Trying to pack is obviously not my forte. Usually, to combat this problem I make up obscenely detailed lists and itineraries both for packing and my trip. Somehow I left these at the office because like a spaz, I wrote them in my lesson plan notebook instead of my journal. My guidebook is full of color coded post it notes so that's okay.
What's not okay:
-I can't find my address book (thus expect a dirth of post cards unless you email me your address)
-I seem to have lost my extra camera battery.
-It's after 1am and instead of finishing up I'm blogging to relieve stress.
This should have been an Alex goes bungee jumping post complete with video. My videos of other people are great but my friend A. took the video of me jumping and it is...special. Salsa Boy is going to doctor it a bit in his video editing program before I post it.
Apparently blogger is blocked in China so don't expect any posts until around August 6th. That is, unless I figure out how to access Blogger via a proxy site. I hate to admit it though, I'm not that dedicated of a blogger. I draw the line at breaking a law in order to blog about my travels. However, I am not above emailing Salsa Boy a blog post to post if I really get the urge (changes of this happening: slim, verrrrrrry slim).
Random annoyance: Why do they always sell mini things of shampoo but not face wash or moisturizer? Obviously, the person in charge of travel size stuff is a man. I am bringing mini bottles of everything but that. ...Well, and deodorant because I am silly and obsessed with my French deodorant.
That's it, I'm going to sleep and will finish packing toiletries and such in the morning. I refuse to stay awake obsessing over how to get my face wash into a more travel friendly size bottle.
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Friday, July 24, 2009
The Beginning of the End?
This upcoming month might be the beginning of the end of my life in Korea. Due to contract disagreements I will not be extending my contract at my current school as I had originally planned. At the moment, everything is up in the air. When I was frustrated with my job I felt desperate for a change, Japan, Taiwan-- anything. Now I'm not so sure what I want to do. I think I will contact the visa/embassy people and ask how long I can stay in the country on a tourist visa before I have to go home or leave the country.
I feel heavy about the situation. On the one hand, my job was not fantastic, especially compared to many of my friends' situations. However, I love my 9 little girls (I recently had a mother insist that her child be switched into my class) and feel bad about abandoning them halfway through the year (the Korean school year runs from February to February). I'm not ready to go back to grad school yet since I still have no idea what I want to go to grad school for other than the vaguest of ideas. Even though most of my friends are leaving within the next few months, I still have good friends here and I love my life.
This weekend will involve heavy reflection. Also, bungee jumping. In the vague chance that I die:
I leave my Harry Potter books to Vanessa.
I leave everything in my NY room to my family.
I leave everything that I own in Korea to Salsa Boy.
...That was really morbid. Bungee jumping is really safe and cheap in Korea so why not? It's a bit higher than the things I usually jump off of but I will have a rope and such. One of our friends is coming along and taking pictures so Hopefully there will be photographic evidence of my insanity (errr, reinforcement of insanity) on Monday.
For your enjoyment:
A local graffiti artist. I love Konglish (Korean/English) so very much.
I feel heavy about the situation. On the one hand, my job was not fantastic, especially compared to many of my friends' situations. However, I love my 9 little girls (I recently had a mother insist that her child be switched into my class) and feel bad about abandoning them halfway through the year (the Korean school year runs from February to February). I'm not ready to go back to grad school yet since I still have no idea what I want to go to grad school for other than the vaguest of ideas. Even though most of my friends are leaving within the next few months, I still have good friends here and I love my life.
This weekend will involve heavy reflection. Also, bungee jumping. In the vague chance that I die:
I leave my Harry Potter books to Vanessa.
I leave everything in my NY room to my family.
I leave everything that I own in Korea to Salsa Boy.
...That was really morbid. Bungee jumping is really safe and cheap in Korea so why not? It's a bit higher than the things I usually jump off of but I will have a rope and such. One of our friends is coming along and taking pictures so Hopefully there will be photographic evidence of my insanity (errr, reinforcement of insanity) on Monday.
For your enjoyment:
A local graffiti artist. I love Konglish (Korean/English) so very much.
