Thursday, July 28, 2016
For those who missed it in Facebook,
Minseong was great and did a good job. Except for styling-by-frizzing. After I got home and fixed the mess with coconut oil and water, it looked like this, a little short but exactly what I wanted and like it. And God damn if my friend today sweetly thought I'd lost weight, or it was the haircut that made me look thinner.
Tuesday, July 26, 2016
There comes a time in your life when you must train an Asian.
Despite your understandable misgivings, you have to volunteer your hair to be their beautician school, experiment and teacher simultaneously. My hair was last cut/trimmed about a year ago, and the dead ends have long been telling me it's long past time to get it cut. I knew I wouldn't be able to find someone who can do the Curly Cut like at home, but it didn't really occur to me what I was up against until I saw posts from other women in the expat community. Their main concerns and replied horror stories related to the Korean hair people's inability to color Western hair. They would apply the technique they use on Koreans, apparently, which starts with frying/bleaching hair to death since they're used to starting with pitch black, and then going from there.
But I started to really get an idea of what I was up against when one random day on the bus, I looked around and thought how sick I was seeing of bowl cuts on practically every male around.
But I started to really get an idea of what I was up against when one random day on the bus, I looked around and thought how sick I was seeing of bowl cuts on practically every male around.
And to be clear, the majority of men are actually older and look much more like this:
Anyway, there's precious little variety when it comes to default hairstyles here*, and it dawned on me as I looked at the 100000nth bowl cut: there's not much else to do with their hair. It's super fine, thin, silky as water, and probably one of the substances on earth most susceptible to gravity. So naturally they aren't going to spend as much time and effort styling it to giving it lots of body or lift.
A girl with basically straight hair posted asking about where to go if you have curly/wavy hair. I of course didn't actually know her hair was straight until she posted a pic after the cut. She liked it, it looked good EVEN IF IT WASN'T CURLY, so I once again have to wonder wtf is wrong with women. They don't know what blonde is and probably half claim they have naturally curly or wavy hair, but their hair is like the girl with wavy hair here:
 |
| Come on! |
My consolation is her hair looks good and she likes it, and everyone says this guy will not stop working until it looks like you want, just bring pics. I downloaded quite a few from every angle. Now I just need to figure out how to translate in Korean that I lose around 2-3" of length when my hair dries from when it's wet and pulled straight. It's another tricky part about my hair, that I can't just say, "Cut it to shoulder length," and they can do that. Nope, you've got to leave a few inches so when it curls up it's shoulder length.
I just hope he doesn't throw his hands up in the air and say he can't do anything because it's so thick. Many hair dressers in the US would go on and on about how thick my hair was, particularly when they were thinking they were done and then saw more layers underneath, lol.
Might post a pic afterward either way. Icks-nay on the hopes for it to go one way (MARK).
*NOTE: There is actually a surprising and, well, to me, alarming variety in women's hair colors and styles. How colors look with skin is just not a thing here, so you'll see quite a few reddish-heads and variations on blonde that just don't work. But this is the Shakira effect, where apparently no one is bothered by yellow hair on top and black eye brows- oh yeah, except in Chile where they're referred to as taxis. Lol.
Understandably, lots of people here dye their hair to stand out. It is damned true that everyone here looks pretty much the same. (One time I was meeting my friend Laura at the train station. It was a bigger one, that spits you out into a crowded mall. Even with the exit number, until I got upstairs I thought, "How will I spot her?" Once there though it was ridiculously easy because she was the only Westerner, lol.) So coloring your hair and even sometimes perming it will make you stand out.
Until you realize as I have that 60% of women (men too!) color their hair, so now I can't really say how much they stand out.
Except for the platinum blondes. They're rare, and their hair is usually black on top/at the roots, so they look like they have striped hair. But THEY stand out.
Tuesday, July 19, 2016
WTF are you talking about??
Totally unrelated to Korea, but back to my life of being completely unable to relate to the life and experiences of my peers, people who talk about some good, some bad stuff, but all of it a matter of everyone-knows-what-I'm-talking-about-because-we've-all-experienced it, except for me.
