I turn to shoes…

I’m one of those people who could have good taste, if they only had a little money.  But since I don’t, I usually just get the cheapest, least objectionable thing I can find that meets my needs at the moment.  Well, after 2.5 years here in Korea, my need at the moment is indulging in ME, and nothing satisfies like shoes:  not chocolate, not drugs, not alcohol.  Nope, it’s got to be shoes.   Like I told Sara when she was very young – a sharp pair of shoes can make total rags look chic.  And you know I’m a simple girl, so I don’t know what /where I got the shoe fetish from.

Now, that’s always been a tall order since I wear a 5 narrow or a 4.5 medium, depending on the cut of the shoe.  NOT easy to get a fashionable shoe fix with those requirements!   Very few manufacturers make shoes that fit, and if they do they are usually only designer shoes I can only drool over or not worthy of being worn in public.  Once in a blue moon I can find a vintage shoe, but they usually only have half a dozen wearings left in them before they fall apart.  Nordstrom’s rack (the clearance store for Seattle’s oldest department store which started out as a shoe store and which are famous for their huge selection) will occasionally have a non-matronly midget shoe, but they are usually the kind of shoe only good for one costumed event. Or, once in a blue moon I’ll have a little money and can hit a year-end clearance sale at Fluevog, but the shoes I really covet still don’t seem to be there in my size and are still expensive even on sale.  I would even haunt the children’s sections in search of anything without cartoons or kiddie cute ornamentation, that might be made out of material that will last more than half a season.  Again, a tall order.

That’s what I was SO EXCITED to come to Korea and look for small shoes.  Only here, my size is STILL hard to find and STILL the least fashionable and STILL made of the cheapest materials.  Mostly I can only find plastic things that give you blisters and you throw them away.  And again, if I find a pair I like that’s in my size, I can’t afford it.

So that’s why when I saw one of the above shoes for 75% off, I had to buy it.  And that’s why I went back three days later and bought four more.  NOW I can come back to the states a happy woman!    Well-made, comfortable, (believe it or not, the stilettos are REALLY comfortable!)  well-fitting, stylish shoes are such a rare, rare experience for me, you just don’t know.  Shoes worth $700  altogether earlier this year.   The rest of my stay here my funds will all be spent in preparation to leave and send things to my daughter, so I had to get these before they disappear.

Stupid me, I forgot I have to eat for another whole week, but fortunately the 100 won piggy bank is full again.  Besides, the shoes are inspiring.  I need to stop eating popsickles and pat binsu anyway, so I can fit into skinny clothes again. Normally, I’d be walking around with buyer’s remorse and beating myself up for being such a spendthrift.  But I haven’t spent anything on myself here, and something’s different this time.  Something tells me I deserve it.

All across Korea, Native English Teachers are sitting at their desks developing carpal tunnel as they madly scroll through website after website after website, email after facebook after email,  as their eyes glaze over for yet. another. week. with. nothing. to. do.  (Well, it’s not exactly true. I’ve got a whole book to write, but somehow I can’t get into it)

Day after day, alone at their desks.  One or two Korean teachers are nearby doing the same, only after two days of duty they get to go home.  They say hello in the morning, bring a take-out menu at noon and have me choose something, refuse to let me pay for any of it, barely talk to me during lunch, and then I just leave with a nod at the end of the day.  The last two days, however, there was actually a sentence or two communicated.  And yesterday and today, a real attempt at friendship.

I’d run into one of the teachers at the toast shop one time after school, and so I asked her the following day and, sure enough, she lived in Cheongpyeong.  I suggested we get together sometimes, but I don’t think it registered.  So here she is doing her summer vacation duty and I ask her about where she lives and it turns out she left.  It was too lonely, living in this little town by herself, so she went back to live with her family.  That makes me feel something like glee – it’s not just me!  Even someone who can speak the language can’t deal with being single and alone out here!  I find out that she’s the Japanese language teacher.

That’s right – a half a year of school has gone by and nobody has bothered to introduce me to any of the new teachers.  And you know, I know it’s also my fault for not going out of my way to drag it out of them, but there’s many of them and one of me and even if I do get their names and subjects, we’d still just eat in uncomfortable silence because they’re afraid to talk to me anyway.   So a few of these attempts and you just quit bothering.  Just like I quit asking that one teacher who lives here when he and the five other teacher he lives with are going to have me over for dinner.  One time, he said, “in twenty days,” and that was about forty days ago…

Anyway, this one lone teacher, the school year half over, has offered to get together and go out after school, and given me her cellphone number.  She’s actually quite enthusiastic, but I am admittedly am a little grumpy and dull from staring at the screen, the disappointing and huge efforts I am going through with the kitten, and just feeling old, fat, and unloved.  She looks really wholesome.  I’m thinking beer and smoking wouldn’t go over well.

