P's travels

catching up

2010-08-12T00:11:00.000-07:00

Greeting all! I havn't posted in forever and here it is just 2 months out from my return home! I figured out today that I have just 6 1/2 weeks of teaching left because we are coming off a 2 week holiday and have another week off late September for their "Thanksgiving" (called Chusak)! I can't believe I will walk through the door of my home and will be greeted by my daughter and granddaughter!! How sweet is that?

But I'm not family-less here in Korea. I am very close to this one clan and was invited to go on their family vacation at the beach during my holiday. (Just a couple of days). These people have been so kind and generous to me during my stay here.
The one on the left is Yun Jeong and she is a pharmacist also well versed in Chinese medicine herbs. She was a great help when I got sick last winter and has become a wonderful friend. She's pretty alternative for a Korean!

Her sister Mishell (her English name from English class), is next to her and expecting a baby any day now. I'm so happy I get to meet the new one.

These 2 were the youngest of the crew. Ye Jin (the little girl) and I were pretty much in love. I taught her how to play Slap Jack and we had so much fun I gave her my deck of cards.

We stayed in this awesome house and most of the family (12 in all, including grandmother and grandfather) slept on the floor. I, being the Western guest, was given a private room with its own bathroom. We barbaqued the first night - not unlike being at home - watermelon for dessert!

The next day we visited this traditional Korean house with a huge lotus flower garden. It was on the downside....... can you imagine what it looked like in full bloom!!

I love this architecture so much. I wish they were still building homes like there here, but I guess it's too expensive. The new homes these days are quite boring, ugly even. And the majority of people like in apartment complexes; tall, tall buildings built in groups like a high rise community. So sad.

Anyway, nice to get a bit of travel in before I get out of here.

See you soon. YOO HOO!!

big love, p.

1 year later

2009-10-13T04:26:00.000-07:00

Mostly, I seem to be using this space as a travelog; images of places I go, the children I'm working with, the people in my life here ........, but it recently occured to me that I havn't spoken to you, my friends, from the heart, for some time now. And having just completed a full year here, I thought I'd take a few minutes to share some thoughts with you. I'm sitting in my bed, it's evening, there is a hard rain outside, and I'm thinking of each one of you as I write this.

When I came here, I was a mess. I needed a paid sabbatical, a 'time out', an opportunity to see what the next chapter was to be. I had had one too many grant applications accepted but then appropriated a mere fraction of what I had asked for. Enough!! If I continued on that path I would become bitter and angry; not emotions I want in my life. Time to move on. This move to Korea was incredibly hard work, but I received support from the universe and friends at each step. Now, a year later, I am happy to report that I finally feel leveled out. I'm going forward into my 2nd year with no stress, an easy, comfortable job, and time to put in place the plans for my return home. I will be ready then. I am not ready yet.

I have learned much this year about myself and about my dealings with others.

I have been appreciated and depreciated by a complex culture and government that continues to fascinate me. (More about that another time.) I was given the opportunity to put my spiritual beliefs in practice every single day at work last year because I was gifted a most unpleasant, unconcious co-worker. I survived a terribly abcessed tooth and, with the dentist's diligence, it was saved and happily capped for a fraction of the cost it would have been in the US I received excellent treatment from a doctor at the hospital when the behaviour of the aforementioned co-worker, along with the kimchee which I was aggressively consuming as well as the built up stress, made my stomach feel like the mob had given me a good punch or two in it. That visit and stomach medication cost me all of $ 15. No problems since.

I have come to love riding on buses. The local buses are fine. I take a 10 minute ride to school everyday and hop on one often even to just go a few blocks. They come by regulary, they are clean, and they are COMMON. Yes, people have cars here. But many, many people use the bus. Even those with cars will sometimes use buses for inter-city travel, just because the system is so efficient. And when I get on one that represents an hour or more ride, a calm comes over me. It is a wonderful suspension of time; I have absolutely no obligations for the forseeable future, that is, the duration of this journey; but I have many choices. I can stare out the window, I can wonder about the lady across the isle, I can watch a young woman play endlessly with her hair, I can read, or, of late, I can try to sound out all the Korean symbols passing by outside and take tempered joy in the fact that even though I know the alphabet pretty well and the sounds that it makes, I still don't have a clue what it all means.

