Home as a Holiday

Did I mention that I re-signed my contract? As long as everything goes as planned, I will be staying in Korea until August 2011. However, I am still going home this summer, and I'm already daydreaming of Halifax..

Here are the top 10 things I'm anxious to do, see and taste:

1) I want to hug my Mother!

2) I want to sleep in the spare bedroom and cuddle with my cat.

3) I want to drink my Mom's filtered coffee with a spoonful of vanilla flavored sugar.

4) I want to visit my friends.

5) I want to swim in Long Lake with Chareen and then go for a beer at Tom's.

6) I want to eat a home cooked meal with my family.

7) I want to go to Cape Split.

8) I want to go shopping for shoes.

9) I want to speak in full sentences everywhere I go.

10) I want to take A BATH!

In March, my Korean friends took me to a place to make pottery. It was a great day in the country, and I really enjoyed doing something different. I also appreciated the chance to be creative, even though my imagination was strictly monitored. I think they were afraid that since I am a foreigner, I wouldn’t know how to successfully do something Korean. As soon as I accepted the supervision, I realized it was more beneficial than not.

Even with all the coaching, I did manage to screw up my mug! When I went to put the date on the side, I wrote May instead of March. I didn’t know how to fix the mistake, so I decided to change the incorrect month into a word. Now my mug says, “May your cup always be full!” It is a rather corny quote but it did make us laugh. On the other side of the mug, my friend Cindy wrote the saying in Korean. We thought it kind of balanced out my mistake and made it more special.

After our masterpieces were finished, Cindy cooked us sweet potatoes over a fire. My hands were freezing and it was delightful to warm them up with a tasty treat. They were by far, the best potatoes I’ve ever eaten.

Yesterday I got my mug back and it turned out better than I expected. You can’t really see what we wrote on the sides but I still think it’s lovely. The sentimental value definitely improves its beauty.

Here is a photo of my newest cup and matching spoon:

Smooth Talk

One of yesterday's discussion questions was, “when you are hurt, what makes you feel better?" A geeky boy in the back of the class raised his hand and said, “Diana teacher makes me feel better.” If this kid was trying to get me to like him, it worked.

A Hot Cup of Choices

This week I have to decide if I want to sign another year contract or not. I have been flopping back and forth with my decision for quite some time. A part of me wants to stay and another part of me wants to leave. I feel like staying in Korea is a practical choice and that there has been no real reason to go home. I kept thinking to myself that life would be, “so much easier if I had a reason to return to Canada.”

Now it turns out, I may need to go home, and it’s ironically so much harder than staying put. It is all especially daunting since my decision is now partly based on a family member’s health. Of course, family is more important than anything else. It is amazing how trivial ones problems become when something of real significance actually presents itself. Or even the possibility of something significant presents itself! I don’t actually care about much other than this right now.

I will know by the end of the week, what my next move will be. Until then, I will probably occupy my mind with some sheet music and a good book. Hopefully this will make the time move faster and ease my anxiety. Everything works out the way it’s supposed to, right????

Today’s poem. I’ll stop doing this soon. Maybe.

You are a teacup,

and I’m your matching saucer.

Without you, I’m only a little plate.

An Easter Away

It is Easter Sunday and the weather is beautiful. To celebrate all things good, I went for a bike ride around town. Actually, my plan was to get OUT of town but this turned out to be much more difficult than I expected. I also didn’t anticipate the amount of construction and traffic lights that would interrupt my ride. I spent a good chunk of my adventure with one foot on the ground, and another chunk of it having starring contests with Koreans. Even though I won each stare down, I was irritated that they were gawking at me in the first place. Yes, I am foreign. Yes, I can ride a bike. Perhaps I sound like a jerk, but it isn’t fun being watched every day. Obviously today, I was feeling defiant.

On a brighter note, I spent some time investigating spring’s latest arrivals. It is really exciting watching flowers I’ve never seen before come into bloom. I also attended an Easter party at a friend’s house. We painted eggs and ate chocolate until we were all too tired to paint or eat anymore. I’m really happy someone took the initiative to make Easter special. I think a little home away from home was just what we all needed.

An Easter Haiku:

You are much sweeter,

than a bowl of mini eggs,

but both I can’t reach. ;P