bluerosefairy

HOME! God, I could get all cliche-y and talk about "you don't know what you've got till it's gone" and "who says you can't go home?" but the truth is, I really, really am glad to be home. I was so happy to see my parents (who came to pick me up at the airport and my mother thought nothing of holding up an entire line of people to hug me when I got through customs). I forgot how beyond-ridiculously-comfortable my bed is (especially when one has been sleeping on mattresses that resemble plywood for a year) and seeing street signs all in English is really freaking weird. Also, no motorcycles.

So yes, it's lovely to be home. Now, to tackle unpacking.

Glorious Leader does not love Facebook, so you get all my crappy updates on here.

Currently, I am in the hostel, listening to fifteen-to-twenty drunk Aussies butcher "Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer" for free drinks. I already got my free beer, bitches - leading a round of "Up on the Housetop" with the girl from New Zealand in the bunk next to me. The Indian guy we met does a decent "Jingle Bells", too.

Much love, guys. Home in two days.

Ohgod ohgod ohgod.

T minus 5 hours and counting. I have my e-ticket and my visa and my passport and my photos, but the stupid web-checkin for Vietnam Airlines is not working. I really, really want to have my boarding pass because it'd maybe stop me from panicking that I'm going to miss the flight.

And I have the bus to Incheon to catch, by myself, with three things of luggage at 3:30 am in fucking Siji, which has the Worst Taxi Drivers in the World. They are insufferable bastards who refuse to drive foreigners most of the time, and bitch at you for wanting a cab from Sinmae down to the Foreigner Ghetto, which is ONLY seven blocks. I can't imagine why you wouldn't want to walk that with Emart bags or something.

And the bus info was only in Korean, so I had to have Jenny get me departure times and prices, and I am still kind of worrying that the bus is going to go right by and not pick me up, or that I'll be on the wrong side of the street.

So yes. Mild levels of panicking going on. Leaving home was not this stressful, I swear to God. Of course, leaving home didn't involve me dealing with everything from the visas to money to packing to transportation by myself.

I can haz a recrudescence!

I have hijacked her pajama pants and her ethernet, but I can haz. We hauled ass around Seoul - and managed to get ourselves from Seoul Station to Myeong-dong without running into a subway stop along the way. We had yummy Mexican food and margaritas at On the Border, and spent most of dinner talking CM, our crazy students, and what we missed/are looking forward to about home in the States. We headed to a club in Hongik (the same area, you'll recall, we holed up the last time we were in Seoul), and it was totally one of the best times I've had in a long time.

The first club we hit was crappy and crowded way beyond its capacity. The second one, though, was fabulous - good drinks (and this cute Aussie boy with dreads and a bunch of chains on bought me a jack and coke), good crowd, amazing bands. I have now seen Korean punk rock performed live, and the last band of the night was an American cover band. Sounded sort of like Green Day, and they covered CCR, Neil Young, the Kinks, Jimi Hendrix (oh my GOD, I have never heard a better cover of "Fire", and I have never sung along so loudly), and Black Sabbath. The crowd went nuts, and I spent a good two hours in a half-mosh pit half dance floor, booty-shaking like there was no tomorrow.

We were about to hop in a cab home (with an awesome sausage-type thing I bought from a street vendor) when the driver started to get totally skeezy and demand 30.000 won to go from Hongik to Kongkuk, in advance, with the meter starting at 3,000 instead of 2,200. We got out, walked a block, and then got a cab for 18.000, with the meter starting where it should start. Along the way, Em was so tired, while she was talking about a CM story she's thinking of, apparently, Reid is capable of "Morgasms". This does not even take into account the dramatic reading she performed of a certain kinkmeme story when we got back to her apartment.

Which is where we currently are. She is watching S1 Criminal Minds and cooing over baby!Hotch and Reid's slicked-back hair and grandpa sweaters while I am catching up on LJ and reciting macros at her. It is stupid o'clock, though, so I really should crash soonish.

*drags self out of the depths of the internets*

Hello, gang. Been slightly-MIA due to extreme lack of computer and various work-related stuff. Starting with the fact that absolutely no one besides my two co-teachers (Jim and Chris) and I knew I was leaving in December. I booked my post-Korea vacation last week (a week in Vietnam! I am SO PSYCHED!) and since my return flight is included in my contract, I wanted to arrange for it to be included in my last paycheck. Imagine my shock - and my director and AD's shock - when I found out that James (the hiring director, who isn't based out of Siji anymore; he's down in Bongduk at another SEI branch) never told anyone that I was only working a four-month contract.

So there was a bit of a kerfluffle, and I've been ass-deep in paperwork, writing down class procedure and contact info and move-out dates and it's kind of hitting me that oh holy god, I'm going home in less than two months. It's a bit terrifying, to be honest, because I've gotten kind of autopilot-y, working and hanging out with the KTs and Jim and Chris and PCbanging on weekends and being really lazy, and it's almost been kind of a year-long vacation. And now I have to go home, which, don't get me wrong, I'm really excited for because I miss my parents and my friends and family. But I have to get a job back home, and an apartment, and it's just going to be weird.

