Christmas By The River; Seoul, City Hall

The picture appears to be small, if you click on it, you can see the pictures full-sized. The river was lit up like a Christmas parade, white lights were everywhere, and surrounding the snail shaped sculpture at the head of the river, a wall of lights moved anf flashed, MERRY CHRISTMAS, HAPPY HOLIDAYS, and HAPPY NEW YEAR. I am happy to be in Seoul and to experience Christmas here, with lights, and the pop music blaring, making my ears bleed from its volume--matching my nose, bleeding from the chilled, dry wind. Korea. glowing lights and loud music on nearly any day, but here on Christmas, somehow extra-specially so.
Merry Christmas.

The Wizard of Oz, the Musical; in Korean

For Christmas, Kelly, Jaime, and I went to Seoul and saw the first officially lisenced version of the Korean edition of the Wizard of Oz. Wow, it was amazing. I love any kind of live performances, but I don't think i've ever seen any sort of live professional performance show. I love theater, it makes me feel like a kid again, playing pretend, taking part in the surprise and wonder of the wonderfully, obviously make-believe play-acting.

Dorothy (Doroshi) was incredibly impressive; the tin man did piourettes, and the dopey scaredy-cat Lion was well played.

the sets were fantastic, and it had all those wonderful songs in it. I was shocked a few times by snaps of fire, and Dorothy flying off the ground during the tornado scene, and impressed by the creativeness with a revolving yellow-brick road and inventivelness of costumes that were very Oz, but still incredibly comically true to Korean tastes.

We sat and watched and read the subtitles from the tv screens on the back of the chairs. It was interesting to watch the show and see that they were true to the original script, with minor adjustments for rhyming purposes. I know that what I was reading was not exactly what they were saying, as I am sort of understanding more korean each day. It makes me wonder, how exactly true is it? what they are saying to what I am reading? and then to see the Korean audience watch the show, and kids seeing it for the first time, and everyone ever ever ever seeing it in their own native language, that was a treat. For some reason, the entire Korean audience found the phrase "Theres no place like home;" to be the funniest line in the show. I don't know why, and I wonder...why? I will ask someone someday. but for now, it will remain a mystery.

At the end of the play, when the final bow appeared, Doroshi began to sing once more, they put up the words in Hangul/Korean on all the screens, and everyone in the audience sang over the rainbow in Hangul/Korean together. I am so happy to have seen a new version of a very loved show. Once more, if you want to see these photos up close, click on the picture, it will enlarge.

Merry Christmas and Happy New Year! ~Love, Susan

coveryourfaceupinphotos

dear mom,
I felt a little sad when you and crystal didn't invite me into your little "cover-your-face-up-ith objects-in-photos" club, so i decided to start my own. hope you are well, looking forward to what you cover your face up with next.
love, sus

It's week two and 336pm on a Tuesday afternoon. I keep forgetting that I leave my job at 430, and not 330. seven minutes ago I was all geared up to go, read with my bag when i remembered... And here is why; and not that I should be complaining; because well, I'm bored. I just spent an hour watching gossip girl on surfthechannel, and this morning I watched the presidential Live debate via myspace forum. The thing is that At Kids' College, they worked us waygooks ragged. Arriving at 10am and starting work, a 10 min break every 40 or so mins, and an hour break for Lunch. even those breaks were really just time to get your papers, grading, reports, filing and organizing done. this would leave just a few seconds if any for a zone-out mo' or a few puffs on a cigarette if you smoke 'em. sometimes I'd wish I smoked, just to have an excuse to have a real break. I remember toward the end of my last contract being so tired and so busy, that I wouldn't even sit down between classes. I got to the point where I just used my class time to slow down and break.
Public school is shaping up to be much different. I still have to be here for my designated 40 hours, but only 22 of that is teaching hours--if even that, as each 'hour' is actually a 40 min class session. all the classes are in the mornings, and to round out my hours I have special classes i will be teaching, but they haven't started yet. So in The morning right now, I am watching the same lesson over and over again. "Is this your pencil case?"
"Yes, it looks expensive"
"What color is it?"
"Mine is green"
I'm excited to actually start so I'll have something to do, make the time pass faster, rather than just sitting here and watching.

