One More Week...

until:

• summer camp finishes. It's been a really good camp. Sometimes the pace is so fast I feel like there isn't even time to breathe in class. This summer has been one notch slower (at a ten, instead of the usual eleven). I've had a great bunch of students, a fair number of whom are going back to the US or international school, so I won't be teaching them in the fall.


• my sister goes home. I've had so much fun getting to know her. She was in elementary school when I moved to Korea, so we've never spent much time together. I'm going to miss her when she's gone. Maybe she'll come back next year... (she's writing progress reports at the moment, which may put her off the idea).


• my vacation. Yes, I get paid more than I would teaching in Louisiana, but I get two measly weeks off per year, not consecutive or at times of my choosing. I'm not taking a trip, but I may go to a hotel for a night or two to "get away".
  
• my last dental visit!!! I saved the best for last. I went yesterday and got my last old filling removed and had another small cavity filled (this week's gift). I'm pretty sure I've paid for everything now. The grand total: a hair over 2,000,000 won (in the neighborhood of $2200-2300). For that I got six crowns (two porcelain caps, the rest big gold fillings-- not the kind that go over the sides of the tooth), all (and there were many) old fillings replaced (so the gold will no longer be making the silver jealous), a small filling, more cleaning than one person should ever need, and the gum line raised over one tooth. Not quite the bargain of the $30 root canal I had the last time I went to the dentist (1998, ahem), but I'll gratefully take it.

Well, that's enough rambling. Without further ado, here are some random photos (photographic rambling, in other words).

This is the side door at a big Buddhist temple we went to yesterday. The small yellow sign says, "Don't pray here." You know, in case you thought the boxes of snack food were a new style of Buddha.

This was at both main doors to the temple. I thought they were supposed to be humble...

This is a swatch of the Eternity yarn from MCY. It is way more beautiful than their photo, which makes me think I should have ordered more at the time, because reorders will probably look different. It's a bit brighter than in the photo, with shades of blue that range from green-y teal to slightly violet periwinkle. I'm going to knit a scarf and will hopefully have enough. This swatch is using 3.5mm needles, so that should give me a little extra knit fabric.

This is Flag Man. He was spotted across the street from the US Embassy here in Seoul. His bag says, "I love the flag." It was the weekend before Korean Independence Day, so that may have had something to do with it. I hope.

These are Mama's socks. I finished them Monday or Tuesday, but didn't have my camera or forgot to take a pic when Anne was over here. They really aren't uneven, my sister has a different shoe size than Mama. As you can see, they are cousins, not twins, but I hope that will be seen as rustic or quaint, which Mama generally likes. The sock on the left has way more gray in it. The skeins are three-play with each ply being variegated different colors, but somehow several areas in that skein were gray on all three plies for surprisingly long (a centimeter or more in sock length each).

At Last

My yarn arrived from MCY. Yes, a mere 2 months and change after I paid (airmail) for it. It's even more beautiful than the photo, so they are redeemed. Anne still has my camera and it's so pretty, I rolled it up immediately. I'm old school (and down with the urban lingo-- hee) so it's not in a pretty cake so much as a lumpy ball. You'll have to wait for a progress shot.

I'm knee deep in progress reports once again. Okay, I've only got about 20 to write, but they are long. (Cue violin.) Next week is the last week of summer camp, so I have to finish them and about a dozen essay corrections before Monday. I'm not sure which is worse. Teaching essay format to fifth grade ESL students is not the cake walk you might think.

Despite the actual work-related work I have, I'm guessing I'll still manage to get something cast on in the next few days. The color repeats are only about two feet, so unfortunately I think socks would pool and flash in a way that would upset me greatly. I'm thinking a nice lacy scarf...

***
Current Ravelry number: 2787.

***
Update: Anne and I are having a showdown tomorrow sometime between 9 AM and noon (when my student who thinks we should be enemies will be there.) I'm sharpening my fingernails and doing hand yoga for maximum hair-pulling ability. ;-)

Is it wrong to love my dentist?

As usual, I went to the dentist this past Saturday. I think I'm going to start calling it my weekend home. My dentist is so nice! He actually seems sorry that my teeth are in such bad shape, like it's his fault and not mine that I've only been to the dentist three times since my parents stopped paying for it. (Okay, I'm considering each round of visits to be one time, but you know what I mean.)

Each time I've gone, he's given me a better discount. First it was 25-30% (each item was discounted separately). This last time-- 50%! I think he is telling me that I need less work than he is actually doing, too (to make me feel better????). Twice now he has clearly said that he was going to work on two teeth and then worked on three.

Not only does he do more work than he says, he gives me some service for free each time. The first three times, it was scaling. (Hopefully, no one is eating while reading that my teeth had to be scaled three times. Gross, I know.) This past time, he raised the gum line on a tooth that had a lower gum line than all the others.

I want to get my teeth whitened, but I kind of don't want to bring it up. I mean, what if he's giving me this great deal because he thinks I can't afford it, then I ask about a vanity procedure that costs $800? Or, what if he thinks I'm expecting a deal on it, too? Hmmm. I'll have to talk to his niece and she what she thinks.

I thought this was the last bunch, but his assistants kept asking him about another tooth and he told them he'd do it "next time". At any rate, if he works on the tooth I think they must have been talking about, he will have replaced all of my existing fillings (most of which were from the late 70s to early 80s and therefore past their use-by dates) as well as put in the new ones.

Running total- a hair under $2000.

Next time, I promise non-dental content. I finished my mother's socks, but my sis still has my camera.