And yes, one of the first things I intend on doing is to eat large quantities of all the food I've been missing (chicken parm sandwiches! real pizza! Chinese food! turkey! french fries!). I'll probably gain back all the weight I've lost in a week. Oh well, totally worth it.

Also - HI to all of the new friends from various new fannish loves. I promise I'm mildly entertaining when I have actual computer access on a regular basis.

Laptop is probably busted for good. Will probably need to buy completely new computer. Anyway, in honor of yesterday's date:

Something Just Broke (from Assassins).

Ignore the assassination-related lyrics, like I do. This song reminds me so much of being 15 and piling into Erin's brother's car, because SEPTA was shut down, all major roads were closed, Broad Street was at a standstill, and we'd been sent home. Sitting in my living room with my parents, Brooke, and Erik Brown, watching the footage they wouldn't show us in school (ooh, Central caught hell for that one). Funnily enough, I remember the one-year anniversary memorial much more clearly. I can remember being in Romoff's Social Science class, and spending half the period watching the footage and the other half debating about Congress and concluding they'd be stupid to authorize the invasion of Iraq (god, talk about hindsight being 20/20).

Meme snagged from evilgmbethy who is awesome.

( And if someone tries to make me/I will simply run away . . . )

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.

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.

So this new job? Three guesses on what it's not. That's right: not what I signed up for.

Now, I know those of you in food service (and who are older and wiser than me) are about to thwap me and go "but Drea, that's normal. 'Job description' is a misleading phrase and hey, we all do things to pitch in that we normally wouldn't do. Suck it up and deal".

Unfortunately, I don't think I'm capable of settling any more.

The job I was hired to do was labeled "server captain", and included a quick transition to management when I learned the floor duties. It was supposed to be customer service-oriented, dealing with the execs' needs and scheduling reservations. I was supposed to be more of a liason, making sure the execs got what they wanted for lunches and meetings. Apparently, it was what the assistant manager, Dana, and the manager, Christine, do.

What I am actually doing, and what all my fellow servers tell me I will do as long as I'm employed with that company, is haul banquet setups, fetch cases of water, and wash dishes. All the stuff that, at Bala, everyone either pitches in to do in addition to the jobs they get paid for, or the illegal Mexican kitchen boys do. It's boring and beyond-monotonous and really hard on me physically. I've only been there three days, and I've already come home crying, barely able to stand or bend at the waist for two of them.

Lest you all thwack me again for being a wuss - I've been a server and/or involved in food service for eight years. I've waited tables, slung pizza, washed dishes, fetched and carried and I did it when I was younger because I didn't have what I have now: experience and a college degree.

And I feel so fucking crappy for settling for this kind of job (despite its benefits and decent pay) when I could be out doing what I love. Because I'm not writing. I'm not interacting with people, making their lives a little easier. I don't even feel that this job will be useful for some day down the road, as I did with other jobs (*cough* Don G's and Salerno's *cough*). I honestly suspect that if I stick around, I'll be progressively more and more miserable, stuck in a rut, and never do anything to move toward my dream job of writing for a living.

And Jesus, have I been miserable recently. I feel uglier than ever - body love has never been really easy for me, but most of the time, I'm okay with myself - and I haven't slept a full night in weeks. All I want to do is curl up in bed and never get up. And that's not me. I've never been one for prolonged spats of depression, even when I was a moody teenager. I was always sensible about myself, telling myself people have it worse, and look at all these good things I have. Now, I can't think of a single thing about my life right now that I enjoy.

So do I stick it out for the guaranteed money and benefits? Be miserable and stuck in my parents' house (as much as I love them) for another four-to-six months? Or do I take a huge leap and just - go somewhere? Run away to Boston to live with my black-sheep cousin fireflyinajar? Run away to California to sleep on the beach and try my damnedest to get a P.A. job? Or further - backpacking through Europe or teaching English in Japan?

Honestly, if I had any money saved whatsoever, I'd run off somewhere and never look back. But starting over in a brand new city/state/country terrifies the hell out of me. I get panicky at the thought of not having a safety net of job&house.

So what are my options?

Since it's been a while, and I have some new friends around here, I thought I'd update, and yammer a bit about what's going on right now in my life.

First things first - new job! No, it's not in my field, and I'm still asking that age-old question of what do you do with a B.A. in English?. Right now, it appears I'm still doing what I did in college: work in catering. I just got offered a new, full-time job at the Comcast Center - that brand new building that's smack in the middle of Philly's skyline. My official title is "Server Captain, Corporate", which means I'm going to be dealing with the executives. I schedule conferences, make sure all their food goes out on time, and personally attend to the CEO's breakfast and lunch. It's got benefits out the wazoo - health insurance, dental and vision plans, 401k, paid sick days, 5 vacation days a year, and paid holidays.

. . . dude, it is still sinking in. I WILL NOT HAVE TO WORK HOLIDAYS.