This year has seen also a change in my living style. As I am the only foreign teacher here at my school, I don't go out afterwards on a regular basis. I don't see my peers every day. In fact, I rarely see them. Last year I would crave some alone time, always seeming to find a reason to go out after work. whereas this year, I am unfamiliar with the language and culture of the teachers with whom I work, and the other foreigners are hidden away and their designated locations. I can see, that this year I will find it more necessary for me to seek out social arenas in which I can employ adult, native conversation, to relax and let go.

Last night Laura came over to my new cozy apartment. I cooked dinner and we sat and talked over raviolis and Columbia valley Pinot noir. I couldn't have asked for a better evening. I miss home. I miss the familiarity of it sometimes and I miss the mountains and the awesome cold damp rains of the fall, but I am content where I am. sometimes I am lonely, and right now I am definitely so bored, but -and this is especially after viewing the debate today in which the two candidates pretty much slammed each other and talked about an economic crisis- where can a girl like me find a better job in a time like this? And honestly, the jobs they're willing to offer me make me feel a little sad and depressed at my position, and have me--as I am here and looking at the present on into my personal and professional future--considering my priorities, needs and desires for myself.
I'm taking a TEFL course specifically designed for teaching young kids--and getting my school to pay for it, as it is geared to make me an even more (if that's even possible) desirable asset to their institution.
I have no clever way of ending this, I'm just done.
This has been a brief insight into the momentarily dulled-out streaming thought bubble of an american ex-pat, once again, making necessary adjustment and just trying to figure out, how i want to fit into this world; and how I want to stick out.
Peace out, yall.

Temples & Rita

I set out on what I had intended to be my one day in Bangkok to see the famed temples and sights that make the one day you spend in Bangkok worthwhile. I got a tourist map and a bus number from the guy and the New Siam bank, and made my way to Wat Praht Khao, the Grand Palace, and the temple of the emerald buddha. This is when my mind decided to click on and when i realized that the cars were driving on the Left side of the street! I had never seen this before.

I met Rita Yamin outside the Grand Palace talking to a "wily stranger" who was trying to scam her by convincing her that the temple was closed today. we made friends out of neccessity; we were both traveling alone, wanted soemone new to talk to--maybe a new friend--and maybe just someone to take my pictures so theres not a whole lot of me fumbling with my camera trying to race the timer.

--or maybe it's nice to share a place, and event with someone, even if they're brand new...
Rita was a pretty cool girl. She is a couchsurfer who had spent the year teaching English in a small northern town in Japan. So we instantly had a lot to talk about.
Together we explored the temple grounds of the reclining buddha, traveled accorss the river by water taxi, walked along the wrong streets where no tourist ventures, turned around, saw the temple of the rising sun, had lunch, and some amazing freshly squeezed orange juice, made from little green oranges that were just so sweet and delicious. I think I mayt have taken a year off my life just from walking through all those exhaust fumes along the streets. we walked in circles, took out a map, and made our way (and some discoveries) as we explored the cultural neighborhood of Bangkok.

I think the walking was my favorite part of that day. We had a lot of fun, did a lot of talking, and I think it was just refreshing to talk about familiar things--like teaching english and our respective foreign experiences--about life back home, and about what we were seeing and doing. We had dinner together, and exchanged our favorite bands from korea/japan, and finally emails.

at the end of the day, here's what I had to say,

"almost got my ear whopp'd off by a bus. it rushed by so fast and so close
that I swear it touched my ear. in the alley behind khaosan road, I saw a man
poo-diherrea all over a gutter-grate. it was the nastiest thing i've
ever-ever-ever seen. ever. saw fish in the harbor today and spent a lot of Baht.
theres a lot of good music outside my hostel window. I like it."

Bangkok; Thailand: part 1

I should have written this sooner, possibly while I was traveling, but I didn't, because, well, I was distracted, but I will in this blog include excerpts from my travel journal when it adds to the flovour of the blog, and add awesom Pictures.

