Yesterday I pet a baby elephant!
Also, things overall are going well - I've meet some great people here, and feel like this was a good choice. I'll be here through the weekend, and then will head south - exactly where is yet to be determined, but beach will be involved.
Anyway, good. learing, meeting, seeing, shopping.
Just a quick update to say that I'm here!
The flight in was fine - a quick stop in Hong Kong, then right in to Bangkok. I took a taxi to the train station and managed to get a sleeper to Chaing Mai that night. And a lifetime later, I'm here.
Thailand reminds me a lot of New Orleans, in both good and bad ways. I'll probably elaborate on that point more.
So, in summary, things are good, I'm here, and all is well.
GO COLTS!!!!
For the past hour or so, I've kept hitting refresh on Google News to see the results of the game. This is one I really wish I had the chance to watch - there was talk of one of the bars in Suncheon maybe showing playoff games, so if they do I may head over tonight.
I was sad to read that the Saints didn't make it, but it does make it a little easier (Pat, you may want to stop reading...) because I'm not 100% sure who I would have rooted for in a Colts/Saints match-up.
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Costco is a magical land. They have Nature Valley Granola bars and all manner of deliciousness. I had to keep reminding myself that even though it is a long drive to get there, I AM allowed to go back. It was just nice to be able to see so many familiar things, and be able to buy some of the foods I can't get anywhere else here - Kashi cereal, Nutigrain bars, canned tuna in water, medium salsa - and to know that there is a place I can get some other stuff. In some ways, just knowing they are available makes the craving for things less. Like, I know that it is possible to have, so I don't NEED to have it right now.
I got my tickets for Thailand!!
I was a little worried, because I am paranoid. I made the bank transfer, but didn't hear anything for a couple of days, so was freaked. I know someone who has used this travel agent often, but still, I was worried, because I'm like that. I now just need to find a place to print them, and I'm good to go!
So excited!!
Endpaper Mitts
Pattern: Endpaper Mitts by Eunny Jang
Yarn: N.Y. Knitting Yarn Co. Dream (75% superwash wool, 25% kid mohair)
Needles: US#1 (ribbing) and US#1.5 (I knit loosely)
rational: when it first started to get cold here, the heat wasn't on in the school. I was at my computer and thought, "gee, i wish I could wear gloves and still type/write on the board." 
I don't have a printer at home, nor do I have graph paper, so I used the gradebook part of my teacher planner to draw out and track progress through chart A.
Because I am using two colors, I'm knitting one yarn continental, one English. This is when knowing both comes in handy!
At the end of the first repeat of chart A. Last night, I finished the second repeat, but the picture was super blurry.
the earflap hat
Pattern: cobbled from random internet surfing and my "standard" hat formula.
Yarn: Maurice by Puppy Yarns
Neeldes: US #7 addi turbos
Knit with wool purchased in Tokyo. and also a picture of my new glasses. They are dark, dark green.
Made this up on the fly - ear flaps - co 4, increase every row until 17 stitches, couple rows st.st., cast on between the flaps, knit. Decreases based on Elizabeth Zimmerman's formula - multiple of 7, k2tog before marker, knit around until you want to end it, then dec. every round. The tassels are just braids. I thought they were cute. I also just noticed that I forgot to clip the extra from one of the ends I wove in. Oops.
Also, not a fan of how the brim rolls. probably should have done something to prevent that. Again, ooops. but it is warm and i like it.
Cable Hat
Pattern: Shedir (kntty.com)
Yarn: blue/gray fine (105m/40g) (see notes below)
Needles: Needles, US #1 bamboo (Crystal Palace)
The yarn was my first Korean yarn store purchase. It is hard to tell the yarn company, but it seems to be either "Silber Wool," "Soft Wool," or since it has a trademark image that matches something else I've bought, N.Y. Knitting Yarn Co. It is a super-wash merino, and while splity as splity can be, it IS very soft.
It was hard to get a decent picture of this - not sure why. Anyway, pictures of the body of the hat were blurry AND highlighted the flaws, so i didn't upload them.
