those summer nights

school has been going pretty well so far, although i live in constant discomfort. speaking korean is discouraged and speaking english is slow, well-enunciated, and at an elementary school level. basically i can't talk anymore. especially when my students ask me questions like "when was your first kiss" and "are you religious" and "what is your size? bust, waist, hip?" haha? haha. and from my fellow teachers "what is your favorite food?" although i've had some great conversations with my co-teacher and the other new female teacher at school about korean society (great meaning ... pretty wholesome and typical conversations?)

it's crazy that i only taught for three days, and that last day was actually not so much teaching as helping to proctor a ridiculous exam that the students didn't know about until two days before. that was fun, and involved lots of waking sleepy boys up. i gave my co-teacher and vice-principal my "american presents" and left the principal's korean present in my desk drawer. i hope it doesn't go rotten over the hot hot weekend!

and last night was fun - i hope friday night is always pizza night! later i went out w/ duncan and had lots of nice collegiate discussion about identity and family and james joyce and france and postmodernism...pretty much the usual.

two steps forward, one step back?

something that i always feel determined about is to stop making the same mistakes i always do, like being impatient with people or forgetting to smile. and avoiding situations that are potentially hurtful or tiresome or disappointing. very murphy of me?

yesterday my host siblings and i had a lot of fun in the jeonju downtown area, visiting n-tepia like 5 times for assorted reasons, watching the bourne supremacy, buying couple dolls, and eating at outback. i get so tired these days though, even if having retail fun, which worries me for the coming week of actual teaching. starting tomorrow. i guess it's only 3 days :^P i should really start figuring out what an exercise routine might consist of. one that would last more than 2 days.

and it was great to hear the screams of victory rain down from apartment windows as the south korean won the ping pong gold medal. i'm sorry - table tennis!!

ridiculously enigmatic in korea

in a country as "wired" as korea maybe it's surprising that i have had like no time to update my webpage, but i didn't bring a laptop and probably like 65% of my time so far in korea has been pre-packaged (forced social interaction?) and obviously updating my webpage hasn't been the highest priority. but i have been doing things and meeting people! and eating meals and buying clothes. really, life in korea is not so different than life anywhere else.

it's really a struggle for me to figure out how to keep in touch with people the way i would like to. it seems really lame, but there are just certain experiences or anecdotes that are relatable to certain people, and outside of that i maybe don't really care to communicate with them? oops.

and other people i would love to talk to every day and haven't talked to even once! and i should have. you know who you are!! write me an e-mail from your office sometime! and i feel like maybe my life will be a little bit more messed up and a little less meaningful when i go back to the states. but i'm going to be here for a long time so why worry about it?

basically i would like to say that i am just as lazy as ever and i fel really sad about it? and although i'm sick of taking the easy way out all the time maybe sometimes things are easy because they're good and right for you.