Oh, yeah. Speaking of my sister, I was tutoring a student today and he mentioned that he wanted to go to Sapporo. I off-handedly said that Sapporo is far from Tokyo which surprised him that I knew. So I told him that my sister (in the next classroom over)'s father is from Japan, since that's more interesting than "I can look at a map".

This lead to a very long discussion of how it is possible that we have different fathers (far too long for a teenager who lives most of the year in San Diego, but whatever). When he finally accepted that it could be possible, he asked me how I could be friends with her. Anne and I are thinking of having a Dynasty-style hair-pulling cat fight for his benefit. Hee.

Three Down, Two to Go

Yep, summer camp is flying by. Only two weeks to go. On the upside, I'll get a week off. On the downside, my sister will be going home.

When she first got here, she asked me to teach her to knit socks. Then she started work and asked me to knit her a pair of socks. So, this is what she's getting:

I love the pattern, although I altered the stitch count (down to 56 stitches) and reversed the pattern on the second sock, so the waves are mirrored. It's so fast, I've made three socks this week. Two for her and one for Mama. Last year, I saw some yarn that she would love and made her a pair of socks. Which I then fell in love with and kept. So, here is another pair in the same yarn which my sister will take home with her.

In case you are wondering about the yarn, it is German, but I can't find it online in English. It's three-ply with each ply a different color variegation. Squee!

A bit of sock trivia: I knit both pairs in the same pattern and the pink ones are one size larger. Here are the left-overs (originally 50g balls). The pink (it just looks purple because of the light) one is still thick enough to possibly make another pair with contrasting toes and heels. The other would not have been enough to do one more pattern repeat.

As usual, life is pretty much consumed by work (when not pretending that knitting counts as sleep) during summer camp. So, in lieu of exciting and/ or interesting things going on, here are some random photos.
First up, a fobby notebook cover. I didn't even need a notebook, but I am powerless to resist anything that raises nonsense to such an art.

Next, after years of not having my camera in the right place at the right time, or being held back by things like "manners" and "societal norms", I have a picture of a dancing girl. Sometimes it's good to be a crazy foreigner.

Why, one might ask, is she dancing? To announce the opening of a new seafood restaurant, of course. Dancing girls are de rigueur to open a business here. They work in pairs, so they can take turns dancing enthusiastically and dancing half-heartedly while pretty clearly mentally spending the money they are earning.

My sister is the faux subject of the photo there on the left. She jumped in at the last second, possibly embarrassed that I was standing on a bench to get a better shot. She hasn't been here long enough to really revel in being a crazy foreigner. Unfortunately, the half-hearted one is behind her, so you'll just have to imagine a nearly identical girl who looks as though she may actually die of boredom.

Finally, a rather poor shot of the place at the mall where they film people playing computer games with a live audience. Really. My battery died, so I couldn't get a shot of the two players or the multiple cameras, but they were all there, in front of a surprisingly large, enthusiastic audience.



It's just the entrance, because I think you had to pay to get in. If you look at the guy in line, you can see the velvet ropes (or nylon belts as the case may be.) So, people waited in line and got tickets for this. To see people sitting in chairs. Playing computer games. It's a regular thing, too because there are two TV stations that play the games. Next week's schedule: Silent Reading Marathon-- see how the pros do it. Get your tickets now.


***
I am #3373 on the Ravelry list. Is that getting closer, or am I kidding myself? I'll just console myself that there are 12,490 people that signed up after me. Franklin (Panopticon) is only about 300 slots ahead of me proving that Ravelry is not giving preferential treatment as, apparently, some people have suggested.

How do I bear the excitement of my life?

Summer intensive "camp" is rolling right along. Two weeks down, three to go. My sister's doing a great job. The summer schedule can be overwhelming, but she's really thrown herself into it.

I'm making her a pair of fuchia Tidal Wave socks in Silky Baby Lambs. I love the pattern, but hate the yarn. I made an entire sock between yesterday afternoon and this morning, taking time out to read a 200 page book for class. No pics, because she's borrowing my camera-- I'll post one when I give them to her.

I'm also working on a print o the wave stole in Cherry Tree Hill sock yarn, an autumnal colorway. It's very pretty yarn and the pattern is pretty easy, but I don't think I'm going to have enough yarn. So, I may rip it and reknit it in Helen's Laces Gold Hill which is almost the same color.

So, that's pretty much my exciting week.

Oh, I went to the dentist (aka my second home) yesterday. The gold crowns weren't what I think of as crowns, more like big fillings, which is a good thing, since I now have five, not four like they told me. Getting them put in took an hour and a half or so, so I'll get the final two (porcelain) next week. So, no money spent this week. The third (and hopefully final) bout of scaling was "a gift".

I got a bonus when I stashed the cash I had to pay the dentist (no personal checking in Korea)-- I found about $200 from a previous dentist visit that I had forgotten about.

MCY has redeemed itself

I got an email this morning (Sunday!) from Erica at MCY letting me know she is sending me the skein of Eternity right away.

It's my 100th post

Okay, so I missed my blog-aversary, but I noticed that this will be my 100th post, so there you go, your daily dose of random and useless information.

"Is that all the random and useless information you have?" you ask? Of course not.

Today was part two of the ongoing dental saga. I got one crown fitted, the other one was made improperly, so it has to be remade. I also got more scaling, because they hadn't done it all last time (unspoken message, "because your teeth were that gross"). I also got prepped for the next two crowns. Today's bill: 860,000 won ($900). Total to date: 1.36M ($1500).

Apparently, what I paid last time was just for the prep work, or something, so today I paid the remainder of the first two crowns and the first part of the second two. These will be gold due to the weakness of my teeth, or something like that. They are in the back, so I hope the gleam doesn't blind anyone. The other two will be ceramic. Period. They are the first two molars, there for all the world to see, and the world will not be seeing a metallic smile on my face.

