email: my hair

Subject: tv miracle!
Date: Mon, 30 Apr 2007 17:07:02 +0000
dear mom and dad,

oh my gosh, i got home yesterday and you know what: the damn tv WORKS! i guess it wasnt broken after all. ha! well, i've already bought a new one, so i will do in the spirit of teresa and give this tv to my coworkers, they just live in the next building.

i was out with some friends the other night at a bar in itaewon. a brotha (English or African, not sure) came up to me to ask on behalf of the woman he was with at the bar (she is white) how i get my hair to look like it does. i explained to him that with hair as naturally curly as ours, locks are what happens when we dont comb it. he asked me how i wash it, b/c my hair doesnt smell. :)

as a side note, i have to admit that my hair did used to smell sometimes; friends told me after i cut them off once. it was b/c i didnt wash often, i didn't know how to care for them properly. now with time and experience, i know the idea of not washing your hair to make it lock is untrue (wash everyday if you want to, just dont comb it). hair locks easily w/clean curly hair. ive met several white self proclaimed rastas that dont wash b/c they claim it's better for their naturally straight hair... well, do what you do, whatever. anyway for me i now wash half at a time, it cuts the drying time (with the whole head, it'll stay wet for a day and smell of mildew), and i can wash more frequently. especially here in korea, i swear my hair dries 10 times as faster; i really do wash half of my hair every single day.

i explained that i wash the front half on one day, and the back half on the next, rotating so that i dont get all my hair wet at the same time, which is problematic b/c of the time it takes to dry and the incredible weight it has when it's wet. he thanked me and brought his report back to the woman at the bar.

"isn't that annoying" asks the sister next to me that i came to the bar with, referring to the hair question. she sports braids, and gets a lot of the same questions im sure.

"sometimes," i answered. "maybe i wouldnt have been so nice if she came and asked herself." sorry, but hey maybe...

it got me to thinking about how positive attitude means just about everything, everywhere. we talked about how sometimes there are things that you just cant control, and in such situations, one can only work on one's own reaction rather than the situation.

also i very much now believe in the power of positive thinking. at least the brotha came up and asked me about my hair. countless idiots have just come up and started talking to me with no introduction, and every jerk has a story about a friend with locks who cut them off and found bugs in his hair. (jeez) And at least the brotha didnt come reaching out to touch my hair, which happens often. maybe like pregnant women having their bellies rubbed: people think it's nice or complimentary, but really can be really annoying. so yeah, i did yet another interview about my hair, but it was nice that he was attentive and respectful.

anyway my parents, this is why i always write you with good news; because really there is no bad news. work is great, the kids are great, everything here is great and im happy. uh... i DO look forward to those magazines, tho :) ~daughter

fo real

i'll be damned, y'all, i got home and i turned the tv on, and do you know that it worked just fine! ha! ah well, i've already got a new tv on the way, so i will offer this one to a married couple (coworkers) that live near by.

i feel like i must have magical powers or something. the whole afternoon i was thinking how lucky that the moniter didn't shatter or that no one was close by to get hurt, or that it's good i have money to buy a replacement, etc. i truly do believe in the power of positive thinking and when bad things happen, i consciously look for the good in it. but when i walked into my apt, i admit it was with my lip stuck out and thinking, "boo-hoo, poor me, i dont have a tv." i turned it on just to see... and *boop* the picture comes up!

next im going to use my special powers to fight crime. none of those students are going to steal that ibt test from my classroom! *that last little bit is really funny if you work for cdi...

email: tv

Subject:
Date: Sat, 28 Apr 2007
dear mom and dad,

wow wee wow the weather is friggin gorgeous here right now! the sky is blue and the sun is warm and im loving it. i was chatting with a friend of mine (who has teased me about how i wouldnt leave the hotel for the first 3 weeks i was here) says to me, "you do realize that if you lived anywhere other than san diego, you would be unable to function for like 200 days out of the year? 'It's 40 degrees and misty outside, i need to stay in!' " he mocks me, but hey, he doesnt know the beauty of daygo.

so i think my round of cancelled classes will be over this week, and im glad. i have for sure enjoyed the free time, but honest to gosh i missed the kids! i havent seen little johnny (you know, the "Sister Sha, can we say asshole?" that johnny) in two weeks!

the adrs i sent you last does work, by the way. i bought some dvds from another teacher who's leaving korea, and she mailed them to me and they got to my place no problem. feel free to send me presents anytime! just kidding... not really... no, fo reals, just kidding. i dont need a thing. this job that i still love allows me to live comfortably and im rather happy. i actually was able to pop over to the store to buy a new tv today. not that there was anything wrong with the great big wonderful tv teresa gave me; it worked great up until i broke it.

oh if Professor Domingez were there to see! The major rule of sculpture class: always PULL heavy items when youre moving them, never PUSH b/c you run the risk of knocking it over. and while i tried to move the tv closer to the couch so i can watch without wearing my glasses, i PUSHED instead of PULLED and of course i knocked that tv right over! it made a loud bang, it was scary! mom, dont worry, nothing happened. you can hear a lot of little things rattling inside the tv when you move it now, and there's no sound nor picture, but luckily the screen didnt shatter/break, so all that happened was that i broke my tv.

so today i went to emart and bought a new tv. none of the sales people spoke a word of english, so i just pointed to my adrs (which i keep in my bag, written in english & korean) and kept saying "deliver, delivery" and gestured like a weirdo, and they understood. they showed me a calendar and circled the 30th to let me know they'll deliver it on monday.

my rice cooker is a dream, by the way. i had some this morning. made me think about how when brother dave would make rice, and he'd always put too much water in it the pot and it would come out all soggy, and ketso would say, "why didn't you let me check it first before you cooked it?!" :)

email: chamchee yummy!

