Parcels and Postcards

"Later, much later, he found that he was unable to relieve himself of two regrets: one, that when she leaned back he saw in the lamplight that the necklace he made had scratched her throat, and, two, that in the most important moment of his life he had chosen the wrong sentence."

I love getting home and seeing a letter, a parcel, or a postcard waiting for me outside my door.
Sure. Email, fax, and phone calls can deliver a message instantaneously, but nothing compares to the joy of receiving mail.

I hope the mailman is an occupation that never falls victim to progress.

Six Month Crunch

"It's never the changes we want that change everything."

-Oscar Wao

It is almost the halfway mark of my tenure here in Korea.
I think for the most part I have avoided culture shock and the feelings of alienation, confusion, and uncertainty that accompany  living in a foreign country.

Six months has really flown by.  I remember the day I got here, hour by hour, quite vividly.  I can probably still list out every meal I had for the first week, every impression of all the new sites and sounds that I came across, the feeling I had on my first day of work when the kids popped their heads through the window to wave at me and scream ecstatically.  Where has six months gone? 

As the half-way mark quickly approaches, I am forced to think back to the list of things I wanted to achieve before I got here. Did I achieve any of them? How far along am I?
The number one thing on my list of things to do in Korea was to save money.  Not just save, but pay off a large chunk of my student loans, but sadly I am far from reaching this goal.

I try to send half of my paycheque home every month, I don't go on shopping sprees, I think I live rather minimally, but the money runs out at the end of every month.  I do take expeditions in and around Seoul, day trips, hiking trips, paragldiing trips, siteseeing trips, and the like.  If I don't do that then I will go crazy.  I think the reason I have avoided culture shock is because of this need to move around and travel.

Me and Money
To me, money is the most transitory thing in this world.  It is constantly moving, changing hands, and trying to capture it and keep it to yourself permanently is utterly impossible.  Money and me are like oil and water, we are conservative and liberal, the Leafs and the Sens, we will never get along. 

Money is not only transitory, but illusory.  You never really see it.  On the 17th of every month, my one month salary gets wired into my account and from there it appears as a number on my computer screen.  Half of it gets sent to my Canadian overseas banking account, a lightning speed transaction of numbers, and then from there, it gets broken up and paid to different companies.  I never hold it.  Each month I only see a miniscule percentage of it in its real form, in crisp bill notes weighing ever so lightly in my hands. 

But I am okay with it.  Saving money was only one reason why I chose to come to Korea.  Living the unexpectedness that is life, I have to adapt and change with the environment I am in and adjust my goals accordingly.  Money is no longer the number one reason why I am here, it suddenly seems very trivial. 

Everyone has a different reason on why they come to this country: to save, to travel, to explore, to be employed.  Mine was to live.  To test every limit of myself, emotionally, phsyically, academically, socially, psychologically.  I think ten years from now, when I think back on my twenties, this moment will be pivotal in determining who I am.

****

"Rather than love, than money, than faith, than fame, than fairness...

Give me truth."

So, as my six month anniversary rapidly approaches, I need to re-evaluate my life, the goals I have achieved and want to achieve, and what is the best way to do this? Well, a list of course. 

What I have done in Korea that I am proud of:
-Paraglide and subsequently conquered my fear of heights
-Hike until my bones bled
-Traveled to TongYeong
-Live in the rural countryside
-Backpacked through Vietnam, where I fell in love with my people, my family, my history
-Traveled alone to Cambodia, where I discovered I am not afraid of anything
-Adopted a stray kitten who needed a home
-Discovered a passion for teaching I didn't know I had
-Felt maternal pride and love for my students
-Learned that I'm most happy single, most creative, most outspoken, most sure of myself
-Began learning a new language, by studying conversational Korean with a tutor on Saturdays
-Became a foster mommy to one of the many sheltered dogs in this country
-Practiced my writing through keeping a blog
-Learned life skills: patience, adaptability, self-reliance, open-mindedness, how to be social, how to function outside your comfort zone.
 -Discovered I can be happy anywhere I am.