So, halfway-ish done.

I still have not gotten an update on my "misplaced order" from MCY, since Monday. I've kind of given up hope. Unfortunately, I ordered it in mid-June, so eBay's 30 day window to get a refund has long since passed. I may still try.

Finally, as of today, there are 4701 people ahead of me on the Ravelry invite list. You can check your position here. I didn't sign up for over a month after I heard about it, because I thought it was about to be out of beta (so everyone could get in). By the time I decided I should go ahead and join, there were over 5000 people ahead of me, with about 100 getting invites each day.

That's about all the random, useless stuff going on here on the peninsula.

Phlox Fans Fini and MCY Needs Customer Service

First the good:

I finished the phlox fans I've been working on for two weeks. Pretty sad for such short socks, but I've been busy.

Then the bad:

I haven't been so busy that I haven't noticed the lack of MCY yarn in my mailbox. I sent them an email about it, as they suggested if the yarn didn't arrive in a timely manner. Their turn around time on customer service requests? A mere five days. The reply let me know that the person who did that wasn't in. The person who DOES do that emailed me he following day, to let me know she had no record of my order. I emailed her the details and haven't heard back. It's only been two days, so I should probably hear back Monday. The third Wednesday in September at the latest.

The silver lining, I suppose, is that I got the skein I really wanted. And that I'll be less tempted by their beautiful yarns since it has turned out to be a gamble if the yarn will ever arrive. (Yay! Saving money!)

I'll finish this with some more good:

A teacher decided to take another job after her summer vacation (okay, that's bad-- I really enjoyed working with her, but I digress), so my sister got an apartment to stay in while she's here. So she'll be much less likely to go home complaining about how psycho I am. I *may* be a little hard to live with.

Don't Rub My Buddha Belly

So my coworkers and I went out to dinner on Friday to celebrate the end of the semester and to say goodbye to one of the teachers and as we were paying, the proprietor and his friend wanted to shake my hand (only). They decided that my hand was cold and kept taking turns shaking it.

They then proceeded to give me some advice at length about how I needed to get some herbal medicine to fix my intestines so my hands would stop being cold. To emphasize the point, one of them rubbed my stomach. Really. Just put his hand on my and rubbed in a circle.



I sometimes feel like Korea is becoming Western so fast that in some ways it doesn't really feel Korean anymore, but that felt 100 percent Korean. My sister arrived safely last weekend and on Tuesday we celebrated Korean Constitution Day by going to Kyungbokkung Palace in Seoul. This is us in front of the lake. It was a great day. We saw a reenactment of the changing of the guard and she got to see some traditional Korean architecture.



This is the backside of the changing of the guard with downtown Seoul in the background.

Yesterday, at the KOTESOL meeting, I was told by a Korean member that I was suitable for a "Korean gentleman". The reason for this odd pronouncement? I was cleaning the tables before the other members arrived. So, apparently, the only qualification she thinks Korean men are looking for is a woman who cleans. Well, sign me up! Goodness knows all I'm looking for in a man is someone who wants a maid.

***

The current pair of Elann socks I'm working on, the purple ones, are getting pretty close to done. I'll post a pic of the completed pair next time.

I haven't really had any knitting time this week. The regular session ended at school and the new one starts tomorrow, so I've had progress reports and lesson plans. I took a morning class last month and was presented with a four page (front and back!) progress report to complete for each student. To be honest, I don't have eight pages to write about the students I've been teaching for the last six months, much less students I've taught for 4-5 weeks. So, I've been trying to improve my BS skills.

I keep getting more and more jealous of the people who got in on the Mystery Stole KAL. I don't know how I didn't hear about it, but I missed the sign up deadline by one day. Now that people are posting photos of their WIPs, I'm even more upset than I was. At least she'll be posting the pattern when it's all over. It would just be fun to be doing it with everyone else.

Waiter! I'll have a lukewarm broth and a water, hold the ice.

So, I finally had my dental appointment, after only three weeks of obsessing and mentally tallying the obscene amount of work I would need.


My director has a brother (or some kind of family) with a dental practice, so I went to see him. Foreigners don't get the dental portion of the national health care, so I just wanted to go to a dentist that would let me have a payment plan other than cash up front. I guess that point was really stressed that when the appointment was made, because they gave me a 30% discount and let me know which procedures were emergency and which could be done "over time". They were also very nice about my crap teeth and the unreasonable length of time since I last had them cared for.


So, today I got two crowns. I need four more, plus a couple regular fillings. You're probably thinking, "Six crowns! Eek!" however, notice the lack of implants. Not only are the teeth I thought were goners in fact salvageable, I didn't even lose part of a tooth (which started this whole thing). An old filling fell out, but it was a big filling, so it felt like I was missing some tooth.


I also got my teeth scaled, which is all the back of my lower front teeth needed-- no Granny grill for me just yet.


In fact, the worst part of today was the warning that, until the permanent crowns are all in place, I am not to have:
1. hot foods
2. cold foods
3. sticky foods
4. hard foods

Ummmm...okay, warm yogurt it is.


While I was traveling to and from the dentist, I finished the first sock of my third pair using the Elann Espirit. The two I have finished are very comfy and the perfect height for the weather (just tall enough to peek out of my shoes). This pair is Phlox and African Violet. Sorry for the shadow, Knievel was making sure there were no escape attempts and he would not be moved from his post.

It's not a datedate (American title: Eeeek! Is it too late to lose twenty pounds by Friday?!)

A coworker is setting me up on a non-date (I don't need the pressure of a date-date) with a church friend of hers. I'm not sure I'm ready for a blind date, something about first date+doofus=many opportunities for embarrassment=stress.

