Not bad, but not one for the kids.

One of the things that cracks me up more than anything else are the unintentional sexual innuendo in ESL textbooks. I mean, not as much as the incredibly inappropriate English on clothing (elementary school students wearing "too drunk to fuck" t-shirts, for example) but still, a lot.

Because I don't have that filter that causes me to be ashamed to say almost anything, I did explain to my co-teacher that "female trouble" and "female problems" were usually used as a reference to menstrual/reproductive issues. But there was just no way I was going to be able to explain why saying "Why don't you eat out?" might not be the best way to reference going out to dinner with friends. But then, I have the sense of humor of a 14 year old boy.

Yongseo Pokpo

I am one of the least outdoorsy people who likes outdoorsy kind of stuff.

I should probably be more clear with that. If you took ALL the people that I've been rock climbing with over the past few months - heck, maybe 80-90% of the people I've been hanging out with for the last year - and left us all out in the woods, I'm the least likely to survive. (okay, I'd probably SURVIVE, but it wouldn't be pretty).

It isn't that I don't LIKE being outdoors - I do - but I also really like indoor plumbing, my bed, and coffee makers.

So today was a significant nod to a greater commitment to doing outdoorsy kind of stuff: I bought a sleeping bag. To most, this sounds silly. But with both the harness (which isn't here yet, so it isn't real) and the sleeping bag, I've now invested in STUFF, and so when it seems like I am actually getting WORSE (another Saturday of inch,fall,inch,fall,inch,fall,inch,fall,inch,fall,inch,fall,DAMNIT, and never really actually getting on the damn wall) I have all the basics except shoes, so quitting now would be dumb. And I wouldn't get a chance to use my new sleeping bag.

On the up side, I think that at least I'm decent on belay, in part because I feel like it is such a huge responsibility that it sort of scares the crap out of me and therefore I'm super-duper, please-triple-check-me contentious about the whole thing.

Okay, I'm stewing about this. I really am pretty frustrated about struggling as much as I am right now. And while people are nice and point out some logic (beginner, hard part, blah), it still bugs me.

One of the nice things was that a couple folks from the Korean climbing club in my town were at the site and they remember me - as in, remembered my name - from the couple times I took the bus over to the climbing wall (about 30-40 minutes away) and were very, very nice.

because I like lists:

1. Tonight I ran further than I have since I left Indiana. Granted, it was still only 6k, but STILL!! Progress!! Talking to Carol was awesome, and I was reminded of the words of a friend - "DFL - dead fucking last - is always better than DNF - did not finish." So even if I AM dead last in Jeju this June, I'll still come in before the people doing the half, and I'm a hell of a lot faster than those folks who didn't bother to show up. So I'm still planning to go for it.

2. Right now, it looks like there will be at least 4-5 people joining me for the race in May, and Carol and I are thinking about a race/month, which I think would be awesome! I got a link to a Korean web site listing races across the country and I'm working my way through it with a map and a calendar.

3. This has been the month of people leaving. This makes me sad.

4. I'm heading over to Jeonju for a film festival and some climbing this weekend, coming back on Saturday night for yet another goodbye party. This one will be rather sad, as it is for some of the Jungma people.

5. I finally ordered a climbing harness of my very own, and it should be here pretty soon. I was able to have it sent to a friend who works on one of the bases here, so it was only US shipping - score.

6. Jakob, Virginia's cat, is living with me while she is in Canada. This is just a note for her to let her know he is okay. So far the only damage has been to the fan (it probably deserved to be attacked in the middle of the night...), which has been worked around.

Running

You know what? Running? Is hard.

I've been fighting to increase my running base over the past few weeks, and while I have a tiny bit, running inside really, really sucks. A lot.

I spent a great deal of time on the internet today doing two things: 1) looking for the running path that is on Jechol - POSCO island. Yeah, it is either running near the steel mill or running up the mountain. and 2) looking for 5k races as a motivation, because THAT I know I can do.

I was successful in both ventures. Since I know some Korea folks will see this (cough-Monique and Sloane and Carol-cough) I thought I would suggest this: The Pink Ribbon Marathon. Which is really only either a 5k or a 10k race.

There are several different runs, but the one in Gwangju is May 20th. Wanna come out and play? Even the non-runners, it looks like there are a bunch of folks who walk the race, and it is a breast cancer fund raiser!! Shoot me an email and let me know if you want to come!!

elections

It seems that it is election season of a sort, if the trucks with blaring megaphones are any indication.

Which is annoying but something that right now I can deal with in the afternoon/early evening when they are most prominent.

But there is a very, very bad man running for some office in my neighborhood, because he decided to start the blaring at 6:30 in the morning.

I hate him. A lot.

4 reasons Thai pants rock

1. They are great climbing pants

Last weekend I didn't climb very much - I got maybe a meter, meter and a half at most off the ground on one climb and fell a bunch. I'm way better at rock falling than rock climbing. After that I didn't do much because I felt kind of bad about borrowing gear, because while people are awesome about sharing, it means that the person I was borrowing from couldn't do anything, nor could I belay anyone to offset the need to be belayed, which makes me feel guilty. Plus did I mention my excellence at falling? That is a lot of strain to put on other people's stuff. Anyway. Am in the process of ordering stuff.

