Things I should tell someone...

1. I'm busy. Like, break-neck speed, working on the bus, constantly distracted busy. I feel like I'm back in college busy. Deadline busy. Work busy. Social busy. We're doing plays in each of the classes at school. I'm writing workbooks for a publishing company. I'm planning a Single Member Conference for church (this weekend!) and and and and, I'm not keeping in very good touch with family and friends. Forgive me.

2. I'm coming along slowly in my acquisition of the Korean language. 제가 한국말어를 매일 공부해요. I've attached proof that some sort of studying is happening in the photo to the left. I'm not a good student and I don't have a formal teacher so most of my learning is happening independently and with friends via text messaging. But for all my slowness, I am learning the important stuff...including a plethora of swear words thanks to my friend chansoo who has proclaimed himself my swear teacher. Don't act like you wouldn't do it too.

3. Inspired by championship latin dancers at the halloween party, I (the same girl who was once told to "stand behind that pole and just pretend to tap dance") have started to take ballroom dance lessons. May I remind you that I am neither Latin nor a champion. And yet, every saturday I go to the Mu dance studio and pay MONEY to shuffle around looking like a confused lady in a step aerobics class instead of a sleek tango machine. It's okay though. My teacher (who goes by the english name of Bruce Lee, by the way) told our group this to help our self-esteem- "You are not the dreamteam. But you are not bad." Thank you Bruce Lee. I feel much better about the 2 hours I spend in front of a wall of mirrors reflecting back my failure.


4. Finally, you should know that I've sold my soul to a secret society simply known as the "Do You Happy Club". As on friend translated it, the official document reads "My body is now belong to the club". I signed it and now I'm learning more about what it is that I've done:

• Activities include: eating moksal, eating bbq'd shellfish, eating gray slabs of bean curd, drinking soju (or soda for the mormons among us), singing korean songs badly at noraebang, Staying out far too late (at least until ocha), teaching and then yelling out funny phrases in whatever language you choose and peer-pressuring completely upstanding citizens to join rank.
• My body is truly belong to the club now. And evidently the test of true bravery will be to put my feet in the Cheonggyecheon River... a river that smells like rotten fish and last week's sewage.
• To aid me in this test of bravery, I should be very drunk. But since I do not drink anything stronger than cider (korean version of 7up), I will have to face the task wide eyed and and wide nostriled.
• You are always at the mercy of the Pimp Chief of the club. Currently that position is held by Chansoo, although he does not really know what pimp means and sometimes gets cheif and cheap mixed up. He is self-proclaimed so I'm confident that an inner-club coup could occur.

That's it. I'm busy, but happy and getting ready to make a trip home at christmas! More about the holiday's in Korea next post.

There's Something About William

I just needed you to know that this child exists in the world. His name is william. I contend that he is the korean equivalent of Jonathan Lipnicki pre- tweeness. I rediscovered this picture and realized that I had never made him the star of my blog that he was meant to be. This is dedicated to d'anniel and d'arcy.

This is how we do it in Korea

Just in case you were worried that I wouldn't get my halloween on, here is a little tease... I relinquished my crown as the queen of the suburbs (pregant prom queen, internet girlfriend, housewife on valium) because I didn't think Korea would get the joke and instead opted for a costume concept that went something like "Here's what I have in my closet". A pirate queen. Thanks to my mom for finding a puffy sleeved daisy fuentes shirt at Kohl's and liz for handing over the striped banana republic shirt in the name of better fashion. Still, my entire closet of stripes and puffs and 8 earrings somehow did not add up to a successful costume since everyone kept asking what I was supposed to be. Fine. I'm a daisy fuentes accolite in rural iowa. ??

Lumina took some really fabulous pictures from our party at the Mu Dance Studio and since I refuse to buy a new camera and thus make everyone share their pictures with me, I won't spoil the fun by stealing her pictures to put on my humble blog. Go to Lumina's blog to check out her artistry.