He's a computer game designer (employed!) who looks to be in his mid-30s to mid-40s. I've only seen one pic and am horrible at guessing ages (I recently found out a friend I thought was "my age-ish" is my mom's age-ish). She assures me there is no obvious reason for him to be single.

I'll keep you posted. Let's just hope it's not the train wreck it could be. I have some suspicion that she may think we would be a good match based on the fact that we're the two oldest people in her circle of friends...

***

Yesterday, the DHL guy finally tracked me down after three unsuccessful attempts. I thought it was the MCY yarn I'm still waiting for, but it was... (cue the trumpets) the 2008 Knitting Pattern a Day calendar. With my pattern. There are some cute patterns and one pair of socks (at least) that I will be making. There are quite a few sock patterns. I think this calendar is improving with each year. Nary a garter stitch scarf pattern to be found. ;-) Scroll down to get info on how you can contribute a pattern to next year's edition. (Yes, I'm too lazy to link to it. It was only last week, you can scroll that far.)

Still haven't gotten that second skein of yarn from MYC. It's in the post, though, so that can't be controlled. Just for the record, I got a very polite email from them letting me know that it had been posted and thanking me for my business and asking me to contact them if it hadn't arrived in two weeks (that will be Thursday) since it was sent 1-5 day (domestic) mail. Since the label is in English, I'll give them through the weekend.

I'm going to be an aunt! (for the fifth time)

My brother told me today that he and his wife are expecting their second child. It's hard to believe that they were once planning not to have children.

Even though it will be my fifth niece/ nephew, it makes me feel old when my siblings have milestones like this. My youngest brother just graduated from high school. Even though he was born after I was grown and gone, not having any siblings still in school makes me feel older (uni students are adults, after all). It makes me feel ESPECIALLY old that I was grown before he was born and now he's grown, too.

It also makes me feel old when one of my coworkers complains because "creepy old guys" keep asking her out. "Old" being... my age, give or take a year or two. Granted she's over ten years younger than me and at her age I wouldn't have dated guys my age. Still, I don't think I ever told coworkers that their age was old and gross. I hope I didn't. Well, okay, I'm pretty much a doofus with limited social graces, so I probably did, at some point, say something along those lines, but that was different-- it wasn't me that was old/ creepy. And let's not forget that at my birthday party last month, fewer candles were put on the cake than my actual age, to be "polite". You know, because pointing out that my age is no longer mentionable is polite.

Confessions of a People Watcher

It's true, I love to people watch and, you know, people snark, if you know what I mean. So, I've been wandering around the neighborhood my school is in during my lunch break in order to not feel like I'm stuck there for 12 hours a day.

Here are some random shots I've gotten this week. Fortunately, I'm a foreigner and therefore, crazy, so I can take photos of strangers. :-)

These two guys are sitting in the windowless space at a gutted bar enjoying their lunch hour. This gives you a teeny tiny taste of construction safety standards here. They are working on a place that is a "live" and "talking" bar. In actual English, that means there will be live music and opportunities to hook up (IE talking to strangers).

These guys were under the overpass on the river walk I take to get home. As you can see, they are practicing the violin for their lunch break.

Finally, this math school is an example of the "English" one can find on signage here. "Look! We're sophisticated and trendy! Study here!" (On the off chance that "criteria combing of math" is an actual thing, please edumacate me.)

Now one from home. The one skein of MCY yarn that I won on eBay that actually arrived. The other still hasn't arrived (ten-ish days later) because eBay and PayPal sometimes suck. It took about 8,000 emails to get it straightened out and having to re-explain it each time has made me not want to go into it again. I'll just say, all's well that ends well. Of course, I still don't have the yarn, so it hasn't actually ended well yet.

You, too can be a calendar girl/ boy

I received this email about the 2009 Pattern A Day Calendars:

Hi,My name is Susan Ripley and I am gathering knitting and crochet patterns for the 2009 Pattern-A-Day Calendars from Accord Publishing. You were on our list of last year’s contributors and I am contacting you today in the hopes that you will submit a pattern or hang the attached flyer somewhere in your store or post it to your website / BLOG / PODCAST to let your friends and customers know about the design contest and the chance to get their designs published. You could also email the flyer if you have a mailing list.

Patterns are accepted from individuals, shops, charities and yarn companies. There are no restrictions and the patterns can also be something that is currently being distributed for free.Some of the yarn shops that have worked with us in the past have also offered fun pattern design/writing classes. This is a great way to get customers into your store while taking advantage of this great contest.

$500 will be awarded as First place for both calendars; there are also 2nd and 3rd place prizes; and all contributors whose patterns are used will receive a 2009 calendar. Please go to our website at http://www.knittingpatternaday.com and learn more about the submission requirements and our contest.

The deadline is December 15th, but early submissions are appreciated. If you have any questions, please contact me and I will gladly answer your questions. If your email program stripped the PDF, you can download the flyer at
http://knittingpatternaday.com/images/designcontest.pdf
Thanks,
Susan Ripley

The contribution process is pretty straightforward-- you just fill out a form and attach the pattern and photos. You can even mail it in, if you aren't comfortable with electronic submission. The only thing is, they don't tell you if your submission is accepted unless you win a prize. They post a list on their website.

I Do NOT Heart My Teeth

Mama, if you are reading this, stop now, please. Really. It's for your own good.

So, it's been a while since I've been to the dentist. Since 1998, to be exact. Let me explain. I have really bad teeth. I know, some might say that's a reason to go more often to the dentist, but those people obviously have good teeth.

