mandainpohang

Having a pretty good week, so far. I've almost completely adjusted my sleep schedule so that I'm not waking up at like 7 a.m. every day. I'm hoping that will keep up. Last night was girls' night over at Mary's, and that was great. I'm so glad to have a group of girl friends here to anchor me. I don't know how I'd manage without them.

What else is going on? Oh, right. I've started a 365-day photo album on Flickr. Obviously the idea is that I'll post one photo (hopefully something interesting) every day of this year. I started it on January 26th, so it's a little late, but it's from the first day I arrived in Korea. here is the link:

http://www.flickr.com/photos/senzatema/

I'm waiting for my dinner to show up at work. I ordered Cheese Donkkas. I'm fully aware that it is easily the least healthy food in Korea, but i don't care. I also ate half a potato pizza last night. I need to get back on the healthy korea bandwagon. Time for sesame leaves and tuna! and greens! and...ugh i'm exhausted just thinking about it. Health is so tiring. :)

So, it's hump day, and I'm feeling pretty good. Have a very sweet email in my inbox that I'm reading over and over. Have some pictures up in my room that I can't stop looking at, and a a growing phone bill that is totally worth it.

Now to finish the work day night.

Things are going pretty well, I guess. I've been back in Pohang for almost a week now. Had a pretty interesting trip, to say the least. Note to all: Do NOT travel to Korea or within Korea during the Lunar New Year holiday. It is a bad idea.

The flying part really wasn't much different. Did the Atlanta to San Francisco thing, had an hour or so layover. The 12 hour flight to Seoul/Incheon wasn't nearly as bad as I remember it. I think part of it was the airline. Singapore Airlines is pretty swanky and awesome. You sort of feel like there's something between Economy and Business/First class when you fly with them. They're constantly giving you stuff!

Got to the airport where I was met by none other than the lovely Joelle who flew up from Pohang to meet me. We had a nice dinner of Bibimbap (one of my favorites) and got on the 7:30 bus to Pohang. It's normally about 6 hours to Pohang from Incheon. It's not terrible, especially after you've been flying all day and you want to take a nap anyway. So we get on the bus and it starts out...and stops. and goes a few dozen feet. and stops. it goes just like this, bobbing back and forth toward the outskirts of the Seoul Metropolitan area...for 13 hours.

When we finally saw the light at the end of the tunnel at around 8:30 the following morning, I asked someone how far along we were, and he told us that what would normally take us an hour and a half had actually taken twelve. We ended up on that bus for 18 hours total. It was insane!

Anyway, I'm here and that's what's important. The new apartment is nice and cozy, the new job is pretty much like the apartment: different but good. I've only been here at Eastern English for a few days, so i'm not entirely sure what to expect from the year ahead of me, but I'm looking forward to finding out.

For the last few days, I've just been catching up with friends who were out of town for the Lunar holiday and trying to get on a normal sleep schedule. I can't seem to stop waking up at 7:30 in the morning. Only today was I able to at least go back to sleep for a little while, and that was awkward. I need to fix this, because I work until 9:00pm, and if i'm waking up that early everyday, I'm going to be beat by quitting time.

So things are pretty good. I'm dealing with the separation from my loved ones as best as I can. I've never been very good at leaving, at least not on an emotional level. Haha, I'm sure people at home would say i've gotten very good at leaving. It's just different this time. I guess because I was only at home for a few months in between Korea stints...and this time I even managed to meet someone who I care about and really didn't want to separate myself from. That's been hard. sigh, life.

Tonight is a birthday celebration for a few friends at once. I'm looking forward to getting out of the apartment for the weekend and having fun with everyone. I sound it, don't I? Haha. Let the year begin!

I'm so ready to get on with this moving back to korea, thing.

I haven't really been updating this blog very well, but I'm hoping I can get back into the swing of things with this new contract. Haha New Contract Resolution #1: Blog more. Let's see...what are some other New Contract Resolutions?

2. Save more money (that's spectacularly obvious)
3. Keep apartment neater.
4. Cook more
5. Have less fights with boss. (he's a new boss, so let's keep our fingers crossed)
6. take more pictures
7. be more artistically productive.

That's good for now. my plane leaves Friday morning at 8:30. Joelle is coming up to meet me at the airport in Seoul and we should be back in Pohang late saturday night. Hopefully everything will go smoothly.

let me begin by saying that rarely do i come out on the other end of a weekend here in Pohang and think to my self "wow. that was a good weekend." not that most of them are particularly bad...I just don't usually give myself time to think about whether a weekend was good or not. i get ushered into the week and i almost forget about the past weekend until the next one hits.

this weekend has been good. went to Live Story on Friday...played "Caledonia" for Hannah and her Scottish friends who were here visiting. then i sort of ran out of ideas so i improvised two songs...and i really enjoyed them. i guess the only thing that sucks about improvising songs live is that it's hard to get them down on paper later. maybe it's better that way.

yesterday i stayed in, ordered a pizza and played Sims2 (which is only about 1/59th as satisfying without you, Teija, but a girl's gotta do what a girl's gotta do) until Joelle got home. then we finished Middlemarch and she made this awesome dinner...pasta, cheese arepas, and tofu eggs. it was wonderful.

