Hey guys! Sorry I've been MIA lately. With the holidays coming up, like right around the corner, I've been super busy. And honestly, I'm getting rather homesick and sometimes its easier for me to not remind myself of what I'm missing. =(
So, the last week as been really busy. I've met a slew of new people to hang with, so for everyone who was sending up good thoughts for me-- thank you. They worked. LOL. This past Wednesday, I went to a native English teacher workshop for the day at this Korean university. When I was first walking up the building, I was surrounded by Koreans and when I walked through the doors it was "Hello Middle America!" LOL-- There were TONS of people there from my province and they were all speaking English! It was like heaven for my ears.
I met my friend L there, the guy from Iowa, and we started mingling. Halfway through a conversation with someone, these girls came up and started speaking to me another language. I know my face was looking crazy for a second there, and L looked just as confused. I said, "I'm sorry, what?" And they were like, "You're American?" Uh, yeah honey. I said, "Yeah, from Michigan." Turns out they thought I was South African and were talking Afrikaans to me. I dont know what it is about me that screams "NOT AMERICAN!" but its starting to get a little concerning. That happened to me THREE times after that-- one guy even thought he knew me from Cape Town. Which leads me to believe that I dont look South African, only that I look like a CERTAIN South African person that everyone knows maybe. Who the hell knows?
We, L and I, end up spending the rest of the day with the South African girls, who are very cool and have awesome accents. The workshop ends at 5:30, and L and I go to catch the bus back to the subway terminal. So, we're standing at the bus stop and I turn around and guess what I see strapped on to some guy's back? A Morehouse backpack thingy. Immediately, I go wtf? I tell L that this guy went to my "brother school" and say I'm going to go and talk to him. So, I tap his shoulder and go-- "When did you graduate?" He says "May 08" I say, "Shut up! Spelman '08!" This immediately starts a conversation and we talk about Senior Week (he was drunk as was I), Homecoming (he wasnt at this one, I was) and how we've never layed eyes in each other before meeting in freaking South Korea. Luck would also have it that he is also in the same city as me too. Go fucking figure.
He tells his friends, "Hey guys, this is my Spelman sister!" and invites L and I to go out to dinner that night. L says he cant cause he's tired, but I say that I'm totally down. So, he and his friends and I go out to dinner and have an awesome time. One girl, a Korean American from California, is soooo cool and we become fast friends. She's hilarious too. She said her parents encouraged her to come over here because they want her to meet a nice Korean boy since she has a lamentable habit of being attracted to black guys. Ha! So, anywho, we make plans to spend the holidays together at Morehouse's apt and then hitting up another party later that evening.
So, that was part one of my week. That weekend, I caught strep throat but I didnt let that keep me from doing a little shopping. I met up at the mall with a new small town Canadian friend, who is also overweight, but this one is completely normal. She just walks reeeeaaaaalllllllyyyy slowly, which annoys me to no end. But she's really sweet, so that makes up for it. =) I bought two pairs of boots, a leather bag, a facial system from The Body Shop and some tights for about 130,000 won. About 95 American dollars. Whenever I'm down on Korea, shopping always takes away the bad taste in my mouth.
I'm going back to Seoul this weekend too. I'm headed to Itaewon, which is a huge foreigner district because its located right next the US base, and I'm super excited. Doubtless, I'll have plenty of stories to tell about that one. Its going to be interesting, cause it'll be me, A, Nice S.T. Canadian and a gay guy that I met going together. None of these people have ever met before, and I can only hope that they will all get along nicely. I dont know how thats going to work out yet, cause A has already started asking me, "So, is your fat friend going to be able to keep up? I mean, is the walking going to be a big problem?" And I havent yet mentioned that Nice S.T. Canadian walks reeeeaaaaallllllllyyyy slowly yet and dont think I'm going to say anything about it. She'll find out sooner or later, right? But I dont think, D, the gay guy will be a problem. Every girl loves a good gay guy, right? And he's from Michigan too. =) I'm planning on adopting him as my new gay friend since I dont have Tionne anymore. =( I miss that kid. Anywho, you have just been updated, my friends!!! Merry Christmas if I dont get to tell you later!!!! Love you all!