I have come to appreciate the simplicity of my life here. Not just in a temporary or passing way; but in a life changing, core value way. Life should be simple; at least MY life should be simple. The drive and desires that have pushed me during my time in Asheville do not exist any longer. I have achieved what I set out to achieve in creating my own work. I have nothing to prove. I am proud and happy to have done what I have done. I HAD to do it, but now I know who I am, and I don't HAVE to do it anymore. I know the the creative energy flows constantly and can be expressed in a multitude of ways. Painting for instance. It doesn't have to be perfect or commercial or judged by anyone else as 'good'. It is the process itself that brings joy. Je suis content.

I have learned to love and appreciate technology. I use the internet constantly for inspiration and resources for my teaching. It is mind boggling, the plethora of free information out there!! AND, most importantly, this wonderful technology allows me to stay a part of my friends 'an families' lives. Skype is a miracle. SKYPE IS A MIRACLE!! My granddaughter Isabella, my daughter Devlyn, and I read stories, tell stories, kiss, giggle, sing songs, and open presents, all while SEEING EACH OTHER via web cam. It is not rare at all for me to have 4 or 5 hours of conversation each weekend for the humble amount of $ 6 a month. That, my friends, is what makes this possible.

I have learned there are many ways of being present, that the worst thing to due is to pretend that physical distance is an excuse for not being there. My sweet cat Squeak made her exit this year and because I wasn't physically present, I felt horribly seperate. In that illusion of seperateness I experienced huge sadness and guilt; I was letting everyone down, her, by not being there, and Vincent and Joanna who were. Yet, when I finally realized that I COULD talk to her by asking my friends to put the phone to her head, we ALL felt more connected. I could feel her responding to my voice and my heart ached, knowing I could have offered her so much more had I had the awareness that 'connecting' takes many forms. We talked nearly every day toward the end and it helped.

So although I won't be coming home this winter, I still feel connected to each and every one of you. I'll try to make catch up phone calls in the coming months just for fun.
Be well. Drop a note now and then.

Much love to each and every one of you ......................... p.

I guess the sabattical has worked.

Isabella's birthday present

2009-10-03T01:59:00.000-07:00

Hanji Paper rocks!!!

I have completely fallen in love with this handmade paper over here called Hanji paper. It is incredible to work with. So I created this piece for my granddaughter's birthday. It has hooks on the back of the big star and the little star to hang on the wall. Cute, eh?

Go Isabella! Ride that star!

good friends.............

2009-09-28T04:42:00.001-07:00

Good friends. Man. They make up those moments, those memories, which in the end, seem to be the lampposts of our life. So, when my good friend Kathy Christensen came to Korea recently for a 9 day visit, we were happily in pursuit of fresh deposits to our respective memory banks to provide light on other less light days to come. What fun.

The first night out we went to a local performance called Namsadang nori. It's an outdoor performance made up of some rope walking, plate spinning, acrobatics, music and dance. Very traditional. It was a gorgeous night; you could see the mountains in the distance.

We went with Johann and Susan from S. Africa. I love this guys hat. What do you say Vincent - can we add this to your hat collection?

The next day was Jin Ji Bang day. Kathy and I both got a body scrub for $15 by two women dressed in bra and panties who scrub you and scrub you and scrub you, toss buckets of warm water on you, drape you with hot towels, slap you around a bit, and when you are done, your skin is soooooooo smooth you can't believe it.

Next adventure was the singing room - ('Nori Bang' in Korean). This is the Korean take on Kareoke. You get your own private room for you and your gang of friends equipped with a huge screen, a gazillion songs to choose from, disco lights and sound system and then start having fun.

It was so sweet that all of the teachers in my building came out for this little gathering; they knew it was Kathy's birthday and they really wanted to help her celebrate. I've got some really great people with me over here.

Mrs. Lee and Lisa, Sarah and my new co-teacher Steven

Then came the beach!! Yum. I had been to the lovely city of Sokcho earlier in August and fell in love with it. It's the best of two worlds; on one side you have the beautiful East Sea and on the other you have Mt Seorak National Park. Mountains and ocean............. hmmmmmmmmmm does it get any better than that?

See the shadow in the upper left corner? That is the finger of this adorable little Korean woman who didn't have a clue how to use a digital camera and after I TURNED IT AROUND the right way, she still kept walking around trying to see an image before she would take the shot, which, of course, was impossible because it was way too bright out there. This shot took about 3-4 minutes to get - and it was worth every second of it.

And Kathy had her first official Korean food in Sokcho. She said it was an 'acquired taste'. But I'm seriously thinking about opening a Korean restaurant in lil ol Asheville - 'cause I think I can fusion this food out to suit the Yuppie palate and that the basic style of eating is very cool and very healthy - so yeah, Asheville needs a Korean restaurant!

