I kind of forgot Valentine’s Day this year. I didn’t forget it was happening, but I pretty much neglected it and learned to ski instead. Best Valentine’s Day ever!
My boss planned a ski trip for our Hagwon and the best part was teachers got to go cost free! It kind of made up for all the times he’s been a little douchey towards us but does not give him a free pass to be douchey in the future. We stayed at the Phoenix resort and got ski lessons from the father of one of our students. He also happens to be the husband of our main secretary. Their children are beautiful (probably because their mother is gorgeous)! I really liked him but the issue came when he didn’t speak English but was teaching me to ski. Good thing I learn well by example. The language barrier wasn’t really a problem though because I picked up pretty quick on his Korean prompts and learned to ski with no injuries! He also threw in some key english words he learned through me repeating over and over what I THOUGHT he wanted to say. So you have me on a hill muttering, “Arapro, Arapro” and him saying, “Up, Down, Up, Down” The first being a reminder to pick my poles up and not scrunch my arms close to my body and the second being his reminder how to turn properly but raising my hips up then down. It was really cool when I made it down the hill twice on my own! Small victory but it definitely made me wanna go back! There was a tiny mishap though, as one would expect to hear of when someone like me goes skiing.
We got there on Saturday and three sessions to ski. The first session was an introductory lesson for the beginner skiiers. After that session, we had dinner and then were supposed to meet up to get another lesson except our instructor failed to inform us where we would be meeting. We waited about half an hour where we had our first lesson and didn’t see him. So we practiced a bit more before I started feeling super antsy about getting on a real hill. I should have been able to reason it out in my head and think “You’ve only been skiing for about 2 hours and have been going down a hill with almost no gradient whatsoever…maybe going down a real hill is a bad idea…” But instead my inner dialogue went something like this, “You only live once! You’re in effing KOREA! You should at least TRY a real hill! It can’t be that bad, Claire is LEARNING to snowboard on this hill. Just do it.” So I convince my co worker to come with (she even skiied worse than me) and we got on the lift to what we thought was the beginner hill. We get off the lift look down the hill and quickly realize in no reality is this the beginner hill. My co worker asks the lift operator where the beginner’s hill is and he says we are most definitely on the wrong hill. I try to convince her to go down anyways but she is very much against it since she cried on the lift from being so scared…my persuasion skills were misused in the case of convincing her to get on the lift. I finally persuade her to try and get down the hill and I take off to go down myself. I couldn’t really control my speed too well since I had just learned and shouldn’t have been on an intermediate hill anyways, so after sliding somewhat uncontrollably down the hill, I accidentally run into a snowboarder as I’m trying to stop and he acts like it was HIS fault I ran into him. I realized then that I could definitely get hurt on this hill. I was about a 1/3 of the way down and was looking at the rest of the hill noticing how steep it seemed and realizing how unable I was of stopping. In short, I was freaking out. I don’t remember being that scared since the night before I moved to Korea. I honestly had no idea what to do and about 3 times almost had myself convinced I could handle the rest of the way down, but since I knew that I could barely handle the first 1/3 I couldn’t fool myself into the last part. It was awful. At that point, I hated skiing. As badly as I wanted to cry I knew that wouldn’t help my situation and finally figured out a way to get down the hill via a closed in lift (since at this point one of skis wouldn’t go back on my foot, no idea how that happened) through the help of a ski pro. I didn’t know how to say anything in Korean except “help” so they showed me where the lift was. I wanted to hug them. The next day I got a proper lesson from my instructor and really learned to ski. Thus, at the end of the day, skiing had redeemed itself and I did not hate it but LOVED it.
I also met two Russian dudes in the mart on the resort and they invited me to celebrate some victory with them. I couldn’t celebrate with them, but I DID practice my Russian with them. It was great. I forgot how much I enjoy Russian people and their wonderful accents and beautiful language. I realized my Russian has digressed considerably and my Korean has improved since I was answering in Korean without thinking. It was cool and disappointing at the same time.
Before the ski weekend, I got a new co worker! We’ll call her C. She is GREAT. We seem to have a lot in common and we both had tons of fun with our co teachers this weekend, so I’m very glad she is here! There are times like this weekend that I am reminded how much God is looking after me. I don’t need reminders to tell me how awesome God is, but this weekend was a reminder that He is all powerful and loving. I really, really appreciate reminders like that. I know the stories I told aren’t really proof of this reminder but nonetheless, the reminders were present. And…my body aches.
Sunday, February 15, 2009
Monday, February 9, 2009
I love my mom and other things that comprise my life.