Can I just say that having photographers and artists and actors and musicians for friends makes life so fulfilling?

This week alone, I have sung with pansori singers, done a little jazz jam, watched an improv comedy show and a latin dance demonstration and seen beautiful art that would make your head swim. I feel really fortunate to have such wonderful friends...all over the globe. WOO HOO!!!!

I have me a real live crush

One day, I woke up and suddenly found Korean men irresistable...and now I ask you....how can you resist a man who sends you text messages like this after he held your hand all night in the cold?

"darling, im at home-goodnight-! thanks to save my hand-."

My Life is the Pictures

THIS VIEW MAKES ME WANT TO FLY

HONG KONG IS A LIGHT SHOW

DIM SUM IS DELICIOUS

I AM ALWAYS MAKING A WEIRD FACETHE TEMPLE IS GOD"S HOUSE IN EVERY COUNTRY AND SAR

ART IS ALWAYS IMPORTANT

PEOPLE ARE BEAUTIFUL INSIDE AND OUT FRIENDS ARE AMAZING

LOVE HURTS

BIRTHDAY PARTIES ROCK

It's a Wednesday alright

Nothing very exciting to report except that one of my everyday students is leaving to move to Texas. This is the kid that threw out the F-bomb nonchalantly the other day to explain swear words in Korean. This is also the kid who winks at you when you're mad at him. I'm sad he's leaving but I'm happy to report that I'm not wishing I was going with him. I'm doing ok in Seoul these days. This is a good thing because I think I will stay a second year for sure. I got a haircut and until yesterday when I saw this picture, I thought I hated it. I even begged my stylist to CUT IT OFF!!! and he politely but knowingly said, "Not today." I'm not sure if he said that because he was saving me from myself or because he had already spent 2 hours on it and didn't want to do any more that day. Who cares. I'm glad he refused. The long hair stays even if M goes :( (he's the little guy on Lumina's lap)

Sesame Street Pinball Cartoon

I've laways wanted to sample this song in a hip hop song if ever I was to sample anything. Ahhh childhood.

Hong Kong Break Down

1. I can't upload photos at this time. I guess blogger agrees that my photography skills just can't capture the glory of Hong Kong.

2. Getting on the Plane: So we bought our e-tickets from the Korean travel agency downstairs. They speak marginal english. We well below marginal korean. But somehow we acquired a piece of paper that said dates and flights to hong kong. So we went to the airport, giddy with anticipation and lightly packed suitcases ready for all the swag they would contain upon our return. Here's what went down:

Lumina and KaRyn: Hello! Here are our passports. We are here at your fine airport ready to go to Hong Kong.
Korean Airlines Lady (KAL): Do you have your itinerary please?
L&K: Oh no. We left them at home accidently, but it's ok because it is an E-ticket. You know, E-ticket?
KAL: You are not in our system. Do you have a confirmation number?
L&K: It's an E-ticket. No. It must be on the paper at home. Just a moment while we call our friend Jill who will most certainly run home from whatever she is doing to look at our confirmation number. Did we mention that it was an E-ticket?
(JILL via phone): hmmmm it appears that there is nothing even remotely resembling a confirmation number on this scrap of paper that is neither a receipt for monies paid or a true itinerary.
L (starting to suspect something is not right at the Incheon Airport): KaRyn, did you get a charge on your credit card for the tickets?
K (panic starting to settle in) : oh, um. uh. uh. noooooooooo! It's an E-ticket.........um, did you?
KAL: Hello? can you please step out of line and go home and tell all of your friends that you forgot to go back downstairs to the travel agency to confirm the tickets and pay for them while we let other people who actually BOUGHT tickets go to Hong Kong? Thank You.

And so began the maddening process of attempting to purchase standby tickets at astronomical prices AT THE AIRPORT. Note to self: next time, do not rely on the glamorous ruse that is the e-ticket and try PAYING for your tickets before you try to travel internationally. Just a thought.

