Christmas

Christmas is celebrated in Korea as a national holiday, but it's more on par with Labor Day in terms of significance. Nevertheless, the big department stores here put up Christmas trees, and they play "Last Christmas" by Wham, and it is the start of the week-long Winter holiday at school. Ranell and I celebrated Christmas in my apartment by watching Christmas Vacation and making ginger bread cookies (Ranell had enough foresight to bring gingerbread cookie kits from home. Brilliant). Christmas day was spent traveling to Seoul for a day before jetting off to Shanghai!!

my angry gingerbread cookie

Mexican food in Seoul, this was actually of "back home" quality

White Trash Thanksgiving

Due to a lack of proper American Thanksgiving options, my Irish friend Ashleigh and I spent the special night at Pizza Hut. A night at Pizza Hut is always a special occasion; despite tasting the same as a Pizza Hut at home, you get to pay around $25 for a pizza! It should be noted that whenever an expat eats greasy pizza on a holiday that centers around wonderful food, that expat must wear the worst clothing they have:

pop songs!

I let some of my classes have a weekly "pop song day," where we just sing American pop songs. It was my favorite day of the week at the school. Enjoy:

Love Motel!

Love motels were maybe my favorite part of Korea. Here is why:

Autumn Trek

NOTE: I stopped updating my blog after the last entry. It is now almost 3 years later and I'm adding posts as if I was writing them at that time. So all of the blog entries from now until July 2012 are written from memory, with my pictures as a guide...





Ranell and I decided enjoy our Chuseok (Thanksgiving) holiday/long weekend to trek in the mountains to see the Autumn foliage. Our first stop was an old castle in the town of Jinju. It's always nice to end up in a town that's only meant to be a stopover on the way to your journey, only to find something really cool you never knew about. We did have a connecting bus to catch, so we didn't spend too much time here, but it was a nice break:

From Jinju we made it to our destination: Jirisan National Park. Our destination was a supposedly large and beautiful waterfall, set in a glorious Fall setting. After perusing the Buddhist temple at the base of the trail, we made our way up. Several miles in, we stumbled upon a little hermitage, where someone was blasting "Unbreak my Heart" from Toni Braxton (haha) through the speakers. Only in Korea. We finally ended up at the waterfall, which was nothing but a trickle. Damn. It was still a great experience, as I was able to take this picture, which has become one of my all-time favorites:

From there it was off on another late-night, multi-stop bus ride to some podunk Korean country town called Suncheon (hooray for memory!) and a stay at the BMW love motel (hooray again for memory!). The next day we trekked to one of my favorite temples, Songgwangsa, which I had visited my previous time in Korea. Unfortunately, they had put a footbridge over the old cobblestone walkway, which ruined my epic photo spot that was the purpose of going there. However, it's still a beautiful temple in a great setting. Here I was able to get my other all-time favorite pics, the red leaf in a bamboo forest one. There are only 2 pics from Korea that I have kept in my portfolio, and they both came in consecutive days from the same trip. This one has won me a couple awards and made me some money:

the new view at Songgwangsa, see 3/08 entry for a  pic of the view I was hoping to re-create:

 On our way back home, we stopped in Masan to try out some Mexican food we had heard great things about. Ranell and I were both dying of Mexican cravings for months, and we finally had the chance to get some. Now that I've been home for a couple years, this meal would probably taste awful to me. But at the time, it was the best we had, and it was an awesome experience:

The MIGHTY falls of Jirisan

Temple Stay

(Golgulsa temple)

This past weekend a few of us spent the weekend in a Buddhist temple called Golgulsa, which means "Stone Buddha Temple." It's a small, yet fascinating temple which gets its name from a 1500 year old Buddha carved into a cliff. It also has some small caves, one of which has a temple built into it, and has been used since the 7th century. The most unique thing about this temple is martial art they teach called Sunmudo. This martial art had existed only at this one particular temple for hundreds of years, being only taught in secret among monks, until the 1940's (when they decided a war of fighting monks was unlikely to happen). They call it a "meditative martial art," meaning they never spar, and any contact during training is accidental.