I brush. I floss. Yet each trip to the dentist involves a) one or more fillings and b) the dentist getting mad at me like I haven't brushed my teeth since the last time I saw him. So, I did the adult thing once I became an adult. I stopped dealing with it.

It's worked out really well until now. Now being when I bit into some hummus on a tortilla and felt a crunch. The crunch being a small (but not that small) piece of my back molar. As I tried in vain to check out the damage, I noticed a minefield of ominous looking spots and one little hole. Basically, my mouth looks like a before on a reality makeover show.

Since I'm working 9-8:30 right now, I can't go to the dentist until Saturday (which my insurance doesn't cover, thanks for asking). So, until then, I'm going to be crapping myself over just how painful this is going to be. That's a little pun, see, because it's going to be expensive and light on painkillers, Korean-style. "Novocaine, you don't need no stinking Novocaine!"

It's not a great start to The Year of Saving Money.

I Heart Elann

The Elann yarns I gave myself for my birthday arrived in record time (less than a week). I know I said I was over self-striping yarn (and in fact have been leaning towards *gasp* semi-solids lately), but the whole bag was $20. They literally made me an offer I couldn't refuse. I also got two balls each of Esprit solid with one matching ball of variegated. Man are those balls small. I forgot to take into account the larger gauge. I intended to use the yarn for anklets (cotton=summer), but I had thought I could squeeze two pair per three balls.



Hot off the needles are the first FO using that yarn. I'm calling them Mad Cowabungas because of the retina searing shade of blue. The Elann color name is Caribbean Surf and it is way brighter than the photos. Perfect for summer!

I made them two pattern repeats shorter than the actual pattern and I believe I do have enough for another pair, maybe just randomly throwing in a round or two of the variegated. I've got about a third of the ball left with one plus a mini-golf ball of the solid. Hmmm... what next? The Phlox or the Indigo Gold? Despite a fair amount of purple in my wardrobe, I don't have any purple socks, so that may be the way to go.

Perhaps I should get some housework done first. Or at least determine and eradicate the cause of the odd, but clearly cat-related, odor I've been ignoring for the past hour or two.

Korea Hearts Dong (Poop) and Other Random Photos

I'll start with my final birthday purchase, which was actually a spur of the moment buy. They were $12, so a little pricey for a street purchase, but this is a product I have long wished existed. So, when I found out they really DO exist, I had to have them.

Yes, they are dust mop slippers. You're jealous, aren't you? Now I can channel my inner Apolo Anton Ohno as I clean my floors like this. ;-) The dust mop-y part is velcroed on, so I can wash/ replace them. What a perfect marriage of frugality and luxury. "Luxury" because my full-sized dust mop didn't cost $12. Of course, I can't speed skate with a mop, or use it for any Olympic sports for that matter, except fencing or javelin, and I've found those to be inferior sports for floor cleaning.

Next up is a statue I saw in Seoul. I don't know if you'll be able to see it, but the woman's expression is decidedly blow up doll-esque and the horse is vomiting water.

Here is the titular dong-love photo. When I told someone about this statue in mild disbelief, I found out that there are at least several more similar dong-y statues around Seoul. If you can't see, the mouse is covering his mouth and pointing at the pile.

This really is an obsession here. My students will sit in class and draw little spirals of poop which all look exactly the same, like they all took a class. Art 107 Dung Piles. The pig's expression is also a kind of pop culture reference-- it's a pose girls (of all ages) here think is "cutely pouting". Where I'm from, pouting is considered somewhere between childish and pathetic, but whatever.

Finally, a church. With land the premium that it is here, churches rarely have a free standing building all to themselves. Usually, you just see a spire on top of an office building to let you know that somewhere inside is a church. This one is pretty awesome, though. It's about a block away from a huge, European-inspired cathedral, so maybe they thought they had to keep up with the Popes. Gs25 is Korea's 7-11.Actually the sign above says Gloria, but the sign below is The Holy Mother of Jesus uh... Religious Goods or something like that (where you can get crosses, rosaries, veils-- which they still wear to mass here, etc.). So, I don't know if there is a shop and a church, or if the shop has two names. At any rate, I wonder if the shop sell statues that large. My birthday shopping may not be quite over just yet...

Okay, by "finally" I meant "penultimately". The last picture is an Ecuadorian band which was playing on the pedestrian mall between my school and the subway station. They were just getting started as we were going home, so we watched them for a bit. They were really fun. All of my coworkers speak varying degrees of Spanish, so the musicians talked to them while finishing setting up. I think they were really excited that someone could understand them. My Spanish is limited to items found on a Tex-Mex menu, but that didn't stop them from trying to talk to me, too.

I had a birthday and nobody came

Well, maybe that's a *little* melodramatic. My school forgot, until a coworker heard me mention it on my podcast. I still (six days later) haven't heard from my TWIN sister. The rest of my brothers and sisters are off the hook, because I don't know when most of their birthdays are. I know the MONTHS, okay. Don't judge (unless you have 87 sibs and know all of their birthdays).


The twelve hour days ending up not commencing until tomorrow. I found out an hour *after* my first class was scheduled to begin last Monday. That was kind of my fault, though. Two members of the admin staff told me class was postponed (shortly after the first class was scheduled to begin). I simply assumed they were talking about the same class.


In order to celebrate my birthday and take advantage of the unexpected time, I've been buying myself presents with abandon. Okay, maybe not abandon, but a little extravagantly for The Year of Saving Money, which started in May and runs until I move back to the US next summer. It's a big part of my Don't Live Under a Bridge Plan.


I ordered 15-20 skeins of yarn from Elann (I can't remember). What a bargain! It came out to $50 for the yarn (and $50 for the airmail) which is still cheaper than buying it here. I also won two eBay auctions from Mystical Creations Yarns.















