We spent today at the Gamagol Village today, and learned a little more about Korean traditional music and crafts. Also, our co-teachers were supposed to be there.
Guess who was the only person whose co-teacher wasn't there.
They contacted the school, and she was at a university training something, and someone (not her) will be here Monday to collect me and my stuff from what I understand. But still, I felt pretty left out.
The music part was pretty great, though.
This is one shot of the temple ground and mountains we hiked today. It was lovely, and nice to be out of the city, be able to walk around and just be outside.
I have some photos that at least attempt to show the amazingly vivid colors of the temple inside - which were breathtaking - but they still need to be resized and uploaded.
I love the fact that I have both mountains and green. While my knees are not happy with the return to running in a place with changing elevation, my eyes love having something on the horizon and being surrounded by so much green. It is a little bit like getting the mountians of New Mexico plus the lushness of the New Orleans I knew.
Okay, before this story, I should probably explain the "zoo exhibit" thing a little more. Not only are white people an anomaly around here, white women my height and size running up the street at 6:30 in the morning are even MORE of a shock and surprise. So not only are folks watching me, they are staring. Like, "what is that thing?" kind of staring. Once I get to the park, all the ajummas (grandmas) in their white gloves and windbreakers in incredibly hot and humid weather just kind of look at me like I'm a run-of-the-mill weirdo as they walk up hills backwards, but really, we kind of accept that we are all a bit strange, and their looks are more out of interest than objectification, anyway.
So, at the gym last night, there were three of us - all white women - in a fairly small area, and two of us are reasonably strong and close to being the tallest people in the whole place. Once the poor guy at the front desk finally figured out what we wanted, we were good to go, and the guys who worked there were very nice and friendly. We were most definitely subjects of intense interest, but not in the same way as the people on the street. This was a lot less... Insulting? Invasive? I'm not really sure of the word I want here. It was a lot less. Not zoo exhibit. They were more impressed than anything else, and some of the women were laughing WITH us as we played around on this twisty little ab thing for fun as we finished up. (also, they have - and use - those vibrating belt things that shake your fat around. Yeah, I tried it. There may be pictures taken on a return trip, just for documentation purposes...)
Tonight, it was a little different. We went in earlier, and I was the only one really lifting - my friend was only doing rehab-type work. The older man who I guess is the manager was there, and I am still trying to refine the switch to kilos instead of pounds and adjusting for the weight of the collars that hold the weights on the bars, so I have to think and sometimes try to move something that is a little bit heavier than I expected. He kept coming over, wanting to adjust things (the height of the rails or the pins, adding collars, stuff like that) and then had one of the younger men follow me around the whole time I was there to keep me from hurting myself, I guess. It was a lot less fun, there wasn't the same sense of... normalcy maybe? of community or something. Just me being the weird foreigner zoo exhibit again.
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A friend I and wandered around downtown tonight, and went into TGIF's for a drink. In there, we met the Canadian who runs the ex-pat bar in Gwangju. He told me that he would be able to make me tortillas when I got desperate. He may be my new best friend.
I'm finally starting to be a little less shell-shocked, I think.
When I was in Tokyo the first week, it seems like there was no English or Roman letters anywhere. After returning from Aizu, I was able to see that there were a lot more cues that I just hadn't been able to see.
I feel like I am already starting to be able to notice those cues here, which makes me feel a lot more confident in my ability to function reasonably well in this environment independently. I also am getting better at least with the consonants in Hangul, and while a lot of the time the vowels still throw me for a loop, I am getting closer to being able to figure stuff out.
My roommate here lived in the part of town where I will be teaching and living, and there is a good likelihood that I will even be in the same apartment she had while she lived there. I feel very lucky to be able to ask questions about the specific location and was able to see pictures of the neighborhood where my home-base school will be located.
I know this will sound kind of silly, but I never realized exactly how "American" I actually am until I was surrounded by so many Canadians. It seems that I somehow have a distinctive "accent" (or maybe I should just start working "eh?" into sentences more often...) and while I don't have a good way to explain it, we are pretty different. At least the guy from Atlanta makes my accent look positively neutral. :)
1. I am even more clumsy with Korean metal chopsticks than I am with wooden ones. Which is saying A LOT. They are heavy and slippery and I look like an idiot.
2. The chopstick thing is only a little bit of a problem as I'm really not a huge fan of pickeled/fermented foods. This will be a long year in terms of culinary experiences, I think. Good thing I like rice.