What I want to do before I leave Korea:
-Pay some of my debt
-Hanglide (May 01)
-Skydive (July 13)
-Hike the tallest mountain in Korea, Jeju Hallasan, 1950 meters
-Learn conversational Korean
-See the rest of Asia:
                 -Laos
                 -Thailand
                 -Singapore
                 -Phillipines
                 -Malaysia
                 -Indonesia
                 -India
-Go to the mudfest
-Spend a weekend in Jeju
-Eat dog meat
-Publish some writing
-Learn how to swim
-Learn how to drive a motorbike
-go scuba diving
-Ride an elephant

I hope that by the time my one year mark approaches, I would have crossed off every single one of these items.

Go Sports!

"Happy in work, lucky in games, crazy in love, strongly in bed, money in the pocket, never sad, always fun!"

Cherry blossoms are a big event in Korea.  From the last remaining weeks of March into the first weeks of April, Koreans come out in swarms to pose under the many white speckled trees that line the streets in cities all over the country.  Cherry Blossoms are common in Asian countries and the festivals date back to when the Japanese occupied Korea. 

What better thing to symbolize the advent of spring than beautiful white flowers that make the trees look like they have been doused with a sprinking of snow?
I went to Yeouido this past weekend to enjoy the splendid trees with their white blossoming flowers but I was fighting back the nastiest cold I ever had, so springtime in Korea is still just an illusion. 

It was a sweet event nonetheless.  A lot of families were out, riding bikes, having picnics, walking along the river, snapping photos, eating carnival food like cotton candy and what looked like roasted carmelized bugs in papercups with toothpicks, drinking Maxx beers, couples walking hand-in-hand, flying kites, and trying their best to take advantage of the festival even though it was a bit cold out.

***

In the evening, I went to Beer O'Clock in Sinchon, a nice Canadian bar where I had my first ever caesar of the season in this country.  Being one of the few Canadian bars I have been to, it was the first time I saw my favourite cocktail on the menu and I hastily ordered it.  It was a mighty disappointment from the fine celery salt-rimmed-clammato-juice-filled glasses that I am used to being served back in Ottawa while hiding from the beaming sun under a patio umbrella, but it had a lot of the right ingredients and was reminiscent of the real thing. 
I also had my first taste of pizza since I have been in Korea and it was Hawaiian deliciousness.

I had another first of the night as well.  I watched my first ever full game of European football.  It was Manchester City versus Manchester United (so my friend tells me), but it was really the Team in White versus the Team in Red.  Anyways it was long and tedius and in the final minutes of the game, a player from the Team in Red head-balled (I'm sure this is the correct professional term) the ball into the net and the Team in Red won and the bar erupted into some sporadic screams.  The camera panned the jam packed stadium and you could see such elation in the faces of fans.

This is why I enjoy watching sports.  I loved going to bars in Ontario to watch hockey games with the hometeam and their rival, or to sit at sports bars and watch the UFC paperview, or to gather around in loose-fiting jerseys to watch the Stanley Cup Playoffs--not only because nothing makes me more happy than drinking with friends, but also because the fans inspire me. 

Nowhere in my life have I witnessed such a display of heartwrenching emotion, whether its sheer disappointment, dream-shattering heartache, red-in-the-face anger, glorious joy, just-won-alot-of-money excitement, or unspeakable teary-eyed pride, than on the faces of sports fans.
When Team Red scored in the final minutes of the Premier League soccer game, the fans in the stadium morphed their faces into pure happiness, screaming as loud as they could, eyes popping wide, bodies pumped with adrenaline, looking stupid and ridiculous, and couldn't caring less.

It made me think to myself: where on earth would I see a 38-year-old man jumping up and down like a little girl on Christmas morning? Where would I see a 25-year-old man with his arms raised over his head and his mouth open wide screaming and bubbling over?  Where would I ever see a bald, pot-bellied, 49-year-old crumble to his knees and cry?  Where would I ever see my good friend Henry curse like a truck driver?

The answer: only when watching sports.