Where am I???

I'm stuck in Cheongju. I was here and I asked for a bus ticket to Chungju, which is where I need to be tomorrow. They thought I said Jeonju, and gave me a ticket there, and said bali, bali (hurry). So I ran out there, not looking at the ticket, and the bus was just taking off. So I went back and got my money back, when they said that was the last bus for the night. So I got a schedule for the morning buses from them and found a motel here. Now settled in my motel and looking at my info, I NOW realize that it was a bus to Jeonju I missed, and not Chungju, and there are in fact buses still going to Chungju. It's too late since I have this room, but it's a good thing I missed that bus, or I'd be a couple hours away in the wrong town. It's going to be okay, I have to meet the group in Chungju tommorrow at 930, and I can get a bus at 720 here and make it. That would have been my 4th bus ride today, for a total of 8 1/2 hours riding, So I guess it's not so bad. It just means I have to wake up at the butt crack of dawn instead of "sleeping in" til 8 or so.. sigh... Cheongju, Chungju, Jeonju, Gwangju.... USE DIFFERENT SOUNDING NAMES, KOREA!!!

On a related note, I'm going to "Gyeongju" next week for temple stay.

what the f^&k am I doing here?

Is a question I ask myself almost daily. It has neither positive or negative connotation.

It's 1:15 in the morning, and I really should go to bed. I have a big day tommorrow, I believe 5-6 different bus rides will be involved- all to see a giant buddha statue and then stay in a podunk Korean town to meet people to go caving tommorrow. Thats the life of an explorer in a place without a car...

I've been here almost 4 months, and my adventures and stories are already numerous. There's my kindergarten class, who I gave them their English names based off Fresh Prince and Cosby Show characters.. the daily pseudo-molestation by 6-7 year old children, the Korean Bubba Gump looking guy at the gym who stands over me and STARES at what the "meeguk" is doing, the bizarre phenomenom of a people who cannot walk in a straight line, or even decide what side of the path people should walk on, (and in Busan, the constant ped-ped collisions), the other American co-workers who are all running or hiding from something, and who are generally a bat-shit crazy bunch, the boss who brought a couple of indentured servants with her from Thailand, the fact that I could get fired for not finishing the kid's art work for them (it must be perfect, and even if its obviously not done by the child, it doesn't matter), the fact that my English has gotten WORSE since taking this job, the ritual of kids sticking two fingers in your butt as a sign of affection, parents who request you let their child sleep in your class, constant stares and giggles from Koreans, an unimaginable hospitality shown to you when you show an interest in their country, the possibility I may get fired for taking a trip to North Korea in 2 weeks, women cleaning the mens restroom (they don't close them), wide open windows and doors wide open to said restrooms, a decision to spend my summer break in....Mongolia, the most gawd-awful commercials ever, the decision of the bosses to put all the "difficult" parents' children in one class, and giving them to yours truly, a cell phone with impossibly small buttons, an apartment that collect dust like Angelina Jolie collects exotic babies, hiking up a trail only to find random exercise equipment at the top, the late night free-for-all on the roads, a garbage dump that I must step over to leave my building, the best thing about Korea-love motels, the wireles connecton I can only get by putting my computer on my microwave in my "kitchen closet," the ajumma armies, women hiking or working out in high heels, the blood-curling multi-syllabalic Korean whine, some learning experiences, some growing, some regressing, the taste of dog .. but I'll get to all that later. Time for bed.