2. In emergency situations, they can be a hat

Or rather, head covering. Woods are scary in the dark. And they are cold. And I should learn that I ALWAYS am a lot colder than I think I will be and should just bring more clothes all the time. But Thai pants wrapped around one's head make a great hat/scarf combo.

3. They make excellent pajama pants.

Which would be awesome if I was sleeping better than I am, but I'm not. Don't know what's up, but it is official that I'm not the nicest girl in the world on long-term sub-6 hours a night. This can stop anytime. Really.

4. They are very comfortable for just lounging around

I plan to watch even more Dancing With The Stars (don't judge me!! Laila Ali is AWESOME!!!) while playing with kitty I will be taking care of. Expect to see pictures of Jakob so that Virgina doesn't freak out. (Yes, this was a stretch, but hey, not a lot going on, and I needed to work the cat in somehow.)

Daewonsa - Spring

Last Saturday, a group of friends and I went back to Daewonsa , a temple that I would really like to be able to see at least once in each season, as so much of the experience is about the landscape of the area.



It is cherry blossom season, and last week the bloos were at their peak. We grabbed a bus out of Suncheon to Boseong, then from Boseong to Daewonsa. Once we got out there, we realized that the temple we usually had almost all to ourselves was PACKED with people out to "enjoy the cherry blossoms" and that there was in fact a flower festival at the temple that day. The bus, which usually drops off in the parking lot of the museum kicked us off several miles up the road. With a combination of walking and hitchhiking*, we made our way up the cherry tree lined road to a restaurant that made bibimbap with flowers.

At one point, Nicola and Melisa got into a discussion about how this must be what angels eat for lunch, too.

After exploring the temples and saying hello to all our favorite places, we went down to one of the lotus ponds for a concert. First were the hippies singing with guitars, then the very hip young men and a woman with microphones and what amounted to a karaoke machine.

At one point, an incredibly old woman (who was smoking in public!! quite shocking here) got up to dance, waving her walking stick in the air and slamming her feet into the ground. It may have been one of the most beautiful things I've ever seen in my whole life. This picture doesn't do it justice:


And later Nicola and Melisa made the middle-aged women in fancy shoes dance on the side of the pond:


After the concert, we eventually realized that the bus wasn't going to come and pick us up, and we started to walk/hitchhike* back to the main road. A woman alone in an SUV picked up all six of us and not only took us to the road, but drove us all the way to the nearest bus station, where we were able to grab a bus that was just about to leave. The timing was perfect.

This, unfortunately, is when fortune stopped shining so brightly on me (as indicated a few posts ago) but the DAY part of Saturday was amazing.

* all references to hitchhiking should be read with the full knowledge that we were on our way too/from a TEMPLE, there were 6 of us, and this is Korea.

There were other pictures I wanted to post, but I can't figure out how to get flickr to let me steal the images without downloading and uploading the files to my own account. If I figure out how to do so, there will be more added eventually.

School Field Trip

Last Wednesday, the teachers at my school took a field trip to see the cherry blossoms, tulips, and coastline of Namhae, an area just to the north of Gwangyang. From what I heard, the cherry blossoms weren't what some people had expected, but it was still pretty.

The tulips:




The fields on the edge of the coastline:


The coast, and one of my co-teachers standing on a strategically placed rock (he was pleased with this photo):


Okay, and a few other pictures from school/teacher stuff:

From the first teacher field trip last fall:


Eating flowers. You would think that something so pretty would taste a little bit better than it did. I mean, I think that most of the time if you fry anything in a bit of oil it is going to be pretty darn good, but this tasted like paste. And not good paste, but bad, gluey gross paste. But it WAS pretty, and fun to think that you were having flowers for a snack. (far tastier flowers as food pictures to come in a moment).






Okay, and one last older picture - my former co-teacher (as in, take care of all my paperwork co-teacher, not just sharing students co-teacher) on the right, and my current co-teacher on the left.

well, at least I know that it is difficult to break in...

Okay, the good first. I'll have pictures of my own soon, but yesterday was a great day!

A friend wrote about it here.

I have come a long way in terms of just taking things in stride, but I hit my limit sometime between realizing that my backpack was still in Suncheon and there was no way I could get it before going home.

Now, the easiest thing would have been for me to have just spent the night in Suncheon again, but I have been sleeping really badly, and it is always worse when I am not at home and I just wanted SLEEP. So I grabbed the bus back to Gwangyang, and made arraignments to meet up with a friend or take the bus back up the next day. You should note that this is still me taking things in stride.

Until I got in the taxi in Gwangyang and realized that my apartment keys were in my backpack in Suncheon. This was after all the buses had stopped running, and I actually asked the driver to take me to Suncheon (about $25) when I couldn't get a hold of the friend with my bag, and decided to see if I would be able to break into my own apartment. The driver who than charged me $15 for making him turn around. Twice. I hate him.