I'm talking of course about the advantages of being a woman/pretty woman.
First, in the vein of the NEGATIVE: catcalling. I think that happened a handful of times when I was 14, and the 2 distinct times I remember it, I definitely didn't like it. The clearest incident was when I was around 11 or 12: we were in Michigan at my grandmother's, and these guys yelled something at me. I didn't know what it meant, but was sure it wasn't good, and I felt dirty and embarrassed and ashamed. My (younger) sister was there and either did know what it meant (or at least knew as much as I did about it), and told my mom and grandmother about it. Interesting footnote that Kristin, with no ill intent, was happy to tell them, whereas I was ashamed of existing, and wanted to try and pretend it never happened. Mom was NOT happy. I spent the rest of the time, and subsequent visits to grandma's, feeling sick, unsafe, and terrified of going outside, never mind doing so alone.
So, I get it. But what I'm NOT getting is that it's a frequent thing, particularly after a certain age. I can't recall a time it happened after 16 or 17, never mind every in my 20s or after. For this I am grateful, though still amazed that people call this widespread. My friend Leeza talked about it happening in Santiago and how unsafe she felt there. I couldn't wrap my mind around her impression of Santiago: I lived across the street from a construction site, and not ONCE did I hear a thing. Nor did I witness it. Is that my sending out these "leave me alone signals" people mention that reach several floors above me, and cover the women around me? Or is this an example of some sort of privilege that you don't notice what's happening because it doesn't affect you?
The second is of a girl on "This American Life" who talks about how drastically things in her life changed when she lost the weight. When she was fat, she said, people stared at her, glared at her, and radiated disapproval and dislike. When she was thin, however, people would look her up and down, and nod at her. She said, "Thin people nod at each other?" What? Uh... no, we don't. I never have, and have never experienced that at all. I've occasionally nodded at someone on the street/had them nod at me, but not after any up-and-down looking on either part. So, again... what the hell is this girl talking about?
Same girl THEN goes to a deli, and at the register realizes she is $10 short for what she has selected. She is looking at her stuff and determining what to get rid of when the deli guy says, "Just take it." She is shocked, cautious, but when she leaves the store with no problems, she decides to see if it'll work elsewhere. So she goes to another deli, intentionally gathers more stuff than she has money for, and starts the pretend weening process, when the same thing happens: the deli guy says, "Just take it."
So, of course, there are a couple questions that occur to me at the same time:
1. What the HELL is she talking about?
2. Why have I RARELY received the free stuff, FREE DRINKS, and whatever else that
women supposedly get all the time?!
3. What color hair does she have?
WHY, for Christ's sake, have I mostly had to shell out my own damned money, which I always seemed to have to be a lot more careful of spending than everyone else for my hereditary high tolerance like a fucking chump?? I want some shlub to buy my drinks, or save me $10 at the store too, God damn it!!
I am willing to bet newly-thin girl was blonde. Just as she says there's a different, parallel, better world she is totally unaware of when she's fat, there is one for blonde women in particular. Except, that Shangra-La veil comes off if there is a blonde woman in your line of vision. It is so pervasive that when I am trying to get a boots-on-the-ground cost-of-living estimate for a place, I would COMPLETELY ignore anything a blonde woman posts, because the cost of living as a blonde woman is AT LEAST 25% less expensive than it is for anyone else. You can be pretty, gorgeous, or average, dressed up, a little sexily, or like a librarian, and you will STILL get attention and free shit. Am I bitter? You fucking betcha!!! Because please refer back to my constant lack-of-rolling-in-the-dough status, for a start. Though honestly, it is largely the blondes that receive the largest largesse, but pretty much every other woman I've known, can or could, at some point in her life, go to some bar with the intent of getting and rececing free drinks! How the FUCK did I escape that? I'm not gorgeous but Jesus, I'm not a gargoyle!
Well, I DEFINITELY no longer drink enough since I'm at a job I kind of like, but I can't remedy that now, as it's definitely bedtime. So until then, be well, and if you can, I guess, be blonde!
I'm talking of course about the advantages of being a woman/pretty woman.