How delicious are those? I could rub my face in the one on the left. Both skeins were less than $35 including airmail! It would have been insanity NOT to buy them at those prices.



So, my birthday shopping *could* have stopped there, but for my birthday resolution, I have decided to take math out of my Axis of Evil. So, I needed some books. A dozen (or so) is some, right? I've been doing math homework every night. It's not as hard as I recalled. Of course, I think the book I'm using first is for middle school students who have gotten behind.


I had a mini-epiphany while I was writing progress reports last week. About half of my students got some comment along the lines of "would be capable rapid improvement, IF they committed to doing the necessary work." I realized that the same could be said of me. So, here I am doing math homework my laziest, least capable student would laugh at. They do algebra in elementary school here. I also got myself a book of journals written by first graders, because that's my level of Korean reading ability.

Peacocks-- A Hoam Love Story

Here are some photos of a peacock trying very hard to impress a peahen at Hoam Museum last weekend.

The peacock was facing us first, then he turned to chase the peahen. She's barely visible there on his right. She was not overly interested and kept running away. Finally, he gave up. Poor guy.

We watched the peacock chase the peahen for about ten minutes or so. They must be quite used to human contact because we were less than ten feet away and they didn't even take notice of us. More impressively, they didn't take notice of the mother yelling at her kid to be quiet so the birds wouldn't get scared. The mother was approximately 50 decibels louder than her kid.

I'm trying to enjoy my last weekend of relative non-work by being as non-productive as possible. Except for all the progress reports I still haven't written, of course. (No minute like the last minute...) Monday I start working 12 hour days for the next ten weeks. So, by the time my sister gets here in six weeks, I should be too exhausted to even breathe, much less show here the sights.

It seemed like a good idea at the time to volunteer for the overtime. I had just decided this would be my last year in Korea and realized I will need a nest egg when I get home. Like a trip to the dentist, I'm sure I'll be glad I did it, once it's done.

So, I have five episodes of Heroes to watch tomorrow. :-) And a few dozen progress reports to write. And class plans to create (after I read the materials) for the three classes I'm teaching for the next six-weeks. And a house to clean/ shopping to do/ lunch to prepare so I don't have to order lunch at work, etc etc etc. I'm sure you see the most important activity on the list. :-)

I'm sorry about the weird paragraphs, I've tried to fix it about a dozen times, but Blogger is being ornery.

I'm a Calendar Girl!

Knitting Pattern a Day Calendar, that is. Click the link to check me out-- Fisticuffs, 7 February. Squee!!! I'm pretty sure they don't mind sneak previews, since the 2007 calendar has Wyvern Socks (ie not exactly new stuff).

The photo I submitted is clearer than this one. This is the first yarn I dyed myself. I was pretty pleased with it-- almost exactly one round color repeats. When I made these, I thought they were super-original. Then, months later I stumbled across a similar pattern with the loop around the middle finger.

Playing hooky is good for you

Yesterday I was supposed to go to an educational conference in Daegu, but a friend is moving back to the US soon and wanted to go to the Hoam Art Museum yesterday. So, I played hooky. Hoam is somehow part of Everland (Korean Disney... if you've never even seen pictures of Disney).

Everland is in Yong-in-- the next town over from me. The buses don't go past my part of town, though, so it is about one hour from my house. Why did I not know about this place? I took about one hundred photos, because the main attraction are the huge English gardens.

There are also huge collections of the stone people (whose name I always forget, except for the stone grandfathers, because that's an easy name). Here are but a few of the dozens of photos I took. Although I like the "garden of gradfathers" my favorites were all of the grandfathers randomly hidden in the foliage.

I also (gasp) finished an actual knitting project. No, not Esther, although I am *almost* to the gusset increases. The pattern repeat is 24 rows and the 2mm needles make the progress seem nonexistent. So, I knit a pair of spiraling lace socks in periwinkle. However, there is no photo, because the pattern came out much nicer than anticipated, so I may submit it to MagKnits. If I do that, I'll need a test knitter or two...

More Reliable Than the Postman

This is the current view from my window. I haven't updated the construction in a while (mostly because I assume no one is hanging on the edge their seats to hear about my disappearing view.) This was taken in the rain. Yes, they are working. It is now Sunday morning and they are working. It seems to be a seven-day-a-week operation, regardless of weather, holidays, etc.

I'm starting to wonder how much I'll be able to have my windows open this summer. I rarely use AC, but the road noise is pretty loud already. With the trees gone and a tunnel being dug (a couple of meters to the left out of the photo), I'm guessing it will be worse than usual.

***

Here are my absolute favorite students ever, not that teachers have favorites. We had a talent show/ show and tell (in case anyone felt they didn't have a talent) and they are holding their "props".

This is the boy I wrote about recently. He made the robot dump truck he's holding by taking apart a toy dump truck he had and programming the robot to raise and lower the tray in the back. We asked him what he did and what his parents did and he did it all himself. Ordinarily, I would be sceptical, but his knowledge of electronics, circuitry, and engineering put all of his liberal arts grad teachers to shame.

All of the students in this class (except for one) are geniuses. They love learning and are like little grownups. Teaching them just makes my day.

***

Alright, it's time for some crazy, Korea-style. Have you heard of Raelians? They think humans are clone of aliens and they are waiting for our alien creators to take them back to space. Yes, I know. It sounds like they are already in space. A coworker was shopping recently and saw some Raelians in alien costumes passing out literature. Really. He didn't want to be a culturally insensitive foreigner and take a picture, so all I have is their literature to show you.

