How quickly I forget there's a cost for everything!

But Asia will always remind you! Or me, because that’s the kind of relationship Asia & I have.

A good portion is my fault, because I forget to adjust my mindset to scam alert when I leave wealthy countries. The tuk-tuk driver that was my cab ride home from the airport since I couldn't find my pick-up, asked to be my guide, since that's how he (& all the tu-tuk drivers) make their living. So I didn't ask him his rates until the morning of day 2, figuring it'd be the same as normal, though not so when they apparently work for a company in the airport! Apparently if you have a job there, you make 4 TIMES what every other tuk-tuk driver charges! 

But then, it's the Cambodian way to say, "I didn't tell you right away because I didn't want to upset you." I've heard/read about others hearing this here. And because this IS Asia where logic doesn't exist, it's much better to spring that sort of price hike on people after all is said & done. 

Add on that I was feeling a little sick this morning (my guess is the dragon fruit smoothie for breakfast yesterday, though I guess it could be the water I drank after my bottled water ran out, though I did boil it), & you've got a great comedy of errors in the making! I was planning on giving him $60-70 for all 3 days, which he took for the 1.5 we did.. OH, but ONLY after telling me that while he charges $90/day (average is $20-30), he DID NOT HAVE CHANGE FOR THE HUNDRED THAT THE ATM GAVE ME. But then, neither did my $50/night hotel. So he had to drive me to a money exchange. And THEN, not making this up, the fucker complained 1 of the 20s I gave him (he had all 3 I got from the guy) was “too old” & demanded a new one! I gave him the 2 $10s which he also was less-than-satisfied with, but by then I’d headed inside.

SO I decided to give the swim-up bar a try, though I’ve got $60 to get me through today, tomorrow & most of Thursday. Well plus the rest of this week until we get paid on the 30^th (I think, or 31^st since the 30^th is a Sunday).

And God knows I LOVE the temples here, I can’t get enough, but I’ve seen so many & I don’t know what their names all are & they still kind of blur together, even though I just want to see more more more. There are some further away that clearly I couldn’t see today b/c of my transportation issue. Some people on couchsurfing are looking to share tuk-tuks but for those temples I’ve already seen. Given my never-ending money issues on this infernal continent, I’m not going anywhere unless I share one.

& that’s one of the other things about developing Asia. Yes, OF COURSE those of us coming from wealthier countries make WAY more than they do, & ride less of a razor’s edge to abject poverty.& yes, prices look a bit cheaper here. But believing that we can grow money & don’t need or have budgets, plus being nickled-&-dimed for everything including taking your picture can, over time, be a big issue.Yes, I make more. I also get charged WAY MORE for shit back in Korea, so I don’t actually have, well, any leeway. I skipped lunch b/c I had 2 drinks today at the bar. I can’t take out more. I MIGHT be able to get another $10 out, but not even sure about that, since I think it’ll be like $204 & I have $212 in there now. Sooooo great!

BUT the bright side is I saw A LOT of amazing temples already, so if shit doesn’t work, I at least did that. & there’s always the possibility I’ll find others to hang out with & split the cost of some wine or something. Plus I can’t complain about the weather! So I’ll find a was to while away my remaining time, even if it is like I would in Korea.

But Asia will always remind you! Or me, because that’s the kind of relationship Asia & I have.

A good portion is my fault, because I forget to adjust my mindset to scam alert when I leave wealthy countries. The tuk-tuk driver that was my cab ride home from the airport since I couldn't find my pick-up, asked to be my guide, since that's how he (& all the tu-tuk drivers) make their living. So I didn't ask him his rates until the morning of day 2, figuring it'd be the same as normal, though not so when they apparently work for a company in the airport! Apparently if you have a job there, you make 4 TIMES what every other tuk-tuk driver charges! 

But then, it's the Cambodian way to say, "I didn't tell you right away because I didn't want to upset you." I've heard/read about others hearing this here. And because this IS Asia where logic doesn't exist, it's much better to spring that sort of price hike on people after all is said & done. 

