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.

Keeping Traditions Alive

Did you see this on yahoo news? A Polish town known for traditional lace is keeping it alive with lace thongs. As one woman pointed out, it takes a lot less time to make than a table runner and there is more of a market for lingerie.

Mad (Cape) Cod

mad (cape) cod
Originally uploaded by waegoogin.

Finally finished. I held it under my desk and knit the final cuff while my students did their sustained silent reading today (about fifteen minutes). I'm pretty sure I'll frog them and reknit them with five repeats on the foot (serves me right after I left the gauge out of the pattern) and change it to a heel flap.

I prefer heel flaps, but short row heels are easier and the pattern was supposed to be suitable for a first-time sock knitter.

I do really like how the colors work together. There is fawn in the Cape Cod, but the solid stripes prevent the pooling that drives me mad.

Now I have to see if I made the cut. When they last posted, there were only four slots left in my division.

The original Mad Cows were knit in Filitura Cervinia color 012 (black, white, and gray variegated) and some random black yarn (I knit them on vacation and didn't save the ball band), both 100% merino.

pattern 1 yarn

pattern 1 yarn
Originally uploaded by waegoogin.

My Mad Cow yarn.

Let's Get Ready to Rumble!

Today is the day that Sock Madness kicks off (yukyukyuk). I finished my last project Thursday and am ready to go. Some people seem to take this waaaaaaaay too seriously. I've participated in a couple of similar knitting "events" and there are people who seriously seem to take leave from their job or otherwise make said event the center of their lives. I will concede that there is little opportunity for competitive knitting, so competitive people may look forward to the few chances that do arise more than the rest of us, but come on. It's just a game.

I'm patiently waiting for the email of the pattern, even though it won't arrive until early tonight or later, because there is about a fifteen hour difference between the hosts and me. I have gathered my knitting accoutrement and have them patiently waiting, though. :-)

That's about all that's going on around here. My days pretty much consist of going to Korean class, teaching, and doing homework. I knit on the train to class and on the bus to work. The end. My exciting, exotic life in Asia.

Last week I recorded my first episode of the podcast. It was a lot of fun. Mostly we just shared our views on expat life in Korea. So, you know, the same crap I sit around talking about all the time anyway, just with a mic in front of me.

The new Knitty is out. There is one gorgeous sock pattern which brings to mind Cookie's recent patterns (if you click through, scroll all the way down, because there is sock after sock each one more beautiful than the last), which I will never knit because it is knee high (so about a foot taller than I find comfortable), one very cool stranded pattern that I will never knit, because my goth days are about 20 years in the past (but I would have totally knit them back in high school), one beautiful pattern that I might knit if and when I get through the current queue of beautiful patterns (that only grows, because I generally just end up knitting my own patterns anyway), and one very basic pattern. I think I have just broken my standing record for longest run on sentence with the most parenthetical asides and a few dangling modifiers thrown in for good measure. Yes, I teach writing, but I'm off the clock. ;-)

I was heartened to read Cookie's post today about writing a pattern just like Queen of Hearts, because I just finished knitting two pairs of socks that I intended to submit to MagKnits (one was a more advanced version of the other). About the time I cast on the fourth sock, I saw a VERY similar, though not exactly identical, sock from Sensational Knitted Socks. I even thought I had very cleverly come up with the lace pattern myself. Hahaha. Since mine is *somewhat* different, with lace panels and a fold-down cuff, I'll post the pattern once I get it typed up. I haven't had time or proper natural lighting to take photos yet, but they are pretty, if I do say so myself.

Can a person knit to death?

I realized today that I have signed up for two knitting contests that start this week. Hahahahahaha. One is Sock Madness that I've been going on about for ages. The other is yarnmonkey's knitoff. Both are elimination tournaments. Both of which I'll probably get knocked out of in the first round.