I spent the weekend watching Seasons 4-6 of Sex and City, rounding out almost 2 weeks of effort to complete the series. By Season 5 (or IN Season 5), Carrie began annoying me-- bad, I know, since I usually love Carrie. But it occurred to me that important shit happened in Season 5-- pregnancy, divorce, etc. and all she could focus on was her very non- important love life. I think it reminded me of myself and that’s why it annoyed the hell out of me. So, if I ever brushed anyone off or made your relationships and life minor because of my own unimportant musings, I apologize. =)
So, that was my unspectacular weekend… I stayed in all weekend, ate dumplings and watched SATC. I probably put on about 5 pounds, which I will likely drop during the school week when I have to eat snails, octopus or something similar during school lunch. Yummy. =P
Okay, if I tell you something, you must PROMISE that I will not become an object of ridicule and speculation. You cannot call one another and say, “Awww, Lacey is so sad.” Because I’m not sad, necessarily, just mildly desperate. Which all resulted in the story that I will now tell you. =) LOL.
So, about a week ago, I began feeling desperate for company when I realized that my closest friends here are two Korean students who keep me company during class breaks. Granted, my Iowan and Canadian friends are awesome, but they are miles and miles and miles away in the country, while I’m firmly rooted in the Korean ghetto, right?
So…I put out a personals ad. Yes, I did and I am not ashamed to admit it. Not a “Hey, lets fuck!” personals ad, but a “Hey! If you’re as bored as me and live in my city, lets hang!” one. It was strictly platonic and placed on a Facebook group aimed toward that sort of thing as well as on Craigslist. Was it a moment of sheer insanity? I don’t know, but I will say I was bored, having read all of Perez Hilton, People.com and watching all the new videos on Youtube, and it seemed like a capital idea!
So, I began getting all these hits back from different people. Some were indeed perverted, some misguided, but most seemed to echo my feelings exactly. The feeling of “Well, if you speak English and I speak English, why the hell don’t go shopping together or something?” I emailed the normal people back, deleted and blocked the pervs and began my friend search in earnest. I mean, I don’t want to pat my own back, but I’m pretty awesome friend material. I mean, I kind of like hanging out with myself, and I’m ME…although the relationship has gone sour because I’ve been spending too much time alone in my own company. Bleech.
So the Great Friend Search, as I like to call it, began with a bang. I got a couple of emails from girls and guys who are pretty close to where I live, but decided to play it safe by emailing only the girls first. One, who I’ll call AG, seems really cool. She’s 22, from Maine and said that we had almost identical interests and should get together to go Christmas shopping. Which, of course, I love-- English and shopping seem pretty wonderful at this point. She seems, dare I say it, normal. The other girl who emails me, I’ll call her Small Town Canadian, seems fine at first. She’s 25 and, well, from a small town in Canada. She emails, says what her interests are, and follows it up immediately with a ranting email. She says how much she cant stand Korea, blah, blah, blah. Okay, so we all know I’m not IN LOVE with Korea, but I require any company I keep here to at least tolerate it to help keep MY morale up.
So, Small Town Canadian emails me and I email back and she friends me on Facebook and writes me a message there too. I’m like, wow she’s even more desperate for company than I am…I mean, and she has 2 native English teachers at her school to hang out with too. So, on this message she says, ‘Well I was emailing this one girl here but then she wrote me all of the sudden and said that we couldn’t be friends because we don’t have similar interests! How fucked is that?!’
Well, it IS pretty fucked, but if Small Town Canadian is acting anything like she is now then I can kind of see where this girl is going with the ‘nothing in common’ route. She was probably trying to spare her feelings, instead of saying ‘You may be a psycho, so its best we not meet.’ So, I check out her Fbook profile, to see if I notice anything that, even vaguely, says “I’m crazy”-- I find out that she is….well, really overweight. Like, maybe ¾'s the size of Ora Monet or Liz Purnell…for all the non-Spelmanites who don’t know who Ora or Liz is, I will say that she is probably a stone’s throw away from the size of a baby orca whale. And I say that with a straight face. No laughing, because I am entirely serious.
I am surprised by this fact, but in no way prejudiced. And then I begin to look through the information section of the Facebook, where her about me says “I am the beacon of fashion and class in my community.” and “People always tell me that they envy my style and sophistication.” And I see that despite being the size of a large salt water mammal, she is clearly not lacking any self confidence, which I think it rather impressive. I mean, something’s gotta be said for that, right?
Until I see the “Very Conservative” under her political views…I begin wondering “Exactly HOW conservative?” The only conservative person I talk to on a regular basis is my dad, and I love him, so I kind of have to. I mean, I can deal with conservatism, but when I see a “very” before it, I start to think that it may be a bit extreme, which I would find very hard to tolerate. We can have different opinions on things and that’s fine, but if we have TOTALLY different beliefs and we’re not related then I don’t have to be bothered.
I shamelessly look through her photos. She poses with rifles at Canadian NRA meetings…she’s protesting against gay rights at a rally, wearing a t-shirt that has two “F”s on top of each other on the front and on the next photograph there’s a picture of her rather large back with the words “Uck” and “Ags” in the same position as the two Fs are on the front….I’m sure you can get the picture…then, she’s double fisting beers and licking some fat Asian guy’s stomach at a bar after what I am assuming is a body shot…she’s holding up a furry animal by the tail after shooting it…and….she’s at a John McCain rally in Michigan holding up a sign that says “Barack HUSSEIN OSAMA-- Leader of the Free World? Fuck no!” And no, there is no misspelling on the “Osama” part-- that’s what the sign said. And she crossed a border and went through customs just hold that sign up. Cheers!
So… I guess that means we could have different interests, then right? After seeing such “style” and “sophistication” I then begin to think I understand what this other girl meant when she said that she and Small Town Canadian have un-similar point of views. I mean, frankly, I’m surprised she even left her small town to come to Korea-- doing something like that would require a slightly more open mind than it appears she possesses.
I decide not to respond to any more emails, after a brief message that it appears I will be transferred to the Korean countryside and wont be in the area any longer. I de-friended her and quietly continued on with my day. Okay, so if I didn’t do crazy shit like post for friends on the Internet then this kind of stuff wouldn’t happen. But you guys also wouldn’t get any stories like this, right?
Ha! You know you love me and my antics. =)

So, guys, you know Christmas is coming up just around the river bend and I have to ask you for a favor. =) Be the ghost of Christmas Kindness and please grant my request if you're able. If you have a) a webcam or digital camera and b) 3-5 minutes to spare would you mind recording a Christmas-type greeting for me? On Christmas Eve, I will be forced to come to school so I'm throwing a huge American-style Christmas party. The students here LOVE to listen and look at American people (they're always asking me to call people on Skype) and I want to link all the messages I can get from friends and afmily together so that they can see it in a sort montage-thingy...so, let me know if you can. I'd like to have everyone who can do one sent it to me by the 20th, so keep updated! Talk to you soon!