HELPFUL INFORMATION: currency is the baht (/bot/) and 33B = about $1

Part 1: Bangkok
I flew into to Bangkok at 10:30 and was processed through immigrations, and claimed my baggage all just before midnight. I managed to catch the last bus into KhaoSan road (just 150B). I heard many languages around me, and thick, thick european accents. mostly everyone was tired. My first taste of the Thai language just tore me up inside, like a maple syrup over a pancake you're not used to having in the first place, so the syrup--so sweet and syrupy--just cuts at the back of your chest as it slides down inside you. the thai language was smoth, precise, and so very different from the "imnidas" and "ayos" I was used to hearing in Korea.

I traveled on this bus for about 30+ mins in the dark until we reached a dirty, bustling road. Thais shouted from street-side vendor stalls over trinkets, suits, and tuk-tuk rides. Here is an excerpt from my first night:

"Made it to KhaoSan road. Met Marta as we were getting off the bus. She is from
Slovakiaand has a cool Eastern European accent. We ended up getting a
place-->sharing 2 beds 300B/night. we did 2 nights b/c checkout is at 12pm
and it was 130 when we checked in. Back in Korea, it's almost 4am. crazy! And
it's different here--it's hot and humid. there are HOUSES. and it smells
different. like the air is sweeter. and spicy."

KhaoSan was the perfect introduction to the city: hot, busy all hours of the night, dirty and international. I met a lady-man who offered me a massage on the street. I turned him down, not because he was a lady-man, but because I was tired and the last thing i wanted was a street massage as my first thai massage, so I broke away from his vice grip and went to check out some live music at a crowded bar on the third floor of a commercial building. as I walked up the stairs, I heard the lady man shout, "You need to open up your mind, girl!"

I was a little freaked out by Thailand, initially. I was tired of being the foreigner already, and tired of being social. I was in a new strange place that wreaked of nag champa and garbage. and I still had nineteen days to go. Uninterested in squeezing myself into a spot at a lame bar, and looking forward to the next day where I would make my plans to leave this stinkin' place, I made my way back to the hotel, and fell asleep atop the xtra-large towel that was provided as my blanket.

Sunday, August 10, 2008

It's Sunday, August 10th, 2008. 

I have been in Thailand now for 11 days. I just came out of the jungle this friday, as the Beijing Olympics were having opening ceremonies. Chiang Mai has so far been the highlight of my trip. who knew that I would so much enjoy wearing the same stinkin' sweat-drenched t-shirt for three solids days and sleeping on mattresses that are so hard they feel like they're made from coconut husk but are probably in actuality just some form of shredded up bamboo or compresses grass. 

I was the only American on my trip thru the jungle, and furthermore, there were no Canadians, either. There were 2 people from Basque, Spain; 2 from Belgium, and 1 from S. Africa (who I could have just shoved off a bamboo raft our last day out), and TONG! our guide. It was a very enjoyable time. I got to ride on the neck of an Elephant--did you know that when an elephant makes noise, it feel like a soft rumbling? kindof like, i think when my dog is sleeping and he's all soft and quiet and I try to stel his bone, he growls while he is half-asleep--well it's like a really big one of those. 

We visited the Karen tribes of the North and stayed at their village the first night, then hiked and hiked and ate noodles out of banana leaves and took a nap at the top of a hill then hiked some more after the rain stopped on the second day. Finally we cam to a waterfall where we stayed in individual bungalows beside the waterfall. We showered in the river, rode the current down the stream, and walked through strong currents and slippery rocks to venture under and behing the waterfall where moss and frogs clung against the smooth crags and little pockets , where we went to watch the water fall in front of and on us. 

on the third day it rained. a lot. there was a lot of mud and slipping trekkers. this was the first time I pulled out my glorified garbage bag with armholes and a drawstring and slipped it over my sweating, rain-soaked body. 

Finally we saw something that looked too concrete and metal to have been built in the jungle and knew that the end was near! we visited one more village, where we were attacked by little kids saying, "hello, 5 baht" and shoving bracelets made of beads, seeds, and coffee beans in your way. YOU think, oh, it's only 5 baht, so you buy one, and the moment the kids see you've bought one from a kid, they swarm, and you're out 50 baht, 1 from each kid, and your arm is covered in one-time use bracelets. 

