Riding on the bus, standing room only, my hands in a death grip on the bar far above my head, I feel silly and smug thinking half the country can't do what I'm doing right now... reaching that bar.
The urge to lift my feet from the ground and monkey around a bit every time the driver slams to a halt at an intersection is hard to resist. But there are enough people in close proximity to kick, so I refrain.
I pick a spot standing next to sleeping ajumma. She startles awake and looks baffled as hell at my presence. Then, probably figuring me for a dream demon, she nods off again. This happens two more times before we reach her stop.
*I* am the whitey who will ever more haunt her dreams. That's one of my unvoiced lifelong goals- to haunt someone's dreams. I just always thought I'd have to be dead and restless to do it. I'd say it's quite an accomplishment. Teacha can has sticka plz?
One of my students today was wearing a Disney knockoff hoodie with the following Engrish (Konglish?):
In your carears you will meet many people. All are signillcant They deserve you allantion and care, oven if all you do is smile and say HELLO.
This really brightened my day.
Here's a fun exercise: count how many things are wrong with this scenario.
Teacher's cash payday is the 16th of every month, and the 16th falls on a Saturday this month. Teacher's contract stipulates she shall wait no longer than 31 days between paychecks, and so she assumes she will be paid on the 15th. At the end of the work day on the 15th, the boss asks for her bank account number so he can transfer payment on the 16th. After admitting to not having a darn clue what the account number is (seriously, why would anyone know that?), he suggests she text message it to him when she gets home, then.
Edit: In attempting to text my boss, I discover I cannot text numerals on my phone (It's only practical use is for beaning a mugger.) and have to write out the numbers in Englishee. Added security for me, huh?
Friday, January 15, 2010
Wednesday, January 13, 2010
Sicketysickysick
Sorry for the heavy editing in this, I'm too drugged up to be coherent for a full 5 minute post.
I don't know if you can see it in the video, but my pupils have been dilated for days. Even I can't believe I'm not high.
I don't know if you can see it in the video, but my pupils have been dilated for days. Even I can't believe I'm not high.
Tuesday, January 12, 2010
Note to self...
Do not wiki "complications" associated with one's diagnosed illness. Oh, the horror.
Officetel = fail
Two nights ago I threw my mattress from the loft to the floor because I've been sick and too fatigued to keep climbing the stairs. I slept with my head toward the window, the mattress a few inches from the wall, and trusted the 4 inch sill to catch the usually massive amount of dripping condensation from the window in the morning.
Today I awoke to raindrops falling on my head. But it was a bright, sunny, clear blue sky morning. The snow melting from the roof two floors above was bypassing the sealed window to drip on my head about a foot away from the window. What. the. fuck.
Supposedly I'm moving out of here by the end of the month. Dear God, I hope so.
Today I awoke to raindrops falling on my head. But it was a bright, sunny, clear blue sky morning. The snow melting from the roof two floors above was bypassing the sealed window to drip on my head about a foot away from the window. What. the. fuck.
Supposedly I'm moving out of here by the end of the month. Dear God, I hope so.
Sunday, January 10, 2010
New year fitness unoriginality
So it's a new year, and like everyone else, I want to be in better shape.
To this end, I've found a couple of belly dance classes around Seoul and will bounce around those until I settle on one I like. I took lessons for a semester four years ago but have not had time or money to do so since then, and thus have failed to improve appreciably. Yesterday I attended lessons from Belynda and the zills (sp?) made me feel dumb and the veil work taught me I need to lift weights more regularly. Can't afford finger cymbals of my own at the moment, but I hope to get some soon because I intend to practice. It was great, though, because I learned lots about the minor differences between styles that I hadn't been taught before.
I also want to check out lessons with Eshe. A woman I met in lessons yesterday said she'd taken lessons with Eshe but didn't care for them because of the tribal fusion focus, something which I would love to learn. I hope to go next weekend.
Also, I thought I'd share the five tips/rules I've been following that seem to have been working.
1. Be a grandma: I don't know about you, but my grandma always has candy or crackers in her purse. I carry a nutrition bar in my pocket whenever I go out so I don't have to stop in at McDonald's or Lotteria for a cheeseburger. Mmm...cheeseburger.
2. Be a 5-year-old: Last year I drew smiley faces on my wall calendar for every day that I worked out. Seeing them add up gave me both a sense of accomplishment and the motivation to at least go for a walk on a blah day. Today I purchased ridiculously cute stickers to put in my planner for the days I work out. Hey, if it works for 5-year-olds...right?
3. Hoof it: Anything I need in Ansan is within a 30 minute walk. Sure, walking in the cold sucks, but less so than standing 20 minutes in the cold waiting for a bus. Also, I take the stairs as much as possible.
4. No lollygagging: I hate people (read: Koreans) who walk slow. Even without time constraints, what would possess a person to walk slowly in subfreezing temperatures? Aside from burning a few extra calories by walking quickly, I warm quickly, too.
