Fashion Misadventures and a Few Bruises.

Hello readers!

I appreciate those of you who have continued visiting even during the blog down-time!

Everything has been pretty busy recently, but I finally got some time to just sit and do nothing, though I feel incredibly guilty about it because there are other things that I could be doing that are a little more important than updating a blog.

Like studying.

Ugh, I'll tell you what... studying Korean alone without a teacher and class-room is driving me more than a little bit batty. I'm a class person. I can learn on my own, but I prefer having a structured system that includes EXAMS and GRADES because those are the very things that keep me accountable.

Anyway, I'm slowly creeping along the path of Korean language learning, but I've got to learn to divide my attention. I've still got the GRE test to study for (though that's a little less pressing) ANDDDDDD I have to keep up my Japanese skills.

Why is that? You may be... ARE PROBABLY... asking yourself.

Well, it turns out that the majority of Graduate programs that I've been looking in to require 2 Asian languages. You have to be fluent enough to do research in at least one of the two Asian languages you speak. Well, I figure that if you're learning 2 languages and you have to be fluent in one, you might as well make the stretch and go for fluency in both.

And that means....

CHALLENGE! YEAH!

Anyway, that's not the main point of my post. Actually I was going to make a post today about a comic strip that I saw recently.

The comic is called ROKetship. After I started reading it, I tell you, I could hardly stop laughing. There were so many of the strips that just had me saying to my computer screen "I KNOW! RIGHT?!"

Luke Martin (the creator of ROKetship) is not only very clever and observant but also has this gift (his creativity) that allows him to portray, with near perfection, some of the hilarities that expats face in Korea.

ROKetship has, unfortunately, ended as the creator and his wife are leaving Korea. It's absolutely worth a look for everyone, living in Korea or not.

ROKetship

Anyway, the following strip was the whole reason behind me making up a post today.

Behold, culture clash.

(야하다! Translates as "Loud". We use it the same way in English. When something is too showy or attention demanding.)

This is absolutely not exaggerated.

Foreign women and Korean women both give in to the natural tendency to judge each other based on outfits. The majority of what I hear from Korean gal friends about foreign female fashion is that they tend to show way too much cleavage. Now, tank tops and what not aren't the problem here. I myself have seen some shirt choices that have me gawking in disbelief at the 'leave nothing to the imagination' exposure.

On the other hand, foreign gals (including myself), find the Korean fashion trend of 'booty shorts' to be a little too booty and less shorts.

However, the majority of these young Korean women don't have an ample backside, which makes booty shorts a lot less inappropriate than they would be on a woman of substance. But still. Why not just wear a loincloth. It'd probably cover more.

On both hands you've got fashion styles that are balancing dangerously on the edge of "indecent exposure".

Ultimate cleavage and booty shorts have their place. Beaches, mostly. And I'm not saying that I think women should dress in ankle length skirts with long sleeves and a collar up to their chin. Please. I enjoy showing a bit of skin as much as the next girl. But a bit is a bit and more than a bit, especially when doing daily activities like grocery shopping, is a bit too much.

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Anyway... newsflash.... while writing this my little brother arrived at the house. He's a big college boy now, so he doesn't live at home. While walking down the stairs to greet him I slipped (wood floors+socks= you should probably hold onto the stair rails doofus).

Yes. I fell down the stairs. The scream of surprise came first. My little brothers laughter followed and then was cut short by the sound of "THUD THUD THUD" as various parts of my body made contact with a few stair edges.

The laughter is normal... do you know how many times I and he have slipped on those stairs and yelped but actually never fell? The clumsiness just started to become funny after a while.

Anyway both Mom and little brother came hurdling up the stairs to make sure I was okay. I carefully tested limbs and then stood up to make sure everything was peachy. No serious damage, but there will be some crazy bruises.

It was basically one of those "slip on a banana peel" moments. My feet went right out from under me and I landed on the stairs and just slid the rest of the way down.

And yes, I cried.

Don't judge.

I'm a girl, I can do that.

At least it didn't happen in a public place while wearing a skirt and carrying and armful of books. (That already happened. Crosswalk. University campus. First day of college.)

Anyway.

