Waking up in Vermont at John & Mandy’s place found me checking the Fitbit and seeing it was past 7:30am. The latest I’ve slept in a long time…
Magical.
Now begins the task of going back in time to catch up on the rest of the journaling of this trip back to the USA and on to Morocco in August.
Last night we walked around Winooski. Weather was supposed to be bad but no storms made it up here.
As the sun rises half a world away in the West (Eastern Daylight Time zone), Jennifer and I recall that one year ago we left the Cayman Islands.
It’s not lost on us that we were fortunate to leave somewhat on our own terms as I was three days away from being in violation of the Immigration Policy at the time, she landed a job, and that was that.
Given the ever-changing climate when it comes to expats in the territory, we were not confident that we would have been safe to stay much longer and at least we were getting out with an opportunity, albeit physically halfway around the world (and in almost every other way light years) from those things that make up the kind of life we enjoy.
We left our home, our friends and de facto family and almost none of the advice and things we were told about Korea applied to our situation. Even the information we received about life under the umbrella of working for an international school was complete. Maybe that’s just how it is.
But we continue to make the most of the situation; I did land an amazing job in my field that pays well and both of us are growing and adding to our lives and gaining valuable professional experience. We are challenged possibly more than others who have never tried to make a go of it this far from home, and if nothing else, the stories we can now tell will surely entertain.
Oh, and we added the sweetest little Korean dog in the world to our brood.
So we got that going for us…
Today we featured British singer Ella Henderson’s new song “Ghost.”
During the setup, I read how she described her feelings after being signed to Simon Cowell’s record label a few years ago:
The most important thing I was looking for was to be involved creatively, and [this group] presents me with the best team to bring the best out of me.
New aircheck coming later tonight.
First of all, there’s no magical light at the end of this post. This doesn’t end with some flowery recipe for happiness or gem of appreciation and learning. It’s out-and-out bitching.
Whenever I feel like getting something that’s been bothering me off my chest, I always here this voice saying “Oh shut up and keep it to yourself.” Because who really cares what you’re feeling and what troubles you’re going through. Certainly nobody on Facebook. This even happens to some degree when there’s good news to share. It just feels like nobody really gives a damn and you ask yourself, “Why should they?”
I realize this could come from low self esteem and negative self image but even typing those words now seems like pandering and begging for pity.
So, again, “Oh shut up and keep it to yourself.”
I’m almost constantly in a state of envy and jealousy over what I perceive my Facebook friends have going on, and with whom they’re doing it. It always seems better than the life we have. I’ve contemplated dozens of times to get off the damn thing and can’t bring myself to do it. It’s one of the only things connecting me to my friends B.K. (Before Korea). Because most of the people that are my ‘friends’ here, clearly aren’t.
I think we thought Korea would be a fun, interesting, exciting adventure that would be great with new friends and wonderful moments and fond memories of doing exotic things. And wondering what fun stuff we’re going to do and where we are going to go next with a new group of similar-minded people.
So far the only thing we wonder is when is this place going to stop sucking so bad and when are we going to start liking it.
Y’all know what a big fan of illy coffee I am…
A few months ago, the illy Coffeesurfer, aka world renowned photographer Gabriele Galimberti, came to Seoul and I was excited to share my story with him & have him snap my picture in one of my oases of small pleasures.
Now you can read all about it here.
It was a pretty cool experience just to talk to someone who’s couchsurfed his way around the world multiple times and even made his way to Cayman as part of his ‘Delicatessen with love’ series. His work is impressive, but I was more impressed with his stories of how he’s married his love of travel with this love of photography. Check out his work here.
Safe travels, my friend. The next time we meet, the illy’s on me.
Hayley Williams once asked “Can we pretend that airplanes in the night sky are like shooting stars? I could really use a wish right now, wish right now, wish right now…”
And then B.O.B. and Eminem chimed in with some stuff, but for this post I think I’ll just stick with the airplane thing.
For as long as I can remember, seeing airplanes take off has been a thing for me. It represents excitement, adventure… and for some reason that I’m trying to figure out, the greener grass.
No matter how good I feel I have it (and trust me, all things considered I have it really good right now) seeing an airplane flying over the Han River last night on the bus home from work got to me like it always does.
Even when we lived in the Caribbean, with the sun, warmth, and all that stuff, I felt that way.
I love the idea of travel, but in practice it’s not so glam. Probably like most people, I hate traveling on planes nowadays. It’s always a hassle more than an adventure, but I was still envious of those folks as they made their way to cruising altitude last night. And I wondered if the sun had set enough for me to mistake the jet for a shooting star…
What happens when someone says “Go to your happy place” and you don’t know what that is?
I no longer have that problem. I got it now.
Last night as I was falling asleep not only was I anxious as usual, but I heard myself saying that above the inner cacophony.
It was then that I figured it out, and it says something that I was able to remember it this morning.
My happy place is a Sunday morning sitting outside in the warmth, gazing over the Caribbean Sea while sipping an iced coffee out of a colored plastic floral pint glass as Jennifer reads a book on the lounge chair to my left and Rooney lies there under the chair eyeing the iguanas down below. I know that we’ll have to shower and get dressed for brunch with our friends in an hour and we’re both looking forward to this little weekly ritual of chuckles and cuisine. I breathe deeply and can taste the lingering flavor of Irish cream on my tongue before taking another swig of the drink, being careful so as not to chug it too fast and have an ice cube or three try to escape their fate.
That’s my happy place. At least for now.
Bring on the Benedicts.
Friday I saw an older gentleman by the bus stop in Myeongdong finish a cigarette, flick it onto the street right next to the rubbish bin, hock up a loogie (also onto the street), and then put a surgical mask on. Obviously he didn’t want to breathe in any of that nasty ‘Yellow Dust’ from China.
Today whilst out with the dog, I saw a pair of boys walking on the path by our flat. Both of them were drinking from these little bottles of ‘vitamin drinks.’ One of them finished his up and threw it off to the side. It landed on where the grass will hopefully be in a few weeks. The bin was apparently too far away.
These are two examples of why I’ve perfected my balancing-the-plastic-coffee-cup-on-top-of-the-rubbish-heap move.
When in Rome…
Earlier today I was speaking to someone about the stresses of living in Korea and I mentioned that I was waking up in the middle of the night every night at around the same time.
In the course of the conversation, they asked “What do you like to do to relax?”
It’s funny because this question has come up a few times recently.
My answer was that although I like watching movies and tv (sometimes really bad sci-fi) I really enjoy relaxing with a cup of coffee or dinner or brunch with good friends. Just being social and chatting about random (and sometimes not so random) stuff.
The activities themselves are made (and made so much more meaningful) when shared with people you love and people who love you.
This is what it comes back to for me (and us) in Korea.
We haven’t had many of those experiences and because of that, I think we feel incomplete.
On a slightly related note, I searched the internet for the issue and ran across this item from Holistic By Nature that describes the Chinese Medicine ‘Meridian Clock,’ and what it allegedly means when you wake up at the same time every night.
Pretty accurate, no?
Yeah, so this apparently happened the other night:
Squat poppin…
That’s just not right, man. I don’t care where you live or what so-called ‘cultural differences’ exist… Taking a dump in public is absolutely unacceptable.
Especially, as it turns out, there is another adjuma trying to run interference by standing in front of you, trying to block peoples’ view..
I mean, seriously, I know it happens that one can’t control their bowels all the time, but really. You can’t be that far from home if you’re walking on a path surrounded by apartment buildings. And it’s freezing cold.
The scariest part of this entire thing is that upon further reflection, it’s not all that surprising.