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
Il Jong and the Battle of the Jump Rope
No, not Kim Il Jong, Il Jong as in the first taekwondo movement routine thingy that I have to master in order to get my yellow belt (along with doing some other things). Il means one and let's be honest, I have no clue what jong means. It isn't that the moves are that hard so much as the fact that I'm bad at remembering combinations. Oh well, it shall get easier and I have a month to learn the 18 move combination.
Jump rope=the bane of my existence. I'm just bad at it. I'm okay with the skipping style you do as a kid but the two footed boxer style you do for taekwondo training is awful. If you show up early you are handed a jump rope. I can usually do a few in a row, tops 10, before it catches my toe or my pony tail. Then one of the black belts is like 'no, no, POINTED.' What on earth does this mean? How do you make a jump rope POINTED???? Salsa Boy has no idea either but practice makes perfect. Maybe one day I'll do it and he'll go, 'see, pointed!' Until then I have to deal with it knocking out my hair pins and making people laugh at me. I don't mind sucking at everything else but apparently jump rope is something all little kids do here.
Expect a decreased blog quantity output for the next bit. Taekwondo makes me sleepy as anything and I come home pretty sore and ready for bed instead of ready to type my heart out.
I feel like I'm not ready for China. I mean, I have drawn up possible itineraries for several days as well as a couple of day trips I would like to take but usually by now I have a daily budget figured out as well as every traditional cuisine that I want to try. Perhaps I don't need to have such a tight budget as I did when I was in Europe when I tried to stretch every Euro but it's confusing. I still think in dollars when converting other currencies but I'm paid (and do budgets) in won. A friend of mine was baffled that I was only spending my time in Beijing but it's a huge city with a lot of stuff I want to see. I don't want to stress myself out trying to see a billion cities. I need time to unwind and get ready for another semester. I will not stress over this. This shall be my mantra...
Jump rope=the bane of my existence. I'm just bad at it. I'm okay with the skipping style you do as a kid but the two footed boxer style you do for taekwondo training is awful. If you show up early you are handed a jump rope. I can usually do a few in a row, tops 10, before it catches my toe or my pony tail. Then one of the black belts is like 'no, no, POINTED.' What on earth does this mean? How do you make a jump rope POINTED???? Salsa Boy has no idea either but practice makes perfect. Maybe one day I'll do it and he'll go, 'see, pointed!' Until then I have to deal with it knocking out my hair pins and making people laugh at me. I don't mind sucking at everything else but apparently jump rope is something all little kids do here.
Expect a decreased blog quantity output for the next bit. Taekwondo makes me sleepy as anything and I come home pretty sore and ready for bed instead of ready to type my heart out.
I feel like I'm not ready for China. I mean, I have drawn up possible itineraries for several days as well as a couple of day trips I would like to take but usually by now I have a daily budget figured out as well as every traditional cuisine that I want to try. Perhaps I don't need to have such a tight budget as I did when I was in Europe when I tried to stretch every Euro but it's confusing. I still think in dollars when converting other currencies but I'm paid (and do budgets) in won. A friend of mine was baffled that I was only spending my time in Beijing but it's a huge city with a lot of stuff I want to see. I don't want to stress myself out trying to see a billion cities. I need time to unwind and get ready for another semester. I will not stress over this. This shall be my mantra...
Saturday, July 18, 2009
Busy, Busy, Busy!
As Bokonon would say, busy, busy, busy! (Go read Cat's Cradle, Vonnegut)
Taekwondo is amazing. In two days I have learned a basic punch, kick and three blocks. It is tiring and exciting and I love it. The class is conducted in Korean with brief translations when Salsa Boy, S, or I look particularly confused. There is a lot of confusion on my part though I am learning quickly. I will try to have someone take a picture of me in my uniform soon and post it. The only thing that is really hurting my body are the kicks, which apparently take a few months for your legs to get used to. I'm definitely a long ways from the flying kicks that Salsa Boy is doing right now. Then again, he's been at this since April.
This weekend was and is full of social madness. I love having the time to see my friends but this time it's a little bittersweet. Last night I went clubbing in Apgujeong to Monkey Beach which is fun in its own right but given that it was for a goodbye party, a bit depressing. Most of my favorite people will be leaving over the next two months and while it's hard it is also part and parcel of expat life. I will make new friends and strengthen friendships with the ones I have but it's sad all the same. Today I am going to do some shopping with a few female friends and then going to quiz night with another couple. I'm not entirely sure what this entails but it sounds like fun.
