How was my morning?
My Facebook post:
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After seeing my mom off at the bus terminal, I headed to my own bus stop, munching on a choco donut and drinking some marshmallow hot choco.
The kimbab 아줌마 (whose store is at my other bus stop) saw me as she was walking down the street. She now knows the bus stop I prefer to wait at. She almost knows everything about me. o.o
Then two 할머니s looked me up and down and asked if I was Filipino.
Just another bittersweet Korean morning.
---
The details:
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My mom and I jointly packed all of her belongings two nights ago. Last night we spent one last outing with my phone friend and one of his OTHER 형 (brothers). Afterwards, my mom and I feasted on the smallest serving of 감자탕 (because you can feast on a small serving here. This restaurant gives you way more than you can eat; that's why we love them!). In the morning, my mom was anxious about getting a bus ticket. She woke me up several times before my alarm went off (a huge pet peeve of mine), asking about when I was going to wake up, so I eventually just got up and went to go buy her ticket. We weren't able to buy a ticket earlier in the week, so she (I was, too) was concerned about not getting a spot on the bus. The bus would be her only option to go directly from my town to the airport (nonstop) without my aid or guidance. I bought her ticket while she got ready. When I returned home, I got ready for work, and then we lugged the suitcases down to the corner of the street and caught a taxi to the terminal. I sat with her and helped her find the right bus. During the wait, some ladies tried talking to my mom, asking her where she was from (and going), and how her hair became the way it was (it was in braids). With a mix of my Korean and my mom's "sign language," we held the conversation until the ladies departed. It wasn't 'til my mom was on the bus waving to me that I started to feel that old sadness I've felt many times before whenever my mom went for long-term journeys without me. Still, I thought, I should be used to it. Besides, she came to visit me, so it's more like I'm leaving her again. Well, no matter how I should think about it, I waved and blew kisses until she was out of sight.
The donut and hot choco was a treat, not something I needed. The day before, I'd had to wake up earlier than usual to visit the bank. I'd had just enough time to grab two donuts from Dunkin Donuts and a bottle of water from the convenient store before catching my bus. This morning was more of the same thing: time to kill (though, I shouldn't have had another round of donuts for breakfast). It started to rain mist outside, so I walked with treats in hand down the long street to my stop. While waiting for the bus, the kimbab lady (I wrote about before) appeared down the street. "Hi," she called out when she recognized me, and then rambled in Korean. From her gestures and some Korean words I was able to pick up, I could tell she was a bit annoyed that I waited at this bus stop rather than at the one in front of her shop. Honestly, waiting at her stop means I'm running late. I'm not sure how to convey this to her. I also slightly avoid waiting at her stop because I can't always answer the many questions she wants to ask me. After she passed by and wished me a safe trip (she was headed somewhere today), I watched her leave, and stared down the street for signs of my bus. ... I didn't realize right away the two grandmas who had stopped in front of me. I turned and saw them, and they both looked me up and down, smiling. The first one asked me where I was from. Before I could answer, she guessed. Philippines? I told her, America. Then she and the other lady said some things quickly in Korean (to me and to each other), that I didn't quite catch. The first lady smiled again, gave me a solid pat on the shoulder, and they both departed. I wished them a safe journey and they nodded, hobbling along in the rain with their umbrellas.
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'Til next time,
-Shirby
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Showing posts with label weather. Show all posts
Wednesday, October 17, 2012
Friday, August 17, 2012
New Friends & New memories
Hi there! Sorry for the long wait. Long time no see....
This week's been an interesting one.
First of all, the rains came. Last week felt just like living in Texas. High 90's, and although I never checked the weather forecast, I'm pretty sure it felt like 100. The humidity was pretty strong. It didn't take long to start sweating after walking outside, and the sun was as piercing as ever. Then, the new week brought new weather. Though it's still hot on occasion, the rain has been a welcoming change. Well, almost welcoming. *scratches mosquito bites*
Jecheon has an annual music and film festival, titled, "Jecheon International Music & Film Festival." It started on Thursday of last week, crossed into the weekend, and ended on Wednesday of this week. To be honest, I'd been waiting for it since I moved here. After finding out where I was staying, I looked up info about this city and found out about the festival. However, by the time it rolled around, I wasn't sure if or when or even how much of it I'd get to see. To my luck, I managed to catch two movies and one band. There were tons of films and music going on all at once, so it was impossible to catch everything, but to me, just experiencing a part of it was satisfying enough.
It reminded me of my childhood. One of the things that made my family feel like a family was going to festivals together, and boy, we went to tons of festivals when I was young. It's something that will probably always make me happy: the festival atmosphere. All I have to do is sit in the center of it and I'm good.
So, I caught one movie in particular called, "The Peach Tree." It was directed by Ku Hye Sun (who played Geum Jan Di in Boys over Flowers). Here's a link to the film description:
[http://www.jimff.org/en/movieprogram/movie01view.asp?idx=155&sec_idx=28&sec2=Feature]
Let me just say it was a very powerful movie. It makes you think; it's intriguing and sad, but also somewhat wonderful in a way. My review sounds mysterious? Yes, somehow I can't quite desribe it in just a few sentences, but that's the kind of time I have right now, so sorry!