Add on that I was feeling a little sick this morning (my guess is the dragon fruit smoothie for breakfast yesterday, though I guess it could be the water I drank after my bottled water ran out, though I did boil it), & you've got a great comedy of errors in the making! I was planning on giving him $60-70 for all 3 days, which he took for the 1.5 we did.. OH, but ONLY after telling me that while he charges $90/day (average is $20-30), he DID NOT HAVE CHANGE FOR THE HUNDRED THAT THE ATM GAVE ME. But then, neither did my $50/night hotel. So he had to drive me to a money exchange. And THEN, not making this up, the fucker complained 1 of the 20s I gave him (he had all 3 I got from the guy) was “too old” & demanded a new one! I gave him the 2 $10s which he also was less-than-satisfied with, but by then I’d headed inside.

SO I decided to give the swim-up bar a try, though I’ve got $60 to get me through today, tomorrow & most of Thursday. Well plus the rest of this week until we get paid on the 30^th (I think, or 31^st since the 30^th is a Sunday).

And God knows I LOVE the temples here, I can’t get enough, but I’ve seen so many & I don’t know what their names all are & they still kind of blur together, even though I just want to see more more more. There are some further away that clearly I couldn’t see today b/c of my transportation issue. Some people on couchsurfing are looking to share tuk-tuks but for those temples I’ve already seen. Given my never-ending money issues on this infernal continent, I’m not going anywhere unless I share one.

& that’s one of the other things about developing Asia. Yes, OF COURSE those of us coming from wealthier countries make WAY more than they do, & ride less of a razor’s edge to abject poverty.& yes, prices look a bit cheaper here. But believing that we can grow money & don’t need or have budgets, plus being nickled-&-dimed for everything including taking your picture can, over time, be a big issue.Yes, I make more. I also get charged WAY MORE for shit back in Korea, so I don’t actually have, well, any leeway. I skipped lunch b/c I had 2 drinks today at the bar. I can’t take out more. I MIGHT be able to get another $10 out, but not even sure about that, since I think it’ll be like $204 & I have $212 in there now. Sooooo great!

BUT the bright side is I saw A LOT of amazing temples already, so if shit doesn’t work, I at least did that. & there’s always the possibility I’ll find others to hang out with & split the cost of some wine or something. Plus I can’t complain about the weather! So I’ll find a was to while away my remaining time, even if it is like I would in Korea.

How to create a travel story

Make sure the visiting party doesn't have sufficient information! Though also the visiting party has to forget to make sure you send them, say, your address in the local language instead of just English. Also, for once don't get a SIM card for the country you're in at the airport, lol.

After an airport mishap wherein Keri's departing flight for Incheon left 5 minutes after her flight from Cape Town landed, Keri was set to arrive at Seoul Station at 10-10:30, so getting to me around 11:30-midnight is when I expected her. Both times came & went with me thinking more & more, "she should have gotten here by now."

So at 12:30 when I got a call from a Korean phone, I knew it had to be her. The story was she got on the 51 bus as I told her, but when she got off it had become the 502. Both buses will get you to me, but one is a few bus stops away on a nearby intersection, the other stops right in front of my building. I usually send the turn-by-turn & landmarks for someone coming. I sent the landmarks, but Keri didn't see them (because I'm fairly certain she got on the wrong bus). She knew the bus ride should only be about 15 minutes, & said she thought, "Jen said there'd be an overpass & a Lotte Mart, but I don't see them." Then after 20 minutes she thought, "Jen said 15 minutes, this can't be right." After 30, she thought, this definitely can't be right. The bus comes to a stop at the bus garage (announced in English & Korean, so she definitely got on the wrong bus, b/c the 51 only has stops announced in Korean). The driver makes her get off after everyone else does.

She goes to a convenience store, where SOMEHOW NO ONE has the transit cards, & everything else is closed b/c it's almost 1 am on a Wednesday night. She has no translator because she can't use her phone if there's no wifi.

