email

Subject: send more A shirts. and a pair of shoes.
Date: Sun, 19 Apr 2009 02:15:21 +0000

dear mom and dad,

thank you again sooooo much for that last box with the pudding, the pb, the tea, everything, i loved. i devoured about 10 of the chips ahoy cookies in one sitting and then brought the rest to work before i made myself sick. You've made me incredibly popular amongst my new coworkers, thankyou:) I havent seen Ed yet, but i'll for sure pass those oreo cookies to him (no danger of me eating all of them, b/c i like regular, not double stuff). I absolutely love the tea you sent, im not sharing those with anybody.

im glad teddy came by. did he bring the baby with him? i think he still get nervous everyttime he goes to the house. blogworld, i think this is b/c my husband, tho incredibly handsome, stands only about 5'2". My brother and father however are 6ft tall and BIG sized men. I told him he could just mail that check, that he didnt have to go by in person, but he's got old school manners and insisted he should go in person. Please dont use the money for sallie mae, b/c my next payment isnt due until october, so please dotn pay anything. I actually didnt work at all for a couple of weeks b/c of the visa issues, so i put a hold on the loans for a little while. Additionally, we've got canceled classes for the next week and a half (as we do every term, b/c the kids take leave to study for their midterm exams in public school) so that's been a lot of me not working, so no pay coming. I had enough money put aside to sustain myself just fine, but i want to replenish that savings before i resume student loan payments. B/c the loans are consolidated, the interest rate is fixed at 3% or so, so i think they can afford to wait.

im not sure where me and teddy are with the divorce. he emailed me the divorce papers and i printed, signed and mailed them to him. teddy was a good husband overall, tho i never got my wifely conjugal rights nor a diamond ring, and wont even be getting alimony! But he gave away my cats, therefore this divorce is necessary. i loved those cats!

im so sorry, but can i ask you for bug spray? many mosquitos in the summer here. and send me a pair of shoes? i dotn care what they look like, i just want anything with a heel like the others you sent. i walk a lot more here, the subway stop is a mile away and i havent figured out which bus to take to get there. not like my comfy lazy spot in pyeongchon. a new pair of shoes would really do me right. anything you get is fine, really truly.

loveyoumissyou.
~daughter

email

Subject: weather, visa, knitting, kclass
Date: Sun, 12 Apr 2009 02:19:22 +0000

dear mom and dad,

oh my gosh, the weather has been absolutely beautiful lately. no need for hats, scarves, gloves, long johns, ear muffs, it's gorgeous. it's already cherry blossom time, the trees are blooming and im on the lookout for a festival that's around the corner.

work is good of course. with so many students, its hard to remember their names after they're not in my class anymore. kids in the hallway wave, "hello sister sha!" and most of the time, i respond with, "hello sweetheart, how are you?" and of course i use "sweetheart" b/c i cant think of their names. one girl, i was SURE her name was sally, so i said, "hi sally!" and her face got sad, and she said, "oh.... teacher..." b/c i got her name wrong. i made some guesses and finally had her just tell me (Jenny) and she said, "im so sad!" ah well, im only human. i remembered her face at least.

im still awaiting a new visa. i found out that i only need to do the criminal background check one time, so i wont have to go through all this again next year, thank goodness.

korean class is kicking my butt, but im much more comfortable doing little things like ordering food at a restaurant, asking for help at the post office or grocery store or whatever.

i went to two knitting meetings last week. just being int he room, i knit better and faster! majority are americans/canadians. one place we meet is a knitting shop, i took jinny with me, she became absolutely engulfed. when i was ready to leave, she kept saying, "just one more row." and, "it's like i cant stop!" good fun:)

loveyoumissyou.
~daugher.

email

Subject: RE: Sheets and Projectors
Date: Sun, 5 Apr 2009
dear mom and dad,

thanks again for the student loan payments. i sent another batch of postcards per your advice, i'll start doing them monthly again. i thanked grandma for the b-day gift.

I got the box w/the goodies: the grits (oh my gosh i devoured them) the pb crunch slimfast bars (which are my FAVORITE!!!) the combs (i gave some to the sistas, they say thank you), the flashlight (i'm sure it'll come in handy since i didnt have one), the plastic bags (no more bags for a while, i have plenty) and the shout (thank you! my clothes really needed it! tho i DID find something here, but i love what you sent more b/c it's familiar, and it's free). i shared the cookies and oatmeal w/my new coworkers, along with the sanitizer (which they LOVED, since kids = germs = sickness). One friend asked if my parents though i had bad breath b/c you'd sent the listerine strips unsolicited.

so i finally got my cbc (criminal background check) from the state of cali, i'll use it to apply for a new visa. {there were two ways to get it, dad, i did one way and i was having you do the other way, with the goal to use which ever came first}. dad, sorry you went to the sherrif's station for nothing. i anticipated some sort of issue, but i didnt think they'd tell you to have me re-apply all over again, i thought the application i'd emailed to you WAS the form i needed. i used the email you sentme and asked for a new form, but it's a near a week later and i still havent received it. AND i got the form and all the info from a fellow san diegan here in south korea! i did everything HE did, relatively at the same time, and he got his cbc a week later. i wonder why the sherriff's dpt didnt come through for me and you??? ah well, no matter now, good thing the other cbc came through.