Subject:
Date: Mon, 23 Apr 2007 07:24:51 +0000
dear mom and dad,

hi! last week i had two classes cancelled, and one class where only one student showed up. i did have to stay for the one student, but he is so smart and wonderful that teaching one on one with him for 3 hours was actually pretty ok. the days that classes were cancelled and i got to go home early were wonderful, b/c i have cable tv now! there are a good chunk of english channels, so i can lay on my couch and watch Alien VS Predator for the zillionth time. i love it.

i learned how to say tuna in korean, it's "Chahmchee" i think. i asked the kimbap woman "hanna kimbap, chahmchee kimchee" she looked at me strange and i was a bit embarrassed, but after saying it a couple of times and using lots of gestures to imply mashing two things into one, we got it done. im eating it as i type, it's the most delicious thing ive ever eaten in my life. that is, mom, the most delicious non filipino food ive ever had in my life. i was thinking of elephant ears the other day. ~daughter

email: all hail canada

Subject: hail canada
Date: Fri, 20 Apr 2007 07:26:09 +0000
dear mom and dad,

it's mad raining today! has grandma still been praying for me? b/c the weather was so gorgeous these last few days and then BOOM thunder and rain this morning. please ask grandma to put in a good word for me to her special connections.

you know i really like kimchee. not as much as everyone around me, but for sure i eat it when it's served as a side dish (which is with every meal). and you know, i've not noticed the smell! maybe b/c i dont have any at home, i've only had it when i eat out. ive been told it stinks, in fact when you move into a place there are often 2 refrigerators: one for your food, and one for kimchee. i dont have a second fridge. if i did, i would of course use it for coke zero. hey, doesnt bagoong stink too? b/c i love that with mangoes but it's some smelly stuff. mom, what else do you eat bagoong with? i cant remember. hey mom, please know that i think of you every time i eat, b/c i use chopsticks and laugh about how you cant use them at all :)

a couple of my classes will be cancelled this and next week, as well as everyone else at my job. the kids have exams at public school, and they'll be studying and not have time for hogwans. they are diligent students, it seems, every one of them. they'll shush each other during class if they're trying to listen to me and someone else is making too much noise. if a student isnt listening and keeps bugging the kid next to him for help, i'll hear an exhausted sigh and a "Please listen!" it's too too cute.

there are so many canadians here at my job. really, i thought canada must've been a made up place before i got here. "Canada? Yeah right, there's no such place as Canada! I've never met anybody from Canada!" :) i think half my coworkers are canadian. i learned this b/c i noticed that all the men stopped shaving this week. when i asked, they told me it's b/c it's the hockey playoffs.

the candaians all come in wearing caps when it's cold. pointing to it they ask me, "What's this?"
"a beanie," i answer.
the canadians will look at each other and say "they just dont get it." and sigh and shake their heads. they explained to me that what i call a beanie or skull cap is called Toque or Tuke in canada."A beanie has a little propeller on top. really, i googled it." the canadians gloat.


hmm. ok. all hail canada, b/c they sure know their hats!

email: wrapping

Date: Wed, 18 Apr 2007 07:18:40 +0000
dear mom and dad,

hello again from korea! as i type this, im eating one roll of tuna kimbap and one roll of kimchee kimbap. i want to ask the woman at the restaurant to mix them both into one roll, but i dont know how, so instead i buy one of each and eat them both at the same time. i need to learn to ask her soon, tho, b/c she makes the rolls fatter and fatter every time i see her, and the food is getting to be too much. ya know, breaking all those old habits slowly but surely.

hey we're so close to the end of the term here at work! one term is around 13 weeks and we're at week 8. Leah, the sister who helped me with the phone, is leaving the school i work at and going to another branch. im sad to see my sister leave, but it's a change she seems excited for, so im excited for her. i think she will stay in the same apt, so perhaps i can still see her here and there.

ah, i wrote an article for the school e-newsletter and got a gift certificate to outback steakhouse for compensation! well actually, we were told we'd get 50,000 won, and instead were given 50,000 won gift certificates. >:( ah well, it's free food. i asked leah and Maima (the sister from new zealand) to join me. uh, i hope 50,000 is enough? it just occurred to me that outback is probably on the pricey side. meh, it'll work out. i hope outback has coke zero.

how is brother dave doing? tell him hi for me. or dont, b/c he wont acknowledge or write back anyway. :) has teddy been by with recycling? i hope so. we only have one planet. the other day i bought cookies at the supermarket, and when i got home, it disturbed me to discover that the cookies were individually wrapped in little foil like wrapping. but then i remembered that they recycle that stuff in my apartment complex! knowing that made the cookies tasted even better! go korea!

breakfast

im hungry just looking at this.