It is officially my mom’s birthday in Korea. Yay! Happy Birthday mom….there’s a letter on its way so be looking out! February is full of celebrating birthdays of those I love. There were four people born in February that I cannot imagine my life without, February is an important month it seems. Out of these four though, my mother is the most important. The woman that taught me I was the one who put the spice in life since she herself is a spicy woman, to not take the bullshit of life, what sacrifice for love is, and to stay kind. I am glad my mother was born. J
This past weekend was a good one: I moved into the apartment of my former co-worker which is 5 times better than my old apartment, I went to the same church for the second time and LOVED it, and I started the process of compiling a list of grad schools I am interested in, and I got my hair cut…among other things.
The haircut. A student went with me so I wouldn’t feel like they were on a mission to butcher my hair since I happen to know me sporting an Asian style would be a mess. I brought pictures and it was FANTASTIC. I got cake, juice, a shampoo/condition, shoulder/head massage, a paraffin dip/hand massage, blow dry, hair cut, and Korean lesson for 10,000 won!! Could not believe it. And the cut was a good one! I am a big fan of Korean salons. If I had a camera I would post pictures of my cut, but no camera so no pics.
Grad schools. I am definitely intimidated and have realized for now I need to study my ASS off for this GRE and pray my ASS off for wisdom on what to do next. Perhaps it’s not even the right time for me to be pursuing grad school but if that is the case I need to get an inclination of it soon. Timing is important.
Church. It’s a small church comprised of Koreans and native English speakers. Turns out to be a great mix for me to practice my Korean and still have people to form bonds with that speak English. I really love their service format because it’s so small, this enables it to be closer to a Bible study rather than a large service/lecture. I. Love. It.
Moving. It was a bit irritating moving since I JUST got the feeling of settled not one week before I was informed I would be moving. Thankfully, I upgraded so my irritation quickly turned to glee when I saw/felt my better floors, HOT WATER STREAMING FROM MY SHOWER HEAD, a shower head with purifying charcoal beads (Dear God, YES!), better kitchen table, microwave, way better stovetop, large refrigerator, more cupboards, a wine glass my co-worker left, better desk, great view since I’m 12 floors up, and better lighting (except for my burnt out kitchen light). I am happy. EXCEPT for the fact that my boss told me I was moving again in 3 or 4 months. I’m hoping time will be on my side when I try to convince him it would be easier to let me stay put until my contract is up. Moving is just irritating.
ANNNND I just found out a new American co worker will be here….TOMORROW. I love the advance notice of these things. I did know someone was coming but I didn’t know when. I’m excited, though! Now I can be a semi-veteran and show her things. It should be a good time, I haven’t really met anyone here yet that I don’t get along with, so let’s hope she’s not the first.
This past weekend was a good one: I moved into the apartment of my former co-worker which is 5 times better than my old apartment, I went to the same church for the second time and LOVED it, and I started the process of compiling a list of grad schools I am interested in, and I got my hair cut…among other things.
The haircut. A student went with me so I wouldn’t feel like they were on a mission to butcher my hair since I happen to know me sporting an Asian style would be a mess. I brought pictures and it was FANTASTIC. I got cake, juice, a shampoo/condition, shoulder/head massage, a paraffin dip/hand massage, blow dry, hair cut, and Korean lesson for 10,000 won!! Could not believe it. And the cut was a good one! I am a big fan of Korean salons. If I had a camera I would post pictures of my cut, but no camera so no pics.
Grad schools. I am definitely intimidated and have realized for now I need to study my ASS off for this GRE and pray my ASS off for wisdom on what to do next. Perhaps it’s not even the right time for me to be pursuing grad school but if that is the case I need to get an inclination of it soon. Timing is important.
Church. It’s a small church comprised of Koreans and native English speakers. Turns out to be a great mix for me to practice my Korean and still have people to form bonds with that speak English. I really love their service format because it’s so small, this enables it to be closer to a Bible study rather than a large service/lecture. I. Love. It.
Moving. It was a bit irritating moving since I JUST got the feeling of settled not one week before I was informed I would be moving. Thankfully, I upgraded so my irritation quickly turned to glee when I saw/felt my better floors, HOT WATER STREAMING FROM MY SHOWER HEAD, a shower head with purifying charcoal beads (Dear God, YES!), better kitchen table, microwave, way better stovetop, large refrigerator, more cupboards, a wine glass my co-worker left, better desk, great view since I’m 12 floors up, and better lighting (except for my burnt out kitchen light). I am happy. EXCEPT for the fact that my boss told me I was moving again in 3 or 4 months. I’m hoping time will be on my side when I try to convince him it would be easier to let me stay put until my contract is up. Moving is just irritating.