im back in korean class, it's a little easier this time around, but only a little. everyone reads faster than me, but my pronunciation is better so im ok with it. im much more motivated this time, too, b/c now i live 15 min from the class, as opposed to 40 min when i lived in pyeongchon.

i met up with some other expats last week, a knitting group called stitchnbitch, it was uber cool, we just sat and talked and knitted. im a novice for sure, these women make socks, vests, gloves, anything, and their knitting is perfect. im working on a what looks like a tarded scarf in comparison. but the knitters motivate me to get better^^

loveyoumissyou
~daughter

email

Subject: no need for kneaded erasers
Date: Mon, 30 Mar 2009 09:11:05 +0000

dear mom and dad,

thanks for mailing my student loan payment. eventually i'll set it up so that the payments are automatically deducted from my bank account, but that will have to wait until my next visit home so that i can go to the bank to arrange it. today i sent more money (500,000 won, so its around $340 USD), please can you send another student loan payment for me?

the money is being deposited, right? im worried, b/c i remember one time i sent money and my bank here sent it to the wrong account. let me know the money is coming through ok.

so just yesterday i was roaming around in my neighborhood and went to lotte dept store, and found an art supply store that... wait for it... sold kneaded erasers!!! so, dont send it if you didnt buy it yet. sorry about that ^^

things always happen like that: you find it when youre not looking for it. I was complaining to jinny about how i couldnt find the post office and she tells me, "there are post offices everywhere." i told her i know, but i hadnt found it in my neighborhood yet, and i was annoyed. she tells me, "dont get snippy, im just saying, there's a post office in jamsil." I told her again, but yelling, I KNOW, but i cant find it! arent you listening?!" she calmly says, "just walk around until you find it." i tell her thanks for the help and called her dumb. a day later, i was walking around my neighborhood and gotdamn, there was the post office, a block from my house. well, i know where to go to mail my next batch of postcards.

ive another favor to ask (as i am eternally your daughter and i'll have favors to ask forever and ever and ever): please can you order this and send it to me? it's an opaque projector. You can have brother dave order it online, it doesnt have to be this exact one if he finds a better deal. I liked this one b/c it takes 5x5 paper and can enlarge it 14 times. If dave finds one that does bigger for around the same price, i'd like that. He can also just get it direct from DickBlick art supply in downtown san diego, instead of ordering online.
http://www.dickblick.com/products/artograph-tracer-projector/

ah, one more thing: can you send me bedsheets? there was a bed in the new place when i moved in, so i gave away the old one. this bed is much bigger. it's 60 inches wide, 80 inches long, and 8 inches thick.

loveyoumissyou!
~daughter

email

Subject: care pkg
Date: Tue, 24 Mar 2009 12:40:06
dear mom and dad,

hi! i have absolutely nothing to talk about, but i know it's been 5 days or so since my last email and if i didnt write soon, i feared a guilt email would be in my inbox.

oh, dad, i got the card you sent from grandma, thank you, ive sent her a postcard. You know, every month (maybe 7 months in a row) i sent a postcard to mary lovelady, ninong cooper, grandma, and aunt lyn. i havent in the last 2 months tho, b/c no one ever let me know they got them, i wondered if the korean post office was tricking me and throwing my cards out the window:)

ive taken up drawing again. oil paint is my preferred medium you know, but i dont have the proper ventilation nor the room to do it here, plus, dad, youre not here to build my frames for me! But paper and pencil i can do myself...i found an art supply store for all the things i needed, except for a kneaded eraser. so, uhm, please can you send me a kneaded eraser in the next pkg you send me? You can have brother dave get it at any art supply store: there's dick blick towards downtown san diego, or Michaels or Aaron Brothers in mission/fashion valley.

speaking of things i cant find: i can no longer find my beloved calorie free instant tea mix by lipton, they dont carry it at emart (like walmart here) anymore. if it is there in the states, please send me some. im going through withdrawls. it looks like this. (if its not there, maybe can you peek around to see if crystal light makes something like a lemon tea?) i would also like non fat/low fat creamy peanut butter (i think the brand i used to like is Jiff or jiffy), and fat free chocolate pudding mix, if it exists, im shooting for the stars with that one. also please send me a pack of monostat 7 one day yeast infection cure, b/c i would die having to go to the pharmacy to ask for that should i need it (usually i draw pictures of what i need since i cant speak korean... can you imagine the conversation i'd be having with the pharmacist that day!!).

sorry that this was an email of me asking for things, i know that's pretty lame. but life is rather steady, ordinary, ive got nothing to talk about. i'll try to have a more interesting upcoming week for a better email next time.