She gets across my address, which he didn't know of course. She asked about a taxi, so he took pity & called. But the taxis, being Korean & the ONLY DEAL IN TOWN AFTER MIDNIGHT BECAUSE THAT'S THE DEAL THEY STRUCK WITH THE GOVERNMENT, weren't willing to come out to the bus depot then. So, Keri got the guy to let her call me. She naturally asked me to get in a cab & come get her. I'm not entirely sure where she is, because I have the name of the bus garage, while the MiniMart owner keeps saying, "Uiwang station," over & over & over. When they say yeok for station, that's the metro. But he was saying, "station" in English this whole time. That's why I was confused b/c the bus didn't end at Uiwang station, according to the map on the internet.

Then Keri goes, "Oh, wait. He might be able to get a driver." the MiniMart owner takes the phone, says, "Uiwang station," one more time for good measure, then hangs up the phone.

So. I'm like, does she have a taxi? Or was it a false alarm? Is she on her way? I'm thinking she'd call back to let me know, but no call. So, I figure I'd better just get out there.

I get in a cab, & the guy is surprised & confused I want to go to Uiwang station, which is not only not one of the closest metro stations, but they're all closed.  We get there, & of course everything is closed & dark. I'm looking around but not seeing Keri or a convenience store. I put into the translator my friend was lost, she was here, & we'd go back home from here when I find her. He indicated he'd wait, but still seems not entirely sure what to do. I figure I'm going to have to get out & look for her, & type that, that she's in a convenience store. We both start looking all around, but don't see one.

So then I think, oh! I'll call the the store owner & they can talk! Despite the usual inability of Korean men over the age of 40 to handle talking to someone on my cell phone, he talks for several minutes, & at the end is sounding resigned. I'm like why, wtf is going on? He hangs up, does the x with his arms all Koreans do with foreigners which most of us find weird & dumb af & says, "There is none." There is none WHAT? There's no address? There's no store? There's no Keri? I start typing these questions. He sits there looking at his phone, & I see he's downloading google translator. This is the mud standard of translators, but ok. He starts speaking into it, & it translates nonsense or stuff that makes no sense in the situation. Finally he says through it, "let's go to the bus station." I'm like YES, that must be where she is, I KNEW Uiwang station couldn't be right!

We're driving along when I get a message from Keri: "I'm at your apartment, where are you?" Naturally I'm like NOOOOOOO FUCKING WAY! I communicate to go back home. By this time, the taxi driver is finding this whole situation understandably funny, so he translates, you need to write your friend if she has no phone. He's laughing, I'm laughing, going back & forth how I lost her, that she got a taxi after all, that I will welcome her to Korea then yell at her.

So after an hour I got back home to see my dear Keri, who likewise is laughing with me over the whole situation, but immediately helping make the consternation of 30 minutes ago an even more distant memory by giving me some guava goodies as I requested plus wine.

Understandably, Keri isn't likely to be venturing out on the buses or very far from home today. But it's Thanksgiving Day anyway so she can get the turkey breasts I got going while recuperating from traveling.

Oh yes, I totally forgot:

I didn't try the second week of intermittent fasting. I posted in a rosacea group asking if anyone else had tried it & it had gotten much worse like mine, b/c my skin was freaking out & not having it. The problem with the group is they're all fat. Intermittent fasting tends to be very good for obese people, & it was only after I tried it & it wasn't great for me that I saw it also isn't recommended for people who only need to lose 10 lb or less.

Someone else posted that it didn't work well for her because she has adrenal fatigue. So do I! That was the first I heard that IF isn't good for that. Naturally, when I looked it up, a few sites said it was fine to do IF with adrenal fatigue, but maybe again for some people it's not helpful? SO helpful getting so much contradictory data, plus the fact that there's almost no research on how it affects women, but the few studies that do have women showed that all the benefits men get from it women just don't.

& I definitely lost ground on my workouts, particularly my one-leg wall squats, which I almost can't hold at all anymore. Also has me worried that I have what dad has. Here's hoping it's just one of those stages where everything is harder & sucks. I watched a bodybuilding motivation video today after my shitty wall squat session where he talked about the stage where everything gets harder & you're frustrated & irritated. I KNOW I've had off days before, but I can't really recall off WEEKS. So here's hoping it's the shittiness before things get better & easier. Really wondering how much of this can be laid @ the feet of IF, but really lots of shit hit the fan for my body from that week, so hopefully forging ahead & now giving up potatoes too because FUCK THIS SHIT HOLE will keep the breakout recovery going along & I'll feel like I'm getting better/stronger again.

