Hello January

WORKSHOP

When I was applying for jobs in Korea, I decided I wouldn't take a position far from Seoul because I wanted to be part of the Seoul Writers' Workshop, a group that meets once a month or more to critique writing and is a community that encourages written and spoken word. I need that, so I came here.

Yesterday afternoon was the first meeting at Cafe Ohana in Itaewon, a huge foreigner area of Seoul that I believe has the biggest military base in Korea. I was nervous to go because I didn't get to print and make comments for everyone and just felt unprepared. Also my poetry seemed to be heavier than the others' so I wasn't sure how it would be received. But luckily, I was only about 4 minutes late and it worked out well that I didn't bring papers because my laptop came in handy a few times.

Cafe Ohana had pretty good coffee, a long table that we could all sit at together, and the best tiramisu I've ever had, and the barista gave it to us as service because she said we looked like we needed some sugar!

The workshop itself is a little different from what I'm used to. I got shushed a few times, actually, because their process is that the reader reads and is then silent until everyone has given their opinion and take on the poem. That makes sense. It's just not what I'm used to so it took a while to figure out how to be quiet.

I got some really good feedback though from people of all different backgrounds and styles. It was great to read so many different kinds of works too and have a chance to possible help in their improvement. I'm also excited about the new community I'm making. I got to talk with a girl from South Africa (Durban and Capetown, woot woot!) for a while and she's going to start telling me when there are music or art shows around Seoul. I miss that. It's been hard to find things like that so far because I don't seem to know the right people for it. But I'm pretty sure this group will be the right people.

The people who came were really interesting. One man is a Korean poet who has two books published, and this was his first attempt at writing directly in English. Another man - my favorite writer - has had some things published too, I'm pretty sure, and showed us some poems he's been working on for five to ten years, which is so cool to me considering I'm a relatively new writer.


LUNAR NEW YEAR

Five friends and I headed out long before daylight last Saturday morning for Pyeongchang, which you may recognize as the site of the 2018 Winter Olympics. It was Lunar New Year and we a five-day vacation. We were to go skiing, ice fishing with poles, whole-body-in-the-subzero-water bare-hands fishing, hiking to an ice sculpture area, bonfiring, BBQing, and warm waterparking. And we did all of these things except for jumping into the ice water to try and catch some fish like cavemen.

Here are Daniel and me preparing to look amazing on our skis (notice I'm still holding mine).


I was doing pretty well and had made a new friend named Scott on the slopes. It was both of our first day skiing so we stuck together and were improving pretty well. We went for lunch and a mid-day Cass and decided to head back to the slopes for one or two finals runs before we had to go back to the hotel. On the way to the beginning slope we'd been rocking all morning, one of his friend intercepted us, I was immediately introduced to him as the boss, and he convinced us in a frenzy to join him on a different, MUCH higher slope, that he assured us was perfectly beginner. That proved false for me. I fell every fifty feet and tried to follow Caleb's advice of slicing my skis to the side when I want to turn (something he'd seen skiers do, only ever having snowboarded.)


And the following morning:

Ski pole to the face. You're welcome. After this happened, I didn't even bother getting up until the guys all came around to see if I was OK and I just lay there so someone came up on a snowmobile and brought me back down.

This was taken by Nicola in a tent restaurant on the second day of the trip. When I walked in, a man noticed my eye, ran to me with a cold egg, pushed it onto my face, rolled it around roughly and indicated that I should continue to do the same. Not speaking much Korean and him not speaking English, I did what he said because he just kept yelling at me if I didn't. The pleasure I got from this was watching him yell at Daniel when I pointed to him when I assume he asked me what happened. Then he actually apologized when I charaded to him that it was a skiing accident.

This ice tunnel was at the ice festival, where the fishing took place. We also tubed down a hill repeatedly for one of the most fun activities of the trip.

The neighborhood

My apartment is the one with the overhang, just after the pastel monstrosity on the left.