4:30pm.  Another day successfully killed.

 

Hopefully you’ll take advantage of this earlier than I have…

Anyway, while cleaning out my bookmarks I rediscovered this on-line language program from my Pronvince’s website.  In retrospect, it’s probably THE BEST collection of USEFUL survival Korean that I’ve seen.  Prior to living here 2.5 years, I wouldn’t have known that.

Each section has an animation (with the Gyeonggi mascot and a foreigner), and they have a dialog that one might actually encounter.  There is the English, the Hangul, and the Romanization right there for you to follow along with, and a list of vocabulary & expressions below.

So yeah, it’s not as slick as some videos on Youtube, but it’s exactly the basics a person needs to get by here, without being as deadly dull or grammar crazy as a classroom.  And you can repeat it as often as you like.

Wish I had realized this earlier.  : (

In addition, there is a foreigner named Rob teaching Korean on-line.  The hangul classes are free at Learn Korean Online  and then you can pay for more advanced classes, of which there are some samples.  He also teaches live classes for foreigners here in Korea.  (again, wish I had realized this earlier – but, since he’s associated w/ the newssmagazine,   theYoegiyo.com, he’s probably based in the South of Korea.  And you know, if I had to do this all again, I wouldn’t even have gone to Seoul, but headed south to Daegu or Busan areas, where the pace is slower, Koreans are less annoyed by foreigners, and the foreigners seem to have more of a sense of community)  While his pronunciation may not be perfect, it’s amazingly good.  And the beautiful thing is he knows just what foreigners need and want to get from Korean language classes, so I totally believe (from watching some of his videos) that he can speed up the process while giving you USEFUL TOOLS.

I’m experiencing short-timer’s disease, but at the same time I’m so frustrated that I blew two years of experiencing Korea as an explorer and hungry traveler due to working with TRACK.  (the tri-lingual website of which I worked on for 9 months will be deleted this week, unused)      : (     Oh well, I learned a lot.   Ha.  Mostly about organizational disease and impatience.

Five more months of lessons to go.  So many things I want to do before I go, but cat and finances pin me down.

Hoping I can buy a raimie hanbok before I come home.   Saw an ethereal jeogori (hanbok jacket) made of ramie, and hand-painted with mountains and trees on the arms.  I asked and the woman said oh-pal man won.  58,000 won.  Really?  Only a little over $50 bucks?  That doesn’t seem right to me.  If it is, then it would be criminal not to get it before I leave.  I think lasek surgery will have to wait.   The things I have purchased here are all functional but probably replacable.  Will it cost more to ship them home than to replace?  The bad thing about moving so much is always liquidating.  It’s nice to edit ones’ life and also begin with a fresh slate, but there are always things I regret having gotten rid of.

I wish my kids could have made it out here.  Maybe in the future.  Maybe we can come back together and visit this place, free of internal and external conflict, and with only warmth and wonder in our hearts.

 

 

 

 

So I’m a mess lately and having trouble sorting myself out enough to write, but while organizing and purging my bookmarks I ran across this video:

Whenever any Korean hears that I’m from Cheongpyeong, they usually do an ahh!  and a There’s a beautiful garden there – morning calm!.

So here is a video of Cheongpyeong’s Garden of the morning calm.

The mountains, butterflies, and water I’m definitely accustomed to seeing, but it would sure be nice to see it WITHOUT cars, apartments, and street garbage.  So I definitely have to get to it soon, as it’s right on the edge of my town.

Speaking of calm, this weekend I’ll be cat-sitting a 1 yr. old cat, so hopefully that will mellow out Momo a bit.

Here is Momo afraid of her own image, just before she went from baby to kitten, about two weeks ago?  Her eyes changed from blue to hazel about that time too…

As I’m screaming in pain, spending all my money on Nature’s Miracle, washing laundry, and having my ears gnawed on, I remind myself how freaking cute she is and hope she’ll mellow out soon.  And she IS adorable most of the time!

My human children were so much easier…!!!

ADDED:  Momo was really unhappy I spent the time uploading this video.  As soon as I stopped to play with her and give her a treat, she made a beeline to my bed and protested.  (sigh)

While writing this post, she was hanging from my underarm by a claw…(ouch) Anyway, one guy named Cory is also at his wits end and isn’t above consulting a witch doctor if need be.

When my wounds have stopped bleeding and I let Momo back in the room, I think we’ll watch the next episode where Cory enlists the aid of a magician…

Thought you’d get a kick out of this commercial that’s in heavy rotation on Korean t.v.