As if the alien thing didn't show they were the First Church of Crazy, they think a Star of David and a swastika are a good combo. Yes, the swastika is a very old Buddhist symbol, but...

Newsflash: The French are Whiners

It's been scientifically proven. ;-) Read all about it. I always thought they got a bad rap, but I guess I was wrong...

The Taxman Cometh or The Good News is I Got a Raise

Okay, I really shouldn't complain. I live in Korea, land of screw the infrastructure and needy? what does that mean? (Of course, they do manage to have national health care.) So, my total deductions from my pay are 3.3%. Ouch. ;-)

However, I just got my tax bill. Last year, all of my coworkers got a refund and I paid about $100. This year, all of my coworkers got a refund and I've got to pay $600. Apparently, I jumped a tax bracket . Yippee! Looking on the bright side (which according to Oprah is the secret to success in life) I moved up a tax bracket because of the raise I got last year.

Yes, I watched Oprah. I haven't watched her much over the past few years, because it's turned into a butt-kissing contest IMHO, but I was in couch potato mode a few days ago and nothing else was on. So, there you go. Oprah, better than not watching TV. If there is an episode where someone kisses her ring or washes her feet with their hair, though, that I would like to see.

How exactly would you describe the moisture?

Kooky Korean product translation of the day. Despite the name, it's toilet paper for women (or men) with sensitive tushies. And really, what man wouldn't like something that's "vagina wet"? Why the product sexism?

Free At Last!

Mr. Please-be-my-x has arrived safely at his mama's house. His school never bothered to cancel his work visa. So, he had no trouble leaving.

I've been getting all kinds of great stories about him from his family. I emailed his brother to "encourage" him to a) go to rehab and b) never darken my door again. Apparently, he has had some kind of double life going on that involved lots of working. ;-)

When his father passed away last fall, he sent them the most detailed list of reasons why he couldn't go on account of his clients. He also used my "hospitalization" as an excuse. It reminded me of high school.

My sister never got away with anything and never understood why I generally never got caught. It's all in the stories, people. To quote Judge Judy, "KISS". My sister would spin the most elaborate tales to account for every minute when she was where she shouldn't have been, but the rest of the time she was far more frugal with the details.

Anyway, his family believed his tales. He is far away (and an adult) so they probably just thought he was giving them an update on his life.

***

Yesterday, for the entire teaching day, a new restaurant was announcing their opening across the street. Usually, this is done with a pair of dancing girls, but this place had traditional Korean taffy makers and drummers. When I left work, the drummer was on a break but I got a photo of the costumes.



***


Here is my progress on Esther. The flowers really stand out more than the photo shows. I haven't worked on it since Saturday. When I've finished cleaning my apartment, or at least made more headway...

I've decided that I should throw away about 50% of my crap. That is, if something has sat in a storage bin, untouched, since I moved here three years ago, then I probably don't need it.

Maybe.

Well, I might need it.

Okay, so I'm a bit of a pack rat. That doesn't make me a bad person. Unfortunately, I live in Korea, land of no closets. So, this seems like a good time to pack up his stuff and weed out my own.

Cathay Pacific Rules!

Cathay Pacific has a customer for life. Mr. Please-become-my-x showed up at 3ish with *reasons not excuses* why he couldn't leave yesterday. Basically, it boiled down to him not recognizing my request for a separation.

Dude, you cannot force me to stay married to you.

So, I took him to the airport today and changed his ticket. His nonrefundable, "don't-even-ask-to-make-changes-because-you-can't" ticket was changed to the same flight today without so much as a batted eyelash, much less a fee. How is that for customer service? Cathay Pacific is the best airline EVER!!!

I saw him off at the security gate and made sure he did not have enough money to get too drunk before his flight. So now I just have to wait until he should arrive in Perth and I can call his mother and see if he actually left. I'm half (or more than half) expecting him to show up at the door, because he "changed his mind" at the gate.

You know, for a Southerner, I have never really gotten guns or, more precisely, the need for private citizens to own them, seeing as the US is not really under threat of invasion (unless those sneaky Canadians are up to something). Now, I get it though.

My school has kindly offered to get me a new apartment just so he can't find me. It just makes me mad that a) I have to go through the hassle of moving, and b) I have to give up this apartment. I really like where I live. I've got a great apartment and it's in a great location. Why should I be punished? As far as I'm concerned, the last few years of marriage have been punishment enough.

Okay, I think that's just about enough venting for one day. Thanks for your support over the past few days or so.

On a completely different topic, I may have gotten my knitting mojo back. I don't feel like taking a photo, so you can't see it, but while whiling away my precious weekend time at the airport today, I knit half a foot of an Esther sock. I recast on with 2mm needles with some teal wool-blend yarn. It's ever so much nicer than the pink. And I own somewhere in the neighborhood of 87 teal shirts. So, they will get some wear. This is a beautiful pattern, but it is so slow! One pattern repeat (24 rows, no rest rows) took me about 2 hours.

Take a hint, you useless SOB

Well, D-Day has come and gone. As you may have guessed from the title, he did not get on the plane. I got home from work to find an empty apartment (yay!). My excitement lasted exactly 2.3 seconds, until I turned on the lights and saw his bag, passport, and ticket. The only thing he took was the money I gave him.

It was only about $100, so I am guessing he will show up some time tomorrow with a "reason" why he couldn't go.

So, my question is, at what point is the line crossed from "premeditated" to "justifiable"? I have bought him two plane tickets and (last time) given him thousands of dollars to leave me alone. What more will it take?

I don't think calling the police would help, and I'm not sure he's out of status. However, at this point, I think my only option will be to call immigration, regardless of whether or not I will incur the fine as a result.

Thanks for letting me vent.

