Tempting the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing

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This one was totally the "let's remind the audience that Ray's not a total wanker" one. Which I do appreciate.

( Not me, I never lost control . . . )

Went to Seoul on Tuesday. OMG LOVE. If I ever decide to come back to Korea after this year, I'm going to teach in Seoul. It's almost exactly like New York - to the point where I mastered the subway system after five minutes and some translation from Jenna.

To put it in geeky English major terms -

Daegu : Philadelphia :: Seoul : NYC.

I've got two Dreamwidth codes, which are good for a free account. If you want one, let me know.

To steal a phrase from phinnia, ate too many fannish cookies again. And this is the only thing distracting me from massive amounts of lesson plans and grading and teaching, so forgive the lengthy yammerings.

( Just remember that it's all in your head (House) )

( The future is coming on, is coming on . . . (Ashes to Ashes) )

To paraphrase Em - SHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOWWWWWW.

( One more mention of 'seven years' and I'm going to start freaking out, people )

Updated my wordpress blog (the List of Things I'm Learning in Korea), if anyone is at all interested in checking it out.

You can find it here.

Ugh. Sleeeeeep. Also, NyQuil, as have caught the Korean Death Flu. Again.

cereta is super-duper awesome and gave me a DW invite, so you can find me at d_generate_girl over on Dreamwidth.

And if you're already on DW, plz to tell me your username so I can add you?

( What the hell, Show, that was NOT the Tyler we were looking for! )

Okay, so it's 2 am and I've just finished downloading and watching the finale of BSG - and do you KNOW how much that breaks my heart, that it's the LAST EVER BSG?

Have some spoiler-ridden flailing and capslock.

( Incoherant Flaily Shrieky Review of OH MY HOLY GOD IT'S OVER )

So, yesdrizella has finally posted her Roundtable Discussion of The Wrestler, and I've been sitting on these ramblings ever since I watched the movie because I wasn't sure if anyone wanted to hear them. I'm keeping the entry open, in case anyone not on my flist wants to read it, but if you're not a fan, you probably will have a big giant WTF face at this.

( If you've ever seen a one-trick pony, then you've seen me. )

*sniff* Now, to watch something less heartbreaky - like oh, I don't know, someone killing small animals.

Fingers crossed that my internet connection stays up (along with my brain, considering I had 2 classes of kindergardeners today, and will have 3 tomorrow) long enough for me to watch the inauguration on CNN.com. Because I really, really want to feel like I'm part of my country's democratic process, and I will be sad if I miss it.

So, to aid in the waiting, I made a mix for the Inauguration:

( It Just Might Work: Barack Hussein Obama, 44th President of the United States )

Comment if you're downloading. I just like to know if I need to re-up.

X-posted to lunatunes.

How goes it, gang?

We’ve just started our winter break schedule - all the kids are off from their regular schools for an entire month and need to be kept occupied, so we’ve got morning classes in addition to our usual afternoon classes. So I’ve been really ridiculously tired, crashing into bed every night when I get home from work. I haven’t been killed by the kindergardeners yet, which is probably a good sign. When they’re engaged in what we’re doing and not wrestling each other all over the classroom or screaming their heads off, I like them quite a bit. But when James and Fred are engaged in a kickfight, Emily and Nicole are coloring on the table, Kelly and Elly and Alice are chattering about what I think might be a television show, and Mark and Donna are the only ones paying attention, it’s insane.

Then I have some additional one-on-one classes, with my older students. Princess Flora is my 10 am girl, and I’m getting pretty good results when I dispense with the board-writing and recitation and let her braid my hair and play with my bracelets during the lesson. She read an entire two pages with only one mistake (on the word “university”, which would stump most English-speaking students, let alone a Korean second-grader) yesterday, so I’m hoping to continue that this week. My 11 am gang are Susie (fourth grader, and pretty smart when she stops being so shy and opens her mouth), Steven (who it is like pulling teeth to get him to even respond, let alone speak and comprehend), and Crystal (who is one of my very favorites and is reading Harry Potter in Korean to me after lessons). I also get Daisy (one of my very-awesome sixth-graders) at 7 pm one day a week for listening comp, which is awesome because it’s music-based, and I let her listen to examples of the music styles the book discusses.

I’m also exploring the city more - been to Beomeo (the nearest subway stop, which is like, six blocks from my house) and up near Suseong Lake. Still haven’t found the Thai place, but I’ve found three more Italian places and a really, really good Japanese place. And to Steve’s everlasting shock when I IMed him about it, I ate an entire roll of sushi and liked it. \o/

The laptop gods hate me. The power cord on my laptop - without which it has no power, because the battery cannot get charged - is broken. The wires needed to power it are visibly disconnected within the cord itself, and while I could easily order the lower section of the cord from Toshiba, the problem is in the upper cord.

So, just as I have phone and internet - I have no laptop. That means no music, television, movies, or way to write that doesn't involve pencil and paper. On Christmas. I am in a PC Park down the street from my apartment to post this, and I think I may have just told the counter girl to "say hello to the noodle shop" instead of "thank you".

This is in addition to the shitty pasta I attempted to make for dinner last night. I think I'll have to give up on this cooking-in-Korea thing for a little bit and live off Pizza Hut like the typical Westerner.

I give up. *headdesks*

Greetings from South Korea, guys! I'm sorry it's taken this long to update, but I haven't had access to the internet (or, you know, in-toh-net) for more than an hour at a time since I got here.

But I did it! I made it here, in one piece, with all my luggage!

