becoming lush

This morning the buzzing whine of cicadas seeped through the closed windows. I opened the one closest to my bed and heard the sound that tells me it is summer.

Cicadas in the U.S. sound different from the ones here. I rather like the Asian breed of cicada - their buzzing sort of murmurs and pulses like a wave, rather than just droning and then dropping off like the ones back home. Either way, that sound is the mark of deep summer, where things are growing, working, spreading, seeping. Becoming lush.

I've been in Korea two weeks, now. Sort of a flash in the pan to the rest of the year, but very productive. I'm so happy to be here (now that the issue of money is no longer an issue), yet what I'm really looking forward to is spending a few days in the Ulsan area, where I lived back in '02-03. The countryside will be a relief, as will the smaller city that I know much better than Seoul. I hope to see all my old friends there, and enjoy a night of samgyapsal and soju. If all goes as hoped, I'll ride the bus from Seoul to Ulsan with my former director from the school I taught for. But even if that doesn't happen, I will enjoy my bus ride. After all, I'm making a film called "Korea Dreambus!" aren't I?

I've worked on the opening bits to the script for the film, and now I have to start playing with my footage, all B-roll. I've decided to focus now on the personal story, and leave the orientation video until I get home, because that should be relatively easy. I do have a couple more interviews I want to get before I leave that will take the place of the few that were unusable from three years ago.

Today is our day off in the middle of the week, though students certainly have plenty to do, and I have some things to accomplish as well. I'm hoping to make time later to visit a temple that isn't too far from here on the Metro. If I don't make it today, hopefully this weekend.

Friday the International Office has planned a "mid-term party" for everyone. They've rented out a bar and there will be food and drink available for students and faculty. Then Saturday they have some other thing planned - a performance by Nanta, sort of a Korean "STOMP" but with cooking and food. I saw something like it when I was in grad school and it was really fun. And at some point hopefully this weekend I will also make my way to the "sauna" which includes hot spring-fed baths, sauna rooms, a swimming pool, and a place to lie around and relax. It's a Korean thing, but I do love it, being a water baby. I am lamenting the absence of swimming pools here, so the sauna will be my water fix for awhile.

Until next time...

Touch down

The Eagle has landed (again). I'm in Seoul, more or less in one piece, about to head to a discount department store with the students to pick up necessities, led by our fearless leader Chun.

I'm definitely jetlagged, definitely sleep deprived, and I left the U.S. with a cold, which has only hung on during transit. I'm hoping after a couple nights' rest it'll be gone. I don't want to start teaching on Monday with a cough.

It's great to be back, even in my present condition, and I'm deriving extra, vicarious thrill from the students' reactions to things so far. This being my third time in the country, I still have a period of adjustment, but I now realize how much I actually do "get" over here that a new-comer has yet to experience.

Will check in later with more detail once I'm back to normal (whatever that means).

A little over a week to departure time. I am finally feeling on top of things enough to allow myself some excitement (as opposed to just nerves - there is a difference, you know).

Express mailed my passport and visa application on Thursday; expecting to get it back by Wednesday or Thursday at the latest. This is what I'm telling myself, anyway.

The trial packing was successful. I may have to bring a production kit since one of the students couldn't come after all, and we have to get this thing to Korea one way or another. With luck, I'll have only one carry on, but if I have to bring two to accommodate the production kit, so be it.

This week I will finish creating my students' materials packet by Tuesday so I can photocopy them at work. Speaking of students, I have four students from the college I work for during the academic year, and four Korean students. Chances are I may have a couple more signed up before the first day of classes on June 28, but for the time being, I've got eight. A nice, round number.

Thankfully, I don't have to buy anything else. I've got all I need, with the exception of a couple protein bars for the bus ride into New York. Did you know that the worst thing about a five hour bus trip to NYC is the toilet? In Korea, long bus rides are broken up with frequent rest-stops at very well-appointed service areas. There is no need for a stinky blue toilet whose walls you don't watch to touch without latex gloves on.

Two weeks from today I will be in Seoul, trying to get on the right sleep cycle. How will it feel? What will my digs be like? Will I have a tub or a Korean-style shower stall bathroom? Is there a pool on campus so I can swim every morning? Will my severely compromised tolerance to alcohol be tested by soju on my first weekend in the country? So many questions. Answers forthcoming, so stay tuned.

C-4: The work visa, not the explosive.

I awoke Monday morning to an email from my Korean employer in which I was informed I'd be needing a C-4 visa. This, 2 weeks before my plane leaves. I also received a bunch of paper work to fill out, which didn't turn out to be that difficult, but I am now waiting for a sealed contract from the university in order to apply for the visa. I am promised by the Korean Consulate that it will only take a day to process once they've received it.

And I am reminded of how things work in Korea: last minute. It's a good way to get re-acquainted with this manner of doing business, which doesn't always make sense to a Westerner, but which seems to work just fine in Korea.

The culture shock has already begun... but at least I know what I'm in for.

Jade Monkey Prepares to Fly

Kimchi and kimbap, here I come! Onchon and sauna, get ready! Seoul and Ulsan, be prepared! Here I come!

It's been six years since I taught in P.R. China, and three years since my last trip to S. Korea when I started working on a documentary about life as an expat EFL (English as a Foreign Language) teacher. This summer, I am returning to Korea to teach at Hanyang University in Seoul. I will also finish the film I started three years ago, and I'll spend a few days in Ulsan, where I lived from 2002-2003 as an EFL teacher.

At the moment, I have located my passport (yay!), which involved several hours of tearing up my office and then finding it right where I'd expected it to be, and I've already planned out what bags to bring. I even ordered a sweet little over-the-shoulder purse for ease of movement and keeping the motto "always be prepared in Korea." My experiences in that country have given me a firm foundation for knowing that you can't really predict what will happen or when, so better to have your act together.

I will be traveling with two, possibly three, students from the college where I teach. The Korean documentary professor at that college (I'll call him Chun) has organized this yearly trip to a university in Seoul, usually bringing 9-12 students. This year, he invited me to submit a proposal to this university for a class in screenwriting, and they were happy to have me on board. Anyway, back to the students. I've already found myself bubbling over with enthusiasm to help them have the best possible experience. I've created a "pre-departure guide," and as I said, I'll be traveling with at least two of them. I am so stoked to share my "second home" with these young travelers, most of whom haven't been abroad before, much less in Asia.

So far I've finished the syllabus for the course, but I'm still collecting clips and materials. I've got a week of vacation coming up in Massachusetts to visit my people there, but after that I will have to hit it hard to get everything together in two weeks.

Keep checking back for updates - I'll be doing that as often as possible. Be prepared for the glorification and condemnation of all things Korean in the weeks ahead!