the end of this blog.

i returned to korea in august of 2010 and am back teaching esl, which i love. aside from still loading student drawings and such, i'll no longer be updating this blog, but please check the bssk fb page or find me on fb at facebook.com/shacurington.

the end

blogworld, i am leaving korea in june and going back home to cali. Today marks my 1,187th day living here! it has been much more good than bad and i think maybe i'll come back and teach here again one day. The plan for now is to go home, eventually grad school... we'll see how goes from there. be sure to check out the facebook group to connect with others abroad:

Brothas&Sistas of South Korea 

http://www.facebook.com/group.php?gid=25747883752&ref=ts

email

date:Thu, Jan 21, 2010

subject:snow snow snow

dear mom and dad,

i think the snow is about over, hallelujah. i will simply never understand this maddness of living in a place such as this. i also cannot understand why i am still here during wintertime. i will be back in san diego come next winter, even if i have to swim across the ocean to do so.

this has been the worst winter ever, i ahve never ever seen so much snow in my entire life. My korean friends say the same, my older korean friends say it used to snow like this when they were small children, and now THEIR children are super excited for all the snow to play in. One korean friend said they saw on the news that this is korea's worst snow in the last 103 years... there is a tendency to exaggerate in this culture, but one thing is true: there was a shit-ton of snow this year. other than the occasional knitting meeting, you can put money on it that i have been mostly indoors. btw, i knit the blue hat im wearing int he photos :)

xmas was really great, a friend had a potluck, i brought plates and flatware of course b/c i didnt cook anything. it was so much fun, another friend brought a video game "rock band," as you can see in the attached pictures, im really good at it and have a natural talent on the guitar and drums.

some friends of mine went snowboarding for x-mas break, which i of course thought was insane. one girlfriend of mine, Kayla, had this conversation with one of her students before the break:

Korean Kid:"What are you doing for x-mas?"

kayla: "I'm going snowboarding"

Korean Kid: "Your people skin is don't like cold, is it right?"

kayla: *side eye*

kayla said she couldnt really be mad at him b/c for one, he's just a little boy, and for two, it's not like he's 100% wrong about it.

love you miss you
~daughter

email

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.date:Sun, Jan 10, 2010 at 11:00 AM

subject:snow

dear mom and dad,

this winter marks the worst i have ever experienced in life. it's like when i go outside, it snows sideways and the flakes attack my face. i dont know how to walk in all this, i stepped onto what i thought was the sidewalk but it turned out to just be a huge pile of snow and i was calf deep in it, i was in a panic couldnt think of anything to do but curse over and over again, "wh... the fuck?! the fuck is this?! wh-da-fuck is dis shit?!!!"

tho friends agree it's snowing more this winter than it had last year, they of course think i am overreating. But i am not. this weather is strange and not natural and if i dont get my act together to save up enough money to come back to san diego NEXT winter, i will eat my own foot.

~daughter.

email

date:Dec 17, 2009 at 10:52 PM
subject: im really cold.
Dear mom and dad,

today the delivery man came through with the box of pudding, cliff bars, etc, thank you so much!!! EVERYONE is in awe of my beautiful new nintendo dsi (even danica, b/c i took the blue one and she has the black one, hahahahaaa!), i told them about how i emailed you about it and that it came in the mail days later. "Yeah," i explained, "my pops always comes through for me.... uh, cant say as i took after him too well... i still owe like $3,500 on his credit card."

Tunde just finished his first scarf today, attached is a picture of him resting after all his hard knitting work. Notice the cat patting him on the back for congratulations. "you better not lie to your parents," he tells me, "I did everything myself." Which, of course, he really didnt. i cast on for him, i knit the first 15 rows, i bound off and i wove in his ends.... but other than that, yeah, he did everything. He's also asked me to mention he's working on another project already... anyways....

Tunde also says he wishes you an early merry xmas and a blissful new year, and now he just reminded me to thank you for the dsi... he's looming over my shoulder like a jerko.

my friend marlene went back home after finishing her 1 year contract, so we had a game night at a local pub. I DOMINATED at dominos and beat everybody by like at least 20 points each game, it was awesome. people are always so surprised when i beat them at dominos, like i cant possibly be any good. *pish... they must not know the curingtons up in here.

thank you again so much for the package, im about to flip through the magazes right now. please send lactaid and oatmeal... just a lil reminder!

