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Subject: cold, free movie, spanish, kroean class
Date: Sun, 21 Dec 2008 02:08:39
dear mom and dad,

im glad you enjoyed the pictures of me hating the snow... i hung out w/alan a couple weeks ago, we went to the korean culture center to catch a free movie (valentin, which is my new favorite movie btw), and for the whole 5 min walk from the subway station to the center, we complained about the cold.

alan and i talked about how we cant believe people LIVE in this, live here in this cold like all the time. alan, ever faithful, pointed out that it's really not natural: humans are nomads, and when weather conditions became unfit, you move onto another area, it's science and really quite obvious when you think about it. i love alan, he's the only one who understands that winter here is insane.

anyway, there was an argentinian film festival at the center, so alan and i got to watch this movie in spanish. thank goodness for subtitles: 8 years of spanish class and my face contorts at how fast the actors are speaking, i can understand maybe 1 in 50 words. i use that lesson for the kids in my class, to use english in class since they're using korean every other hour of the day, "kids, sister sha took spanish for 8 years, does she speak spanish now? No, b/c i havent spoken spanish in 10 years, i dont remember a thing." their eyes grow wide at the thought, and then i only hear them use english in class...well, like for 10 min, before they slip again into occasional konglish or something.

so i didnt bother to see the rocky horror picture show. i dont think it would be fun for me. i love the show and i know all the words to all the songs... but i dont tihnk i'd have fun not being able to sing along b/c it will almost definitely be entirely in korean.

one of my homegirls has signed up for a korean class: two hours a day, 3 days a week, and said it's changed her world. im a little green eyed about it... maybe just maybe i will sign up too. in february, it'll be two years of me living here, and im no more knowledgeable about the language now as i was then. shameful! ~daughter

ok,its not actually that cold here yet, but the constant complaining about the winter makes for good folly for my parents. i seriously am thinking about going to a hogwon to learn korean. i want to be able to communicate with all these cute korean boys ;)

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Subject: 11th chew words, fall leaves, stamps, thankgv/mafia
Date: Tues, 16 Dec 2008
dear mom and dad,

no plans for x-mas, not officially. im not sure if i work that day or not.

i sent you a photo of the thanksgiving dinner i had w/the brothas & sistas, yes? it was so wonderful, the food was soooo good, i ate so much that i hurt my back and took a nap. i cooked nothing, of course, but i pitched in money for groceries. everyone kept asking zha (our host and cook) over and over just HOW did she get a turkey so friggin juicy. she said she covered it w/like 3 layers of tin foil for the first few hours of cooking, i dont know, i just know it was delicious. and the greens, oh my god! my homegirl camille cooked them, and dad i'll get you her recipe b/c they are the best greens ive ever had in my life. anyway, thanksgiving was wonderful all around, we ate and then played mafia, it was a perfect day.

so fall has come and gone and it's winter. *sigh* i was talking to alan the other day about how quickly fall went. i didnt notice last year, but the leaves changing color is really something to see. it almost doesnt look real, like alan said, it's like what you see on tv. to see these leaves so red or yellow in real life, we swear it must not be a real tree, it must be plastic or painted, or something. i wish i'd observed it more at the time, b/c now all the leaves are gone w/the arrival of winter.

work is going well. one of my favorite classes from last term is almost still all together, now my friend bryan is their teacher. one day i walked by the class room at the tail end of break, and all the kids ran out chasing me, shouting, "sister shaaaaaa!!!!" i couldnt stop smiling, i felt so loved. But of course, it's really just kids liking familiarity, but i still let it stroke my ego a little bit. when i was still their teacher, there was one little boy in the class, joseph, who would talk to me in class constantly, every so often he would do so out of turn, in which case i would turn to him and say, 'Joseph, guess what im going to say?" and he would stop, b/c the words following would've been, 'shut up.' In a kind teacherly way, of course :) He was one of the best students, but b/c he's so fast, he finishes early and yaps on forever. if i wasnt listening, he'd yell, "Teacher, why you chew my words?!" which means "why arent you listening to me?" I'd tell him, "Joseph, you see that jenny is speaking to me right now, sweetheart, please wait until she's finished, and then i can give you my attention." and then he'd sigh and pout while waiting, friggin adorable!

can i ask that you guys maybe check out pic&save (or whatever it's called now) and send me stamps and stickers? ive included pictures of what im talking about. i have some that ive bought here, but i'd prefer to have some that have some english words on them, or anyway, just something different. {the picture w/the stickers has a dvd in the photo, for no reason, i just forgot to move it out of the way}. thanks for putting up w/my constant requests.

im very cold here!~daughter

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Subject:tax man, rt guard, plst bags

Date: Fri, 12 Dec 2008 06:21:15

dear mom and dad,

i got the package with the magazines, comics, and the letter from aunt lyn, thanks a lot. Please, can you send me more plastic bags? and right guard clear gel for my coworker who lives upstairs. im straight on everything else, thanks for taking care of me :)

did i tell you that the tax man got me?! if you live here for more than one year, you have to pay taxes, this i didnt know... i got home one day, and the doorman motioned for me to come sign something. i got excited, thinking it was a package from you all, but instead i got a letter from the Korean National Tax Service! i asked a korean friend about it, he told me that since i didnt file my taxes here, that KOREA did it for me, and they sent me the paper telling me how much i owed. my job was of little help... but that's standard in school jobs the foreigners work here, er, at least, it is at my school: you get very little help of anything about actually living here. i asked all my coworkers during tax time what they did, and not one of them have ever paid them! one guy bragged that he's been here 5 years and has never paid a dime! *puh* Man, why korea tracking ME?! anyway, i went to the bank to pay what i owed; it was all done over a machine like an atm, well, the teller did it for me b/c i couldnt read the directions. a korean customer was waiting to use the machine after me.... i guess korea is checking on everybody... well, except my coworkers. i swear i want to turn them all in, i was so mad! >:(

i dont know how it's divided, but one tax fee i paid was around 50 bucks, the other was almost 500. holy cheese and crackers! while i was at it, i saw a local h&r block in seoul to ask about the taxes teddy filed at home. Mr. Han amended my and teddy's taxes, for a fee of course... 200 bucks! hmph. well, everything is nice and proper and legal, so that's good. i guess immigration wont be coming to kick me out anytime soon.