I've also signed up for another month of Korean class, even though it may kill me. We covered one hundred pages in a month!!! I thought I was off the hook because it looked like there wouldn't be enough students to open the class (about half of my class is going to be overseas for the month of March). Today, the last day of class, I found out the minimum had been reached. At least that's like two knitting hours a day on the subway. Of course, if I didn't have class, I would have the two hours of class plus the two hours of homework time to knit...

At least my Korean is improving. And I'm learning useful phrases, like, "What would you like to fix on your face?" since the Korean verb for getting plastic surgery is "fixing". Of course, it's pretty disheartening that my Korean had devolved to the point where I can see improvement in only a month.

I found out that I will be knitting against Miss Violet herself in Sock Madness. I'm such an uber-dork, I know.

As if all that weren't enough, I'm joining a podcast, Seoul Survivors, this weekend. Hopefully, since it's an expat/ teacher podcast and not a knitting one, I won't be hit by the knitting podcaster's curse. Has anyone else noticed the regularity with which knitting podcasters have been struck with serious illness? First was Marie Irshad the knitting podmother, then someone whose name I've forgotten (from Texas, maybe, I don't know, it was one I only listened to a few times), then Miss Violet, and now the venerable Brenda Dayne.

As a completely unrelated aside, since I seem to be rambling more pointlessly than usual, the new Magknits is up with three sock patterns.

Since this is an otherwise photofree post, I'll put in my random sighting of the week, even though I saw it a few weeks ago. This is the art installation in front of some random business in Seoul. All the Dwarves are there, just some are hiding or around the corner.

SP9

I received my SP9 package today from my pal in Estonia. What a lovely assortment of goodies it is, too.

I started with a pic of the box, because I think it was used in a game of rugby somewhere along the way. Good things yarn isn't fragile! All sides of the box look pretty much the same.

There was an assortment of yarns, some wool (DK?) and cotton (?) light fingering (?). As you can see, I'm not much of an eyeball-er. I'm always at the yarn store holding skeins and debating at length (with myself, cause I'm a crazy foreigner; at least it's inner monologue.) whether or not it will knit up to the gauge I'm looking for.

There was also some plum chocolate which was too delicious to pose for photos. :-) Not shown are some beautiful beads and a cute sheep keychain which I tried to photograph, but my cat was helping too much, so I'll try again later.

I have saved the best for last. I love to travel and I love to learn about other places. So, I was thrilled to get not one, but two traditional knitted mittens books in both English and (I assume) Estonian. How gorgeous are these? How much hubris would I need to think I could knit these as lovely as they are in the book? For the time being I will consider them a goal. For the day when I am far more patient and willing to frog back than I am now.

SSDD

I can't believe another week has gone by already. Okay, it was a four day week due to the Lunar New Year holiday, but still. I'm pretty sure time is actually speeding up.


This has been perhaps the most stressful week ever. Some issues with my husband came to a head this week, which I won't go into other than to say that we don't have children or co mingled assets, so I really don't think separating should be this hard. Live and learn and learn and learn, I guess.


Anyway, I made it through and didn't open fire in a public building (or private one for that matter), so hopefully it's downhill from here.


I engaged in a little retail therapy yesterday to take my mind off of things/reward myself for the aforementioned lack of public destruction. Yes, I know I'm supposed to be on a spending moratorium. I went to "the nice yarn shop" and got two hanks of Koigu* KPPPPPPPM 513 (the skeins I have are much darker and less gold than the photo), two 2.25mm circs, and two knitting mags. She's carrying sock yarn now. I would use some exclamation points, but it was five or six skeins of Opal. Still, that's a first in Korea, as far as I know.


The shop is on an arty street called Insa dong in Seoul and is packed with an interesting assortment of people pretty much at all times. On the way in, I passed a gaggle (20 or so) of middle/ high school students (their uniforms look pretty much the same) wearing horse head masks. I was too slow getting my camera, so I just got a pic of one straggler playing guitar. Um, whatever floats your boat.
I also saw a man carving tops. You can't really tell from the picture, but he has an entire table of tops which he has made by hand.