ANNNND I just found out a new American co worker will be here….TOMORROW. I love the advance notice of these things. I did know someone was coming but I didn’t know when. I’m excited, though! Now I can be a semi-veteran and show her things. It should be a good time, I haven’t really met anyone here yet that I don’t get along with, so let’s hope she’s not the first.
Sunday, January 25, 2009
My heart is still wrapped around this?
Reading about the crisis in Zimbabwe makes me realize how complicated Africa’s problems are. Although one may look at it from far away and think the issues can be easily resolved, there is too many ingrained thought patterns to give a simple solution and walk away. While the solution may be simple, implementation will most likely not be. To me it seems there is a prideful man set in his ways who refuses to give up his power when doing so would only improve his country rather than deprive it of his years of experience. I think those years of experience have only hardened him to what being in public service is really about…serving the public. Then again, maybe a power change wouldn’t do much either. It seems whenever someone new comes into power in Africa they start off with the best intentions and end up corrupt and power hungry. I do realize I am severely lacking when it comes to knowledge of Africa and I am trying to fix that, but I guess the little knowledge I do have makes me think that’s what the leaders are like. I would love to think there is something I can be a part of that is helping to resolve this, but I know the only thing I can do is pray. What really gets me is that because of leaders being unable to negotiate and solve their disputes, people are dying form starvation and cholera, the economy is collapsing, people live in fear since certain freedoms are not present, CHILDREN AREN’T BEING EDUCATED because it’s too expensive or teachers don’t teach because they aren’t being paid. What a way to ensure your country will become worse, cease to educate your children. This is why leaders are so important, they shape the way for people to go and when they deviate to focus on their own selfish, prideful, destructive ways they leave no path for anyone to follow and whatever they had built previously, collapses. Issues like this really anger me.
Happy New Year! Yes, it is Lunar New Year’s day. This year is the year of the bull…also MY YEAR. 1985 was also the year of the bull, so it’s my year and I’m excited for it. 2009 will be an interesting ride, that much I can guarantee. I’m looking into jobs in Dubai but feel that if I did go, it would have to be for less than a year. At some point I realize I need to start taking jobs that develop my career rather than my passport. At some point. J I’m beginning to see that I have a passion for making sure the interaction between business, politics and people is a healthy one. Hoping to start a career somewhere in that arena, I know there’s a need!
I have been re-reading ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ and stumbled upon a passage where she explains happiness through a yogic mindset. She says (loosely) that happiness is something that must be achieved and once it is, something that must be maintained. You cannot just expect happiness to come to you, you have to keep it as a part of your life. I think I understand what she means. I woke up 3 days ago very, very, very happy; realizing I had friends and family that loved me, was healthy, hardworking, intelligent, and had at least enough potential to ensure I could succeed somewhere…life is good. Even when people disappoint me, circumstances make life difficult, or decisions come back to haunt me, life is GOOD and there is a reason to smile. When I feel happiness slipping away I need to remind myself how much love surround my life, how much difference kind words to someone else can make, and how much more of this beautiful life I potentially have left. I have also been watching lifechurch.tv sermons online and am so thankful that they put them online. The series on prayer reminds me how important it is not only because Jesus says how powerful it is over and over again but because it provides balance to life. Absolutely key.
Happy New Year! Yes, it is Lunar New Year’s day. This year is the year of the bull…also MY YEAR. 1985 was also the year of the bull, so it’s my year and I’m excited for it. 2009 will be an interesting ride, that much I can guarantee. I’m looking into jobs in Dubai but feel that if I did go, it would have to be for less than a year. At some point I realize I need to start taking jobs that develop my career rather than my passport. At some point. J I’m beginning to see that I have a passion for making sure the interaction between business, politics and people is a healthy one. Hoping to start a career somewhere in that arena, I know there’s a need!
I have been re-reading ‘Eat, Pray, Love’ and stumbled upon a passage where she explains happiness through a yogic mindset. She says (loosely) that happiness is something that must be achieved and once it is, something that must be maintained. You cannot just expect happiness to come to you, you have to keep it as a part of your life. I think I understand what she means. I woke up 3 days ago very, very, very happy; realizing I had friends and family that loved me, was healthy, hardworking, intelligent, and had at least enough potential to ensure I could succeed somewhere…life is good. Even when people disappoint me, circumstances make life difficult, or decisions come back to haunt me, life is GOOD and there is a reason to smile. When I feel happiness slipping away I need to remind myself how much love surround my life, how much difference kind words to someone else can make, and how much more of this beautiful life I potentially have left. I have also been watching lifechurch.tv sermons online and am so thankful that they put them online. The series on prayer reminds me how important it is not only because Jesus says how powerful it is over and over again but because it provides balance to life. Absolutely key.
