the 3 month slump

i am in it. and i'm allowing myself to feel the draining effects of homesickness, to the point where it's, maybe, borderline unhealthy. it is what it is. i've been indulging my desire to sleep more, work a bit less, cry when i want to, become more of a domestic hermit rather than a party animal. i'm tired of going out, or maybe more correctly, i'm tired of feeling pressure (who is this pressure from? myself?) to go out, or even care to go out. i feel like i'm on the verge of a temper tantrum, only this kind isn't about wanting a toy or candy, it's more of the mental emotional variety. one where i want my friends who know (KNOOOOOOOOW!!!) me, who know exactly what to say (or just as importantly, what NOT to say) to simply be with me.

my birthday has surprised me...i didn't think i'd be so homesick so suddenly, but, with the influx of incredible love and thoughtfulness from home, it's actually made me miss everyone even more. so for the time being, i know i'm sulking, but, sometimes that's just what you have to do until it's out of your system. that and take lots of naps.

i am soooooooooooo lucky!!!!!

this morning, i went to the maintenance office of my apt building (yesterday, they gave me a paper notice, tucked into the tiny crack of my doorframe)and discovered that i had not, 1 or 2, nor 3, but 4 (COUNT 'EM FOUR!!!) packages for me. holy shit balls! i was tickled pink and so incredibly moved by the generosity and thoughtfulness of my friends and family that i cried--really, i was crying and smiling and laughing. lord, it felt like crazy crying, i was feeling so incredibly loved and wonderful!--from happiness.

thank you, thank you, thank you everyone for your continued encouragement, love, warmth and humor. i am simply in awe.

anyang

my friend, yumin, recently visited korea to celebrate her brother's marriage! we reconnected in anyang and had a blast chatting, laughing and dancing.

catch up...

how is it almost the end of january?! my birthday is approaching, it's this weekend! it is during this time of year, that i often consciously reflect, remembering pivotal moments from the year previous--i was in new zealand!--and wondering how to direct my energy for another 12 new months of laughter, playfulness, growth and wisdom--with curiosity and gentleness.

today was my first private lesson with nami at the korean language academy in gangnam. it was a lot of fun and it made me realize that i know more than i think i do--nice, nice! but, (baaaah!) i often forget to apply the rules of what i learn in practice. so i'm good at korean language theory, but need to improve on the delivery. done and done. i'm on it. i think being a student will help me to become a better teacher. our instructor, is a very sweet, easy to talk to, wonderfully encouraging woman. our interactions were like exchanges of lively smart bubbles. every time i said something correctly, i was rewarded with praise. i became very aware of just how meaningful a simple, "good job!" can be. we reviewed object particles, subject particles, how to conjugate verbs and vocabulary. (for example: is that a clock? yes, it is a clock.) we're also learning the most honorific form of korean (think the "usted" in spanish) so i'll have to consult with my korean friends to get the slang versions. i'm building a solid foundation for this korean language house of mine! other good news: i got accepted into the seoul national university's language program which commences in the beginning of march and continues until early may. luckily, my friend chris is also committing himself to this draining schedule with me, so we can commute and study together. power in numbers, baby, power in numbers.

work is still going well. my students are easily entertained and amuse me when they get so eager for me to check their notebooks so i can draw them their prize illustration. the past week, it was a bee or a ladybug. last week, i drew a picture of piece of toast and get this, a meatball! (it was related to the story we were reading...) sponge bob has been requested, i'll have to practice. that'll really wow them!

other happenings: presently, i'm leery and wary of korean men. the guy i thought was super cool and cute turned out to be mcnasty. in short: grrrrrooooossssssss!!!! and i've had random interactions with other men that are giving my ko-dar (korean sketchiness factor radar) alarm! back-up-off-a-me sucka! the cultural differences are beginning to get under my skin and aggravate me. i'm trying to balance my awareness of them while also trying to not let them affect me too much. it's during these times, that i especially miss home. i miss you, my family and friends!!! i wish you could all visit me on my birthday!!!!

lumix

my new camera and i are still only just getting to know each other, but, from our initial meeting at the camera counter in yongsan, i knew we'd have a good long lasting relationship. time for photo taking and photo playing...

new 'do!

i had the sudden (yet it was internally brewing for a while...) urge to get my hair cut yesterday. and like most of my other hair cravings, i satisfied it quickly, as in this morning. say hello to me with a bob! i want my bangs to grow out and sweep across my face. i'm moving closer and closer to the shorter spectrum...don't be surprised if you see me with a faux hawk next!

brain-ache

yesterday, i spent the morning attempting to complete my written korean level placement exam. um, who felt like a moron? yeah, that would be me. (for whatever random reason, the inconsiderate cell phone man jingle just popped into my head...) i got an idea of how some of my students might feel when i see them with blank faces during exam time. hummina hummina hummina. after bombing the written and reading exam, i did a dramatically better job on the speaking section. out of 6 levels, i placed into the 3rd level for speaking! (surprised? yeah, me too!) and into the 1st level for reading and writing. (this however, is not surprising. girlfriend needs to learn how to read!) i went to the korean language academy in gangnam with nami and we are both excited to get our language lessons on! we've signed up for 2 private lessons together so as to be on par with the other students when we begin our classes on january 31st. hooray and oofda in the same breath: hoofda!