xoxo

Before I start on my very, very eventful weekend, let me note that I, in fact we ALL, are very misinformed. For some reason, America must attract that cast-off Koreans, the Koreans that Korea doesn’t think is very pretty. Cause these Korean boys are CUTE. Well, pretty would be a better description. No, seriously before I came over here I thought, “Well, there wont be any eye-candy, but at least I’ll have money…” Wrong. About the eye-candy part, anyways. Cause every time I go out, I see plenty of delicious Koreans for every eye. Hehehe. You have the preppy ones, the hipster ones, the corporate ones, the hip-hop ones, the laid-back ones…and they all dress well too. While I don’t think I would date a Korean guy, rest assured that I am not lacking for nice things to look at while I‘m abroad. ;-)
Hmmm, so my weekend was pretty eventful indeed, chicas. Saturday, I showed up at school in the early am for the class-showing get together thing. Mrs. Lee basically shooed me away anytime I attempted to help (she could probably smell my un-enthusiasm OR my distinct lack of decorating flair), so I was relegated to the office where I surfed CNN and face book all day. You know, I was reading in my contract where it says I’m definitely NOT supposed to work on Saturdays…which I will be showing Mrs. Lee tomorrow, cause unless I’m getting paid for being there, then I will gladly stay at home sleeping in. =P So, I left the school early to meet my new friend A at Suwon Station, so we could go into Seoul and do some shopping. I came unprepared for the bitter cold and she…just wanted some new winter clothes I guess.
(Background info: A is probably late 20’s--I don’t know for sure-- and a 6-foot tall white girl with a penchant for wild makeup and clothes. Example: When I met her at the Station, she was wearing glittery-gold and black Adidas Classics and brightly pigmented fuchsia Mac eyeliner. She’s from Canadialand, but has been living in the east for about 4 years. She spent two years in Taiwan and has been in Korea for almost two years. She said she liked Taiwan way better then Korea-- its cheaper, the weather’s nicer, the people are nice and the women aren’t stooped-- but she now has a way cute Korean boyfriend who plays semi-pro golf so she will probably stay in Korea forever. Whew.)
A is super funny and says whatever the hell she wants wherever she wants to say it. She has a dislike for Korean women, because she says that act stupidly just because they’re expected to. She says “retard” in all seriousness and yet makes it charming. And for once, its nice to be a part of the conversation that no one ELSE understands. Ha! We’re on the subway train to Seoul and everyone is staring cause theres this tall white girl and a short black one speaking rapid-fire English and, damn, its nice not to be stared at alone. Hehehehe. She was very…free with her opinions, probably because no one else could understand that she was talking major triz-ash about Korea’s educational system, old ladies, women and alcoholic men. Whoopsie….
We get to Seoul, popping my Seoul cherry BTW, and its ammmmaaazing. I realize its kinda a blessing I’m not in Seoul, cause if I were I would be broke. Ha! There are sooo many stores, with things dirt ass cheap.
Side Note: For all you Econ majors, the exchange rate in $1.00= 1,700.00 KRW. Yes, Korea is probably the ONLY place in the world where the dollar is expensive.
So, I went wild. I had withdrew about 200,000 KRW from my bank account (around 175.00 American), and I had a surplus of money. I bought probably 8 sweaters, 5 camis, a pair of jeans and leather gloves for about 70 bucks…
After we finish our shopping extravaganza, we go to meet A’s boyfriend at this electronics district in Seoul. We go there for the express purpose of boot-leg DVDs, which a year ago used to be a thriving, open business until the Korean government put the smack down on it. So now, you have to know exactly where to go to get bootlegged DVDs. Now, when they we were first talking about bootlegs, I’m thinking “Oh, lord, please don’t take me to a jack-legged bootlegger….there are enough in Detroit. Not interested.” We go to this guy, A’s favorite boot-legger, and this guy has EVERYTHING. No seriously, all the seasons of Friends, House, and even Martin! Basically every other major network American show plus movies that have just recently made it to theaters to old-school classics. I have to admit that I’m impressed. Impressed, but still wary cause these could be low-quality movies, like the ones back home where you hear people laughing and see heads moving in front of the screen…but I succumb and buy season 1 through 6 of Sex and the City, Eagle Eye, and the House Bunny for 38,000 KRW (about 28 bucks). This was a freaking STEAL, but I was still nervous about the quality. So I get home and pop in DVD 1 of Season 1, SATC, and its perfect. No, seriously, its like watching the $250 set from Target. I even have menu options, language settings and scene selection. I pop in the movies and they are also perfect, like I purchased them from Blockbuster. WTF? So, I officially love Korea right now. Is that positive enough for you, Ren?
Wait, so let me backtrack, cause a big hunk of my Seoul experience is missing. We leave the electronic district (which has cheapie cheap everything electronic there-- I will be going back soon) and A tells me that we have to split up cause her and her boyfriend are going a different way then me. I experience mild panic, cause in the ride there, we had to transfer a few times and I cant read or speak real Korean. I’m like, “Shit, are you serious?” She tells me the train I have to get on and says it’s a straight shot, no transfer necessary and it will only take about 50 minutes. I’m nervous, but I’m a big girl so I say its fine I can do it. Of course, I end up getting lost on the Korean subway. I ride until the absolute end of the track and a Korean cleaning lady comes in and I say, “I’m lost! Suwon Station!! Suwon!” LOL. She speaks like rapid Korean and I say that I don’t speak Korean, only English. She is trying to explain to me, showing me the subway map and the conductor comes into the subway car. He speaks elementary English and explains that I need to stay on this train as it heads back to Seoul and tells me where I need to get off to transfer to the Suwon train. I sit and ride and when I get to the transfer point, he gets out of the little conductors’ box-thing and escorts me to the Suwon train and tells me how many stops it takes to get to Suwon and says “Be careful, okay?” I was like, “THANK YOU SOOOOOO MUCH.” Ha! Another thing to appreciate is that there are kind people everywhere. I mean, yeah, some of the Korean women can be nerve-wracking and look mean as hell and the men like to drink a little too much, but there are nice people here regardless.
I ride the train to Suwon Station and thankfully get on my bus home and am…happy. For the first time since I’ve been here, I feel braver and bigger almost like I can do anything. I just got lost on the Korean subway and made it back home. John Mayer had it right-- I’m bigger than my body gives me credit for.

Ha! Good idea Ren! I should totally go full Gossip Girl on your asses. Hehheee. Maybe not. So, today, AGAIN, I'm at school. And a little pissed, cause today should be an off day...but its not. And then I remind myself about the cash, right? So this week has been interesting. One the bright side, my principal hasnt farted or burped in my presence for like 4 days straight, which is a huge accomplishment for him. Mr. K is still annoying, but he's not annoying me with the fervor that he has before.
I now have friends guys-- and they're my students! Ha! Seriously, I like them better then the teachers and some of the other foreigners I've met here. Two of the students, Happy and S. Ah and I went to dinner last night, which is really nice. Where I work is kind of a low-income area, so I enjoy being able to do things with them that they cant do all the time. The meal cost like 18,o00 KRW, which is like 13-14 bucks American and they were like "Oh, no teacher, its so expensive!" I had to tell them, "I feel like its cheap to spend 13 dollars just for my OWN meal, let alone a meal that is more then enough for the 3 of us!" They're so sweet. And they're teaching me Korean, which is like the most confusing language ever.
Theres this other kid, who I call K.P. who is a piano prodigy. No, seriously. =) He is this adorable, smart, sweet and cute 15 year old kid who is just like my favorite boy at the school. One day he's like, "Teacher, do you like classic music?" I say "Yeah, I like everything. I really like Debussy." And he goes, "I like Chopin. I play classical music." So, of course, I drag him to the music room and make him play. He kept saying, "Lacey, I am so nervous." So I turn my back, so he wont feel anxious and all the sudden he starts playing. And he is freaking AMAZING. I literally feel my jaw drop, which I thought was only an expression before until it happened to me. This kid is SUPER talented. So I ask him after if takes lessons. He says, "No, I learn solo." I'm like, "You dont have a teacher????" He tells me that a teacher taught him Do, Re, Me, Fa, So, La, De, Do and after that he taught himself. Isnt that the craziest thing you've ever heard?!
So, this week I was especially invited to another teacher's 'workshop' (aka drunken karaoke) by Mr. K. I said I was sick and I couldnt go. I mean, wtf is up with all these old ass people wanting to go and get drunk every other night? Shouldnt you be tired of doing that at that age??? I certainly hope that by the time I'm 40+, I'm over going out and making an ass out of myself. Mrs. Lee acted like I should go, but I was firm, saying I didnt feel well and going out was only going to make my cold worse then it was. This did not deter Mr. K, who planned another teacher's outing for next weekend. Only, this one would last the ENTIRE weekend. It was be at a really beautiful Korean province, which I would have gone had Mr. K and some of the other skeevier teachers not had accepted the invite. And the other English teachers had a workshop to go to so they wouldnt be able to attend, which means that I would be spending a weekend with drunk Korean old people who dont speak much English. Uh, no thanks honey. So, I told Mrs. Lee, "You know, I would except thats a bad time of the month for me, if you know what I'm saying..." She nodded all solemn-like and said, "Oh, now I have to make something ELSE up to explain why you cant go." I dont care, as long as they know I wont be there. Tell them I'm going to have a corn removed from my baby toe, I dont give a damn but I wont be on a bus with Mr. K speaking broken ass English to me and trying to make me take shots on the ride there.
On the bright side, today is my shopping trip. I definitely some warmer clothes, so I'm excited. What pissed me off a little is that I was supposed to have today off and at the last minute they told me that I had to come to school and conduct a class-warming party at 8:30am. I'm not the most social person that early and knowing that by all rights I should be at home sleeping in is not helping. What I've learned about Koreans is that they tell you things at the last minute, that are like mandatory, and expect you to drop all your plans and be there. Ugh. Its sooo irritating, but I'm fortified thinking of all the new things I'm going to buy....sigh

Is that positive enough for you, Ren?