Tuesday, January 13, 2009
Indian food in Korea is not recommended
On Sunday morning I had an experience in South Korea that I did not anticipate nor enjoy in the slightest. This experience was that of food poisoning. Oh, the joy! I haven’t been as sick as I was since I was in Africa, and even in Africa I was sick for less time. I won’t go into detail, but the sickness started around 6:30 am on Sunday and I couldn’t put anything in my mouth without puke until noon. Then, I was sore and all out of sorts the rest of the day. Monday was okay, but I should have had NO FOOD instead of pasta late at night. Today, Tuesday, I am trying to not ingest anything except liquid and I’m pretty sure this is the best idea. I blame the whole thing on an Indian buffet I had in Songtan. Their chicken curry was cold and it should have been hot…which means it was probably sitting there for awhile. I guess I shouldn’t have eaten it, but I have this crazy belief that nothing bad will EVER happen to me. Sometimes I should rely more on logic than crazy beliefs. Sometimes.
I finally feel like an okay teacher and it is with this thought that I know I cannot be a teacher next year. I say that knowing full well I could change my mind. Although, today I was looking at what sort of jobs were open in the US. Yes, my friends, I am actually considering moving back to America. We’ll see what happens, but I am pretty sure I want one year of professional experience before I get my masters. If I don’t get professional experience, I’m still pretty confident I’ll be going to graduate school in 2010.
I’ve been slacking hardcore on learning Korean. The holidays and Taiwan messed me up.
I am jonesing to see Slumdog Millionaire. It sucks because it’s not in theaters in Korea and since it’s such a popular movie, it’s really hard to find a decent stream of it. Not okay.
I am writing this in my classroom and my students are currently quizzing each other on the names of all the members of Big Bang…wow. I used to be just like these girls! And if you’ve never heard of Big Bang, you should look that up. They’re a big deal over here. And they all look like women. Which I just told them and they just said, "No..." and then listed off all their names, as if this would convince me they were in fact men.
I finally feel like an okay teacher and it is with this thought that I know I cannot be a teacher next year. I say that knowing full well I could change my mind. Although, today I was looking at what sort of jobs were open in the US. Yes, my friends, I am actually considering moving back to America. We’ll see what happens, but I am pretty sure I want one year of professional experience before I get my masters. If I don’t get professional experience, I’m still pretty confident I’ll be going to graduate school in 2010.
I’ve been slacking hardcore on learning Korean. The holidays and Taiwan messed me up.
I am jonesing to see Slumdog Millionaire. It sucks because it’s not in theaters in Korea and since it’s such a popular movie, it’s really hard to find a decent stream of it. Not okay.
I am writing this in my classroom and my students are currently quizzing each other on the names of all the members of Big Bang…wow. I used to be just like these girls! And if you’ve never heard of Big Bang, you should look that up. They’re a big deal over here. And they all look like women. Which I just told them and they just said, "No..." and then listed off all their names, as if this would convince me they were in fact men.
Tuesday, January 6, 2009
I know the heart of life is good.
It’s the New Year, how weird. I can honestly say as I was watching the fireworks in Taiwan taking gulps from the champagne being passed around that I did not have any particular feeling about 2009. Usually, I have some sort of feeling…the year will be exciting, different, a transitioning year, sad, good, bad, whatever. This year, nothing. I just felt…hm…slightly nauseous from drinking champagne too fast? Yeah, that’s really the only emotion I had going on and that’s more a physical reaction than an emotion, really. Maybe that means I get to make this year whatever I want and I until I decide it’s just a blank slate. Maybe I need to make some decisions. I’ve been feeling that for awhile.