(our sleeping quarters)

The temple stay consisted of a couple hours of Sunmudo training. The training was fun, but the best part of it came after we finished, when we got to watch the monks training. It was kinda entertaining to watch Buddhist monks, with their robes and all, kicking and jumping around the place.

(practicing the moves on my "bed")
(monks practicing sunmudo)

The temple was very quiet and serene. After the training, it was dark outside, which made it even quieter. It was the calmest I'd ever felt in Korea. We went to bed early, since we had to get up the next morning at 4AM!!! for a chanting session and meditation. The chanting sounded more like singing, it was really cool sounding. I didn't know the chants so I couldn't follow along, but I could do the bowings (after each verse).

(cave temple)

After meditation we had some free time. The sun was just starting to rise, so I planted myself on a rock next to the Buddha and soaked it in. When I got hot, I went into the cave temple and just sat there for awhile. It was very quiet and nice.

(buddha carving)

Next came breakfast. The meal is eaten in a very special way. You are instructed not to talk, or to look at what others are doing, just to think about your food and where it came from and what it took to get it to you. You get 4 bowls which come in a Russian doll-like container; you take the bowls out smallest to largest using only your thumbs to minimize sound. Each bowl has to be in the right spot on your mat; largest bowl in the lower left corner, and descending in size clockwise. You put water in the largest bowl, swich it around, then pour it into the next bowl, repeating this until you put it in the last bowl, where it stays. You eat the food, but not a single morsel of food can be wasted, so you must eat every speck. When you're finished, you take the only thing remaining, which is a piece of kimchi (after having been washed of pepper flakes in your soup), and use it like a washcloth to clean off the last remnants of food. After this, you get more water, and you rinse the bowls again, and you drink the water and eat the kimchi. Then you take the cold water that was sitting in your smallest bowl this whole time, and rinse AGAIN, but this time the water goes into a bucket. That bucket gets dumped into the stream, but there can't be any speck of food in it or else it's considered to be polluting the water. So, if the water you pour into the bucket has any crumb in it (like mine did), they pour that water back into your bowl and you drink that too. Needless to say, the meal was more stressful than peaceful, but it was still an interesting experience nonetheless.

All in all, it was a cool experience. I'm glad I did it, and I might even consider doing it again. Maybe.

tea time with a monk

funny

One of my class lessons was about toiletries, which meant I had to explain to the kids what deodorant was (for whatever strange genetic reason, Koreans don't need to use it, and the kids have no idea what it is). I decided to bring in a stick the next day. When I waved it around so they could smell the scent, two 11 year old boys decided they really liked it. They liked the smell so much, they high-fived each other. I find that to be a fascinating use of the high-five, as shown by my dramatical quizzical expression I gave them.

recent adventures

Three weeks ago, Liz, Ashleigh (two other foreigners here), and I travelled to Seoraksan National Park. It's a spectacular mountain area with dramatic granite spires. We had to leave Friday night in order to make it on time for the tour Saturday morning, which involved a 4 hour bus ride leaving here at 11pm. We attempted to sleep at the bus terminal, which is to say we really didn't sleep. We then had another 4 hour bus ride to Seoraksan, and a 4 hour hike to the top of the mountain (how everything kept turning out to be 4 hours, I can't explain). Saturday night, we visited the fancy bath house, which was fantastic (and much more comfortable than my last experience). Sunday, we had an easier, milder hike to a waterfall. After 2 more 4 hour bus rides, we made it home. It was a great time, and the sky looked cool, so I got good pictures.
This past weekend was Chuseok (Korean Thanksgiving). I had a 4 day weekend, so I took Ashleigh and Ranell to the west side of the country for some exploring. On the first day, we saw a giant Buddha in a town called Cheonan. Then, we took a bus from there to Daejeon, where we spent the night. That day, we took another bus to a mountain called Daedunsan to climb a mountain. That climb involved a suspension bridge just like the one at Wolchulsan, plus a giant ladder-staircase that gave me vertigo. We took a bus that night to Jeonju, where we spent the night in the best love motel I've ever seen: 2 computers, giant tv, 2-person jetted tub, personal sauna, massage chair, and heated toilet seats. The next morning we took another bus to a town called Jinan, and from there a bus to a mountain called Maisan (horse ears mountain), to see the weirdest mountains and weirdest temple in Korea. The temple is called Tapsa, and it's surrounded by hundreds of stone "pagodas," basically piles of rocks that manage to stand even though they're not adhesed together in any way. After 2 more bus rides back to Daejeon, Ashleigh and Ranell had to go back, and I enjoyed my extra day off the next day at Beopjusa. I wrote about this place last year (see blog), it has a really giant Buddha.
I'm pretty exhausted after all these bus rides and hikes, but it was worth it. I had a great time. Sorry I glossed over the details, but I figure a blunt recap is better than none at all..