Just name dropping, ahem Tat, too. Muah! love ya, miss ya all! I'll report back soon.

Hello, all. =) Okay, so I should address a few things before continuing with this post. Yes, we all know that I can light an entire birthday cake STORE when I have consumed eggplant. I can, indeed, be toxic and unfortunately, some of you have been on the receiving end when I happened to have a California Panini from Corner Bakery during breaks at work. My bad, you know I loooooove you. Hehehe. However, I would UNDER NO CIRCUMSTANCES FART OR BURP in the presence of a CO-WORKER, EMPLOYER OR SOMEONE I HAVE JUST MET. Especially during a meal. So that completely removes me from Mr. K’s category. I mean, this isn’t an argument about whose shit don’t stank, but rather one of who lets it out at more inappropriate moments. At least I could do it, knowing I have the enduring love and support of everyone who had to smell me. LMAO. Mr. K had no such assurance with me, so there. =P
Whew. Okay, now that THAT matter has been addressed (reni and bijul), I should also tell you guys the explanation I got from a fellow teacher about the “Mexican” incident. Hehehe. So, Alison (another Korean English teacher at my school, who speaks near flawless English) felt the need to explain Mrs. Lee’s nationality gaffe today. I didn’t know anyone was still talking about it, but apparently Mrs. Lee felt really bad about calling me Mexican. Like, during some random time during my first week I was on the phone with my mom and I said “Te amo” or something and Mrs. Lee assumed I was South American or something. Which still doesn’t completely explain the “Mexican” thing, since South America and Mexico are two entire different places, but it does somewhat explain it. She, however, then told the entire staff I was South American, or Mexican, or whatever which is kind of gossip-y, no? So now she probably has to explain to everyone that, No, I’m not Mexican, South American or anything with Spanish involved. Just a garden-variety black American. Hhehehehe. I almost feel bad for her.
So, that effectively clears up some of the more annoying things that have happened in the last week. I mean, Mr. K is still my boss so that will be an annoyance I have deal with for another 11 months but I am now on a plane of maturity where I wont let him bother me. Unless he burps over my food or in my face again. Or farts while I’m on the phone. Right.
On the downside, H’s mom was in a pretty crucial car accident last night. She was in critical condition, but they’ve stabilized her so she’s in the clear. When H called me, it was in the middle of the school day and I was so shocked to see his number. I’ve only spoken to him once since I’ve been here and it so awkward. But he calls, and I answer and he sounds like so freaked out that it terrifies me. I couldn’t understand him at first, he so incoherent and when I finally hear the story, I was shocked. I mean, I love Mrs. S…she has been literally like a favorite aunt to me. Even when H and I were going through our bumps, she and I still spoke over the phone and went to lunch a couple times. And then I realize that I completely useless, in Korea…so far from H and Mrs. S and I can do absolutely nothing but wait. I couldn’t comfort him or hold him or anything. AND on top of that, I totally had to co-teach 4 more classes and act like nothing was wrong… so on all my breaks, I would call H and see what was happening and he called me after school had just ended and told me the news that she was fine and I felt like a took my first breath of the day.
Oh, yeah so I am slowly making English speaking buddies. I mentioned my friend L, who I met at the immigration office. He’s like this small, nerdy, style-challenged white kid from the Midwest, but he’s sweet and smart so it doesn’t matter that he has no fashion sense. Hheehehe. Ok, I’m being mean. Me and L went out to celebrate Thanksgiving the day after Thanksgiving at Outback Steakhouse, which was super cool. While I was there, I saw like 15 foreigners so it made me feel a little better, but I’m the only black person I’ve seen so far. LOL. But, its weird because a lot of the Western people are kinda of clique-y. You almost feel like you have to pledge to hang out with some of them. And since I don’t need friends THAT badly, I don’t bother with the ones who want to make me work to be their hang-out buddy. Ya’ll know I’m lazy. =) I am, however, going out with this girl A this weekend to do some shopping since it gets pretty cold here and I didn’t bring my serious- Michigan cold gear. I bought my Atlanta-cold stuff which WOULD be okay if the school had better heating. The hallways feel like someone turned on the fucking AC when its already 30 degrees outside. I think its actually colder inside the school then it is outside. And these Koreans are FIERCE dressers. I feel like I have to step my game up just to walk to market. I mean, heels and peacoats everyday. Even the guys dress well…At least I know I’ll leave here with some nice ass clothes, right?
Note: Nae, you were right about some of the toilets here. For those who don’t know, Korea used to have these gnarly ass bathrooms, where theres only like a hole in the ground you pee in and then flush or some shit. MOST of these bathrooms no longer exist, since they got up on the smart, cleaner, better smelling method of toilets instead of popping a squat all the time. Since I live and teach in the Korean ‘hood, my school hasn’t got up on that trend. The school bathrooms are NASTY. LOL. Most smell like fish since you basically have half of the school population having to pop a squat every time they have to pee and there always seems to be shortage of toilet paper. And there are porcelain holes in the ground that are supposed to be…well, a toilet I guess. Its pretty vicious. So, basically I don’t drink anything at work and if I do have to use the bathroom, I walk back home during the break and pee.
Another thing they do that makes me sick is brush their teeth during the school day…they walk around the hallways after eating lunch with toothbrushes hanging from their mouths as I try not to run or visibly cringe. I mean, I can understand because they eat some pretty serious, spicy stuff for lunch so they feel the need to brush their teeth, but DAMN could you keep it in the bathroom? I haven’t told them it makes me nauseous to see that yet, but I’m sure it will come up soon. I wish I weren’t so weird…
I’m sure I’ll have a lot to report later, as not a day goes by when something absurd doesn’t happen to me. =)
PS> I’ve decided to make this a positive post, despite all the crazy shit. I mean, at the end of the day, I adore the kids. If I hated the kids AND my principal, please believe I’d be on a plane home now. Hhhehe. =P