I got back from Taiwan Sunday night and it was quite the adventure. I’m really bad at retelling detailed stories of events that impacted me, but let me try a little bit. First, let me say that I planned little to none of this trip. I bought plane tickets (for me and my friend), know what cities we were going to, and looked up some things to do in said cities, but I didn’t book hotels or even look to see where hotels were, did not download maps, didn’t check any sort of transportation provided within cities….nothing like that. I went in pretty blind, just to see what would happen. And events happened. The first full day in Taipei was rainy, but we had managed to get a sweet tourist map from the airport (should have thought to ask for one of those for every city since it was in ENGLISH) so we easily found our way around a city full of food stands, motorbikes, and shrines/temples. It was a good time, a bit wet, but great. Then, we ventured onto Tainan. We were in the MRT station looking a bit confused for no longer than 20 seconds when we hear , “I can help, how can I help?” coming from behind us. What do we find but the friendliest 5-language speaking Indonesian University student ever. He was beyond wonderful leading us to the train station and teaching us how to ask for tickets in Chinese all but 2 minutes before HIS train pulled away. It made my heart swell. I did actually forget how to say that Chinese sentence but realized that if you say “two (insert city name here)” the ticket person knows what you mean. One thing I overlooked when thinking about this trip…it was the New Years holiday. The high speed rail tickets were sold out and we had to get standby slow bus tickets. We couldn’t get on the first bus, so we had to wait about an hour or a bit more to get on a bus for the 4-4 ½ hour ride to Tainan. Awesome anyways because we basically bused all the way down Taiwan (that’s what she said?). Tainan provided entertainment in the form of seeing a college acquaintance, watching a worship dvd in a christian café and feeling the longing for a great church, trying bubble tea for the first time, New Year‘s fireworks, a ride on a motorbike, and the kindness of a man at a 7 eleven who knew me and Lauren were cold so he gave us weird meat broth. The broth was actually tasty and more importantly, hot. It was warmer in Taiwan than Korea, but that night was chilled. After Tainan we went to Taichung. LAME. It’s an up and coming city in Taiwan and it has….things it could offer a traveler who plans ahead. I am not that traveler. Taichung woulda been a bust had I not gotten the best phone call ever. It went something like this: *ring* (Lauren: should we answer that? Who would call us here? No one knows we’re here…) Me: Hello? Then I hang up because person couldn’t hear me. 30 secnds later *ring* Me: “Yobosayo? (Korean hello) Oh, oh! HI! Yeah, okay, definitely, sounds great…..okay, yeah, we’ll be down in just a minute! Okay! Bye!” And who was on the other end but a friend of the hotel owner who had heard we wanted to go to the night market, so he wanted to take us. Turned out to be a great guy named Wesley. Great English speaker, made Taichung much better than it would have been. Lauren was a bit freaked that a random man had called our room to take us somewhere in a country where we didn’t speak the language and had never been before…but I figured it was harmless. I could have been wrong, but I wasn’t so it’s fine. The major snag that made me want to set things on fire happened on our last day in Taipei. I needed to change money into NTD that I didn’t change in the airport when I got in (HUGE mistake) and found that I could not. I was a very unhappy girl when I realized through the tireless labor of a random network marketing journalism University student that they changed Yen, USD, Canadian, HK, and Euro….but not Won. Kinda doesn’t make sense since Korea is so close, but they were not fans of the Won in Taiwan. Sucked for me…but my Visa card found a way around that. And that student? Yeah, he went around with us for probably an hour trying to find a place to change our money before we FORCED him to stop after he tried a chain of jewelry stores in a desperate attempt to get my money changed. The Taiwanese are probably the most helpful and kindest people I have ever encountered overseas.
Longest. Blog. Ever. Sorry about that, I just know that I had mentioned to some people that I was going to Taiwan and I didn’t want to leave everyone hanging with no stories since we all know when I travel weird things happen. I do feel as if I went through an amazing process in Taiwan that I really didn’t expect. I feel more motivated, grounded, sure of who I am…it’s hard to describe. It’s as if before I was just going through the motions of life, unsure of everything around me, unsure of what would happen next. In Taiwan I got a sense of security, a sense that who I was before was still there, I could and should accomplish things just as I would was I back in the states. It’s so hard to describe in words and the words I just used are not doing what happened justice in any way, but just know that I feel more confident that my future is not dark in any way but bright because I can accomplish things I had forgotten I was capable of just a couple of months ago.
Today I joined a gym, learned how to ask for a discount in Korea, and had my students yell at me for going off on a tangent about math (since numbers are universal, they’d rather read English than long division as it turns out….over achievers). I also had my boss tell me the most awesome thing ever. My hot water has been funky for around a month not. I told him before I left for Taiwan that my shower was not getting hot, just lukewarm and he even came over to make sure I wasn’t lying before leaving and saying, “Well, I am not a handyman I cannot fix that.” Duh, that’s why I told you to call someone…. Anyways, he said he would fix it while I was gone but he didn’t. I had one lukewarm shower before I made the decision to join a gym and take advantage of their reliable steamy showers. He asked me today if it was any better (even though no one had done anything to fix it) to which I said, “I don’t know, I’ve been going to the gym.” His reply? “Oh, you should just go to the gym everyday and wash up.” Yah. Seriously?! Really? That’s how you’re fixing this problem? When he came by to check it the first time he tried to tell me it wasn’t worth fixing because I would only be there another month or so. I informed him very quickly that I would be wanting a hot shower within that month. No worries though, someone is coming by tomorrow to fix it. Thank God he knew I would not actually settle for the solution of making the gym my pseudo home.
And that is my novel.