Our 2nd visit to the beach we were walking along the boardwalk and all of a sudden these 5 people - all dressed in black and white, appeared and started arranging themselves for various photos. It was clearly a performance troupe of some sort. When the elder of the group positioned herself on the short wall for a pose with her vagabond suitcase and her PUPPET - well, I just had to say hi. We played for awhile. It was fun.

Then we were off to Seoul. We met up with (another) Kathy (my Kathy's niece) and her teacher friend Lizzie. What a day!! We went to two different shopping areas: Namdemon and Insa dong, We went to the biggest Palace and saw the changing of the guards, and we took a riverboat ride at night to see a light and water show shot off a bridge. Sorry, no pictures of the riverboat ride, my camera was plain tuckered out by then.

It was a great visit. It's funny - it was almost like being home! It had a strange psycholgical effect on me; it was comforting.

I am coming up on a year here and will share some thoughts about that soon. I hope all is well with each of you.

I hate that I can't be there to celebrate my sister Paula's committment ceremony this weekend. I miss all of you, but please know I am well. I am content. And I still love my job. Until next time....................... p. o'connor

puppet show and 4th of July

2009-07-11T06:44:00.000-07:00

So one day my Korean co-worker comes to me and says, can you create a little puppet show for our 70 VIP guests who are coming to visit our Center next week. Just a little 3-4 minute thing. I said oh, like a commercial for the Center? Yes, was the reply. So this is what we did. I was soooooo proud of the kids. The 2 older girls did the puppeteering and the two younger ones did the voices. Too, too, cute!!

The lighting totally sucks. There is a sign on your left hand side of the stage that says "English Class". That's what the little guy is looking at and worried about.

And then came the 4th of July. Man did that day bring up some stuff for me! I was soooooooooo homesick; missin my neighborhood buds like crazt. I could taste the memories. All the years we have cooked out together then hiked downtown to our perfect spot for viewing the fireworks......... My cheeks aching at the end of the evening because I had ooooed and ahhhhed and smiled so hard. So many laughs and good times. So in order to be proactive I knew I had to do SOMETHING!! Rumor had it that they were doing some fireworks at the army base nearby. Rumor added that there was a barbeque as well. Man, the visions I had in my head; potato salad and barbeque beans, cole slaw, green salad ( oh the wonderful salads we make at home!) . WRONG. Meat and chips, folks. Meat and chips. Meat choices included hamburger (looked frozen), hot dogs (looked lame), ribs (I'm not much of a ribs) and brats (your choice of smoked, hot or mild). I opted for the brats and they were great - but man, I could have done with a little potato salad!! Still, it was a fun evening. I was in a gaggle of teachers - about eight I guess. Nice group.

When we arrived these guys were parachuting in.

It was a lovely evening........ but as Dorothy said, there's no place like home!

Cannot live without a dream!

2009-06-20T01:11:00.001-07:00

This pretty much says it all.

...other fun photos from a public sculpture garden in Chonan

Korean women LOVE their accessories!

And this guy is literally 'hanging out'.

fun stuff.

The most amazing Buddha yet!

2009-06-20T00:20:00.000-07:00

I had heard there was a lovely Buddhist temple in the city of Chonan, which is not that far from me, so fellow teacher Mary and I set out to see it. When you arrive at the bus station in Chonan you are greeted by this .......... !! Hey - they're very proud of their walnuts, OK?

The temple is pretty high up on a mountain and set back. I didn't COUNT these stairs, I FELT them!!

It was a beautiful spring day and trees were in bloom.

And then you come to the clearing...................... and there he is, in all his glory. Such a beautiful site.

And inside the temple is incredibly beautiful as well...................

...... more intricate carvings then I've seen anywhere else!

And after the temple, we hung out in the sculpture garden I shared with you already followed by some great food at a very Western restaurant called VIPs. It was a good day.

big love to all

Our trip to Jenju - home of Hanji paper

2009-05-17T05:22:00.000-07:00

So a whole slew of us foreign teachers went on an adventure recently that was more of a fiasco in the end. But it's worth telling you about the city of Jenju, because it is a huge source of pride for the Korean people. Any of you who have ever shopped the beautiful hand made papers at Blue dowtown Asheville or other places, may have been admiring Hanji paper; hand made Korean paper whose history goes back thousands of years and it's uses range screens for windows and doors to tables, to armor, to beautiful lighting. It can last up to 1,000 years. I am so in love with the paper that I'm into creating a variety of paper mache projects with it.

So Jenju, the city we visited, has the most famous paper of all. All Hanji paper is made from mulberry, and all is made in basically the same way, but the water in Jenju is said to be very pure and make the paper even more special.

