Even Jesus Hates MB

Let me give a little background on this picture. In Korea, there have been protests against the new South Korean president and about American beef import and oh so many other things revolving around and caused by Mr. Lee Myung Bak. He was elected in December, and though his approval ratings have improved slightly, at the peak of the protests in June, the president's approval rating bottomed out at a ridiculous 17%. If any of you read my blog back in the times of the beef crisis that was plaguing Korea, you may have more information pertaining to the hatred of this man. That being said, I would like your opinions on this picture. I'm refraining from posting my opinion until, hopefully, I hear from some loving admires of my blog. Being as that may be all of two people (that's a high estimate), I will eventually get around to discussing this picture further (even if it is for my own health).



Note 1: The president's nickname is MB and the sign reads "Even Jesus Hates MB."

Note 2: Another nickname for the president is 2MB (이, the president's last name, in Korean means 2). MB stands for Myung Bak. All together it means that he only has 2 megabytes of brain power.

Welcome Back >_< - Tuesday August 26, 2008

I'm back in Korea. It was a long trip to get here.

I met a Korean guy who is a few years older than me in the Chicago airport on the way over. His name is John Lee. As I sat sadly trying to access free internet, he was in the next chair over talking to his mom in Korea. So, when he asked me if I knew Korean, I assumed it was because I was chuckling throughout his conversation. No, it was because of the Korean lettering I have placed on my computer keyboard.^^ He and I talked for almost an hour, almost to the point of me missing my final boarding time. It was my first sign that I'm going to be ok in Korea for a second year. I have been doubting myself, my ability to spend another year abroad...another year abroad in the exact same location. I only started doubting after I had been home for so long. You know that saying, "Absence makes the heart grow fonder." It's not always accurate. The longer I was away from home, the longer I wanted to be away from home. The longer I was in Korea, the longer I wanted to be in Korea. The longer I was at home, the more I didn't want to go back to Korea. Strange how that works.

When I finally arrived in Korea after two layovers and another 24 hours of travel, I took a bus home to Wonju....home. Then I took a taxi. I got home at 12AM and my family was all up waiting for me.^^ Well, except my host brother...I jumped on him to say hello and he promptly fell back asleep. The whole family was so excited to see me that it was a wonderful welcome back.

The day after I got home, I decided to make dinner for them. My mom and I had thought long and hard about what I could make without an oven that would be very much an American meal. We came up with Tuna Noodle Casserole, Garlic Mashed Potatoes, and Hominy. It doesn't get much more American than that. My host brother and sister helped me cook!! My host father loved it, my host mother liked it, I think my host brother thought it was ok but got "full" very quickly ^_~, and my host sister hated everything about it. Haha! She didn't like ANYTHING. The hominy she didn't like because it wasn't corn, and the mashed potatoes and tuna noodle casserole she said was too greasy (that may be a poor mistranslation). So, she didn't eat. That's ok though. Just like there are foods in Korea that I don't like, there are foods from America that she doesn't like. It's just the way the world/human palate works.

*Sidenote: I just found out that my host brother did a report about making "Tuna Pasta" with me. So cute!

We've gone out to eat twice since I got home. Once with the whole family and once yesterday. Yesterday we went out in the pouring rain to get Kal Mandu Guk, my favorite!

I had my first day of school today. It wasn't good. I think that may be the understatement of my year here. I got to school to hear a multitude of things that slowly one by one almost pushed me over the edge. I discovered that I wouldn't be teaching first and second graders first semester like I had originally thought, and that I would instead be teaching 6th grade all year. This certainly rings a bell similar to that of the crap that I was put through a few days before I was to start teaching in March of my last Fulbright year. The principal, of course, is the only one to make the final decisions and not only does she keep everything she's thinking in her head and hers alone, she's not going to be back at school until Friday. I'm supposed to start teaching on Monday. My best teacher friend is the one who filled me in on the very vague details of what is to be my next Fulbright year. There will also be a teacher doing a new after school program. It's a non-standardized program through the Korean government (Mr. Lee Myung Bak's idea). I believe the program is meant for poorer students who can't afford to go to English academy. She will teach three hours each day after school, with only 20 students per class, and my friend decided to point out that this new teacher will still make more than me. Which is to say, mildly frustrating. I'll be teaching 20 classes of 40 each week which is a 5 hour increase from last year.

In good news, I found out that my school did in fact find me an apartment. I'm surprised to say the least that the school didn't, however, inform my host family that they had found an apartment for me. Things are just screwy with communication...as in...there isn't any. I got to go look at my one room and it's pretty nice. It's bigger than what I thought it was going to be. I have a small living room with a built in kitchen, a bedroom, a small balcony with a washer, and a pretty nice bathroom!^^ I'm sad to leave my host family, but I'm hoping that we'll be able to visit each other. I told my host sis that we should have a slumber party...after a few minutes of explanation...and a few word changes here and there to come up with sleep over...she was super excited. I'm also trying to figure out that whole cooking for myself thing, but that'll come with time. ^_~

I found out about the hour bump after getting back from my new apartment. I decided to leave school because I was getting angrier and angrier by the second. I talked to my host mom when I got home. She's so amazing! It was nice to just be able to talk about it with someone. I talked to a few more friends about it online. When I'm angry, I talk. It'll probably get me in trouble one of these days.