So no IF for me. I learned my lesson, I'm definitely one of the women for whom it just doesn't work.

On some other notes,

I came across some quotes in my readings that stuck with me for different reasons. One was this: "Hilgers writes, 'According to Tang Yuanjun [the democracy activist], most immigrants, Chinese and otherwise, come to the end of their lives telling two stories: one set in their country of origin, and one set in the United States. Nearly one story always dominates.'” Some individuals portrayed in these books embrace their new identities in America, while others cling more tightly to their home country.

Well if I haven't been a clinger to American culture, I don't know who has! It's why I don't experience reverse culture shock, b/c I'm always struggling with or occasionally loving the differences, which I've discussed before.

There ARE things I like about Korea/some good things that come from the cultural things I don't always get/agree with. I wish I could just concentrate on the things I like instead of the mountains of things I hate. I was looking through a photojournalist's photo essay on Mongolia, & he said, "Once I let go of Western expectations, I was able to relax & find much better photos I wouldn't have been able to take/encounter otherwise." HOW DO YOU DO THAT?? I'm actually going to ask this on a few of the expat sites I'm on, though I'm fairly certain I'm a lost, bitter cause whose hatred of change extends to changing myself. But if you've got any ideas, PLEASE let me know.

The good news I mentioned earlier? My friend Keri is coming to visit on Nov 21st for 2 weeks. Mom is coming at the beginning of February, though unlike Keri, she hasn't booked anything yet. & Kristina's investigating/likely coming in March. So I'll have visitors! Hurray!

Oh! & I joined a CSA here, once/week on Fridays they deliver TO MY APARTMENT organic/pesticide-free produce, plus eggs. I'm currently getting the small box for 2-3 people, but will go to the large next month so I can use what I get to make lunch. & just waiting for the MASSIVE breakout I've been dealing with since getting back from Malaysia + my newly-developed problem with potatoes, which is especially upsetting.

The trouble with reading addictions is,

 It makes it that much harder to keep up-to-date. If only I had good news! Well I guess I DO, but it's overshadowed by the fact that Korea just took potatoes from me. We had really & surprisingly clean air for like 2 months, but when the Gobi's gonna blow, ain't nothing that can be done about it. Don't worry though: the Asian saving-face bs means that I was informed by my ENT doctor that they said on the news 2 days ago that China started their heat up, which is coal & oil, hence we got fine dust here in Korea. COOL STORY BRO, but then Korea's heat is likewise coal, & I'd be guessing SOME places are turning on the heat here too, though I've no experience with places that wealthy, b/c my school sure hasn't. But honestly, it's been ok to not have it on so far. I'll be singing a different tune in November though.

I skipped my workout b/c even with my air purifier at the 2nd highest level since yesterday, I still woke up with a stuffy/runny nose. Put it up to turbo, but research says exercising when the air quality is bad is more harmful than NOT exercising, though I wonder how that jibes with the recent news that not exercising is MORE harmful than smoking & heart disease. https://edition.cnn.com/2018/10/19/health/study-not-exercising-worse-than-smoking/index.html