You guys dont know this little tidbit (or maybe you do?), but I work half days for two Saturdays out of the month. And this past Saturday was one of those lucky days. Not. So anywho, I come in and I'm informed that Mrs. Lee, myself and Mr. K (gag me. please.) would be going to another school to check out an English classroom and get ideas about how we wanted our own classroom to look. Sigh. That means, unfortunately, more time spent with Mr. K. So, on the ride to the other school, theres this GNARLY fucking smell that comes out of nowhere. No, seriously. I could tell that it wasnt the outside coming into the car, it was totally something INSIDE making serious rounds through the car. I was sitting in the front seat with Mrs. Lee and Mr. K was in the back. I looked at Mrs. Lee and then turned around slowly to look at Mr. K. I knew in my heart that it was him, I could practically smell the kimchi and Hite beer he had the previous night for dinner. I was sooo pissed and extra grossed out. It smelled like someone had let a fucking nuclear bomb of garbage drop in the car. And Mrs. Lee didnt say anything. No one did.
So, we get to the school and Mr. K decided he wasnt ready to go in out of the chilly weather because he wanted to smoke first. And he wanted Mrs. L and I to keep him company. Uh, no. I told Mrs. Lee that I one) had a cold and didnt want to make it worse and two) cigarette smoke makes me sick. We went inside after I made it clear I wasnt staying outside to chat while Mr. K smoked. We go into the school and meet the vice principal, who is very cool and fluent in English, and the schools Korean English teacher. Unfortunately, the native English teacher isnt in because, ahem, its Saturday and she doesnt have to work. Bastards.
I see the class and its really cool and Mr. K is only annoying me minimally (he points to pictures of obvious things like London and Martin Luther King and feels the need to TELL me what the picture is like I dont know), when they somehow get on the topic of nationality. The native teacher at the middle school I visited is Chinese Canadian, and they start having a rapid-fire Korean conversation. Then the Korean English teacher turns to me and says "Are your parents African?" Mrs. Lee says, "No! Shes Mexican!" and Mr. K goes, "No, she China too!" WTF? At this point, I am pissed despite my best efforts not to take it personally. I say, "No. I'm BLACK and AMERICAN. A BLACK AMERICAN." It gets quiet after that, and no more mention is made of my origins (which are pretty clear to me- I'm black and, ahem, clearly American based on the accent) or nationality. 11 months and counting guys.

Still waiting for that positive post.

Okay, so its been a minute since my last post, so theres some stuff I can update yall on. For one: Happy Belated Fucking Thanksgiving, you lucky bastards! Hahaha. I'll be celebrating in Korea with a couple of Americans at TGIFridays. WTF did they import the worst American restaurant chains here? They love Dunkin Donuts (yuck), Baskin Robbins (ewww-- ever hear of Coldstones?), Kentucky Fried Chicken (I should mention when I first taken out on an outing to a mall here by my kind hosts we saw a billion KFCs. One of the Korean teachers said to me, "I know youre happy there's a KFC here, right?" Uh, no honey. I wont take that as a insult, either even though it was on the TIP of my tongue to say, "Oh cause I'm black I gotta like fried chicken?" Whoops.) There are KFCs, Baskin Robbins and D.D on almost every corner. Right beside the McDonalds...sigh.
So, it hasnt all been bad. On the bright side, my principal has started getting the message and leaving me the fuck alone. However, he still burps and farts in the presence of myself and other teachers. And since he is the ONLY Korean person I've met who does this, I will choose to assume that this is HIS own personal quirk and not one of Korean men in general. That being said, he is still a nasty ass fucker.
My third week of school is going pretty well. In case ya'll didnt know, I teach 13-16 year olds. Teenagers are challenges; theyre either really angsty or too talkative or have smart ass mouths. They just didnt know that I will get with their asses. Now they do. =) And once they found out I was 22, it got a little awkward. So, the boys like to flirt, a little too much. Whenever I go into the upper-level classes, with the 16 year olds, they never fail to call out "Can I have your number?" WTF? I smile and say, "Yeah, honey you can once you hold an all-English conversation on the phone." The lead teacher in my office had to actually ban 3rd grade (english equivalent of 10th grade) boys from the office because they pile up in here and want to talk during all the breaks... one-- very embarassing. two-- annoying as well. She informed me that it would wear off once all the students get used to me, which hopefully will happen soon cause its mortifying being under all this scrutiny.
Another thing you guys may find amusing. The issue of my clothes...or more specifically my BODY. So, the other day I wore a v-neck sweater to school, with a camisole underneath and wide legged jeans and ballet flats. It was possibly the most vanilla, safe and professional outfit ever. Nothing was showing that wasnt supposed to be showing. I guess a minor display of collarbone is just too much, because during the second hour, Mrs. Lee came up to me and said it might be too 'provocative' for some of the students. WTF??? I see teachers come to school with skirts up to their thighs, and a V-NECK SWEATER is provocative. One, where did she pull that word from? I didnt know she had the word 'provocative' in her arsenal of limited English. Two, its offensive that someone would insinuate that I'm being less then professional at work. Bastards. But I brushed it off, cause clearly there are standards here that are different from in America. Whatever.
The next day, I wear jeans, ballet flats and a TURTLENECK. Yes, the turtle neck was fitted, but it wasnt vulgar. It was a plain old, standard H&M turtleneck. Again, after lunch, Mrs. Lee came up to me and said "Everything you wear is so provocative! (giggle, giggle) I dont know what to do! (giggle, giggle)" Okay, bitch, so now I'm offended. I said to her, "I'm completely covered, from head to toe... Mrs. W (another teacher) is wearing almost the exact same thing. I mean, whats wrong with my outfit?" She told me, "American women are made so differently from Korean women. We are very slight people, so we dont fill out clothes like you."

Cultural sidenote: This is a very frank country. Korean people will say nearly anything to you and ask you any question that they want. Its not considered rude here, no matter how Westerners take it.

I knew that this...frankness was a cultural difference, but I couldnt help but be pissed. I have hips and boobs and a considerable ass (compared to the women here) and I cant help the way my clothes fucking fit. Whew. I was sooooooo mad. I just said, "I cant help the way my body is, and all the clothes I bought with me are considered appropriate so unless the school is willing to advance my pay and take me shopping I cant do anything about it." She laughed and said, "No, its no problem." Yeah, I know and if it WERE a problem, it wouldnt be mine.

Someone please tell me to loosen up and not get so defensive. Please. =)

PS- I'm still waiting to deliver a POSITIVE post to you guys.

