Good Day!

I had to venture into Seoul to extend my visa today. It was an amazing experience. I'm not kidding: I booked an appointment yesterday for the right time today and when I got there, I sauntered right in. It was remarkable. Of course I told the school it took hours to get 'er all done: hate to paint the immigration folks with a bad brush, but a girl has to get a day off when she can ;)

Anyway, I can stay in the country legally now until my flight leaves...thrilling. And I have the ticket to get home in my hand: awesome.

So tonight, until my interview with the English school at 7:30, I'm packing up my winter clothes to send home. I'm allowed to take two pieces of luggage that don't exceed 50 pounds. Yikes. At least this transpacific flight, I won't be lugging 40 pounds of toiletries. Looking back, I'm still glad I brought those (for your information). It's nice to have some amenities from home when you first move.

Oh, I've also started capturing images of things I'll miss from Korea and things I definitely won't miss from Korea. I'll post it at the very end of the blog...sort of as a wrap up. And, as Jamie so eloquently pointed out, Adventures still Abound, so why not keep the old blog going? Life in England will certainly be worth documenting, non? I hope so!

One last thing...when I finally had my ticket booked, in hand, I called my Mum to tell her. I'm pretty sure she was fairly close to tears. She said what she always says: "I can't believe you're in South Korea. It sounds like you're right down the street. You get better reception than I do." She literally says it every single time I call her. It's hilarious. I then showed my Korean Mum the ticket. She cried. She asked, "Did you call your Mummy?" Phew...certainly glad I took care of that. Why is it that mums know everything?

Wish me luck...London's calling in 20 minutes!!

Over the Lunch Table...

Beautiful Girl said to me at lunch today, as we both mowed down on my sliced apple,

"What is the American proverb?

If doctors eat apples, their pale skin will turn red?"

"Um", I said giggling uncontrollably. "I think you mean, an apple a day keeps the doctor away."

"Yes", she said proudly. "At least I got two words right!"

Korea, sometimes you make me love you.

The Torture Continues

Though you may think this picture has absolutely nothing to do with this post, I certainly do.
Hands, like health, need to be handled with care.
Hence the gloves from the Spring/Summer 2010 Yves Saint Laurent show.
Image courtesy of style.com.

I returned to the acupuncturist last night. I was there for almost an hour and a half and I've never been so uncomfortable. Well, that's not true, but I tend to forget times when I was uncomfortable, so this is the most recent memory I have of unpleasantness.

With my rear end completely exposed, the doc proceeded to pierce me with about 35 needles. I lost count after 25. They were all up my lower back, on my ass and down my right leg. Not exactly how I wanted to spend my time.

When it was done (and my book nearly completed), I felt a thousand times better, truly. Walking was actually possible without hobbling. Huzzah!

I awoke this morning, however, and all was back to what it was yesterday morning: I can't walk properly. Eff!

In a bizarre twist of fate, Black Dress (apparently my new best friend) told me to go to the second floor of my building. Apparently it's not a fracture clinic, but a rehab clinic. I guess they have massage therapists there and she tells me it's cheap. Away I go.

So much for the run on Sunday :(

Flight Drama

To clarify...

The school has to pay for my flight home. And they have to pay for the most direct flight home as well. That means I'm opting for the direct $2,000 Korean Air flight. However, they have 30 days after my contract ends to pay me back for the flight. And dishing out that kind of dough now means I'm without it for two months. I just don't want that to happen.

Them paying for it directly (which is the other option in the contract) means that I don't have to shell out any cash of my own. Nice-uh.

Progress...and then regress

The school has agreed to pay for my flight!

This definitely beats out the reimbursement. Who wants to dish out that much cash for a flight? Not I. I'm SO happy. I'm so happy, in fact, that I was beaming when I told them that I was not staying. Wowza...that felt good.

And then I had a class. It's a pretty low-level bunch of humans, as illustrated by the graphic art I saw on a t-shirt on a gal in the front row. This was by far the highlight of the day.

I scream, you scream,
we all scream
for HEROIN.

You said it, sister. Holy sh*t.

Thanks, Korea. You've put a smile on my face.
I'm off to be tortured by the acupuncturist now :(

Forget It

This website is great. Check out where this post-it was left here.

My school has offered me a new contract. Not a re-signing of my contract (where I would be entitled to a raise and 2 weeks of extra vacation to go home or to travel), but a NEW one. I would go two months without pay and they offered me the same salary, however, also gave me $100 extra per month to go towards housing. Nice.