this morning i had my breakfast, got all gussied up and went down to Jukdo market to goof off and buy donuts from the vendors. ended up coming home with a bag of cookies, a bag of dried persimon, and some fresh-made kimchee mandu (which i ate half of while i was walking around). met up with a friend, Mary, sort of randomly and we had coffee...then i came home and played some more Sims2 and had a nice chat with Joelle (who went to see the cherry blossoms in Gyeoung Ju today).

i'm looking forward to this week. Voting Day is wednesday so we get a day off...I'm trying to arrange something for Tuesday night with a bunch of people but i'm not sure how that's going to go. Joelle's birthday is Thursday (and so is payday!) and she wants to go do this traditional Korean dinner. I'm really excited about that. then it'll be the weekend again. yay!

hope everyone's doing well :)

the new school year is starting tomorrow. Very exciting. Also, after 4 months of no-money-ness, I am finally going to travel next weekend. A few friends and I are going to Daegu for food and shopping (Cosco!)...then it's off to Seoul the following weekend. You can get I am definitely looking forward to that trip.

Some relatively random things I have noticed in the last four months:

1. It is very different ordering pizza here than it is at home. Even without the language barrier, the whole ordeal is very odd. Pizza toppings are very different (things like sweet potato and peas are quite common here) and usually there's a set of maybe 5 or 6 kinds of pizza you can order rather than your basic build-your-own style like we have in the states. I remember one place like that at home...I can't remember the name of it. It was near Alpharetta and they had this great baked potato pizza but they just flat out refused to not put onions on it. Anyway. Pizza is different in Korea.

2. I have grown so fond of Korean food. I really would rather eat Korean food than my own food at my apartment. I wish I knew how to make more of it so I wouldn't be so inclined to go out all the time. My favorites are Haejang Gook (A beef soup with cabbage and really spicy broth), Shabu Shabu (really thin slices of raw beef that you cook in a spicy soup at the table), and Sam Gyup Sal (basically thick bacon served with a number of greens and soy paste, fried at the table). mmmm...I'm so glad there are Korean restaurants in Atlanta.

3. The most annoying kids at your hagwon are usually the ones that grow on you the most. I actually miss the kids that gave me the most trouble. It was like that when I taught at the high school, too. It just seemed worth noting here.

4. I really miss Janna and my mom and my brothers. I wish they could come here and experience this stuff with me.

some videos:

Just a quick update.

Things here in Pohang are pretty much the same as always. My friends continue to be wonderful and I keep meeting new people as I go along.

There is a great place downtown (near Ogori, the 5-way intersection) called Live Story that caters to live performers. It's an open-mic place complete with drums, piano, guitars...it's incredible. The second or third weekend I was here, I went down there for a going away party. This couple left to go home to Oklahoma for a month, but they're back now. He's a musician and there are a couple others here in Pohang as well. I inevitably got up the courage to ask if I might play something and was welcomed by everyone to get on stage and perform. It went really well...I feel like I might have found a way to get back into playing music and singing more often, which hasn't happened enough recently.

The New Year celebration was a lot of fun. There was a party at Mindy's (of course) and everyone seemed happy to be where they were and around all these people. I find myself becoming more and more aware of myself socially these days. When you first arrive in a brand new place with all new people, the tendency is to be polite but just observe most of the time. That's what I was doing for a month or so, but gradually I started to feel more and more like a part of the society and less like I was just watching it. It's an interesting transition.

Those of the social disposition who are headed to Pohang, beware! Your weekend sleep schedule will be severely altered or severely challenged, depending on how determined you are. It's nice sometimes to feel like a night-owl and be out with everyone until the sunrise, but sometimes it makes the week that much harder to start. Just a little word to the wise. :)

On with the year!

It is Christmas Eve. I am in Korea. Those are the two sentences that have been running through my head all day. Sorry I have not posted more. My life and routine have changed very little since my arrival here, with the exception of a few nights out and one two hour trip to the Gimhae Airport to meet my friend, johnnycinq when he arrived here to teach...about a month ago.

My mental state has, for the most part, been centered around finding a way to be happy and joyful this Christmas, even without my family or friends nearby. I find that just having a couple good friends here is enough to stem the tide of holiday sadness. Advice for novices (like myself), do not listen to the following songs at all if you are in Korea or some other foreign country, away from home at Christmas, and for the first time ever:

1. "I'll Be Home For Christmas" - Frank Sinatra (or whichever version)
2. "Where Are You, Christmas?" - Faith Hill
3. "Have Yourself a Merry Little Christmas" - Judy Garland version especially. this one's ok as long as you're using it as a sort of pump-me-up-for-my-little-Christmas-alone type of song. otherwise...tears.

Thank you to all of my friends and family at home who have sent their wishes and thanks especially to my friends here for all of their love and support.

a special shout-out to the Mackenzies in Lewis, who have a splendid daughter and seem to have found my website by chance! Merry Christmas! :)

MERRY CHRISTMAS EVERYONE!

but it was definitely the highlight of my week.

my class in pohang dancing

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I figured, since most of what I do here in Pohang is walk to work, work, and then walk home from work, the most appropriate kind of post would be a "day in the life of" where I show some pictures of my surroundings and students. Good idea? I think so.

( A collage of videos and pictures that would do way better at describing my neighborhood/school/classes than I could ever do in words )

Ok that will have to do for now. Life as a kindergarten-2nd grade teacher is beginning to grow on me, but as always, administration in a hagwon is a challenge.

Hope all is well on whatever side of the world you're on!