( Brett, how do you say this? Brett, how do I turn on my stove? Brett, why don't I have a shower? Brett, how do I dry my clothes? )

More later, gang, but Merry Solkwanukkahfestimas!

OH MY GOD YOU GUYS. I am doing this. I am leaving tomorrow morning for South Korea, where I will be motherfucking teaching. For a year. This has just hit me yesterday, while I was packing my three suitcases full of STUFF.

So, to focus myself on non-freakouty things, I made a mix (because, you know, I'm ME) suitable for traveling to foreign countries by yourself a week before Christmas.

( OH MY GOD: A Mix for Running Away to South Korea )

Apparently, I am leaving next Saturday, the 13th, for this whole South Korea thing. Anyone in the Philadelphia area is more than welcome to chill with me anytime between now and then. Stuff involving me not spending any money is REALLY appreciated, as I am both broke and need to save what little I have for Korea.

Hey gang!

So, this Korea thing? Totally happening, and happening at an alarming rate. I've got my passport, my documents needed for my E2 visa, and a job offer. There are specifics, but suffice it to say, I am being compensated fairly well for packing up to go live in Korea for a year and teach English at a private school (a really NICE private school - I've seen banks that look less clean and bright and modern than this school does). The apartment looks fantastic, and since it's smack in the middle of the city, I'll have some motivation to walk everywhere and get out.

I really can't thank recrudescence enough, for being beyond-supportive and answering all my questions about everything from how to deal with recaltrant kids to where Costco is and if I can buy decent Indian food in Daegu. *hugs her* I can't wait to do a weekend with her in either Daegu or Busan, where we will very likely end up just getting curry and holing up with Firefly and/or House.

I will be flying out fairly soon - after Thanksgiving, possibly the first or second week in December - so I've been frantically trying to get together everything I'll need and can take with me. Mom's shipping a ton of stuff over so I can have it when I get there, but I'm still having to buy new teaching clothes and household stuff. I'll need to buy more when I actually get there. I'm a little disappointed to be leaving before Christmas - I think it's hurting my parents more than me, really - but hopefully I can see everyone before I leave.

And speaking of Christmas, because I've seen it on everyone's journal and I'm a big giant sheep, I'm posting my holiday wishlist:

( Dear Buddha, please bring me a pony and a plastic bottle rocket and a . . . )

In Yuletide-related news, I know what I'm writing - I only match with my recipient in one fandom - but I'll be more comfortable in my assignment as soon as I rewatch the source canon. And um, if my recipient would post their "Dear Santa" letter. AUGH.

And gang, I don't wanna tempt the wrath of the whatever from high atop the thing, but my home state of Pennsylvania, with its 21 electoral votes, just got called for Barack Obama.

This is freaking huge. We are on the verge of real change in our country, and I feel so unbelievably lucky to have been a part of it. I think the reason why was said best, nine years ago, by Aaron Sorkin, through Leo McGarry and The West Wing.

"I am tired of it. Year, after year, after year of having to choose between the lesser of 'who cares?'. Of trying to get myself excited over a candidate who can speak in complete sentences. Of setting the bar so low I can hardly look at it. They say a good man can't get elected president. I don't believe that. Do you?"

I'm tired of it, too, Leo. I'm tired of "elite" being a bad word, of being lumped in with Joe the Plumber and Joe Sixpack, and of being told I'm a terrible woman for not voting for either Sarah Palin or Hilary Clinton. I'm tired of not-being-surprised at our President's latest mangling of the English language, and of neverending reports of more soldiers being sent off to two wars. Change is in the air, and hopefully, fingers-crossed, I'll be waking up tomorrow to President-Elect Barack Hussein Obama.

Edit: As of 11:01, CNN and NBC have called it. PRESIDENT ELECT Barack Hussein Obama. Thank you God.

Seriously, gang, do NOT burn down the city. Yes, I am very happy the Phillies won. I am ecstatic that we've broken the 28-year curse. But really, bonfires at Cottman and Frankford? Crowds over 500 crowding Frankford Ave? Fighting over merchandise at Modell's? Main Street in Manayunk getting shut down? All of Broad Street getting shut down? Air horns and bullhorns and helicopters and fireworks?

Yikes, guys. *hides under bed*

Okay, so if you're one of my fannish girls (or boys? Do I have any menfolk around?), you're probably aware of the massive amounts of love I have for the original British Life on Mars, starring John Simm and Philip Glenister. I haven't written too much fic, but I adore the show, and I love introducing it to new fans - and if you haven't seen it GO NETFLIX IT.

And I knew what I'd be in for if I watched the premiere tonight of the American remake, starring Jason O'Mara and Harvey Keitel. I'd scream and rant and throw things at my television, and I ended up doing all three (luckily, it was just a stuffed badger fireflyinajar gave me).

But honestly, I won't be watching. It's like watching the Boise dinner theatre production of Henry VIII, with the way they've painstakingly reproduced everything the British version did with none of the heart. Not only did they crib dialogue WORD FOR WORD from the original, but they reproduced half the signature shots, too (watch the Bowie scene, it's like looking at a Van Gogh through the wrong end of a telescope). I can deal with the fact that most of the time, O'Mara can't act his way out of a paper bag (the opening and the confrontation with Willy Kramer excepting). I can deal with renaming Annie ("This is America! We don't need all those letters!" - carla_scribbles), the complete elimination of Phyllis, and making Nelson into a wise guy from Poughkeepsie.

I can't deal with the complete and utter FAIL that is Keitel's Gene Hunt.

( And here is why. )