3. Dim Sum
It's all I ever wanted. Alie used to talk about starting a restaurant called "little bits" which would only serve a little bit of everything. Then we realized there was already something liek that and it was called COSTCO. But we were wrong. Long before costco was dim sum...little bits of deliciousness in bamboo baskets served for brunch or lunch in China. yum yum.

4.The Lights of Hong Kong
Hong Kong is known for its ecclectic and overwhelming architecture and at 8pm each night, the buildings in the central district light up and shoot flaming lasers across the harbor to Kowloon where Lumina and I took a break from shopping long enough to see it go down. Beautiful. Like a laser show on crack and without pink floyd's The Wall. As soon as I can, I will upload a photo.

5. Shopping
H and M. H & M. aych and em. AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH. 4 pairs of shoes, 6 sweaters, one dress, one bag, one coat and that was all in one day. Dreamy.

more to come....

WAKE UP!

My bed is by the window. I woke up this morning to a Korean man yelling into his cell phone under said window. I went back to sleep because it is a holiday and I didn't have to get up early. Awaking again, I notice what appeared to be a rope hanging outside and I realized that all the yelling was because there was a man hanging on a rope right above my bed...watching me sleep as he cleaned the window. Thank goodness I was wearing clothes.

HONG KONG!!!

Why do I look distressed?????? more to come.....

THAT LADY MADE ME MAD!!!!

Sometimes white people in Korea make small children cry. This morning Lumina said hi to a little boy who was too cute to pass up and he started to run away screaming. His fear was only exacerbated when he fell in his haste to get away from the scary blue eyed lady

It reminded me of a time on my mission when I tried my usual "don't smile" reverse psychology trick with disasterous result. Just so you know, this trick almost always leaves ay normal grouchy 3 year old giggling...they love to be told NOT to do something as loveable as smiling...and they get the humor in it. I love it. This one particular time, I did it to a little girl that I had just met in West Virginia and the freaky child ran screaming and crying from the room. When the investigator mom went to find out what happened, we could hear the little girl screaming, "THAT LADY MADE ME MAD!!!!" oops. We never really taught them again.

That one abberation to a fail proof trick has come full circle here in Korea where all I have to do is look at a kid and they burst into tears. Honestly I"m probably the first caucasian they've ever seen. Ok. I get it. I'm scary. Funny.

Why am I all nervous?

I'm singing tonight at a gallery show opening. I haven't sung in public since I've been here and my mini open mic at my birthday party doesn't really count because those are my friends and they are forced to appreciate the roughness of my unpolished performance. This is different. I'm singing jazz with a bassist and guitarist and there will be real people there. I haven't practiced the songs with the musicians I'll be playing with and I've had a headache all day.

My friend Angie recently took some Ambien to help her sleep and evidently called 6 people in the middle of the night in a drug induced stupor and sang "Somewhere Over the Rainbow" to their voicemail. I don't know if I can get some ambien here, but that doesn't sound like a bad idea. At least I wouldn't have to REALLY remember it all the next day (and I would feel refreshed and relaxed in the morning!) Somehow I don't think the claritin that I've taken today will produce the desired brain melt. sigh. I hope I don't throw up.

The Truth About the Breakup

Ever since I dumped diet coke, I've realized that there's more to say about our relationship. I want you to know that I'm suffering. I'm sitting at my desk at 2:45 pm getting ready to face a class of three overactive boys who don't listen and are, as we speak, cultivating a list of american swear words and obscene hand gestures with which to shock me. And more than anything I want to run downstairs to the ministop and hand over 1,300 won to the man behind the counter and walk out with brown liquid happiness.



Here's what diet coke does, (strike that, USED to DO) for me.

