so I'll just update you here.
I'm on day 2.5 of my time in Laos. Really nice so far. Downside to coming during slow season: NOOOO couchsurfers, & mostly couples or groups of friends, so no real chance to meet people. But the upside is that there aren't any lines, sites aren't crowded. & no dodging masses of people to move, which is a big upside.
But hell before we even get into Laos, let's get into the anxiety I sat with for an hour or 2 in customs, because not only was I sure I'd forgotten a visa picture (JUST saw that I hadn't, they were here the whole time, but it's not a big deal because for $1 they'll just scan your passport photo). No, it's because the visa is $34US, & I FORGOT TO GET CASH. I was legit sure they were going to deny me entry for that. Turns out, you just go through customs by telling the police you're going to an ATM (while the visa agents keep your passport), so it was all ok after all.
There actually were 2 couchsurfers who posted to meet yesterday: 1 a Laotian guy with good references, & an Indian guy who has hosted with his girlfriend, & they have good references (though I suspect now that the girlfriend didn't join him here). I was down to meet one or both, except that the conversation that took place between these 2 before was them saying hey, what's up, followed by the Laotian guy asking if there were any girls. Seriously dude? Funny but TRUE thing: it's ILLEGAL for foreigners to have sex with Laotians! Not an issue for me for any number of reasons, but really not into guys who are blatantly just using couchsurfing for dating. Today he invited me to go see some older temples on the other side of the Mekong. AWESOME, except I don't know this guy, so just hopping on a motorcycle the first time I meet him isn't really something I'm comfortable with doing. Oh, & all his references are females. So... highly unlikely.
Otherwise, it's only as hot as Korea in summer, perhaps a bit less humid if you can even believe it , still plenty of sun, just spots of rain. I'm wearing my Cambodia pants all the time & so far the insect repellent is working great. I even like the way it smells on me!
Haven't really been inside any temples yet-- they're much more like Thailand than the old ones from Cambodia. Yesterday I climbed stairs to this "mountain" (more like a big hill) that has a stupa on top, but it was only from the 1800s. Haven't done any tours yet, hopefully will before I leave Tuesday.
Conflicted because I'm SUPER cheap like dad (except I always have to be) & my places offer free breakfast but it's 2 eggs & a hot dog of course. Laos has their own sausage, as does Korea, so why the FUCK ALL of Asia thinks a hot dog is a breakfast sausage is beyond me). 2 eggs is what 2-year-olds eat. I need 4-6 at least. But such is the story of my life.
So far, food has been good. I'm still not sure on the sausage-- it looks like it may include rice powder. I can keep getting chicken or even duck from the night market as needed though. Hopefully-- last night, Friday night, it wasn't as big as on Thursday.
Sooooo, that's about it for now. Now to wade through the fucking eternal wall of email.
Saturday, July 6, 2019
Wednesday, June 5, 2019
Anxiety, you say?
Just finished the older draft about that cursed bag of beans, when I realized that ahhhhh, ONE reason that my anxiety has basically had me exploding all over the place every second is likely this no-working-out thing. I still get a pain if I move my leg a certain way. We're about 12 days away from the 5 weeks, & I haven't even done upper body, just to be sure. So I'm REALLLLLY hoping this is healing.
So I mentioned my wall I've hit. Did I also mention that I of course found out that I need to bring several things with me to the pension office to get my pension, one of them being my contract... and worried like crazy I didn't have it at home? A search indeed proved I did not. I have EVERY OTHER CONTRACT FROM HERE, including that first job I only had for 6 months almost 4 years ago! But not for this year. & because things have been hectic here, I figured chances were THEY didn't have a copy of it either. The anxiety this was creating was immense, let alone with the job search & everything else. I CAN go to immigration & request a copy, but that can mean waiting a lonnnnnng time (though at least I'll have a few days before I leave in which to do that). But before resigning myself to that, I had to ask. & the blessed man here assured me has the original, & can definitely make a copy. He told me if they DIDN'T have it, he would have made one right there, just so I'd have it. Sweet Lord is THAT a bit of a big load of crappiness off my plate! He is even going to check with the boss to see if they can pay me BEFORE the usual July 9th date when I'll be in Laos! Just that he'd even ask, was a huge relief. Now to just, you know, get a job, finish applying to grad school & get packed, get my remittance account, make a NEW dentist appointment for a second opinion which you're actually supposed to get here...