What else? Well, we all know that I hate change, & I'm guessing that's why I think the new native teacher, Garret, who I think is a fucking tool. Total Koreaboo b/c with a face & blobby build like that, his only chance for a girlfriend are the can't-tell-the-difference-especially-if-you've-got-money Asian girls. He was in Korea before, but went back to Ireland to get his CELTA, which is a more challenging version of my TEFL cert. I don't know if he's also certified as a teacher, but his first time with one of my favorite classes, he ran out of time. I was like, "HOW is that possible, we finished with listening in 20-30 minutes?" B/c best educational practices in the West are to break up writing, reading, etc, so the kids don't get bored. Great, except Korea doesn't CARE about best practices, they want things done their way, the kids are used to it, & confusion reigns when you change that. He is taking Korean classes, which b/c I'm already a lost cause for being open-minded & respecting this place, makes me roll my eyes all the harder at him. He practices his Korean with the kids, tries to get conversation going in English when that's not a thing at lunch, then practices his listening skills/mentioning some idiotic drivel that he loves about Korea. What I REALLY don't get is he is ALWAYS taking work home with him, like grading papers. Today, 1.5 hours before we had to be at work, I was on the bus to see my doctor. HE was on the bus to go to a cafe to grade papers. GRADE WHAT PAPERS?? When I had a writing class it was easily gotten through in prep time. Seriously-- I'll get maybe 15 journals where the kids don't write more than 12-15 sentences about Halloween. Correcting grammar/spelling, commenting on them takes like 20 minutes maybe. Even with my writing class, it was never more than 50 sentences, & you don't see these kids every day. I love doing this & give a shit & really DO want to make a difference & actually teach these kids English, but this still IS NOT A REAL JOB, we're not real teachers writing lessons plans for each class, trying to come up with activities & assignments, that has already been done for us. We have 2-12 kids/class. IT'S NOT A REAL TEACHING JOB DUDE, HOW do you need to take work home with you??

It could just be my usual prejudice against ugly people, mixed with my opinion that someone who really loves it here, especially over Western Europe, is broken so I must break him down with my hatred of this place to build him back up, b/c loving this shit show is not a personality quirk that can be fixed. The whole person must be destroyed & built up again from scratch.

LORD am I a horrible human being!

Eye-catching title: I am calm.

EDIT: I was calm when I started typing this, but I'm still here in Korea writing about shit that happens here, so the calm dissolved immediately.)

A rather surprising state of things, me being calm, especially with my most recent update: the Christmas Cambodia trip, which is not happening in its current planned form, if indeed at all.

It’s my own fault: I used logic & past experience to guesstimate when winter vacation might be, when Koreans possess a heinous anti-logic & usually can’t plan shit, except how to ruin everything.

Christmas Day is a Tuesday, & that is a red day here, so winter vacation always includes it. And so ours does, but this time (I can feel my rage at the motherfucking stupidity rising again as I write about this), we have to come in on Monday the 24^th, THEN vacation starts on Christmas Day, through to I THINK Tuesday, the first, which is also a holiday, and coincidentally the day everyone in this God-forsaken fuckshow turns another year older because you can’t even apply reasonable expectations to numbers when it involves age here.When you ask an East Asian how old they are, the ONE NUMBER THEY ARE NOT is the number they tell you. So, we are coming in for ONE DAY b/c the Korean moms will freak out if vacation is too long, & that extra day would DEFINITELY cross that line.

I booked my trip from the 23^rd (Sunday) to the 26^th or 27^th. You can see the problem. Sue of course is unable to change her shockingly-advanced vacay plan b/c Korean moms are crazier than the age system.

I bought the trip insurance yesterday, so hopefully it’ll kick in when I work on changing the trip tomorrow (want to wait til next week, but I’ll be in Borneo & not wanting to deal with rescheduling.) Of course, aside from the added costs of changing the dates is the added bonus of it being high tourist season, so not only will there be a price hike, it’ll also be that much harder to find a hotel. Once I’ve decided on my new dates. Yesterday I was pretty not-thrilled all day, only to get home & decide to lose it, as I do on the reg here b/c it’s such a thoroughly shitty, NOT FUCKING DEVELOPED FUCK SHOW.

Did I mention our building shut off the hot water this AM from 9:30-11? This is after they shut off electricity & ALL water last week for the same time frame, because that’s a thing you have to do every few months here if you live in an old building (read: 20-30 years old). HOW IS THAT A THING? WHY is it a thing? I’ve no earthly idea. & I can’t think about this shit anymore because I accepted the shittiness today & must move on somehow.