I got back from Taiwan Sunday night and it was quite the adventure. I’m really bad at retelling detailed stories of events that impacted me, but let me try a little bit. First, let me say that I planned little to none of this trip. I bought plane tickets (for me and my friend), know what cities we were going to, and looked up some things to do in said cities, but I didn’t book hotels or even look to see where hotels were, did not download maps, didn’t check any sort of transportation provided within cities….nothing like that. I went in pretty blind, just to see what would happen. And events happened. The first full day in Taipei was rainy, but we had managed to get a sweet tourist map from the airport (should have thought to ask for one of those for every city since it was in ENGLISH) so we easily found our way around a city full of food stands, motorbikes, and shrines/temples. It was a good time, a bit wet, but great. Then, we ventured onto Tainan. We were in the MRT station looking a bit confused for no longer than 20 seconds when we hear , “I can help, how can I help?” coming from behind us. What do we find but the friendliest 5-language speaking Indonesian University student ever. He was beyond wonderful leading us to the train station and teaching us how to ask for tickets in Chinese all but 2 minutes before HIS train pulled away. It made my heart swell. I did actually forget how to say that Chinese sentence but realized that if you say “two (insert city name here)” the ticket person knows what you mean. One thing I overlooked when thinking about this trip…it was the New Years holiday. The high speed rail tickets were sold out and we had to get standby slow bus tickets. We couldn’t get on the first bus, so we had to wait about an hour or a bit more to get on a bus for the 4-4 ½ hour ride to Tainan. Awesome anyways because we basically bused all the way down Taiwan (that’s what she said?). Tainan provided entertainment in the form of seeing a college acquaintance, watching a worship dvd in a christian café and feeling the longing for a great church, trying bubble tea for the first time, New Year‘s fireworks, a ride on a motorbike, and the kindness of a man at a 7 eleven who knew me and Lauren were cold so he gave us weird meat broth. The broth was actually tasty and more importantly, hot. It was warmer in Taiwan than Korea, but that night was chilled. After Tainan we went to Taichung. LAME. It’s an up and coming city in Taiwan and it has….things it could offer a traveler who plans ahead. I am not that traveler. Taichung woulda been a bust had I not gotten the best phone call ever. It went something like this: *ring* (Lauren: should we answer that? Who would call us here? No one knows we’re here…) Me: Hello? Then I hang up because person couldn’t hear me. 30 secnds later *ring* Me: “Yobosayo? (Korean hello) Oh, oh! HI! Yeah, okay, definitely, sounds great…..okay, yeah, we’ll be down in just a minute! Okay! Bye!” And who was on the other end but a friend of the hotel owner who had heard we wanted to go to the night market, so he wanted to take us. Turned out to be a great guy named Wesley. Great English speaker, made Taichung much better than it would have been. Lauren was a bit freaked that a random man had called our room to take us somewhere in a country where we didn’t speak the language and had never been before…but I figured it was harmless. I could have been wrong, but I wasn’t so it’s fine. The major snag that made me want to set things on fire happened on our last day in Taipei. I needed to change money into NTD that I didn’t change in the airport when I got in (HUGE mistake) and found that I could not. I was a very unhappy girl when I realized through the tireless labor of a random network marketing journalism University student that they changed Yen, USD, Canadian, HK, and Euro….but not Won. Kinda doesn’t make sense since Korea is so close, but they were not fans of the Won in Taiwan. Sucked for me…but my Visa card found a way around that. And that student? Yeah, he went around with us for probably an hour trying to find a place to change our money before we FORCED him to stop after he tried a chain of jewelry stores in a desperate attempt to get my money changed. The Taiwanese are probably the most helpful and kindest people I have ever encountered overseas.
Longest. Blog. Ever. Sorry about that, I just know that I had mentioned to some people that I was going to Taiwan and I didn’t want to leave everyone hanging with no stories since we all know when I travel weird things happen. I do feel as if I went through an amazing process in Taiwan that I really didn’t expect. I feel more motivated, grounded, sure of who I am…it’s hard to describe. It’s as if before I was just going through the motions of life, unsure of everything around me, unsure of what would happen next. In Taiwan I got a sense of security, a sense that who I was before was still there, I could and should accomplish things just as I would was I back in the states. It’s so hard to describe in words and the words I just used are not doing what happened justice in any way, but just know that I feel more confident that my future is not dark in any way but bright because I can accomplish things I had forgotten I was capable of just a couple of months ago.