Oh. & my resume, which I paid someone to do. She sent it to me as a PDF. Which is great, except that, months after she asked me to proofread it, & I did, I noted that I didn't look carefully enough at my email address, which was missing the first letter. & I wanted to do proofreading! Honestly, I DON'T have attention to detail that they all want. I don't. I regularly start filling in the missing words/letters on things I've written, or even just read through a few times (though mainly with my own work, which is easily done). So, CAN I actually be a proofreader? I'm really thinking no, but wtf ELSE can I do? My only real skill is writing, but I have zero creativity, never have any ideas on topics for writing an article, say. So I really am kind of stuck. I'm burned out on teaching here, & it'll be super low-paying & more crappy hours to find a place to do so in Spain in my off-hours.
But back to the resume. I needed to change that, plus add the US phone # I have, thanks to this great app on my phone. The only other thing I have is called the resume key, but while my resume is blue & red with, you know, resume stuff on it, this is a blank white document with just the hello! at the top and my name at the bottom, which is what my cover letter is like. In addition to this, it's not the sort of file google documents can download or open.
It has taken the girl who did it a few days to get back to me in the past, & I was applying for a job then, so despite the fact I only have $50 to get me to Tuesday, I spent the $25 to edit the PDF of my resume. Only to find whatever program she used has a font that neither windows NOR PDF has. Typing anything new in, including just that one missing letter, never mind the other phone number, meant going through to EVERY. TEXT. BOX. & doing it there for continuity.
She writes me back directing me to the same blank document I alluded to. Look, I must be a complete Luddite & fucking idiot, because no matter what I have done to that document, I can't download it, upload it, copy it, & in any event IT'S COMPLETELY BLANK. I don't want to have to do the whole typing & coloring again!
Basically, I then told her that I apparently am all these things, & spent the rest of the night screaming because I couldn't edit my own fucking resume. I finally just converted it back to a word document, which lost it a little of the polish, but was mainly fine, & just did it that way. She wrote one more time, but I just saw that red envelope which is the same blank document that doesn't help me, & couldn't even bother to open it. I could not have been more pissed. & all of this has definitely been made exponentially worse in my head because my anxiety has free rein with no exercise outlet. What a great time to be alive.
So I mentioned my wall I've hit. Did I also mention that I of course found out that I need to bring several things with me to the pension office to get my pension, one of them being my contract... and worried like crazy I didn't have it at home? A search indeed proved I did not. I have EVERY OTHER CONTRACT FROM HERE, including that first job I only had for 6 months almost 4 years ago! But not for this year. & because things have been hectic here, I figured chances were THEY didn't have a copy of it either. The anxiety this was creating was immense, let alone with the job search & everything else. I CAN go to immigration & request a copy, but that can mean waiting a lonnnnnng time (though at least I'll have a few days before I leave in which to do that). But before resigning myself to that, I had to ask. & the blessed man here assured me has the original, & can definitely make a copy. He told me if they DIDN'T have it, he would have made one right there, just so I'd have it. Sweet Lord is THAT a bit of a big load of crappiness off my plate! He is even going to check with the boss to see if they can pay me BEFORE the usual July 9th date when I'll be in Laos! Just that he'd even ask, was a huge relief. Now to just, you know, get a job, finish applying to grad school & get packed, get my remittance account, make a NEW dentist appointment for a second opinion which you're actually supposed to get here...
Oh. & my resume, which I paid someone to do. She sent it to me as a PDF. Which is great, except that, months after she asked me to proofread it, & I did, I noted that I didn't look carefully enough at my email address, which was missing the first letter. & I wanted to do proofreading! Honestly, I DON'T have attention to detail that they all want. I don't. I regularly start filling in the missing words/letters on things I've written, or even just read through a few times (though mainly with my own work, which is easily done). So, CAN I actually be a proofreader? I'm really thinking no, but wtf ELSE can I do? My only real skill is writing, but I have zero creativity, never have any ideas on topics for writing an article, say. So I really am kind of stuck. I'm burned out on teaching here, & it'll be super low-paying & more crappy hours to find a place to do so in Spain in my off-hours.