Taekwondo is amazing. In two days I have learned a basic punch, kick and three blocks. It is tiring and exciting and I love it. The class is conducted in Korean with brief translations when Salsa Boy, S, or I look particularly confused. There is a lot of confusion on my part though I am learning quickly. I will try to have someone take a picture of me in my uniform soon and post it. The only thing that is really hurting my body are the kicks, which apparently take a few months for your legs to get used to. I'm definitely a long ways from the flying kicks that Salsa Boy is doing right now. Then again, he's been at this since April.
This weekend was and is full of social madness. I love having the time to see my friends but this time it's a little bittersweet. Last night I went clubbing in Apgujeong to Monkey Beach which is fun in its own right but given that it was for a goodbye party, a bit depressing. Most of my favorite people will be leaving over the next two months and while it's hard it is also part and parcel of expat life. I will make new friends and strengthen friendships with the ones I have but it's sad all the same. Today I am going to do some shopping with a few female friends and then going to quiz night with another couple. I'm not entirely sure what this entails but it sounds like fun.
Thursday, July 16, 2009
Tales of the Amazing Attack Midget
Or so my brother says. Why am I going to be an amazing attack midget? I joined Salsa Boy's taekwondo class, 5 nights a week from 9pm until 10pm. I'm not sure if I can commit to 5 nights a week but if it doesn't work out I'll do 3 times a week instead next month. It's more a question of exhaustion than time management. Yesterday I just observed the class. There are 8 students and the teacher plus his 2 black belt assistants. They speak a little bit of English though the class is conducted in Korean with translations when needed. Salsa Boy learned the body parts and taekwondo related vocabulary fairly quickly so I'm excited to improve my vocabulary as well as my attack midget skills. Speaking of midget: I might not get my uniform until Friday since the Sabonim (teacher/master) needed to order a smaller one because I'm too short for all of the ones that he has in stock. Apparently, I am 153 centimeters tall. I also got to witness them practicing flying kicks and how to fend off an attacker who is wielding a knife.
A co-teacher asked why I decided to take taekwondo. First of all, it looks like a lot of fun. Second, I need something to do that isn't running at the gym or rock climbing. Third, it's an essential part of Korean culture and I'd like to try to get a little more involved in Korean culture outside of the food and tourist circuit.
Hand, foot and mouth disease update:
Current cases at my school: 2.
Number of times a day I make my kids wash their hands: 4.
Number of times a day I wash my hands: Too many to count.
I also take a vitamin C packet once a day and use an obscene amount of hand sanitizer. I'm going on vacation on the 30th and I am determined to be healthy and happy. I will never forget being feverish in Rome and miserable. I think I am the only person on the planet who didn't love Rome.
A co-teacher asked why I decided to take taekwondo. First of all, it looks like a lot of fun. Second, I need something to do that isn't running at the gym or rock climbing. Third, it's an essential part of Korean culture and I'd like to try to get a little more involved in Korean culture outside of the food and tourist circuit.
Hand, foot and mouth disease update:
Current cases at my school: 2.
Number of times a day I make my kids wash their hands: 4.
Number of times a day I wash my hands: Too many to count.
I also take a vitamin C packet once a day and use an obscene amount of hand sanitizer. I'm going on vacation on the 30th and I am determined to be healthy and happy. I will never forget being feverish in Rome and miserable. I think I am the only person on the planet who didn't love Rome.
Tuesday, July 14, 2009
Hand, Foot and Mouth Disease Strikes Again
Yesterday, one of the six year old kindergarten students was feverish. Upon closer examination, he had the distinctive hand, foot and mouth disease spots in his mouth.
When the elementary student got ill, I was worried but at least a 10 year old has gotten down the rudiments of basic hygiene. Kindergarten kids most certainly do not. Today someone came in to sterilize the air (not sure how this helps) while we were all in class. The man was vaguely amused when my students said "hello!"All of my little girls' hands were inspected at lunch and notices taped to their lunch boxes for their parents. When one of my students asked what was happening, I tried to explain it in words that a 6 year old ESL student could understand. M. (the student sent home) is very sick. He is going to be okay. We just want to make sure that no one else will get sick. If you don't feel good or you see spots on your hands or feet, please tell me quickly. They also examined the Korean note on their lunch box which seemed to help their confusion. I did my best to be very calm and soothing since everyone seemed a little unnerved by all of the things happening that were out of the ordinary. I focused the class on our new storybook and did funny voices while reading it through.
