Tag Dag

Ages ago KP tagged me to do this thing. Finally I did it ::

four jobs i have had in my life:
a] assistant secretary to the vice-chancellor
b] executive assistant to the pro vice-chancellor
c] video ezy chick
d] engrish teacher

four movies i could watch over and over:
a] chopper
b] the breakfast club
c] terminator
d] labyrinth

four places i have lived:
a] eltham
b] acton
c] vilnius
d] cheolsan

four television shows i love to watch:
a] the bill
b] oz
c] law and order
d] 7.30 report

four places i have holidayed:
a] tassie
b] minsk
c] france
d] california

four sites i visit daily:
a] path of most resistance
b] fully functional android
c] la trobe university credit cooperative
d] the age

four of my favourite things to eat:
a] doritos
b] mango
c] poached eggs on sourdough
d] rice pudding

four places i would rather be right now:
a] with charlie at my house in eltham
b] ici in fitzroy eating brekky
c] in my car driving to healesville
d] drinking in vilnius

four people to tag:
abcd] my mates have already done it. i'm slow.

Build a Fort, Set it on Fire

A salute, to Jeffrey Wright.
I think he might be the black Philip Seymour Hoffman.
Is that racist?
Anyways.

The fact that his back catalogue includes Homocide: Life on the Street is enough for me.
However, it just gets better. He played Basquiat in the eponymous filum. He was brilliant in Syriana, and in Broken Flowers. Both really interesting movies... And he is really compelling and convincing on screen.

Erm - he has a BA in Political Science, nice.


ps. 37509 minutes to go.

Happy Birthday Boys

Had some very happy moment last night as I climbed outta the hole I was in from Friday night's craziness. Pix's friend Ryan came back from a lil trip to PRC with a big bottle of Grey Goose vodka and invited us to come help drink it and have a swim in the rooftop pool of the hotel he calls home. I didn't need to drink, but the swim was great. The sky was so beautiful... Moon shining as the sun showed us a very nice sunset. We sat in the jacuzzi, people-watching, chatting, relaxing. As I walked around the space I had a moment of feeling very happy.
But later, down in Ryan's apartment, just after he played 'You're the Voice', all I could think about was 194 and the fact I wasn't at the Rose boy's 21st. So I called that familiar number, had a chat with LTR, JC and then Jack! Who'd turned up very fashionably late, of course. LTR was serving up dumplings as he was talking to me and the whole scene sounded happy and fun. Nearly killed me. Luckily JC had a few gags for me - she'd just been on the decks and had spun 'You're the Voice' - seriously - and her dulcet tones were exactly what I needed to hear. I do need to stop making these kind of calls though- I'm yet to get a phone bill so I've no idea how much they cost me.
Anyways there came a point (after a swimsuit shoot - not sure if I should post those photos) when Pix and I thought a taxi was a good option - rather than head out, head home. Lovely cab driver switched on a massage thingy in my seat so I got a weird mechanical massage as we sped westward to my home. Was the first time I'd not waited for the subway but got a taxi - I think I should do it more often now that I know it's less than $15 from Hongdae-ish.
Now my brief 'summer vacation' is over so it's back to the kids tomorrow, sweet jesus. But I'm on the countdown to Charlie's visit, so that will make it easier. Yay. It definitely feels like I've been here for longer than 7 weeks. Hmm.

Wrong

What could be the reason that justifies this?
Casinos here are 'foreigners-only'.
Not that I will ever go there, not that I'm dismayed I can't meet locals while I spin the big wheel... But, c'mon, that's just wrong.

Struggle Street

I think I saw Shakira in Hongdae last night. Or maybe not. But those hips don't lie.

I definitely saw Mr Big's album 'Hey Man' at a bar called Melancholy Punchdrunken Hole.



And drunk a jug of sangria - with some help, phew.

Really on Struggle Street today though.


Charlie tells me it is 38923 minutes.

Photo Collections

I wanna make a whole buncha series of my photos.
It seems I keep taking the same shots over and over.
Series I'm working on ::
1. Public phones
2. JD in green stripey tops eating lunch
3. Colourful plastic chairs
4. Blue sky & orange roof

These are of course in addition to the t-shit and stencil art collections.

One Word For

yourself: delerious
your partner: genius
your hair: boy
your mother: poet
your father: ab-sa-fucking-lutely
favourite item: camera
your dream last night: hot
your favourite drink: cold
your dream home: warm
the room you're in: bang
your pleasure: colours
your fear: stupid
where you want to be in 10 years: home
who you hung out with last night: peeps
what you're not: late
your best friends: lucky
wish list item: shoes
your gender: girl
the last thing you did: uploaded
the last thing you ate: pumpkin
the last person you talked to on the phone: pix
who are you thinking of now: jd

stolen from dave mack, the mack-daddy.

Lou Diamond Phillips

Another guilty, unjustifiable pleasure is Lou Diamond Phillips. And as he was the guest star on Law and Order SVU tonight, a whole bunch of guilty pleasures coalesced into an hour of entertainment for me.
Favourite quote was from BD Wong: "every choice becomes a sacrifice". Yeahhh.

So the episode, called 'Fault', went like this ::
Solid investigative work leads the detectives to a violent repeat sex offender Jeremy Paul Wilson (guest star Lou Diamond Phillips) who was recently released back onto the streets. Wilson, a cold blooded murderer and pedophile, is in possession of a cache of hunting knives, has kidnapped two children and has nothing to lose. The manhunt for Wilson brings Dets. Fin (Ice-T), Benson (Mariska Hargitay) and Stabler (Chris Meloni) to a bus terminal where a violent and emotional showdown with Wilson takes a dangerous turn.

Angelstone

Someone please help me.
As I walked through the subway last night I was having a few Bladerunner moments. Then I saw a poster that made me feel like I was in 'The 6th Day', with the RePet cloning program.
The poster was for a company called 'AngelStone', and when I look at the website, it seems that they can help you cherish the memory of your deceased pet by turning them into crystals and putting them in a little decorative bottle with the pet's (living) image etched into it. Well, that's what it seems like. Erm?

BTW, typing in 'repet' to google - I get this:

North

Check out this photo essay from the North. And this one: fascinating!
I wish I could read Russian - the essay is about Russian tourists to the North.
Thanks to The Marmot's Hole for sharing.

Honest Dissent vs Disloyal Subversion

Title is from another t-shit seen yesterday. Sweet baby jesus.

Friday night got such a long post that I didn't get to cover Saturday, which was an excellent day.
After getting home around 6.30am, still drunk, I had a 4-hour powernap that I woke up from neither hungover nor refreshed. Had to get up and get moving as JD Whatever and I had made hair appointments for 12 noon in Hongdae at Head Rush. It was a bit of a struggle... JD got a taxi from his place, a million miles away, and turned up just in time to get our washes done together... I was offered a drink and gratefully asked for a coffee. Shitful, but then I had to drink it.
Anyways haircut is underwhelming. But ok.
The graffiti I saw after haircut was intense.
Decided to get a cab to an area I'd not been to before - need to get out of Hongdae - and JD spotten a taxi driver getting into his taxi - he'd stopped for a snack and we'd grabbed him. He thought that was hilarious, so we were all laughing at nothing really. I think I was delerious with fatigue.
Got to Hyehwa and we went to a nice place for chicken lunch. I was worried cos it's all bones and my chopstick skills are ok but the last time I had this same meal it was a disaster. Not to worry - they brought aprons for us and JD got scissors and cut the meat for me.
After eating, felt much better, then stepped outside and the heat hit us. There are heaps of market stalls selling cassette tapes! hairties! theatre tickets! dvds! and crazee toffee in cute shapes.
Then we headed to Amsil, which was the scheduled highlight of the day. Amsil is 'darkroom' and the idea was to go there, use the studio space and then develop our photos. I'd brought the zenit. Small flaw in the plan was that neither JD nor I know how to process filum. The last time I did it was in 1995. So they have a bar there and we had a beer and looked at black & white magazine.
As we left I saw a strange sight: old guys with loud speakers and sandwichboards ranting. There was a display of heaps of posters in front of them. JD explained that they were complaining that there would be no reunification of the Koreas until the Americans leave. Wow, ok. I was intrigued, looked closer at the displays, then realised they prolly all thought I was a Yank too.
We wanted to see a movie but most cinemas only show junk movies in English - Superman or Garfield? No thanks. So we went to a DVD bang and chose Broken Flowers, which I never saw as the day I went to see it the projector at the Rivoli broke. Also thought it might be a little boring, which JD likes.
Well. First of all it was WEIRD to walk into a DVD bang and see the large black vinyl lounge and the box of tissues and the pillows and big screen and not be in that little private space with a lover, which is obviously what it's made for... But it didn't matter cos about 5 minutes into the movie, JD fell asleep, so I just made myself comfy and enjoyed the film, putting my feet up and laughing loudly whenever I wanted. I'm glad I've been to a DVD bang now though. I went out last night and scouted for some in my area so can take Charlie when he gets here. Excitement.

The countdown has begun - Charlie tells me it's 44000 minutes to go. Geek. Bless.