But back to the resume. I needed to change that, plus add the US phone # I have, thanks to this great app on my phone. The only other thing I have is called the resume key, but while my resume is blue & red with, you know, resume stuff on it, this is a blank white document with just the hello! at the top and my name at the bottom, which is what my cover letter is like. In addition to this, it's not the sort of file google documents can download or open.
It has taken the girl who did it a few days to get back to me in the past, & I was applying for a job then, so despite the fact I only have $50 to get me to Tuesday, I spent the $25 to edit the PDF of my resume. Only to find whatever program she used has a font that neither windows NOR PDF has. Typing anything new in, including just that one missing letter, never mind the other phone number, meant going through to EVERY. TEXT. BOX. & doing it there for continuity.
She writes me back directing me to the same blank document I alluded to. Look, I must be a complete Luddite & fucking idiot, because no matter what I have done to that document, I can't download it, upload it, copy it, & in any event IT'S COMPLETELY BLANK. I don't want to have to do the whole typing & coloring again!
Basically, I then told her that I apparently am all these things, & spent the rest of the night screaming because I couldn't edit my own fucking resume. I finally just converted it back to a word document, which lost it a little of the polish, but was mainly fine, & just did it that way. She wrote one more time, but I just saw that red envelope which is the same blank document that doesn't help me, & couldn't even bother to open it. I could not have been more pissed. & all of this has definitely been made exponentially worse in my head because my anxiety has free rein with no exercise outlet. What a great time to be alive.
Wednesday, May 29, 2019
I've hit a wall.
A wall so big, I can't think of, but more importantly when I TRIED to think of a good analogy or better title, I gave up because it just seemed like too much work.
I don't know; maybe it started with the month of May REFUSING TO FUCKING END, HOW LONG CAN A MOTHERFUCKING 31 DAYS BE?? It's not even June until fucking Saturday. I get paid in 3 weeks, but only have about $200 to get me through to there. I won't even get into the whole truckload of stress of not being able to open a remittance account so I can send money to my US account while I'm in Laos. No... I get paid 5 days after I leave, & can't use my Korean card outside this dirty, shitty hell hole.
I have some remote jobs to apply for, but the cover letters, I just can't. I literally can't bear the idea of writing one, even just altering some that I already have done for other, even slightly related, jobs. The new format I got designed that matches my new resume is in photo format, so I can't save it as a file. I have to apply to at least one more university because schools kept eliminating themselves, so instead of 3-4, we're down to 2. The most interesting program I may not even be able to apply to because it's unclear if the second round of applications is only for those accepted in the first round that was due mid-May, or if they'll accept new ones if there are sufficient openings. Because it's Europe so they're vague as fuck & I'm tired of looking, trying, writing for clarification and then STILL getting vague, non-answer replies because SPAIN/EUROPE.
I'm guessing I have to write the recommendation letter for Ruth to sign, but I can't do that. I don't believe there's a job I can get, I don't believe Spain will be anything less than a ginormous fuck show. I believe that people the world over are innately good because they're completely incompetent and devoid of intelligence. The world outside the US is incompetent & a shit show, & the US decided to jump right into the clusterfuck of fuck shows & start barrelling toward the finish line of ruin at a reckless, relentless pace that overtook the shittiest of shit holes, & there are no vines to grab, no semblance of brakes.
I hate the whole world! The only countries I don't mostly hate are MOST of the ones I've only visited, but I can't guarantee the hatred doesn't extend to those countriesI haven't visited, though I have every faith they would suck as much as the rest of them. My only hope is to try to get to Canada, but again, not going to happen. I can't live anywhere else in the world, but the US ended in 2016. There's nowhere to go & I can't try to feign some sense of optimism that I can get a job that will pay well-- I've given up on work I like. I like teaching! But not in the US, & I can't afford to get certified there & have I mentioned I can't fathom living there now? & there's no way to teach and make a real semblance of a living without said albatross of extra school loans. Mine are still at the amount when I left school, so fuck that.
