffee make it worthwhile.
* Things that are good about staying at Virginia's:
- coffee, and lots of it. And she BRINGS IT TO YOU.
- breakfast. Always good, always contains vegetables and good bread of some sort.
- the best/greatest variety of fancy shower/hair/beauty products of any person I've ever known ever.
* Things that are good about Mokpo:
- Whole wheat pasta. In Korea. I KNEW Mokpo was good!
- People there are nice. I had a lovely time.
- The air seems cleaner than Gwangyang. That might have to do with there being less proximity to the biggest steel mill in the world. (I know I tend to the hyperbolic, but this time, I'm not exaggerating)
* There are many difference between Canadians and people from the US. One that I find pretty interesting today - if you ask a Canadian where they are from, they usually say, "Canada." If you ask where someone from the US is from, they usually say, "Indiana" or "Texas." (In the past year, I've been trained to respond "USA" or "America") I don't know what this means, but I think it might mean something.
* I haven't been in very many hospitals ever. The only time I remember being in one out side of girl scout trips in elementary school was after a friend had a baby a few years ago. And the past few days, I've tripled my hospital visits. A friend was in an accident on his bike and broke a hand, foot, and shoulder. Friends, please be careful, in cars and on bikes (auto or other).

aww, they like me!!

When I said thank you and goodbye to the secretary at the school I go to on Fridays, she was upset because the English teacher hadn't told them it was my last day (I don't know if he told ANYONE that I was going to be moving...) and she LIT into him. Once she* figured out what was going on, the head teacher joined in. So he asked me to come next Friday, and I think there will be a party.

Which is good, because I really did mean to take in cookies or some other thank you, and I totally blanked on it.


* another one of the cool things about this school is that both of the head teachers while I've been there have been women - rather rare here.

blather and goodbyes

* Today is my last day at my country school. I am going to miss this place so deeply.


* Trying to pack at least one box every other day or so. I really don't have a lot, and if I wanted to, I could click into gear and get the whole place done in less than an afternoon, but at least this way I don't feel like I'm incredibly behind or anything.
* I have had almost all of my classes pulled because of testing or studying for tests or other stuff for the last two weeks. The first day is kind of fun. After that it is mind-numbingly boring and painful.
* In exactly two weeks, I'll be getting ready to leave for Seoul so I can catch my flight home.

Keith Olbermann

Keith Olbermann on the Libby decision

And give us someone—anyone—about whom all of us might yet be able to quote John Wayne, and say, “I didn’t vote for him, but he’s my president, and I hope he does a good job.”

Pardon?

Oh, for goodness' sake!.

Because it wasn't hard enough to explain the Constitution yesterday, now there is this. Though, I guess this puts a new spin on the idea of "a jury of your peers."

If Bush is so concerned with appropriate sentencing and fairness, there are maybe some more pressing issues he should think about. Like Guantanamo.

Last night was the first really really bad night of insomnia that I have had in a long time. I think a lot of it is stress, and I'm sublimating that into worry about the size of the apartment I'll be moving into. I knew going in that it was small, and it is. Small. But to put it in perspective, the living area is bigger than the horrible studio in Ohio, and it doesn't have the cave-like dark wood, so it could be worse. Also, it has air conditioning. So it isn't horrible. At least I got something good out of the no sleep - I finished unraveling a sweater and untangles the super-slippery silk yarn that was making a mess.

Anyway.

Next week is testing at my school, and then there are only two weeks left in the semester, so basically, I'll have one last lesson here. Because one of the weeks will be over the 4th of July and since the will not likely be another person from the US at this school next year, I am going to make it all about the USA.

I found the Preamble to the Constitution from Schoolhouse Rocks on YouTube, but really, how do you put all of US history into a 45 minute lesson for ESL students at the end of the semester in a stifling classroom?

Beijing

In other news, I think some friends and I will be doing a package tour to Beijing over Chuseok. A great price, considering all that is included, geared towards foreigners, and a bunch of friends have been on this same tour and had a GREAT time. Details are here.