The pattern is from the knitty breast cancer PDF, and is the most complicated cable pattern I've knit. I learned to cable without a cable needle, read a chart where the markers move, and patience. After reading recommendations, I did 3 of the 5 repeats of the main cable chart, but probably should have done 4. It is plenty big enough around, but I'd be happier if it was a TINY bit deeper. I also realized about 3/4 of the way through the project that I mis-crossed the main cable (due to not cabling without a cable needle correctly) but at that point, I just wanted to be DONE.
Red Silk Wrap:
Pattern: Clapotis (knitty)
Yarn: Red silk purchased in Tokyo (I can't even come close to reading the label.)
Needles: US#6 bamboo circs (maybe Clover? not sure)
I wanted something that would show off the yarn, and be something that I didn't have to pay too much attention to, but wasn't endless miles of St.st, either. Knit on the bias, rectangle, can be either wrap or scarf.
A picture of the humidifier. Because I think it is silly, but also I am cheap and it was the least expensive.
Today I:
* Finally figured out how to do a bank transfer to make a payment without having to go through a bank teller (here, you can send money directly to the person/company's bank account, which is odd, but anyway...)
* paid for my ticket to Thailand (I'll feel better about that once I hear back from the travel agent, though)
* convinced the teller at my bank to give me a check card!! (I still wasn't able to get them to activate the debit card with the mastercard or visa logo, though. still, progress.)
* tried to make sure my ATM card would work internationally. (She said yes, but I know several people who have had problems with that, so I'm not 100% sure still...)
* Went to the grocery store with the good bread (not just brown in color, but with chunks of seeds and grains!)
* bought the world's most ridiculous-looking humidifier (but it was the least expensive - once the batteries charge for the camera, I'll share).
* Found out that I will be getting paid more since the Winter Camp I taught was a LOT more time intensive than what I thought I was agreeing to (THAT surprised me!)
* added 5kg to my bench press (AFTER running 5km!)
* have almost finished knitting the second repeat of the first colorwork chart on the mitts I'm knitting (pictures to come of that, too).
* made a "to-do" list for tomorrow.
Am still alive, just incredibly, incredibly boring right now.
sleep.knit.gym.sauna.knit.sleep. repeat. often with bit torrented tv in the background, occasional hanging out with friends or shopping.
I ordered and received the Lonely Planet guide to Thailand (and their Southeast Asia on a Shoestring to plan for this summer) and right now, I'm thinking I'll go to Chaing Mai (in the north) for the most part. Become Level 1 Thai Massage certified (a 5 day course for about $100!), take a climbing class (for which insurance is part of the fee) to climb Crazy Horse Buttress and learn to belay, see the night market and look at textiles and stuff (this area has more textile/weaving/embroidery than other places) and maybe ride elephants. So basically, about a week and a day or two. Then go down to Railay (or someplace else in the south) and either try to climb again or just sleep on the beach for a few days, and probably take a cooking class. I am adamant about having at least SOME beach time, but most of the other stuff I want to do would be best done in the North.
This, of course, could change dramatically. But it is what I'm thinking right now.
Like I said, not all that interesting (though I have finished two hats and a shawl - oooh!!) but not bad at all.
I just ordered the Lonely Planet Thailand and the LP Southeast Asia on a Shoestring from the English language bookstore in Seoul, and they should be here soon - like, in a couple days soon. I have been clicking around the internets, and I am seriously considering taking a class while I'm there - there is diving certification available, a 5-day Thai massage course in the mountains, and a million cooking classes and things like that. I will pet elephants and barter for pretty things in markets and nap on the beach and it will be awesome.
It looks like I will be going to Thailand on my own. Flights are expensive right now and the person I was planning to travel with doesn't feel like she can swing it. Having talked to friends who have just been, I'm just going to go. There will be tons of folks I know going about the same time, and I will be meeting up with people from my climbing group here, I think. There IS a tiny chance I may go to Hainam, China, instead, but that really depends on the cost of the flight, since with the visa and all that, Thailand may be far less expensive in the long run. So, anyway, I'll be going with the intent of meeting people, but will also have the flexibility to do what _I_ want to do, which is good. And honestly, I'm so sick of people flaking on me that it is just easier to go it alone at this point.
Scared, a little disappointed, but excited nonetheless.
