Average Weekday

1. Korean/Canadian/Australian/American we're all family
2. This happened at an Italian restaurant. Yummy... squid ink.
3. Lake Park near my house.
4. Heck yes I'm still riding bikes.
5. I don't know why this bike popped its chain off when I took it up a hill...




There are a few things of varying importance I could be doing right now. Of course I still manage to find a way to procrastinate, even though my responsibilities rival those of elementary school. I have to show up at a place five days a week. That's it.

Let's see... I could be folding my clothes. I washed them yesterday, and they're all hanging in my house, behind the new couches. Apparently my washing machine converts into a dryer- which I think is amazing- but as all the buttons are in various Korean characters, I wouldn't know the difference between dry and re-wash in hot water. I think I'll avoid it for a while. My co-workers were also quite firm on the fact that it would cost a lot. I took that seriously. The clothes are making my house smell strange- because I put them in when I left for work- 1:30 pm, and took them out when I got home for the last time last night- around 2 am.

The smell could also be coming from the couches. Two nights ago I spotted some in front of an apartment. The boys I work with were chivalrous enough to carry them across the street and to the elevator of my apartment. They are a soft off white, missing pieces of pleather here and there, with a grime that you can feel as well as see. I used paper towels last night to wipe them off... the paper towels were grey, but then again, the couches still are, too. They make everything look so much homier! And that in itself is worth the various diseases, strands of mold, and insects I may have carried into my house.

I could be sweeping my floor right now, because I haven't for a month. I still haven't purchased a broom, and the one I have is the size of a large hairbrush. I will probably ending up crawling around in a half hour or so, but I'm really trying to postpone it. My bathroom floor is dirty. That's because the air conditioner leaks through a pipe in the floor, leaving a dangerous looking string of black grime and dirty water encircling the toilet. I don't really mind any of this but now that I have couches, it won't be too long before I have guests.

I could be researching things to do in Korea. I may not be too motivated for that because I've all but ran out of money- and am waiting for the cash advance my boss promised me. My friend who worked here before I came was right in warning me- they don't pay you for a month and a half. Today is my one month anniversary! Payday is in two weeks.

Today was the first day that I put a tiny bit of love into my classroom. I cleared the stacks of books off of my desk and put them in dividers on the windowsill. I ripped the faded Norway poster off the wall and replaced it with a world map. Instead of doing my usual seating arrangement, which involves pushing the children and the desks in various places when I walk in the room, I arranged the desks in two curved lines. The classroom is really small, and I have no technology. I have a whiteboard and my theatrical skills. Occasionally I'll bring my laptop, although it is somewhat of a risk. Today I caught Viper (yes, that is his English name), lovingly sprawled over his desk, running his finger along the side of my computer ever so lightly. He's wild, and he's eight years old. "NOPE," I said, putting a tally on his name tag. (Yes, I have a discipline system). "Teacher! I was putting scissors away!!"

I also hung some charms I found in the teacher's lounge in front of the board. There's a new decoration in the back of the room. It was created on Tuesday, when I was too tired to pretend to be excited about soil layers anymore. I had been up until 5:00 am the previous night/morning filling out spreadsheets and homework completion for three classes. I found out on Monday that report cards were due Tuesday. We made a "How to Conserve" poster which really ended up just being various things stapled to the corkboard. I was really impressed by their creativity though; they taped pictures of animals to a brown sheet of paper ("dung brown", they called it) and wrote STOP KILLING! And then on a yellow sheet of paper made a list of "How to conserve?" including my personal favorite, #6: Don't use a shampoo. "What does that mean?" I asked them. "Teacher, use a soap! Not shampoo!"

I went to a Western Bar for trivia tonight...I met a few girls who live near me, and also enjoyed the streams of insults flowing between the Irish, British, and Scottish people who disagreed on the names, locations, and correct pronunciations of most things in their countries. It was all fun and games until the British guy started speaking in a "Southern" accent. I bit my tongue and reminded myself that his imitation was so terrible that I couldn't be seriously offended. It was nice to switch roles for a little while, and be the one answering the questions instead of the one asking them. Never having been taught geography in high school or caring anything for superheroes, I also shared my students' frustration in feeling completely clueless, most of the time.

It's quite strange deciding who I really am here. While I didn't come here to run around with Westerners, I'm still trying to figure out what it is I did come here to do. And if it's wrong to make a lot of friends who speak my language. I have made some Korean friends, but they all live at least an hour away. I know things will continue to develop. There's so many decisions for me to make, all the time, and I do NOT enjoy making decisions. I love to love things and want things and talk about all that, I just don't ever want to decide on anything. I'm around people who constantly assert their transience here, and people who have found circles of friends and plan on staying. I don't know which group I'm in.

When John (I work with him) suggested Indian food at school yesterday I said YES before he could even finish the sentence, and all of us went after work. We took a cab to the "immigrant" section of Ansan, a slightly older area with narrow streets and shops and restaurants of every country lining them. Chinese women were selling herbs, there's an Uzbekistani (?) restaurant tucked away in an alley, and Koreans are sitting on stools outside in the lamplight. Fish and curry and trash smells hit you at different intervals as you're walking, and undecipherable scripts flash on every neon sign. We walked up some narrow stairs (there are always narrow stairs- and I never know how my friends find these places)- to a room that was like an entirely different country. Colorful posters of Ghanesh and Shiva were taped to the walls, and vivid photographs of mountain ranges in Nepal were lined along the ceiling. The tables and remaining wall space were covered in glittering, swirling-lined tapestries. Between bites of chicken saag and sniffles (there is something therapeaudic about being nourished and getting your sinuses cleansed simultaneously) I thought about how I wanted to spend the night there. I wanted to close my eyes and sit there still and focused, hoping that if I stayed long enough I would open my eyes and be in India.

Of course I asked our waiter where he was from (funny, last time I did that in an Indian restaurant in Seattle the waiter replied, "Umm... Cancun.") although it is so culturally inappropriate to talk to any Indian man. He was from NEPAL, and when I told him I'd been there, both our faces immediately flashed the same thrilled grin. He asked where I'd been and fortunately I remembered most of the regions. When we left he asked me in Nepali if I spoke Nepali and I responded "a little" and then of course I couldn't understand his next sentence. DANGIT.

This all does tie together, don't worry. The thing is, my heart is still in India, it feels like I made a promise to someone and I feel compelled to get there. I don't know how or when... but it hurts to be reminded that it is there and I am not. It's one of the few places I've ever felt homesick for. I've lived minutes from the David in Italy, I've skipped down streets in Paris, napped on beaches in Spain, and here I am, living in a loft in South Korea but my heart has never put down roots. It's just strange to think that life will change again and I can decide what it'll be.

TOO HEAVY! I won't think about any of that now. But Indian music/food/movies/people wrench my heart.

OH, and I've been reading 2nd Samuel. David took Bathsheba and really suffered for that. Amnon took Tamar and was murdered two years later. Absalom took Amnon's life and turned crazy and power-hungry and was soon defeated. I can't take things. I have to wait for God to give them to me.

No pictures! My camera has gone from BZZZZZZ to BZZZZ click click click and... only two more weeks....