redeeming experience

Today I went to a store to buy a drink. While I was waiting in line, with my one item and exact change, an old woman butt in front of me. Maybe I wasn't close enough to the person in front of me, or maybe she felt entitiled to my spot. This happens frequently, but I never say or do anything. First of all, it's not a big deal, just a small annoyance. Secondly, I never know if it comes from overt rudeness or some cultural thing I don't know about. At the risk of it being a cultural thing, and since I'm a guest here, I just let it go.
However, this time, the clerk ignored the old woman and took my drink instead and rang me up and checked me out in about 10 seconds. I gave a gracious "kamsamnida," and walked away with the woman having the most incredulous look on her face. Priceless.

PS since that happened, I'm guessing it's "not" a cultural thing..

I don't want to be one of those foreigners who comes to a country and tells the people there that everything they do is wrong. However, I do want to introduce a few aspects of my culture to this one:
First, the ability to walk in a straight line. It really is a struggle for people here. Several times I've been standing still, and someone approaching me has drifted into my space and bumped into me. Add to that the fact that everyone has cell phones, and they all spend all their walking time texting people, and it makes a bad situation worse. Furthermore, there doesn't seem to be any rule regarding which side of the sidewalk to walk on. It's chaos!
Second, I want Korea to know that if a national holiday falls on a weekend, you take either the Friday or Monday off. Here, when a holiday falls on Saturday, there is no day off (except for the kids who have to go to school on Saturday). There's a wonderful world of consistent weekday holidays out there, I think Korea should grab it. Another weird thing: last year, Christmas fell on a Thursday. Guess what? Everyone took Thursday off, then came back to work Friday, then took their weekly holiday break the next week. I'm sorry, but that's stupid.
Third, I appreciate that Asians take their shoes off whenever they enter a house, or sometimes a restaurant. But that does not need to apply to gyms. It all originated from the fact that people ate on the floor, and shoes tend to be dirty, and they didn't want their eating area to get dirty with street junk. That's good, and I do that at home. But what reasonig do they give to apply it to the gym? Now, you don't workout barefoot, but you are expected to leave a separate pair of "indoor" shoes at the gym and change them when you arrive. That's just dumb, admit it...
Finally: coffee should be black, not yellow. Putting 2 tablespoons of grounds for 8 gallons of water does not make coffee, it makes brown-flavored water. It also makes you sleepy. Yes, coffee is much more expensive in Korea than it is in the US, but that's no excuse to ruin it like that!

That's all for now. I'm sure when I return home, I'll have a list of ideas to import to the US from Korea.