So right now, it is the US in July/August, China in September, and I'm trying to decide on where to go this winter vacation. I'm pretty sure I want to see Ankgor Wat in Cambodia, but I'm not sure what else I want to do. I may try to take the ACE personal trainer certification exam in Bangkok, but where else? There is so much to see and do!!

Okay, so a bit of a poll:
If you could go anywhere in Southeast Asia, where would you go? Why?

Gym

I think I just broke up with my gym.

It wasn't ugly or dramatic or anything, and there was nothing out of the ordinary, except for the fact that I tend to pay three months at a time, and my three months was over. I'll be here until July 21st, then will be home, then will be moving to Mokpo, and really, it is just as cheap to pay the $2.00 a time as to pay for a month (how silly is that?!) So before I decided if I was going to get the month or go day to day, I asked a critical question: DO you have air conditioning down here, and just aren't using it yet?

The answer was no.

Now, outside it isn't that hot. I mean, it is humid as all get out, but really not oppressively hot. Yet. And already, walking into the gym is like walking into a cloud of hot and gross. Every person in the room is drenched, and I'm no longer the only person standing directly under a fan between sets. And in July, it will get worse.

The not-so-well equipped gym I went to at first has air, but I don't know if he is using it yet. The community center has the same per-day rate, and while it is sort of far away, I can bike there or take a taxi.

So I turned in my key.

It really sort of sucks, because I had finally gotten to the point where I wasn't such a sideshow freak there, but today when I went from really really red to really really pale, I knew I wasn't going to be able to deal if it gets any worse in there. So goodbye, Sporex. You saw my first chin up.

Humid

Oh, so THIS is what they meant by rainy season.

I have lived in humid. I've even dealt with a HECK of a lot hotter than this and very humid.

I have never experienced anything like this. Srsly. It is about 95% humidity right now, and I'm not even exaggerating the tiniest bit.

It isn't really hot, yet I sweat all day long. When I came back from my run tonight, it was as if I had taken a shower in my clothes. Gross.

It could be worse. actually, I'm SURE it will be worse before it gets better. Still, gross.

Mokpo!

I just got an email letting me know that I WILL be moving to the town I was hoping for! In August, I will start teaching at an elementary school (!!) in Mokpo.

It seems like so many of my friends are there (or will be moving there) and I'll be able to do a lot of the things I like to do - run, climb, bike - with others. I'm really excited, and think this will be a great move. It will also give me the opportunity to travel a lot more easily, and puts me a lot closer to the folks I would travel to see, anyway.

I will miss being here, and think that I have really benefited from being in such a small neighborhood and I'm not looking forward to saying goodbye to my schools AT ALL, but I'm really excited about this move overall! I've already packed up all my winter clothes, and will start to attack the closet later.

Interesting observation. Well, at least to me.

I have a workshop for Korean English teachers each week. Overall, the level of this group is pretty high, and so I've been able to have some great conversations with them on a pretty wide range of issues. Last week, we started by talking about Bloom's taxonomy and ways they could apply some of the concepts within the confines of the text from which they have to teach (also, it was a good way to review some less-often used verbs).

Anyway, it bled into a conversation about the nature of English education in Korea, and led to a discussion about the relative benefits of having native English speakers in the schools. Essentially, the teachers at my school believe that the people who benefit the most are the teachers, with the students benefiting mostly via the Korean teachers having greater fluency. I was really kind of surprised by this, especially considering the number of people I know who don't teach adult workshops whatsoever, but the teachers mentioned how just having us there to ask questions and talk to on a regular basis can make a huge difference in fluency levels.

This is also colored by the fact that at my main school, I see kids once every two weeks unless a class is pulled, and then it is even less. The teacher from my country school mentioned that his students were lucky because they were able to see me weekly and the student/teacher ratio was so much lower, so they derived more benefit from having me in the school.

Anyway, it was a very different way for me to think of my role here.

UGH. Or how Jessica is becoming even more of a germophobe

It is starting to get pretty hot here, and since there are no water fountains there has been a parade of students getting drinks from the water cooler in the teachers' room.