Just in case we forgot

Two Koreas exchange fire along DMZ

Border guards of the two Koreas briefly exchanged fire Monday but there was no report of South Korean casualties, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Tuesday. The incident occurred at around 7:35 p.m. in Yanggu in the eastern part of the demilitarized zone (DMZ), as North Korean soldiers fired an estimated three bullets toward a South Korean guard post, the JCS said in a statement. South Korean border guards immediately fired six rounds in response but there were no further shots from the North.
Two of the three North Korean bullets hit the wall of a South Korean guard post inside the DMZ, but they didn't kill or injure South Korean soldiers, the JCS said. The other North Korean bullet fell near the guard post."We demanded an apology from North Korea via a loudspeaker right after the exchange of fire but there was no response," said Col. Ha Doo-chul, spokesman for the JCS, noting that South Korea returned fire in accordance with the rules of engagement inside the DMZ. It was not immediately known whether there were any North Korean casualties."
The U.N. Military Armistice Commission will conduct a probe into the shootout because it is a violation of the armistice," Ha said. The commission, a United Nations agency, supervises the implementation of the truce terms of the Korean War.
The two Koreas are still technically in a state of war, since the 1950-53 Korean War ended in an armistice, not a peace treaty. The mine-strewn 4-kilometer-wide DMZ, which stretches for 248 kilometers from east to west, serves as a buffer zone between the Koreas.

Discovery

So happy.
Decided to do something I've been too lazy to do for the past 5 weeks: go for a real walk.
There's a mountain behind my apartment (there's mountains everywhere) and it's green at the top. So I put on kitten heels and started walking in the hot hot sun, up up the steep little streets behind my place. Already I was happy. There are little shops, houses, tiny dogs, great views, less noise, better air.
Then the road diminishes, there are huge slate-like rocks upended alongside the track, curious. There are a insects everywhere, a little pagoda thing with a guy doing yoga, a botanical garden with signs identifying the flowers with their Latin names. I'm up really high, looking down on my suburb, the road I travel to work, out far to the next mountain, the next range, the next suburb. A huge black butterfly flies close to me, so big that at first I think it's a bird. Then I see some birds, like magpies but with blue wing tips. Flowers everywhere. Hot as hell. Sweat pouring down my next, back, legs.
Wonderful.

Bobostel

Way to make my apartment building look shite.
Take a photo of it.


Anyways, I'm in Zenit love - as always.
But, not in little man love as the dude who I thought was little man 2, is shit.
For those who don't know about me and little man...
There's a guy in Smith Street, Collingwood, who developed my pictures for me and has done for about 7 years now. I love him. I don't go anywhere else. When I went to Europe for a year I held onto all my filums and got him to process them on my return. He printed all the large shots for my show last year too.
So I felt, cos of the Zenit, that it would be difficult/upsetting to wait until I got home from Korea to get prints done. Thus I've been looking for a new little man. But this guy ain't the shit. I got reprints made and they were completely different to the orginals... Mostly, shitter. And these are the ones he scanned for the CD. Anyways. There are still some excellent moment... Checkem.

Camels and all that Jazz

After a fecking exhausting day at work - Little Concert, etc, I was so so happy to get a text from JD Whatever saying 'I know we're seeing each other tmr, and it's raining, and we're tired, but who cares. Let's have dinner.' Or something like that. Cos we're using Korean phones, we're limited to 80 characters. All messages have to be bloody short and sweet unless you know hangeul.
Anyways, we met at Sinchon, and were wandering about, hungry, when JD saw a spot and went to look at its menu... But I could hear something... "say it's only a paper moon" being sung across the way. How could I resist? I dragged JD across the street and told him we'd have to eat there. We thought we were really in luck when they gave us each a 'free' glass of red wine... But it was like the Georgian wine I used to get in Vilnius - so sweet it's really Ribena. Not to worry.
So we ate, then we walked, then we got Baskin Robbins ice-creams because I am Drew Barrymore and JD lerves BR ice-cream. The chocolate stuff that we both chose was clearly not made for the Korean climate and melted IMMEDIATELY all over us. Ah well. We walked to Hongdae, where I took JD on a tour of cool places that I pretend I have discovered but actually Ethan or Pix have taken me too. He was way impressed. We went to Seom first, then Brixx, where we were directed to a secluded love couch at the back of the joint, much to my horror. We moved seats and sat in the middle of the joint, watching all the American guys get it on with their Korean girls. Nice.
Suddenly realised it was time for the last subway, started running... Phone rings, it's Pix... "where are you?". She'd just got back from a day rocking out in the mud at the Pentaport Rock Festival and was ready to rock on. Nothing doing, we ditched the idea of being good kids, and sat with her and Korean friends to have a SECOND Korean BBQ of the evening, drink beer AND soju and start to get very silly.
Decided a cup of tea was in order - prolly about 2am - and Korean mate Jung-Sin lead us to a very quiet little upstairs joint - called Cafe & a Camel. Pix sold it to us as having no other customers and a door for a table. Ok. All true. But they were playing some terrible dancey music so I quick smart found a Bill Evans CD and get them to change it. Nice. The boys ordered tea and for some reason Pix and I thought a bottle of red was the go... Sorry Charlie, this was when I called you - 3.30am in Melbourne, of course you wanted to chat...
The Camel started to fill up, someone must have requested the Betty Blue CD, but it didn't last long... Made me pretty happy though. Pretty happy also watching Pix and Jung-Sin muck about, taking photos, being stoopid. Cute.
After a few hours we needed to leave, maybe to walk to the subway... But there was another cute place, maybe called Cafe Woods, so we stopped there and Pix and I headed for a wired-up laptop, where I showed her the YouTube post of Dave Mack's. Perhaps one of the best things ever. Do yourself a flavour and check it - I have 3 words for you - JamesBrown, MichaelJackson, Prince. Absolutely laughed my socks off. Again.

Anyways. Saw the lovers t-shit next door on way home.
As I slowly climbed the stairs out of the subway when I got to my home station, things felt good. The whole place was obscured by fog, it was beautiful, the temperature was just right, all was good.

...a melody played...

Say, it's only a paper moon,
Sailing over a cardboard sea,
But it wouldn't be make believe,
If you believed in me.

Yes, it's only a canvas sky,
Hanging over a muslin tree,
But it wouldn't be make believe,
If you believed in me.

Thanks, whomever wrote this song that Ella sung so beautifully.

Shocker Tees Co.

In honour of the shocker t-shits here in Korea, I've created a new folder in my photobucket for t-shit moments that I'm lucky/daring enuff to capture on filum. Inagural shot was of a t-shit I really wanted to buy... But the silver sequins were a bit much... and it was backless... and it was $50. May I introduce ::

Little Concert Day

Full review to come of the Little Concert - what a gas! I was the MC, all those songs were sung, all those kids were cute, all those parents with their videocameras and cameraphones aloft, all the Dads complimenting me on my English...
One superstar stood out in her white assymetrical singlet with gold lettering ::

R. ROBOT
Beach
Hawaiian

Then I went down the street to pick up reprints and CD of the latest Zenit shots, and I saw this on a large brown t-shit with aqua applique ::

EARTH
GRASPER
LBJ vintage style since 2001

Rote and Vote

Maybe it was always going to happen.. But yesterday I started I started teaching using the 'rote' method. As instructed. The students who have finished their textbooks don't get new ones - they get a 'conversation' book, which has little conversations in it like::
A: Good morning, Euri.
B: Good morning, Andy.
A: How are you today?
B: Fine, thanks, how are you?
A: I'm fine, too.
I hate this little book because it is boring. And whenever I say 'hi, how are you?', casually, meaning it, to a student, they parrot back at me 'Fine thanks, how are you?' And it's creepy and weird.

Also, today I saw a dead kitten.
On Sunday when JD came to visit we thought we saw a dead man but JD bravely inspected him and he seemed to be breathing. Unconscious men are not uncommon as serious overdrinking is the way to unwind if you're a Korean man.

Also, today after work I went home via the little market across the road from work. I've been feeling crook this week and was thinking maybe I need more/better food. So I bought sweet potato, cabbage, rice, and peppers that I won't know if they are hot until I bite into them.
Then I bought some snack on the way home... So hungry! I know they're made from rice but I'm not sure how you're supposed to eat them... These were BBQed in the street. Mmm yum.

Oh, best t-shit today::
VOTE
FOR MY
DADDY

The Hood

Walked home the back way tonight.. No, not over the mountain, but via some backstreets. I went into an organic food store and made a terrible mistake, spending $20 on some chili powder stuff. Sweet jesus. I know what I'm eating for the next 11 months - chili-flavoured dirt.
Anyways, I finally took my camera to work so that on the way home I could take photos of the demolition derby. When I first arrived there were 20 apartment towers either side of the street that looked abandoned. They had big red crosses painted over the windows and long grass... Very strange. Anyways, as they were 5 minutes old, they were to be demolished. New blocks will no doubt have replaced them by the time I leave.