So, after climbing over my balcony and getting the screen open, I realized that I am not able to get through the sliding glass door. At all. And go to the security shack to see if there is any way they can get me in. Eventually, he decided to see if the locksmith is there (it is abut 10:30 on Saturday night) and somehow decided to knock on the door of the yarn shop across the street. The owner recognizes me, and decides to get in on the game. We find the locksmith, and he is pretty sure he can get me in.

Right now, this is still costing me less than the taxi to Suncheon.

I now know that it is really difficult to break into my apartment. And requires powertools. And eventually a lock replacement, which does cost more than the taxi to Suncheon.

I do not even want to begin talking about my experiences trying to do my taxes - it is just upsetting. If I had worked outside the US - OR - used my Americorps award, that would probably be one thing, but with both it is just... bad. Badbadbad. I am paying for the Turbo Tax review to make sure that everything was filled out correctly before doing the State return(s). This might hurt.

Motorcycles, cherry blossoms, and food

Ok, so in summary:

1. I've been a baby about really taking the motorcycle out. Before it started to get really cold, I was at least driving around the neighborhood pretty regularly, but that was about the extent of it. I was fairly good at shifting, cornering - basically, what I needed was experience in traffic since that freaks me out.
2. When it got cold, I started making excuses for not taking the bike out. Some good, some lame.
3. I kept finding excuses once it got less cold. They did not get less lame.
4. Finally decide that since I have the bike, I either need to use it or sell it. Decide to use it.
5. Tried to start the bike on Saturday night, wouldn't go.
6. Friend finds mechanic and organizes the getting fixed.
7. I had to get the bike from town to my neighborhood a few kilometers away.
8. I spend all day in a state of moderate to extreme anxiety about this. Come up with excellent excuses not to do it.
9. Finally get my act together, go into town to pick up the bike.
10. Drive home ALL BY MYSELF and have a really, really good time doing so!!
11. I love the bike, and feel bad for not paying her more attention.
12. Am in the process of finding a good name for the bike. Am thinking Loretta, Madaline, or Jelly. I have no idea why, but I like them.

____________________________________
Three other things:
1. The teachers at my school (including me) will be going on a field trip tomorrow to "enjoy the cherry blossoms." There will be no children going - this is a grown-ups only field trip.
2. If you blend green enchilada sauce and the super-soft tofu (in the tube, not the block) it is a nice light green and tastes delicious. If you blend the soft tofu and salsa, it also tastes delicious, but looks a bit like Thousand Island dressing, which is kind of disgusting. Am still a fan of blenderizing the tofu-in-a-tube, but may need to find a way to make Salsa Verde. How that will happen (no tomatillos, and I've not seen green tomatoes) I'm still not sure. Maybe Gwangju will come through for me.
3. Anyone who would like to send me Reece's Peanut Butter Cups OR Peanut Butter Eggs, I can hook you up with random Korean stuff. Let me know what you want - metal chopsticks? Konglish notebooks? Cheesy stuff from the stationary store? Strange candy? YOURS. This also goes for Splenda, and, if you are a radical, seeds for tomatillos, dill, basil, cilantro, mint, and lavender.

Vanity

Yesterday I finally went to get my hair cut and colored for the first time in Korea.

(Because I'm the one who turns to the last page of the mystery novel to find out what happens, I'll let you all know that it turned out fine.)

From talking to friends, Korean hair salons are pretty great at blow-outs, and some friends have had really good experiences with having their hair permanently straightened here. For color, you hear a lot of stories, but from what I gather, while the color in salons tends to go dark, it usually isn't TOO bad, particularly if you have dark hair to begin with. But the haircuts can be hit or miss, and for every story of a good cut, you hear a ton of 'worst cut of my entire life' stories. So much so that it isn't uncommon for women to not get a cut at all here. (I think it mostly has to do with the difference in hair texture and how it will hang, plus the fact that you are communicating with someone who doesn't speak the same language you do, and really, it is hard enough without that challenge)

I've colored my hair a couple of times here - once I got my Mom to send color (thanks again, by the way) and another time I was brave and bought a Western brand here. That turned out VERY dark. And fried the fried ends even more. Not good.

So, yesterday I finally came to two realizations:
1) the three-tone (almost black, brown, and gray) wasn't working for me
2) the ends just flat out looked bad - so much so that wearing my hair down wasn't really an option. Bad, like in need of an intervention bad.

So a friend and I went to Homeplus, (a store in Suncheon pretty close to where most of the foreign teachers live) where I had heard multiple stories of good - or at least not bad - results.

And about 2 hours later (not really sure, kind of the salon time-warp) I had the closest match to my real hair color I have ever had ever (seriously, awesome) and while the cut isn't all that I had hoped it would be, it isn't bad and I think that once I can do it myself it will be pretty good. It is a LOT shorter - I got 5-6 inches cut off at least - basically, a just below chin-length bob. I had wanted it a little edgier, but this is a good first step. And did I mention that I love the color? Because it is great, and both cut and color were about what I would expect to pay for cut alone most places in the US.