5. Go to the grocery store often: When the apartment is stocked, I don't have to eat at the bakery, at the burger joint, etc.
I took a "before" photo of myself at the beginning of the month and will post it alongside a "progress" photo at the end of the month. Since my arrival, I've lost 3 inches each from my hips, waist, and bust. Yay! I don't have a scale, though, so I don't know my progress in kilos. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to buy some new pants before long; there's only so much a belt can do.
To this end, I've found a couple of belly dance classes around Seoul and will bounce around those until I settle on one I like. I took lessons for a semester four years ago but have not had time or money to do so since then, and thus have failed to improve appreciably. Yesterday I attended lessons from Belynda and the zills (sp?) made me feel dumb and the veil work taught me I need to lift weights more regularly. Can't afford finger cymbals of my own at the moment, but I hope to get some soon because I intend to practice. It was great, though, because I learned lots about the minor differences between styles that I hadn't been taught before.
I also want to check out lessons with Eshe. A woman I met in lessons yesterday said she'd taken lessons with Eshe but didn't care for them because of the tribal fusion focus, something which I would love to learn. I hope to go next weekend.
Also, I thought I'd share the five tips/rules I've been following that seem to have been working.
1. Be a grandma: I don't know about you, but my grandma always has candy or crackers in her purse. I carry a nutrition bar in my pocket whenever I go out so I don't have to stop in at McDonald's or Lotteria for a cheeseburger. Mmm...cheeseburger.
2. Be a 5-year-old: Last year I drew smiley faces on my wall calendar for every day that I worked out. Seeing them add up gave me both a sense of accomplishment and the motivation to at least go for a walk on a blah day. Today I purchased ridiculously cute stickers to put in my planner for the days I work out. Hey, if it works for 5-year-olds...right?
3. Hoof it: Anything I need in Ansan is within a 30 minute walk. Sure, walking in the cold sucks, but less so than standing 20 minutes in the cold waiting for a bus. Also, I take the stairs as much as possible.
4. No lollygagging: I hate people (read: Koreans) who walk slow. Even without time constraints, what would possess a person to walk slowly in subfreezing temperatures? Aside from burning a few extra calories by walking quickly, I warm quickly, too.
5. Go to the grocery store often: When the apartment is stocked, I don't have to eat at the bakery, at the burger joint, etc.
I took a "before" photo of myself at the beginning of the month and will post it alongside a "progress" photo at the end of the month. Since my arrival, I've lost 3 inches each from my hips, waist, and bust. Yay! I don't have a scale, though, so I don't know my progress in kilos. Unfortunately, I'm going to have to buy some new pants before long; there's only so much a belt can do.
Saturday, January 9, 2010
Sunday, January 3, 2010
New Year recap
Dec. 31- I went to the COEX and spent 15 minutes trying to find the exhibition hall. For W10,000 I got to see the Seoul Doll Fair. It was like nothing I could have imagined- there were fashion dolls, baby dolls, Bisque dolls, vintage dolls, sculpted dolls, exotic dolls, cutesy dolls, dolls based on historical figures and paintings, paintings and photographs of dolls, anthropomorphic dolls, figurines, celebrity dolls and busts, military dolls galore, movie dolls, cloth dolls, teddy bears large and small, life-sized in traditional Korean clothes, teddy bears in scrubs in an operating room, dollhouses, miniatures, and zombie dolls! There was even a collection of mechanical roller skating baby dolls just like the one I used to have as a child. Try as I might, I simply could not hold back my gasps and squeals of delight.
I got to stuff my own teddy bear and gave him eyes and a face.
I got business cards for every exhibit that I could, most of which have web sites. And with a little luck I may manage to navigate them in Korean. Sorry Mom, but I think my collection may explode after another paycheck or two.
Remembering it had been 17F during the day and was dark by the time I left the exhibit, I scrapped the ice skating idea yet again and bummed around the COEX mall for a bit. I decided around 8 that I was too tired to stay out all night and caught a train home around 9. Only I caught it going the wrong way and did not realize this until the last stop. This effectively tripled what should have been about an hour ride home, so that I was traversing a mile of icewalks when the clock struck midnight. Bah freaking humbug.
I got to stuff my own teddy bear and gave him eyes and a face.
I got business cards for every exhibit that I could, most of which have web sites. And with a little luck I may manage to navigate them in Korean. Sorry Mom, but I think my collection may explode after another paycheck or two.
Remembering it had been 17F during the day and was dark by the time I left the exhibit, I scrapped the ice skating idea yet again and bummed around the COEX mall for a bit. I decided around 8 that I was too tired to stay out all night and caught a train home around 9. Only I caught it going the wrong way and did not realize this until the last stop. This effectively tripled what should have been about an hour ride home, so that I was traversing a mile of icewalks when the clock struck midnight. Bah freaking humbug.
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