No news yet about the exact day I'll be arriving back in Korea. I'm hoping to know by next week. I'll keep everyone updated. This time around it's going to be a little different. I plan to do a lot more traveling and going out. Hermiting myself away in my apartment to study didn't do me much good the last go, so I'm gonna change it up a bit.

I hope that everyone had a great 추석 holiday!

Until next post,

~A.

Back To Korea

Hello Readers!

Been a while. Sorry that you haven't seen a post from me recently, no explanation other than that I was just enjoying my time at home and trying to get organized for future escapades.

Speaking of that, I've finally landed a good position. It took a while because I was being really really picky about the location. But, thanks to a wonderful wonderful recruiter (who I will link at the bottom of this post), a position was found and the school wants to hire me just as much as I want to take the position.

There were a lot of teaching positions available to start at the end of November. That's just... not soon enough. I mean, I love being home with my family but I don't have anything to do here. Even getting a part-time job is a nightmare. The second full day I was home I went out and drove around the city picking up applications from numerous places. Turned them all in and got this funny look from the majority.

I'm sure some of you know this look. It's the,

"You're a University graduate with experience overseas and you want a PART-TIME job?"

They knew. In their busy little brains they knew that I wasn't looking for a long-term position and that as soon as something better came along I'd be scooting on out.

But my thought is... DUH! It's a PART-TIME position! Can those people really expect their part-time workers to stay for years and years?! Maybe if it were a full-time position or a managing position. That's different. Those are possible career paths. But part-time? PLEASE.

A year or so ago I was applying for a part-time secretarial position that paid pretty crumily (but seemed interesting!). During the interview they asked me about my future goals and after finding out that I eventually wanted to attend graduate school they politely told me that they were looking for a more perminant fill to the position. I must have stared at them funny because things got kind of uncomortable.

A perminant part-time worker. Well, I guess it's possible. I mean, if someone were paying for my house, my food, my car, and whatever else then sure, I guess I might possibly consider a part-time position as an actual career choice.

THE PLAN

Yes, you all know about 'The Plan'. This thing that keeps changing and evolving. This thing that never stays still!

'The Plan'.

"The Plaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaan."

Anyway.

I've decided to make it a little more basic. Trying to map out all of the little things has become similar to trying to get rocks to float.

1-YEAR GOALS

- Pass TOPIK exam level 3 (at least. Hey, that's right in the middle.)

- Retake GRE and maybe score above "You must be special" on the Math section.

- Launch ELA

I'm sure I'll come up with a few more, but the rest of them that I'm considering making actual goals are a little high reaching for the 1-year plan.

Good News!

I'm coming back to Korea! Oh yes. It's true!

Since getting back to the States I've been searching for another teaching position. It's been hard finding one since I've been so picky on location. I was pretty much refusing to take any jobs outside of this particular area, so getting a job offer was proving difficult.

However! After getting offered a job at a really questionable institute and having to turn it down due to all of the online-black lists this school was archived in, I finally got offered a fantabulous job and I accepted yesterday.

Exciting!

It's looking like I'll be back in Korea in either early or mid October!

Until then I'm going to enjoy my time at home, relax, and eat a lot of ARBY'S chicken salad sandwhiches. Because I missed those.

Well, I'll be sending out another update again, certainly before I head back to the ROK.

Everyone have a great week!

Until next blog,

~A.

Waiting for the Train (er... Plane. Whatever!)

Hello Readers,

Well, I'm sitting in the Narita Airport in Japan, waiting for the flight to Chicago to start boarding. It's already been a long day! But, I was really blessed and lucky to meet a young lady who was on her way to Canada to study abroad. She introduced herself as Kelly. 15 year old Korean middle school student on her way to live abroad, for the first time.

She was very friendly and her English was pretty good considering her age and the fact that she'd never studied abroad before. We had a bit of conversation on the 2 hour plane flight to Narita from Pusan. It was her first time traveling alone and she was really nervous. Our layovers were the same, and she kept asking me questions about what she was supposed to do after landing, so I offered to help her find her flight (we both had 4 hours, plenty of time to wander around). We finally found where she was supposed to be, then went and got her boarding pass. This all took about an hour and a half!

During this time we stopped at the restroom where she picked up a baggage claim receipt off of the floor as a women rushed by. She tried to call after the woman but to no avail. We looked around for her for a while, but then gave up and took the receipt back to the bathroom and placed it on the counter, hoping that if she realized she was missing it she would come back to the bathroom searching.