-Gave me something to look forward to in my day. Because sometimes wrangling kids or wetlands (ala TNC) just doesn't do it for you.
-Made my throat and body all tingly, like having a crush everyday but without the stress of whether he likes me or not.
-engendered creativity. What do you do when the coke is warm and there's no ice in the freezer? Why, fashion a harness and hang it outside your office window of course. Necessity is the mother of invention.
-created opportunities to flirt. The GS Mart boy is adorable when he tries to speak English. Except for the one time he used his English to tell me that my hair looked funny. That was not so adorable. Otherwise, it's worth 1300 and a caffeine buzz to shyly smile at one another.
-Kept me awake enough to blog.
-satiated my craving for something sweet while providing me with zero caloric intake. Although, now that I think about it, I think I consumed MORE chocolate when I was doing the coke. hmmmm....
-helped me to collect enough bottles to make maracas with 48 kindergarteners. That's just sad.

I'm still a diet coke drinker but I've curtailed it to once a week. We'll see how long this lasts.

Jimmy Cracked Corn...

Everything is different.

Adam has a girlfriend. Brett has a wife. AND I FEEL NOTHING! WOOOOOOO HOOOOOO! Truly, honestly, beautifully, I'm free. Congratulations to these dear amazing men. And congratulations to MEMMMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEMEEEEE!

Movin' on Up to the east side...of the building

Just in case you were worried that life in Korea was getting a bit predictable, boring, blah blah...well here's some good news:

1. Seasons change- Welcome Fall, the most perfect, beautifully ambling seasonal change I can remember. Winter is creeping in one degree at a time and brewing up some truly amazing weather.

2. Cubicles change- I moved this past saturday into the larger of the two "officetels" that my school has in the building. This one is approximately twice the size of my old dorm room and now takes 10 steps to get to the bathroom instead of 2. There is even enough room for a proper "sitting area" and my chair count is now up to 4 plus a tiny uncomfortable loveseat. This is very exciting news (especially for the 5 people who came over to watch Flight of the Conchords at my old place. Sorry about that.) Let's just have another gratuitous shot of the luxurious space of my new apartment. I tried to lounge in the luxuriousness, but quickly discovered the loveseat is not conducive to basking as it is korean sized.3. Friends change- The first of my real Korea friends went home making it clear to me that turnover is part of life in the ROK and I have to get used to it. It's the world of the one year contract...you know exactly when you're going to have goodbyes. I miss the world where people spring leaving on you as part of a life decision instead of something they've been planning for since the beginning. oh well. Fair thee well jjimjilbang boys.4. Temperaments change- Once upon a time, a scene like the one you are about to view made my skin crawl and turned me into the evil teacher from hell. Now I revel just a bit in the anarchy as I sit back and realize, hey, they're 4.Speaking of work, I've started doing some curriculum editing work. The publishing company associated with my school asked me to look at a program that uses cooking to teach english. I will admit that I've pretty much got this theater thing down, so I'm feeling ready to take on a new challenge. And I've been missing the work that I did at TNC...so this is really cool. And it pays more money. And the books will be published when they are finished. I'm starting to think that this sort of project management is what I would like to do for a career....but who knows. I feel really ambivalent about the possibilities for the future. THAT hasn't changed :)

5. God doesn't change, but callings do- As if He heard my whining about having two callings (nursery and music chair) and decided to just roll them all into one bigger and more complicated task, I was just called to be the Military District Singles Co-Chair. That's like a stake that covers the entire country of S. Korea, no joke.

The exciting part is that I will know TONs of people all over korea and get to travel a bit (chili's in pyeongteok, here I come!!!!). The less than exciting part is that I can't just bail out of activities when I'm feeling less than social. Meh. Oh yeah and the part where I have to organize stuff and go to meetings which are rumored to be at 6:30 am on the sabbath. So long, cute sunday hair and welcome roll- out -of- bed bun.

I also have a sneaking suspicion that no one ever asks the girl in charge out on dates. Clipboards and business emails are generally not very attractive to the other gender. Being a bratty side participant who makes off-handed smarmy comments during potluck "get to know you" rounds is much sexier. Sigh. Sigh. Loveboat julie at your service.