Since school got out, I have finished the wrap I made from the red silk yarn I bought in Japan, started and finished a hat in shades of brown (basic hat formula, but with earflaps and funky ties to keep the earflaps from flapping) - also from Japan, and am about 23 rounds from finishing my first major cable undertaking. I have been working on this hat since I moved to Gwangyang on and off (far more off...)and a few weeks ago, I realized that while i THOUGHT I was cabling without a cable needle correctly, I, in fact, was not. So there are some funky mis-crossed cable things happening in the body. I put the whole project in time-out for a while. At this point, I don't care and just want to be done with the damn hat. The yarn was my first Korean yarn store purchase, and it is splitty and a very, very bad choice for cables (but it is one of the softest yarns I've ever worked with and very pretty)and the whole thing is done on US #1 double points. (that means very small.) I am thinking about using said needles to stab out my own eyes if I don't finish this thing soon.
The goal for tomorrow is to finish, and then I will take pictures of all three. And also pictures my brand new glasses, which cost all of $45 for an eye exam, compacted lenses, and frames. And it took longer for me to play with all the frames then it did for anything else added together. I'm going back to get the red, slightly cat-eye ones after the damage from vacation has been totaled.
For the better part of the next two months, I'm out of school. I will be working on my Korean language skills, going to Thailand at some point (details are still being finalized, but I HAVE started to contact the travel agents - good step) going rock climbing next weekend, and probably a few other short trips around Korea.
Before that happens, I was hired to teach a winter camp. Basically, a few cities have
started to hold English camps (to supplement what individual schools have been doing for a while, I guess) and so Gwangyang decided to hold their first-ever middle school camp.
I had been told this would be a day camp a few miles from my house. The Friday before it started, I was told it was actually an overnight camp rather far away. Since I had committed to taking care of a friend's pets during that time, it HAD to be a day camp for me. So, I got on a bus here early in the morning, and about 12 hours later got on another to come back. All in all, long but not horribly strenuous days (with one exception). While I was lucky in that I didn't have to do very much planning at all, it was difficult because I'm a control freak about things like this, have the attention span of a goldfish, and hate to see kids when they know that their time is being wasted.
There was a lot of "look at the friendly foreigner!" and older men trying to force children to have conversations with me (which always goes SO well!). But what I found really nice was when I could talk to kids without any of the other grown-ups around. They were willing to try and make mistakes and ask each other for help and it was awesome. I would just go and hang out in the girls' dorm room, and they would teach me games and ask questions and talk about boys - it was great.
(okay, no one looks happy, but I swear they were giggling right up until the picture snapped)
The most talked about activity of the week was the forced march hike up Beagoun Mountain. It was rocky. And steep. And the mud was frozen. And at the top, the wind was so strong I couldn't keep my eyes open. And it was freaking COLD up there!
Find one.single.person in this picture who looks like they want to be there.
Anyway, pain builds character. Or something like that.
A moment for a big shout-out for polar fleece - that stuff will hold on to every little bit of heat you generate!! The unfortunate side effect is that when one is very active and wearing polar fleece, one still sweats. Polar fleece doesn't allow for the evaporation, and can lead to the sweat running down your back and into the back of your jeans so that after doing a 4 mile (very, very steep) hike in about 1.5 hours, you maybe look a little like you sat in a puddle of water. Eep.
Songgwangsa
On Sunday, I went to Suncheon to meet Virginia to go see Songgwangsa, a temple sort of near Suncheon. This is in keeping with the "say yes as much as possible" thing, and again was a wonderful thing to do.
My camera has issues with turning itself on in my bag and sucking the batteries dry, so I don't have the pictures to show how beautiful this place is. I will try to add more later.
It has snowed the day before - enough so that most of the roads were clear, but everything else had a little frosting of glitter, so if the ride out there was somewhat long, it was lovely. 
The main temple.
In one of the side temples, there are a thousand buddhas, each with a different face.
One of the things I think about when looking at the elaborate painting on the Buddhist temples in Korea is the level of time and detail that goes into creating something that will soon fade and have to be re-done. The colors are so vivid and the patterns so intricate, however they are transient. I have a hard time meditating - I just can't sit still, and when I try to do the whole "let the thoughts pass out of your mind" thing, I start to think about thinking about letting the thoughts pass through, and how you can not think about what you are thinking about, and then end up thinking about thinking. Anyway, I like to think about the painting of the temples as a meditation inandof itself - the focus and attention to each brush stroke, yet creating a whole work of art that can only last for so long.