So here I am, too exhausted to try. I have to, but I can't. If a true, goddamn miracle happens & I actually do SOMETHING, it will be halfhearted at best. I thought if I gave myself a day off today after yesterday when this wall grew big as fuck in front of me, that maybe it'd be surmountable or something, but it's not. I can't do anything to DO anything. The time I was home between Chile & Korea sucked only because I was so fucking broke, & I don't want to do that again, but there are no more places to dig deep from & do shit. My fucks ran out SOOOOOO long ago, I was bankrupted so couldn't afford any but the store has been out for years & isn't even bothering to look for more to restock.
Do you want to know the bright spot? That Amy sent me a keyboard since mine stopped working a while ago. Being able to type is SO NICE. She also sent me a lovely little knitted pad for face washing or the kitchen, the kick-ass notation stick-ons I posted on facebook, some coasters & lip balm. & that my favorite student, Leo, now calls me Yenny. He also calls me Golden Supergirl/Coffee Monster, but of course he thinks that upsets me.
So guys, I guess I may try again, sometime, after it's really too late & there's no more jobs to apply for. But with my depression & that I'm close BUT SO FAR AWAY FROM LEAVING KOREA, there's just nothing I can do. And that's just where I am now. Maybe getting out will rejuvinate me, though this has definitely sunk into a severe depression at this point, & I'm not sure that a change of scenery is enough. I suppose we'll see, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Those left with the fucks I had.
I don't know; maybe it started with the month of May REFUSING TO FUCKING END, HOW LONG CAN A MOTHERFUCKING 31 DAYS BE?? It's not even June until fucking Saturday. I get paid in 3 weeks, but only have about $200 to get me through to there. I won't even get into the whole truckload of stress of not being able to open a remittance account so I can send money to my US account while I'm in Laos. No... I get paid 5 days after I leave, & can't use my Korean card outside this dirty, shitty hell hole.
I have some remote jobs to apply for, but the cover letters, I just can't. I literally can't bear the idea of writing one, even just altering some that I already have done for other, even slightly related, jobs. The new format I got designed that matches my new resume is in photo format, so I can't save it as a file. I have to apply to at least one more university because schools kept eliminating themselves, so instead of 3-4, we're down to 2. The most interesting program I may not even be able to apply to because it's unclear if the second round of applications is only for those accepted in the first round that was due mid-May, or if they'll accept new ones if there are sufficient openings. Because it's Europe so they're vague as fuck & I'm tired of looking, trying, writing for clarification and then STILL getting vague, non-answer replies because SPAIN/EUROPE.
I'm guessing I have to write the recommendation letter for Ruth to sign, but I can't do that. I don't believe there's a job I can get, I don't believe Spain will be anything less than a ginormous fuck show. I believe that people the world over are innately good because they're completely incompetent and devoid of intelligence. The world outside the US is incompetent & a shit show, & the US decided to jump right into the clusterfuck of fuck shows & start barrelling toward the finish line of ruin at a reckless, relentless pace that overtook the shittiest of shit holes, & there are no vines to grab, no semblance of brakes.
I hate the whole world! The only countries I don't mostly hate are MOST of the ones I've only visited, but I can't guarantee the hatred doesn't extend to those countriesI haven't visited, though I have every faith they would suck as much as the rest of them. My only hope is to try to get to Canada, but again, not going to happen. I can't live anywhere else in the world, but the US ended in 2016. There's nowhere to go & I can't try to feign some sense of optimism that I can get a job that will pay well-- I've given up on work I like. I like teaching! But not in the US, & I can't afford to get certified there & have I mentioned I can't fathom living there now? & there's no way to teach and make a real semblance of a living without said albatross of extra school loans. Mine are still at the amount when I left school, so fuck that.
