daily assignments

kurt vonnegut once said do one thing that scares you everyday. thanks kurt, for that wise bit of advice. i'm taking it to heart and am giving myself daily assignments that accelerate my heartbeat as i push my boundaries of linguistic comfort.

yesterday, i even tackled two!
1) when one arrives to korea with the intention to live and work, like me, you have to go to the immigration office and file for an alien registration card. i know you need the arc to buy a cell phone and i'm sure i'll find out what the other perks of being a card carrying member are, once i actually receive it. i had all the documents i needed except for one. blast! thankfully, jin, my sister, is the bombdiggity and has helped me out by providing the v.i.d. (very important document) via email. (oh technology, you soooooooooo crazy, cuh-razy cool!) i needed to print out the v.i.d. and fax it to the korean immigration officials so i would ensure the delivery of my arc to me within 7-10 business days. i went to fedex/kinko's--yes, they're here too--and approached the counter. in korean, i asked, "does anyone spoke english?" all three staff persons looked at me with blank faces. hmmm, i think i know the answer to that question! that would be a no. nope. nada. negatory. i probably smiled a sheepish grin and timidly began to explain in korean what i wanted to do. and hellsyeah! the kinko's attendant understood me! copy? done. fax? done. scary thing that day? done. booyah!
2) in the afternoon, i joined friends greg and megan--theresa's friends and coworkers--for an afternoon of frisbee tossing in the park. it felt so nice to throw the frisbee and run around on soft grass, doing something so simple and so familiar in such a new environment. i had a moment then. i was looking around me, the river, the tall buildings, the train, the train stop, the groups of older men playing games--i think it is like a korean version of chess--cyclists, solo walkers with or without dogs, rollerskaters, children, parents, trees, fallen leaves...among all of this i thought to myself, "i am in korea." then i exclaimed to myself, "i am in KOREA!!!!" and i smiled. sometime before or after i had this moment of awareness, greg asked me for my help in translating a phone call from the gas company. he had been receiving notices, post its affixed to his front door, but he didn't know what they meant. he knew it wasn't about payment as he'd just submitted that. when i spoke with the operator, she informed me that they needed to stop by his apt to check up on the boiler and that they'd be doing it, this saturday. 10am. high five! i can do it! and i just did it again!

i woke up this morning with a nasty something something in my throat. it's the scratchies. just like that. i'm sick. i'm nursing it with water and my hot tea concoction of honey and lemon juice. i hope it leaves me as quickly as it arrived.