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http://parkjinhee.wordpress.com/

"POUR SOME SUGAR ON ME"

Def Leppard

Teaching my first class on Wednesday on Surrealism and using that as a segue into how to compare things (normal vs. abnormal, dreams vs. reality) in English. My students will be at an intermediate level so we’ll see how successfully I can get across a theory behind an art movement that I can barely grasp haha.

Apparently at the end of orientation there’s a pool party at the ambassador’s house, and also a Thanksgiving dinner for the Fulbrighters. THANKS TAXPAYERS!!!!

So no one told me how difficult blog upkeep would be. I realize that I can write down what I’m doing on a day by day basis…but who the fuck wants to read that?

Anyway, us ETAs have been super busy this past week- what with 4 hours of korean class, hours of teaching and cultural workshops DAILY (yes that includes saturday and sunday). Many of the speakers have brought to light interesting trends or class management methods, as well as aspects of Korean culture that Korean-Americans are usually unaware of. For instance a pretty famous blogger Michael Hurt (http://metropolitician.blogs.com/) came to speak to us about various social issues facing Korea at this time. One of the things that struck me the most was the amount of revenue that prostitution in Korea generates. According to Hurt, prostitution makes up about 4.1% of the annual GDP of South Korea. Now, as a reference point, all agricultural products (fishing, farming, etc) generate a total of 4.3% of Korea’s GDP. Hurt was also able to discreetly photograph prostitutes in the Red Light District. Most of them were caught off guard, or completely dressed down which humanized them in a way that I was never personally able to. I’m usually pretty good about sympathizing or even empathizing with people, but it’s especially difficult for me to relate to women whose work I (naively?) associated with warm fuzzy feelings, like love.

I’ve developed these red welts the size of a thumbprint all over my legs, and I was afraid at first that it was a break out of weird anxiety related eczema… but then I realized they were bug bites… and now Phil Ahn’s put into my head that I have bed bugs. So yesterday I spent like an hour google imaging bed bugs. Needless to say, I spent about 3 hours total sleeping last night because I kept feeling these (false) weird biting sensations, and in the very vivid dream that I had, I spent it disinfecting everything that I owned. Also they’re so painfully itchy that I am literally going INSANE trying not to scratch them, holding out holding out and then madly scratching them in this sick game that I play with myself. But now I’ve looked at a lot of other people’s bites and it seems like everyone’s reacting this way to bug bites. I’m not sure what kind they are, but the inflamed area is really really swollen, hot. This kid told me he thinks they’re spider bites, but I’d rather not think about it because I have a couple on my inner thigh. I’m not sure what’s worse: bed bugs or spiders..

omg i might have bed bugs OH MY FUCKING GOD!!!!!!!!

How does this tumblr thing work? I only picked it because I liked the templates- can someone tutor me please haha

The only qualm I have about Korea so far (I know, it’s only been like three days) is that they don’t have real coffee!!!! Now, I brought a moka pot that A had lent me, but I stupidly packed it in my winter storage suitcase and probably won’t see it/get to use it until this fall when I get placed.

What Korea does have, are an infinite variety of instant coffees. They have the many different types of canned coffee which can be stored in a fridge or a heater of sorts so you at least have the option of hot or cold canned coffee. They have the hot/cold plastic bottled coffee which can be stored in the same manner, and finally they have the 18 cent coffee vending machines which give you about 2 sips per cup of powdered coffee mixed with hot water. Unfortunately, all instant coffees contain an excessive amount of creamer and sugar. And so, while they certainly taste delicious (even though i prefer my coffee without sugar) they’re not particularly effective- especially when it comes to sitting through 4 hours of intensive Korean class after a night of heavy drinking.

Korean classes, meetings and teaching workshops aside, it kind of feels a little bit like senior year again! The other ETA’s here are really chill, and we definitely have a good group vibe going. Living in an all inclusive vacation resort also helps.

It’s really hard for me to email everyone individually, so I’m going to try to update this regularly to at least let you know how I’m adjusting to life in Korea.

So I’ve finally found time to take a breather and try to marinate in everything I’ve experienced so far. The 14 hour flight over to Korea went by a lot quicker than I had imagined it would be, and while I had a series of terrible, recently released rom coms at my disposal (think Dear John, Remember Me, Bounty Hunter, Valentine’s Day etc) I instead managed to keep myself busy with the sweetest, most elaborate packages K and A had both prepared for my departure.

The worst part about traveling is all the waiting, and this time it wasn’t any different. We landed at around 3:30 AM and with all the waiting and other bullshit that comes with traveling, I met up with everyone else in the program at about 5 AM. Half hearted attempts to meet the other ETAs were made all around, but most of us sat in awkward silence waiting for the 3 hour bus-ride to take us to Goesan (괴산) where our orientation would take place at Jungwon University.

I think I can claim that I’m normally sociable, and usually have no reservations about meeting new people, haha but man, for some reason this time it was especially rough. I don’t know if it was the jet lagged-ness, the grand total of 3 hours of sleep, the 95% humidity or some terrible combination of all three, but I was NOT having any of it. So I knock out for a good thirty minutes on the bus and wake up having drooled on myself (hot) just as we are rolling onto campus.

My first impression of the campus was… what the fuck? Are we in Pyongyang? For those of you that don’t know, Pyongyang, the capital city of North Korea, has building facades facing South Korea in an attempt to convince outsiders that North Korea is somewhat civilized, or at least effectively industrialized and modernized. I’ve put up some pictures of the campus I managed to take today. I don’t know what it was; perhaps the militant gray and all of the symmetrical architecture that gave the campus this really artificial vibe… There’s no doubt that the campus is absolutely beautiful; it was actually built only a little over 18 months ago, and there is still construction going on around campus. But the incredible landscaping and meticulously kempt campus makes it… I don’t know, a little bit eerie? The 18-hole golf course on campus doesn’t really help either. The area surrounding the town of Goesan is best known for its pastoral scenery, and I think they did their best to try to link the natural aesthetics with the man made, but their juxtaposition here doesn’t really work. Still, it’s really great to be away from the density of NYC.

"You’re beautiful, like a May fly."

Hemingway