The bamboo rafting was our last little bit, and it was okay. basically 3 of us sat on this raft and a guy poled us down a gentle river and a little waterfall. It was a good chance to sort of rinse the jungle dirt from myself, as I got completely soaked.

Today I go away from Chiang Mai. a very nice, smaller city with a friendly attitude, I will go to Krabi in the South where I hope I can do some rock climbing! 

I hope you all are well, and for you folks in WA/OR I am so so so so so so so so excited to see you all!!! 

With love, 
Susan

Final Installation

...of toilet tissue on the roll in my bathroom from the giant bag I bought last August. it's all gone after this roll....and so am I.

38 days till I hit US soil
18 more days in Korea
10 more days with my elementary students
7 more days with my kindergarteners
2 more trips to Seoul
2 more weekends in Korea
1 detour into a foreign country
1 going away party to attend
1 last visit for hot saki
NO more soju for me...
ZERO regrets

After Twelve months in Stranded on a Peninsula

It's July.

It's hot. sticky. I work up last night at 3am--haven't quite gotten used to the sweating in my sleep thing just yet. so I woke up, turned on the AirCon, and watched "What a Girl Wants" on Tv until I felt sleepy again.

It's my third-to-last weekend before I leave Korea--possibly for good--and I'm sitting here in my apartment sweating and writing on this Blog. i want to hop on train to Seoul; sell all my books and buy a Thai Lonely Planet guide. I feel an amazing pressure to spend time with all these lovely people I've cultivated into my daily life whilst I've been here, but also I am just so tired and stressed about life that I feel like I want to be alone. But in two weeks when I leave this island of a peninsula, and I am traveling through Thailand all on my own, where every conversation I have with some companion will be a base, first time skimming the top of what both of us really wants to talk about kind of conversation, Will I be dieing for this time and these people and regretting that I spent this time alone, alienating myself from them in spite of myself? I don't know. I just don't know. my desire to see as much of Korea before I leave has seemed to partner with my penchant for procrastination and melded into a sort of apathy for movement. I want to go to DMZ, but will that happen? I missed my rip to Pusan because I just didn't fell like a 5-hour train trip. Mostly I want to go to Seoul. I want to spend time with the 2 girls I've spent most my time with--I don't really want to drink alcohol; I'd prefer a tasty cold milkshake--s we have ended up pending a lot of time sitting in the heat behind the local coffee bean goofing off and reading books and generally doing nothing but relaxing. And maybe that's all and exactly what I've needed to be doing? hmm.


My suitcase is packed with the things I've planned to take wit me on my trip to Thailand; I am trying to figure our exactly what things I should ship home (and where is home to ship, exactly?). I have a suitcase filled with some wonderful winter clothes I've collected, a guitar, and my gifts for friends and family. they're waiting for an address.

and so am I, really. i am waiting to hear from a 6-month university job i have applied for in Japan. hopefully I'll find out within this week, and then I can make some decisions.

I don't think I'm exactly ready to come home home just yet. I miss my friends, my family, my goose, and the familiarity of being near houses, lawns, garbage cans, and English. I'm so fed up with Koreans--esp men; who burp in your face and have no concept of ladies' first. But I ave a job here that keeps me comfortable. I don't have to struggle to make rent or hate my job, I love teaching and being a bit anonymous--aside from the blatant stares and random "hellos" & "I love yous."


They dress like they are at the height of fashion--in the 80s; they hold hands intimately as they are walking down the street. They protest the sale of American beef; throw themselves in front of buses, light themselves on fire; weep inconsolably because they believe that Koreans have a gene in their body that makes them More susceptible to Mad Cow disease over other people. ah, the chosen people syndrome--do you not think that if I ate an infected cow that I would not die just as fast as a Korean soul who ate the same cow? come on!
Just last night; at a restaurant, i watched a mother at she took the diaper off her son, and stuck his penis IN A BOTTLE. At the dining table! the boy just stood up, right over everyones food and everything, and peed into an old bottle. then his mom screwed on the lid, set it aside, and pulled the boy's shorts up. and then everyone--the four parents; three kids, continued with their meal! What is it? What is it, really?
And I'm the oddity because of my speckled skin and red hair!

and I think about these things as I am a part in parcel of helping to raise the next generation of their country.