The students who won the quiz contest on Saturday were given pizza today and yesterday. How excitement. Koreans LERVE pizza. And it's EXPENSIVE. Anyways the pizza boy came up to the school, in a feckin midriff top, that said ::

(front)
FEEL LIKE
SHIT
DEJA VU

(back)
DOOBIE BROTHERS
81

Sweet jesus. SHIT was 10 times bigger than the rest of the text. Maroon and yellow, no pictures.
Anyways, last night I left work and started walking home, so hungry from smelling pizza for 4 hours, so tired from kids, and my boss calls.
"Uh, hello - Jessie? It's Sidney"
"Yes, hi Sidney"
"Ok, so Jessie, I have something to ask you, I hope it is ok."
"Sure, no problem..."
"I hope it's ok, but I wanted to ask you to have dinner. With me. Tonight. Is it too late?"

WTF? Sure you can feed me... No problem... So she picked me up from my apartment an hour later, with her husband at the wheel of their KIA SUV and her sleepy kid in the back. First of all, they spoke English the entire time, which was so polite and nice, and second, we went to a really nice 'organic' restaurant at the base of a nearby mountain. There was something akin to 'fresh air' when I stepped outta the car. Her husband was really funny and talked heaps, asking me what I thought of North Korea, the Americans here, stuff. Then my boss asked me if we could make dinners regular as she is concerned her husband can't keep up with the 'Western culture' of his international workplace. She invited me to join them on their weekends away. Then before I got outta the car at home, she said "Jessie, is it ok if I give my husband your number so he can call you if he needs help? Sometimes... he needs help with some things."
WTF? "Of course, Sidney, no problem, that would be fine......................."

International Jazz Story

SLANG
FROM CHAOS

What's that?
Gold dust
EVERYWHERE!

Excellent t-shit yesterday.

I still feel a little seedy from Saturday night... Is that right?
Had such a freaking good time. After the Song and Quiz Contest at work, I met up with Luke (who I NEED to start calling JD, seeing as that's his new name) in Hongdae at 4ish, went to Ordinary Cafe which was great as always. Wandered the shops, made hair appointments for next week, had lunch in Hongdae, sitting outside in a plaza area, watching everyone go by, buying chewing gum from old ladies who came by....... Met up with Pix and headed to Ryan's fancy-pants hotel to collect him. Jumped in a taxi which followed the road by a palace to its end... Where we found Jazz Story.
I guess that's where the messiness began. Ugh. Decor was amazing, band was fantastic, wine hideously overpriced, and we were slowly becoming boorish, demonstrated primarily through our interactions with the band...... Consisted of repeated requests for songs that they couldn't play.... Play some Leonard Cohen! No? Play some Tom Waits! No? Play Elvis Costello! No? Fine.
Went to Ryan's room and drank plum wine with gold leaf that JD bought from the convenience store. Yum. Pix and Ryan blasted Dolly Parton and Kasey Chambers through the complaints (of mine, the neighbours, authorities, etc) until we headed back to Hongdae on the premise of visiting a kitten.
Anyways, had pork for brekky, got home at 8am. A new record for me in Seoul.

By the way. Got some great emails. Thanks LTR, JC, Mumma, Abe, Charlie, especially.

pretty blue gun

there's a young girl
with sweet little wishes
and pretty blue dreams
standin there and gettin all wet

i love you, tom waits.
love you, jc.

Melting Pot Raised

Worst t-shirt tonight - and I saw it twice - in yellow - and grey ::

(front)
king of the streets
(picture of beckham in beanie with diamante skull & crossbones)
DECIDE

(back)
VINTAGE
OF THE
TOKYO

Shocker. Went to Soundday and managed to get the subway home after one (free) drink. Proud. Saw two bands - nunco cobein, who rock out big time, and some other mob whose name I haven't transliterated yet. They teased us with the opening chords of 'Enter Sandman'... Which Mountain Goats did when I saw them way back whenever. Funny.

Plowshares

It's little concert week at my school. So I listen to Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da and Summer Nights and Dancing Queen and Heal the World upteen times a day.... Excruciating........................

We could fly so high
Let our spirits never die
In my heart
I feel you are all
My brothers
Create a world with No fear
Together we'll cry Happy tears
See the nations turn
Their swords Into plowshares
We could really get there
If you cared enough For the living
Make a little space To make a better place...

Thanks Mikky J, you really know where it's at.

Ice-T

Reasons why I still watch Law and Order:
1. It's the only show on TV I can stand/understand
2. Ice-T's character says things like this "Wouldn't be the first time a college student has flat-backed her way to a diploma."

Ohhhh yeah.

Worst t-shirt

I knew when I saw a guy out the front of my apartment this morning wearing this t-shirt that it would be hard to beat::

NOREH A DUNE
their charming

SSAM
BRIGADE
EARLY IN

If anyone has any clue wtf this means, I will pin a medal to your breast.

Article 88

I was reminded of Article 88 of the US Military Code of Conduct by AFN TV last night. Here goes::

“Any commissioned officer who uses contemptuous words against the President, the Vice President, Congress, the Secretary of Defense, the Secretary of a military department, the Secretary of Transportation, or the Governor or legislature of any State, Territory, Commonwealth, or possession in which he is on duty or present shall be punished as a court-martial may direct.”

Good stuff.

Drugs and TV

I have been compulsively eating snacks. I call them snacks cos I have no idea what they are really called... Nor what they are made from... Rice? Corn? Shrimp? I bought a bag as big as a pillow for 2000 won (aka 2 bux) and have eaten my way through most of it this weekend. Luke tells me Koreans call them 'drugs' cos they are so addictive. I get it.

And while eating them, tonight I watched a documentary festival on TV. Though sometimes I lucked out with the dubbed Korean, I watched 2 British docos that had subtitles so I didn't have to invent the narrative. They were both brilliant. The first was 'Songbirds' - a musical set inside a women's prison outside of London. It was heartbreaking. Women inmates told their stories about their crimes, lives, masturbation, abuse... This was interspersed with choreographed songs... Think 'Dancer in the Dark'. Intense.
The next doco was about Soviet humour, it was called 'Hammer and Tickle' and it was just so funny, giving a potted history of the rise and fall of communism as it went, and the evolution of anti-Soviet jokes. Excellent.
Hammer and Tickle featured The Scorpions and I think everyone benefits from a review of 'Winds of Change'::

I follow the Moskva
Down to Gorky Park
Listening to the wind of change
An August summer night
Soldiers passing by
Listening to the wind of change

The world closing in
Did you ever think
That we could be so close, like brothers?
The future's in the air
I can feel it everywhere
Blowing with the wind of change

Take me to the magic of the moment
On a glory night
Where the children of tomorrow dream away
In the wind of change

It's like a monsoon

Woke up at 5 today.
5pm. What the? I thought my clock was broken. I missed a whole fucking day. This rarely happens in my life. And my aircon was leaking, possibly because I'd left it on for 11 hours, possibly because there is a monsoon active.
Today, again, I got the first subway home. From Hongdae it takes 30 minutes, which is sooooo good. Especially when you're trying to stay awake. And your jeans are soaked through like I've been out wading waist-deep in a stream of rancid kimchi juice.
So last night was the opening of the show Ethan's in. I met up with Luke earlier near Insadong and had some food and beer and a chat with KP and started to feel reasonable. Had a wander in the fucking rain and a gander at the millions of galleries and touristy shops... It's very cute and nice there. Went upstairs to a teahouse and had a drink before going to the show, which every Westerner and her dog was at. Ethan turned up looking SHARP with a hot lady in tow. The sharpness lasted until the first sangria was poured and somehow ended up in a splatter pattern on Ethan's white shirt. Great. Was glad he remembered our pledge to wear ties though.
Anyways, show was good.......... Standing in the street after drinking beer from the convenience store and taking photos with the convenience store disposable camera was good too. Headed to Hongdae for the after party, by which time the rain set it. We still didn't think we needed umbrellas... Too cool, all that jazz. Within minutes we were actually wading - me in my cute new Korean kitten heels, Ethan in customary moonboots, and Misty in sexy red leather heels. Stopped at a convenience store and bought *expensive* umbrellas, waded waded waded along wondering deleriously how weather could be this brutal.
Ugh so sat a Seom and had a glass of red listening to some Aussie girl with a foghorn voice carry on. Ethan used a giant teddy bear to rest on. Sat and listened to the rain, listened to the rain, listened to the rain, incredulous. Eventually decided to move but we made the *wrong* move to Aura, which looked like a tip and had a live band blaring Japanese impro-experimental jazz. EXCRUCIATING. I blamed Ethan. Got outta there and crossed the street so we were out of earshot. We walked back along the deathtrap to FF but they were playing the GREASE song... which I've heard 100000000 times this past month as some students at school are singing it as part of the school's pop song contest (for which I am MC). So I convinced them to go to Nabi... Which is like returning to the womb... But with barely-legal sexy Korean boy-men in reclaimed Ray Bans with prescription lenses there. Excellent.
Ugh there's a postscript to the night's activities which involves a nice hotel room with *leaks* and no power... oh and what seemed like a frat-boy threesome... But I need to get some kinda snack.

