And So It Begins...

I begin the spring semester in T-minus 25 minutes. This will be a short update, Dear Readers.

Winter Camp was a beast and I'm not only looking forward to reading new books with my core 2 novel classes, but also awaiting the warmer weather. It's been brutally cold in Seoul and while the US is just now starting to feel the shiver of winter, we Seoulites have been dealing with freezing water pipes and the iciest roads known to man.

I normally can handle the cold fairly well, but DAMN it's been friggin' frigid.

I recall finishing my first Winter Camp in January of 2011 (got here in December 2010) and I went to a jjimjibang with Kat and Jane. It was a reward for getting through the hardest part of my teaching career (the beginning). I haven't been to one since, which is not because the experience wasn't great--I just don't ever make the time. It was just lovely to alternate between the hot and the cold pools, until my body went into shock because I did it so much...
I recall telling Jane that my throat felt cold, and she responded, quite cheerfully mind you, "Oh, your body is going into shock." ^^
My eyes bulged out of my head. "WHAT?!" She nonchalantly said it again. As if this were an everyday occurrence.

Thinking back on it, it was probably best to receive that information in such a way--if I were to freak out, then it would have been much worse. So I asked what I should do, and she just said to get out of the water until it didn't feel cold anymore...and to just relax. I did and I was fine.

This, of course, has no bearing on why I haven't returned. Nor is it the "being naked in public" bit" either. At 33, I've become much more comfortable with my body, especially since I started going to the gym.

Which brings us to the second year of teaching...I went to Cambodia and Vietnam shortly after Winter Camp ended in 2012, so that was pretty awesome. It was a welcomed treat to get out of the cold. My body didn't go into shock, although I did get a pretty nasty sinus infection from inhaling all the dust whilst riding in the tuk tuk.

To be honest, Seoul had an incredibly mild winter last year. It snowed all of three or four times and it didn't seem to be that cold.

Which brings us to the most bitter and Siberian-like winter I've ever experienced...I needed something or some place HOT. Like HOT HOT. But with a minimal amount of money in my bank account, what could a girl do? I surely deserved something tropical after the subzero temperatures. Right?

There was only one thing that I wanted...

So what did I do this year? Oh you know...nothing fantastic...just saw the BEST K-POP BAND EVER! My friend and co-worker, Sarah, and I scored tickets courtesy of her rad boyfriend, Kyu, and off we went to see BigBang!!

We were so close it was insane. At one point, Seungri (the maknae of the group)winked, waved, and mouthed "hi" to us. I've read many articles that he likes foreigners so "hey girl hey!"

TOP is still number one, but I have to say they all looked great, even Daesung, whom I normally could do without. Taeyang was amazing--he has mad skills on the dance floor... And G-Dragon...damn. That boy was so sexy. He has such commanding stage presence.

We sang our hearts out, and it was such a welcomed form of release from all the stresses of the winter intensive camp and it certainly gave us something to smile about when we told our students about the concert on Monday morning.

Pictures, you ask? Sure...keep in mind that they mostly aren't that clear due to the fact that these boys were always moving about, but I got a few good shots on my iPhone. I also didn't start taking photos until the encore performances because if security caught you taking pictures, they would kick you out. I saw one middle school Korean girl get ousted and she had tears in her eyes. I am not about to drop 100,000 won to see my favorite K-Pop group and then get kicked out. By the encore, no one cared anymore. ^^

This is Sarah and I on the way to the show. ^^

TOP!

Daesung and G-Dragon!

Dae and TOP!

Taeyang!

Seungri!

TOP and Dae!

TOP ^^

I just like this picture--none of the members are in it, but it just makes me happy.

Tae!


TOP, GD, and Tae!

GD in action...quite possibly my favorite shot of the night. ^^ G-Dragon just has so much swag. ^^

Sarah and I after the show. Still beaming!

We were in 001 section, right by the stage. ^^



So yeah...In my after Winter Camp excursions, I went from going into shock, to going to tropical temperatures, to going into shock over the hotness that was displayed before me...Progression is everything, I suppose. ^^

I can't wait until next year...

xo

c

Day One.

So here it is. Day one of a new year. How did you spend it? Hungover? Yeah. Me too.


Oddly enough, I'm not unhappy about that. In years past I would be--why would anyone want to spend the entire first day of a new year throwing up, sleeping, barely eating, and with the most excruciating headache?


But I had a shift. And the shift is this: I purged. I purged out the person I used to be. The ugly parts that I hid and could never accept but still held onto it because I thought they would one day turn from the ugly ducklings they most certainly were, into beautiful and graceful swans. They didn't. So they had to go. I don't need to hold on to them anymore. The regret. The guilt. The sadness. They didn't made me humble. They made me miserable. They didn't turn me into a brooding artist. I was already the artist. They just used up my ink, wasted my paper, and refused to see it any other way. They had to go.

They won't be put out in the recycling to be turned into something else. They have been put into the incinerator. Burned and out of my life, forever.

Yes. I slept. I needed the rest. Because only when you are rested, can you wake up anew. Refreshed. Hopeful. Embracing this new day of this new year. I will no more listen to the voices would have whispered to me, "You wasted an entire day." No. I dreamed. I danced. I soared. And I woke up to find that the dream is reality. No more exhaustion. No more mental anguish. No more mulling over the things I could have done or said in the waking hours. And by the way, sleeping is AWESOME. ^^

Barely eating. I can see where I may lose you on this one. This has nothing to do with weight loss--although that would be a great segway to the health goals I will follow through with during 2013. This is about having a new stomach. It was empty, like a new box and I get to decide what to fill it with. I decided what will fuel me. What will give me sustenance. I have control. I have power. To be honest, I didn't have much of a say in today's particular meal. It is customary in the South (I was born in Georgia, ya'll...no accent though, don't get excited) to eat pork and greens. I didn't have much in the way of greens but I did have some donkatsu. So why the pork? There is a little superstition that Southerns hold to on New Year's Day. My mom actually posted this on FB:

New Year's day good luck meal; eat pork, why? Because the pig Never walks backward always goes forward! Eat oranges or fruits that are around symbolizing coins for prosperity. Eat black-eyed peas or lentils because they are around and symbolize money. Do not eat chicken or lobster -chickens have wings and fly away and so will your luck. Lobsters swim backwards.

I reminded her that Chickens also eat by scratching the ground and then back up to eat their meal. Cows stand still when they eat.
Now I suppose you could ask me about fish...and I'll tell you that I don't really like fish. So there's that. ^^ And for vegetarians? Are there vegetarians in the South? hehe Kidding. Kidding. No really. Are there?

And then there was the headache. The one that happens because alcohol dries you out and you need a plethora of water to rehydrate. To flush everything. And that was the reminder--it's time to flush it out, C. You have the ability. You have the resources. Drink it. That's all you have to do. It's so simple. It's always been simple--discovering a new path was always there. Sometimes you just don't want to see it. Sometimes you see it but think you aren't worth it. But you are. You really are.


So yeah. This is how I spent the first day of the rest of my life. How was it for you?

xox...
c

Oh...and a very Happy Happy Birthday to one of the best and brightest among us, Kathryn Bokyung Park! I love you to pieces! MWA!