I have never used so much hand sanitizer in my life.
When the elementary student got ill, I was worried but at least a 10 year old has gotten down the rudiments of basic hygiene. Kindergarten kids most certainly do not. Today someone came in to sterilize the air (not sure how this helps) while we were all in class. The man was vaguely amused when my students said "hello!"All of my little girls' hands were inspected at lunch and notices taped to their lunch boxes for their parents. When one of my students asked what was happening, I tried to explain it in words that a 6 year old ESL student could understand. M. (the student sent home) is very sick. He is going to be okay. We just want to make sure that no one else will get sick. If you don't feel good or you see spots on your hands or feet, please tell me quickly. They also examined the Korean note on their lunch box which seemed to help their confusion. I did my best to be very calm and soothing since everyone seemed a little unnerved by all of the things happening that were out of the ordinary. I focused the class on our new storybook and did funny voices while reading it through.
I have never used so much hand sanitizer in my life.
Monday, July 13, 2009
Muh MUH MUDFEST!!!!!!!!!!!
Unfortunately for Mudfest, July is definitely rainy season in Korea. I spent Saturday afternoon getting happily muddy, going down mudslides, playing in a mudpit, and splashing around in the ocean (which was surprisingly warm). The mud made my skin feel great and my hair soft. Saturday night was cold and it poured and didn't stop until Sunday night. Instead of relaxing (mud free) at the beach on Sunday, Salsa Boy and I ended up holing up in a cafe for a few hours until the bus was ready to go.
Never again will I only travel with one book. I figured, hey it's only a day and a half and most of the time I will be muddy (i.e., incompatible book companion). I brought Fitzgerald's Jazz Age short stories which, while great, it isn't something you can really lose yourself in for hours (or at least I can't). I wrote in my journal for a little bit, called my parents (eeek phone bill!) and even cajoled Salsa Boy into playing a few rounds of hang man with me. I tried to convince him that he wanted to read Fitzgerald's short stories instead of Sartre's Nausea but he wasn't having any of it. To be perfectly fair, I wouldn't have traded either. My efforts to 'pack light' must be abandoned.
And now, what we've all been waiting for...PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!! Dear Blogger, Please upload these so I don't have the wrath of my relatives upon me. Love, Alex
This shows the bottom of the mud slide. Very, very fun!
Me, in all my muddy glory!
Tents, ostensibly for people to get out of the sun. Mostly used for people to avoid the rain.
Me, obviously gleeful upon my arrival at mudfest! The people milling about me are the friends I roomed with. Yes, 20 people in one room. It was cozy.
Our first glimpse of muddy people, which was a bit shocking in a wonderful way.
Saturday night there was an absolutely superb fireworks show, I've never seen anything like it.
And, as requested, a picture of Salsa Boy! The single most unflattering picture in the world...I really think that mud is not his best color.
Me, blessedly cleaned up and mud free at dinner.
The organizers hired what seemed like a gazillion photographers to document the foreigners gone wild. Notice how there are about 20 of them swarming a group of dancing boys.
Sorry that the pictures are so out of order. Blogger and I are in a rocky stage of our relationship. OO, and on that note, all of these pictures are care of Salsa Boy since I didn't want to risk my new camera around the mud.
The weirdest thing about mudfest was being completely surrounded by foreigners and no one even bothering to speak Korean in the shops. Elderly shop keepers kept calculators on hand if they didn't know how to say the numbers in English. I still attempted to use Korean but I gave up after a few hours in the face of thousands upon thousands of English speakers swarming the area. It was utterly bizarre to have people of Korean nationality be in the minority.