afterwards, we went to yongsan, a place in seoul well known for it's camera selection. at yongsan, we met a super nice and funny (definitely not sketchy) camera salesman. he took the time to show us the pros and cons of three different compact digital cameras: casio exlim, the canon ixy, and panasonic lumix. we compared shutter speeds, lcd screen qualities, macro functions (i'm such a big fan of this!) and color quality. my friends know that i'm a canon slut. but...in this case, i opted to go with the camera with highest color quality, and that is the lumix, with the leica lens. yummers. mmmmhmmm! i spoke in primarily korean (yay!) but the concentration from our morning's activities paired with the overwhelming amount of cameras on display gave me a brain-ache to the max. nami and i realized that with our brains combined, we make one hellavuaverage korean!

when i showed the salesman my camera (canon powershot A75) he was surprised at the sheer size of it. it's humungous compared to the cameras nowadays--dang! technology! canon powershot, you know i'll always love you so please hold no grudges on the new camera, mmmmmmmmkay!? now, i'm pretty much broke, but happy! hey hey! happy birthday to me! these days, i'm a guitar playing, korean language taking, camera happy soul.

am i in a movie?

after work on saturday night, i met up with my korean friends, laura and chelsea for what was sure to be a fun night out! to celebrate laura's birthday, (january 11th) our original plan included dancing in gangnam...but, first! my understanding friends accompanied me on my guitar shopping errand. i'd been periodically checking out ads for used acoustic guitars. during the summer, i had started to learn the basic chords and was just beginning to sound decent while singing and playing mary chapin carpenter, jewel, and the old crow medicine show. i wished i had brought my guitar with me to korea, but realized that with some resourcefulness, i could find one relatively inexpensively. i found an ad on craigslist (honestly, what haven't i found from craisglist?!) but the only catch was that the owner was leaving for the states on sunday, so if i wanted to buy the guitar, i would have to do so on saturday night. unbeknown to me, the errand took a ridiculously long time. 2 hours. wtf?!

here's why: i bought the guitar and since we couldn't go out dancing with it in tow, i asked my kickass friend, theresa to store it at her place for the night. on the way to her apt, laura, chelsea and i got confused about where we needed to make a transfer and we decided at the last second that we needed to get off the train. the funniest part was that i was able to get off the train, but guess who didn't?! that's right. chelsea and laura. seriously, if there was ever a more movie like moment in my life, i don't know what. the doors closed, we looked at each other through the window and busted out laughing! i gestured that i would stay right where i was and once we were reunited, our night continued to thoroughly entertain us!

after dinner in gangnam, we decided to meet up with other ptown peeps in hongdae and the cab ride was mad fun! first of all, the cab itself was pimped out like it was a club in a cab. there were neon lights that glowed and blinked in time to the techno music. the cab ride was silly mostly thanks to laura, who is one of the funniest people i've met, and she was chitchatting with the cabbie about nothing in particular, just shooting the shit, and it was simply a good time. he flirted with us, we flirted back and giggled like school girls. awesome.

national museum of contemporary art

this past wednesday, my friend nami and i went to the national museum of contemporary art. we had a blast looking at beautiful contemporary korean prints, parts of the permanent collection and having a ball at the "jump, jump!" interactive exhibit for children--the only place where we could take photographs.

happy time indeed! in the form of a disposable water cup.

nami and me, smiles!


furry puzzle pieces:






seriously emo:

combos in effect

i have always been a fan of combination words. for example, fantabulous and deluscious. you can imagine my delight when my "happy maker" student, won joon, created a combo word spontaneously in class. i had to explain the meaning of compromise to my students and i created a situation where my brother wanted to eat vanilla ice cream but i wanted chocolate. so our compromise, was to have one scoop of both: chocolate and vanilla. won joon held up his hand and said, "teacher! cho-nilla!" what a hoot!

january

the school system in korea is wicked overwhelming for children. where do they have time to be KIDS, i wonder? while the month of january is supposed to be a "break," (i.e. vacation from regular school) it's actually a busier time for students. (my students have actually told me that they want regular school to begin again!) they enroll in even more academy (specialized) classes. i'm now teaching one more additional class where i get to read and discuss the book, the eye, the ear and the arm with my two students, jane and sally. we meet three times a week, tuesday, thursday and saturday mornings from 9:30-12:30. it's a bit tiring to get up so early, but, i don't so much mind it and shoot! i better get used to it...

this month of teaching extra classes is called intensives. while i'm working only 6 additional hours to my work week, others have added as much as 18! however, the hard work will certainly pay off in february when the paycheck enters the bank, as we are paid by the hour. speaking of getting p-p-p-paid! my bank account will be replenished today and i'm looking forward to treating myself to a few goodies: 1) korean classes 2) a new canon camera (oh my, oh my! i'm so excited!!!) 3) clothes.