thanks for the photos you sent. i love all the new changes you guys have made to the home. i love the floor in the dining room and the new dining room set especially! send me pictures when you guys get rid of those red curtains, i remember never really being able to properly watch tv in that room b/c the red curtains reflected bright off the screen.

well im off to work, my greetings to senor gomez, of course.~daughter.

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i think this was the second snow of the season? or third... it was a thursday maybe? ah who cares, it's all still cold. notice that im in the same place i was then i took the last photo, but here the ground is all white: wayyyyy more snow this time. >:( Subject: more snow
Date: Wed, 10 Dec 2008 05:06:
hi mom and dad.
here's another picture of me hating the snow.
~sha.

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Subject: snow, xmas, new term
Date: Wed, 26 Nov 2008 06:12:54
dear mom and dad,

we had our first snow on thursday last week. attached is a picture of me not enjoying it. many of my coworkers were excited, so of course i think they are all insane.

one of my newer coworkers Ian is from san diego and this is his first winter in korea. he enjoyed the snow as well, saying it was the first time he'd seen snowfall, like to see snow actually falling from the sky. yeah whatever, i was just cold. i got a proper winter coat this year, but still im never ready for it.

we started a new term this week, and with it a new set of classes and new students, new everything. im teaching "higher levels" along w/my regular classes this time around. i have students in the "higher" classes that i taught 6+ months ago in the regular class! it's a trip, they're all taller and more grown, like im in a time machine. i do love seeing the familiar faces.

well, i have nothing else to tell you, im just writing b/c i know if it's more than 6 days without an email, you'll lay a guilt trip on me. but it's ok, i know it's b/c mom will drive you insane w/questions otherwise ;)

tell dave and ketso hi when they come by on laundry day, and give my greetings to hector.

~daughter.

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Subject: boondks/alanZooPoo/learning korean

Date: Thu, 20 Nov 2008 02:45:32 +0000

dear mom and dad,

i met up with some brothas and sistas last week to watch the boondocks. there were about 10 of us, it was really chill, we ate pizza and watched the cartoons and did some light social/political conversation. half the attendees were new to korea, been here less than 3 months or so, and were happy to meet up w/other black expats. i know for me, life in korea has been much nicer after making more like-minded friends. we took a couple of pictures, but i dont have them yet. i'll send them when i do.

my friend alan is still working at the zoo but is hating it these days b/c the weather is getting so cold and he is, as he complains to me, "freezing his balls off." tho i dont have balls, i do empathize, for he and i are both san diegans. these days instead of just observing the monkeys, he now has to also collect their poo; another reason he's not so crazy about the work right now.

i met a korean friend SangHyun, he's a waiter at a bar alan and i frequent. sanghyun is teaching me hangul (the korean alphabet). its really intimidating, i am really used to being the teacher and not the student, but im glad im finally making some effort. its really embarrassing when i get an email from a san diego friend asking me about my knowledge of the local language and i tell them i cant speak beyond hello and thank you. Always people mistake it for modesty... if they only knew. it so friggin EASY to never learn korean here. i think the real motive behind me finally learning is to get over the humiliation of having to tell people that i dont speak any korean despite living here for over a year and a half.

this is the last week of classes for this, my SEVENTH term! i had a great set of classes this time. well, i say that every time, but i did :) i started a page to track the notes/gifts/presents i get from students, you can look at it here.

our next soul/seoul food gathering is next week, for thanksgiving. im excited! i got cookies galore for everyone, thanks to you all :) ~loveyoumissandallthat. daughter.

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Subject: obamacongrats/jaja/pyeongchon dinner
Date: Sun, 16 Nov 2008 11:13:44
dear mom and dad,

ive been watching the news online, listening to all obama related news. eveyrone else i know has cnn, but it cost extra, and i was being cheap, so i didnt bother to get it when i got cable. every couple of days since the election, a random korean local will say to me, "american?" the simple one word question to ask where im from. i smile and asnwer yes, then they say "Obama! Congratulations!"

rocky horror picture show is playing here in seoul. i got excited, i really love rocky horror! but i came to find that, just like evil dead, it will be all in korean, including the songs. so... maybe i wont go. not as much fun if you cant do the audience participation, unless i get to learning some korean phrases soon... which of course i wont. i still cant even count nor do i know the korean alphabet. but at least once a day, i think about trying to learn. :)

last week i went to dinner w/some sistas that live in my neighborhood. it's really nice to have them so close by. usually i travel by subway to seoul to meet friends, it's about a 45min ride. This random brotha found me online asking me quesions about korea, and months later he's here and lives across the street from me. Through him, i met this sista who lives at the other end of the block. and one day i was walking and chased down another sista to say hi (i saw her from the back, but i can spot the hair texture anywhere).

my new favorite food is jajamyung, it's noodles w/black sauce and onions. i was told it's chinese food, but i think it's actually a chinese/korean fusion food, b/c if you go to china and ask for jajamyung, they'll have no idea what youre talking about.