SOMETIMES THE HORSE WITH BLACK AND WHITE STRIPES REALLY IS A ZEBRA

Another long period without a post however this time there is a real reason. I woke up last Wednesday morning and I had no Internet. It was deceased. Unfortunately I can’t call and report it directly because of the small differences in language between the Koreans and myself. I told Kyle and he finally called the Internet Company and they told him they had several calls from my apartment and they were going to send someone to the apartment the next day. I thought it was rather strange and incompetent that they get trouble calls and yet no one comes to investigate right away. So I assumed the Internet would be fixed Thursday.

When I got home Thursday night I still had no Internet. I reported this to Kyle and he said that he would call them on Friday since they don’t have 24 hour support. He did call on Friday and they said they fixed the apartment on Thursday and if mine wasn’t working then there must be something wrong with my computer. They did not say, “We will come and check it out”. I found this quite unreal. Kyle came over with his laptop to make sure it wasn’t my computer acting up (which I knew it wasn’t) and of course the Internet was down for his computer too. He said he would try and find a new provider to come out on Saturday and hook me up.

By this time I have having serious withdrawal problems. If I had access to the Internet I’d have been searching out some sort of 12-step program. However, I went at it cold turkey. I didn’t hear from Kyle on Saturday until 6 o’clock. Someone is at my apartment and there is no answer. Why is there no answer at my door? Because I went out because no one told me that anyone was coming. So Kyle says he’ll get someone to come out on Monday.

On Monday finally someone hooked me up. They didn’t have to enter my apartment and all is well. I have no idea why the original company was so incompetent and annoying. It’s tough when you can’t yell at them yourself but must use a go-between. However, here I am back on the computer making good use of my time. (That was a joke).

So there is much to catch up on. That is, if anything new has happened. Let me step into the Wayback machine and see what I find.

I had this weird stomach ailment all last week. I really didn’t want to work at all as I was worried that I would have an emergency need for an extended washroom visit. But I toughed it out and I was lucky. I was able to confine myself to my own washroom during home hours. I didn’t eat much all week and I’m sure none of it stayed in my system for too long. On Friday morning I didn’t think I could handle traveling far and working so I called Kyle and told him I was skipping class and going to the doctor. He wasn’t pleased but I really didn’t care. I was sick and tired of being sick. I went to the doctor and he told me I had some kind of intestinal ailment (which I knew) and he wanted to put a drip in me for a couple of hours. I figured it couldn’t hurt so I told him I’d be back in ½ an hour to do it. I was supposed to go to an interview of a new customer with Kyle (I could handle that because it’s brief) but on our way there he couldn’t get the people on the phone to get their address. So that was brief. I told him I’d go to the academy for 2 hours in the afternoon to teach because it’s close to my home and I can escape to a nearby refuge quickly if needed. I did cancel my out of town class that was to be after that. I told him that if he’s not happy with me getting sick and canceling work to find someone else. I told him health comes first. He then just asked me to let him know in advance if I ever felt I was getting sick. That way he could be prepared. I told him if I knew I was getting sick, I’d certainly tell him.

I went back to the doctor and lay on a bed for almost 3 hours while the intravenous drip went into me. I must say it helped. I had 3 days of medicine with that, but I was basically fine after the drip. I don’t know what it was but I needed it. I probably should go to the doctor a little more quickly at times. But when you get stomach flu, you figure it’s gone in 1 or 2 days at the most. I couldn’t believe how long this one went on.

The academy I work at 2 days a week that is chock full of dumb and annoying kids wants a new teacher. It seems when the kids annoy me it shows on my face and that’s not the Korean way. They really want a foreign English teacher who also speaks Korean. Good luck. I find it mathematically absurd that in 11 classes there I have not one above average student. It’s amazing. They are not all bad kids but there are enough of them to make being there an unpleasant experience. Kyle is trying to hire a new teacher and when he does, she’ll get this place. (He wants to hire a woman). This will be good for me.

On Thursday night Kyle and I met 2 young women at McDonald’s (they picked the meeting place) to discuss them taking classes with me. They are both kindergarten teachers here in Bucheon (one teaches English, the other art) and they want to improve their English. It does need improving. They are 25 and 29 and they are both very nice. I hit it off with them and I’m hoping beyond being their teacher that we become friends. It seems they have no life here. They are both single without boyfriends. The 25 year old lives at home (of course) and the 29 year old lives with her uncle (her family is in another city). The two of them and me went out for dinner after (not McDonalds) and they paid for me without my knowing. On Friday they both sent me a text message on my phone saying it was good to meet me and to have a nice weekend. (They had asked for my phone number on Thursday).

Of course after my quick bonding with them I learn they can only take classes on Monday nights at 8pm. I am only supposed to work 2 nights a week and I now work until 9PM on Tuesday and Thursday. I am not pleased by this but I tell Kyle I’ll go on Monday (yesterday) and try and work out new times with them. When I was there last night I found out there is a legitimate reason why it must be this way (or Wednesday at 8PM). I found myself in a bind. I like them and the class is just talking. It’s not like work and it’s a potential friendship. I do not do something every night I’m free. But, I don’t want to set a precedent so I wasn’t sure what to do. What I decided was I would “teach” them. I like them that much and they seem to like me. They are so young in many ways. One of them joked that she can’t die yet because she’s not married. She also said she hates her cell phone because when it rings it’s never the boyfriend she doesn’t have. It’s cute.

