Being of Service

I spent several hours helping my friends get things packed up in their swanky apartment so they can jet out to Thailand in a few days.

Aside from the general fact that I'm always happy to help a friend, it felt surprisingly great just to be of some use.

Although I love my job, it really is pretty easy. I am teaching kids how to chat casually in my native language. Mostly they learn the hard stuff from their Korean teachers- I would say I remind them of grammar and vocabulary more than I teach it. My function is to push their best pronunciation and make conversations start for them. It ain't hard. As someone recently put it, I'm just a little bonus for financially set children attending extracurricular classes at an academy which doesn't even assign real grades.
I'm lagniappe.

And with my new schedule, most classes will only be 20 minutes long. It's underwhelming, to be sure.

So, yeah- putting some other skills to the test and rolling up my sleeves felt terrific.
Plus, I got to bring home a few goodies.
Win-win.

Anywho, Christmas was lovely. Lots of good homecooking and a little gathering here at the apartment- cozy. It even snowed all night. I do believe this counts as my first real white Christmas!

And my buddy TMZ is back in town: Well, back in country, anyway-- so it gives me an excuse to trek over to Busan for a weekend soon... which has been on the to-do list since I landed here. It's a big city on the beach. What's not to like?

Hmmmmm..... now to grade some papers and try to sleep; in the morning I've promised to take myself to the dentist to check on a toothache... but I've broken that promise a few times this week, so I can't really be trusted.

sigh : )

drills were cool. everything's cool. no more worrying for now.

(thanks for the card, mike and janet... made my day)

a spoonful of peace for the end of the year. good, good.

what is holly? my students inquire.
i explained the mistletoe tradition and they all looked disgusted.

they're getting fidgety now. these poor kids never get a break. it's christmas: have a saturday off school. they are stinkin' smart, though. their brains are well exercised and fine tuned, and growing. but still...
so i'm planning on preparing some christmas gifts for them. either something tiny for everyone or something a bit cool as a prize for whoever gives the best presentation each class. something wrapped and shiny, either way.

tonight i think we'll be making cookies; kevin and i.

this time of year often brings memories of childhood around to the front. i think of my grandparents' home in texas, and all the pine trees i counted on the way there.
i think of lying on the concrete slab in the back yard with mom, watching a sky full of stars. i never see stars these days. not like those, for certain.
christmas eve was the only day of the year that my sister and i would sleep in the same bed. we'd listen for bells and hooves on the roof, and we heard them most years.

i must admit, i'm really missing the excitement surrounding the holiday this year. it's coming, and i see it, but i don't feel it yet. but, like i said, tonight- we'll make cookies. i'll tape the christmas cards we've received on the doorframe, and play our new christmas cd, drink hot chocolate, and see if we hold any influence over the weather.

Season's Greetings

It's been nice lately. Very nice.

The weather's cold, so I'm wearing 4 layers (bayou wuss). There have been a few occasions of flurries, which are little reminders that snow is on its way someday. There are Christmas trees and Christmas music sprinkled around town, especially in and around the coffee shops.(The coffee shops here are something to behold: I have a superb business plan for my own lil' shop back in the states now... and it does include tree-house-like rooms.)

Work has been particularly awesome. My later/older classes have been temporarily suspended for an intense study session, so for about three weeks I've only had to be at work from 2-7. The bosslady assigned some extra work in their absence, but it's really fun, creative work, like reading books and making questions to go with them for the advanced classes. I reread Animal Farm and am now on The View From Saturday and I'm loving it. Reading has always been a passion of mine, but since school's been over for me I don't often allow myself the quiet alone time to get many books in.
So, point is, this job rocks.
And, it goes without saying, the kids I teach continue to be funny and adorable and surprising every day.

Our good friends, Heather and Ian, are about to head out on a new adventure and leave Korea for a while. We are sad that they are going, but plan to spend quality time together until they leave, and will have some new things to cozy-up the apartment from their plush palace ; )... a bookshelf, a toaster oven, lamps, etc. It'll make the winter seem miles away once we get the cave all set up and the floor heaters cranked up high. We plan to just chill here at home with our friends for Christmas, and Kevin's making stuffed cabbage!

We made a funny new friend at Song's the other day- named Sang-Jae. He's 54, speaks decent English, and is an excellent story-teller. He had us in stitches, talking about the girlfriend he just broke up with and life in general. He is a big fan of music, and gave me lots of encouragement and requested some songs I was able to figure out on the spot cause they were old favorites of my mother's, and that felt pretty super. He says he'd like to take us somewhere sometime; show us some real Korean treasures. We shook hands on it- I hope to see him again, and Kevin says he'll have his camera next time.

There are about 3 months left on this contract, and I have one foot on a decision, but the other is hung up on the fence. As things are looking, I won't be re-signing but Kevin will. That's not definite: not anymore than anything in the world is. But that's the way it's looking.
I would love to stay, I like it here. And I'm not exactly running home in fear. I believe that if there is a war, it'll likely be a fizzle of a war, and then reunification will happen, and it'll all be grand, grand. But there is that chance... and that chance has pushed me into thinking a lot about what ELSE I might want to do, and as a result the old brain is truly gearing up for some cool stuff. As always, when put in a corner, this kid can come up with brilliant ways to slip out.