Seoul Daze

So tonight was supposed to be the big night, and last night the stay-at-home night... Didn't work out like that... Got an email at 9pm from Pix saying get to wine bar to meet hilarious Aussie friends. Got to Seoul Station at 10pm - so, clearly my idea of getting the subway home was shot from the start, as I'd have to leave town at 11pm to make it. Also it took us 10 minutes to figure out how to cross the road. No shit. Then the map to the wine bar that Pix had was sketchy, so we somehow engaged the help of some random slightly pissed Korean guys, who stood with us spinning the map for a while, before one said 'wait a minute' and like speedy Gonzalez, ran off down the street. We stood bemused and laughing wondering wtf he had gone to do/get... Then he roars up the street on his scooter, motioning for us to get on... His bike is held together with sticky tape and he is in pajamas from what I can tell.. We get on! We go up the mountain! We see fancy schmancy wine bar perched on the hill... We dismount, give profuse thanks, and enter naos nova. Please please check out the website and see what I'm talking about... It has killer views of the city, only serves wine to drink, features a wine list that has bottles for 2,000,000 aka a month's salary, and kick-arse tapas with real flavours like prosciutto! and pesto!
Anyways I got the subway home... when it started again at 5.30am today. Hmm. I got in to my place and headed for the shower... That's when I discovered green ink all over my feet. Like all over. Like stained, like won't come off after agessssss scrubbing. WTF? Where did it come from?

Korea lyrics 1

Ok so hearing the Beck lyric 'Eat at Tacoria, pop lockin' beats from Korea' amused me so much I thought I'd find out which other 'artists' mention Korea in their music. I think there's no reason not to start with this gem from my old friends Rammstein, who clearly know where it's at:

Korea pants
Korea pants
Korea pants
Korea pants

They are cool
They are fun
They look good
on any nun

Korea pants
Korea pants
Korea pants
Korea pants

Repeat ad nauseum.

Afterlife

My apologies, and thanks.
I was really sick yesterday afternoon, and KP, Jack, Charlie, Dad, Anna Lee, the whole box and die of loved ones were all ready willing able to call me in the small window after work when I can use the pone here. But I had a chronic headache and bellyache. Couldn't even offer Oh Charlie the sympathy he needed after having a car aim for and meet his bike as he cycled to Toby's to call me. Couldn't offer sympathy to Jack, who was crook as and dragged his sorry arse to work as two containers of chairs had arrived. Couldn't go out to dinner with friendly American Luke from upstairs as I was busy spewing in the shower. Couldn't even get down to the letterbox to see that I'd 'received Charlie's package' (kisses). Ahhh it was an average night.
Better today... and I should say, it's Thursday, which means the weekend is nearly here! I do believe I'm gonna see some palaces and shit, I mean tourist sites, on Saturday which will be good. Then go to Ethan's exhibition which I've invited pretty much everyone I know to... Anyways. Gotta get my classes planned...

Lyrics for this morning: Modest Mouse: Ocean Breathes Salty:

Well that is that and this is this.
Will you tell me what you saw and I'll tell you what you missed,
when the ocean met the sky.
You wasted life, why wouldn't you waste the afterlife?

Presidential matter 1

Well yesterday I wanted to but forgot to post about the Polish PM and Presidential double-act. Truly something from a James Bond movie or just another galaxy - I must paraphrase from The Age: IDENTICAL twins who once starred together in a children's film look set to hold the two most powerful posts in Polish politics. President Lech Kaczynski has nominated his brother Jaroslaw, to replace prime minister Kazimierz Marcinkiewicz, who resigned yesterday. With no other candidates for the post, it is a foregone conclusion that one twin will soon swear in the other. The twins, 57, first shot to recognition as child stars in the 1960s film The Two Who Stole the Moon. They started their political careers as activists in the Solidarity trade union.
In spite of their success both Jaroslaw, who is unmarried and lives with his mother, and Lech, remain sensitive about their appearance and are rarely seen in public together.

Systemholic

Where I sit at the PC Bang there is a huge poster of a heroic looking guy with long hair and a blood smear on his face, gazing into the distance. It says 'Rohan' it big gothic script and then 'Systemholic Online Rohan'. I think I need a geek to explain this to me. Toby?
Anyways, tonight on AFN I learnt that in 2005, there were 117 military-to-military sexual assault in the American forces in Korea. And I saw the ad that says more off-duty military have been killed in motorcycle accidents than in the fighting in Afghanistan. The voiceover reiterates: WAY MORE.
Hey tonight I came home from work and there was a postcard waiting for me... SO EXCITING! JC had written it while lying on some Greek beach... Sounded sooo good. Not jealous at all! Miss her and LTR so much... 6 weeks without them. It's tough. Now I think they are in Goreme, possibly staying with my Ma. Crazy cool. Three years ago I was there.

Thanks to all those who are staying in contact... It's wonderful. Thanks to all those who read my blog, email me, chat with me online, send me shit and keep me sane. It's so appreciated.

Ahhhh yeah: Bowie: Golden Years:
Don't let me hear you say life's taking you nowhere, angel
Come get up my baby
Look at that sky, life's begun
Nights are warm and the days are young

Hongdae Weekend

Heyyyyy
Well I've uploaded 16 new photos from today in my Korea photobucket, so checkem out.
Basically I've been reassured that there is a cool life to be had here. I can thank Miss Pix and Ethan for that... Yesterday, going to the gig and a couple of other cool lil bars in a cool lil hood showed me more of this place that isn't suburban and shit.
Then today I went back to the same hood, met up with slightly hungover Ethan and we wandered the shops and had coffee and lunch over a period of 6 hours... Was fuckin leisurely and nice. There was a tense moment when we were on the hunt for somewhere to eat and couldn't find a place we thought would have either a picture menu or an English menu, but then we found Oink, and it was our salvation. No aircon, but the rice sidedish was loaded with caviar and the beer was icy cold. So much food, so much satisfaction, for about $8. Can't go wrong.
Saw some stencil art, always a good sign; lots of cute boys; couples in matching gear; tiny dogs with dyed-pink fur; Bladerunner shit; cool clothes; cool shoes; lobsters in tanks; convenience stores; vomit; guys in beanies even though it's fuckin 30 degrees. My boobs got leered at generally, specifically by police, but no-one arrested me for soliciting or offered me money for sex, so all in all, a good weekend.
Back to the rugrats tomorrow........................................ Yay.

Some folks call her a runaway

Ok so last night I went out with week-old friend plus one new friend to see some little punk-like gig at some place called 'FF' aka 'Funky Funky'... There was one band before the one we'd come to see - Ethan quite rightly pointed out that they sounded like a cross between Tracy Chapman and Hootie and the Blowfish. He even sung a bit of 'Fast Car' over the top of the Korean lyrics and they fit perfectly. Funny. Luckily the band we'd come to see did rock and were cute funny original all that...
Anyhoo then I get an email from Jack - how good is Jack - which is so exciting because he emails me about twice a year. Fuckin nearly fell off my chair cos he samples some Tracy Chapman lyrics in his email ::

She's got her ticket,
think she gonna use it;
Think she's gonna fly away.
No-one should try and stop her,
persuade her with their power
she says that her mind is made.

Beats

I've been trying not to listen to The Cure as they are high on my 'songs that kill me' list, but today... Couldn't help it! Stand-out lyrics dedicated to Oh! Charlie! ::

You're so gorgeous
I'll do anything
I'll kiss you from your feet
To where your head begins
You're so perfect
You're so right as rain
You make me make me
Make me hungry again
Everything you do is irresistible
Everything you do is simply kissable

Oh! So! Good!
Then I sat down with a cup of tea and some jammy bread and read Ludmila's Broken English, by dbc pierre. So feckin hilarious. My stand-out snippet from this morning ::

'Throbbing music no longer beat time to a young life ascending. Now it hammered boards over future's window.'

Ok, and favourite spazz-Konglish t-shirt from yesterday ::

'I want stardom day and night
I do believe in chastity'

Done it before... Do it again...

Well, you build it up, you wreck it down
You burn your mansion to the ground
When there's nothing left to keep you here, when
You're falling behind in this
Big blue world

Crushes

Methinks Ethan will understand this... It's very easy to form crushes on random boys here. The petrol station next to my building has a cute attendant. He wears bright pink socks with his sandles and scoots dangerously around on his little bike. His uniform is a stripey shirt, which he wears with a trucker cap and shorts... He just wanders through the petrol station smoking and greeting his friends in their high school unifoms.

Shopping Day

Today is SHOPPING DAY at my school.. The foyer has has been turned into a shopping centre with big signs, products laid out on tables, price lists, balloons galore... The Mums (or Mommies, as they're called here) are coming soon and I have to teach them shopkeeper's expressions in English, then the children will spend the morning 'shopping' in English with play money. Good god.

Blown Away

Fuck it.

Just wrote a huge post and then this shitty puter... Blew it away...
It was all about Paul Klee, the Seoul Olympic Park, Beer Hunter and Beck.

"Art does not reproduce the visible; rather, it makes visible." Klee.

Beer Hunter was ok - went there Sunday. Had Cooper's and calamari.

"Hot like a cheetah, neon mamacita
Eat at Tacoria, pop lockin' beats from Korea" Beck.

