Blogs from Chungcheongnam-do, South Korea, Asia
May 10th 2012
It would probably surprise many people to know that my biggest dream used to be to become a photographer for National Geographic. I'm a really shit photographer, lots of animals scare me, and I decided early on in my Communications studies that I could never be a photojournalist because I don't have the ability to emotionally remove myself from situations and take photos of grief, violence, etc. I think the reason I was so drawn to this career was because in my mind travel and National Geographic were one. I wanted to have a job where I HAD to go to countries spread across the globe to take pictures of their beauty and culture. I can't remember when I figured out that I liked writing. It can't have been from my emo poetry that I wrote ... read more
April 24th 2012
I first met Jess on the roof of her apartments during a barbeque. First impression? This chick is cool. She had tats, tight curls cut short, and I don't remember what she was wearing but if I go ahead and guess black, I can't be too far off. We had some crazy times dancing in bars and snowboarding together, but we didn't become good friends until we'd known each other about a year. That's when we started bitches be cookin' with the other girls in our town, a time once a week that we would spend drinking, cooking, crafting, listening to music, and talking shit. I came to see that Jess was brash, energetic, and suprisingly girly. She was also highly motivating and it was because of her that I started doing pilates, yoga, and other ... read more
it's all over now, baby blue.
Published: March 28th 2012Asia » South Korea » Chungcheongnam-do » Daejeon
March 28th 2012
I knew Margo before I even met her. That is, I had read her blog while sitting hunched over my laptop on a sunny day in California, trying to glean information about the town I would be moving to in South Korea. I read that she was from South Africa. She liked her little town of Geumsan, but loved her friends in the city of Daejeon. She enjoyed partying and expected people to keep up with her. In my imagination, she was a black girl. Obviously, I was ignorant on most everything related to South Africa. Nelson Mandela, Charlize Theron, wild animals, and Cape Town. That would be the extent of my knowledge. Now thanks to loquacious and patriotic Margo, I know about things like "lekker" and "robots" and the infamous "braais". I first met Margo ... read more
that was then. and this is now.
Published: March 17th 2012Asia » South Korea » Chungcheongnam-do » DaejeonMarch 15th 2012
It's absolutely astounding to me how much the passing of time can change us as people. I've been in Korea for a year and a half, which in the grand scheme of things is a drop in the water, and yet when I look at pictures from when I arrived here or read my old blogs and personal scribblings, it's like peering at a stranger. I had an out of body experience today where I saw myself teaching my class and was pretty proud of how well I commanded the classroom. It was not so long ago that I nervously stood before a class, unsure of how to teach my students English. I didn't have the faintest clue how to connect with them or what to do when they got out of hand and tried to ... read more
March 5th 2012
http://hannah.matadoru.com/ Hello guys, I'm using a new blog for my writing. This is the link for it. It's called Following That Clever North Wind which is a reference to the movie Chocolat, one of my favorites and one I always identified with. I'll still be using this blog for random blogs I want to spit out, but the stuff I'm putting more work into will be on the squeaky clean new one! See you in cyberspace Hannah... read more
November 30th 2011
Hi all, Long time no write. I've got some pictures to post at another time (read: not while I'm at work). Just want to update you that in March, I'll start a new job at a Korean School. But it's not in Korea, it's in China. I'll be moving to Wuxi, Jiangsu Province. I'm very excited, as it's a great move for several reasons. So, that's the news lately. Be well!... read more
A Thanksgiving to Treasure
Published: November 28th 2011Asia » South Korea » Chungcheongnam-do » Daejeon
November 27th 2011
There are some images that never leave you. For me, seeing someone pull the neck out of a turkey carcass is one of them. Thanksgiving abroad has never included turkey for me. Instead we've settled for chicken or meatballs, but this year it was decided that a turkey would be made and the fowl torture would be going down in my kitchen. On Tuesday, we bought the beast at Costco and threw it in my fridge to defrost. Friday evening rolled around and I worried about when to take it out. I weighed it on my scale. 6 pounds. A small bird that wouldn't need to be taken out until Amy and Kristy arrived on Saturday morning. I went to bed without worries. I called Amy Saturday morning. "Hey, so I haven't taken the bird out ... read more
September 23rd 2011
The night air is fresh and the sweat down my back is chilling as my legs pump me higher and higher until my toes hit the stars at the top of the sky. The teenage Korean girl next to me is also intensely kicking her legs in and out, as if we could really get somewhere by these movements. There is also an older Korean woman and her young son swinging on the swing set. I assume it's a family. I have my Ipod in and the band Grouplove wraps me in a California blanket as my mind feels giddy with the nostalgia of leaning my head all the way back like a kid and taking in the dark sky until I feel too dizzy to stand it. The track by the elementary school had just ... read more
July 19th 2011
I tried to write a coherent blog about Mudfest, the two weekend party that celebrates getting blasted in your bathing suit and smearing mud on yourself, but I soon found that the only way to describe my days at Mudfest was to let my inebriated memories take you away... ------------------------------------- I picked my poison. Vodka. Mixed with pomegranate juice in a goblet. Mary and I clinked our glasses and called ourselves squires. "Oh m'lady are you ready for the hunt? Oooh, I just LOVE fox hunts." We are so clever. We drink more...and we become even more clever. Jazz has a gun! She is hidden behind a wooden post. Theresa doesn't see her, but I do. I get caught in the crossfire. A bit annoyed to be wet. Do they think this weekend is fun and ... read more
June 28th 2011
Growing up in a town of about 9,000 people and going to a high school where if I wasn't friends with you, I knew everything about you gave me a fear and love of small towns. I fear them because they breed ignorance and a false sense of security. They are full of people who never leave them and don't understand that there is a world outside. I love them because of the feeling of community where everyone, in the end, cares for each other. People come together for farmer's markets, school plays, county fairs, art shows, and concerts to show support for their town and the people in it. It's a lovely, boring, happy, stagnant, comfortable thing. It wasn't what I wanted though and so I left. I came back to live there for 5 ... read more