awakening

I don't know if it was an epiphany or what, but I had a brilliant idea this week...
First a little background:
I started graduate school in the summer of 2007 for a Master's in Tourism Studies. I attended one semester before I moved to Florida to continue there. While I was in Florida, I decided to put off school and move to Korea for a year (which would allow me to wait for FL residency to kick in), with the intent of going back to grad school when I got back. The Korea gig didn't turn out so well, but I was back in the US, so I applied at FIU in Miami. During the application process, they discontinued the Tourism Studies degree, so I enrolled in a similar hospitality program instead. That didn't inspire me, so I cancelled my classes and tossed out that plan. I still planned on finishing my Master's, since that was a goal I set out for myself. I decided to pursue a Political Science degree, based on little more than a general interest in that field. After all, I wasn't getting a Master's degree to land a specific job, more to complete something I set out to do. After that, I decided I had another unfinished challenge that was more important, so I ended up back in Korea to finish my year abroad, and put off grad school yet again.
I finally accepted the fact that it doesn't make sense to spend thousands of dollars on something that I won't get a tangible return on just to satisfy my ego. Obviously there's something wrong if If I've had a goal for a few years and made little effort to accomplish it. So I stepped out of my box and decided to pursue....an MBA. Yes, that's right. The person who hates money grubbers and who thinks greed is the root of all evil is pursuing a symbol of those things. I kinda laugh when I think of myself getting an MBA. However, I can use it however I want to. I can kill several birds with one stone: I get my goal accomplished (which is very important to me); I get to have a new goal to pursue while in Korea (studying for and doing well on the business exam and getting into an MBA program); and I get something tangible for my efforts, since an MBA would be very useful in acquiring a job. Plus, the sound of "MBA" just impressive to me. So I'm pursuing this starting now. I'm going to spend the next 5-6 months studying for the GMAT exam. The thought of this makes me so excited, a feeling I've never had before at any point in my grad school pursuit. I have a lot of quiet time here, so I can use that in a healthy way by spending it studying. This may put some of my other complete-while-in-Korea projects off for a while, but maybe I can still complete them all.
I'm doing this. My mind is set, and my mind doesn't change once it gets to this stage. I'm going to kill the test, I'm going to kill business school, I'm going to get a powerful job, and I'm going to conquer the world. Then I'll probably be satisfied with myself and retreat to a quiet life in the desert with the satisfaction of knowing I can do whatever the hell I want to do. My re-awakened sense of ambition feels GOOD..

nervousness causes shrinkage, too

Another crazy weekend.. On Sunday, Adam and I walked down to the water and started the day by going "sea kayaking" (more like a canoe-kayak-kiddie boat thing). The last time I was on a sea kayak, I fell in and dislocated my shoulder- the most painful experience I've ever had- so I had a disproportionate amount of nervousness to get over. Of course, they didn't have any life jackets for the foreigners, either, so we went without. But at least now I can add "tandem sea kayaking in Korea" to my list of things done...

After that, we took a ferry to a nearby island, just to see what was there. We went to an old POW camp, which was used to house North Korean and Chinese prisoners of war during the Korean War. It was very interesting to see how large it was, and to get a glimpse of what life was like there. It also had some life-size figures of people using the bathroom, complete with genitalia and detailed feces...

We had a little trouble trying to navigate the island's nonsensical bus system in order to get from the city center back to where the ferry terminal was, so we ended up missing the last ferry out. Luckily we don't work mornings, so we were able to spend the night in a Korean sauna. My brother-in-law always talked about how great they were, so I've had it on my Korean to-do list. I always say: whenever something goes wrong, it just opens an opportunity for something else to happen, so I was happy to experience something I wanted to.

For about $7, we got to use the hot tubs, saunas, and we got the privilege of putting a blanket and a brick pillow on a hard floor and sleeping in a common area. I don't know if I've talked about Korean saunas here, so let me explain: it's a complex of hot and cold pools, saunas, steam rooms, and such. It's segregated by sex, and it's all naked. All of you know that I usually have no hangups with nudity (since everyone's seen me... halls of the hotel in Wendover-sober...haha), but for some reason the naked man stew made me uncomfortable. But I got over it.

After awhile, everyone left, and I had the place to myself. It was fairly relaxing, switching between the cold tub and the hot tub. I guess it's just something you gotta get used to. After that, we went to the sleeping area, which is just a floor with thin blankets and brick-like pillows, crowded with old Korean dudes. Slept peacefully (except for the dude with night terrors waking us up) until 6:30, when they decided to kick everyone out. We finally made it back to the ferry terminal and took the 8:30 ferry back home. Definitely an experience..