Of course, everyone at Bala is either bemoaning my leaving or also abandoning ship. Steve's back at DeSales, Nikki's accepted the assistant manager position at Merchantville, Tina B, Melanie, John, and Christina are going back to college, Jon's leaving for Europe, and Justin's going back to Allentown. Theresa, Bridget, and Mike, meanwhile, are throwing hissy fits because I'm leaving them.

Honestly, the only one I really feel sorry for is Melissa. She's stuck in a useless position and even the Mexican kitchen guys know her brother favors her sister over her. She works insane hours because she wants to help out the family, and Mike just constantly goes to Theresa over her. It doesn't help that none of the members respect her as a manager - she's the "cute blonde". And she's the one manager I've ever worked for that's ever treated me like a friend instead of disposable labor.

I'm so relieved to be getting out of Bala, though. While the hours at Comcast will be INSANE (7 am to 4 pm, Mon-Fri), I will have weekends off, and all the awesome benefits listed above.

So, that's what's been going on with me recently. Job hunting was soul-killing, but I'm so glad I found the Comcast job. Even my writing has improved - between graduation and the interview for Comcast, I wrote nothing. Now, I'm working on three seperate stories (would've been two, but penumbren and empressnan are evil evil enablers and keep shaking their pokysticks in my direction).

Much love, gang. Let me know what you've been up to.

sexxybconnect1? You and me need to hang out again soon! Same to you, shadowofhissoul - how are you and the kidlet?

I have just gotten my official grades for Spring 2008 (minus the internship grade, which is automatic pass/fail, and I did all the work, so I know I've passed). In this, my last semester of school EVER, I have a GPA of 3.2.

I passed EVERYTHING!

Screenwriting = A
History = C+ (because I skivved off the reaction papers so I wouldn't fail my OTHER classes. I could afford it.)
Career English (internship advising, seperate grade) = A
Anthropology = B+ BITCHES.

And the kicker?

B PLUS IN ITALIAN. THIRD TIME IS APPARENTLY TOTAL CHARM.

For a total of 125 credits - exactly two more than I need to graduate.

AND WHAT!

*does the Dance of Joy. Also, the Dance of Thank Fuck I'm Done*

In approximately twenty hours, I will be a graduate of Temple University. And qualified to ask "what DO you do with a B.A. in English?".

Dear AnthroProfessor Lady,

Look, your class was insanity personified. You assigned what we in the student side of collegiate things refer to as "assloads" of reading, the said assloads of reading were incomprehensible to anyone under a graduate level, your lectures had absolutely nothing to do with the assloads of reading, and your midterm was the most difficult test I've seen in five years of college. Your class is the VERY LAST ONE I ever have to take, because I will be graduating. It drives me up a wall and around the corner when I take your stupid final at 8:30 am (and have to come in to school to take it on a lab computer because mine isn't loading Blackboard), and then get an email two minutes later telling me the test is screwed up, the essay question wasn't on it, and we have until midnight tonight to finish it.

Um, WHAT? HOW ABOUT NO? How about I have graduation tickets to pick up, an internship paper to turn in, and work to be at tonight? I wish to be done with college, TYVM, and you are NOT HELPING. If I should, for any reason, not pass this class due to your inability to kidnap a tech geek and make him/her help you put your final on Blackboard in a comprehensible way, I will not be a happy Drea.

Ahem.

Need alcohol. Now-ish. Cannot wait until Steven and I hit the Head tonight.

So, I'm a week and a half away from being done with my internship. I loved working for Ken - a lot, because I did loads of historical research and got to help make television (psst, for those in the Philadelphia area, when On Canvas comes out on the YARTS channel, you all need to watch it, because I helped make it). In Editorial? It's . . . different. Elizabeth still kind of petrifies me, but today I did break a story that'll probably get a lot of notice. I wrote up a piece on PA's woefully crappy child-abuse laws, and hopefully it'll make air.

As for school? It's not too bad. Italian still sucks, but my prof's super-easy, so I may just pass this time. Anthro is insanely hard - tons and tons of reading about stuff that is hard to understand, i.e. genocide and tribal wars in Mozambique - but I have an awesome final paper (Civil War Reenactment and Ingrained Cultural Violence) and a cool prof. American History is supercool - my professor is apparently chair of the Lower Merion Democrats and showed up at their shindig they hosted at Bala; he cracked up when he saw me waitressing and now asks me every week which guests I want to kill - and very, very easy. Not enough Civil War for me, though. And Screenwriting should go pretty well - my script's A caliber and my TA's kind of hot, for a dorky Texas boy.

But what I'm really counting down? 23 days until graduation.

I think it's finally gonna happen, guys!

*drags self back onto face of the earth*

Hey, gang. Still alive. Still planning on graduating in May. Still interning for WHYY.

And since I'm a terrible person for ignoring this thing, here, I apologize by meme!

Snagged from mistress_mab:

Everyone has things they blog about. Everyone has things they don't blog about. Challenge me out of my comfort zone by telling me something I don't blog about, but you'd like to hear about, and I'll write a post about it. Ask for anything: latest movie watched, last book read,political leanings, favorite type of underwear, writing/graphic techniques, etc. Repost in your own journal so that we can all learn more about each other!

Have at it! I feel the need for pointless yammering!