Behind my apartment.

At the end of the sidewalk is my favorite coffee shop, just a few minutes from my apartment. Quite a nice walk.

Year of the dragon

Yesterday I was thinking about how life will be different when I go back home. Here are some of my thoughts: (the lines of dots are the only way it would let me space. I'm trying to figure it out for next time). ............................................................................................................. 1. I will be thrilled to be able to buy cheap and wonderful coffee. Here the average price for a coffee is 3,000 won, or about 3 dollars and until this week, I hadn't found a coffee shop I could call my own. However, Monday, I went to a place I had heard about called It Coffee, which doesn't sound very promising, but after I sat down, I literally sat in wonder with my mouth open taking it all in. It was perfect. Light jazz Christmas music was playing, the smell of espresso hung in the air, the baristas were actually drinking their own coffee monitoring the place to see if anyone needed a refill. I've been several times since. The baristas speak English and also now know me and automatically put milk and sugar in my coffee. Something I found unusual is that if you get your drink to go, it's about a dollar cheaper. That seems backwards to me. But I'll take it. I'm so happy to have found somewhere I can go when I have breaks from class and to write on off days. ............................................................................................................. 2. I will miss public transportation. I haven't missed driving yet and I'm getting pretty good at understanding the bus system. Gone are the days when I get on a bus in the wrong direction and end up in another state, an hour late for my language exchange, with no cash for a taxi, only 1,000 won left on my transit card, and precious few cell phone minutes. Yesterday, I ran down the sidewalk to catch the bus I needed to make it to the pub quiz night by running down the sidewalk and climbing the steps slowly so my friend/new coworker who hurt his leg and has a splint on it could make it too. That was exciting. ............................................................................................................. 3. Eating out is going to seem like a huge hassle and very expensive. Here, I eat for an average of less than I tip at home. And servers are always walking around just looking over the place, so if you need something, you just have to say "Here" in Korean and they come and give you what you need. It's quite efficient. ............................................................................................................. All of my classes are named for prominent universities: Duke, Cornell, Harvard, Stanford, Seoul, Premier (In Bangladesh... I didn't know that), and others. The photo here is my Cornell class. I only teach them about five times a week but they are super amazing and also, obviously, super cute. They are my favorite by far because they have only gotten better every time I have taught them. Tony, the boy below, completely has my heart. A few weeks ago, he was talking to I walked up and pinched his arm and he smiled up at me and said, "Teacher, are you crab?" and I said yes and asked him if he was too and he said, "No, I'm person!" but every time he saw me that day, he pinched me and just giggled and giggled. Now, every day he decides he's a different animal for that day, including a fire-breathing dragon. .............................................................................................................

............................................................................................................. Here's another, if you didn't already have enough of him :)

............................................................................................................. I got a call from a girl I trained with, Samantha, a few days before New Year's asking if I wanted to go into Seoul with her and find a Dr. Fish. At that point, I had no idea what Dr. Fish was, but I said sure! Then I found out that it's the picture below and I had already committed. Most people know I'm a ticklish person. And if you didn't, well there you go. Samantha and I finally found the place and it was a pretty cool setup. It was called Namu (tree) Books and Coffee. It basically was a coffee shop but when you order the barista asks if you want to "add the fish" for 2,000 won. Then you sit, have some toast and jam, relax, and when you're ready/have worked up the nerve, you go up on a small platform by the window and have your feet rinsed and you can choose between pools of small fish (2-3 inches) and the big fish (5-6 inches) to sit at. The man didn't speak much English but when he pointed to the pool of big fish, he said "Strong," so we opted for the small. Anyway, it took me about 7 minutes just to finally put one heel in and it was so hard not to immediately jerk my foot out. But it was an experience and now I can post this lovely photo of tiny fish munching on the dead skin of my heels so you can all share in it with me.

............................................................................................................. I'll leave you with this image and hopefully post more soon. Goodnight.