Today I joined a gym, learned how to ask for a discount in Korea, and had my students yell at me for going off on a tangent about math (since numbers are universal, they’d rather read English than long division as it turns out….over achievers). I also had my boss tell me the most awesome thing ever. My hot water has been funky for around a month not. I told him before I left for Taiwan that my shower was not getting hot, just lukewarm and he even came over to make sure I wasn’t lying before leaving and saying, “Well, I am not a handyman I cannot fix that.” Duh, that’s why I told you to call someone…. Anyways, he said he would fix it while I was gone but he didn’t. I had one lukewarm shower before I made the decision to join a gym and take advantage of their reliable steamy showers. He asked me today if it was any better (even though no one had done anything to fix it) to which I said, “I don’t know, I’ve been going to the gym.” His reply? “Oh, you should just go to the gym everyday and wash up.” Yah. Seriously?! Really? That’s how you’re fixing this problem? When he came by to check it the first time he tried to tell me it wasn’t worth fixing because I would only be there another month or so. I informed him very quickly that I would be wanting a hot shower within that month. No worries though, someone is coming by tomorrow to fix it. Thank God he knew I would not actually settle for the solution of making the gym my pseudo home.
And that is my novel.
Sunday, December 21, 2008
Trying to find a balance
I am better and completely believe in the healing powers of kimchi. Maybe what I mean is that I now know how great cabbage and spice are…even though Russia should have already taught me about cabbage.
Sometimes I wonder why good or bad things happen to certain people. How much of what happens to us is what we choose and how much is the ‘luck of the draw’? Is there just fate or is there just free will? I don’t think there is just one, but what’s the balance, how does that work? It’s insane to me how much of life we can’t really explain. Things happen because they happen. Sometimes it’s because we choose but sometimes it has nothing to do with what we choose. I had a friend who experienced a really rough night last night and she reminded me of this train of thought when she said, “Ashley, I know it sounds dumb but it’s when nights like last night happen that I think, what did I do for that to happen to me? I’m not a bad person, I never mean for anyone to feel hurt by my actions, so what did I do?” And the bittersweet answer to that is maybe she did nothing. Maybe it just happened that way and had nothing to do with her. It’s bitter because that’s just life and it’s sweet because she couldn’t have prevented it anyways and there’s nothing to regret. But I’ve been where she was. I have thought, ‘what did I do to deserve this situation?’. Who hasn’t? I wonder if there will ever be a point in my life when I think I have everything I want.
The other interesting half to this topic is maybe situations are not bad themselves but really our perception is what creates the negative reaction. Maybe. Living overseas has made me realize how different perceptions can really be. I always knew there were different sides to a story but I don’t know that I realized how different those sides could really be. How you are brought up to see something is how you will see it. If I hand a customer change with my left hand in America no one even thinks twice, but here they wouldn’t hand you something with their left hand only. And they are brought up to view someone giving you something with their bare left hand as negative. It’s interesting to realize point of view is SO diverse.
Life can be a little sweet but life can be a little shitty. --RHCP
Sometimes I wonder why good or bad things happen to certain people. How much of what happens to us is what we choose and how much is the ‘luck of the draw’? Is there just fate or is there just free will? I don’t think there is just one, but what’s the balance, how does that work? It’s insane to me how much of life we can’t really explain. Things happen because they happen. Sometimes it’s because we choose but sometimes it has nothing to do with what we choose. I had a friend who experienced a really rough night last night and she reminded me of this train of thought when she said, “Ashley, I know it sounds dumb but it’s when nights like last night happen that I think, what did I do for that to happen to me? I’m not a bad person, I never mean for anyone to feel hurt by my actions, so what did I do?” And the bittersweet answer to that is maybe she did nothing. Maybe it just happened that way and had nothing to do with her. It’s bitter because that’s just life and it’s sweet because she couldn’t have prevented it anyways and there’s nothing to regret. But I’ve been where she was. I have thought, ‘what did I do to deserve this situation?’. Who hasn’t? I wonder if there will ever be a point in my life when I think I have everything I want.
The other interesting half to this topic is maybe situations are not bad themselves but really our perception is what creates the negative reaction. Maybe. Living overseas has made me realize how different perceptions can really be. I always knew there were different sides to a story but I don’t know that I realized how different those sides could really be. How you are brought up to see something is how you will see it. If I hand a customer change with my left hand in America no one even thinks twice, but here they wouldn’t hand you something with their left hand only. And they are brought up to view someone giving you something with their bare left hand as negative. It’s interesting to realize point of view is SO diverse.
Life can be a little sweet but life can be a little shitty. --RHCP
Wednesday, December 17, 2008
Being sick just gives me a reason to be selfish
Wasn’t I just sick? I’m thinking my last sickness somehow didn’t count because I am sick again. This time legitimately sick in the way that you feel gross when you wake up and have an interesting time falling asleep, get a little worse everyday, and then hopefully get a bit better after you hit sickness bottom. I have an effing cold (or bird flu if you want to make it sound exotic). Boo. I taught a lot of my classes the word sick today so I guess I can attribute my cold to expanding the children of Korea’s vocabulary. And there’s the silver lining.