So here's Johann (S. Africa), Mary (US), Maria (S. Africa) and me on the bus.

Nick and Sarah were also there (although clearly these are not pictures from the bus) and I want you to meet them because they are a really sweet couple from Canada.

The whole point of visiting Jenju is a trip to the 'traditional village' where all sorts of Korean made stuff is for sale. It was a quaint, very well done, touristy kind of place...................... the kind of place Korean families and couples go on a holiday weekend or Sat. Sun. jaunt.

We, unfortunately, chose to go on a National Holiday, and had no idea what we were getting in for. The traffic on the roads was horrible and I spent 7 hours on the bus traveling and 3 hours on the ground shopping. Not a good ratio! It was a cloudy day that eventually led to rain and that just added more melancholy to the situation. Ah well. Lesson learned. Either stay home or plan to spend the night!!

When we first entered the village they were doing a fashion show on a fairly large stage. That was fun!

And there was a Catholic cathedral there. A slightly rare sight in S. Korea.

I love the tiles everywhere; I think they're beautiful. I sooo want to do my roof like that.

My trip to Jenju gave me great appreciation for the Hanji paper and when we decided to do a special Hanji Project with our families one Saturday, I felt like I 'got it'Great fun - we went to a Hanji artist's studio very close to my school, and each family made a 'tea table' to take home. Yes, I got to make one too! What a great momento, eh? These are a sort of 'cardboard' form covered with Hanji paper.

Next............ my trip to another Buddist temple, but this time Buddha's sitting outside with the mountains as his backdrop!

love to all. p.

Buddha's birthday and the Lantern Festival

2009-05-09T05:58:00.000-07:00

Welcome to Buddha's birthday celebration in Seoul. It's called the Lantern Festival and it was awesome!!!

This festival is, of itself, worthy of a trip to Korea! You have to get there early though. There is so much to do that it is difficult to fit it all in one day. There are over 100 booths of activity to keep you busy during the day and most of it is FREE. They provide materials to make your very own lotus lantern, wood carving paintings, clay work, small lotus buds and on and on. It was GREAT fun!

Here you pour water over a Baby Buddha to declare your intentions for the year.

Here we learn about 'traditional' tea ceremony.

And then there is the temple itself which is quite beautiful............

But the parade at night is the spectacular culmination of the day. Over 100,000 lanterns light the streets of Seoul. Since pictures are worth a 1,000 words........................ here's a few images from that magical night.

And this last image is the sweet face of a young monk. His mother (I am assuming) was close at hand and she was beaming with pride.

Big Buddha love to all!!!

2009-04-16T04:20:00.000-07:00

I just have to share this story.

I was commissioned to make 3 skeletons about 9 years ago by a buddy of mine who was working on "Casper the Musical" in London.

A few weeks ago I got an e-mail from a guy named Nigel who somehow knew I had made them and wanted to talk to me about them. It turns out the show went belly up after a 2-3 year run and they were housing all the stuff in a warehouse for some time. Finally, they decided to bail and all the stuff went in various directions with this guy Nigel becoming the owner of the skeletons. They have been reincarnated and are doing some great work. That's what the link is about. Mr. Green!!! Nigel said he is just having so much fun with them that he just HAD to find their 'mum' and let her know they were doing just fine.

So if you've got a minute, please check out this site. Mr. Green is a happening dude!
http://www.letsgetalife.co.uk/

love to all.
p.

2009-04-11T02:19:00.000-07:00

Man, it has been awhile....... I trust this finds everyone enjoying the many delights of Spring!! I am feeling rather blissful myself; utter joy with the end of winter and many less layers of clothes. There is this phenomena however called "yellow dust" which is pollution that floats here from China and causes people to wear the funny little white masks that they wear in the Winter when they have a cold. But that's almost over.

I always wanted to share this image with you. On my first day in Korea, as I was being shown around our neighborhood, I was told to remember this sign because this is MY corner. Here, you turn left, and my apartment is two blocks down on the right. The laundry is perfect isn't it!!

Here are two of my favorite food things in my life. First is a typical lunch at school. Ya got your rice, your soup, and three sides, including the obligatory kimchee. Next is my favorite dessert place where I go if I need that kind of treat. And this is what I like to order - but always with someone else, because it's way too much for me. Ya got two scoops of ice cream, two scoops of whipped cream (the real deal), various fruits (and they always throw tomato in there which of course is very weird to me) and a lovely waffle in the middle. Yum, Yum.

