2003-09-12 - 11:35 p.m.

A Bunch of Entries

Sunday, August 31, 2003 - I've been giving serious thought to packing up and going to the states. Two more visa runs will cost nearly as much as a one-way ticket to New York. If I stay here, I lose my household furnishings in Vassalboro. I also feel a need to do something in the quest to reverse the corporate rape of American democracy. It's starting to sound like a mix of The Handmaid's Tale and 1984.

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Mon., Sept. 1,'03 [15:20] _ Heading home after a couple hours of gabbing with Cho. He's feeling down because his latest TOEFL score was lower than the previous one, he's undergoing a med change, and Dar died. (We are all sad about this. Dar was a beacon light of love and wisdom in the Fellowship.)

We talked about our hopes and dreams: His are to go to law school in the U.S. and to have a home outside the city. I agree, also want a country home (a place to retire) and to do some travelling before I get too old. I'd like to see the world! ...New Zealand, Australia, the foothills of the Himalayas, the plains north of the Black Sea, Brazil, Patagonia, Tibet, Tuva... (Gina and I may go to India next year. We've discussed it.)

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Tues., Sept. 2,'03 - On my way to the "dog and pony show" at the charity place,- our twice-yearly recruiting drive aimed at the mothers of Ship Sam Dangee. All the teachers of preschool to adult ed line up and give a short sales pitch for their courses. We all get to hear welcoming addresses by the president of the charity place and other officials. It's pretty dry. Sometime I'll have to come up with a performance that's more exciting than an oral syllabus with Cho translating.

I suppose I could pop open my rainbow umbrella and invite them to all come stand under it with me. That's one thing the 5 year-olds have come to expect. On rainy days, they call for "Teachah" to "open umbrella," so I twirl it and we have a group hug.

Later--- I did it! Not the group hug, but opening the umbrella on stage. (That's not a taboo here, like blowing your nose in public. That goes over like a fart in church.)

Cho and I are passing notes because the speaker is droning on so long (45 minutes and counting).

Give her the hook! Pull her offstage.

Boring!

Women seem to be interested in makeup so much, rather than learning English as well as any other things.

She just doesn't know enough to stop. By the looks of these women, they are as bored as we are.

You hit the right on the head of nail.

She can't see the women; her ego is in the way. ...self-will run riot.

She seems to be in a high mood. Let her go and be.

She probably had a lot of coffee.

Ha. She'll be so that she can't go to the bed like I did the day before yesterday.

If she teaches like that, no one will want to go to class.

She is talking about removing fat now. A doctor she thinks she is!

I'll bet Mrs. Kim wishes she hadn't asked her to talk.

Wishes!

[14:20] (Waiting for a train at Doksan Station.) Eventually she stopped, after Kim Jah-oak walked up to the second podium, picked up the live mike and stroked it, just barely audibly.

That pushed lunch back to 1 p.m. We all went to a traditional place in Gwangmyeung and had a great feed: doenjangjiggay (spicy tofu and clam chowder) and a bowl of steamed purple rice with beans and veggies, the giant seafood fritter that some call Korean pizza, as well as many side dishes, including sesame-flavoured dandelions, sweet potato fritters, fried pressed-tofu strips with kimchi and sesame oil and new potatoes sauted in a sauce that tasted a little like teriyaki. It was worth the wait.

I sat next to Eemin who speaks perfect unaccented American English. She's the only one in the office who will own up to speaking English, although I learned at lunch that Shing Tong and Mr Choi speak enough to tell jokes for my benefit. We were a merry group!

The charity place has rotated management staff again. We have a new Prez and office manager, though Jah-oak seems to do most of the actual organising of day-to-day labours there. My theory is that they want their managers to be loyal to the organisation, not to the people who do the front-line work. It's hard to develop your workers' trust under those conditions,- switching offices like musical chairs every 6 months.

What with schmozing with potential students and the charity staffers, Cho and I were pretty worn out by 2 p.m. He took me to the bank for rent money and to the train station. I had better than average luck finding seats at each train-transfer, too. though I made sure to stand up well before we got to my stop. I have a tendency to fall asleep on the train when I'm tired. I did not want to have to backtrack!

Soon's I got out of my dressy clothes, I rolled out the bedding and slept the sleep of the just. How sweet it was. I'm still catching up from the bout of insomnia on the weekend.

G'nite.

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Wed., Sept. 3,'03 (16:45) On the bus to Incheon International Airport to meet Jim's plane. He should be landing about now, but this was the earliest bus I could get. I read his e-mail at 13:25, but it took me until 14:26 to get the data on when his flight was due to arrive. I went from Doksan to Incheon via the train and met a co-ed who commutes from Seoul to Incheon. She took me to the Bus Terminal (3 stops past her station) and found the correct ticket booth for me. "Call me Gina," she said by way of introduction. She's studying to become a social worker, with a strong minor in her first love, English Literature.

Speaking of English, I had a swarm of ladies show up for my class. Many of last semester's students returned and most brought one or two friends. Must have been 14 gals. I didn't get an accurate count, but we filled all the chairs at the front tables and had to bring more from the back of the room.

Later - "Long story short:" Jim and I missed connecting. We both had a slow and tedious ride into our respective parts of the city and arrived home late. He is staying with Angelo until he finds an apartment.

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Since then, Jim and I have had some good times together. It's really great to have him here again, although he is only here to complete his contract. He plans to leave around New Year.

There are more entries to post from my paper journal, but they will just have to wait. It's "one-ay-em" and I need to hit the hay.

Thanks for reading.

Happy Trails!

~ Sil in Corea

P.S. I've just gained access to my old pre-Corea diary. It's probably the best place to put stories about my past in Maine and whatever family history I can dredge up from "the little grey cells." In memory of 9/11, this is the entry I made.

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