Kryptonite

When I packed, I could have brought less scarves and ties and more books. Clearly, since it's TOO HOT to wear any of my nifty scarves, and I read the one novel I brought in 3 hours.
Anyways, I was rereading the book - jPod by Coupland - and found a favourite bit where the geeks are discussing their own personal kryptonite.. For one it's meetings, another it is Microsoft press releases. What's mine...? Rod Stewart? Socks in bed? What's yours?
Hey I went down to the convenience store (as my colleagues call it) to heat up my porridge and scammed the guy into letting me use the microwave which is for povvo students to heat up instant noodles. My porridge was way yummy, just a gelatinous pumpkin soup really. And it came with kimchi, chili paste stuff and some pickled meat as the sides. Great. I ate it at work while reading Time! For Kids! I learnt that Nigeria is double the size of California... Really puts things in perspective, hey?
Work was just as shit today, by the way. I can't count the amount of times I just want to run run run away. I heard that new teachers here have this feeling, but I had no idea it would be this bad. And these two days, it's not even that I miss home, but that I hate the work, it's so shit, stressful, not knowing what to do all the time.

Lettuce + Porridge

Ok so my day at work was horrendous. Just awful. Most classes would not be controlled. Most classes I had no textbook for. Most classes I had no idea what or how to teach them. Great.
Then I had to go to Immigration to register as an alien. Great. My (only) Korean friend, Luke, came with me (actually chauffeur-drove me), which was so good, I just let him do the talking and we were done in 10 minutes. Amazing.
Then we headed north to the suburb where he grew up, very very nice. He took me to a lettuce restaurant - there was a giant illuminated sign inside that had pictures of the 18 different lettuces they served, with the healthy properties of each outlined underneath. So a GIANT pile of lettuce was the main dish, and the small dishes were kimchi, garlic, dried shrimp, spinach, miso paste, miso soup, white kimchi... others... and rice.
Luke loves Baskin Robbins ice-cream so we stopped off to get him some and the shop next door had a sign saying 'Korean Traditional Porridge Restaurant'... I was like - WTF?! Lettuce! Now this?! So we ordered some take-out for me to have for my lunch tomorrow - bean and sweet potato porridge I think. Hmm.
On the subway home the guy standing next to me said 'Russian?'. My heart sank - this is becoming a daily occurrence - random guys thinking I'm Russian (which I think is a euphemism for 'hooker'). I was like 'no....' and turned away. Long story short, he engaged me in conversation and asked me to be his private tutor, which refused... Ugh whatever.

Couples Coupling

More from the list of stuff to blog, that I scrawled on the subway map last night:

• Couples love to wear exact matching outfits. Imagine cute yellow polo shirts, buttoned up, levis and white high-tops... Both boy and girl. Luke tells me honeymooners especially love this. Ugh.
• There are giant cases with gasmasks in them in the subway - complete with posters about how to fit them. Very graphic.
• Ads for the Korean Mumma Mia! on the subway.
• "No amount of poetry can mend this broken heart'... Thank-you, Billy Bragg.

HOT

I hope you can all understand what I mean about Korean guys when you gaze at this movie poster....

Wa-Bar Whiskey Event

So I met a new peep last night. To get from my satellite province to his satellite province involved 1 hour on the subway... A lot of time to think about the things I want to post.

• I wore my Wolfmother t-shirt to work yesterday. Sick.
• Korean women wear heels all the time.
• The other teachers at my work said 'you wear a lot of black'.
• I keep seeing seppos in the lift of my building. Great.
• I drank a lot of beer last night, then ordered crumbed pork with gravy.
• I visited the most disgusting toilet ever. Squat, with rice in the bowl. Mmm.
• Korean men are pretty hot. And wayyy effeminate.
• Best t-shirt ever on a kid riding a bike this morning: 'sometimes there is sorrow'.

Air Con Fixed!

The 'after-care' man - as they call 'repairmen' here - came and fixed my aircon so now I'll hopefully sleep better and not go so crazy... Yay. I realised when it started raining-pouring last night that every time it rains, I think, great, the change has come, it'll take the edge of the heat... But no, that's not how it works... It rains AND it's hot.
Anyways, this weekend I'm going to finally catch up with the expat e-friends I've made here... Should make me feel more human and also see more of this shitty.

I know it's wrong, but

Still so young to travel so far
Old enough to know who you are
Wise enough to carry the scars
Without any blame, theres no one to blame
Easy to forget what you learn
Waiting for the thrill to return

Thanks, Crowded House... I feel like a cliche when I listen to youse.

Haiku

Maybe you know... My mother is a poet, I like poetry, I read poetry, I listen to poetry... But I don't write poetry... Maybe there's a good reason for that...
Last night I tried haiku... Not strict haiku, but free-form... In the new-skool Melbourne tradition of Myron Lysenko... I hope!

Anyways, here goes:

Neon crucifix
Many beacons on the hill
Welcome to Korea

More News from the Hood

So I just heard that the Aussies are out of the World Cup. Bummer. Whatever.
Last Saturday Korea also dipped out, and as the Koreans are NUTS about soccer, I thought it would be something I could talk about with my more advanced students. So I asked them: 'Did you watch the soccer?'; 'Who did you watch it with?'; and then 'Did you cry?', because the newspapers and TV showed thousands of people crying when they lost... Every students said 'No! No cry! ANGRY!!'. Funny. They were bloody vitriolic.
Ok, the other thing that was mildly entertaining was (again) on the Defence TV channel... WAS SKID ROW! They do a shout out to the troops! Can't remember the exact words but it's something like 'You're doing us proud - America, and Korea, wouldn't be the same without you'.
I really need to quit watching it. It's like the most toxic brainwashing.
Anyways, it's been a week. I walked home from work tonight and thought, 'a week ago this time I was arriving at the airport in Incheon'. A week. I guess it could be worse. I still can't believe this is my life... But I think I had that feeling in Eltham, in Hawthorn, where ever. Kids called me a 'monkey' today because of the hair on my arms... How lovely! And yesterday... 'angry dinosaur'! Fuck that. I've started to try planning my lessons... Felt much more confident going into class with some handouts and stuff today. Lots of the classes have 'finished their book'... which means 'have nothing to do', which means 'teach them a song by The Beatles'. Which is not as fun as it sounds.

Songs that Kill Me

Charlie knows this... and KP does too, prolly. There's a buncha songs that 'just kill me'... Every time I hear them, it's so intense I can't believe things will ever be the same again. These are the songs I listened to in the mornings driving to work, when I was feeling deadly... JC knows about my sucidal mornings. On the list are songs like Hold On by Tom Waits, Last Goodbye by Leonard Cohen, A House is not a Home by Clinkerfield... I think you get the picture.
Don't worry there's a converse list too... with happy dreamy celebration songs like Mint Car by the Cure... and... oh... I'm sure there's more.

Anyways, my song of the day is The First Day of My Life by Bright Eyes. Ohhhh so lovely.

Remember the time you drove all night,
Just to meet me in the morning?
And I thought it was strange,
You said everything changed.
You felt as if you just woke up.
And you said, "This is the first day of my life.
I'm glad I didn't die before I met you.
But now I don't care,
I could go anywhere with you,
And I'd probably be happy."

So if you want to be with me,
With these things there's no telling,
We just have to wait and see.
But I'd rather be working for a paycheck,
Than waiting to win the lottery.

Besides, maybe this time it's different.
I mean, I really think you like me.

Beer Hunter

I have a bar in my building called 'Beer Hunter' - YIKES!
And... I just ate my first chocolate in over a month... A Snickers from the shop in my building. I looked for a chocolate milk, too, just to really send my body into a spin, but they were all STARBUCKS brand.
When I stepped outside there was a massive wind blowing, monsoonal, I thought... The American channel had an info-ad about monsoons in Korea for the troops here: 'know your area and be prepared'.

Blue Blue

Saw some blue sky yesterday. And today, it looks like it's as blue as it gets. Nice.
I started reading one of the novels I bought with the Readings voucher from my colleagues, jPod, by Douglas Coupland. It's made me laugh out loud from the first page. I fear that I'll finish it with a day cos it's so good and I have nothing better to do.....
Went for a walk through the hood today, took my Zenit, and saw what Alanas was talking about with the colours: black for big shiny cars; yellow for melons at the street stalls; red for the Red Devil t-shirts; green for the distant mountains; silver for the trendy phones.
I bought new silver chopsticks and matching spoon for myself, a big knife and 3 cute little ceramic tea cups... For visitors! If I have any! They will sit on the floor cos I have no chairs! Or table!

Saturday night

Tonight I cooked my first meal. Yay. I think it was a success. It started with peas that I bought from an ancient woman who was shelling them by the side of the road. Her 5 teeth were a silver row at the bottom of her mouth. She thought I'd bought a great snack. But I thought, 'fried rice'.
I also turned on the TV and found the American military channel, which is free-to-air and has all-American programming interspersed with community announcements for the defence forces, news from the pentagon, and vignettes about American heroes. Un/fortunately they were showing an episode of Law and Order, so I had a TV dinner. Yum.
This (propaganda) channel is one more thing on the list of 'things that make Korea seem like Bladerunner'. Last night I had to add car parks that have cameras automatically take a photo of your licence plate when you enter, and print out a ticket with your car's info on it....