First, in the vein of the NEGATIVE: catcalling. I think that happened a handful of times when I was 14, and the 2 distinct times I remember it, I definitely didn't like it. The clearest incident was when I was around 11 or 12: we were in Michigan at my grandmother's, and these guys yelled something at me. I didn't know what it meant, but was sure it wasn't good, and I felt dirty and embarrassed and ashamed. My (younger) sister was there and either did know what it meant (or at least knew as much as I did about it), and told my mom and grandmother about it. Interesting footnote that Kristin, with no ill intent, was happy to tell them, whereas I was ashamed of existing, and wanted to try and pretend it never happened. Mom was NOT happy. I spent the rest of the time, and subsequent visits to grandma's, feeling sick, unsafe, and terrified of going outside, never mind doing so alone.
So, I get it. But what I'm NOT getting is that it's a frequent thing, particularly after a certain age. I can't recall a time it happened after 16 or 17, never mind every in my 20s or after. For this I am grateful, though still amazed that people call this widespread. My friend Leeza talked about it happening in Santiago and how unsafe she felt there. I couldn't wrap my mind around her impression of Santiago: I lived across the street from a construction site, and not ONCE did I hear a thing. Nor did I witness it. Is that my sending out these "leave me alone signals" people mention that reach several floors above me, and cover the women around me? Or is this an example of some sort of privilege that you don't notice what's happening because it doesn't affect you?
The second is of a girl on "This American Life" who talks about how drastically things in her life changed when she lost the weight. When she was fat, she said, people stared at her, glared at her, and radiated disapproval and dislike. When she was thin, however, people would look her up and down, and nod at her. She said, "Thin people nod at each other?" What? Uh... no, we don't. I never have, and have never experienced that at all. I've occasionally nodded at someone on the street/had them nod at me, but not after any up-and-down looking on either part. So, again... what the hell is this girl talking about?
Same girl THEN goes to a deli, and at the register realizes she is $10 short for what she has selected. She is looking at her stuff and determining what to get rid of when the deli guy says, "Just take it." She is shocked, cautious, but when she leaves the store with no problems, she decides to see if it'll work elsewhere. So she goes to another deli, intentionally gathers more stuff than she has money for, and starts the pretend weening process, when the same thing happens: the deli guy says, "Just take it."
So, of course, there are a couple questions that occur to me at the same time:
1. What the HELL is she talking about?
2. Why have I RARELY received the free stuff, FREE DRINKS, and whatever else that
women supposedly get all the time?!
3. What color hair does she have?
WHY, for Christ's sake, have I mostly had to shell out my own damned money, which I always seemed to have to be a lot more careful of spending than everyone else for my hereditary high tolerance like a fucking chump?? I want some shlub to buy my drinks, or save me $10 at the store too, God damn it!!
I am willing to bet newly-thin girl was blonde. Just as she says there's a different, parallel, better world she is totally unaware of when she's fat, there is one for blonde women in particular. Except, that Shangra-La veil comes off if there is a blonde woman in your line of vision. It is so pervasive that when I am trying to get a boots-on-the-ground cost-of-living estimate for a place, I would COMPLETELY ignore anything a blonde woman posts, because the cost of living as a blonde woman is AT LEAST 25% less expensive than it is for anyone else. You can be pretty, gorgeous, or average, dressed up, a little sexily, or like a librarian, and you will STILL get attention and free shit. Am I bitter? You fucking betcha!!! Because please refer back to my constant lack-of-rolling-in-the-dough status, for a start. Though honestly, it is largely the blondes that receive the largest largesse, but pretty much every other woman I've known, can or could, at some point in her life, go to some bar with the intent of getting and rececing free drinks! How the FUCK did I escape that? I'm not gorgeous but Jesus, I'm not a gargoyle!
Well, I DEFINITELY no longer drink enough since I'm at a job I kind of like, but I can't remedy that now, as it's definitely bedtime. So until then, be well, and if you can, I guess, be blonde!