So here I am, too exhausted to try. I have to, but I can't. If a true, goddamn miracle happens & I actually do SOMETHING, it will be halfhearted at best. I thought if I gave myself a day off today after yesterday when this wall grew big as fuck in front of me, that maybe it'd be surmountable or something, but it's not. I can't do anything to DO anything. The time I was home between Chile & Korea sucked only because I was so fucking broke, & I don't want to do that again, but there are no more places to dig deep from & do shit. My fucks ran out SOOOOOO long ago, I was bankrupted so couldn't afford any but the store has been out for years & isn't even bothering to look for more to restock.
Do you want to know the bright spot? That Amy sent me a keyboard since mine stopped working a while ago. Being able to type is SO NICE. She also sent me a lovely little knitted pad for face washing or the kitchen, the kick-ass notation stick-ons I posted on facebook, some coasters & lip balm. & that my favorite student, Leo, now calls me Yenny. He also calls me Golden Supergirl/Coffee Monster, but of course he thinks that upsets me.
So guys, I guess I may try again, sometime, after it's really too late & there's no more jobs to apply for. But with my depression & that I'm close BUT SO FAR AWAY FROM LEAVING KOREA, there's just nothing I can do. And that's just where I am now. Maybe getting out will rejuvinate me, though this has definitely sunk into a severe depression at this point, & I'm not sure that a change of scenery is enough. I suppose we'll see, but I'm not getting my hopes up. Those left with the fucks I had.
Saturday, May 18, 2019
The Curse of the Kenyan coffee bag
It all began innocently enough on Sunday evening when I decided to buy some beans instead of spending money on the americanos one must drink here since drip coffee is not a thing. This is after a trip down to Suwon, an hour away, because someone posted a sign for a shoe store that carried large read: Western-sized) handmade shoes. This, naturally, was a mirage, as the store had barely any sandals (what I needed), & only went up to size 8. I then wandered til I came to a store that ALSO only went up to size 8 in 2 styles, & I went with the pair that felt least likely to give me blisters & would go with most of my clothes. Sandals I paid 4x the price of in America bc EVERYTHING outside the US is a giant, motherfucking rip-off.
Monday morning I had time to make coffee, since I've re-aggravated a hip flexor injury that has now expanded to include my left outer hip. While I can now walk pretty much pain-free, bringing my knee up to my stomach or extending the leg back is still painful, so not much working out happening on MWF, my leg days. I then left, & had just sat down on the bus when I realized I'd left the coffee on the counter.
Tuesday I was committed to taking it with me, so even though it isn't to be done, I took the coffee I brewed Monday with me on Tuesday. I held it against my left side as I had recycling to take down, when I started feeling a cold wetness there. My coffee container had apparently sprung a leak, & coffee was spilling all over my clothes. Luckily, miraculously, it really wasn't noticeable, so at least I didn't have to deal with looks or comments at work.
Undeterred & ready with a liquid carrier I'd inherited from Ashling, I made cold brew on Tuesday night, & set the contained coffee in front of my door.
I was waiting for the elevator with my hands once again/as usual full of garbage/recycling, when I dropped the coffee, which exploded all over the floor, my legs, & new shoes. I was minutes late leaving for the bank because I not only needed to transfer money to my American account for bills, but also FINALLY was going to ask to set up a remittance account, so I don't have to take these trips to the bank & fill out paperwork to send money to my US account each month. With the remittance account, I can do it from an ATM. So now I had to go back to my apartment to wipe myself off. I left the puddle on the floor in front of the elevator, though I did put as many paper towels as I had on the roll left, pretty much ineffectually, on the floor.
I rushed out again, incredibly agitated because as I said, I had shit to do. We transfer the money, but OF COURSE when I ask for the remittance account, which was made for foreigners & many of my friends have, was told that only Koreans can get that account.
Of course. Because who else BUT a Korean would need to regularly send money to the US, or England, or anywhere outside of Korea on a regular basis, insular country that this is?! So now I have the unmitigated joy of running around Korea finding a bank with a teller who DOES know how to open this account.