China

I just returned from my trip to China; Beijing and Xi'an, to be exact. Saw all the usual tourist spots: Forbidden City, Summer Palace, Terracotta Warriors. Great Wall. I was a little surprised by Beijing, it was a little less cosmopolitan and a little more dirty than I thought it would be. Some observations:
-Men in China love to roll up their shirts just above their belly. They'll parade their bellies around like it's a source of pride; sometimes they'll be rubbing them or patting them. I thought it was the funniest thing, you would never ever see that in Korea.
-More than once I saw men with hair growing out of a mole on their jawbone, which they apparently never cut. Those things were growing out like 6 inches. I have no idea what cultural significance that has; but it has to have some...
-I have never been gawked at so much in my life than the night I hung out at the Olympic venues (and I live in a small, rural town in Korea). It was unreal- stares, heads turning, pictures taken left and right.. that was my first night in China, so I figured they were just more likely to gawk in China. I realized later that it was because I was using my tripod for my camera and they were all fascinated by it. The only other time I used my tripod, I got the same reaction. The people would love to come up and look at my screen to see what I was taking pictures of.. lol
-You see lots of hard-luck people at subway stations, tourists areas, etc (much like any other place). Homeless people, people missing limbs, etc looking for money. One person at the Forbidden City took the cake, though. A tiny, shriveled up being, with 2 ginormous tumors growing out of their brain. Wow..
-There's the classic image of everyone in China riding bicycles everywhere. I was under the impression that they were all gone, replaced by cars. I was happy to see that there are still lots of bikers everywhere you go, and they have special lanes.
-I think it would be fun to own a hostel. I'll add that to my list of 100 business I want to own at one time..
-I really can't stand people who focus on the negative. If you're climbing the Great Wall, doing something that millions of people wish they could do, don't spend the entire time bitching about how hot it is. Spent the time living in the moment, soaking it in, and realizing you're on the GREAT WALL!!!

one month+ back

I've been here about 5 weeks now. Has anything changed? Not really. The job has finally had some low points, but nothing too big. Just the usual things that come with trying to teach kids that don't speak your language. Went to Mudfest last week, which is basically a spring break for foreigners (and a few Koreans). First day was great, second day was a hurricane- but it was still great because I say it was. I knew I was smart for not bringing my umbrella, because everyone who did had theirs busted by the hurricane winds. This weekend I'm not going to do anything and see how it goes. In all the time I've been to Korea, I've tried to see as much as possible, but I'm going to take it a little easier this time. That, and I need to rest up for China in 2 weeks.

best day ever

Yesterday, I made the journey to my old stomping grounds of Gwangju to finally pick up my settlement from the labor court. As is usually the case with anything involving Korean beauracracy, it was not a simple task. My old registration card from last year had my middle name misspelled by one letter (which didn't seem like a big deal at the time), which made the clerk seriously doubt whether I was the same person. It took about 30 minutes of straight arguing to finally convince him. After that was settled, I found out that the money had been put in a bank account in my name. Went next door to the bank and withdrew it, and I was pleasantly surprised to find that I had been earning interest on it all along, about $60. The greatest thing of all is knowing that this particular issue is complete, and I never have to worry about it again. And I get to enjoy this pile of money:

first week over

I've now been back in Korea for 8 days. My first day I felt a little out of place, and was a little uncomfortable with the staring and such, but by day 2 I was over it. Since then I've noticed a few times that it feels like I never left. Forgotten Korean phrases magically returned, my ability to navigate on foot between reckless Korean drivers without even flinching was still there, and what little I remember of Hangeul (written language) came back. The downside to this familiarity is that I lost the overwhelming excitement of being in a brand new place that I felt last year when I arrived. Considering I've been away for a year while only being in Korea for 4 months before, it surprises me how I'm feeling.
So what have I done here so far? Spent the first weekend familarizing myself with my dong... (that's the Korean word for neighborhood, you know) I've made 4 trips already to the Lotte Mart (supermarket) because I keep forgetting things I need, I've gone to eat with my director and her family 4 times, did my Wonder Girls impression at noraebang, spent an agaonizing hour at immigrations trying to get some stupid certificate to present to the labor department in order to get my lawsuit judgment, got an invite to attend a 4th of July party at the naval base, had the worst hangover ever in my life, seen 3 fights, accidentally stepped on a cat, got propped by a woman who couldn't speak a word of English, and been told at least once every day how handsome I am (albeit mostly by Korean men and teenage boys- yep) Adam said today "Korea is great for your ego." Couldn't agree more.