Never again will I only travel with one book. I figured, hey it's only a day and a half and most of the time I will be muddy (i.e., incompatible book companion). I brought Fitzgerald's Jazz Age short stories which, while great, it isn't something you can really lose yourself in for hours (or at least I can't). I wrote in my journal for a little bit, called my parents (eeek phone bill!) and even cajoled Salsa Boy into playing a few rounds of hang man with me. I tried to convince him that he wanted to read Fitzgerald's short stories instead of Sartre's Nausea but he wasn't having any of it. To be perfectly fair, I wouldn't have traded either. My efforts to 'pack light' must be abandoned.
And now, what we've all been waiting for...PICTURES!!!!!!!!!!!! Dear Blogger, Please upload these so I don't have the wrath of my relatives upon me. Love, Alex
This shows the bottom of the mud slide. Very, very fun!
Me, in all my muddy glory!
Tents, ostensibly for people to get out of the sun. Mostly used for people to avoid the rain.
Me, obviously gleeful upon my arrival at mudfest! The people milling about me are the friends I roomed with. Yes, 20 people in one room. It was cozy.
Our first glimpse of muddy people, which was a bit shocking in a wonderful way.
Saturday night there was an absolutely superb fireworks show, I've never seen anything like it.
And, as requested, a picture of Salsa Boy! The single most unflattering picture in the world...I really think that mud is not his best color.
Me, blessedly cleaned up and mud free at dinner.
The organizers hired what seemed like a gazillion photographers to document the foreigners gone wild. Notice how there are about 20 of them swarming a group of dancing boys.Sorry that the pictures are so out of order. Blogger and I are in a rocky stage of our relationship. OO, and on that note, all of these pictures are care of Salsa Boy since I didn't want to risk my new camera around the mud.
The weirdest thing about mudfest was being completely surrounded by foreigners and no one even bothering to speak Korean in the shops. Elderly shop keepers kept calculators on hand if they didn't know how to say the numbers in English. I still attempted to use Korean but I gave up after a few hours in the face of thousands upon thousands of English speakers swarming the area. It was utterly bizarre to have people of Korean nationality be in the minority.
Friday, July 10, 2009
My 2nd Open Class
Last semester I had to do an open class after only teaching for a few weeks. I had no idea what I was doing. Sure, I had a lesson plan but the sheer terror and anxiety that surrounded the event was ridiculous. I feel like I probably blogged about this in September. This year was easy. It only took me an hour to design the lesson plan and write it up, not an agonizing week and a half. I spent all week working with my class, teaching them how to act around the parents and then 2 class periods doing lessons almost identical to the open class so they wouldn't freeze up (a common open class problem--or so I hear). It went really well. More parents showed up than had RSVP'd so I had to scramble for chairs last minute but other than that everything was okay. Now I have to wait until Monday for the inevitable parent feedback. I'd say I'm nervous only worrying about it won't change how they thought the lesson was so instead I will endeavor to forget it ever happened. Ugh. I'm really happy that it's Friday.
Tomorrow I'm heading to Mudfest. Basically it's 2 days of playing in the mud 2 hours south of here. I don't know much about it other than the fact that it was listed on my list of top 25 things to do in Korea (ala the Lonely Planet guide book). I need to pick up a cheap pair of shorts today that I can destroy since all of the ones I own are for work and I really can't ruin those.
Pictures and adventurous tales are coming soon!
Tomorrow I'm heading to Mudfest. Basically it's 2 days of playing in the mud 2 hours south of here. I don't know much about it other than the fact that it was listed on my list of top 25 things to do in Korea (ala the Lonely Planet guide book). I need to pick up a cheap pair of shorts today that I can destroy since all of the ones I own are for work and I really can't ruin those.
Pictures and adventurous tales are coming soon!
Wednesday, July 8, 2009
Miffed and My Very First...
I am frequently miffed by the fact that my favorite blogs do not update everyday. I am addicted to reading them, shouldn't they be feeding my addiction? (Since obviously, the world revolves around me. :-p) Of course, then it occurred to me that my friends/family from back home are constantly bugging me to update more often so I suppose it's karma.
Last night I went to my very first dog birthday party. That's right: dog birthday. My friend V. has a very cute little dog (that she got 2 years ago) when she moved to Korea. His name is Gimchi and yesterday he turned 2. The party was mainly an excuse for us expats to play with her dog, eat food and gossip but there was also a doggie cake and special treats for Gimchi. I maintain that I want a dog in Korea but there is no way it would be fair to the dog, given that I live in a small apartment and can't come home for lunch walk breaks. Not to mention the whole nomadic lifestyle bit. In the mean time I will continue to pine for Nicky, who is at home and will always be my puppy, despite the fact that he is 17.