Today 2 things happened that made me happy for at least 30 seconds.
The first was when I was standing on the subway, an old man grabbed my bag and motioned for me to take the seat next to him. It was so sweet.
Then, when I caught the subway again later, I did some crap sign language to the attendant to ask for a fancy swipe ticket, who smiled and spoke to me in English: 'I have to tell you that it is non-refundable, ok?', very feckin impressive.

Ok. Lyrics for tonight. Just a sample from a song by Beck.

There's someone calling your name, it's driving you insane
You were wearing that stained raincoat and your umbrella was a tangled mess
You were washed up on the glittering shoals looking for another crime to confess
You bribed yourself out of a place in the sun, but you had some change to spare
So you said you want to spend it on me and shook the blues out of your hair
Ooh such a beautiful way to break your heart
Ooh such a beautiful way to break my heart
There's someone calling your name, you're gonna miss that train
Ooh such a beautiful way to break your heart
Ooh such a beautiful way to break my heart
There's someone calling your name, it's driving you insane

Red Devils

My list of stuff to blog today:

• Things that make this place like Bladerunner
• Greenday
• Consumerism keeps us safe, and warm
• My Friday night/s
• Red Devils
• and maybe, hard to see where the smog meets the clouds

Let's see how much I can get through.
Firstly, it's the weekend! Yay! Only now that I'm here do I realise that even though I technically only work 30 hours a week, I'm at work from 10am to 6.30pm everyday. I have 2 or sometimes 3 45-minute breaks, which I've used to go for a walk around the neighbourhood market, try to get on the shitty computer at work to email, or to use the phone to call KP or Charlie.

It's been hot and clear the past 2 days, and the forecast is no rain, so even though there is still no sky, no blue sky neither, I get to wear my sunnies and feel the sun.... The temperature is perfect at about 2am, I've discovered, though my room is hot hot hot all the time cos my aircon is fecked. I am becoming more friendly with my room though, I did a load of washing, used the stove to cook some rice, and have started playing some music. Last night I found the American FM radio station... They were playing Pink Floyd, pretty hard to miss on the FM dial amongst the k-pop.

So last night, after a looooong day at work, which was made harder by having to teach some real little creeps in the late afternoon (my colleague told me to make the boys stand holding their wooden chairs above their heads as punishment...), Luke came to collect me from work. Such a treat! We drove around the fucking massive megapolis that is Seoul for about 3 hours, me hanging out the window taking photos and trying to pronounce the road signs. Was fantastic. This morning at 4am Korea played and lost to Switzerland, so Seoul was abuzz as 20 million 'Red Devils' - the soccer supporters - came out in their red t-shirts to watch the match on the megascreens that adorn the big CBD buildings. Although it was 6 hours to the game, the streets were FULL, there were literally thousands of (cute) cops lining the streets, and the team's anthem was BLARING as the k-pop heroes sung sung sung in the biggest patriotic pageant I've even witnessed/imagined. Photos to come.

Eventually we got some dinner, dodging joyful drunk businessmen who were pouring out of the restaurants, which was yum-o. There was a gas burner in the middle of our table, and we ordered some beef... In noodles and broth with various shredded vegies. The Korean way is to have a main dish like this, but more importantly umpteen side dishes, which you eat with your mains. They vary, but within a repertoir of about 50. So last night we had pickled radish in cold broth, rice, sliced garlic, broccoli with tomato sauce, egg pudding, crab, lettuce, kimchi and a mayonnaise salad. No drinks, just water. Probably cost about $15. Hmm.

Ok. Post to be completed later. It's time I climbed outta this bang and got some fresh air.

Korean Fashion

Woke up
This morning
with the
blues three
different way Had
two minds
to leave you
only one to
stay

-Saw this printed on a t-shirt today on my lunchtime walk.
-Just had a ballbreaker of a class: one 13 year old boy.
-So far I've had 2 students called Charlie and one called Charles. And one Jack, one Brendan and one Brian. Where do they get these names from?!

First Real Day

Saw 4 'Westerners' today. Oh, actually, that was in the wild, but in a fancy bookstore which has a massive foreign section, there were a few seppos in the lift talking about their students. But I ignored them.
Saw 1 beggar. 2 nuns. LOTS of handsome local men.
Went to work for the first time. Yikes! The director of my school generously said 'it will take a few months, maybe 3 months, but then you will feel ok'. Thanks a freakin lot.
Met the students. So cute! Very groovy kids with ironic mullets and lots of bling. The pressure is on.
Met up with Luke and he took me out for a proper meal, and a wander around. This place is intense. And I am kinda slumming it in my area. But I think I'm going to resolve to like my pen and environs. Might put my map up.
Anyways, we had dinner and then a drink. I caught the subway by myself, changes included. And bought my tickets - by pointing at my destination and throwing money. Had a stranger come up and introduce himself on the platform and practise his English on me. It was ok. I'd be warned this would happen.
I think once I eat a meal in my apartment I will feel more like it's home. I only realised today there are no chairs and no table. I have no cutlery either. Anyways.
I miss cafes. I miss Jack. I miss text messaging. I miss cool fresh air. Everyone knows I miss Charlie. I miss coffee at home. Hmmm.

Grey

My view gives a new definition to 'grey'. I'm sure I'll be able to write a poetic meditation on grey... It's raining raining and grey. But still hot. My aircon is on 18 degrees.
Out the window there are 4-wheel drives on the narrow road, and coloured umbrellas marching up its sides.

Arrival

Ok, so even blogger is all in Korean so dunno how this will go. No spellcheck. But that's my 'view', such as it is.
Not only was there the stopover in BKK, but also HK. Yikes. My new 'boyfriend', as the stewardesses called Luke, and I thought the flight *must* be punishment for some misdeeds, as it just became hellish. No inflight entertainment, just the same propaganda about the Thai royal family over and over. So we drank.
Arriving in Seoul, relieved that the Immigration didn't pull me up for having a misspelt visa, then horrified at the heat, then fascinated by the army boys parading the airport. I waved adieu or whatever it is in Korean to Luke and turned to my next babysitter, Seoung-Yeon, who spoke only a small amount of English but had mini-massages and smiles for me. She told me to get on a huge bus called a 'limosine', sit for an hour, listen for 'Cheolsan', then get off, meet my school's director and tell them I was hungry.
I tried not to cry, tried to get a sense of the place, strange knowing the airport is on reclaimed sea, entered urbanity and noticed lots of neon red crucifixes fixed high on buildings. Got off the bus and was met by a Mum and her daughter who were unable to help me carry my 35 kilos of shit to my stinking little pen of an 'apartment', and certainly weren't going to feed me.
Anyways.......................... Try not to get bogged down. I cried hysterically for a while, then had a satisfying shower, turned the aircon up and called Charlie for a cheer-up chat. It worked.
Olivia from upstairs has pointed me in the direction of the nearest PC Bang, spitting distance from my window, and here I am making the post. In 10 minutes I'll be back in my room trying not to die.
Hopefully I'll get mobile and landline hooked up in the next few daze so then I'll be back 'connected', but in the meantime I think email/blog is best for communication. Sigh.

Bangkok

Well I can't say it felt great to farewell my tearful brother, the sweet Teach, the beautiful Charlie and the uber-cool Toby... It was weird to suddenly be on Thai cultural territory, too. No in-flight movies, just propaganda about the royal family. I read the letters Jack and JC had pressed in to my hand and told me to read only in the air, was amazed and overwhelmed all over again at how many bright stars are in my galaxy.
Anyways, I slept, read, ate. Then eventually the guy sitting next to me - who I spotted at Melbourne when checking in - started a conversation and so now we're hanging out in this fucking hot and shit airport. He's carrying my heavy carry-on and telling me things are expensive in Seoul, you will be loved, everything is air-conditioned, kids will be great, buy your beers from the supermarket, etc etc. Of course this new friend lives on Brunswick Road, Brunswick and basically has lived in that same small radius that Teach and Charlie occupy.
Oh, Charlie.

Majakas

Ok. So I'm going to spead the love. Majakas I learnt when in Vilnius. It is nearly the same a prank-call but it's context-driven and friendly. It works like this: I'm thinking of a friend, thinking I love them, but don't need to speak to them and don't have anything specific to text, so I dial their number and hang up after one ring. They'll see that you just gave them a majakas, and get a warm fuzzy feeling because they know someone's thinking of them. Maybe they'll do the same back, just to say 'thanks, you're ace'. Or majakas can be used like this 'I'll majakas when I'm out the front - just be ready at 7pm', or... a million other uses. But it's based on mutual understanding and CONTEXT.
My Lithuanian friends were too cheap to text all the time, and so had developed this system. Majakas means 'lighthouse' in Estonian. Not sure where the name came from....

Fizzy vs Angsty

Charlie and I don't seem to be quite clear on the definition of 'angst' - the new shorter oxford says 'anxiety, something something', but Charlie thinks the current use is different. I thought it might be moroseness+tension=angst. Anyways. The Danes think it's more like 'dread'. I think I'd prefer to use weltschmerz from now on. Doesn't roll of my tongue so easily but packs a punch.

Theme song yesterday was the Jessies favourite, and not just for the line 'feels so big it almost hurts', yes, Mint Car, by The Cure :::::

The sun is up
I'm so fizzy
I could burst!
You wet through and me headfirst
Into this is perfect
It's all I ever wanted
Ow! it feels so big it almost hurts!

