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ryleeys
Joined: 22 Dec 2003
Location: Columbia, MD
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 Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2004 7:25 am Post subject: |
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Oh dear lord, someone called Katy innocent again... time for the leather and whips to come back out...  |
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katydid
Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Location: Here kitty kitty kitty...
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| Posted: Sun Feb 08, 2004 7:41 am Post subject: |
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| ryleeys wrote: |
| Oh dear lord, someone called Katy innocent again... time for the leather and whips to come back out... |
Only in your dreams, Ryleeys. 
Anyways, that is not what he meant and I know that. I mean he said *everyone* seems to want to write or learn Korean or work on music or what have you, and then he said *everyone* seemed a bit "innocent" in their lifestyle choices. Well, I'm not sure if that is what he said so I just want him to clarify on that. I'm not sure if the right word he wants is "innocent," maybe "cautious"? "Too safe?"
Granted I do think he is on to something, only having a one year contract, and living that through the whim of your employer makes it tough to actually LIVE somewhere, to feel settled in and comfortable, to feel you have a safety net to try really new things or take chances. Maybe. Again, I was only asking cause I wasn't sure what he meant.
This can go back to "What is your Korean experience thread." Has anyone here ever read the Poisonwood Bible? Man, I love that book, and last year used it so much as a touchstone for when I felt uncertain about what I was doing in Korea. In that book, there are four sisters, three of whom make it out of the jungle alive, and their experiences in the Congo completely shaped their lives. One became a doctor working for the Center for Disease Control, one stayed behind in the Congo after she fell in love with a native and married him, one moved to South Africa, and lived a life of leisure (albeit with blinders on). In any case, what I am getting at is even if we don't have that goal of an ideal life here, we could probably have the least amount of interaction and do the least amount of work and come out completely changed because we spent a long amount of time in an absolutely foreign country.
For me, I can only paint in a very broad stroke, and I don't want to limit my ideal life to just Korea. But ideally, I never want to stop learning about myself and others, and I never want to feel old or that I can not care about something or someone anymore. |
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ohahakehte
Joined: 24 Aug 2003
Location: The State of Denial
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 2:10 am Post subject: |
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| mithridates wrote: |
This is interesting...a lot of people want to study Korean more, a lot want to work on music, and a lot want to write. Pretty much the same as me, except that I'm working on Chinese now...
It's always been my opinion that the main problem with the system here is not so much the salary as the uncomfortability of it all, being tied to a hagwon for a year and precious little around oneself when it comes to personal development and learning the language / adjusting to living here.
Everybody here seems so innocent on this thread. |
that was part of what i looked forward to about teaching here. the somewhat reduced hours compared to a job back home and relative calmness of the job i thought would be fertile ground for lots of reading, writing and study. i havent done as much as i would like to be, but i think most of that is my own laziness. in order for me to seriously write anything i need a good hard kick of inspiration. last year in my final year at university i took a creative fiction writing course and absolutely loved it. being forced to write like that and have my work critqued by the professor and a class full of other writers worked for me 100%. i wrote two short stories that i was and am proud of and i got that rare and amazing feeling of having accomplished something that was the product of my own talents. certainly the income of the job has allowed me to buy books and other literature regularly, which is great. |
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cutter-saram
Joined: 21 Jan 2004
Location: at the epicenter
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 3:04 am Post subject: |
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i would like to gather a harem and firmly establish myself as a man of international mystery. furthermore, get my phd in korean intersection logic.
danke |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 3:36 am Post subject: |
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Here's what I said:
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| a lot of people want to study Korean more, a lot want to work on music, and a lot want to write. |
and then:
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| Everybody here seems so innocent on this thread. |
What I meant by that was that compared to other threads (the odd comment like "What's the point of dating a Korean girl if you don't get to shag?") the comments I've seen here are more...innocent? What's a better word? Comments where people comment on their long-term goals. Short-term goals are more intense at the time but quickly forgotten later, whereas the long-term ones have a constant intensity, not as sharp, but always there.
The thing I like the most about writing is that before you write nothing exists; after you write something exists that nobody else could have made. That's an odd feeling. I remember when I made that umbrella with the piece of my story on it, I thought "There's nobody else on earth that could have made this..."
Which brings the question to mind: would anybody else have wanted to?
Probably not! Whatever! |
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Mashimaro
Joined: 31 Jan 2003
Location: location, location
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 4:40 am Post subject: |
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| mithridates wrote: |
| I remember when I made that umbrella with the piece of my story on it |
That gives me an idea for a musical...
David and his technicolour hangul Umbrella!
Can I buy the rights?  |
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katydid
Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Location: Here kitty kitty kitty...