Tomorrow I go to the first meeting of the Jamsil Book Club in Seoul. I'm almost as excited as I was for my first piece of homework in college but not quite. Book clubs don't quite require color coded notes and oodles of Post It notes the way that Plato did. I'm worried about being too "Sarah Lawrence"...too bookish for the group. I'm used to intense seminar style discussions with involved and often intricate debates. I can't stand sentences that are horribly constructed or points that are not based in well thought out logic, analysis or textual example. I'm going to have to relax, bite my tongue and enjoy the ride.
I thought I bought enough books to get me through the next 2 weeks but I'll be lucky if I make it through this weekend. Thank God one of them is in French and should last me for more than a day. Sometimes I think my brain just decides it needs to drink words more than oxygen or something.
And now that I have updated I can go back to bemoaning the fact that my favorite blogs need to update more.
Last night I went to my very first dog birthday party. That's right: dog birthday. My friend V. has a very cute little dog (that she got 2 years ago) when she moved to Korea. His name is Gimchi and yesterday he turned 2. The party was mainly an excuse for us expats to play with her dog, eat food and gossip but there was also a doggie cake and special treats for Gimchi. I maintain that I want a dog in Korea but there is no way it would be fair to the dog, given that I live in a small apartment and can't come home for lunch walk breaks. Not to mention the whole nomadic lifestyle bit. In the mean time I will continue to pine for Nicky, who is at home and will always be my puppy, despite the fact that he is 17.
Tomorrow I go to the first meeting of the Jamsil Book Club in Seoul. I'm almost as excited as I was for my first piece of homework in college but not quite. Book clubs don't quite require color coded notes and oodles of Post It notes the way that Plato did. I'm worried about being too "Sarah Lawrence"...too bookish for the group. I'm used to intense seminar style discussions with involved and often intricate debates. I can't stand sentences that are horribly constructed or points that are not based in well thought out logic, analysis or textual example. I'm going to have to relax, bite my tongue and enjoy the ride.
I thought I bought enough books to get me through the next 2 weeks but I'll be lucky if I make it through this weekend. Thank God one of them is in French and should last me for more than a day. Sometimes I think my brain just decides it needs to drink words more than oxygen or something.
And now that I have updated I can go back to bemoaning the fact that my favorite blogs need to update more.
Sunday, July 5, 2009
4th of July...and a Book revelation
Last night I got dressed in patriotic colors for the first time ever. It's just that I have a fabulous new blue dress which I realized would like better with a belt...and that belt was bright red. So going with the theme I figured I might as well go all out and wore my red sneakers and blue earrings. A picture you say? Why YES. The first thing I did when I got to the BBQ was ask my friend T, to take a picture so my Mom would ease up on the demands for photographic evidence of my continued existence and well being.
I realize that this is not the most flattering shot but whatever. This is also what my new haircut looks like not blow dried, still cute but not as fabulous.
The BBQ was a blast and we had a lot of fun with sparklers and small fireworks (sold in the party aisle of EMART with no age restrictions or anything). I met a few new people, including a really awesome woman who encouraged me to go to Japan next, somewhere she happily spent 3 years. Definitely won me over in my never ending debate between staying in Korea and moving to Japan. I also got a chance to chat with an expat who I'd met once briefly in the grocery store who lives down the street from me. She is also a Harry Potter enthusiast! I invited her to join our unabashed dorkfest group going to see the new Harry Potter movie.
A suggestion from facebook:
Alex, I noticed you joined a book club in Seoul. We should totally have an Anyang book club. I realized, WHY NOT? I love books. I love talking about books. I compulsively buy books. This is perfect. Also, I like organizing things. Not to mention it would be far more convenient to do belong to a group in Anyang. I might actually stay a member of the one in Seoul if it works out, because you know, the more books the merrier.
Yesterday, I spent 80,000 on books. About 70 bucks. Whatever, I needed new reading material and I won't have time to go shopping in the near future. Besides, they were all SO SHINY AND I HAD TO HAVE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I acknowledge the fact that I may have an addiction.