Never guessed it got this good
Wondered if it ever would
Really didn't think it could
Do it some more?
I know we should!!!

Anyways, work is over and I'm a 'lady of leisure' for 4 whole days. Saw my brother and Mona last night, went to Tiamo, excellent, and got some sleep, wonderful. Today I visited the beautician and then spent my last $39.75 at 'Petticoat Junction' in Eltham. Yum. Might go see my baby out at Wattle Glen before I donate blood over in Bundoora at 4pm with my new vipassana friend.

Tits As!

Fuck we are a good team, the Brunny Massif!
I woke up a number of times this morning and gloated in the darkness about having known the names of Jordan's two offspring - Harvey and Junior - when it really counted - that is, at the East Brunswick on trivia Tuesday.

60-40

Ok. So what is important for me to say at this point? Now that I have met Charlie everything becomes a little confusing... I need to be in the moment so that I don't sacrifice this joy for the crazy future. But I still gotta organise all my shit - and answer everyone's questions and be nice to everyone. Got my flight itinerary - I'm leaving Monday night at midnight, got a 4 hour stopover in Bangkok where I might just do a runner and try my luck at becoming a sex slave, then - if I get back on the plane, I'll arrive in Incheon at 7:45pm on Tuesday. What's the bet that they'll want me to start work the following day at 10:15am? So it's 20 hours of travel, when I KNOW a more expensive flight would get me there in 8 or 9 hours... Lotsa time to learn the alphabet and become 100% angst-ridden.
Ok. So Toby said it was the Best. Weekend. Ever. and there's no way I'll argue with that, though I was pretty vacant on Saturday, and failed to meet Locksmith to breakfast and see his new tattoo be drawn up... And I failed to go party in St Kilda with Jack. But golly, it was worth it. High tea wasn't bad either.
Ok. So tomorrow's my last day at work. Long lunch will ease that pain.
Oh yeah and I spoke to Mum last night - she's in Dubrovnik, heading to Turkey in the next few days. Sounded good and sweet. Then at 1am I received a call from the lovely JoJoHannahHannah in Helsinki and I chatted with her for an hour. Now there's a reason to go to Korea and make some money - so I can visit wonderful friends like her who live in northern Europe.

How good is Jack?!

He told me that he was going to burn me some CDs to take away - I rock around there today and he's got Outkast, The Shins, Bjork, Cut Copy, DJ shadow, Beck and Modest Mouse. What a champion. LOVE! I'm set. A new friend in Korea has warned that there is dearth of real music in Korea and that you end up getting addicted to K-pop, which sounds like a death sentence to me. I think I'll be a happy lil vegemite with these new CDs and all the ones I'm gonna buy with the $100 Readings voucher that my colleagues gave me as my fuck-off pressie. Yay.

Courage Faith Determination

When I did the Landmark Advanced Course way back whenever, I reconstituted myself as the embodiment of courage, faith and determination. Of course, within months of finishing the course I completely forgot these carefully chosen tenets. They came back to me at vipassana and I was really pleased - these still attract me and drive me.
Yesterday when it dawned on me that I wouldn't get my visa in time to fly on the 18th... I thought, have faith... 'twill work out.. And it will. Methinks I'll be leaving on the 20th now, which gives me an extra couple of days at home after I finish work to turn the music up, eat long brekkies, receive visitors and drive around in my lil car.

Doll Digga Buzz Buzz

Rediscovered 'Golden Age of the Grotesque' yesterday, which I listened to heaps when I first got my car, and when I was in Lithuania writing my thesis. But it's been lost in my room, unlamented for months. Cranked it since I got back from vipassana. Excellent. But! Just looked online to find some quotable lyrics and... There weren't any really, which shows which I also like Rammstein, even though I don't understand what they're crapping on about. Nothing if not diverse, my music taste.

So Much To Say...

Survived vipassana. Well recommended. Cried for the first three days. Bored and frustrated and full of self-loathing the last 3 days. Thought of so many many things. Vivid dreams for those few hours I slept. Saw many beautiful birds and amazing fogs in the morning. Made a new friend.... Just in time to say goodbye!
Back at work and it's insane. Home is strange cos Mum's not there. My consitution's all mucked about because of the 6.30am and 11am mealtimes at vipassana. Fruits only, after noon. And I've had no booze since the 24th... mmm that chardonnay at The Lane with Mum before going to the airport.
Got a roll of Zenit shots back. Strange one of bro where he don't look like himself at all. Some of the fog near my place which I like, not sure if anyone else will.

Happy Birthday Teach

Dearest Teach! I'll not be there... Please celebrate in style. Your birthday marks the 1 year anniversary of Bonnie Conquest, and her Lament. Thanks for all your love and support, dearest. I'll miss you. Thanks for the call and text today. I'll speak to you 4th June, in the morgen. Love love love. Viva Russia!

Sexy Mo-Fo

Should post a salute to Prince Rogers Nelson. LOVE HIM.
Bought his new album from eBay today.
Stay posted.

Vipassana

I'm gonna be under the radar from tomorrow until 4th June.
Need to post. Too busy. Check back later.

Eurovision

So busy. Need to post. Russia were robbed. Check back later.

Oh... Yeah, I'm in love....

Summary of my weekend

Friday night was cray-zee... Went to launch of the latest issue over Overland at Readings in Carlton, star studded event and I threw down 3 glasses of cold, free, white wine, nice. Then rocked over to P's, who'd said 8pm sharp for his 30th. The place was full of long stemmed white roses, delicious canapes and little candles... Twas lovely. I was impressed that he'd set up a gift table, as if it was his wedding. Anyways, debaucherous. Went briefly to the Retreat to see Teach, got molested by a Mozambican guy, molested by my brother's friend from primary school, danced to 'Let's Go Crazy', a personal favorite, then hightailed it outta there. In bed around 4.
Got up nice and early for a stint at St Andrews with Pring which was excellent as she'd never been. Was feeling ready for a beer, so we checked in at the pub too. Visit LTR and Z came around... Time for a nap by 4pm so I went home and hit it.
Hmmm yesterday I checked in on eBay to see how much money I'd made - $250, not bad at all. Yay. Bought another camera and a book on how to teach English as my reward. Visited the Locksmith and witnessed his bashed-up face for the millionth time. Heard about his encounter with Enso, which was satisfying.
Then last night Doc Evans dropped in which was ace, haven't seen her for yonks. Went for dinner at S n S's in West Ivanhoe with Ma and bro, so lovely, ate heaps.
Then Monday morning I made a new friend. Yay.

Collecting Moments

Helping the kids out of their coats
But wait the babies haven't been born
Unpacking the bags and setting up
And planting lilacs and buttercups

But in the meantime I've got it hard
Second floor living without a yard
It may be years until the day
My dreams will match up with my pay

Old dirt road
Knee deep snow
Watching the fire as we grow old

I got a man to stick it out
And make a home from a rented house
And we'll collect the moments one by one
I guess that's how the future's done

How many acres how much light
Tucked in the woods and out of sight
Talk to the neighbours and tip my cap
On a little road barely on the map

Old dirt road
Knee deep snow
Watching the fire as we grow old
Old dirt road rambling rose
Watching the fire as we grow old
Well I'm sold

Thank-you, Canadian songstress Feist.

Getting to know my new home...

Reuters reported on Friday that in Pyongtaek in South Korea, riot police fought pitched battles with anti-U.S. protesters and farmers on Thursday, as authorities moved to clear two rural townships to pave the way for a new U.S. military base. About 1,000 protesters, many wielding bamboo sticks, clashed with police armed with batons in an area about 70 km south of Seoul where land for the base has been allocated. Scores of protesters were hurt, with at least two, who appeared to be unconscious, carried away on stretchers.
Reuters photographer Lee Jae-won (who wrote this text I'm plagiarising), suffered lacerated lips and hands when he and about a dozen other journalists, wearing helmets and armbands identifying them as media, were beaten by police.

The confrontation has been brewing for months since about 100 farmers refused to vacate the area where South Korea and the United States agreed two years ago to move the main U.S. military base now in Seoul and several others throughout the country. The number of protesters, many of whom are anti-U.S. activists, unionists and students, had swelled overnight after reports the government would send in thousands of police and military engineers to clear the 9.4-square km area.

About 30,000 U.S. troops are stationed in the country alongside South Korea's military to defend against possible aggression by communist North Korea. South and North Korea remain technically at war under the inconclusive truce that ended the 1950-53 Korean war.

Ain't Me Babe

When I went to Mot's little shed on the night that I was proposed to, LTR told me I shoulda sung 'Ain't me Babe' instead of saying 'maybe' or whatever lame-oh response I really gave. And now the radio has been playing the Johnny and June version in the mornings and yep, it resonates... There's a message in this tale, too, something about listening to your friends...

Go away from my window
Leave at your own chosen speed
I'm not the one you want, babe
I'm not the one you need
You say you're lookin' for someone
Who's never weak but always strong
To protect you and defend you
Whether you are right or wrong
Someone to open each and every door
But it ain't me babe
No, no, no, it ain't me babe
It ain't me you're lookin' for, babe

Thanks, Bob.