I look at these sweet faces and I think, "Who will you become?"



How could I leave all that?




I have really enjoyed teaching and i hope to do it again for another year, I think.

I enjoy that traveling has opened me up to experiences culture and a way of living that is allowing me to discover myself in a way I've wanted to my whole life. there's so much of this world I'm meant to see. so much in this world I'm meant to be. Where's this all going? I guess I'll just have to wait and see.

Buddha's Birthday

I celebrated Buddha's Birthday,May 15th at Hwaonsa, a 1,000 yr-old temple in the mountains of Jirisan Nat'l park, located in the Southwestern corner of the country. The temple was beautiful, there was activity and lotus lanterns everywhere, and it was hot.

we didn't stay long, because we were itching to hike. these pics are of the gate guardians of the temple. They supposedly shoo away the evil spirits. In the final picture, he is shooing away Michael, an irish tourist.

Snack Time with Banana Class

Childrens' Day Celebration Friday May 2nd

The Holiday's actually on Monday, May 5th.

This is Edward---------------------->
I think he kindof looks like Totoro
















<--Water Relay Dissipates into a good old-fashioned all-out water brawl
























"My name is Eric. I like Transformers. My brother is Tommy."

"Hi Eric, how are you today?"


"My name is Eric. I like Transformers. My brother is Tommy."







This is pretty much the cutest picture in the history of Pictures. Kelly Teacher and Sunny Student.
















Grace, Me and Eric taken juust as Kevin was dumping a bucket of cold water on my backside. you can almost see his ting little head working behind me.

1 hour, 10 minutes!

I apologize for not writing in so very long. It's funny thing about being abroad. at first, everythign is so new and I am writing all the time and I then I settled into a routine, a mood, and started being at home here. so man times i want to write and tell you all whats up in my life but i'd rather be outside because it's so beautiful, or I don't have my computer, or i'm so busy writing monthly reports. but here, now, I have something so exciting to write about.
i have now been runnin in the gym for 6months and got the opportunity this Saturday to run in my very first ever race with other people and numbers and medals and everything. I started out running with Noel and Josh, two other redheads, and kept up with them for the first 10 mins of the race, but Josh was pushing thru in order to pull a good ranking, I was just interested in keeping a good pace and finishing at all. so I dropped back, turned on my ipod and settled myself into a steady pace.
The countryside was very...well, korean. We were running alongside a river and surrounded by foothills, as Korea is a country of foothills. construction was everywhere, there were pockets of korean ajimas and ajashiis waiting along the trail cheering us on. A steady trail of runners snaked in front and behind me on the path, and the runners' flow kept me running--mostly.
It was soooo hot today. I made sure to cover myself in sunscreec, but i def. burned my neck, and the elements made the race interesting. I pushed thru the last kilometer to the tune of the Red Hot Chili Peppers and the encouraing words of one of the Waygooks I had bussed with, who jumped in and ran the last bit with me.
I remember that last kilometer the best, as I was running up a hill and I started to get a buzz of adrenaline when I realized i was going to finish this mother of a race and that this is a huge accomplishment for me. it summarizes for me a whole lot of work i've put in on myself--emotionally and physically--and worked thru by runnning.
and now i sit at home, showered and smelling of honey-vanilla, and I can say, I did it. I can do it again, and I am capable of setting my goals and accomplishing them, even if they seem possibly impossible.
I am looking forward to the unknown ahead and trying to push toward it with the same kind of determined enthusiasm that I put into my running.