~loveyoumissyou,
daughter.

email

date:Sun, Dec 6, 2009 at 11:22 AM
subject: im cold.

Dear mom and dad,

Its really truly winter here now. I have attached a picture as you can see im fighting it as much as i can. I remember upon first arrival to Korea thinkin that the surgical masks were a little strange, but now my fourth winter here, i finally understand the beauty of them. Your face is freezing without them. My friend Omega from the knitting group says i should suck it up. She's from Detriot and reports they had a foot of snow fall yesterday. I told her to take that shit back to the D.

As i mentioned in the last email, i am interviewing for a new job. i'll update when there's news, right now there isnt much. ive had a couple of offers, but the pay isnt comparable to what i make now, so, we'll what happens.

Lately, i've been having lunch with these Korean friends. They don't speak much english but who cares because i get to eat without cooking. they're very impressed with my chop stick skills and the five korean phrases i know how to say.I do not like the soup but i always end up with a bowl of it because one of the koreans(a different one everytime) says i must eat soup because its winter. So they understand i don't care for kimchi but i guess soup is a requirement.

The facebook group has really grown. there are over 800 members now. We still continue book club once a month and recently have started movie screenings once a month with the help of my wonderful friend Danica. We had the first movie a couple weeks ago and around 70 people showed up. It was really awesome to see that many black people in one space. This sentiment was echoed by many people there. It was another one of those moments where we all were strangers but that afternoon we were family. We forgot we were in Korea for a while and just enjoyed each others company.

I've been knitting alot, i've gotten pretty good and pretty fast. I can knit forward and backward, i can even knit without looking. I've made a few really nice hats for winter but havent been able to keep any of them because my a-hole boyfriend takes everyone before i get to wear it. though he can knit a little bit(he ridiculously claims knitting expertise) so i asked him why he doesnt make his own damn hats. He says its obvious i make these hats for him out of love, i say its obvious eh really can't knit for shit. He comes to knitting meetings with me every sunday where he holds the knitting needles for 2hours and pretends.
love you miss you,
~daughter

email

Subject: RE: Waiting Is My Middle Name
Date: Tue, 19 May 2009 08:43:51 +0000
dear mom and dad,

cherry blossom time has come and gone, i think! i didnt go to any official festivities this time, but i did walk around the pond in my neighborhood to look at the trees, they were of course lovely and makes me hate winter all the more.

i dont remember who my godmother is, i think you guys showed me pictures, she's white and has blond hair? if you ever find her contact info, let me know. wow, what happened before internet and social connect websites? people had to hope they kept the same phone number forever i guess? ah well. i had a great time in japan anyway. My friends from india are still there, staying with another friend of mine, aaron. I dont know if you remember aaron, he stayed at the house the night before his flight to go teach in japan: he's black, has an afro, kind of tall-ish (well, that describes all of my male friends i guess). that was maybe 4 or 5 years ago? he's still there, still teaching, and he really loves it. He's been taking care of my friends from india, but i told him to not do it too well, b/c i want my friends to come back to korea to teach english, and not be seduced by the alleged "cool-er-ness" of japan^^

im still going to knitting group one or two times a week, ive actually finished something for the first time, it's a red scarf and it's awesome. i hate winter, but i will be happy to wear this when the time comes.

Last week, my friend bryan had a day off, so we went to the coex aquarium. i dont know why it's a big deal, it's another one of those "things you ahve to see" when you come to seoul. i wonder what koreans think of it, maybe they're looking at the fish and thinking "Dinner." Every restaurant has some sort of tank outside with tons of sea life in it, so being in the aquarium was like walking about in my neighborhood, a little. Except for the seals and penguins, which are not common food fare at seafood restauarants here. And we saw fruit bats. i know they're bats and all, but fruit bats are really cute, you would want to have them for a pet. Even tho Bryan pointed out i screamed when one of the bats made a sudden movement and flew around behind the glass and scared me, they're still cute.