3.
4. I found a park not too far up the road this morning, which was much more plesant for today's run.
5. I hate jetlag, but i love that for at least a few days I'm a morning person.
6. I haven't run hills for a LONG time.
7. While the canister of oatmeal kind of exploded in my bag (most was salvagable, but there are oats EVERYWHERE the Cap'n Crunch Peanut Butter came through practically unscathed. There is some meaning there, I'm sure.
8. For the record, "whole and all" breakfast cereal is really pretty good. And I feel like a grown up for passing on the coco-puff looking box. at least for the time being. (the cap'n crunch will be saved for first-week-of-school emergency comfort food)
After about 29 hours of travel, I arrived in Gwangju last night safe and sound, albeit tired. The flight was uneventful, but long enough that I was REALLY greatful for the seat-back self-select movie option - I could pick whatever I wanted from a list of movies. BTW, if you haven't seen Akeelah and the Bee, you really should.
Jet lag is always lovely, but right now I'm doing pretty well - I finially stopped pretending to be asleep at around 7 and went for a run. That plus shower were key. I've re-pack my bags so that they make a little more sense for the next week of living out of them, and am ready to roll.
We have today for recuperation, and tomorrow we actually start in training sessions. Friends are coming to visit in a few minutes, and other than an appearance at lunch and dinner, the rest of the day is my own.
I know this sounds silly, but on the plane it really dawned on me that I was on a plane, getting ready to live somewhere else, not just visit. So much of my energy was spent getting ready to go that I haven't really connected with the idea that this will be my home for the next year.
So anyway, here, safe, good.
I finially found out how to connect my laptop in my room, so that is good.
In less than 24 hours, I should be on a plane to South Korea.
That blows my mind.
Because more information seems to make people (and by "people" I mean "my mother") feel better, I thought I would extend that a bit:
* I land in Incheon (just outside Seoul) at what will be Saturday at 4:45 pm in Korea - that would be the equivalent of 5:45 am Eastern - and once all the people in my program arrive, we will take charter busses to Gwangju, where we will be in orientation until Monday the 28th. Monday I will leave for Gwangyang with my co-teacher (with whom I may or may not be actually teaching - I haven't figured that part out yet) who will be the person who will basically be telling me what's going on and will help with communication in the school, showing me where my apartment is, where the school is, and how to negotiate some basic transactions in a new country.
* I know very little about details like internet access and stuff like that. I'm sure I will have some, but no clue as to how much or when or where. I will be able to have access in my apartment, but again, I'm not sure exactly when, and I should be able to connect in my hotel room in Gwangju.
* I set up a skype account, so if you want to get in touch with me through that, let me know. (if you don't know what Skype is, check it out - it is pretty wonderful.)
* there are 48 people in this program this year alone, and one other will be going to the same town I am in. There are a number of folks who are returning to this program there, and there are other English teachers in the area. I'll be about 20-25 minutes away from friends in a nearby town where there are also 6 people from this program this year, and a little closer to another city where there are about 6 more folks from this year.
* if you want to email me, you can do so through a blog account I set up at (replace all CAPS with the appropriate symbols) ofrecklessnessandwater AT gmail DOT com. I'll reply from my regular address.
* my bags are weighing in at about 60-ish lbs. each, so a total of 120#. which is a little less than how much more I weighed at this time last year. Little realizations like this are startling.
I can't think of anything else.
I wish all of you starting school the best of luck and a wonderful year.
At this point, I'm borderline freaking out, so this is a quick, bullet-point kinda thing.
* Spent the weekend in Chicago - my family is amazing.
* I leave for Korea Friday morning - as in, in three days.
* My ridiculous knitting project was a disaster. Don't want to go into it, but I'm thinking there are some things that just shouldn't be knit.
* Did I mention three days? And that I am bordering on the crazy?
* I bought a skirt today that is exactly like the skirt in the picture a few posts down. Only it is TWO sizes smaller. But I love that skirt and wore it all the time - it can go almost anywhere - and it was 50% off. And TWO sizes smaller!!
I took pictures of the Silk Garden shawl yesterday, blocked with ends woven in and everything, but the light was too bright. But DONE!! I've accomplished SOMETHING in the past few weeks!
I'll get more pictures in better light - the colors deserve better than that, and the weird ghostly halo thing is just, well, odd. But my mother said she wanted more pictures, so here you go.