PS I can't say enough how grateful I have a boss who will do whatever it takes to make sure I'm doing okay, and to have Adam here to show me the ropes of this town. This experience is starting off so much better than my last time that it doesn't even compare.

first day back in Korea

I arrived back in Korea last night. The director, a Korean teacher, and the other foreign teacher Adam all came to pick me up. I got the grand tour of the school and the director's apartment, which is upstairs from the school. I moved into my new apartment, which is so much nicer than my place in Gwangju that it doesn't even compare. In fact, I know it's early, but just about every impression the new school has made on me is a 180 from my previous school.
My first night in Korea had quite the share of Korean weirdness. Adam took me to a bbq restaurant, where a drunk guy started throwing glasses everywhere, shattering them on the walls (and he did this about 4 times before the owner finally got mad at him..lol). Then, as soon as we walked out of the restaurant, some drunk kid vomitted right in front of us. Later on, when I was about ready to fall asleep, I heard some "lovemaking" from another apartment across the street. I missed this place!!! View from my apartment

Rocking the ROK

It's all confirmed, I'm going back to Korea this week. I just got my visa today, but not without some trials. My old employer told immigration that I ran away from my job, so immi felt compelled to say that to anyone who applied for a visa for me. I really have to wonder how someone could lie SO MUCH like he does. Maybe he has lied so much, that he convinces himself that it's the truth. Maybe he's found some creative way to justify it, or maybe telling the truth is not part of his personal moral code. Oh well, the end result of his stunt was delaying my return for a few months, he has not succeeded in keeping me away (and why does he care, anyways?). What a douche.. but this will be my last mention of him or of LCI.
I'll be living in the Busan area, which is good because I loved Busan the two times I visited last year. The weather is milder there as well. I'll be 1 of 2 foreign teachers, which means there's only a 50/50 chance I'll have to work with someone who's crazy. Big plusses.. oh and I'll have a good schedule and a significant raise from my previous Korean job. Best of all, I'll get a chance for a do-over- I could not possibly be any more excited.

International Peace Gardens of SLC

Today I finally paid a visit to the International Peace Gardens, a small garden on the Jordan River in Salt Lake. Although I have always known of its existence, I had never been there, and wasn't quite sure what to expect. When I saw it, I was surprised by how nice it was. It's basically a patchwork of different gardens created and maintained by various ethnic groups of Utah. They have cultural icons and some native plants. For example, the Switzerland garden has a 30 foot high replica of the Matterhorn. The Greek garden has vines growing on an arbor that's standing on classic Greek columns. The China, Korean, and Japanese gardens all have pavilions. How could I have grown up in SLC and never been here before? It's such a nice, pleasant place; an oasis in the decaying ghetto of the Westside... oh, and there was no Wikipedia page for this place, either- so I made one. Another crappy page, but another awesome picture:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/International_Peace_Gardens

I've created Wikipedia pages

If you know me, you know I hate waiting for someone else to do something. Such was the way I felt when trying to find some history on one of Utah's oldest skyscrapers, the Walker Center. Even though this building was once the tallest in the Mountain time zone, there's virtually nothing about it online. So, I made a Wikipedia page for it! I figured no one else would, so I should give it a try. I didn't realize you needed to know formatting and other internet shiznit, so it looked horrible, until I just copied the formating of another page. I still never found much info on it, so it's short (and poorly written). But hey, it has an awesome picture, which I took!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Walker_Center

photography page

I'm in the process of creating a page for my photography. On one hand, it's really exciting to finally be sharing my art with the world. On the other hand, it's very uncomfortable to put myself out there like that. It's one thing to have my photography on my myspace or facebook page, where only my friends (i.e. approving people) can see it, and another thing to put it on a public page where anyone can come and make whatever comment they want about it. Even though many people have suggested to me time and time again that I put my photography out there and try to make money off it or use it as a resume, there's still that insecure part that hopes no one ever says anything mean. As Erykah Badu says: "keep in mind that I'm an artist, and I'm sensitive about my shit!"