On Monday, I decided to go out to eat instead of go straight home. This random change in my daily schedule led me to meet the mother of one of my students. This lady, her daughter, and two other classmates (one of whom was also my student) were having lunch at the restaurant I'd chosen. The girls saw me and the next thing I know we're all eating lunch together. The mother bought me lunch, actually, even though I tried to pay. I feel a bit weird meeting parents. I'm not sure if it's ok to "hang out" with them outside of school. Even so, I became friends with her. We (she, her daughter, and I) ended up going to a movie, eating lunch/dinner (linner?), and snacking at a coffee shop on Wednesday. She's a really nice lady, and I sorta feel like I'm slowly being adopted lol.
Tuesday night was movie night, but before going, I stopped by my friend's phone shop to ask for help with Korean. (I plan to make a video response on Youtube in Korean soon. I'll post it here when it's done). He told me it was going to rain, but honestly, it'd just been super-cloudy all day and I didn't really believe him. He playfully argued about it with me, and I ended up leaving with one of the many spare umbrellas in the shop. It's a nice big one with rainbow stripes near the edges. I told him I'd bring it back the next day, but he just said keep it for a month or two. Haha, like it'd rain nonstop for 2 months. Anyways, I have my own umbrella.
Oh, and before that! I met two Korean girls around my age (FINALLY!) who live in Jecheon. I met one of them in a Family Mart over the weekend, and we agreed to go to a coffee shop Tuesday with another one of her friends. We enjoyed each other's company, making fun of Twilight movie stars (among other things), and speaking Korean and English. (Well,,, I tried at least).
Today, when I get home, I have to get ready to go traveling again. This time I'm going to Jochiwon, the place where this Korean journey began. You see, the 9th generation TaLK scholars are there right now having training, and I want to spy on them. Ok, not really, but I am going to visit the camp nurse and her son. Hopefully I'll make some new friends there. There also might be a trip to Seoul this weekend if things end up that way.
'Til next time!
-Shirby
This week's been an interesting one.
First of all, the rains came. Last week felt just like living in Texas. High 90's, and although I never checked the weather forecast, I'm pretty sure it felt like 100. The humidity was pretty strong. It didn't take long to start sweating after walking outside, and the sun was as piercing as ever. Then, the new week brought new weather. Though it's still hot on occasion, the rain has been a welcoming change. Well, almost welcoming. *scratches mosquito bites*
Jecheon has an annual music and film festival, titled, "Jecheon International Music & Film Festival." It started on Thursday of last week, crossed into the weekend, and ended on Wednesday of this week. To be honest, I'd been waiting for it since I moved here. After finding out where I was staying, I looked up info about this city and found out about the festival. However, by the time it rolled around, I wasn't sure if or when or even how much of it I'd get to see. To my luck, I managed to catch two movies and one band. There were tons of films and music going on all at once, so it was impossible to catch everything, but to me, just experiencing a part of it was satisfying enough.
It reminded me of my childhood. One of the things that made my family feel like a family was going to festivals together, and boy, we went to tons of festivals when I was young. It's something that will probably always make me happy: the festival atmosphere. All I have to do is sit in the center of it and I'm good.
So, I caught one movie in particular called, "The Peach Tree." It was directed by Ku Hye Sun (who played Geum Jan Di in Boys over Flowers). Here's a link to the film description:
[http://www.jimff.org/en/movieprogram/movie01view.asp?idx=155&sec_idx=28&sec2=Feature]
Let me just say it was a very powerful movie. It makes you think; it's intriguing and sad, but also somewhat wonderful in a way. My review sounds mysterious? Yes, somehow I can't quite desribe it in just a few sentences, but that's the kind of time I have right now, so sorry!
On Monday, I decided to go out to eat instead of go straight home. This random change in my daily schedule led me to meet the mother of one of my students. This lady, her daughter, and two other classmates (one of whom was also my student) were having lunch at the restaurant I'd chosen. The girls saw me and the next thing I know we're all eating lunch together. The mother bought me lunch, actually, even though I tried to pay. I feel a bit weird meeting parents. I'm not sure if it's ok to "hang out" with them outside of school. Even so, I became friends with her. We (she, her daughter, and I) ended up going to a movie, eating lunch/dinner (linner?), and snacking at a coffee shop on Wednesday. She's a really nice lady, and I sorta feel like I'm slowly being adopted lol.
Tuesday night was movie night, but before going, I stopped by my friend's phone shop to ask for help with Korean. (I plan to make a video response on Youtube in Korean soon. I'll post it here when it's done). He told me it was going to rain, but honestly, it'd just been super-cloudy all day and I didn't really believe him. He playfully argued about it with me, and I ended up leaving with one of the many spare umbrellas in the shop. It's a nice big one with rainbow stripes near the edges. I told him I'd bring it back the next day, but he just said keep it for a month or two. Haha, like it'd rain nonstop for 2 months. Anyways, I have my own umbrella.
Oh, and before that! I met two Korean girls around my age (FINALLY!) who live in Jecheon. I met one of them in a Family Mart over the weekend, and we agreed to go to a coffee shop Tuesday with another one of her friends. We enjoyed each other's company, making fun of Twilight movie stars (among other things), and speaking Korean and English. (Well,,, I tried at least).
Today, when I get home, I have to get ready to go traveling again. This time I'm going to Jochiwon, the place where this Korean journey began. You see, the 9th generation TaLK scholars are there right now having training, and I want to spy on them. Ok, not really, but I am going to visit the camp nurse and her son. Hopefully I'll make some new friends there. There also might be a trip to Seoul this weekend if things end up that way.
'Til next time!
-Shirby
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