Oh yeah, so apparently there ARE 52 weeks in a year, my bad. =P

If this seems like a long “I Hate You” letter to my boss, its not. Its more like a… “You Annoy the Shit Out of Me” letter.
We all know that I am not overly fond of the principal after the ill-fated noriba (karaoke) debacle, and I could have used a nice break from the man in order to at least tolerate him better. He apparently cannot read the finer points of body language because he didn’t get that memo.
Friday was a welcome day, it ended a week where I taught 23 classes, plus 2 after school conversational English courses, and I needed a break. One of the teachers even commented that I looked exhausted and needed to go home and rest. So, I was not happy when the Principal dragged his ass to the office I am stationed in and informed me that I would be teaching a conversation class for teachers that day, after school.
I must have looked confused because he called Mrs. Lee from her office and told her that she and I would be required to stay after school and teach this class. Mrs. Lee looked as frustrated as I did, she being very busy and having a family, at having this asshole tell us this on the SAME DAY he wanted the class to be taught. I was a) tired as hell, b) totally unprepared to teach this course and c) pissed off. Not a good combo for a teaching.
So, after school I show up and there are three people in the class, the Principal included and I have nothing prepared for them to do. He then comes up to the board and write some shit down like “I am because you are” and asks me what it means in English. WTF? I wasn’t a philosophy major, so wtf? I say I’m sure it has a lot of different meanings, because it’s a popular proverb and try to give my understanding which was apparently unsatisfactory because he got up and explained what it meant in Korean and then tried to give me some half-ass Korean lessons. One, why would you ask me what it meant if you already knew the answer? Two, the last time I checked your English was almost nonexistent so when did you become the instructor? Mrs. Lee told me that he wanted to be “my Korean teacher” and I’m thinking “Isnt this an English conversation course????” cause I am way to tired to try to learn Korean from someone who cant string three words of English together and happens to greatly irritate me. I muddle my way through the class, during which the Principal assumes the role of English instructor, where he over-talks me and tries to teach English in Korean. Eventually, I sit down and clean my nails because he has not shut up since I walked in the door and I cant understand a word he’s saying.

Side Note: I understand that this is my boss. I should have the greatest professional respect for this person, regardless of my personal feelings. He clearly is well-informed if he was hired to run a school, so there is a lot to be said about that. However, that does not mean that I have to like him. In fact, I have made it clear that --for whatever reason-- I instinctually dislike him. But I try to remain respectful and as pleasant as possible in the workplace, so don’t think I am a total bitch about him. I do want to keep my job, after all. I realize that seeing him outside of the workplace is a bad idea being that he makes me uncomfortable and irritable and those are emotions that are, frankly, hard for me to hide, so this is a good learning experience for me. Try. To. Be. An. Adult. Lacey.

So, this weekend Mrs. Lee and her husband took me to Suwon Castle, which was gorgeous. It was a wall and fortress built in the 18th century that surrounds the city of Suwon. Apparently, it came in handy for when the Chinese decided they wanted to try and sack the region. It also had a sick waterfall, the only of its kind, that has water gushing through natural stones into a man-made reservoir. It was tres cool and quite beautiful.
I was not so fortunate when it came to my company. I was pleased that Mrs. Lee and her husband wanted to take me, but then the principal of the school invited himself and I was less then happy about it. I swear, I really want to like this man-- I mean, he IS my boss for the next 50+ weeks, but I cant seem to. I literally have to remind myself, “Lacey, be nice. Be polite. Don’t look annoyed.” And I am annoyed, and yall know I don’t hide my annoyance or dislike too well. Sigh. I try, really, but it takes more effort then I usually like to give.
He really just skeeves me out. Intellectually, I know he’s not a pervert, but my instincts are like “He’s weird.” So anywho, he came along and demanded that everything be translated and then proposed to lead the tour for me, even though he doesn’t speak a lick of English. So we went to lunch, where again he drank waaay to much for it to be 11:30 am. Remember when I went through that burping phase? Arent we all happy I outgrew that??? Well, my principal is still going through said phase and he’s sixty, give or take a few years. Let me set the scene:
I am sitting down, about to start eating my meal when he lets out this huge fucking beer burp over the dinner table. It got really silent and I looked up at him like, Are you fucking kidding me? Mrs. Lee and her husband just looked down at their food apologetically, like they were embarrassed. Mr. Principal just grinned at me ands proceeded to let out another burp over the food. I imagined whatever nastiness was in his mouth hovering over my food and then settling down on it and it ruined any appetite I may have had.
And then he took issue with the fact that I didn’t want to drink liquor in the late morning time with my much older boss and co-worker. He tried to liquor me up, but I said a firm “NO THANK YOU” and poured myself some Coke. That didn’t stop him from making the whole table do several rounds of “Cheers.” If we didn’t do it loudly enough or in complete sync, he made everyone do it over again. Then he made Mrs. Lee ask me what “Cheers” meant and why we say it. How the hell am I supposed to know? I just said it meant have cheerful day, which everyone seemed to accept as true, thank God.
At this point, my irritation was apparent because Mr. Lee was trying to distract the principal from further annoying me and Mrs. Lee leaned over and whispered, “Our principal is a very nice, smart man. He is so excited to learn English!” I wanted to whisper back, “I’m sure he is, but its too bad I cant stand to be around him long enough to teach him!”
So, we’re at this beautiful castle and touring the wall and Mr. P is STILL burping. Its those loud, beer-y burps too that sound wet and nasty. And as I’m walking, I swear I hear him let out a loud fart. At this point, I don’t think theres anything he can do to repulse me further, and then Mrs. Lee tells me that Mr. P would like to do this once a month with me if possible. I ask, “Do what?” She says, “Spend the day on the weekend with you.”
I think of my sanity and say politely, “Well, I don’t know what my weekends are going to look like, what with work and spending time with some of the native English speakers I’ve met so I cant say that I will be able to.” She smiles and nods, and I assume that she understands this is an affirmative “Hell. No.”
On to better, tolerable topics. Lol. I spoke to H for like the first time in forever on Friday. It was good to hear how he’s doing, which is very well. The job interview in Santa B was awesome and one of the schools there contacted him for a teaching position too. It looks like H will be bicoastal soon. He said he loves Cali and could picture himself living there. I could too; he’s so mellow and laid-back I’m surprised he didn’t think of moving there before now…
So, yeah then he said that he needs to give his passport more use and said he wants to come visit, which would be awesome. I could soooo use the company, but he wouldn’t be able to come until the spring or summer and we all know how much can change by then so I’m not counting on it.
I still miss him, but I’m not sure in which capacity I should miss him in. Right now…I miss him in all ways. As a friend, a person, an adviser, a boyfriend, a kisser ( ;-), a punching bag, someone who makes me laugh. But, I really feel like this is going to be good for both of us to move past whatever’s happen and really look to the future with other people. I know that we’re closing the chapter that involved one another and I could hear the distance on the phone. There were these pauses that weren’t there before, had never been there, and we couldn’t seem to fill them with anything. Those pauses will eventually turn from seconds into minutes and then into hours and days and then weeks and months. That’s not me being morbid, just realistic. I feel it in my bones.
Song(s) of the day: I Hate Everyone, by Get Set Go & Starts With Goodbye, by Carrie Underwood

