Uphill

Getting to class remains a challenge (up trillions of steps in the noon-day heat and 90% humidity), but class itself is starting to gel. For one thing, the tech works and I could show my DVD clips today. It's a bit tough on some of the students who are taking class in the morning. Round about 2:00 I see their eyes glaze over. I know it's not their fault. I try to give them a break around 2:15 so they can get some coffee or water and stretch their legs. It's also that I can get some coffee and stretch my legs.

Speaking of legs, Korean women are damned skinny. I mean really - a Korean-American student I've befriended who lives in L.A. says even she thinks they are abnormally skinny. I guess Americans aren't the only ones obsessed with looking like models. These girls dress to the nines just to go shopping, with all their super-bling hair, purses, shoes, jewelry and makeup.

OH YES - just now I heard some guy hock a lugey outside my window. Yessss...and as one of my students pointed out the other day, you don't always hear them spit it out.

Back to the Korean girls - yeah they like to look me up and down on the subway. I wish i could hear what they're thinking: "she's so fat...look at her ankles...those shoes are so five years ago...where's her bling?...I bet she's American." Don't get me wrong, I don't particularly care what they think of me, but it makes me feel better to know that I am actually eating, not starving myself. I seriously wonder if these girls eat.

Going out with my little gang in the evenings has been fun, though I took last night off. The students went to either a water park or an amusement park, and I stayed in. Slept a lot, took the bus on my own to the E-Mart where I bought a cheap desk lamp, a shirt, some suction-cup hooks, and a notebook. I chalked it up as a huge success.

Making the small things work are the greatest successes. Knowing how to go grocery shopping on your own, getting the tech to work in your classroom, figuring out how to put together a desk lamp with no directions and no screwdriver. These are the things that make life what it is in S. Korea.

I've also got some script written for my film - but I have yet to get the hard drive up and running. I will need some help with that, I suspect, based on my failed attempt before I left the States. One problem at a time, you know. Soon, though, very soon...

This weekend I am going to the sauna, and hopefully also to Bongeun-sa, an historic Buddhist temple in Seoul. I'll probably go by myself unless students want to go with me; most of them are going to a baseball game. I need some quiet meditation to ground me.

The only real problem I have at the moment is waiting for my airfare reimbursement until next week. First it was "this week," then Friday, now it's "next week." Meanwhile, I have bills to pay and my stash of Korean Won is dwindling at an alarming rate. I am not a big fan of how things have been organized here, but to some extent I know that is cultural, and to every extent, there's not a thing I can do about it, so I have to keep my wits about me and keep calm. There's a Korean word for that, but I can't transliterate very well. It's something like "chim chak ha geh itta." Yeah. That.

Photos coming soon!

It's a good thing...

...that I like kimchi, because it comes with every meal. Mainly I eat in the student dining hall (cafeteria, or "mess hall" as I've come to think of it) because it is cheap, and though the meals are well-balanced, they are becoming monotonous (rice, soup, kimchi, two meat or fish-based dishes, one veggie-based dish). Still, they get me through the day and are fairly tasty. So far the only thing I haven't been able to eat was the anchovy stuff.

...that I got here early, because I already know the basics of how to get around, how to get a power adapter, the easy way to get to the classroom building, where to buy water, etc. I met some other faculty today at the opening ceremony of the program, many of whom came in yesterday or Saturday. They are still jet lagged and have no idea what to do or where to go. I have to say the program isn't doing a great job of orienting the faculty. We had to ask for the same handouts the students received, and for our own tour of campus (at high noon in the heat of the day, I might add).

...that I have my own washing machine, because I'm easily going through two outfits a day with this intense humidity and heat.

...that I enjoy exploring, because after all, isn't that what traveling is all about?

...that I live alone, because I would go nuts with a roommate on top of jet lag and culture shock. So far my culture shock has been minimal, but I've noticed on this trip and my last trip to Korea that it comes sooner than my first time here, perhaps because I've already been through it (honeymoon stage is pretty much over). However, I also know how to recognize its symptoms, and I know better than to take it too seriously. This enables me to brush off a lot of the disorientation and relish the small victories. It's always very good to come back to my room, crank up the aircon, and just chill out by myself when I feel a wave of irritability coming on.

...that I love Korea! I am very happy here and I'm excited for class to begin tomorrow.