School is busy. I still enjoy it. I try to get better. Played an April Fool's gag on my 4th grade class and one little girl who is very smart but VERY quiet and seldom cracks a smile, actually laughed. I've never seen such a big smile on her face! It made me very happy. Ahhh, it's those little moments.

This was Easter week, so we had Scavenger hunts, made Easter baskets and, with my 5th graders, had a silly hat contest.

I really love teaching this age group. They are smart and sweet. The 3 boys are absolutely inseperable; a regular 3 musketeers.

This young lady is Ha Young. She will probably be president one day. Brilliant young lady. The guy who made the 'silliest' hat is Soo Min. Cute as hell, charming if he wants to be............ don't think he'll be president.

Below to the left is Do Hyun. Sweetest girl I know......... and smart.

Gotta show you my mop shoes!! They are soooo cool. Mopping is so much more fun this way. Just slip them on and skate away!!

If I were to open a business when I come back to Asheville it would be one of two things; an import store I would call "Smart Stuff" for some of the well ............ smart stuff!!! I've seen over here, or a Korean restaurant because I love the food so much.......... !!

A touch of Korean spring...............

Much love to all...................... I'll be sending more soon.

pamella

Holiday Part II

2009-02-07T01:39:00.000-08:00

Here's some watercolor play....................... It's so relaxing. So interesting.

And here's my first ever muppet style puppet. I think his name is Sonny. Maybe. I don't know. Ralph? What do you think? Anyway, he's gonna be on YouTube soon offering English classes. Stay tuned. And that's Caroline my Korean co-worker playing around. She's a natural!

Bye for now. p.

Holiday Part I

2009-02-05T15:21:00.000-08:00

I can't remember the last time I had two weeks of paid vacation. Recognizing it for the gift it was, I set multiple goals; get in some leisure reading, play with watercolors, visit several recommended destinations in Seoul, and do some "teaching English online" research. I'm happy to say I accomplished all of the above and went back to school on Monday feeling rested and ready to bring love, light, and fun to the classroom.

Love the hat on this lady. I bought several little trinkets from her just so I could stand around and admire her hat.

And this is the year of the OX, by the way. I went to an incredible Chinese New Year performance of traditional Korean performing arts. It was mesmerizing. This culture, although very hard working, knows how to slow down their internal clock and just be. Much of their 'traditional' pomp and circumstance is very slow paced and would drive a lot of Westerners crazy.

Theses ladies are from my local grocery store. They all wore this garb on the Lunar New Year holiday weekend. Too cute. And the guy (sadistic bastard) is whipping a top to make it spin. I'll be bringing that one home to see how well we can do with it. Hmmm..... what else can I do with that whip?

Below are photos from a section of Seoul known as Dangdemun. It has one of the most mind boggling fabric stores in the world. Five HUGE floors of fabric and accessories. Amazing. And another outdoor 'market' - which seems to be infinitely interesting to me.

So there's some travel photos for you. Check out part two for my latest creative adventures.

Love, love, love................. to all.

holidays and such

2009-01-09T18:24:00.000-08:00

So, Christmas really sucked!!! I was slammed with my 2nd cold since my arrival here and couldn't even get out of bed that day. The other teachers in the building went to lunch. I slept. We did however manage to have our 1st forray into the land of puppets at school and created a lot of other fun stuff...................... it didn't all suck.

New Year's eve was better. I was still pretty 'off', but friend Maria and I went out for dinner, then for dessert to a lovely little spot, then back to my apartment for a midnight toast.

Shortly after midnight Devlyn called and we had a webcam visit as she and Isabella opened their Christmas box which was made up of lots and lots of (mostly small) things, individually wrapped. Out of that came a very funny story I must share: "The Vest Story". Please note that I had sent this box a MONTH before and I believe in abundance......... so although they were not expensive gifts, there were MANY. I DID NOT remember all that I had sent. OK, so, Dev had noted on the 'contents' of the box that it contained a vest. As Isabella opened one of her gifts that turned out to be a soft, fluffy, absolutely adorable white vest, Devlyn sighed a rather large sigh of relief. "Oh thank God," she said. "What do you say that? I said" Well, mom, I'm just sooooooooo relieved that the vest was for Isabella! I was worried that you had sent ME a vest and I was thinking - WHY! would she send me a vest? I don't wear vests! So, great -it was a vest for Isabella, that's good! And it's a wonderful vest, as vests go." We laughed and laughed. I can appreciate gift anxiety. They went on unwrapping gifts. Devlyn came to her last one. It was soft. I had no recollection of what it was. None. It was a vest!! OOPS. Oops on all accounts! How hilarious! We fell down laughing. And now, someone at Goodwill has a very nice (I think) vest from Korea!