Hey guys!!! I miss you much! Do not despair, I only have…59 weeks and counting until I’m back Stateside. So…wanna hear a funny story at my expense????
Okay, so here’s one of the more embarrassing incidents to happen to me in recent memory. Yesterday afternoon, I was invited by my principal and co-workers out to a traditional Korean dinner. I was tired, but I didn’t want to say “No” and get started on the wrong foot, especially when I found out it was in my honor… Right, I definitely was not looking forward to it. I am still dealing with the effects of jet lag, so when I was invited I thought "Well, okay I'm exhausted but a nice quiet dinner with my co-workers would be nice..." Wrong. LOL.
So, I rode to the restaurant with a couple of other teachers and they’re so sweet and mellow, so I’m expecting a rather quiet reserved night. I was apparently misinformed about Korean celebrations, cause these biyatches throw down. One, I was shocked by how much alcohol these middle aged people consume during the work week. I've seen frat boys during homecoming drink less then my principal, alone, last night. And then he (Mr. Q, the principal) kept making me take fucking shots with him! He would fill up the shot glass and go “Cheers!” Finally I said, I can only shoot Coke or water for the rest of the night. If I had known what was to come, I probably would have continued drinking until I passed out. Anywho, you guys know I dont mind going out, drinking some and dancing...just not with my much older co-workers the night before I have to be work at 8 am.
So...you may think thats the worst, but it gets richer. After dinner, I was informed that its tradition to go to karaoke bars after dinner. Only problem being I. Dont. Sing. Especially in front of strangers. Unless under threat of death, dismemberment or more alcohol then I am legally able to consume. That didn’t stop anyone, cause apparently everyone here is a Korean Karaoke Champion. So, I’m sitting in a karaoke bar, jet-lagged, tipsy and surrounded by old Korean teachers (90% of whom are wasted) singing a) Celine Dion, b) Rod Stewart or c) any random Korean song that I’ve never heard and cannot understand. I becomes clear to me that I am out of my element and these people expect me to sing as well. My principal and his old ass friends from high school (one of whom was a police officer) were dancing and gyrating crazily while singing. The police officer was really wasted and out of line. I mean, it looked like he was auditioning for Chippendale’s Dance Squad. He was dancing on some of the women teachers and they would move across the room, not to subtly, and he would drunkenly follow. It was amusing until I became the focus.
I hid for as long I could in a corner, but I was singled out, a microphone put in my fist and pulled to the middle of the damn room. I muddled my way through a Britney Spears song, during which I made the real Britney sound like Whitney Houston with my warbling. LOL. So I quickly found my seat and the police officer shows up again! He was dancing around like I've never seen...and then he proceeded to scoop me from my corner I was huddled in and danced cheek to cheek with me so I could smell his rancid beer breath. I was looking me all in my face, and I KNOW my face looked pissed off, but he was too trashed to noticed. Then, he said "Do you want to meet tomorrow night?" Granted, there is a language barrier, so I cant be 100% certain thats what he said, but I am 99% certain. I pretended not to hear his proposition and quickly told my ride how tired I was. We left about 10 minutes later. And not a MOMENT too soon.
PS- So my principal just came into my office. Apparently, he’s taken quite a shine to me and he wants to learn English too. Unfortunately, I feel weird around him because I saw his antics last night. AND he still smells like liquor…sigh. This year just got a little longer….

Okay, so I'm obviously here in Korea, still experiencing Week 1. So far, everyone has been ultra-kind and friendly and shiz, which is awesome. But, honestly, its a bit lonely without anyone to speak fast English too on a daily basis or someone who is as foreign here as I am. I have met one guy at the Immigration office, LH, who was very cool and I immediately decided he would be my friend whether he wanted to or not. =) LH is from Middle America, one of those states you tend to forget exist unless you meet someone from them, and is small and of another persuasion if you catch my point. We've been exchanging emails throughout the school day and I think we're gonna be real friends at some point in the next year, which is awesome. Since he's only been here a month longer then me, we've still got to work out the bus stuff (Lord help me, but I will be reduced to taking the Suicide Express aka the Korean Public Transpo system).
I have made up in my mind to enjoy this experience even with the culture shock because, ultimately, I WILL be here for a year so I am going to make this a kick ass one. I know that I will likely make a fool out of myself ordering food, grocery shopping, etc. but thats a necessary evil in figuring out a new country and culture. Bring. It. On. I promised myself by the second week here, I would have gone to the grocery store by myself and also ordered take out by myself too. I'm ready to conquer Korea. LOL. I just hope its ready for me.
Okay, so I made the mistake of posting on the message board of a facebook group, asking if anyone was in Suwon, the area I'm in, and this guy emails me like 2 minutes later. He seemed cool, but then I find out that he wont even BE in Korea until January and then he's going to be like four hours away. I wanted to ask him what was the purpose of his email, but I didnt. I answered his questions and he KEEPS emailing me. And he's one of the obnoxious emailers...every email starts out with "WOW! COOL! AMAZING! YOU'RE KIDDING!" I'm trying to find the heart to tell him that all caps denotes over-enthusiasm, whick denotes "irritating", or atleast in my book. Sigh.
Okay, so I wont be able to blog over the weekend, as I'm not connected to the Internet in my apt, but Monday I'll def be spilling about my, likely, boring weekend. Love all!

Love forever Jay, Ni, Ju, Jor...

11.07.2008
Still US bound: Brief break between flights
Right now I’m sitting in San Francisco’s airport, about to board a flight that will completely remove me from any familiarity for the next year. I am scared shitless. But not enough to actually regret my decision; I always knew that leaving would be hard, adjusting to a new culture would be challenging, but I completely believe it will be worth any complications or trouble it may cause. I prefer to be optimistic about the whole idea, although waiting for a flight to carry you thousands of miles away from home tends to put a damper on any optimism.