Saturday, July 9, 2016
Before I give you the official first week recap,
I must ask, WHO and HOW does South Korea go about negotiating things? Old age is the golden ticket here, meaning that rather than having a bunch of snotty-nosed 20-year-old assholes walking around as we do in the West, here you have 50-and-up year-old entitled assholes walking and shoving their way around, really just because they can.
So I wonder if age alone is the qualification for becoming the diplomats and anyone negotiating international trade agreements, resulting in a bunch of entitled, rude old people pissing off everyone else so much that this is the price they agree on:
In case you weren't up on your cheap wine pricing, this is almost 3 times what you'd pay in the US for the same bottles of wine. And so it goes, with pretty much... well God, a lot: fruit, liquor, meat, and anything else that doesn't naturally occur nor can apparently be made to occur here, because why make it when you just import it at 3 times the price?
I know that imported goods are always more expensive. It's just that this is really the first time I can really recall getting fleeced for any alcohol, since wine is pretty cheap in... every other wine producing region except apparently for Australia, and possibly the US.
Unsurprisingly, the Chileans seem to be the only ones who were completely unfazed by whatever approach the South Koreans took, because Chilean wine is almost the only wine that is consistently the most reasonably priced.
So I wonder if age alone is the qualification for becoming the diplomats and anyone negotiating international trade agreements, resulting in a bunch of entitled, rude old people pissing off everyone else so much that this is the price they agree on:
In case you weren't up on your cheap wine pricing, this is almost 3 times what you'd pay in the US for the same bottles of wine. And so it goes, with pretty much... well God, a lot: fruit, liquor, meat, and anything else that doesn't naturally occur nor can apparently be made to occur here, because why make it when you just import it at 3 times the price?
I know that imported goods are always more expensive. It's just that this is really the first time I can really recall getting fleeced for any alcohol, since wine is pretty cheap in... every other wine producing region except apparently for Australia, and possibly the US.
Unsurprisingly, the Chileans seem to be the only ones who were completely unfazed by whatever approach the South Koreans took, because Chilean wine is almost the only wine that is consistently the most reasonably priced.
Sunday, July 3, 2016
It's odd,
wanting to share a familiar feeling, memory, or moment with people who weren't there. I guess I always share things on my facebook feed that resonate with me, or of course make me think of someone else.
I liked the page of this really lovely bar I went to in Lima. The bar was very Victorian/Romantic (as in the period), with nice drinks, a nice atmosphere that was perfect for the solo person as I was, to couples or anyone looking for a more intimate bar.
This song was posted to their page, and as soon as I heard the first 30 seconds
OH MY GOD! I will return to the regularly scheduled message as soon as I relate that this moment was like hearing "Piece of Me" again in the Busan cafe! I kept the youtube video playing the original song that prompted this post in the background. As I was writing I remembered hearing a song in this bar that I really liked. I wondered briefly, then it was gone, if I'd ever found that song. I thought I had, I am pretty sure I posted a video of it being performed when I was there, and I do think I actually did find the song. Nevertheless, as soon as I heard the first few chords playing in the background just now, I was as ecstatic as when the Busan boys found that song that was eating away at me! That song is "Quien Fuera" by Silvio Rodriguez.
ANYWAY, the 1st 30 seconds of that song brought me right back to that cafe/bar: the table I was sitting at, the decor, the atmosphere, everything. And I was the only person there. It's interesting to have those moments that take you back to a moment that you are the only person you know who has that memory and exact experience. Everyone has those moments that are most important to them for whatever reason. The memories of this place aren't important, but hearing the song brings back exact moments from that night. It's like hearing a song that totally evokes a person or relationship, and you sit and are taken right back to that time and those moments, except it's only evocative of great moments alone. I guess that's another benefits to traveling alone.
I was going to post a link to the song from facebook, but "Quien Fuera" is THE song that I really loved that I heard there, so here's it instead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LhqewIGe0w
I liked the page of this really lovely bar I went to in Lima. The bar was very Victorian/Romantic (as in the period), with nice drinks, a nice atmosphere that was perfect for the solo person as I was, to couples or anyone looking for a more intimate bar.