& finally, the next day I went to see my doctor for my monthly check-up. Nothing new there, except I asked about how long a pulled muscle takes to heal, & she told me to go down to the 3rd floor of that building and see the orthopedic. The blessed man trained in the US, speaks English, & of ALLLLLL my luck, after an x-ray & an ultrasound, said I had torn, not pulled, the muscle. He said it shouldn't require surgery, but I needed to rest & not workout for about 5 weeks. Because, awesome. Aside from needing to remain bathing suit ready for summer, I get the added bonus of my anxiety not having exercise to help keep it checked. So really? This week could go bite itself.
Monday morning I had time to make coffee, since I've re-aggravated a hip flexor injury that has now expanded to include my left outer hip. While I can now walk pretty much pain-free, bringing my knee up to my stomach or extending the leg back is still painful, so not much working out happening on MWF, my leg days. I then left, & had just sat down on the bus when I realized I'd left the coffee on the counter.
Tuesday I was committed to taking it with me, so even though it isn't to be done, I took the coffee I brewed Monday with me on Tuesday. I held it against my left side as I had recycling to take down, when I started feeling a cold wetness there. My coffee container had apparently sprung a leak, & coffee was spilling all over my clothes. Luckily, miraculously, it really wasn't noticeable, so at least I didn't have to deal with looks or comments at work.
Undeterred & ready with a liquid carrier I'd inherited from Ashling, I made cold brew on Tuesday night, & set the contained coffee in front of my door.
I was waiting for the elevator with my hands once again/as usual full of garbage/recycling, when I dropped the coffee, which exploded all over the floor, my legs, & new shoes. I was minutes late leaving for the bank because I not only needed to transfer money to my American account for bills, but also FINALLY was going to ask to set up a remittance account, so I don't have to take these trips to the bank & fill out paperwork to send money to my US account each month. With the remittance account, I can do it from an ATM. So now I had to go back to my apartment to wipe myself off. I left the puddle on the floor in front of the elevator, though I did put as many paper towels as I had on the roll left, pretty much ineffectually, on the floor.
I rushed out again, incredibly agitated because as I said, I had shit to do. We transfer the money, but OF COURSE when I ask for the remittance account, which was made for foreigners & many of my friends have, was told that only Koreans can get that account.
Of course. Because who else BUT a Korean would need to regularly send money to the US, or England, or anywhere outside of Korea on a regular basis, insular country that this is?! So now I have the unmitigated joy of running around Korea finding a bank with a teller who DOES know how to open this account.
& finally, the next day I went to see my doctor for my monthly check-up. Nothing new there, except I asked about how long a pulled muscle takes to heal, & she told me to go down to the 3rd floor of that building and see the orthopedic. The blessed man trained in the US, speaks English, & of ALLLLLL my luck, after an x-ray & an ultrasound, said I had torn, not pulled, the muscle. He said it shouldn't require surgery, but I needed to rest & not workout for about 5 weeks. Because, awesome. Aside from needing to remain bathing suit ready for summer, I get the added bonus of my anxiety not having exercise to help keep it checked. So really? This week could go bite itself.
Tuesday, April 23, 2019
I mean, the other thing is,
not much happens here because I don't go out due to not having money, not being able to eat, having to cook & clean, and now my Saturday classes. So there's never too much really to report.
I guess one little nugget is my friend Jess, whom I adore, is a bit off her rocker. She takes EVERYTHING super personally. At wine night, she felt like the Canadians mocking America were mocking her. Then there's a girl, one girl, who was a bitch to her. So Jess got up in the middle of wine night & just left, without saying a word. She left the chat & everything. Later she said it's just the one girl she doesn't like. 1 girl out of like 20. Really, she needed to leave the group for that? Well she felt like she did. Jess had also created a meme chat, which only me & a few others she knows well are in, definitely not the offending girl nor most of wine chat, but she quit that chat too. I've talked her out of doing this before when she took people not replying to her message in the wine chat right away on a Friday afternoon badly, but at this point, I don't feel like trying to reason with her. & I think the wine chat girls are done with her drama. So I just see her on her own or with a girl we met who moved down to where I live.
In February, as you know, mom came to visit! It was great to see her. though it was then that I learned she's been totally & completely brainwashed by Fox News. Everything from Brett Kavanaugh to the concept of privilege she is adamantly on the side of Trump & Trump supporters. As much as I love him, I blame Neil. Well at least we both agree the BBC is reliable.