Please Consider the Caterpillar

If it chooses a leaf of an apple tree to chomp or it crawls on the ground as he gathers up dust and god knows what on his sticky suction-feet as he inches along and risks in his favor being squished by a tire of a bike, or a large squarish toe that may come down and end the creature evermore. Perhaps it is scooped up in the pudgy hands of a boy and placed in a jar that is all but manageable to balance between his chin and the rim of his bicycle handlebars as he travels homeward and places the jar and the thing in a window where it may be poked with a stick or smashed by stone and shaken beyond repair in a clinking translucent cell. If, however, the young insect chooses to cling to the safety of its tree at least never being beaten, smashed, or shaken; no harm to him has been visited. It strays only a few feet, to roam and to eat. And it picks a sweet spot just to build a cocoon just living the dream of an old fashioned bug. He entombs himself up in a cask of its making from either fear of a boy or maybe he’s bored. So he hides fast away from the light of the world and maybe the wind and the rain shake the tree, maybe he suffocates when a lazy child forgets to poke holes in the prison lid. Perhaps the sun shines too hot and too long and toasts the poor beast before it’s time. Regardless of risks and the choices he’s made; a boy and a jar or a purported safe limb, if all goes as nature intends in his plan, the creature will grow and once again stir; the creature will labor itself from that pill. It will surface with pride and broaden its wings. Charging his choices for present results. In conscious reality, friends, what do you expect? Regardless of choices, location and consequence, it emerges upright, no surprises—a butterfly.

Spectator

He is staring
He is looking
Right at me with
No reservation
No shame. The man
Who just vomited
On that rock
is not smiling, No emotion
on his face, plain entitlement
As man To stare
Just looking
the Korean on foreigner
recipient of his gaze
No harm; Just looking
Chunks of ham and rice
Lay fully formed atop
a damp patch of stone
That man that Just puked
as I walked by
At 230
this afternoon
watches me
walk away

We're Different, We're the same

...here's some of those differences

Bathrooms

Firstly, when you go to a bathroom; you never know what you’re going to get. Will you be sitting on a Western toilet? Or will you be bending over an Asian porcelain squatter? This, I make a giant assumption is the best reason I can see that Korean people do not wear shoesin their homes. Who would want urine tracks around where their children crawl? Ick. Really, the squatters aren’t so bad, once you figure out how to use them. But I’ve made mental notes in downtown Cheonan of my favorite bathrooms. Where are the squatters, where are the Western toilets, which ones have toilet paper, which ones don’t. and which ones smell like fucking smoke.
Bathroom diff #2: Opseo Yeoja Tambe. Good girls do not smoke in public. Being a good girl myself, who does not smoke in public or private, this is one of my bigget pet peeves. If you smoke in public you’re easy, therefore many female (Yeoja) stalls all have raunchy ash trays sitting to the side and sometimes on the floor with a wet paper towel sitting inside of it. One time I was at a club downtown, and after a few too much Soju cocktail, I reeeally had to pee. I went to a bathoom with two stalls. Stall # 1 had janitor supplies in it and a broken door. Three yeojas were waiting in line. The woman in stall #2 was taking so stinkin long. I could hear her cough and puffs of smoke coming out from underneath the door. This is no sort of rebel girl in the high school girls’ room thing, this is a culturally accepted tradition. Many of the older folk around here believe that if a yeoja smokes in public, she is easy, loose. Although with this new generation, things are evolving, and younger women are seen smoking in public more often, butnever around respected elders (teachers, parents, etc). back to the story, I got tired of waiting. The yeoja in front of me in “line” was busy smearing and lolling her drunken forehead against the smoke-lurrified mirror. I stepped into stall #1 to test the squatter’s flushing mechanism. It worked. I moved a mop, a bucket, and finally I hoisted the door over the supplies. I did my business with a slight bemusement at my whimsical cunning throughout. As I moved the door to get back to my crowd, I noticed the three yeojas in line had not moved. the aforementioned young lady had positioned herself with an elbow against the counter to keep herself in an upright position, (I can’t imagine her aim would be so very good). Bathroom smoking aside, I think I could get used to this snooze ya loose eithic conerning lines in bathrooms.

Bathroom diff#3: Do not flush it down! To the right of each toilet, regardless of its type, isa trash bin. You may ansert whatver you have used to wipe yourself here. Many times these bin are overflowing and some tissues cascade onto the floors. Don’t mind that. Just try to keep your face out of the bin as you bend over to do your business, and with that in mind, keep your shoes at the door when you go inside anyone’s home.
Bathroom Diff #4 Line up right behind the exact stall you want to use. There’s none of this one-line crap. I meanreally? This is weird and not just a little confusing. At a rest stop on the highway once I was cut in front of so many times I started yelling in English and have gotten very pushy as a result.
LINES MEAN NOTHING IF YOU ARE NOT FAST ENOUGH.