a day at the beach

The weather here is getting progressively nicer, it is as if winter never happened. I am so used to the terribly winters of New England that the mildness of winter here has spoiled me and in my mind it has all just merged into summer.
The 50,000 won I spent on this 1988 Hyundai Excel has turned out to be a great investment. The things you talk about doing but can never get yourself around to doing on a hungover Saturday afternoon are now easier to actually jump on and get done. After weeks of talking about getting out of town and going to a deserted beach Daniel I headed to Yesou yesterday afternoon. A quiet seaside town that reminds me of Rye, NH, windy roads going up the rocky coast. In the middle of these winding roads is Mogwasa (spelling) beach. A little cove that has a great Yaegwon with rooms that you can rent for 30,000. We sat on the beach all day, built a fire and for a little while felt as if we we rent in Korea...its amazing how a change of scenery can remove you from your own reality.
I have seen some very random things this week out and around Korea. An old Ajoshi, Korean for elderly man, heavily intoxicated, attempting to ride his bike down a main road, failing each time. As it turns out his handle bars were backwards! Fast forward to the next day and as I am driving down what is a small highways comparable with Rt. 1 in Portsmouth, there is a Agima, Korean for elderly woman, being pushed in a wheel chair by her Agima sidekick down the middle yellow line of the road...madness!!!
6 weeks to go....

7 fridays to go

It is official I'm coming home...7 weeks from today, and as scary as it all seems right now, I am beginning to look very forward to it. I'm looking forward to seeing my family, I have had all these things around me sparking memories and thoughts of them more so lately then in the seven months since I left, someones handwriting that looks so much like my moms I swore she was in my classroom and had my self painfully convinced she had flown over to visit only to realize i was so very wrong. A Harley sitting on the side of the road that looked so oddly out of place yet I could hear my dad saying "the only real bike, i sold mine when we had you to put dormers on the house". And yesterday, in the middle of Home Plus there was a wedding dress, not a pretty one, but one all the same which sparked this insane desire to get home and start planning Lindseys wedding with her. To be the sister of the bride, to party all night with her in my fancy little dress. It will be a fun filled two months!!!
And on the other side...getting ready to return to my life here. I have my interview for next year on Sunday and am beginning to sort through my things and get ready for the long journey home. Leaving my car, well 1/2 my car...the other 1/2 has no license so surely he will have to find someone to drive it for him while I am away. It is scary to wonder what my life will be when I return. Will the relationships I have slowly built still exist?
My mind is in a funny place today, as close as I remain to those I have dated it has never been something that messes with my head or makes me hold on to them or long to be with them. I have this very healthy ability to look forward, to get to a certain point and realize that although the relationship didn't work I spent a part of my life with this person and still want them in my life. On the other end of it all are the ones which are not worth salvaging and I have become aware of how to realize this. I am returning to something I in a sense ran from but i am in a good place with it. Although it will take some adjusting, I dint think the void I imagined being there will be felt at all.
Off to say goodbye to some friends, they are all moving out and moving in at this point, I guess that's what life is all about after all!

Ladies Night....

Being deprived of contact with females it seems since being in Korea, I have found my self for the most part surrounded by men, which in some ways is good, it seems less drama filled and when single you don't have to worry about liking the same boy as your friend. However, it also has it downsides, I am used to having many friends, girl friends in which to confide, how do you can you call even your closest male friend and tell him what was said, good or bad, between you and the guy you may be dating. There are just certain things only a female can relate to. I have met many great women here and so, tonight I am having ladies night at my place. I have cooked all of my favorite appetizers and am ready for a fun night!!! Funnel and tequilla on hand!
I also became witness to the Korean version of jumping jacks today...an interesting concept that i am not to sure I will be partaking in any time soon, it looks more like a seizure than anything else. children jumping and thrusting their pelvis's and grunting in Korean, and this was only two of them, i can only imagine what an entire class full of them must look like. It was these same students who then chose to attack me, trying to jam their fingers in my bum and punching a kicking me...nothing beats a kindergarten class the moment you walk in to work.
So I am off, the ladies should be here soon.

April Fools.........A new kind of pollen

Being used to the New England seasonal changes and craziness Mother Nature hurls at us on a yearly basis, from Indian Summers to Blizzards and Hurricanes, I figured that I could handle the slight changes that the Korean climate offers. I have been sick twice since I have been here, both times far worse then any cold or flu I have had in the states. Over the past week or so I have had allergy like symptoms, a stuffy nose, mind you I have gone years with out a stuffy nose, and a cough that has gotten worse (not from smoking as I have been doing that for years...dont ask....a kind of cough that makes me feel like I have been working in a chemical plant.)
Today, as we walked around Suncheon we noticed that most cars were covered in this yellow polleny substance, and the smog/fog was thick and became more thick as the day progressed. All of my questions have been answered......
from yahoo:
South Korea on Sunday issued a nationwide warning against yellow dust blowing in from China and Mongolia, advising citizens to stay indoors to avoid the choking mix of sand and pollutants." South Korea on Sunday issued a nationwide warning against yellow dust blowing in from China and Mongolia, advising citizens to stay indoors to avoid the choking mix of sand and pollutants.

Officials at the Korea Meteorological Administration said the dust had blanketed much of the country on Sunday, with visibility in the capital Seoul at just three kilometres (two miles)Yellow dust -- fine sand from Mongolia's Gobi Desert which sometimes includes toxic chemical smog emitted by Chinese factories -- usually hits South Korea in the spring. It can cause respiratory disorders.

Fabulous......so now not only do i have to worry about contracting a cold sore each time the wind blows, cold sores or herpes as we know them are a way of life here, they are part of the culture, there is no fear of spreading them. I now have to worry about the toxins I am in from Mongolia and have been urged to purchase a stylish face mask, also an item of fashion that Koren people of all ages don on a daily basis. I think this is grounds for calling in sick...of course I would spend the day enjoying the breathtaking cherry blossoms, but I would wear my Chanel face mask!