north korea. war. you know?

i learned about this attack on south korea during class yesterday. the students told me. these 12 year olds had seen reports on the internet, and began explaining the situation to me in english. this was the first their korean teacher had heard of it, as well- and she looked more surprised than i felt. i guess north korea doing something crappy without provocation just fits their profile. like these guys say (http://edition.cnn.com/2010/OPINION/11/23/carroll.cirincione.korea/index.html?hpt=C1)
in fact, the korean teacher's look of surprise may have been more related to them telling me their news instead of her.

they explained that north korea had fired at pyongyang island, and that south korea was fighting back. they didn't seem frightened at all, but asked me if i was. i answered honestly, not yet.

throughout the remaining 4 hours of classes, several more students brought up the fight- every time with a look of confidence and eagerness. then, "teacher, are you scared?" like they're just empathetic for my plight as a foreigner. one student i'm quite fond of said hello as he passed me in the hallway then spun around, stretching a hand out toward me, remembering something, "oh, wendy teacher! north korea. war. you know?" it was delivered like "oh, wendy teacher! my birthday. tomorrow. you know?"
yes, i heard, i told him. ah, good, he nodded- then spun back around with a tiny bow goodbye. i called his name, though, and asked him "are you scared?"
"no" he said, definitely.
"why not?" i asked.
he answered quickly and i think lazily.... if he hadn't been on his way to a class i'm sure i could have gotten a better response, but what he did say made me laugh anyway: shrugging his shoulders a bit, "because i'm children."

so, i gathered my important papers once i got home, and put them in a bag with some clothes, extra panties. i registered with the american embassy online. i felt worried last night. yes, this attack is no huge surprise... but it is a serious move on south korean civilians.

i guess as long as president lee myung-bak doesn't react like president bush might in this situation, but keeps the big picture in mind, things shouldn't escalate too badly for south korea.

more importantly, it is my hope that crazy old kim jung-il can keep it together. the condition of north korea is one giant appalling pity. but don't tell him i said so. it just makes him crazier.

i think everything will continue to be ok. i like it a lot here, and don't want to see these awesome people suffer any more war. nor do i want to have to go home under emergency circumstances. but i don't think things will come to that. i'm not scared yet. i'm just being cautious, and prepared.

and drinking coffee and listening to good music, getting ready for another exciting day of teaching cute little korean geniuses.

: ) saturdays

yet another best night of my life. goodness, goodness... the friends.

If you were curious...

After much indecision, when the day came, I went with the "stay" option. It was a tough choice to make; though not the toughest in the world, cause either side has lots of good points. But in case you were curious, these were my biggest reasons to stay one more year-

#1 Reason: I have both a job I truly enjoy and a bunch of free time with which to work on my projects. I have a new series of paintings ready to sploosh out of my head and onto a tangible surface, as well as a research/writing project I've quickly become rather deeply involved with. So, there's that.

#2 Reason: There's a bunch of exploring I can do easily here, and I intend to take advantage of that.

#3 Reason: Financially, it's the best move I could possibly make for right now.

#4 Reason: It sounded like a great way to spend my time as I concentrate on planning my next adventure.

Plus, I will definitely get 3-4 weeks vacation time between contracts to spend with my family and friends at home, and that's not too shabby. In fact, I can't really remember any time as an adult that I had 3 weeks for just visiting with my loved ones. There's always work to get back to. So this could be an awesome chance for some quality visits!

So, yeah. Now we're ready for the small adventure of a new apartment, coming soon. I'm looking forward to having my own space to decorate : )

Holiday!

It's Peppero Day in SK. For the folks back home, that means it's a day for eating cracker sticks dipped in chocolate and, if you're lucky, nuts. It's a little like Valentine's Day... thought they call that White Day, and the girls give the boys stuff, from what I understand. And there's Black Day, where single people sit alone and eat black noodles and sniffle. But today's not so much about the love, it's just about the food representing the date (11/11). Anyway, to celebrate the day in America, just give some edible pair of sticks to someone who makes you smile. Maybe a couple of string cheese sticks, or beef jerky, or corn dogs! Baguettes! OH! I got it: Those cracker sticks that come with processed cheese dip! And have a Happy Peppero Day!!!

Countdown to Decision 2011

So.

I used to have four months to decide whether or not I would choose to stay another year in Gwangju. That was yesterday. Today, I have one week.

Due to circumstances out of our control and changing situations expected from our school, we were asked to make a decision by the 12th, so that our boss can go to her boss and try to make sure we can be offered the contract.

What I'm saying is, we have to say "YES", so they can say "Maybe"...
Or we say "No" and go home in April.
And we have to say one or the other in a week or sooner.

Now, if we say YES and they say OK, then by the end of the month, we are granted new apartments that we've wanted for a while. (The boy and I love each other, but we also would love some elbow room)

And if I say NO, what then? What would I do next? I thought I'd have way more time to figure this out.

No, this is not a rhetorical question.