I'm glad she got to meet most of my friends, & we did end up staying at a jimjilbang the night before the tour of the DMZ (I stayed on the bus & napped). I do wish she'd listened to me when I said we should go to some places where I can't eat so she could try a lot more stuff. She said she doesn't really eat rice, so that eliminated a lot of things, especially bibimbap, which seriously everyone should try. While she had no love for my blood sausage soup, the other soups she tried she loved. After she got back, she wanted to try to make one of the soups she had, & asked the names of them in case there was a place in Chicago that served them.
So, I mean, that's all I can think of for now. I spilled something on my computer so now several keys don't work, so I need a new keyboard to use until I can get home & upgrade the computer (though won't do that if I haven't found a job to do).
So really, you can consider yourself all caught up. Hurray hurrah hurray.
I guess one little nugget is my friend Jess, whom I adore, is a bit off her rocker. She takes EVERYTHING super personally. At wine night, she felt like the Canadians mocking America were mocking her. Then there's a girl, one girl, who was a bitch to her. So Jess got up in the middle of wine night & just left, without saying a word. She left the chat & everything. Later she said it's just the one girl she doesn't like. 1 girl out of like 20. Really, she needed to leave the group for that? Well she felt like she did. Jess had also created a meme chat, which only me & a few others she knows well are in, definitely not the offending girl nor most of wine chat, but she quit that chat too. I've talked her out of doing this before when she took people not replying to her message in the wine chat right away on a Friday afternoon badly, but at this point, I don't feel like trying to reason with her. & I think the wine chat girls are done with her drama. So I just see her on her own or with a girl we met who moved down to where I live.
In February, as you know, mom came to visit! It was great to see her. though it was then that I learned she's been totally & completely brainwashed by Fox News. Everything from Brett Kavanaugh to the concept of privilege she is adamantly on the side of Trump & Trump supporters. As much as I love him, I blame Neil. Well at least we both agree the BBC is reliable.
I'm glad she got to meet most of my friends, & we did end up staying at a jimjilbang the night before the tour of the DMZ (I stayed on the bus & napped). I do wish she'd listened to me when I said we should go to some places where I can't eat so she could try a lot more stuff. She said she doesn't really eat rice, so that eliminated a lot of things, especially bibimbap, which seriously everyone should try. While she had no love for my blood sausage soup, the other soups she tried she loved. After she got back, she wanted to try to make one of the soups she had, & asked the names of them in case there was a place in Chicago that served them.
So, I mean, that's all I can think of for now. I spilled something on my computer so now several keys don't work, so I need a new keyboard to use until I can get home & upgrade the computer (though won't do that if I haven't found a job to do).
So really, you can consider yourself all caught up. Hurray hurrah hurray.
So, backwards ho!
Well I already mentioned Leo's Saturday classes. The owner being the pain in the ass she is found more students who also want to take a class on Saturday. Apparently more to have their own class, rather than joining Leo's (not that I have any idea what their level is, hence if they even COULD join Leo's class. But this being Korea, level is irrelevant because it's all about age. Dumb asses). Again, more money is great, but I want my fucking weekend. I don't want to be working 1/2 a day on Saturdays as well. But money. But fucking my Saturdays. There we are on that.
My trip to Laos complicated my leaving date, because the day I fly back in is the day for the cheapest airfare. The guy found another flight that leaves on the 20-somethingth, with an 11-hour layover in Taiwan. SOOOOO not ideal, but it will be from 10:30 AM, so I can at least go out & do something in Taipei. So I can live with it. Just.
My trip to Laos complicated my leaving date, because the day I fly back in is the day for the cheapest airfare. The guy found another flight that leaves on the 20-somethingth, with an 11-hour layover in Taiwan. SOOOOO not ideal, but it will be from 10:30 AM, so I can at least go out & do something in Taipei. So I can live with it. Just.