As a result, I'm trying to be NICE as Alicia advises me to do, and then forget it, as thingsweforget.com advises me to do. Sometimes it's all I can do to keep my yap closed and not just laugh aloud. Sometimes I actually succeed in this ;)

So I thought about it. Matt and I scoured the area trying to find a better apartment (let me tell you, ours is PARADISE compared to some of these dives), and finally found one that is wicked awesome.

So yes, I thought about staying. For a moment in time. I thought, hey, this life is easy, this life is comfortable. I have extra work that would continue, extra classes at school in the new English Zone (finally)...life is pretty good.

And then I came to my senses. And that was that.

Yesterday the administration and Black Dress met me in the freezing cold principal's office. They wanted to know my final decision. Since I was not prepared yet to give them this, and all I wanted to know was if they were going to pay for my flight home (instead of reimbursing me on August 1...yikes!), I was unprepared for said meeting. No matter though.

"So just to reiterate", I said, "let's review what the school is offering (note, not in writing...this is still just a verbal offer): no additional pay, no two weeks extra holiday, but a hundred extra housing dollars monthly. Right?"

"Oh, well no. We can't pay you that extra $100 and we won't have enough money to (wait for it) pay you in January. You'll get double pay in February, but you'll have to go a month with no pay."

I laughed.

Out loud.

Meeting over.

I find out today about the flight. Once they tell me that, I'll advise them I'm not staying.

After the meeting was over, I asked Black Dress if SHE would stay for that.

"Well, if someone really wanted to work, they would take anything", was her rather soft reply.

I asked again, "would YOU take that offer?"

"No."

Meeting over. Connection with Black Dress finally established.

And we wait...

Korea, you make me laugh.

Unreal

We might need to explore the true meaning of, "natural death" when pneumonia claims the life of a 32-year old woman and her 39-year old husband dies five months later of a heart attack. We don't live in a third world country, and health care is certainly available to Hollywood's rich and famous. What's the deal? What a sad, sad occurrence.

image courtesy of eonline.com

a Little Haunted

The Mother Hen sent this my way and I love love love it.

It's an odd day today...I'm sort of wishing I was home to celebrate the long weekend with my lovlies instead of sitting here at work, on this rainy day.

A Year of Rumi

by Andrew Harvey

Lesson 113: Sometimes

Sometimes in all this talk
I find a word
With your mark on it
In the blood of love.
And the worlds go quiet.

- Jalal-ud-Din Rumi
(Translated by Andrew Harvey from A Year of Rumi)

Enjoy your day, Ghost.

After the Sporting...

As soon as Sports Day wrapped up, we were whisked away to the best meal I have eaten since arriving in Korea. Though Shabu Shabu is fabulous, scads of fresh, fresh, fresh tuna sashimi is WAY better. It was AMAZING. Our principal has been away on training for some time and he made it by the end of the day to compete in the fast walking competition and to show me off to some parents at this dinner. What an honour.

Our Meal...

Recently caught tuna, frozen on the ship, served slightly thawed.
It tasted like the sea.
I have never enjoyed fish so much.

Edamame, roasted garlic, quail eggs,
and mushrooms for dipping into delicious hot sauce.

Fresh and spicy radish sprouts.

Egg souffle/flan to heat up our mouths after the cool fish.

Kelp wraps, soju, and beer.



QUITE the meal, I must say. Perfect way to top off a great day :)

Sports Day

Thursday was Sports Day virtually everywhere in Korea. The weather was phenomenal, the kids were in high spirits, and it was just a great day to be outside.

They started off with a (tear-jerking) bang...the National Anthem. You know how I feel about singing groups: they make me cry like a banshee. This was no exception. I was actually grateful for the few kids and teachers who insisted on talking through the song. That way, I was contained a bit.

A few of my babies...

Here's a uniquely Korean event at Sports Day...
The tug o' war:

My babies and I...

Beautiful Girl's Class (there she is at the bottom)...



Yours truly rounding the corner in the final event of the day:
the teachers' fast walking race...



Not my Korean Mum




From left, a kid, my Korean Mum's best friend, EunZoo Lee (pronouced, "Un Julie"), another kid, Yours Truly, another teacher, and Black Dress.




All in all, it was a pretty fabulous day.

How fabulous? This fabulous...



I hope your Thursday was just as great.