joy and joyness

i watched amelie (for probably the umpteenth time) the other day with theresa and clara. it is such a stinkin cute movie with such gorgeous vibrant colors and a fabulous storyline, how can anyone not like it? (clara said it was a crime against humanity not to watch it, it's that good. and yes, i agree.) i was reminded of the simple things amelie embraces: enjoying the touch of grains, breaking the crunchy topping of creme brulee, glancing at the faces of movie goers, noticing the little details...it made me realize, that there are many easy pleasures in the seemingly mundane. here's what i've noticed recently:

*kindness from strangers in transit. overhearing snidbits of directions, excuse me? how do i get to...or is this the way to...? simple questions and answers but how comforting to know exactly where you're going.

*hilarity on the train: if it can be sold, vendors will sell it. seriously. even on the train. people will try to sell you stockings, cd's, gloves, chestnut clippers, portable sewing devices, and multifunctional fleece wraps. on the way home from work, my co-workers, who are rockstars, and i watched this hilarious demonstration from a most charismatic salesman. he was selling this fleece wrap that could be used as 1) earmuffs 2) headwrap 3) eyepillow 4) neck warmer 5)noseguard. the best part though, was that he randomly spoke english--not bad either!--and when he was demonstrating the head wrap, he said, "now i'm a princess and i don't like black. so i change color to red!" hey! reversible too! what?! at 2,000 won, that's a steal! and no, i was not suckered into buying one, but, the lady sitting next to me and i had a really good chuckle at his performance. (that was nice too, that the lady and i glanced at each other and smiled.)

*shared experiences: my coworkers and i have had a rushed introduction to teaching. some of us had a week's worth of training, some of us, had only a crash course in 2 days. during the first day of classes, we were all trying to make sure we had our shit together, had enough print outs, etc and while it was stressful, there was this really great feeling of support and understanding. well, we're all feeling s.o.l., but hey! at least we're in this together! after classes, we shared the highlights or lowlights, and laughed about it all. pyeongchun, the branch where i work, aka p-town, has solid people. i already like this crew.

*kitty love. i'm usually more of a dog person, but, i've gotta say, my friends' cats are super affectionate and darling. just yesterday, lucy gave me lovins my licking my hand while i scratched the underside of her neck. her tongue tickled my skin--prickly prickly! and charlie, he's mr. irresistible.

*speaking of irresistible, ooh wee! hotties. yep. korea is full of em. i mean, HOTTIES! wow. sometimes i don't wear my eyeglasses or contacts, i know, i'm a bit of a freak that way, but, i don't really mind not seeing things so clearly. but when i do see things sharply, it's like a whole new world, full of hotties. what's a girl to do with all this hotness? well, as of right now, simply observing is enough...