Long time no see
Yes yes, I know, it has been quite a while. So hopefully I'll update in several posts. It's just that, between reading, starting the search for remote jobs for when I leave Korea, and working on grad school stuff (have to get my CV finished), the blog definitely falls to the wayside these days. Prior to this, what's my excuse? Too much nonsense. Honestly, especially when it's a cleaning weekend, time seems at a special premium & I've been unable to do it all. 2 weekends ago I was supposed to clean, but I was so sick from a cold, I just couldn't do it. I'm also teaching a Saturday class for my favorite student, Leo (the owner's son). I'm his favorite teacher, & we don't have class together this semester, so I think he asked his mom if she could figure something out. Her solution was I'd teach him for 1.5-2 hours each Saturday. I was NOT excited about working on a Saturday, though I do love Leo & the extra money is definitely going to help. It's in the evening, so at least I can lay in bed & read & take my time doing stuff, which is my thing on the weekends, but early evening is also when I usually start cooking or cleaning, so I'm losing my prime Saturday activity time. Not to mention complicating if I can go anywhere after on Saturday nights, since I get out at 8:30. But Leo's great; hell, in our second class, he told me he'd been looking forward to Saturday all week so he could see me! Cute little bugger.
So we'll start recently and work our way backward, shall we? We shall. The most recent thing is I had a big old health check last week. Do I need to mention AGAIN how much I LOVE the system here? It's efficient, SOOOOO affordable... I could go on, but you get the point. We did full blood work, urine, thyroid ultrasound, uterine ultrasound, PAP smear, mammogram, & colonoscopy. All for $180.
Blood work & urine were all fine. My thyroid levels are a little high, which might be indicative that my body isn't completely converting the pills I take to the active form of the hormone, which is actually common with the usual meds. However, it could also be because I haven't been taking iodine & tyrosene because I honestly forgot about them. So, I'll get those again, plus she increased my dosage, so we'll see how it goes next time. The other great news is that apparently several months ago when we did the full blood works, my thyroid antibodies were gone, so my body isn't actively destroying it anymore. In short, yep, my aggravating & extremely limited (albeit really healthy) diet has done what it ideally is supposed to.
We'll need a breast ultrasound because mine are rather dense, which I knew. So we're doing that in June. Not sure why the wait, & wondering if I shouldn't ask about doing it sooner since I'm leaving, but hopefully there won't be anything to be concerned about. (I know my breasts can be a bit cystic as well.) The only bad thing was that apparently I have an ulcer. How perfect, yet unsurprising, given the leaky gut theory. I can't feel it; she prescribed some medication for it, & just said to avoid spicy foods (pretty easily done, except that Jessie took me to a great kimchi jiggae chain & there's one near my train station). Hopefully that will get straightened out, however that is done.
So we'll start recently and work our way backward, shall we? We shall. The most recent thing is I had a big old health check last week. Do I need to mention AGAIN how much I LOVE the system here? It's efficient, SOOOOO affordable... I could go on, but you get the point. We did full blood work, urine, thyroid ultrasound, uterine ultrasound, PAP smear, mammogram, & colonoscopy. All for $180.
Blood work & urine were all fine. My thyroid levels are a little high, which might be indicative that my body isn't completely converting the pills I take to the active form of the hormone, which is actually common with the usual meds. However, it could also be because I haven't been taking iodine & tyrosene because I honestly forgot about them. So, I'll get those again, plus she increased my dosage, so we'll see how it goes next time. The other great news is that apparently several months ago when we did the full blood works, my thyroid antibodies were gone, so my body isn't actively destroying it anymore. In short, yep, my aggravating & extremely limited (albeit really healthy) diet has done what it ideally is supposed to.
We'll need a breast ultrasound because mine are rather dense, which I knew. So we're doing that in June. Not sure why the wait, & wondering if I shouldn't ask about doing it sooner since I'm leaving, but hopefully there won't be anything to be concerned about. (I know my breasts can be a bit cystic as well.) The only bad thing was that apparently I have an ulcer. How perfect, yet unsurprising, given the leaky gut theory. I can't feel it; she prescribed some medication for it, & just said to avoid spicy foods (pretty easily done, except that Jessie took me to a great kimchi jiggae chain & there's one near my train station). Hopefully that will get straightened out, however that is done.
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