When I went to the house of the one who lives at home last night, her mother came to the door and welcomed me in English and told me it was nice to meet me. I was quite impressed. I then learned that her daughter had just taught her how to say these things and the mother had them written in ink on her hand because she was nervous. It’s cute, it’s funny, and it also says a lot about how nice some people are and how they go out of their way to make you comfortable. So I like the young ladies and I like the mother too. I believe I’m doing the smart thing by agreeing to work the extra night and be their teacher. Supposedly we will socialize at other times and I can see that happening. It’s not like we all have rich social lives during the week (or sometimes weekend).

I have decided that I like teaching those I can talk to (because it’s just talk and I learn about people and Korea that way), and I enjoy the kindergarten. It’s the low level students that you can’t have a conversation with that I don’t enjoy. In Kindergarten I can fool around, the classes are short, the kids seem to love me (who knows why), and it’s fun. However, this may get boring after a while. I really don’t know how I’ll feel in a couple of months but I have a feeling that this isn’t a long term job for me. I don’t get a lot of personal satisfaction out of the job because it’s only teaching English as a 2nd language. I don’t know if I’d really like being a real teacher but it would be interesting to try. However, I’d never manage in classes of 40 kids. I’d find it a losing battle because I like to be personal and with that many kids, you really can’t be. So, for as long as it doesn’t annoy me too much and I do get some fun out of it, I’ll do it. I’m just prepared this time in case I don’t end up always liking it.

And what of Saeyoon? We didn’t see each other during the week last week and didn’t talk until Friday night. We spent most of the weekend together and it was quite nice. It’s frustrating and strange in a way. When we are together it’s very good. We have a good time, we enjoy each other’s company, we get along well, we have things to say to each other, we are comfortable in silence together, and a bunch of positive and really wonderful things. It’s when we are apart that we have our little problems. So, why are we apart so much? Because that’s life at the moment. Should we be living together? Possibly. It’s a thought we’ve talked about but nothing would happen before May. (And not necessarily in Korea). It would be quite a brave thing for her to do because living together is not a Korean thing. I joke with her that it would be strange to live with me but still not have her mother know I exist. She has issues that I can’t understand. Part of the reason I can’t understand is because it’s so outside my realm of experience, and part of the reason is cultural differences. We will just have to wait and see what happens. The only things I know for sure is that she does touch my heart and we are quite happy when we are together in person.

She took me to get my hair cut on Sunday for my Toronto visit. My mother will be pleased. They did a good job and Saeyoon said I look really good and much younger. When Kyle saw me he was “gushing” over it and told me I looked 10 years younger. So now I look 17. It’s very short but I miss my “mad professor” look. I love how Saeyoon laughs at my old and bad jokes. On Sunday night I went to the washroom and when I came back out I told her there was a strange man in the mirror looking at me. Humor is so hard to do across different cultures but most of the time she gets mine and laughs at it. I love to make her laugh. I love to make anyone laugh but she looks really good when she laughs and I can see it’s a laugh coming from deep inside of her.

We watched “Love Actually” on Sunday night. We’d never seen it and it was quite enjoyable. Some of the stories were a little too far-fetched for me, but one of them rocked me with the reality of it and made me feel terrible. I felt like I was watching a part of my life when I stood at a crossroads and made a choice that might not have been the best choice. Alan Rickman and Emma Thompson were the main actors in this storyline and it was just too real and depressing for me.

After the movie Saeyoon was crying which was quite shocking. Something in the movie touched her and got her to say some very sweet things to me. As I’ve mentioned she’s not the most verbally forthcoming person in a romantic sense although things keep getting better. If I may get a little sappy here (and it’s my blog so I can), it was nice (not a strong enough word) to just hold her while she cried and said what she wanted to say. After that she opened up about some personal things in her life and past life. I can’t really explain it but at moments like that I feel your relationship moving forward with great leaps.

I know at times (if I may change the subject) that under my supposedly normal exterior that there is a depression lurking inside of me. I know my meds are keeping it at bay but I feel it trying to get out at times. The problem is I don’t know if it’s just how I normally am (depression as normal), or if I have a problem. I don’t want to self-medicate and there is no one here I can see with confidence on this subject. I would want a native English speaker for this. I don’t want to get overly sad. I’m afraid of it.

Tonight I begin my Tuesday and Thursday night classes that even Kyle knows nothing about detail wise. Someone from the city of Gimpo called him to hire his company and I’m the designated teacher. It seems I’ll be teaching adult women classes of women around 40-50 (I’m guessing). I have no idea if they know a word of English, and no idea of what they are expecting. I am curious to see what it is but there is no textbook so I will have to dance fast.

Less than 4 weeks until Toronto. I will buy my ticket tomorrow. The online prices on the usual sites are very high. I believe I can do better on the Korean sites. Kyle will come over around noon tomorrow to look it up for me. Saeyoon did a quick look for me and found cheaper stuff but I hope to do better. Who knows how this flight price crap works.

I probably left out some stuff but I’m sure it was important so don’t worry about it. Oh yes. Saeyoon and I are getting tickets for “Jesus Christ Superstar”. I’ve never seen it and the idea of seeing it in Korean fascinates me. However, it might be in English with a Korean cast. It should nevertheless be interesting. Maybe after seeing it I’ll know what’s the buzz?