i've been thinking about my korean class options and i've decided i'm going to go all out. be bold, right? be bad. be a rockstar. i might suffer from a bit (or a lot!) of fatigue, but, it's one of those things that just has to be done. so, for february, i'm enrolling in a class at the korean language academy. i'll be in class from 10-12, but it takes about an hour to commute there...2 hours roundtrip. (meh.) starting in march and going til may, i'll be enrolled in an intensive course that meets m-f, 9-1. since the commute will be 45 minutes, i'll be leaving my house at 8am. and after class, heading straight to work. (double meh...) oh snap! but after 10 weeks of intense classwork and homework, i hope to have the confidence to bust out stories and jokes in korean. fo'sho!

i'm finally, finally (finally!!!) just about over my sickness. i'm still coughing a little bit, but, i'm feeling and sounding sooooo much better than before. i'm telling you, those herbal drugs hit the mothereffin spot.

no. 707

i love my apt. (and it's dorky of me to admit it, but sometimes, i even greet my home. "hellooooo house!" i say!) it's cozy, it's inviting, it's clean--most of the time!, it's spacious, it's quality. it's my space to be anything and everything in. i breathe in calmness when i do yoga, i cry out my sadness and insecurities, i cook my eggs over easy and butter my toast, while rocking out to my music, sometimes repeating one song over and over to exhaustion. i prep. i study. i read. i knit. i dream. i think about what i want to do be doing more of. i putz around. and finally, i take photos! please come on in! you are all invited!

hello house!

from the living room to the door:

my bumblebee toothbrush holder:

my bedroom, mini-foyer:

from where i sit while on the computer:

the shower:

monkey tries his hand at knitting:

postal love

i feel incredible! i cannot believe my sweet fortune! last week, my girrrrl, heidi, surprised me with a fabulous package of goodies! i gasped when i saw the size of the package and tore it open in seconds! i was wowed by her generosity, thoughtfulness, and loooooove! she gave me a stove top espresso maker, (the momma jomma, no joke! 6 cups!) a gold plated photo album that says, "my bitches," semi-sweet chocolate chips, 2 (two!!!) bags of brownie mix, and a diy set of nesting russian dolls that i can decorate however i wish. heidi, thank you, thank you bunches and bunches!!!!!


just last night, my friend amber (she and i live in the same building, same floor!) and i walked home from dinner out with the co-workers and as we were passing the mailboxes, i glanced at mine, #707 and realized that it was full! WHAT?!?! i grabbed the letters and squealed with delight and giggled like a school girl in a candy shop! i think i may have even skipped in place, did a little dance of happiness! i received 7 letters, 6 from friends (5 from the states, 1 from austrailia!), and 1 in the form of korean junk mail, from my cell, aka, handphone provider, sk. i rushed home and greedily devoured the written words of holiday celebrations and new year wishes! thank you to angie, amber, andrew, beth, brenda and jana and heidi for thinking of me, for making me feel special, for making me smile and shoot! for being SUCH good friends! there will be mail coming back your way for sure, keep your eyes open!

cultural notes

since i've been sick recently, i've been snots mcsnotterson, aka, can't stop won't stop blowing my nose. last night, during one of my classes, my students rebelled in disgust. apparently, in korea, if you have to blow your nose, you should excuse yourself, go to the washroom and blow your nose (i say as loudly as you want!) in "private." i definitely sit in please-blow-your-nose-so-you-don't-have-to-sniff-sniff-all-day camp--i find the sniffles ten times more annoying a 30 second somewhat noisy nose blow. so then, being a wiseass, i asked my students, what do you do if your nose keeps running? do you excuse yourself every 3-4-5 minutes? my students laughed at me and said, 1) stuff tissues up your nose or 2) say you have a bloody nose and stay in the bathroom for a while. wha?!?!

the next time i had to blow my nose, i followed the cultural norm and stepped in the hallway. (i'd never leave my kids unsupervised! shoot! all hell would break loose!) and even when i was being sincere, my kids still laughed at me. it's actually quite endearing. i'd rather have them be laughing than be stone silent. won joon, mr. funny "happy maker" man, told me that i was funny! another student, jane, agreed and asked me if i want to be a comedian. hmm, maybe they're onto something...

language exchange

say kimchi!

monkeying around!

too cute!

steamed chicken with potatoes, rice noodles and peppers:

mmmm, mmmm, hot chocolate!

at work, there are korean staff members who administer the smooth operations of an english language academy. while most of the staff are friendly, i've made a particular connection with two girls named laura and chelsea. they are young, bright, easy to laugh with and fantastic language exchange buddies. this past sunday, amber and i met up with chelsea and laura for eats and hot chocolate afterwards. we smiled and giggled as we practiced our korean and english skills. we had a howling good time when i asked them for korean phrases shared between couples! i may be vulgar at times, but, no worries, these are pg-13 phrases only. very cute and sweet.