I realize that this is not the most flattering shot but whatever. This is also what my new haircut looks like not blow dried, still cute but not as fabulous.The BBQ was a blast and we had a lot of fun with sparklers and small fireworks (sold in the party aisle of EMART with no age restrictions or anything). I met a few new people, including a really awesome woman who encouraged me to go to Japan next, somewhere she happily spent 3 years. Definitely won me over in my never ending debate between staying in Korea and moving to Japan. I also got a chance to chat with an expat who I'd met once briefly in the grocery store who lives down the street from me. She is also a Harry Potter enthusiast! I invited her to join our unabashed dorkfest group going to see the new Harry Potter movie.
A suggestion from facebook:
Alex, I noticed you joined a book club in Seoul. We should totally have an Anyang book club. I realized, WHY NOT? I love books. I love talking about books. I compulsively buy books. This is perfect. Also, I like organizing things. Not to mention it would be far more convenient to do belong to a group in Anyang. I might actually stay a member of the one in Seoul if it works out, because you know, the more books the merrier.
Yesterday, I spent 80,000 on books. About 70 bucks. Whatever, I needed new reading material and I won't have time to go shopping in the near future. Besides, they were all SO SHINY AND I HAD TO HAVE THEM!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
I acknowledge the fact that I may have an addiction.
Friday, July 3, 2009
Being A Practical Adult
This weekend I could have gone to a tiny island off the west coast of Korea and spent about 100-150 bucks. However, next weekend is Mudfest and the weekend after that I'm going to China. And technically, while I could afford to go it would definitely dip into my safety net. So, I made the adult decision to stay behind in Anyang for the weekend while 11 of my friends go have a blast.
This is called being a practical, fiscally minded adult, right? This coming from someone who often has trouble remembering how old she is. I actually have to stop and think '22? 23? 24?' because of how I give one age to Koreans and one age to expats and the rest of the time I never think about it and then someone asks me and I have to stop for a second and remember 1986, I was born in 1986.
I am whining and ranting! Positive things about my weekend:
-Going to a blow-out party tonight at Psycho.
-Treating myself to more books on Saturday. Recommendations? I need a combination of modern/post modern prose and lighter vacation reads for the next couple of weeks. I find that when I go into the bookstore with specific books in mind I manage to stay within my budget. Otherwise I come out with 150 bucks worth of books which is fine in the grand scheme of things but annoying when it comes to reworking my budget. Why do I have no trouble blowing money on books and lots of trouble blowing money on weekend getaways? ...because I am a book addict. Only my addiction is (sort of) socially acceptable and even smiled upon in certain circles.
-Going to a roof top barbecue Saturday night.
Negative things:
-Salsa Boy is one of the 11 people going on the trip. He wouldn't have gone but I knew he really wanted to so I said I was totally fine with it. Which I am.
-Laundry. God I MISS DRYERS SO MUCH. Laundry was so effortless. I still procrastinated but it was SO EASY. Even in college, all you needed was some quarters or to fill up your student card.
-I have to get out of bed soon and get ready to go out.
Technically I could throw on one of my tried and true fitted black tops but it's boring. Also, as it is 4th of July weekend I feel like I should wear something colorful. I'm not really much of a 4th of July person. I do like an excuse to barbecue though. Or rather, I love an excuse to have someone barbecue food for me since the closest I've come to barbecuing is to turn the grill on and off for my mother. I could go with white but white is a dangerous color in the land of kimchi and other staining red sauces. Also, Murphy's Law: if I wear a white top someone (possibly even me) will most definitely spill beer on it right when I walk into the bar.
On another note: I AM OFFICIALLY GOING TO BEIJING ON JULY 30th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very cool. Now I just need to book a hostel, plan my itinerary and get my photo for my visa application in the mail to my travel agent.