Amazingly, about an hour later we ran into her coming back towards the bathroom, we got her attention and told her about her missing baggage claim receipt. She was understandably surprised, thanked us, said a quick prayer asking for it to still be in the bathroom where we left it, and ran off.

Narita isn't exactly a small airport. It was a bit of a miracle we ran into her again. So, interesting!

Anyway, it was about an hour until she had to return to her terminal to get her seat assigned for the flight, but she didn't want to stay behind at her empty terminal alone so she came along with me when I went to go get my boarding pass. That turned into an ordeal! There was apparently some problem with some travelers passports and it was taking forever to process them. The line kept getting longer. We were at pretty near the front but still waited for about 40 minutes. After finally getting the tickets, we walked back to her terminal together.

It was nice to makes friends! She was happy to have help getting around, and I was happy for the company of an enthusiastic English student! I believe that she'll do well in Canada. I'm glad I could help her, I certainly wish there'd been someone around to help me the first time I traveled alone (still recalls the numerous episodes of tears after a series of delayed and missed flights that left her stranded in Detroit without a clue in the world what to do).

Anyway, so here I am now, resting, and really wishing to get some sleep soon...

I stayed up too late last night with friends having dinner and singing at Norebang to celebrate my last night living in Hwamyeong. After all that was said and done I came back to the apartment and repacked my stuff and finally climbed into bed at about a quarter to 4. I set my alarm for 6, and finally dragged myself out from under the covers at 6:50.

So, I'm running on about 3 hours of sleep, a twix bar, half a moon pie, a bite of pineapple, a wheat roll, and two or three forkfuls of really really dry horrible chicken from the plane meal that was served on the way to Japan.

Anyway, I'm hungry and tired. That means that I'm getting kind of cranky.

Well, I have another 4 hour layover in Chicago after landing, that gives me plenty of time to get through customs, recheck my baggage, and get my ticket.

Well, they're about to call for passengers to board. So, I'd better close this post here.

I'm sure you'll be hearing from me again soon!

Until next post,

~A.

Change of Plans and Trip Home

Hello Readers!

I am heading back to the USA tomorrow!

There has been quite a drastic change in plans, and instead of being home for 3 weeks and returning at the end of September, I will be staying in the US for over a month and returning to beautiful Korea around the end of October.

The decision was made suddenly, and believe me... it's caused me a lot of turmoil. But, I think that it was the best choice.

Bottom line: I'm leaving Busan. It was a nice stay here in this beach area, but I'm a country girl. Didn't you know? All of the partying, and the traffic, and the overcrowding... that's been gettin' me down. Way down. I've gotta get out.

So I've chosen to relocate my little self to another part of the country that's much smaller (though still quite a city I've heard) and a little less manic. I'll let you know the details close to the time.

I'm going to spend the time at home getting myself together. Unfortunately the school I first worked for greatly tarnished my first experience here in Korea and left me a little shaken. I have no doubt that the next time around will be much better.

Anyway, in the case of me going home for a longer period of time I have to rethink my packing. Since the weather is going to start getting cooler in the states after I arrive, I need to be ready for it.

On a rather sideways note...

I have a very strange feeling inside, and I think that pretty soon there may be trouble coming, but I'm not sure what kind. I just have to keep focused and remember my goals.

Learn Korean

Pass TESOL

Prepare for Graduate School

Be the best woman I can be. (Sound cliche? Well shush. Go count rocks or something.)

But, who knows. Maybe there is no trouble on its way. Maybe I'm just paranoid because this past week has been a gift from Hades.

Well, anyway. This trip home is going to give me time to regroup, pull myself together, and enjoy being around people who love and care for me. That'll be the best rejuvenation.

My flight leaves tomorrow morning. I'll be home by 8pm Sunday the 5th.

I'm excited to see my family and friends!

I'll miss all of you in Korea. Especially you (you know who you are).

But! I'll be back in about 6 weeks, rested, rejuvenated, and ready to tackle a new job!

I'm sure I'll be posting a blog here and there while I'm in the states.

Though, the majority of the bogs I post while I'm Stateside will be found on www.autumnalbutterfly.blogspot.com. So check that out.

Well then. Everyone take care!

Until next post,

~A.