Currently, I'm thinking of returning home to concentrate on finishing a book or two and trying to get published. I will also drive across the country to visit with friends who've moved around... Reconnect and take a minute to experience a wide variety of lifestyles, from New York to Cali, maybe even Hawaii (wink!)

Leaving Kevin here will be a little heartbreaking, because I love his company so much, but we both agree it'd be a positive experience for us both, and we both want to concentrate on creating our thangs.... See, we're both pouring over with creative ideas for art, stories, and projects of all sorts; but then we're both easily distracted by having general fun together, so it's hard to focus on being productive. Spending serious time apart is hopefully going to allow us to focus on our own goals.

My boss wants me to stay. She took me out to dinner last week as planned to calm my fears regarding war... and brought a date. We had a terrific time: Ate at an American style buffet and met with Kevin at the German Bar. We played music (the date was a great musician, and funny, too).... ended up at Michelle's making requests but only hearing hair-bands. However, no one really discussed the 'situation'. (And by that, I don't mean the bad music.)

Granted, the lack of further provocation has done its own job of calming my concerns, but here's the thing: Just as I was settling back in to the lovely life here, in the news today it says another live-fire drill is scheduled on Yeonpyeong Island. This is South Korea holding it's bruised chin high and daring North Korea to hit it again.
They will be shooting into the water, not toward NK-- just like last time.
They are holding a routine drill; NK has seen this before and should not be upset-- just like last time.
Kim Jong-Il visited the artillery base that attacked the island a few days before the firing last time, and the news says he visited an "unspecified" artillery base today...
The drill will happen sometime between Saturday and Tuesday.

So, there's that.

But overall, it's a gorgeous winter day in Gwangju. It's Friday! I'll finish work early, do some reading, have a delicious dinner with my favorite person and maybe some others I like, and who knows what fun the weekend will hold.
Then, in a week....Crimbus!!!!

Here's a quote for the day:

“There are no strangers here; Only friends you haven’t yet met.”

- William Butler Yeats

Status Quo

Hi, all. I'm Wendy. Let me tell you about my status quo.

I have been SO tense regarding all the hostility and threats of war from the north. Sunday, when the U.S. and SK began their big drill in the Yellow Sea, I couldn't imagine sticking around to see the outcome. I packed my baby blue three-piece luggage set until their square sides had love handles, and I researched the shortest flight out of Busan.

Then I sat around and waited painfully for a good enough reason to follow my fear to the airport.

Nothing happened.

Lots of talk happened. But nothing to allow me to run without regret for my haste.
I've been talking to everyone about the war; foreigners and locals, ages 11 to 65. And I'm the ONLY person who seems genuinely scared. I mean, a few people in the mix thought all-out war MIGHT be possible, but that even in that scenario, my city would be untouched.

I'm not convinced. I keep comparing the attitude here to that of cajuns when a hurricane is headed in. It's an excuse to throw a party, right? And sure- a lot of times that works out fine. Great memories are made and you get pictures of Cousin Benny that you can blackmail him with in a few years. But then, every once in a while, you get Katrina. Or Rita. Or Gustav. And then, you're not in the party mood.

Meanwhile, we recently agreed to stay here for a second year, though we still have 4 months left on this contract. We were certainly looking forward to that- and to the new apartments we'd receive. However, the increased tensions between North and South Korea may very well be just a part of the ebb and flow here, but I'm not from here, and I don't think I will ever get used to it.

I remember as a kid how funny it was to catch an out-of-towner's reaction whenever our nuclear plant ran it's monthly test on the emergency siren. We learned to tune it out. We certainly didn't associate the sound with any thoughts of melt-downs or mass death. How could we live there if we thought like that?

I wish now that that I could find a website where you can enter a scenario and calculate its probability. I would enter 'nuclear plant explosion' and 'North/South Korea explosion'. I wonder.

Anyway, in light of my changed level of comfort and, therefore, desire to stick around much longer, I thought i should talk to my boss and reverse our previous decision.
I asked her to come into my room for a private conversation, and I said, "Do you know what a hurricane party is?" and continued to explain my strange reaction to the goings-on.

Now, Koreans are quick to smile and giggle. And my boss does find me particularly amusing and witty, so I make her laugh often. But I have never seen her laugh this hard. She had to compose herself after.
She tried explaining to me that the threat isn't real, and it's all just a political play. I'm hearing it a lot. But I'm not buying into it easily.
She and I will meet Sunday to discuss it all.

I doubt Kevin will join us. He's had it up to here (and he's pretty tall) with hearing me try to convince people they should be at least a little alarmed, too. And let me tell you, I HATE feeling like a weirdo or a wuss because I am wary of the situation. I hate it.
But at the same time, no one is really making fun of me or being cruel. (My boss even apologized for her laughter) In fact, everyone is trying to comfort me and make me feel at ease.

I suppose it's working a little... a tiny, tiny bit. This much * .

Anyway, later, when I entered my boss' room for my session with her class, all the students screamed in unison, "DON'T BE SCARED, WENDY TEACHER!!!"
Which was cute.
Then several continued with their own 'comforting' phrases, some of which went astray:
"We will all die TOGETHER!"
and
"Don't worry! I will hold your hand if BOMB!"

Ah, sweet people. Sweet, sweet people.
I will miss them.