6 miles. no walking.
slow, but not a lot slower than my normal daily run mile average.
when my watch lost the gps signal in the last .2 (i'm guessing the combo of tree canopy and cloud cover was too much), i started to cry. was at least 6, even if the watch only says 5.91. (69.30 min).
I just got back from my 2nd 5K race!
While I wasn't as fast as I hoped (it was still in the low 80's when I passed the bank over an hour after the race - at about 12:30 am - and was incredibly, horribly humid) I was still 4.67 minutes faster than my first 5K and I met my expected finish window by hauling ass down the last hill, and just barely at that - I came in at 32.59. I came in third in my age group (though I think there may have only been three of us in the group...) and have a trophy!! For running!!! I think they stopped stopped timing at 45 min (or at least, I didn't see any of the walkers come in), so out of the 190 times recorded, I was 166. Not stunning by any means, but on the way home, I kept reminding myself that even 4 months ago, the idea of running 3 miles at all was overwhelming.
And I have a trophy!!! For running!! Woo!!
Five miles. No walking. Did not die.
Will be entering a 5K next weekend - the Midnight River Run, with the modest goal of a sub 30 min time. That is pretty fast for my slow self, but my long runs are coming in at around 11:15/mile, so with a much shorter run I think it is doable. Also trying to decide between a couple of 5K races in Chicago in August - Race Judicata or Elvis is Alive. The Race Judicata is a fund raiser for Chicago Volunteer Legal Services, and the Elvis one raises funds for Rock For Reading.
I'd like to find a 10K in Korea in September or early October, but so far the only information I can find in English is for Seoul, which while not impossible, not optimal. I'm sure once I get there I'll be able to find out more information for something a bit closer to where I'll be.
I have my visa in hand, which means all the official, can't-go-without-it stuff is done, for the the most part. There are a lot of details that still need to be taken care of, but the biggies are in place. Still a lot to do, though.
Just so you know, there are a LOT of vowels in Korean. And I can't tell the difference between most of them. How I ever taught kids to read when I myself have absolutely no phonemic awareness at all astounds me.
The heat finally broke here today, and after driving back from Indy in the rain I got home and it was just barely sprinkling, so I ran for the first time in a few days. Humid as all get out, but so good not to think I was going to die! And 4 miles isn't a fluke, it's a fact. I think Sunday will be 4.5. eek.
I feel like I have all this time but no real routine, particularly in terms of weights. Not having access over the weekend makes it hard, and the hours of the cage-like gym where I go are pretty limited. I may look into seeing the hours and cost of the gym (the fancier one with better hours and indoor treadmills) on campus. I feel like I have running/cardio kind of on lock-down, but that is mostly because I can just walk out my door and go. So when there is heat like the past few days, it just kills me. If i try to run through it I feel sick, but if i don't do anything, i am restless and edgy. boo and hiss.
I think my biggest problem is just being at loose ends. I really only know one person in town and I'm trying not to spend money, so I feel like there isn't a whole lot for me to do at all and I end up pacing around the house, or wasting tons of time doing nothing online. I'm equal parts bored and anxious, and not really taking the appropriate steps to alievate either of those two things. acknowlegement != behavior change.
Tomorrow I have a bunch of stuff to mail off and I'm going to see what documents I need in order to get my car registered here and get an IN and an international driver's license. This weekend, I'm going to try to see something at the theatre, i think, do another long run, register for a 5K here and in Chicago, and make plans to see family and friends either before or after the day of the race. (and if you are friends or family in the Chicago area, let me know what early august looks like for you! and if you want to run a 5K at that time.)
So.much.excitment.
I love this quote:
There are as many reasons for running as there are days in the year, years in my life. But mostly I run because I am an animal and a child, an artist and a saint. So, too, are you. Find your own play, your own self-renewing compulsion, and you will become the person you are meant to be.
-George Sheehan
1.) if you still have/use my earthlink email address, it will be going away forever at the end of the month. I sent out the "hey, i'm moving" email with my current address, but if you want it again, let me know.
2.) I got my contract in the mail, I got the NM Public Education Department to send me another copy of my teaching license on the same day I asked for it, and was able to talk to a human at the school board office. I think the world might explode. (this was countered by requests made by the consulate which resulted in me not being able to get everything mailed for my visa today...)
3.) I got past my mental block of what is considered "long distance" in running. Yesterday, I did 4 miles. For those of you who don't know, that is a lot of miles to run. But I didn't walk and I didn't die and I'm still a minute faster per mile than I was at altitude.