SOLD!

I am pleased to announce my Arizona tortilla chip has been sold for a cup of Starbucks.

Arizona for sale!

Well, not the actual state, but this tortilla chip I discovered that looks almost exactly like the shape of Arizona. I think ebay is calling me:

Two years ago I posted a similar blog on myspace about another chp that looked like Arizona. Here is a pic if it... how weird that I've seen 2 of these chips before (or maybe they're just not that rare)

living in the present

I feel close to making an announcement on my future destination, but I'm not going to say anything until it's 100% confirmed. More on that at a later date...

Yesterday, out of the blue, I got a little homesick for Korea. I didn't think I had been there long enough to have it be a place I got homesick for, but I guess I was wrong. What struck me as odd were the images that were popping in my head. I did a lot of exploring, and saw a lot of sights, but it's the simple memories that are coming up: hanging out in the subway station late at night when it's empty, walking the streets of downtown Gwangju at night during a monsoon, late night taxi rides, eating "gelato" out of a thimble-sized cup at a sidewalk cafe during a rare 2 hour lunch after a field trip, drinking coffee and eating sandwiches in the neighborhood cafe while Roxanne tries to buy the owner's homemade pottery that decorates it, the Friday sidewalk markets that seemed like such an annoyance at the time, wandering the aisles of E-Mart for no good reason...

For awhile now, I've been living in the future, while thinking about the present. I spent too much time daydreaming about trips I could take, marking in my calendar what I would do every weekend day for the next 3 months, and imagining what life would be like when I returned home (even though it was a year away). My new goal is to flip it around and live in the present, while thinking of the future. It's a concept I'd heard a lot, but never paid any attention to. I'm looking out of the window, watching the dark thunderstorm outside, and being thankful that it's no other way...

...and wondering why I end so many of my thoughts with ellipses...

one+ year

If I had finished my contract, my last day would've been March 1st. Counting the 2 week vacation I was planning to somewhere in Indochina, I would just be getting home now. That blows my mind.

lawsuit update

Right before I left Korea, I found a lawyer and signed power of attorney over to him, so that he could file and fight my case against my ex-employer for me while I was in the US. Not surprisingly, I won the case, and won the full amount I could ask for. Apparently, the judges (?) with the board were most upset with my story, it was one of the worst cases any of them had heard of. My ex-boss filed an appeal, and he lost that too. There's several million won waiting for me at this labor board-courthouse-whatever it is in Gwangju, which I can claim. After I pay my lawyer his share of it, I'll have enough to cover the 2 weeks of wages plus the severance payment I never received, as well as enough to cover the plane ride home. It's not enough to cover all the stuff in my apartment that was stolen, but I'm not complaining. It's just stuff, and all the replaceable things have been replaced (still upset that I had already bought souvenirs, which I lost). Important thing is that I'm vindicated. Feels pretty good.
I am now making an attempt to secure employment and return to Korea to finish what I started. I might be crazy and/or masochistic for wanting to go back there, but I miss it. I need to finish my to-see list. I know so much more now, that I think I know how to make it work, and how to avoid ending up in a concentration camp. Apparently I have a job offer- but I can't get my hopes up. Korea is weird, and things can always change. Even though I won my case, I'm not sure if Korea will want to grant me another visa. I just don't know, so my backup plans are to go to Mongolia, Japan, or Taiwan. My heart is in Korea, and that's where I want to be at this point, so wish me luck. Those other 3 places could be visited on a long weekend...