I’ve noticed over the years that when I am sick I tend to get a bit dramatic and all “poor me”. I think that’s the selfish me coming out. That also may shine through in this little update I’m about to give.
I’ve been in Korea for about 2 ½ months now…approaching the 3 month mark. Historically, this is about the time I start missing things from home. Right now I miss scalding hot water coming from my showerhead, people speaking English all around me, the number four button being an option in the elevator (they don‘t put the number 4 they just put the letter F since the number 4 looks like the word for death), studying (yes, I am that nerdy), calling anyone I want in America whenever I want and not having to say, ’I’m sorry, I’m on my computer, can you hear me better…now??’, the insanity of the holidays, the airport in December, reading the ingredients on the back of food and body products, and driving. Also snow, but there are places in America that I would also be missing that last one, so it only half counts. I realize that list has some weird things on it but you never really know what sort of things make you feel like home until you don’t have them anymore. Biggest pet peeve in Korea? That I can’t read ingredient labels. Seriously. I need to get a move on with learning Korean food words.
I went to the DMZ and if I was in a better mood, I would tell you all the awesome things I learned. Really though, I did find out a lot about North Korea that I didn’t know. It is insane how sheltered and closed off that country is. I was reminded of how ignorant I like to be of world happenings today when I read an article about how China likes to censor what information gets into their country. What’s the deal there? They don’t want their citizens to know what’s going on? I’m not sure I quite understand how a country advancing as quickly as China can afford to censor their people from information most of the world has access to. Doesn’t that sort of put their people at an informational disadvantage? I think it does, but who am I? Clearly not anyone at all close to influencing the Chinese government. Also, looking at it objectively, America also censors information…maybe just not as blatantly as China.
I’m currently looking at which grad schools I want to apply to. I’m not applying until next year, but I want to start preparing now or I’ll never do it.
Over the past few weeks I have realized that I talk about eggs too much, get very passionate about whatever book I happen to be reading, and am a pushover when it comes to cheating during made up card games like pumpernickel. Life is wonderful when you are learning.
And here are some lyrics to a song that makes me smirk when I realize my current situation:
I'm a new soul I came to this strange world hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take but since I came here felt the joy and the fear finding myself making every possible mistake (New Soul--Yael Naim)
I’ve noticed over the years that when I am sick I tend to get a bit dramatic and all “poor me”. I think that’s the selfish me coming out. That also may shine through in this little update I’m about to give.
I’ve been in Korea for about 2 ½ months now…approaching the 3 month mark. Historically, this is about the time I start missing things from home. Right now I miss scalding hot water coming from my showerhead, people speaking English all around me, the number four button being an option in the elevator (they don‘t put the number 4 they just put the letter F since the number 4 looks like the word for death), studying (yes, I am that nerdy), calling anyone I want in America whenever I want and not having to say, ’I’m sorry, I’m on my computer, can you hear me better…now??’, the insanity of the holidays, the airport in December, reading the ingredients on the back of food and body products, and driving. Also snow, but there are places in America that I would also be missing that last one, so it only half counts. I realize that list has some weird things on it but you never really know what sort of things make you feel like home until you don’t have them anymore. Biggest pet peeve in Korea? That I can’t read ingredient labels. Seriously. I need to get a move on with learning Korean food words.
I went to the DMZ and if I was in a better mood, I would tell you all the awesome things I learned. Really though, I did find out a lot about North Korea that I didn’t know. It is insane how sheltered and closed off that country is. I was reminded of how ignorant I like to be of world happenings today when I read an article about how China likes to censor what information gets into their country. What’s the deal there? They don’t want their citizens to know what’s going on? I’m not sure I quite understand how a country advancing as quickly as China can afford to censor their people from information most of the world has access to. Doesn’t that sort of put their people at an informational disadvantage? I think it does, but who am I? Clearly not anyone at all close to influencing the Chinese government. Also, looking at it objectively, America also censors information…maybe just not as blatantly as China.
I’m currently looking at which grad schools I want to apply to. I’m not applying until next year, but I want to start preparing now or I’ll never do it.
Over the past few weeks I have realized that I talk about eggs too much, get very passionate about whatever book I happen to be reading, and am a pushover when it comes to cheating during made up card games like pumpernickel. Life is wonderful when you are learning.
And here are some lyrics to a song that makes me smirk when I realize my current situation:
I'm a new soul I came to this strange world hoping I could learn a bit about how to give and take but since I came here felt the joy and the fear finding myself making every possible mistake (New Soul--Yael Naim)
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