This song was posted to their page, and as soon as I heard the first 30 seconds
OH MY GOD! I will return to the regularly scheduled message as soon as I relate that this moment was like hearing "Piece of Me" again in the Busan cafe! I kept the youtube video playing the original song that prompted this post in the background. As I was writing I remembered hearing a song in this bar that I really liked. I wondered briefly, then it was gone, if I'd ever found that song. I thought I had, I am pretty sure I posted a video of it being performed when I was there, and I do think I actually did find the song. Nevertheless, as soon as I heard the first few chords playing in the background just now, I was as ecstatic as when the Busan boys found that song that was eating away at me! That song is "Quien Fuera" by Silvio Rodriguez.
ANYWAY, the 1st 30 seconds of that song brought me right back to that cafe/bar: the table I was sitting at, the decor, the atmosphere, everything. And I was the only person there. It's interesting to have those moments that take you back to a moment that you are the only person you know who has that memory and exact experience. Everyone has those moments that are most important to them for whatever reason. The memories of this place aren't important, but hearing the song brings back exact moments from that night. It's like hearing a song that totally evokes a person or relationship, and you sit and are taken right back to that time and those moments, except it's only evocative of great moments alone. I guess that's another benefits to traveling alone.
I was going to post a link to the song from facebook, but "Quien Fuera" is THE song that I really loved that I heard there, so here's it instead.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LhqewIGe0w
Long overdue, apparently, first impressions of my new school
not only because inquiring familial minds want to know, but any other odd souls who find their way to this blog will as well.
I finished my first week, which was training, following Ashling, the teacher I was replacing, to each class, etc. And I really like it there! The funniest thing was that all week, starting Monday, my face hurt from smiling so much, which I was doing without thinking about it because I just like the place. I really like the kids (and liked them all the more when one of the Korean teachers told us that all the kids, whether in my class or not, think I look royal and like Queen Elizabeth I!), really like the Korean teachers, the other native teacher is nice and willing to help. I like the hours, because I work from 1:30-10:00 PM MWF and 1:30-9:00 or 9:30 Tues Thurs, so I'm much more awake, and still have time to go to the bank, or see doctors and dentists, without needing to get up extra early on Saturdays to get to clinics.
It's much more relaxed (sometimes a bit too relaxed, as I went from SUPER structured to, "Oh, assigning HW is easy, so much so that I don't feel the need to tell you if they have separate homework HW books, worksheets, or whatever"). On Wednesday we have staff meetings, and last Wednesday they were finalizing the winners of the previous week's speech contest. Anna, the head principal (and Korean), was mentioning that 2 of her homeroom students had won best students (which is decided by the foreign teachers), and Sue, the owner (who cooks us teachers dinner every night herself) leaned to me and said, "Notice that ANNA'S students won best students. What a coincidence!" They actually joke with each other!
I'm still more or less lost regarding the HW, and Ashling just didn't quite understand why, but on Friday when I demonstrated how totally lost I was regarding that, she took pity on me and wrote out next week's homework for one class, and checking most, though not all of, the others. This, then, will be the biggest I-have-no-idea-what's-going-on part of my job. That and remembering to set up the computer when it's needed. It will click, I just have to remember of course I'm still going to have, "Wait, what do I do/how do I do __?" moments/days for a while.
I hate to risk jinxing myself, but I really like it there.
And I kind of love my new apartment, which I started moving into Saturday morning. I say started because I only had my duffel bag that I had packed for my 2-3 weeks being between homes with me. My big backpack was at Danielle's (my friend with the adorable 5-year-old girl and great husband who bent over backwards to get my travel and hotel plans straightened out for Busan), while my suitcase was at Tausha's. I will mention here too that despite my having done it a few times now, I still suck at packing with good weight distribution, so my suitcase was over-packed and a bit too much for the wheels. So getting that suitcase from my friend Nathalie's to Tausha's on the train was a trauma due to the fact that wheels didn't work well on the brick sidewalks, unhappily on the concrete, and I was very worried the extendable handle was going to break when I tried pulling it on the back wheels. It has 360 degree wheels, but they wouldn't turn because the bag was so heavy. I knew I wouldn't be able to lift it up onto the bus, and there were NO cabs in Dongbaek, the old neighborhood, so I spent 45 hot, irritating minutes forcing/pushing and guiding the suitcase on foot to the train station. Then up 4 flight of stairs to Tausha's, after down the 3 from Nathalie's. My hope was that I'd be able to get my backpack from Danielle's on Saturday, unpack it, then unload some of the extra weight into it from the suitcase and have a much easier time on the train with them all.