One of the things I love about being speechless in a foreign country is that your imagination is tapped constantly. You create whole stories with equisite details that, in all likelihood, have absolutely nothing to do with reality. Sometimes one scenario will stimulate multiple stories...... "or what if...................this is what is REALLY happening?!" It's fun.

Like the hat story. One night I went to E-Mart directly from work. I was hungry, and decided to eat before shopping. It was cold outside, so I had my big, black, furry Dr. Zhivago hat on, which, once on, doesn't come off until I'm home because it causes severe hat head. So I'm sitting there enjoying my wonderful Korean food which, even in E-Mart is prepared fresh and served in beautiful dishes with pride and flair, and I become aware of a lot of 'looks'. Not unusual really. You get that here in my small city of Anseong. Suddenly, I was in playback mode; all the faces of shock and awe to my very presence came flooding back to me; the little girl in the jin je ban, the men at the bus stop, the women at my local grocery store. On and on. I finish my meal and head to the rest room as I continue to wallow in my Tower of Babel and look in the mirror. My hat is crooked. I had such a story going on.................... and my HAT WAS CROOKED!

Another day I was headed home after work and when my bus pulled up as usual and the door opened the bus driver came running out leaned down in the ditch with his cell phone and stayed there talking to someone for at least 10 minutes....... which seemed more like 30. Man, the stories I made up to go with that one!

So I'm on holiday now! 2 weeks of paid vacation! Sweet. Kicked it off by going to Seoul with 2 girlfriends for what turned out to be a really wild 24 hours - which seems appropriate since it started with the "Wild Women's Performing Arts Festival" held at a very cool club with all funds going toward various women's issues here in Korea. Over 2/3 of the audience was Western! I havn't been around that many white people since I left home 3 months ago. I acually saw a young woman from Asheville there! Wierd. At about 10:30 we had to make the decision: leave in order to catch the bus home (the last one to my town runs at 11:30) or stay because we were having fun and just see what happens. Guess what we decided? Of course! We stayed. So about midnight we're standing outside the club catching some fresh air and this sweet, harmless looking Korean man invites us to join he and his girlfriend to go dancing. We did.

Then he took us to get something to eat - picking up two younger men on the street because they spoke English pretty well and he knew it would be more fun while we were eating. Then (at 4am) he took us to a 24 hour Jin je ban where they had 2 floors of co-ed dormitory sleeping and a much smaller floor just for women. We opted for that. Hard to sleep on a floor with nothing but a mat, but I managed to catch a couple hours - the other ladies couldn't do it. At 7:30 I was up and in the 'bath' with Mahara and Maria. We sat there for about an hour. Then we went for a Western style breakfast (which sucked), got snatched up by a young lady who said she needed a photo for "Embassy" magazine, wandered around Itewhan (which is the area of Seoul with the most "western" stores, went to lunch and didn't finally head home til 4pm. Exhausted. But happy. It was an adventure, for sure!

Back to Seoul tomorrow for more exploring and a "Deeksha" Oneness Blessing at the Jai Yoga Center. Why not?!

Love and kisses to all..............................

your one and only P. O'Connor

A virtual tour of my digs.

2008-12-13T20:41:00.000-08:00

Hello everyone - I sincerely hope you are all well and focused on a simple stress free holiday season.

Thought you might like to see where I live.
Oh, and my apologies, but I did not give you the zip code to either my apartment address or the school address when I sent them in an earlier e-mail. The apartment zip is 456040. The school zip is 456861.

BIG LOVE.
pamella

Size matters

2008-12-09T04:49:00.000-08:00

Ok, so I want to talk about size, because as we all know, size DOES matter! Check out this photo - which is a lousy photo because you have nothing to compare it to and it's a silly perspective ...... but here's the point.

This is a brand new roll of paper towels, and trust me, this roll is at least 3 inches shorter, has 1/3rd the amount of paper ON the roll and the sheets are perhaps 2/3rds the size of ours. So what's this about? Is it because Korea is a small country and they are small people and so they have small messes? Is it like the fish in a fish bowl; their products reflect the size of their environment? Or is it because they are really smart, and are psychologically discouraging people from overuse of paper products? Actually, it's a bit of each, but primarily, it's because there are very few trees in this country and a lot of paper stuff has to be IMPORTED, from China mostly. So, they downsize the size of the product, thus instilling in the consumer a natural reverence for said product and it's usage. Smart. When we downsize in America it is for different reasons...... namely, the bottom line of the buckeroo. I mean, do we really need paper towels as big as the ones we have? Just because we are a big country, does that mean we need to oversize everything?