After dinner, I sat around with my host sister while she showed me magic tricks and I tried to get her to do her homework before school starts tomorrow.

Dot Dot Dot - Monday August 25, 2008

I think it’s about time I update everyone, including myself, with exactly what has been going on in my life the past month and a half. The last time I blogged, the topic was “Goodbye.” It was appropriate at the time, but has since lost its accuracy. I discovered a week after returning home that I would in fact be returning to my same school in Wonju instead of moving to Seoul like I had thought. To further explain, both the decision to move to Seoul and the actions of Fulbright came too late, and we were unable to secure a position at a school in Seoul after all.

Am I disappointed? I have been wondering this myself. The answer: Yes. I was scared to move, and I think anyone I talked to about the decision knew that I was scared. But I made the decision for a reason, and I wanted to stick with it. I get bored very easily; therefore, I constantly need new elements in my life. The hardest part to get used to about the way the situation turned out, is that I am now set to return to a school that I spent a full month trying to decide whether to leave or not and a full week saying goodbye to. Like everyone has told me, I’m sure the school and everyone else in Wonju who I’m close with will be happy to have me back. The idea, however, of returning to a school and a city I said goodbye to is something that I am still coming to terms with.

I know this is a backwards way of writing about my summer, but I’ve mostly been trying to sort out my feelings upon my return to Korea. Normally, I try not to think much about the transition from one place to another, but I’m finding it harder to leave the second time around. I wonder if I’m having trouble because I’ve been home so long. I didn’t admit this to many people, but I really didn’t want to come home. Again, I don’t know why. Maybe it was because in the back of my head I knew that if I came home, it would be hard to leave again or maybe I was nervous about facing my friends and family again after leading very different lives over the past year.

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Ok, so this is how awesome I have become at blogging. I started this a few nights ago and am now continuing it on the plane ride to Korea. I am currently on a 12 hour flight to Tokyo from Chicago. I can’t believe how fast a month and a half went. My whole family went to the airport to see me off despite having work today. Like I mentioned before, this goodbye seemed harder than the last. Perhaps because I understand how long a year is now or perhaps I spent the summer realizing just how much I missed everyone.

I feel closer to my family now. I’m not sure how that materialized over the summer, but I left wanting nothing more than to spend a few more days with them. I found myself trying harder than ever to get them to come see me this next year in Korea, but it seems quite out of the question. They asked me if I want to fly home over Christmas. My stepmom even suggested that the money that they would put toward flying to Korea, they could just give me to come home, but it’s not just about me seeing them. Anyone who has studied or traveled or lived abroad probably understands what I mean when I say, I want my family to see what my life has been like for the past year. I want them to see what I see in Korea. It has been hard for me to repeatedly hear that Korea isn’t exactly a tourist destination, Korea isn’t a place they want to visit, and that when I move to somewhere like New Zealand, Ireland, or Italy, they would be happy to visit me. I want to be able to refer to something and have my family semi-understand what I’m talking about, and I want them to see the beauty of Korea that so many people don’t take the time to see. Despite the fact that my family will probably never come to Korea, I cannot see myself going home for Christmas. That could always change though. I don’t even know what’s going to happen tomorrow or next week, let alone 4 months from now. ^_~

That all aside, I had an amazing summer! I got to see so many amazing friends, and I spent quality time with my family. Some highlights: Hacienda with Ashley, Hanging out and talking with Faith for hours, Swimming with Geoff, Lester, and John at Lester’s house, Visiting Nick at the Peace House, CAB family and friends reunion in Indy, Visiting Megan in Plainfield with the surprise appearance of R and Mouse, Slipknot and Disturbed concert in Detroit with Baana and two amazing friends of his, Playing at the Prairie Vista playground for hours with Baana, Email, Ilya, and Kevin, Putt Putt and Sonic with Email, Kevin, and Ilya, Cancun with my mom and sister, Visiting so many wonderful people at Manchester (Steve, Jason, Mary, Laura, Adam, Colleen, Sarah, Kate, Heidi, Poe, Poe’s kitty, Matt, Al, Tish, Jesse, Ivan, Chris, and Heriju), Drinks and a movie with my amazing friend Glenn, My dad taking a very rare day off from work to hang out with me the day before I flew out, etc. I'm sure these memories will stand out even more over the next few weeks as I try to readjust myself to once again living in Korea.

I'm just going to stop here because I am now in Korea without every finishing this entry...