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!!!