OK, that's my rant for the day. Otherwise, I am happy to report that all is well. School is good; the planning part is coming a bit easier, but still eats up a lot of time because every class has to be put onto a form with specifics of your plan for the principal and vice-principal to sign off on Friday for the following week. It's time I would rather spend being more CREATIVE with my classes. But the days do fly by, and sometimes I even feel like a GOOD teacher! I have begun my first puppet project with the 5th and 6th grade class I have. They are writing simple xmas stories and making puppets to tell them. We will perform for the 1st graders. My student 'Little Einstein' (some of them have chosen English names to go by in class) is doing a shadow puppet show and the others are doing hand puppets. I'll make sure to get pictures to share.

Winter is beginning to settle in, but, like Asheville, there are always a few warm days in the month. One day this week it got up to 59 degrees farenheit. Awesome.

My energy is getting better and better. No more meltdowns over soup to report. I've talked to some other teachers here and it seems that the adjustment period is somewhat the same for many. Most folks, like me, go through a period where you feel like you are in a bubble and there is a din all around you and of course, it's in KOREAN!!! And you feel isolated and alone. But it passes. I'm doing way more walking than I did at home and that's a good thing - a very good thing. My endurance has improved substantially. My co-worker Carol is a much happier lady then when I first arrived (looks like her boyfriend is coming to visit) and we are getting along better. I've made a couple of friends - not the good ole hang out kind of friends, but 'dinner now and then' kind of friends. So, except for the damn dollar sliding so bad, I can honestly say I'm happy to be having this experience.

Wish I was there for some Christmas cheer though!!

Love to all. p.

Last weekend I shot a video tour of my apartment, but when I went to upload it here it was a few bytes too long. So I have to re-shoot. I'll be sending that out next.

Much love to all. p.

Thanksgiving weekend

2008-11-30T02:58:00.000-08:00

It was a very grounding thing to talk to my daughter and the 'Charlotte Gang' yesterday before heading out on a weekend trip with my fellow faculty members. Being the only native English speaking person amongst a group of 20 offers its challenges for sure.

I must say this right off - Koreans DO know how to rig out a bus. The windows and seats are dressed with beautiful, colorful fabric. Multi-colored lights run down the top of the bus softening the atmosphere and yet adding a bit of flare. And there is a very funny little touch - the ever present microphone (with tons of reverb on it) for announcements and general pomp and ceremony. More on microphones another time.

We left on Saturday at noon and returned to Anseong Sunday at 4:30. During that time I saw the Presidential Retreat, which was graced by a sculpture garden that had huge found object art depicting all the characters from Harry Potter. I saw an awesome lake and then the damn that created it. It snowed!! I peed in my first 'squat' toilet (and actually took a picture but when I looked at it later it was all black, which, of course, is what the hole is, but doesn't really work as a picture! Oh well.) I had my second 'singing room' experience. I hiked a beautiful mountain, saw one of Koreas oldest buddist temples, and ate a boat load of food! AND had my first overnighter in a Korean hotel, which was really beautiful but still meant sleeping on the floor. Yes, there were gorgeous, linen covered pads to sleep ON and beautiful, linen covered comforters to cover with (wish I had taken a picture of those), but we were still on the floor! It's pretty weird to walk into a hotel room with no beds.

I did great the first day with the language thing, trying to engage myself as much as possible and just enjoy.............. My co-teacher Caroline was very good about giving me time and attention. But I know she tires of that too, needing and wanting to speak her native language and just hang out. By lunch on Sunday (and granted, a lousy night of sleep didn't help) I was really feeling the isolation. I had to get my diary out to be my friend; it's like an acceptable way of talking to yourself in public.

It's in those moments of isolation that I remember so many people saying I was 'brave' for doing this. I really didn't understand that when it was said. I felt pretty comfortable with 'having an adventure'. But I now realize there is an element of courage involved in simply staying positive in what might be named 'isolation'; keeping your spirits up, when you don't have anyone to talk to. Being a light bearer when you're feeling alone.

Watching the sun dance on the water of the lake made lifted me up, and I thought of all the places I have sat in my life and watched the sun dance on the water. So I wrote in my diary; all waters are one water, we share the same air, there is only one sky we are all looking up to, there is only one sun warming us all. Seperateness is an illusion.

On this, Thanksgiving weekend, a time when I am usually with family, I really needed to believe that.

Here's some pics from my weekend. Hope you enjoy them.

Big, big love to all of you!! I hope you had wonderful Thanksgivings.

xxxxxxxxooooooooooo
p.