As of this morning, I have lost just over 100 lbs. (100.5, to be exact) since I began tracking at the end of November. I'm not sure how much I had lost before that.
Not the greatest picture of me, but because some folks had asked for one:
I know I sound kind of silly - moving to Korea has been "real" for me since I packed up my car and left New Mexico. But within the past few days, after learning of the exact place and the actual departure date, I've been freaking out a little. The city where I've been placed is not my first choice, and I'm not leaving as early as I would like. I have been pretty mood-swingy and a little panic-attackish for the past couple of days.
This morning, someone in a TFA community asked how many people got their first choice for placement.
I didn't. Actually, New Orleans was fifth or sixth on my list, if I remember correctly, and the idea of special education freaked me out. I also wasn't offered the job I thought I wanted once I got to New Orleans. And while I have been trying to remind myself for the past few days that things really do work out for the best and there is something for me to learn by being placed where I am, it was really good for me to have such a clear example - a smack upside the head, so to speak. I would never have selected New Orleans or my job at Langston Hughes Elementary, but it was perfect for me. I got rifted (not enough kids on my caseload) from Hughes, but it was an incredibly powerful learning experience for the few months I was there, and it made me a MUCH better teacher. New Orleans was where I belonged.
I have been working really hard to be positive about being placed where I am. I NEED that in order to keep from freaking out completely right now. And while it was a simple question in a forum that usually just annoys me, it has really helped me gain a little more perspective.
On my computer, I have a travel itinary for my flight to Korea!!!
I leave Indianapolis on August 18th, and arrive in Korea on the 19th.
Holy crap! This is really pretty exciting! I should be getting my contract in the mail within the next few days (I may walk down the hill to see if it is in the mailbox already!) and I know exactly when I'm leaving. I had hoped to fly in a little bit before orientation to see some friends, but my request was shot down - the coordinator said visa issues - but at least now I know and have a real date to base everything off of!
There will be 48 people going to Jeollanamdo with this program, and at least one other new person going into Gwangyang with me. There are a bunch of others who are returning to their schools there, folks teaching in private schools, and other Westerns who work in town. I'll be a short bus ride to friends and to where several other folks will be placed in two nearby towns. All in all, I think this will be a really good thing. I'll have support, but also the space to see how I fit into this place.
Did you know that there are these buildings where you can go and they let you take home BOOKS?!? for FREE!!?? And that some of the books are about knitting? And that scanning pictures means i wouldn't even have to pack pieces of paper?
Yesterday I had my dad sign a paper so I could work out at the rec center on campus, which means I get weight room, track, pools, and classes for $15 for the rest of my life or something. Also, they gave me a 3 month parking pass for the campus free, so I can park ANYWHERE! Woo! I was then able to use my new id to get a library card, which rocks. I will have to upload and post the picture of the weight room - it really is a cage, with a fence and everything.
Also, I found out where I'll be next year. Gwangyang-si, which is a city to the east of where I had hoped to be. Honestly, last night I was more than a little disappointed to not be in the town where I already know people and was pretty much in shock. I think in part I was just freaked out about jobs and things being really real. I've been talking to people and drawing analogies for myself - Gwangyang:Yeosu::Metairie:New Orleans::Ft. Wingate:Gallup::Dad's house:Campus. I'll be about 20 minutes outside of Yeosu, which all things considered isn't bad. I really loved being in Aizu, which is the same size as Gwangyang. This will be good.
Now, I'm starting to work backwards from my departure date. I asked for a specific date that is a bit earlier than orientation would begin, and I'm just waiting to see if it is approved. I need to go to Chicago within the next couple of weeks, I'm going down to Memphis, and I have many little details I need to figure out, but nothing insurmountable. Car insurance and storage, storage of stuff, visa, detailsdetailsdetails. I have the clothes I bought for Japan, but a bunch of that is already on the baggy side. I don't think I'll need much but if I do need more than I think, I'll pay the extra shipping and order online or have someone here send it to me. I need a smaller pair of jeans for the next few weeks, but other than that I think I'm going to wait until closer to when I leave. Also, I am pulling back on what I plan to take or ship. For example, I really don't need to ship ALL my yarn to myself. They will have yarn there, I'm sure. I can scan in parts of some of my knitting books - I don't need to take them with. Only what is necessary.
