Dreamin

So there is a saying, "It takes a village to raise a child." The saying for SoKo needs to be revised a bit, "It takes a village to get a student into university." It turns out my on-line applications to university were a piece of cake compared to the shinanigans that my students are expriencing. Absolute insanity. My students have had to compile endless amount of documents, take tests, travel to the universities for interviews and tests, fork up obscene amounts of money, and enlist the help of parents and teachers. Many of the teachers have been busy going over applications with a fine-toothed comb. I am awed by the amount of effort and dedication I am witnessing spring forth from the teachers, parents, and even students. It may be due to the fact that I only went to a humble state college that I missed this chaos, but I cannot fathom slaving away to this extent. One of my students prepared for the entrance exam of one of the universities by going to a private academy in Seoul and watching 20 hours of lectures from Saturday to Sunday. That is 10 hours of sitting and note taking a day. He explained how expensive it is too. There isn't even a teacher to throw questions at, just rote memorization.

I have been reading up a storm. In the last month I have read 8 books and am chewing through number 9.

Good:
A Brave New World
The Vagabond
The Hakawati
Push
Pages for You
A Fine Balance (my current endeavor)^^

So-So:
Three Cups of Tea
Rage
Ash

I went to the DMZ last weekend and it was interesting. We walked through the 3rd Infiltration Tunnel, the Dora Observatory, and Dora Station. I'm really glad I got to go. It was rainy when we went, which REALLY set the mood. Besides the DMZ, we also went to Seoul Tower, which had such an epicly beautiful cityscape. We also went to Gyeongbuk Palace. I had been wanting to visit all of these places, so I feel very priviledged to have gone in the manner that I did. We even visited Insadong and I ate a red bean stuffed cookie in the shape of dung. Haha. I even had time to do a little Christmas shopping, which was a relief.

Recently, I climbed Palgong Mountain. I did it last year and it was such a great experience I craved it again this year. It was remarkable how much easier it was. I remember that for days after the climb my calves ached. This trip they weren't even sore the next day. I was a little bummed, but happy to know that I am stronger >u<

Halloween was great. I spent it with friends in Daejeon. We were supposed to pub crawl, but due to rain (I hope/suspect) we only made it to two bars. The second bar we taxied to. It didn't feel like much of a pub crawl... Buuut, it felt awesome to dance. I even had a little to drink. The bar tendered poured me a shot of Jager and I knew I was in for it. Haha. It was hilarious to see what costumes my friends came up with. There was drag, swine flu, and of course, underpants gnomes (South Park reference). The only thing that would have been better would have been seeing my neices rock their little costumes. The pictures were so precious that it made me super homesick : ( Boooo.

Last week I misplaced my CDs. This is a huge problem because I used them to teach yoga. I am very sad. I have to reconstruct my collection. My watch has also been misplaced. They are in the same place. I m just not sure where that space is. So for now I am just sitting and burning CDs. Bah.

I wrote this letter to a friend. I am sure the spelling is atrocious, but I tried >u<
하이 원교, Hi Won Gyon,

잘지냇어? Have you been well?

정말 보고싶어!!! I miss you so much!

오재 범에 한국말 예기 잘못해 ㅠㅠ Last night I could not speak Korean well.

이주말 일요일에 대구 시내에사 요가 가르칠거야. This Sunday I am teaching a
yoga class in Downtown Daegu.

무역 요가수업 있어. It's a free yoga class.

누구든지 올 수 있어. Anyone can come^^

우리는 같이 갈 수 있어. We could go together.

근녕 매트또 타월 해여데 (need). Just bring a mat or towel.

오후에 12시 시작핼거야. We'll begin at 12pm.

카페에사 있일거야. It will be at a cafe.

이카페 이름 "Buy the Book Cafe." The cafe's name is "Buy the Book Cafe"

후에 점심 같이 먹을 수 있어. Afterwards, we will eat lunch.

이카페에사 맜이는 음식 있어. There is delicious food at the cafe.

요가 안가고싶어면 일요일에 3시 후에 다른 노라할수있어. If you don't want to do yoga on Sunday
we could do something else after 3pm.

---

---