They are rinsing - not even close to washing - the same 4 or 5 little metal cups. There were at least 30 during the last passing period of the day.

I was teased a little at the volleyball tournament last month because I drank out of my nalgene instead of from the bottles that people were handing around. It was "Jessica's special water," but at least it wasn't the same cup/bottle that everyone else was using. UGH.

Add this to the complete absence of soap in most of the bathrooms.

Very often I am reminded of one of the teachers I worked with when I was in New Orleans who refused to touch a doorknob without a tissue or handkerchief.

I'm thinking she was on to something.

In other news, the last time I was in E-mart I found hand sanitizer, and on the list of things I will be buying in the US are little bottles I can refill and carry around with me.

Doughnuts for breakfast, ice cream for lunch.

Last weekend I went up to Seoul to see my brother and his girlfriend. It was the second time I've been up there to do anything other than just catch a plane, and I was again reminded about how little I know about what touristy things to do in Seoul. My rechargeable batteries are about to bite the dust, so I don't have a ton of photos on my own camera - I'll upload the few I do have and then will get some from Dave and Shannon.

More than anything, it was great to be able to see family, and while I'm still really looking forward to going home in a month, it was great to be with people who have known me for more than a few months.

It was also interesting for me to see Korea again through different eyes, and see how much I've adjusted to being here. The little bits of Korean make a huge difference, as does an overall familiarity with how things work. Though let's just say that I might seriously consider a flight at least one way next time because that is a LOT of time on a bus. As in, about 10 hours all told. YIKES.

Also, I am developing a plan of attack for introducing people to Korean food that hopefully will make things a little more smooth for future guests. I realized that when I go to Seoul, it is usually to eat food other than Korean. Also, when I go out for Korean food here, it is usually with folks who know where to go and what to order or it is a place we go all the time. A plan is being formulated that will hopefully prevent the "ice cream for lunch" because it is easy and familiar. Though I do think the ice cream was a step above the other option, McDonald's...

Knitting geekery

For anyone who thinks I sometime maybe spend too much time with the yarn, here is a l list of the top 10 geekiest yarn creations on the web.

I solemnly swear that I will not knit a yoda hat for anyone. Unless you ask. :)

Seoul

In about an hour, I will get on a bus to Seoul. My step-brother and his girlfriend will be here for the weekend on their way to visit her father in Hong Kong, and so I'm heading up to meet them.

There will be bookstores with books in English, food, and clothing, but most of all, I'll get to see family, something that has happened for about 10 months now.

Also, a BIG plus to my country school - the adjusted the schedule so I can catch the bus from here, letting me get in significantly earlier than I planned. So really, that was two things - letting me leave early without a mountain of paperwork, and adjusting the schedule. (I traded planning periods with another teacher). I really love this school, and I was pretty sad when I realized that I have two more days here if I end up going to a different school next year. (Next week they are camping, two weeks of classes, then exams). I will miss these kids a bunch.

I just sent an email asking to move into the job a friend of mine currently has, so we'll see where that leads. If I end up staying here, it won't be the end of the world, but I would like to have more options for socialization.

clothes

Last night, a friend had a clothing exchange - basically exchanging all the clothes and stuff people don't use anymore.

I don't have a lot of clothes to exchange - I have some sweaters and some things I got here that just don't look or fit right, but they weren't organized in any sort of appreciable way and so I'll haul them to the next one - BUT I was able to benefit from the generosity of everyone else! I left with a TON of clothes, and I was able to get feedback from people about what was flattering and what wasn't, which was the really great part. Simple things like, "THIS cut is really good on you" which is so helpful! I ended up taking some things that I never thought I would be able to wear, but which actually looked pretty good! Yay for new clothes!

I missed that stage of teenage girlhood of going shopping with my friends and talking about what looks good, what doesn't, what is flattering, etc. I never could shop at the stores my friends could, and trying things on was always such a demoralizing experience. I was always stuck with finding things that would fit me first, and which were flattering second (if even really a consideration) and I'm sort of back in that same mindset here. My only experience with shopping for things and not having it be ego-sucking experience was last summer, so last night was pretty great.