All in all, it was a nice diversion from everything going on in my life.

* I included a link to Koigu's website because it is the absolute most pathetic attempt at a website, commercial or otherwise, on the entire internet, IMHO.

Happy New Year! (Welcome to the Year of the Golden Pig)

Today is the beginning of the Year of the Golden Pig, which happens only once every six hundred years. It is apparently a big deal, judging from the ubiquitous golden pigs for sale at every possible retail location.

This is a big deal for me, because tomorrow is a holiday. Lunar New Year is a three day holiday here, but two of the days this year are Saturday and Sunday. Koreans would traditionally be spending today at their ancestors graves laying an altar of food and bowing and praying to their ancestors. However, I didn't see anyone at the "cemetery" visible from my window.

I met a friend in Seoul today and am pretty sure I saw the Seoul Stitch n' Bitch having their fortnightly meeting, but I always feel weird approaching people I don't know, so I just surreptitiously checked out their projects (knitting, crochet, and cross stitch) as I passed by. I had wanted to host the Dave and Gary dolls, but they beat me to it and it seemed unnecessary for the dolls to visit Seoul twice.

If you haven't signed up for Sock Madness, it's not too late. Let the Madness begin!

I found out about a new site, Knitting Daily "where life meets knitting", that will give you a free stranded sock pattern for joining (you will get a shawl pattern by email as well.) It is a very pretty pattern, but will I make it?

Since this entire post has been a random hodge podge, even more than usual, I will direct you to a singer I have discovered by listening to Fat Guy Radio, which is a moderately interesting podcast about a guy's trials and tribulations of losing weight. The singer is pretty funny, his songs are about topics such as how crazy Tom Cruise is and a fun way to while away the spring. Not all songs are work safe, but they will make you laugh. Mama, if you are reading this, I don't think you will appreciate the humor.

Okay, maybe a better title for this post would be: All the Random Crap That's Running Through My Head.

Let the Madness Begin!

Sock Madness registration rules have been posted as the contest gets ready to begin. As I have posted before, I have contributed the easy level pattern.

So, let the games begin!

Hayley Rocks

Hayley was my sender buddy in the Townsend Sock Bag Swap. She sent me an absolutely amazing package and now I feel like I kind of shortchanged my buddy. Since a picture is worth a thousand words, here are some photos of my haul:







This has been a VERY long week. The new semester started at school, so I have four chapter books/ novels (including 1984) for school. One book per fortnight per class. I've also got Korean classes, two hours a day, plus two hours of homework each night. So, I'm on the subway by 8:30 in the morning-- the two hours round trip give me novel-reading time! ;-)-- and getting home at 9:00 at night, at which time I do my homework before collapsing in bed.

I've also got some personal issues I'm dealing with, but I'm not quite as public as Laurie, so suffice it to say it has also been an emotionally draining week.

The point of all this, is that this package came at the best time possible. She put so much time and care into my package. The colors of the yarn are like she looked in my brain-- I could lick that skein of CTH. I asked for "treats" to be regional and she sent me all kinds of stuff-- local chocolates (vegetarian and organic, which was very kind, since I'm on a quest to reduce animal products and unnatural items from my diet), maps and brochures from her beautiful home in Staffordshire, England, sock stitch markers, a plethora of stationery items (notebook, pen, mechanical pencil, bookmarks... that match and even matched the wrapping paper), a knitter's keyring, and I'm sure I'm leaving more out. I'm overwhelmed by her generosity and thoughtfulness.

In contrast you can see what I sent my buddy:

http://jenniferteacher.blogspot.com/2007/01/happy-friday.html
except I changed the yarn, because I realized I dyed it the wrong color. Here is the yarn I actually sent her:
http://jenniferteacher.blogspot.com/2007/01/happy-sunday.html
Looks kind of skimpy by comparison, no?

As they say, live and learn. My next swap buddy will come out better...