But this shitshow is never truly done teasing me with the illegality of logic here. My 1^st year middle school class decided they want to have a speaking class (GREAT, getting kids to practice speaking is damned important, & impossible, though admittedly not with this particular class), via a debate class. Why do I hate this? Please refer to the logic statements above. The worst part is, when I try to explain to the students that their supporting argument actually is irrelevant to the topic or, as in yesterday’s case actually supports the opponents’ position, they didn’t get it. Fair enough; they may need explanations like that in Korean b/c it’s more complicated, & they’re middle school kids still learning. But the KOREAN TEACHERS don’t get it either. So I can’t even ask them to explain the concept as they’ve never seen logic, never mind are able to explain it to kids.

Annnnnnnd I just found out that the mother of a 1^st grader called because her daughter goes to the piano academy after ours, which is down 1 floor in this building. The student apparently runs too fast down the stairs, so the mom called, not making this fucking shit up, to tell the Korean homeroom teacher she has to walk the girl down the stairs to the piano academy bc it’s unsafe for her to go alone.

I can’t anymore, I have to stop writing before I become violent. And that’s about it from update land anyway, I think. I can add Thai green curry paste to the allergens list, which I discovered by making a paleo Thai green curry for lunch this week. This shit just never ever, NEVER EVER EVER GETS OLD!

How math continues to fuck me over

My body registered its objection to my signing my renewal contract for the last time by a huge rosacea outbreak. This coincided with my Whole 30 diet, no alcohol & no sugar. The no-sugar was the biggest challenge, because it means no added sugar in food, like bacon, or juice, salad dressing, etc.

My body couldn’t have cared less that there was no alcohol or sugar in my diet. There’s a seemingly endless list of foods that can cause breakouts; I’d eliminated a few already. Of course the meds from the dermatologist weren’t really doing anything because I knew it was a food problem, not bacteria or the mites.

So the good news is my skin cleared up within 2 days! The bad news is it’s because I stopped eating red meat. No pork or beef. No bacon. No ground beef. No sundae guk or Korean bbq. We are down to eggs, chicken, & fish. I’m hoping since it took about 1 year for this new sensitivity to come up, I’ll be ok until my contract ends next July & then I can leave this dirty, polluted, infernal continent & never return. Or at least not Eastern Asia-- still like Thailand, & want to visit Angkor Wat, Myanmar, possibly Sri Lanka, & see Japan but that at least can be a weekend trip.

Since I’m not going home for Christmas & have done no traveling, I’d REALLY like to take 4 days to get one of those places crossed off my list before leaving, (UPDATE but of course you already KNOW I booked my ticket to Angkor Wat. It’ll be high tourist season & the dry season so not as lush, but it’s a bucket list item going buh-bye, plus of course another UNESCO World Site to add to the notches).

OH! And in addition to the addition to my food allergens list (hopefully only in Korea), we’re having summer intensive courses, & I have a class! So every Monday, Wednesday, & Friday I teach a class from 9:30 am to 12:00, then the usual 1:30 to 10. It sucks because I now have to cook TWO meals for every day of the week, BUT of course it means extra money, so I’m REALLY glad about that. Probably not that much, but even a little more is great.

So we’ve had addition in my work hours & food allergies (sucky), but also some additional money from summer intensive course (very good). Given the choice, I’d take no extra money & be able to eat the bacon, pork & beef in my freezer. But no one asked me.

Oh one last thing. There’s an adorable-looking cocktail bar 3 doors down from my place I’d been meaning to try. While I was on vacation last week I decided I’d try it on Saturday. Except, it wasn’t open. Because of COURSE IT WASN’T. It WAS open on Sunday, so I stopped then. The guy actually speaks good English & has a good menu-- turns out he was hungover Saturday. It kind of seems like he really just does it for himself & his friends, but it’s a place to go when I need one.

Other than my toilet clogging up last night after I got home from work & still not working as we head into Wednesday (today is Tuesday, & tomorrow’s a holiday), it’s unlikely I’ll be able to use it ‘til Thursday. Because it was getting too easy just doing normal at-home things, I guess. I’ve got gin & there’s a bathroom with a door that locks downstairs so I’m less livid tonight than say this afternoon when the senile old fucktard that is half of our “security” (& the same guy who let my 5kg of chicken breasts sit in the office in summer without telling me I had a package) gave me their even more useless plunger to work at it to no avail. So I’m even fuller of shit than usual (*sad drums*).