But my ridiculously awesome and helpful friends came through again! Danielle and Hyunsam (her husband) asked me to stay overnight on Saturday, then they'd drive me and my 2 pieces of luggage to my place. This way, they could all see it too. Hyunsan even insisted on carrying that monstrously heavy suitcase for me! Had a great time, as I always do with them, then we all came here. As Leah happily climbed up and down to the loft, which she is excited to sleep over in, Hyunsam took apart my air conditioner and cleaned it for around an hour. Here, you have to regularly clean the filters. As we don't really have to in the US, foreign teachers never know to do it, so you can get bad air in your apartment. The filter was black, and once Hyunsam was done, it was white. Danielle said he just does that, he will clean things, he will finish it and never leave it half done, and he does it for her, her mom, Leah, his family, everyone.
So I'm now enjoying a clean air conditioner in my much nicer, new apartment, which I'd guess is 4 times the size of my old one. I have so much space to put things, I barely know what to do with it all. The ONLY downside is I only have ONE burner on the stove (!!!!!!). But I can live with that. I also now have a smaller freezer. But these are surprising trifles compared to how bright, nice, and spacious my new digs are. And how much better I feel at the new school.
I had the additional fortune of Ashling showing me what buses to take to and from home and school, and how to do the 20-25 minute walk (which is the same distance my old place was from the school). My new neighborhood is on a MUCH busier street, and not a strictly residential area like my old place, so I have around 7-8 cafes alone within less than a block. I have a giant superstore called Lotte Mart about a 5 minute walk away, and Ashling sweetly had me come with her to her dentist's office, because they speak English. So while I have not had time to walk around my new neighborhood except when walking home at night (my hotel was across the street from the apartment), I know how to get around.
And I may have cut off about 15-20 minutes from my trip to Aaron's, who is the Army guy that I am still seeing every other weekend. (I'm reiterating the relationship details because Mark has been on me yet again about my lack of pertinent details.) We don't have enough in common to ever be very serious, but he's nice, doesn't act and more importantly doesn't treat me like this is just a friends-with-benefits situation, which I've never liked... and as I said, US prices and products on the base! It works for both of us.
Oh. And get THIS: I was totally great not drinking all this week. Amazing what a nontoxic work environment can do for you!
But for now I'm going to have a celebratory glass of scotch. It's breaking a record, but it seems a good reason to.
I finished my first week, which was training, following Ashling, the teacher I was replacing, to each class, etc. And I really like it there! The funniest thing was that all week, starting Monday, my face hurt from smiling so much, which I was doing without thinking about it because I just like the place. I really like the kids (and liked them all the more when one of the Korean teachers told us that all the kids, whether in my class or not, think I look royal and like Queen Elizabeth I!), really like the Korean teachers, the other native teacher is nice and willing to help. I like the hours, because I work from 1:30-10:00 PM MWF and 1:30-9:00 or 9:30 Tues Thurs, so I'm much more awake, and still have time to go to the bank, or see doctors and dentists, without needing to get up extra early on Saturdays to get to clinics.
It's much more relaxed (sometimes a bit too relaxed, as I went from SUPER structured to, "Oh, assigning HW is easy, so much so that I don't feel the need to tell you if they have separate homework HW books, worksheets, or whatever"). On Wednesday we have staff meetings, and last Wednesday they were finalizing the winners of the previous week's speech contest. Anna, the head principal (and Korean), was mentioning that 2 of her homeroom students had won best students (which is decided by the foreign teachers), and Sue, the owner (who cooks us teachers dinner every night herself) leaned to me and said, "Notice that ANNA'S students won best students. What a coincidence!" They actually joke with each other!