On the way home, the bus driver decided to pass a semi. We were on a two-lane road. On a mountain. The fact that I am writing this lets you know that he made it, but it really wasn't pretty to watch. I think it was right after that I decided it was either try to sleep or get car sick. I, not surprisingly to anyone who has ever been in a car with me for any length of time, went with the former. It is a testament to my ability to fall asleep in almost any moving vehicle that I can sleep on buses in Korea. A gift, some might say.
I'm trying to organize thoughts and pictures and all that to talk about the camp and a trip to Sanggwonsa Temple last weekend. While that is happening, a quick list of things I love about Korea (because I'm tired of thinking about the things I miss and want and can't get right now).
* thick black (and grey and patterned...) cotton tights.
* the most amazing lip balm from The Face Shop. Shea butter, stays on forever, smells yummy.
* knee socks in garish colors.
* environmentally friendly green tea dish and laundry soap.
* those scrubby mitts that cost $.50.
* going to the doctor for a refill on my allergy meds, getting in to see a dermatologist in less than 5 minutes without an appointment.
* tiny little neighborhood yarn shops with really nice ladies in them.
* the sauna. Sometimes a little too much on the staring, but man, sometimes that green tea tub is sooo worth it. And have I mentioned the super-hot sauna with charcoal stuff in the ceiling? Because I love that, too.
* Chamchi (tuna) jjigae. Basically, kimchi stew with tuna. I never thought I would love anything with kimchi, but wow, so good.
* Kimchi tofu from this chicken restaurant in my neighborhood. Again, I never thought I would love anything made with kimchi, but that stuff rocks!
(I think it comes down to the kimchi being hot. It seems to make it better.)
* the adjumas who smile back at me.
* the little old men who are actually nice. (there are many, many Korean men who treat me and everyone else fairly horribly most of the time, so the old fellas who are nice are such a nice surprise!)
There is more and I will probably add more to this list, but just wanted to post a little bubble of good stuff.
1. I have the incredibly odd combination of the song "My Love" by Westlife (which I was forced to listen to a MILLION times OMG-please-make-it-stop today) and a SNL clip that includes the line "Step 1 - cut a hole in the box." For the small number of people on the planet familiar with both of those (i.e. most people in Suncheon or other ESL teachers in Asia) you understand the dissonance.
2. I like the ferrets more than Bunnicula. I was snorted at and slightly intimidated by the bunny for not letting her run free. The ferrets are happy to see me when I get there, and I'm starting to think they are kinda cute. Right now, they are winning my affection (so it seems being happy to see me and not snorting are the ways to my heart). I'm only a little embarrassed that I resorted to whinying "stoOOOoopit!" to a rabbit that I think speaks German, but whatever.
3. I'm starting to think that I really don't like hiking. I mean, I like going for walks in the woods. I like rolling trail runs. I don't like feeling like my time outside is something that is only to be endured rather than enjoyed. I feel sort of bad for saying that - like hiking is something that I am supposed to like doing, or whatever - but I just don't. I feel like I am just trying to make it too the top, and most of the time I don't enjoy the process. I try, but I just don't. A short hike to DO something? great. A hike just to hike? Eh.
Also, I realized from a different perspective how much it sucks to be at the back of the pack on a hike. The kids at the end - the ones who probably needed the most rest - got the least because by the time they caught up, the "break" was almost over. Not fair.
I'm doing the city's middle school winter camp this week. On Friday, my co-teacher realized that she didn't tell me it was overnight for the adults, too. As I am taking care of a friend's pets while they are out of the country, it isn't overnight for me, but I get on a bus at 7:30 AM and another about 12 hours later. Am tired.
1. The winter camp is fun, but kind of like a petting zoo for foreigners. Only without the petting. Thank goodness. But it is still exhausting. Doesn't help that I have ANOTHER cold that is making me lose my voice, because nothing is better than waygook (foreigner)-on-parade with a crappy voice. I mean, while there are certain venues where this voice could help me make a few extra bucks (winkwink, nudgenudge) teaching middle school kids surely isn't it.
2. Kids are pretty awesome when other grown-ups aren't around.
3. I was thanked for my "enthusiasm for teaching our children" today. I wasn't sure if that was a compliment or a criticism.
