March Madness

I can't believe I haven't written an update for a month! But it has been the busiest month since I arrived. I'll do my best to recap without boring anyone ; )

We started new classes for the new term 4 weeks ago, which has kept me busy at work. I have a lot more prep this term because the curriculum for the intermediate and advanced classes in spring and fall is way more intense than summer and winter, for some reason, so I have to really work on planning out my timing and being ready for questions students will have.

So far I am enjoying this term more than last term. I have more students in some classes, but I have fewer in my beginning classes, and that's been a real blessing because I can give more individualized attention to the students. The upper levels aren't full of rude brats this time, which is an obvious perk, and I have some of the same students I had last term, who I liked (for the most part) so I already know their strengths and weaknesses and can keep honing their skills.

On March 12 and 13 I performed in a comedy sketch show and it was a real success, which was great. The show grew from a group of about 6 of us, back in November, and we wrote the sketches - think SNL - and then workshopped them through January, when we ended up with about 12 or 13 sketches. Then we held auditions and got a group of 12 or 13 actors and actresses and started weekly rehearsals, three times a week. Because of my work schedule I could only attend two rehearsals per week, and they were across town so it took me 40min at least by bus to get there each day (and the same to get back home), so I spent a good deal of time on the bus this past month, which I actually usually enjoy. I like that the buses give you a chance to see the streets of the city and the people going to and fro and whatnot. It makes me feel more alive and present somehow.

Anyway, the show took a lot of work, but it felt amazing to be doing theatre again. I didn't even fully realize how much I missed it until I got started again. I wrote a sketch and contributed to another, which was exciting and terrifying b/c I've never written comedy and was more nervous about the audience laughing at what I wrote than I was about acting. I acted in 5 sketches and died in 1, so I was always getting ready to be onstage or onstage, and it was so invigorating!

I really enjoyed a sketch where I played a hotline operator for an organization called "Foreigners Answering Questions so You'll Understand," and we had three separate sketches with a different caller each time. They all had problems and called me to find out how to solve them and I had a manual and always had really bizarre or frustrating options for them to try to figure out. It was very silly and very fun to pretend to be serious about that job. I got tons of wonderful feedback from friends and audience members for those sketches, which was exciting, too.

In addition to the show, and the new classes, I've been dealing with annoying apartment things. My computer keeps going nuts on me, and I need to get an external harddrive - until then I can't upload any more pictures b/c there's just not room on my disk. So that's been personally driving me nuts and contributes partially to why I haven't updated in awhile - I feel like most of the times I've been on my computer this month it has been to fix something, to delete unnecessary files, or to try to find out if there's something more seriously wrong, like a virus. I've learned a lot of geeky computer stuff from pouring over blogs, which has been interesting, because that's never been something I had any desire to learn more about. Now that I am learning, though, I'm beginning to understand why people get into the field and I'm gaining respect for their work.

On top of my computer, my body has been rejecting me. Not terribly, but I ran out of allergy meds for a few days and it was long enough to throw off my system for the last two weeks or more, which is driving me nuts. I'm mostly recovered, but it's just left me feeling very fatigued and needing more rest. Towards the end of February I was going to yoga 1-2 days a week on the other side of town, and I started Korean classes two mornings a week in the same area, but for the past week and a half I've been too exhausted to make the 45min-and hour trek over there in the mornings. I'm hoping now that the show is done I can get back on track - though it is my birthday this weekend, so I make no promises about getting up early and being productive when I could be lazy and have fun.

The primary culprit behind my heightened allergic state this month - and every month since getting here - is the plastic laminate on my wood floor. From the day I moved in it has bothered me because it has been peeling and breaking off in small plastic filmy pieces since day one of my life in Korea. Unfortunately it took me about 5 months to finally realize that the plastic was causing the inordinate amounts of dust that seemed to accumulate overnight in my apartment. One day, about 5 weeks ago, I was walking across the floor, sunlight streaming in, and watched as flakes of plastic flew into the air of their own accord and promptly disintegrated, re-settling as dust on my bookshelf...and I almost cried. I also told my work that I needed a new apt or my floor needed to be fixed because I had finally realized what was making me so sick. Since then I can't stop thinking about the plastic dust I must have been breathing in for the last six months. I have to dust my apt every single day if I don't want to let dust accumulate, and even then sometimes it shows up. SO finally, the building people are coming this week to put linoleum stuff over my entire floor to stop the problem. If they really come, and it really works, it will probably be the best birthday present I could imagine right now!! If they don't come, then I'll be pretty annoyed, since I had to pack up all of my clothes and most of my knick-knacks tonight since they'll need to manuever around, and if I have to live out of my suitcases for more than a week, including my birthday, it will not be a nice birthday surprise at all.

Anyway, all-in-all life in Korea is probably at it's best right now despite all kinds of March madness. I'm finally feeling like I have a close group of friends who I am getting closer to, thanks to the comedy show, and I'm very comfortable at work as well. I have learned to really appreciate living on my own, and am enjoying getting involved in activities here that bring more meaning and calm and excitement to my life - and yes, I need both calm and excitement! My students mostly bring me happiness and make me feel like I'm doing a good thing being here and helping them learn English. That's something that I've struggled with a lot, but the more I get to know my kids, the more I genuinely care about them and enjoy giving them access to a tool that will make their lives easier in the world today, with English spreading across the world.

I also enjoy being able to learn from them and have real conversations with them sometimes, especially at the upper levels - and feel like maybe I can be a really positive figure in their lives, not just as their English teacher, but as someone they feel comfortable being themselves around, which can be hard to come by sometimes in this culture. Image and beauty and reputation can weigh on these kids a lot, and I try to treat them all as valuable individuals and show them that I want to know about the things that matter to them, not just to be the person giving them homework and teaching them a language which they may or may not care about learning. I hope that by being positive and encouraging that I'm making it a little easier for them to come to class each day, and to face the difficult task of learning a language. Their lives are so full of obligations, and my heart goes out to them because most of them are involved in a million things because their parents want them to be competitive and to get ahead, and they just want to be able to relax once in awhile. I can't imagine what their lives are like sometimes. For a moment, I'll think I can picture it, but really, I can't. So I'm trying to be a less intimidating, less forceful, less demanding person in their lives, while still making sure they, and I, meet the expectations of my school. My favorite part of my day is when I can get students to smile or laugh or loosen up a little.

I guess I should stop there because this is already a ridiculously long post! Hopefully April will be less involved and I'll be able to write more. I've been meaning for months to share more of my reflections about Korea and always forget once I'm at my computer.

Anyways, I'm off to finish cleaning my apt for the floor people, and then I should try to get to bed early. Last night I stayed up til almost 6am watching CSPAN after talking to people on Skype, and got very caught up in the House debate over the bill. In fact, I fell asleep with CSPAN still streaming live and had a crazy nightmare/dream that the bill didn't pass and the Republicans were thrilled and when I did wake up I couldn't remember if my dream was real or not, so I was almost afraid to check the news. Happily, it was only a nightmare, and more Americans will soon have access to the health care they deserve. While I still believe a public option is the only kind of health care plan that is truly humane, I see this as a step in the right direction, and I'm glad that Congress finally succeeded in passing legislation.

On that note, I miss politics daily, and hope no one begrudges me my occasional rant or passionate one-sided discussions (I live alone, so it's not like I have anyone else to play devil's advocate...).
'Til next time: be well, stay safe, and live fully.