I'm still more or less lost regarding the HW, and Ashling just didn't quite understand why, but on Friday when I demonstrated how totally lost I was regarding that, she took pity on me and wrote out next week's homework for one class, and checking most, though not all of, the others. This, then, will be the biggest I-have-no-idea-what's-going-on part of my job. That and remembering to set up the computer when it's needed. It will click, I just have to remember of course I'm still going to have, "Wait, what do I do/how do I do __?" moments/days for a while.
I hate to risk jinxing myself, but I really like it there.
And I kind of love my new apartment, which I started moving into Saturday morning. I say started because I only had my duffel bag that I had packed for my 2-3 weeks being between homes with me. My big backpack was at Danielle's (my friend with the adorable 5-year-old girl and great husband who bent over backwards to get my travel and hotel plans straightened out for Busan), while my suitcase was at Tausha's. I will mention here too that despite my having done it a few times now, I still suck at packing with good weight distribution, so my suitcase was over-packed and a bit too much for the wheels. So getting that suitcase from my friend Nathalie's to Tausha's on the train was a trauma due to the fact that wheels didn't work well on the brick sidewalks, unhappily on the concrete, and I was very worried the extendable handle was going to break when I tried pulling it on the back wheels. It has 360 degree wheels, but they wouldn't turn because the bag was so heavy. I knew I wouldn't be able to lift it up onto the bus, and there were NO cabs in Dongbaek, the old neighborhood, so I spent 45 hot, irritating minutes forcing/pushing and guiding the suitcase on foot to the train station. Then up 4 flight of stairs to Tausha's, after down the 3 from Nathalie's. My hope was that I'd be able to get my backpack from Danielle's on Saturday, unpack it, then unload some of the extra weight into it from the suitcase and have a much easier time on the train with them all.
But my ridiculously awesome and helpful friends came through again! Danielle and Hyunsam (her husband) asked me to stay overnight on Saturday, then they'd drive me and my 2 pieces of luggage to my place. This way, they could all see it too. Hyunsan even insisted on carrying that monstrously heavy suitcase for me! Had a great time, as I always do with them, then we all came here. As Leah happily climbed up and down to the loft, which she is excited to sleep over in, Hyunsam took apart my air conditioner and cleaned it for around an hour. Here, you have to regularly clean the filters. As we don't really have to in the US, foreign teachers never know to do it, so you can get bad air in your apartment. The filter was black, and once Hyunsam was done, it was white. Danielle said he just does that, he will clean things, he will finish it and never leave it half done, and he does it for her, her mom, Leah, his family, everyone.
So I'm now enjoying a clean air conditioner in my much nicer, new apartment, which I'd guess is 4 times the size of my old one. I have so much space to put things, I barely know what to do with it all. The ONLY downside is I only have ONE burner on the stove (!!!!!!). But I can live with that. I also now have a smaller freezer. But these are surprising trifles compared to how bright, nice, and spacious my new digs are. And how much better I feel at the new school.
I had the additional fortune of Ashling showing me what buses to take to and from home and school, and how to do the 20-25 minute walk (which is the same distance my old place was from the school). My new neighborhood is on a MUCH busier street, and not a strictly residential area like my old place, so I have around 7-8 cafes alone within less than a block. I have a giant superstore called Lotte Mart about a 5 minute walk away, and Ashling sweetly had me come with her to her dentist's office, because they speak English. So while I have not had time to walk around my new neighborhood except when walking home at night (my hotel was across the street from the apartment), I know how to get around.
And I may have cut off about 15-20 minutes from my trip to Aaron's, who is the Army guy that I am still seeing every other weekend. (I'm reiterating the relationship details because Mark has been on me yet again about my lack of pertinent details.) We don't have enough in common to ever be very serious, but he's nice, doesn't act and more importantly doesn't treat me like this is just a friends-with-benefits situation, which I've never liked... and as I said, US prices and products on the base! It works for both of us.
Oh. And get THIS: I was totally great not drinking all this week. Amazing what a nontoxic work environment can do for you!
But for now I'm going to have a celebratory glass of scotch. It's breaking a record, but it seems a good reason to.
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