On the bookshelf: This week I finished White Teeth (I think I mentioned in a previous post, the book by Zadie Smith) which took forever to finish because 100 pages are from the point of view of a character I hated. Today I started and finished Bridget Jones' Diary which was cute but the movie was so closely based on it that it wasn't as exciting and different as I hoped it might be. Still funny though and makes for excellent commuter reading. I can't decide what sort of literary mood I'm in. Do I want bizarre post modern? 19th century classics? Futuristic dystopian? Autobiography? Magically inclined? More Hemingway? I miss indie book shops in the states where the bibliophiles who work there each have a shelf packed with their recommendations. Okay scratch that, I miss gigantic bookstores packed full of books ONLY WITH ENGLISH and tiny shelves of other languages instead of the other way around.
...Scratch that too. I miss the library. I salivate over the thought of my library card. Piles of books FOR FREE. I am also missing (missed?) the summer library book sale. Last year I picked up a box full of books, including a mint copy of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire set which actually sounds really appealing right now but it is unfortunately at home in NY, probably buried under an inch of dust.
It's 9:23 at night on a Friday and I'm not ready to go out yet and am instead, procrastinating by updating my blog. I'm going!
This is called being a practical, fiscally minded adult, right? This coming from someone who often has trouble remembering how old she is. I actually have to stop and think '22? 23? 24?' because of how I give one age to Koreans and one age to expats and the rest of the time I never think about it and then someone asks me and I have to stop for a second and remember 1986, I was born in 1986.
I am whining and ranting! Positive things about my weekend:
-Going to a blow-out party tonight at Psycho.
-Treating myself to more books on Saturday. Recommendations? I need a combination of modern/post modern prose and lighter vacation reads for the next couple of weeks. I find that when I go into the bookstore with specific books in mind I manage to stay within my budget. Otherwise I come out with 150 bucks worth of books which is fine in the grand scheme of things but annoying when it comes to reworking my budget. Why do I have no trouble blowing money on books and lots of trouble blowing money on weekend getaways? ...because I am a book addict. Only my addiction is (sort of) socially acceptable and even smiled upon in certain circles.
-Going to a roof top barbecue Saturday night.
Negative things:
-Salsa Boy is one of the 11 people going on the trip. He wouldn't have gone but I knew he really wanted to so I said I was totally fine with it. Which I am.
-Laundry. God I MISS DRYERS SO MUCH. Laundry was so effortless. I still procrastinated but it was SO EASY. Even in college, all you needed was some quarters or to fill up your student card.
-I have to get out of bed soon and get ready to go out.
Technically I could throw on one of my tried and true fitted black tops but it's boring. Also, as it is 4th of July weekend I feel like I should wear something colorful. I'm not really much of a 4th of July person. I do like an excuse to barbecue though. Or rather, I love an excuse to have someone barbecue food for me since the closest I've come to barbecuing is to turn the grill on and off for my mother. I could go with white but white is a dangerous color in the land of kimchi and other staining red sauces. Also, Murphy's Law: if I wear a white top someone (possibly even me) will most definitely spill beer on it right when I walk into the bar.
On another note: I AM OFFICIALLY GOING TO BEIJING ON JULY 30th!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Very cool. Now I just need to book a hostel, plan my itinerary and get my photo for my visa application in the mail to my travel agent.
On the bookshelf: This week I finished White Teeth (I think I mentioned in a previous post, the book by Zadie Smith) which took forever to finish because 100 pages are from the point of view of a character I hated. Today I started and finished Bridget Jones' Diary which was cute but the movie was so closely based on it that it wasn't as exciting and different as I hoped it might be. Still funny though and makes for excellent commuter reading. I can't decide what sort of literary mood I'm in. Do I want bizarre post modern? 19th century classics? Futuristic dystopian? Autobiography? Magically inclined? More Hemingway? I miss indie book shops in the states where the bibliophiles who work there each have a shelf packed with their recommendations. Okay scratch that, I miss gigantic bookstores packed full of books ONLY WITH ENGLISH and tiny shelves of other languages instead of the other way around.
...Scratch that too. I miss the library. I salivate over the thought of my library card. Piles of books FOR FREE. I am also missing (missed?) the summer library book sale. Last year I picked up a box full of books, including a mint copy of the Decline and Fall of the Roman Empire set which actually sounds really appealing right now but it is unfortunately at home in NY, probably buried under an inch of dust.
It's 9:23 at night on a Friday and I'm not ready to go out yet and am instead, procrastinating by updating my blog. I'm going!
Subscribe to:
Posts (Atom)