You can paint that house a rainbow of colors

Whew. It's been quite a busy month, as I've taken on an extracurricular as well as another teaching gig, so I haven't had as much time to blog about everything. So here are some snapshots!

Some of my students presented their environmental science projects at the Gyeongnam Province Water Expo (March 22nd). The text at the top of their booth reads "Changwon Science High School".

I went hiking with friends a few weekends ago on a gorgeous day (March 23rd). On the way up, we passed this tree with a spirit carved into it, along with the axiom 過猶不及, which, according to a friend, means: "Doing too much is the same as not doing enough, praising the ability to achieve perfect balance while achieving a goal."

My friends at me at the top of 정병산 (Jeongbyeongsan), 566 meters above sea level. It took about 2.5 hours to reach the top.

Last weekend I went bowling and went on a picnic with friends from Korea, England, and the US (April 13th)! This photo was taken at Yongji Lake (용지호수) in Changwon. If you were wondering, I still suck at bowling.

This past weekend, I traveled up to Seoul to visit my friend Miyuki, a fellow Swarthmore alum who is currently globe-trotting on a Watson grant to conduct research on queer art and activist communities around the world. She's in South Korea this month, having a blast, and I wanted to join in on the fun. On Saturday, we spent the day eating vegan, shopping at Gwangjang Market, and scoring tons of free fabric scraps from the Hanbok Market.

This is actually kind of a funny story: I wanted to show Miyuki the Hanbok Market because I knew that the amazing colors and bright fabrics clustered in the narrow aisles would be a feast for an artist's eyes. It was like color heaven, and Miyuki really wanted to ask for some extra, unneeded fabric for some of her DIY sewing projects. I wasn't sure if it would be impolite or not to ask this of the tailors and shopkeepers, so I cautiously approached a kind-looking old man and asked, "혹시... 필요없는 글로스를 있습니까?" That roughly translates into, "By any chance, do you have any cloth that you don't need?" I'm sure the grammar's off, though. In any case, we managed to get our meaning across, and Miyuki showed them some of the things she'd made with leftover fabrics, such as her skirt and pins, and the man gave us several pretty squares of silk for free.

This was great, but as we kept wandering around the maze of stalls and colors, Miyuki wondered why we couldn't ask for more from the other shopkeepers. Some refused us, but others were quite enthusiastic to share -- and probably also very intrigued by these two young, random Asian-but-not-Korean foreigners in their traditional market. One man told us that the Korean word for fabric scraps is 자투리 (jatoori), and when the woman across the aisle from him heard us talking about this, she vigorously motioned for me to come over to her stall, then handed me a plastic shopping bag literally stuffed to bulging with 자투리. I was shocked, and then thanked her profusely when I came to my senses. Miyuki and I were ecstatic at this find. After we shopped for a bit -- I got a new jacket and tie -- and ate street food, we went back to her apartment to jam on the guitar and swim in a rainbow of colorful silk.

In the evening, Miyuki and I met up with fellow Swattie Jen and Miyuki for some excellent chatting and catching up at Churro 101, a cafe in Hongdae, Seoul, that specializes in churros con chocolate!

And of course, because I was in Hongdae, I had to stop by my favorite bar in the country, AcousticHolic. Folks there remembered me, even though they haven't seen me in over a month! That made me really happy. Of course, the great music made my night, as usual. In this photo, Sunho, Mijeongi, and Guitar Jedi (I found out that his name is Junho!) are performing.

Lastly, on Sunday afternoon, I attended a fundraising event for a queer women's group called the Mapo Rainbow Alliance. There was a home-cooked lunch, a tag sale, and some performances. There was also a man doing caricatures, which Miyuki gladly sat down for. Her caricature was so adorable!

Long story short, a great weekend! Cons: I keep forgetting how easy it is to blow a hundred and fifty bucks or more in just a few days when I spend a few days in Seoul. I mean, transportation alone is killer: since bus ticket prices have increased, it costs over ₩60,000 just to get there and back. Factor in food, fun, and a place to sleep, and gahhh, my wallet is left as skinny as a few receipts because there's hardly anything else inside. Another con: trying to follow and make sense of the Boston lockdown as it unfolded in real time during my bus trip to Seoul on Friday evening. It sort of haunted me the entire weekend. But I'm thankful that everyone I know and love is safe and that the ordeal is now over.

But pros! I had so much fun in Seoul, met old friends and made new ones, and had some new experiences while introducing old ones to people who I knew would appreciate it. I learned a little bit about queer (퀴어) culture in Korea, which left me wanting to know more. I watched Pokemon in Korean and ate many peanut butter and jelly sandwiches at the Yellow Submarine hostel. Most importantly, I think, I did not feel like a stranger in a strange land. I promise I'll be back again soon.

P.S. A gold star for anyone who knows where the title of this post is from.

The Flu

It was after a long and fun day of travel and skiing that disaster struck. Well, not disaster. But it did seem like bad news bears when I woke up at about four in the morning just about ready to hurl. I was nauseous for most of the night and made several trips to the bathroom to empty out everything I'd eaten that day, including that delicious Domino's pizza that my friends and I got to celebrate our skiing success. Fortunately, I neither woke up my roommates nor passed on whatever bug I had to them.

Ammy, Anna, and Katelyn, the snowboarding triplets.

But the next morning, which was supposed to begin day two of my ski trip, I still felt weak and slightly nauseous, and I wasn't sure if I'd be up to ski. I guess what pushed me into strapping into my boots was the thought of not making use of the lift ticket I'd already bought, the notion of sunk cost notwithstanding. In the end, I did do a few runs in the morning, and I even took two lifts up to the peak of Deogyusan, where the view was quite beautiful. But I only lasted for a few hours before I gave up, had a bowl of white rice for lunch, and then went over to the resort's 찜질방 to try to restore myself before the day was over.

It was very relaxing in the jjimjilbang, but I didn't stay for long before Anna and Katelyn came to find me and helped me snag a bus ride back to Seoul. I'm really thankful for how they and Ammy took care of me that morning, making me drink a lot of water and letting me take it easy. They thought it was kind of funny because I was fatigued, sensitive to light, and just generally out of it; to any outsider it would have seemed like I was just hungover (NB: I've never been hungover, but now I guess I know what it feels like...).

Skiing at night at Deogyusan, on fresh corduroy (the night before I got sick).

It took several hours to bus back to Seoul, and it was 9pm by the time I reached my hostel. I was feeling better -- less nauseous -- after having rested, but it had been a really, really long day, and I was still ready to pass out as soon as I checked in. Instead, though, I hung out in the common room of the hostel (I've stayed at the Hongdae Guesthouse 2.0: Yellow Submarine several times, and I'm friendly with their staff).

So... I got the flu. It was not fun being sick while abroad, while traveling while abroad, and while trying to enjoy myself. The residual symptoms actually lasted for about a week, following me across the ocean to Taiwan. But do you know what's nice about being sick while on vacation? You can do anything and everything you want or need to take care of yourself. I'm reminded of Katie, a friend of mine from college, who once told me that when one is sick, healing immediately becomes the highest priority and all other things (i.e. studying) must be put aside. I argued that work was more important... and for that reason, I often stayed sick for a long time. But now that I'm out of school (and also on paid vacation... that helps), I have time to let my body rest as much as it needs. This is a good thing.

Next up: One short day in the Emerald Special City with new friends from France, and then two weeks in Taiwan!

A personal update: Happy February! I'm based in Seoul for the duration of this month, taking Korean classes and chilling with friends. If you're around, let me know and we'll find good food to eat together!