Teacher, Today a Lobster Will Die

My students come out with some pretty amusing things, usually unintentional ("Teacher, I'm hard."), but the title statement was one student's way of letting me know it was his grandfather's birthday. I wish you could hear the glee in his voice.


Once again, it has been very long since I've posted. I haven't been getting much knitting done, at least not knitting that didn't later get ripped.


Since I haven't posted in so long, I've got a few photos. Here is one of the cherry blossoms in front of the Iksan Jewelry Center.

Here is another that I've been trying to get for a while. I have walked past it on various occasions while lost (and therefore, unable to go back with a camera). Finally, I walked past it while armed with my camera. It's a Starbucks, if you can't see the name.

This is a little blurry, because I took it while riding in a bus. How is that for fast thinking? Okay, we weren't going that fast, because it was Sunday afternoon in downtown Seoul.


Heeheehee.

Last time I posted, I mentioned a uni job I was interested in. After much soul-searching, I decided that this really ought to be my last year in Korea. So, although I like the sound of Jennifer professor more than Jennifer teacher, taking a job with that university would be more of a commitment to staying here, since it would be used to get a better uni job.

What I did not mention last time, is that once again, I will soon be free. Again. Hopefully for good. I bought my husband another plane ticket, this one without a return, so he can't "change his mind". So, now I just have to count the hours until Friday night.

I'm moderately stressed that the flight boards right before I finish work, so I can't put him on the shuttle bus to the airport. My other fear is that the school he walked out on canceled his visa (as I would have done, if he worked for me) and he will be out of status. The charge is about $100 per day and that was two months (or so) ago. I'm not sure when he really quit, because he stayed in hotels until he ran out of money.


I only found out what was going on when he injured himself and I got stuck with the emergency room bill, because Korea doesn't recognize separations. So, if he is out of status, will they detain him and stick us (IE ME) with a bill for his overstay? Even if I don't get charged the fine, he won't know until he goes through immigration, the last step before boarding the plane. If it takes them too long to decide what to do with him, he could miss the plane.


I just have to get through the next 44 hours.

Anne Frank the Musical?

I can't believe it's been two weeks since I last posted. I've been busy basking in the freedom of not having Korean classes. I read two entire books yesterday and neither one was for school. I've also read about six books for school in the last two weeks.

As for the title of the post, that refers to a poster I saw today in Seoul, "Musical Anne Frank", which caused my two companions to burst into song, cheerfully announcing the presence of Nazis at the door and arrival at a camp. But really, what else would a musical about Anne Frank be like? Dirges and sad dancing? How does one dance sadly? Hmmmm... If anyone can shed light on this cultural phenomenon, please, I'm dying to know.

I haven't had anything on the needles in a few weeks, since I was knocked out of Sock Madness until I cast on a pair of Esther socks (scroll way down) in a pinkish-purple color. I knit one pattern repeat and then realized it is way too wide. Since I was able to get my hands on two pairs of 2.25s last time I went to the nice yarn shop, I'll recast on. Probably tomorrow, since I got car sick on the bus today and am still feeling kind of yuck. And yet, here I am posting. Do you feel loved?

The Esther pattern is a 24 row repeat, working every row (ie no knit around rows), but it is very pretty. There is a picot cuff, but my picot cuffs always end up weird-looking, so my pair will probably have a non-picot cuff. I'm thinking a scalloped cuff. Hmmm.... Here is a hat using the pattern, which I may try to recreate. Would matching hat, socks, and mittens be too much? ;-) Who am I kidding, all of my gloves are singletons, doomed to forever wait to be mated.

I've got some photos of the ongoing road construction, but I haven't loaded them onto the computer and don't feel like doing it now. Apparently, the trees were sacrificed so that there can be a new "express" highway running between the two existing highways.

I need some positive thoughts sent my way this week. I'm applying for a university position this week. I haven't finished my master's and it's been a year since I last took a course towards its completion, so I need all the help I can get. ;-) It's a fair sized pay decrease, but 18 hours instead of my current 30 and 8 weeks vacation instead of my current 2 (one of which is unpaid). There's no housing, though, so I will have to face the prospect of finding housing in Seoul, which is like getting housing in New York, only Koreans like a very large deposit. I know three of the instructors there, though, so I think I would like working there.

So there we are, up to date on my life.

Hello, World, It's Good to be Back (or I'm Too Old For This S*&%)

I can' t believe I haven't posted in over two weeks. I finished Korean classes, though, and the KOTESOL conference was Saturday, so I am back in the world of people who have something called free time.

I was elected 1st Vice-President of Seoul Chapter at the conference, so that was nice. I was running unopposed, though, so not really an unexpected event. :-)

I got my Korean progress report and it was all as expected. I know a lot of vocabulary, but have difficulty speaking in long, detailed exchanges. Also, it takes me "a while" to incorporate new grammar into my speaking and writing, although I can understand them when I see/ hear them. Yeah, I could have written that myself. But, the last two months have been worthwhile in that I have regained ground that I had lost by not ever speaking Korean.

At this point, all of you who don't live here are probably wondering how that can be the case since I LIVE IN KOREA, but in fact it is quite simple. Everyone in Korea wants to learn English. All day long, I speak English at school. At night I read or watch TV in English. Wherever I go there are people who want to practice their conversation skills.

So, as soon as I catch my breath, I'll start posting again, with pictures. I have done any knitting since I was knocked out of Sock Madness, but I'll be casting on something in the next few days, I'm sure.

Speaking of, thank you to everyone for their kind words about the Mad Cow pattern, despite the omission of gauge (note to self: do not write patterns while on vacation at Disney World.) If you would like to make a pair yourself, I've linked the pattern.