Sunday, November 23

2008-11-23T03:59:00.001-08:00

What a beautiful day! It must have been 60 degrees outside this afternoon. I'm told that the weather fluctuates like that during the winter; a few days really cold then warming up a bit, back and forth. I think I can handle that.

This rather wonderful day consisted of my first webcam visit with Sue and Kathy in Atlanta - what fun, then shopping in the market where I scored an awesome winter coat for just 30,000 won (about $34), then a trip to the Jin je ban (the bathhouse) and then a visit from 2 new Korean friends Jin and Soon.

Let me tell you about the Jin je ban. It has become my Sunday ritual. Today was my 3rd visit and each time I go I've made it a point to experience something new they have to offer. My first visit I had a full massage; man, I needed it. My body was racked from all the hard work it took to get me out of America and then the stress of being here for several weeks with a fairly high learning curve. But it was a GREAT massage. Righteous - but expensive.... about $55. Then I was told that I could basically name my price and they would adjust the massage accordingly, so the next week I got a $35 massage and it was about 1/2 as good as the first one, appropriately! After each of those massage experiences, I would then go downstairs to the women's bath section and take a shower and sit in the whirlpool hot tub. I had noticed a section within this section where two women with bras and panties on (which stands out because everyone else is butt naked) were doing facials and body rubs and light massage, so I resolved to try that today. AWESOME. At one point she took my hand and put it on my belly to get it out of her way and I could feel all the dead skin she had rubbed off. Tons of it. I also got in the sauna today for a bit. But my favorite part about being there is, well, just BEING THERE. I love the feel of it; the community of it. You see all ages, children, teenagers, young women, middle age women, and the very old. Beautiful women's bodies......... at every age. My favorite image today was clearly a 3 generation grouping. Grandmother was being scrubbed by daughter and granddaughter. It was so beautiful. And they scrubbed and they scrubbed and they scrubbed. The women spend hours there. There are 4 large baths: 1 whirlpool, 1 still hot water, 1 still warm water, and 1 still cold water. There are 2 walls of stand up showers and 4 rows of sit down showers. The sit down ones just don't work for me - can't see doing it. But you sit in these cute little pink plastic chairs in front of a mirror with your own shower head and wash away. God how I wish I could take pictures, but of course, that is impossible.

The only downside to this experience is that I have yet to find a buddy to go with. So I not only stand out like a sore thumb as the only white woman in there, but because of the language barrier, I cannot participate in the 'community'. Hopefully that will change, I'm learning the Korean alphabet and hope to get some lessons with Jin and Soon so I can communicate a little more, and one of the other English teachers has a change happening in here schedule in a couple weeks which will allow her to go.

Mostly I'm doing very well. I had one surprise meltdown at school the week before last. I was sitting at lunch (which I generally really like, because it's cooked there and always very good, traditional Korean food), and looked down into the very thin soup, which is not my favorite thing, and just started crying. It came out of nowhere. I couldn't stop, so I had to leave and go back upstairs to the English Center. It just kept coming... I couldn't stop for nearly a half hour. The news spread throughout the school and before you knew it the Kindergarten teacher was by my side taking me for a walk around the school yard and telling me how lonely she is in the evenings because she is a single mom and it's very hard. So I call it my 'melt down over soup' day.

Oh, and today I was visited by the Jehovah Witnesses! Yup, got the Watchtower right here in #502 Ian Village. Ya gotta love it!

Love to all, p.

2008-11-08T06:36:00.000-08:00

This was my last night in the states. It was perfect. Kathy and Lindy singing together.... it was so special for me. Wouldn't ya know, I got all teary............... that sweet sadness I call melancholy. Ah, release!

And then I arrived in Korea - ahead of myself.

This time thing is very wierd - conceptually. I have it in my mind that I am ahead of you guys, but in reality I'm behind, because I have to wait another day to hear what's happening back there. So strange. Anyway........... as I've mentioned befofre, I'm in a 5th floor apartment. I arrived at my apartment at about 1:00am Korean time. These are the first images I saw when I looked out my apartment window that first morning.

It's always foggy in the early morning.... but you can see the mountains in the background of the middle photo.

This is Carol, the other English teacher at my school. She is from Canada and she has issues. I have to be careful with her.

And here's a couple more shots of our English Center.

This is Mr. Lee being his charming self when we were taken to a

'singing bar'. Very bizarre experience.

The lovely couple flanking the traditionals are Susan and Johann from S. Africa. Great people. I look forward to getting to know them better.

I'm going to quit now. I do so hope this works.

Huge love,

pamella