I’ve decided to spice things up by titling my journal entries with random song lyrics that may or may not apply to the rest of the entry but are at least more interesting than any titles I come up with on my own. I’m also thinking of inserting a “Quote of the day” section. We’re getting daring (or bored?) here in Hongsan!
Today’s selection is from a book I bought yesterday in Seoul called The Historian. It’s—predictably—a historical thriller, perhaps along the lines of The Da Vinci Code, about vampires. It’s pretty interesting so far. This is what the author has to say about travel:
“As an adult, I have often known that peculiar legacy time brings to the traveler: the longing to seek out a place a second time, to find deliberately what we stumbled on once before, to recapture the feeling of discovery. Sometimes we search out again even a place that was not remarkable in itself—we look for it simply because we remember it. If we do find it, of course, everything is different. The rough-hewn door is still there, but it’s much smaller; the day is cloudy instead of brilliant; it’s spring instead of autumn; we’re alone instead of with three friends. Or, worse, with three friends instead of alone.” (p. 93)
I am usually hesitant to explore completely new places on my own because I get a little overwhelmed with all the newness, but once I am a bit familiar with a place, there’s nothing I like better than seeking out the new within the comforts of the old. This is particularly true recently with my travels to Seoul. I have been there so many times now, but I always find something new and exciting each time. Last time, I would have to say the jewel was the tofu restaurant, and the time before, the artsy cinema. I feel like an explorer, finding these little gems off the beaten path.
I forgot that I had been instructed last weekend to modify an entry made back in December. My friend Janaki informed me that she wasn’t shocked by Hongsan; she was merely glad I was the one there, and not any of the other Fulbrighters who most likely would have ended their lives by now. Does that make me adaptable and optimistic, or just delusional, to be happy in such a place?
Today I accomplished many things.
1. I completed my new morning workout routine of TKD kicks and stretching for the first time since before I left on my trip in January. It took immense willpower to not continue reading all morning, but I did it! But then I was late for breakfast and my host mom made the kids wait for me…oops.
2. I read some more Korean history. If I keep up this pace, I can be done with it in three weeks, which is pretty good considering it took me five months to get halfway through. I went crazy over Christmas and read it every day.
3. I talked to my friend Caitie, who I hadn’t spoke to since the beginning of October. We’re always making plans to talk, but they always fall through. It was good to hear a familiar voice and realize I haven’t lost touch with ALL of my fellow graduates.
On the negative side, I missed an im from my baby sis and she signed off before I could reply. I am a bit distraught over this—what if it was important?!?
4. I wrote some emails to friends and I only have two more to reply back to from my trip. Excellent! I hate having emails in my inbox, staring me in the face, making me feel guilty for not replying. I always mean to be a better communicator and start writing back right away, but this resolution has never stuck and with internet access limited on my trip, it just didn’t work out.
5. I went on a run this afternoon for the first time since November, I believe. I was really slow, but I feel nice and sore now and I’m really glad I did that. I want to start running every day again to ward off the advances my host mom’s cooking makes on my waistline. I refuse to get fat from rice, of all things.
6. I studied my Korean for a bit today. Granted, it wasn’t much and I only reviewed a bit I supposedly learned before, but it’s more than I’ve done in months and I intend to pick this up again. It’s pretty pathetic that I’ve been here for almost eight months now and I still know so little Korean. I was gone the last two months, but still…I owe it to my family, my fellow teachers, and myself to become more fluent...or fluent at all.
I’m happy I got so much done today and still managed to relax and enjoy the tail end of my vacation. Too bad I am planning to do all the same things, every day, in addition to full-time teaching once school starts. I am so crazy sometimes.