4. Some of you may know the trick for getting permanent marker off a whiteboard (color over with a dry erase. Sometimes takes a second time over, but it works. There are others, but this is the easiest and my go-to.). The education supervisor for the city now thinks I know magic. The reality is that I'm a dingbat who couldn't stop reaching for the marks-a-lot in the chalk rail. And who left a marks-a-lot in the chalk rail. Anyway.
5. Dude, ferrets? 4? AND a rabbit? I mean, if it were just Little Bunny Foo-Foo (my name for her, not theirs. Last week I was calling her Bunnicula.), that would have been one thing, but what was I thinking? Eek.
Last night, we were having a conversation about how we had changed in the past year.
In the past year, I:
* became a runner
* climbed Pyramid Rock for the first time
* competed in 3 5K races, one of which was a steep trail run at altitude
* was able to do a chin-up
* knit 2 sweaters
* was able to do squats with the equivalent of my body weight on the bar for reps
* was co-chair of a Special Education department
* became a behavior management "expert"
* learned to say "yes" to new experiences more often
* got my first passport
* left the US for the first time (other than going to Niagara Falls when I was in high school)
* reduced all my worldly possessions to what would fit into my car
* did a major road trip on my own.
* spent 3 weeks in Japan
* moved to Korea
* learned functional Korean language (well, almost...)
* went rock climbing for the first time
* became "good" at volleyball (so maybe only good in Korea, but still, good)
* went ice skating for the first time
* have been naked in public and okay with that countless times
* learned to ride a motorcycle
* bought a motorcycle
What I think so much of it boils down to is living more. I am willing to try, to learn, to risk looking foolish. To say yes as often as possible and to be less afraid. Or at least if I AM afraid, do things anyway.
It dawned on me yesterday as I was browbeating someone about not having "measurable goals" for her New Year's resolutions that maybe I have been a special education teacher for a little too long. Anyway. Instead of resolutions, which seem almost made in order to be broken, I thought that I would just write down some of my not-quite-short term goals.
1. Run at least three 5K and one 10K races
2. do a pull-up
3. toprope 5.9 climbs fairly consistently and lead climb a 5.8.
4. knit at least 2 sweaters that are wearable
5. lose the last few lbs that are still hanging on and maintain a healthy weight/BF%. From the scale, that seems to be about 15-20.
and one totally unmeasureable goal: continue to say "yes" as often as possible.
Our deepest fear is not that we are inadequate. Our deepest fear is that we are powerful beyond measure.
It is our Light, not our Darkness, that most frightens us. We ask ourselves, who am I to be brilliant, gorgeous, talented, fabulous? Actually, who are you NOT to be? You are a child of God. Your playing small does not serve the world. There is nothing enlightening about shrinking so that other people won't feel unsure around you. We were born to make manifest the glory of God that is within us. It is not just in some of us; it is in everyone. As we let our own Light shine, we unconsciously give other people permission to do the same. As we are liberated from our own fear, our presence automatically liberates others.
- Marianne Williamson
99% of my New Year's Eves end up badly. There are notable exceptions (the one at the Canyon where I learned to two-step with the cowboys, for example) but for the most part, I have a history of food poisoning and other bad things.
This weekend was different. I had a throughly lovely time in Suncheon.
We began with ice skating on Saturday afternoon. I had never been before, and while the first few laps were done with me holding onto the rails, all those years at the Terre Haute Skate Center roller rink paid off and eventually I was able to move away from the wall. And I managed not to fall! The skating was followed by a trip to the sauna, dinner out (Outback, how I love you!) and low key, hanging out goodness.
After coming home to to take care of a friend's pets and coloring my hair (which maybe turned out a TINY bit darker than I intended...eek) I went back to Suncheon for Indian at Virginia's, a party, a rooftop countdown, and a trip to the bar/noreabang (singing room). A small-ish, fun group of people, and an excellent way to welcome 2007. Breakfast and movies rounded out the weekend, after which I headed back to my little apartment.
Some rooftop photos:
Virgina and Karen
Stu dancing with the sparklers
Nicola and Karen
Steve and Virgina (Steve was the smart one who suggested bring music with us to the roof. Steve is smart.)
Dave and Matt lighting Roman Candles or some other explosive of some sort.
More as people upload and email...