11.09.08
Mood: Very overwhelmed, somewhat lonely
Opinion of the day: Korean drivers make New York cabbies look like driving instructors. Turn signals, staying in one lane and courtesy are completely optional here.
I got in to Seoul yesterday night, after nearly 24 freaking hours of flying. My body hurts, I’m suffering from acute jet-lag and I spent the 14 hour flight to Korea watching Get Smart 3 times in a row and occasionally dozing off. My flight did have some Americans (white and black), but mostly Asians on board. Honestly, I was hoping to sit next to a younger native English speaker so that I could exchange information and have an abroad-buddy from the jump of the trip. Not so. LOL. The Korean airport was surprisingly not hard to navigate (San Francisco has the most retarded international airport ever. I couldn’t find shit and I spoke the native language. Go figure); I just followed all the white folks to what I assumed was customs and then baggage claim.
The school sent a very… colorful cab driver to pick me up from the airport. His English was sparse and my Korean nonexistent, so we communicated via hand gestures and speaking loudly (as if volume helps comprehension). The airline “left” one of my bags behind, so I am essentially clothes-less right now besides what I wore on the flight and a few extra sweaters that I had half a mind to put into my carry-on. Sigh. My first day of teaching will likely to place in Pink-label sweat pants and a cardigan.
Brightside of the trip thus far: The family who is essentially hosting me are the Lees and are the sweetest people ever. Mrs. Lee stocked the refrigerator for my arrival and they have been super helpful. Mrs. Lee is one of the English teachers at the school, which is a bit surprising because her English isn’t that great. Good, but not great. I guess that’s the purpose I serve is to help her help the students. Also disturbing: Mrs. Lee told me that her she and her students don’t like speaking in English. Hello, don’t you teach English? This does not bode too well with me. Rosetta Stone will be my friend.
Mrs. Lee said that the other school she works at has a native English teacher and she will introduce to me to them sometime in the next week. This person has no idea what’s about to hit them, cause I will be on their ass like none other. They will be my friend, whether they like it or not. =) I need someone fluent in English to explain everything to me, cause although the Lees gave it their best shot, I really don’t understand a lot of what they’re saying. Sad, but very true.
We went to the shopping mall today, where I was repeatedly stared at by almost everyone. I was expecting that, but it doesn’t make it any less unnerving. The mall was tres cool and I soon as I can figure out how to use won and get their without getting lost in a Korean ghetto I will go back. Maybe with my soon-to-be English-speaking friend? Hopefully they know how to get along better then I do….
BTW-- Mortifying incident at Customs…apparently tampons aren’t that well known here. Upon checking my bags for illegal substances, the Customs agent found my Tampax Pearls nestled discreetly in the side of my bag and didn’t know what the hell he was looking at. He pulled one out of the box, examined it closely enough to read a manufacturer’s number if he so desired. Eventually I got tired of the scrutiny and said loudly “THEY’RE TAMPONS” before he decided to call over another agent and investigate Blood Gate further. A lady agent took pity on my purple-hued face and said something into Korean to the man and he calmly replaced my tampons. If only my pride were equally able to so easily replaced.

Nov. 10, 2008
Morning: G. Middle School
First day of school! My nerves were almost as bad as my real first day of high school…Basically, imagine walking into a new school, where no one looks remotely like you and doesn’t speak your language. First day of high school on acid, pretty much. The kids are redeemably adorable for any discomfort that I am feeling. They all bow at my when they see me, which is so cute its ridiculous. I am still trying to get used to the proper way to greet everyone, cause there is propriety involved in every activity, according to age, class, etc. Some of it seems, frankly, unnecessary, but this is their country and I’m just a cash leech here so I’ll follow their rules. Well, as best as possible anyway… I havent had a full day here yet, so I cant report too much that I haven’t experienced.
BTW-- Being that I havent received my bag with all my clothes in it, my first day of class is going to be spent in an American Apparel T-shirt emblazoned with the Simpsons, leggings and ballet flats. I am a classy broad, arent I? Heheheee. The vice principal and principal seemingly didn’t see the humor in the situation that I did. My crazy American sense of humor, maybe? Dunno.

A little later….
Ok, so basically I’m chilling out in my office which I share with Mrs. Lee while the other Korean English teachers prep their classes for my impending arrival in their midst. So far, kids have gathered outside the office door, staring in and smiling waving or saying “Hello!!” very loudly and enthusiastically. Its so charming I cant even take it seriously. ;-) One students even jumped 5 freaking feet in the air to glance into the unusually high windows at me once Mrs. Lee closed the door. LOL. Weird, but oddly flattering. I may have a complex once I get back to America at this rate (J/K! Well, at least I think so). Being here also makes very clear that I need to learn Korean, cause its retarded that I cant even communicate with anyone except for the English teachers, and them on a superficial level cause most of the their English ain’t great. And clearly neither is mine. The one person who seems to have the best grasp of English is the head of the dept., a youngish pretty teacher who heads the department and told me to call her “Alison.” Honestly, Alison is likely the only name I’ll remember this week, cause everyone else gave me Korean names which have a billion syllables and pauses. Til I learn, I’ll smile and bow. Hhehehee. Okay, I’ll stop being tedious and write after the day is over and I have more perspective on my new school.

I just said bye to my sister and my niece and nephews and I balled my eyes out on her shoulder. She cried on mine too, so we're even. =) My sister and I are very, very close even though we're so different and I know its going to be tough going without her to call anytime I need advice or see her and yell at her (or vice versa). I'm really overwhelmed right now by what I've chosen to take on, but I have a feeling it will get better once I'm actually in Korea and have no chance to second-think everything. I dont even want to THINK about tomorrow and telling my mom goodbye. Too, too hard. I'm now shelving my feelings to deal with in Korea, by myself. =( Was I crazy to do this? Its too soon to tell right now, but they say anything that's worth it don't come easy. I hope so.

BTW- Spoke to H. on election day. Good convo, but we didnt acknowledge my leaving or his possibly moving across the country for a job. Problems cease to exist in our world right now-- we have enough to deal with separately, I guess. Still miss him. I wonder is he misses me too or if he's happy he can finally take time to move on without my over his shoulder? Hmmmm....

So, I'm gonna be using initials for this, so that all the innocent (and myself) will be protected. LOL. Besides, my social life would probably suck if people knew for certain I was talking about them. Anywho, today was like, the REAL goodbye for H. and I. H. is headed to Santa Barbara to check out a job opportunity tomorrow and will be gone until Saturday. Which means, I wont get to see him for take-off or anything. We had goodbye breakfast (and lunch) and basically spent the day together doing nothing and everything. =) Good times. All day, I had the ominous feeling that I would never see him again and told him so. He gave me this really intense look and said "That would make me sad if that happened." But he didnt say "Of course we will, dont be stupid." Or something that would deny my feeling. Cause I think he felt the same way too. =( In a way it seems inevitable that this would happen, only that we were delaying it for a while. Actually, it hasnt hit me yet that I will likely never lay eyes on H. again and probably wont until I'm in Korea. So I will not only be battling culture shock and homesickness but a break-up of sorts too. I'm a sad, sad case.

Song of the Day:
Tread Water, Sara Bareilles

Ja,Ni,Ju, Jor in my heart always

I'm trying to get used to this general blogging thing, so I decided to start early. I have 6 days to go before I leave for South Korea. I have not packed. I have not done any laundry. I am unprepared. My stomach feels like its somewhere in the vicinity of my knees, I'm so nervous. My unpreparedness (is that even a word) likely has something to do with my second-guessing my decision. I mean, am I really ready to separate from my family and friends for a whole year and relocate to a country that I havent really thought about before the last 7 months????
Well, like it or not, the ticket has been purchased, the visa issued and my ass will be on a plane on Friday, Nov. 7, 2008 at 6 am. I will be leaving everything really worth anything to me behind. 365 days of adventure. I may not be completely ready, in fact I am anticipating roiling homesickness, but I'm leaving. Sometimes the dream is much more pleasant then reality.

xoxo

BTW- I cant wait to update on the really juciy shiz thats definitely going to happen!
BTWToo- Condoms...I should pack some, even though it will likely be a total waste of space. I'm not getting any in Korea, right?
BTWThree- TMI?
BTWFour- Miss you guys already.

Ja,Ni,Ju,Jor in my heart always.