thank you and love you lots.
~daughter

email

Subject: i got the cds
Date: Thu, 19 Mar 2009 04:13
Dear mom and dad,

yesterday i got the box with my cds and the Ashirts, thank you so much!!! mom, i love the card, i read it over and over again, i love when you write to me. i get the sense that it was difficult foryou to part with the cds :) You shouldve told me you wanted to keep them, i wouldve asked for something else instead! Well, thank you for sending them,and in exchange, is tehre anything i can send you from korea? maybe candies to give to the neighborhood kids? chopsticks? anything? let me know.

oh, mom will love this: i just finished reading Angela's Ashes, and all those descriptions of flowerly white potatoes triggered a craving. so yesteday i came home w/a bag of potatoes really excited to cook, and then realized i didnt know how to work my stovetop. it's a gas stove top, unlike the electric at my old place. i odnt konw if something isnt connected or what, i just know taht i turned the knob and nothing happened. ah well. maybe the cleaning lady can help me.

i went to japan last weekend, but only for a day, actually. b/c my visa expired, i had to leave the country and then come back and now i have 3 months to get my paperwork together. many teachers have to do this, it's called a "visa run." most stay for a day or so, walk around the town, etc, b/c their job pays for it. my job DIDNT so i stayed for a day and didnt leave the airport. jinny helped me find the ticket to japan for only $188. i had the money to stay longer and properly see the sights, but im cheap. it's cool, b/c it rained the whole time. i read 2 books and watched 3 movies on my mp3 player (loaded on my mp3 by my good friend/tech genius Ed, btw.) i spent my day wandering around, getting the layout of the north and south terminal, finding which chairs were most comfortable to sleep in, browsing the airport mall. there were 10 other foreigners with me who stayed the whole night in the airport, none of them were teachers, tho, just people who missed a flight, or awaiting a morning flight.

at the airport/check in/etc, none of my bags were searched tho during my day there, i was stopped for a random passport check around 5 times. each time, i'd smile all stupid and point out to the police/security guard taht i was born in japan. most of them gave me a slight smile, one pretended to get excited to humor me. The reminds me of one time when i brought Brother Dave with me to some shop, and when i found the sales clerk was from eritria, i happily blurted, "Oh, ive been to ghana!" She did a slight smile. Brother Dave says, "uhm, yeah, how is that connected, b/c she's east africa, you went to west africa, on the other side of the continent, Dummy." Well, yeah, i guess... i just really wanted to feel worldly and important:)

it wasnt much of a trip, but i for sure want to go back when i take a proper vacation. the plane ride was a short 2 hours which was awesome. loveyoumissyou. ~daughter.

email

Daehangno Philippine Market

* Time & Day: 12:00-17:00 every Sunday * Place: In front of Dongseong Middle & High School in Daehangno

How to Get There

Take subway line 4 to Hyehwa station, and go out exit 1. Walk ahead until you reach Dongseong Middle & High School on the right. other blog/market info: http://english.seoul.go.kr/today/news/newsclip/1243555_3675.html http://asiaenglish.visitkorea.or.kr/ena/SI/SI_EN_3_6.jsp?cid=309567 ===================================== Subject: pics, phil market, rae Date: Sun, 15 Mar 2009 04:14:07 dear mom and dad, i dont remember which pictures ive sent you already, so i sent them all again. these are the pictures from the "Fun Photo Contest" we had at our school. the contest was pretty lame, i think my job just wanted an excuse to take pictures, so they threw this contest together. i say that b/c they only took pictures of 3 of my 8 classes, the same for many of my colleagues. ah well, still i got some cute pictures and i like them. i got a new student last week with no english name. I asked if he'd like me to give him one, he said yes. i said, "how about ray?" but when i typed it out, i wrote RAE out of habit. i backspaced to correct it, but he said, "No, Teacher, Rae, i like better." i said OK! :) things are going good at my job, the kids are cute, my coworkers are friendly, etc etc. not much to say. ive just been waiting to renew my visa, i got an extension until june 15, hopefully that darned criminal background check will get here by then! i think it took 6 weeks to get it the first time (the one that korean immigration rejected), so hopefully the request i sent for another will go faster. PLUS, i know you have taken care of that letter i asked for, dad, so which ever comes first, i can use to renew my visa. the move from pyeongchon to jamsil has helped keep me close to my good friend jinny, who i talk to almost everyday. a couple weekends ago, she took me to a part of town by Hyehwa subway station where we walked around in the philipino market! as we were walking around, jinny asked me if i understood what people were saying. i said to her, "uhm... that guy said 'Pare' which means 'dude,' i think... and... uhm, that woman said 'anako' so she's talking to her daughter... uhm... i think she wasnt impressed. i was pretty embarrassed *blush* i may not speak tagalog, but i know the food! while there, we ate menudo and dinaguan, not nearly as delicious as you make it mom, of course, but it was pretty tasty. most of the vendors were for hot food, but some canned/bottled and other goods were for sale. i pointed out Bagaoong to jinny, which i told her was so delicious on mangoes. we saw bags of pandesal and i told her how its so good when it's fresh, and i love it best with cheese whiz. well, now im hungry, so i'll say good bye. loveyoumissyou, etc. ~daughter.