Happy Chinese New Year...from Korea!

Greetings and Salutations!

I hope everyone is in good spirits and recovered from inauguration-related fiestas that I only had the pleasure of reading about from afar :) Due to Facebook updates and e-mails from friends in the District, the Latino Gala held in Union Station looked entirely delightful. Heck, J. Lo, Marc Anthony and an array of other spectacular Latinos under one roof sounded like heaven to me, this adopted Latina, shivering in the relentless Korean wind.

Anyway, everything is going very well on my side of the pond. An entire four-day weekend awaits me as the Lunar (or Chinese) New Year is a significant holiday in Eastern cultures. I hope to finish a book I am reading, which is entitled The Geography of Thought, by Richard E. Nisbett. My friend, Won, gave it to me for Christmas, most likely because I ask him why Koreans do what they do. The main idea of the book is that Easterners have a more cyclical method of thought and believe that everything is interconnected. Westerners are seen as making the assumption that we are ultimately in charge of our own destiny and oftentimes do not tie occurances to pre-cursors, for we categorize single events. This book has given me much more insight of Korean culture and helps me understand specific differences between our ways of thinking and perception.

At work (or school), all of the kindergarten students dressed up in their Hanbok, which is traditional Korean clothing. My little Korean babies were so cute in their traditional garb! I seriously need to get a life because even when I am not at work and hanging out with my friends (fellow teachers....which may be part of the problem), we only talk about our students. We discuss what their future professions will be, how they treat other students, who the popular ones are, who has crushes on who and we even pinpoint random Koreans on the metro as future "Mickeys," "Kevins," or "Jinas." Even as I sit at my desk right now, I am able to count five stickers on my clothes from the day's events. In not too long, I am to go out and meet a friend for a glass of wine and thank goodness I caught my animae character, pink cupcake, fuzzy penguin, "Coffee Break," blue fish stickers on my cardigan sweater and a rice particle in my hair. If my neighborhood crowd (I live in a trendy, university area) caught me traipsing out in such a state, I would certainly be shunned and sent back to the local chapter for Soccer Moms.

The weather eased up a bit during this week, but temperatures plummeted yet again today. Yesterday felt so close to spring and then as it always does, reality socked me in the face and caught me on the day I did not wear my gloves to warm my little dedos (fingers). The fellow inhabitants of my apartment building (three other teachers) all had sky high gas bills this month for the increased usage of heat. Oddly enough, my bill has remained at a zero balance ever since I have lived in Korea. I must say that I do shower, heat my apartment and whip up the occassional quesadilla and so I zip my lips avoid all eye contact when the subject arises.

Our building manager is probably my favorite character in all of Korea. He and I have an amiable relationship and if it is that which has been affected my gas bill, so be it, it is survival of the fittest my friends. Mr. Chu is such a bubbly man and he speaks English, so by default, we hit if off. By friends, he is referred to merely as "Chu," and by fellow teachers and myself, "Dragon Breath." After Chu was fixing Greg from Toronto's sink, Greg bestowed upon Chu a bottle of soju (Korean liquor) in grattitude. Immediately after seventy-year-old Chu received the gift, he opened it and took a five-second swig. Ever since this instance, when I run into Chu, he wreaks of soju. That being said, our dear building manager has been coined "Dragon Breath."

I would like to end this entry on a positive note, so I have added a piece of work by my little songbirds, their latest version of Nobody by the Wonder Girls. (The actual video may be found at http://kr.youtube.com/watch?v=YpcxPS-JWv0). We are still tweaking our altos and sopranos, but I wanted to give you all a glimpse of what we do at lunch time.

I hope everyone has a tremendous weekend!

Warmest Wishes for 2009 from Seoul

I would like to wish everyone a Happy, Healthy and Prosperous 2009! In contrast to my previous two New Years spent in Monterrey, Mexico, this one was a bit different to say the least. This is the first year in three years that my dear friend Jonathan Guerrero Zavala was not in the mix. Replacing our tradition of vodka concoctions, Jonathan's Mexican dancing antics, breaking Rose de Reyes bread and Tacos(!) was soju, crazy Koreans in "2009" glasses and a early morning feast of sweet potato French fries and hot dogs. I certainly prefer the former.

Regardless of the differences between celebrating the New Year in the West versus the East, it has been a time of reflection and re-evaluation. I thought about how I ended up in Asia via an incredibly random chain of events (I mean Hello, I was supposed to move to D.C. to be close to my friends or to Mexico to live the...er My "Mexican Dream"). Although it is rare when I sit and consider all that I am grateful for and what has been accomplished in my life, I had the chance at the beginning of this year. My family is wonderful and pretty hilarious, but I have been so fortunate with all they have provided for me, particularly their support. Half of the opportunities I've had in my life by the age of 22 were never in the reach of my parents when they were young. I would also be at a loss without my sister, Rachel, and brother, Chris. We have an excellent relationship between all of us...as long as Rachel and I are not sharing a bed room over the summer where our "A" and "B" type personalities collide.

Our family holds a video chat at about 9 p.m. EST each Saturday evening. We chat about everything from hot local issues (generally involving tax levies, pipelines and Wooster FINALLY getting something so basic as Panera Bread) to what delicious morsels they grazed on at the Denbow Family Christmas. Rachel and Chris missed me so much this year that they cropped me into a photo from the soiree including them and Cousin Curt. My grandparents are getting older and now rather than hosting our family Christmas at their home, they have it in the basement of their church. That place is as cold as the dickens, referred to as "The Dungeon" by some, but it's always nice to see our family and discuss how we have grown so fast and yes, we (the kids) can drive cars now.
The Christmas party at school was the epitome of chaos. I swear, after each "party," I thank the Lord on High that it is a one year contract. Toward the end of the day, "Santa" came bearing gifts for the students. The documentation of this event is as follows: At this point, I about had it and was so close to signing my name on the bottom line for a hysterectomy. Rex landed a bloody nose about five minutes before the photo, hence the tissue stuffed in his left nostril. Denis rocked the Yuletide cheer by throwing up a peace sign, although the classroom had reached the absolute threshold of hell because during our "party," Amy threw a toy car at Sarah's eye. Teddy is in love with Sarah so he voiced his disdain for Amy (similar to the NASA love triangle). I'm happy to say that families with nine children are uncommon in middle-class, Western societies, which gives me hope.

The break from teaching Armadillo Class was a godsend. I finally got my hair cut and had to do so because my brother, Chris, repeatedly referred to me as having "Charlie Manson" hair when he saw me on the web cam. Two friends and I spent Christmas Day in watching National Lampoon's Christmas Vacation, Home Alone and Napoleon Dynamite. It was so nice to catch up on some classic film. Well, as for everyone else, it's not all play. Hopefully, I will feel refreshed as I return to teach more of the alphabet and not wish that I had booked a one-way and fled in the middle of Christmas night. You must understand that Korea is great, however teaching Kindergarten to nine screaming children is not my calling. I am not Mother Theresa.

I send my best wishes to you all and wish you the best in the upcoming year!