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 5:00 am Post subject: |
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| Mashimaro wrote: |
| mithridates wrote: |
| I remember when I made that umbrella with the piece of my story on it |
That gives me an idea for a musical...
David and his technicolour hangul Umbrella!
Can I buy the rights? |
I think the brolly was in black and white, but if I were a rich girl, I'd certainly back you on your project.  |
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mithridates
Joined: 03 Mar 2003
Location: President's office, Korean Space Agency
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 5:34 am Post subject: |
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Ah... 
Does this mean everybody thinks my umbrella is really cool?
����! |
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Ilsanman
Joined: 15 Aug 2003
Location: Bucheon, Korea
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 6:05 am Post subject: yes |
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I am working towards my comfortable life, little by little.
I would like to land a Uni job one day. I want to master Korean and Jaoanese, and maybe delve into Chinese too. My goals in Chinese are much more modest, though.
I wouldn't mind the office hours at the Uni. Then I could study lots and have a good learning environment. I would also like to settle down with a good level headed K girl...I had one, I thought I did at least, but once again, it didn't work out.
I am still on the right road for my life, me thinks. |
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katydid
Joined: 02 Feb 2003
Location: Here kitty kitty kitty...
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 6:08 am Post subject: |
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| mithridates wrote: |
Ah...
Does this mean everybody thinks my umbrella is really cool?
����! |
Erm, well, I don't think mashimaro and myself (a crazy rabbit and a bug, by the way) count as *everybody*, but then, aren't we enough?!?!?!? Who else *do* you need? |
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kangnamdragon
Joined: 17 Jan 2003
Location: Kangnam, Seoul, Korea
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 6:40 am Post subject: |
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| mithridates wrote: |
Ah...
Does this mean everybody thinks my umbrella is really cool?
����! |
I do. I would love to try to speak Korean with you someday. |
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kiwiboy_nz_99
Joined: 05 Jul 2003
Location: ...Enlightenment...
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 10:27 am Post subject: |
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| mithridates wrote: |
The thing I like the most about writing is that before you write nothing exists; after you write something exists that nobody else could have made. That's an odd feeling. I remember when I made that umbrella with the piece of my story on it, I thought "There's nobody else on earth that could have made this..."
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I feel the same about writing a song. For me there's nothing like the rush when I complete it and play it through whole for the first time and know that it sounds good and original. I worry though, in my twenties I pumped out a song every three weeks for most of that decade ( that's a lot of songs, and a lot of heartbreak! ) but these days, though I'm still passionately in love with music and still want to create, I find I'm not as inspired as I used to be, and it's really hard to write lyrics that are meaningful to me anymore. Maybe it's because I'm more secure and wise and not so intense and passionate about life any more. Nothing like a good bit of drama and turmoil to get the creative juices flowing. |
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Yangkho
Joined: 22 Sep 2003
Location: Honam
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 1:09 pm Post subject: |
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The ideal life for me here would be one without school directors making your life miserable not only in the classroom, but outside of it as well. I wouldn't take away all the problems, because being in a country where you are always wrong and at fault no matter what really rids you of any excess pride that you might have had before. Nothing but healthy.
I know teachers in Korea who have some of the best gigs, who have the ideal life: there's one guy I know who lives in a medium sized city. He works as an assistant at public schools. He works four five-hour days and a half-day on Friday. He gets a car to drive around in. Four weeks of vacation. The best part is that he really has no supervisor; the local school system just wants foreigners for image purposes. He has zero work related stress, not because he blocks it out or doesn't give a crap, but because there is no one breathing down his neck, there is no director concerned about losing business, it's a public school after all and no one drops out.
Now that's a fantastic gig. |
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The Man known as The Man
Joined: 29 Mar 2003
Location: 3 cheers for Ted Haggard oh yeah!
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 1:12 pm Post subject: |
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A heavy spaghetti sauce strong in garlic, onions, and Thai peppers, a red wine and watching HNIC with Blue Flower as V-Day is Saturday would be ideal.
of course HNIC instead because Kill Bill isn't released yet because that's the perfect romantic comedy
of course I would brush after dinner |
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OiGirl
Joined: 23 Jan 2003
Location: Hoke-y-gun
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| Posted: Mon Feb 09, 2004 2:25 pm Post subject: |
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My ideal life in Korea clearly involves not working, but rather having all day to sit around and read and surf the net. DSL is necessary, but A/C is not. Last summer it was so cool for months and months. Ready access to fresh tofu, dried seaweed, green tea, rice cakes, buckwheat noodles, and public transportation is of great importance. And a bathhouse down the street.
3 and a half months!!! Woo-hoo!  See ya! |
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