Salute to Autumn

Cost of Living

Before I went to Lithuania I sent an excited email with info about my destination out. It included costs for basic items, as an indication of the cost of living generally. I stated the average cost for a litre of vodka, a bag of potatoes and a mars bar. Dad retorted with an exclamation about the potential health problems and lifestyle that a diet such as this inferred I would suffer.

So... herewith the essential for the Republic of Korea, where the currency is the South Korean won:::

all bottle of water: W800.00 - AU$1
litre of petrol: W1,250.00
small bottle of beer: W1,500.00
souvenir t-shirt: W5,000.00
local newspaper: W600.00
tteokbokki snack: W2,000.00 - AU$2.80
food-court lunch: W6,000.00
cinema ticket: W7,000.00
steak dinner: W25,000.00
tailor-made suit: W200,000.00 - AU$280

Changed the Locks

When I worked in London my boss used to play Lucinda Williams all the time... It drove me crazy. But I heard this song on the radio this morning and it resonated... I'm vunerable in the mornings....

I changed the lock on my front door
So you can't see me anymore
And you can't come inside my house
And you can't lie down on my couch

I changed the number on my phone
So you can't call me up at home
And you can't say those things to me
That make me fall down on my knees

Yes I changed the kind of car I drive
So you can't see me when I go by
And you can't chase me up the street
And you can't knock me off of my feet

I changed the kind of clothes I wear
So you can't find me anywhere
You can't spot me in a crowd
And you can't call my name out loud

I changed the tracks underneath the train
So you can't find me ever again
And you can't trace my path
And you can't hear me laugh
And honey, I'm laughing all the time!

I changed the name of this town
So you can't follow me down
And you can't touch me like before
And you can't make me want you more

I changed the lock on my front door
I changed the number on my phone
I changed the kind of car I drive
I changed the kind of clothes I wear
I changed the tracks underneath the train
I changed the name of this town
I changed the name of this town
I changed the name of this town

Leo Slatter Hut

The two-roomed Joe Slatter Hut was named in memory of an HEC engineer who met a tragic and untimely death in Melbourne in a railway accident. We stayed there on our second night in Tassie. It was freezing. There was a lot of straw on my pillow.

Hold On

Well, God bless your crooked little heart
St. Louis got the best of me
I miss your broken-china voice
How I wish you were still here with me

Well, you build it up, you wreck it down
You burn your mansion to the ground
When there's nothing left to keep you here, when
You're falling behind in this
Big blue world

Oh you go to
Hold on, hold on
You got to hold on
Take my hand, I'm standing right here
You got to hold on

Thank-you, Mister Tom Waits.

Decision

The last post I made spurred one freaked-out phone call from Luis and one freaked-out text from Teach, which was kinda funny. Thankfully I'm over the panic I had on Friday about what to do. Maybe Alan is right and the real freak-out happens after the decision has been made, and that's what I was feeling. One of the things that causes me the most anxiety is resigning... Tomorrow! I'll do it!

Anyways, looks like I'll be leaving on or about the 19th June. So I've less than 8 weeks to get all my shit together. And I'm doing a 10-day Vipassana in that time too! Sheesh.

AND plan a *byebyebaby* party...

Korea

Decision-making is killing me. I've told the recruiter in Seoul that I'll sign the contract today to go teach there from the 19th June for 12 months. But is this the right thing?
Not having someone to housesit for 2 months is stressing me out. And I need someone to look after my car. And will I have enough money? And 12 months! One whole year of my life in a place like Korea? What am I thinking?

Back from Tassie

Twas ace.
Revisited Deloraine! Saw a gimp! Hiked in the snow! Nearly died of smoke inhalation!
Saw wallabies! Met friendly local cop in Bronte Park! Saw extreme bumper stickers!
Wore thermals! Popped a cap in yo ass!
Took photos! Took more! Ate pies! For breakfast!
Ate yummy figs! Drank yummy pinot gris!

Helena

I'm a father!
Photos to come!
The pregnant one slid out the little one this morning. Both are gorgeous, well and happy.
I'm sooo happy!

New Zenit Shots

Used a black n white roll on my Zenit on Friday. Happy happy with the shots. They're all happy snaps really, taken on Ewa's birthday. I've just posted three in my album.

Dreams

I don't often remember my dreams. Last night as I was falling asleep, feeling kinda agitated and like sleep wouldn't come easily, I suddenly frighted as I realised I was going to crash into a car. The car was a little red one, already smashed up with tyre marks on its paint and its bumper hanging off. I woke, and my heart was pounding, hard. So strange. I remembered other dreams when I woke up this morning for work too, dreams of small apartments, derelicts and a sad friend.

Desperate Housewives Quote

Lynette: "Hey, Stu. You busy?"
Stu: "No, just updating my blog."

What's the occasion?

Graffiti Games

"Melbourne City Council has decided to ignore the findings of a council-commissioned report on street art and strike a blow against Melbourne ’s culture with a zero tolerance anti-street art policy. In the tradition of other Commonwealth Games hosts, the council is now attempting to sterilise Melbourne by making it the world’s mostunliveable city for anyone failing to shape up to their expectations of shinyshoppers.
How long can it be until people with less than $100 in their pockets, nondesigner tracksuits or crooked teeth also find themselves united bythe moment in being frogmarched to the city limits? In response to this we are announcing the 2006 Graffiti Games. During the Graffiti Games, the entire CBD has been declared a maximum tolerance zone open to street art of all forms. Unlike the elitist Commonwealth Games, the Graffiti Games will be open to anyone with a spray-can and a good or bad idea.
The Graffiti Games Organising Committee will award gold, silver and bronze medals to the most popular entrants in categories including:
* Most Elaborate Stencil Piece
* Funniest Slogan
* Largest Graffiti Piece
* Most Daring Placement
* Best Caricature of the Mayor
* Most Seditious Piece
To he eligible, all competitors must photograph their work and send it in to www.graffitigames2006.com "

A Salute to The Mountain Goats

I feel I can do this now as I just bought tix for their show on the 12th April at the Corner.
I lashed out and bought 3 CDs from Amazon which I received last week: The Mountain Goats (Sunset Tree); Belle & Sebastian (The Life Pursuit); and My Morning Jacket (Z). By far my fave is The Mountain Goats, which I've barely taken outta my CD player and am driving my friends crazy with... I just want to spread the love! The album is based on the experiences of childhood abuse suffered by John Darnielle, and it's about pain, forgiveness, beauty and freedom... I think.

love without happiness is sadness

Gown+Boredom+Sandwiches+Vino@Tiamo=GRADUATE!

Nillumbik. True?

The visual beauty of our rural open spaces, together with the friendliness of our villages, including Eltham, Diamond Creek, Hurstbridge and St Andrews adds to the relaxed, open lifestyle of the Shire. The Shire has long been known as a region of artistic vitality and excellence, where the creative life of the community is highly valued and nurtured. With the Yarra River as the southern boundary, the visual beauty of the region’s rural open spaces, together with the friendliness of our villages adds to the relaxed, open lifestyle of the Shire. The Shire also falls within the boundaries of the internationally recognised Yarra Valley.

Festival weekend

Who would have thunk I could do 3 festivals in one weekend... And it wasn't flat-out...
Saturday arvo I dropped in at the Heidelberg Fest in the park for a lil while, after wines and calamari at Matto's. Sunday morning we went to the Slovenian Festival (no big black men but all welcome) up in Research, then later to the Sydney Road street party and festival where all and sundry were grooving and drinking and squinting.

Best Sunday Ever

Amazing how things go from horror-show to heaven. I was in a crappy mood Friday night and Saturday night.. But then, spending the day with JC and LTR, out taking photos, was just lovely.

Flurry

I saw on the ABC news on Tuesday that a French woman had had a FACE-TRANSPLANT.
Mildly interested, it totally freaked me out when they said that the reson she needed a new face was because her per labrador had eaten off her face as she lay unconcious in her flat after attempting suicide. Apparently she had come to, having lost consciousness from taking a massive overdose of pills, tried to light a cigarette and couldn't figure out why it wouldn't stay in her mouth.......... The story got WORSE! The face that they transplanted to her was taken from a woman in a nearby town who had SUCCESSFULLY committed suicide. What the hell is this crazy story?

Miss Australia

Following on from the hunt for Russian-Australians, apparently one of the most famous "Miss Australia" was a woman named Tania Verstak. She was born in China of Russian parents, and when she won "Miss Australia" in 1961, she was the first woman of immigrant background to win the Title.
And following on from that pearl, the first (only?) Aboriginal woman to win the "Miss Australia" Title was Kathryn Hay in 1999.

Sunny Weekend

Crazy busy weekend. The weather was just perfect: mid-20s and lotsa sun. Perfect for drinking cold white wine in the sunshine. Saturday I went to Linden in St Kilda to see the annual postcard competition entrants. I knew a couple of hopefuls so that added to the excitement. Lots of amazing work. I wanted to buy two tiny little landscape paintings for $90 but everyone gave me shit so I didn't. I'm broke anyways.
Insanity ensued that evening. Went to a party at Poonstance's and was having a gay old time until I realised I'd locked my keys in the car. Twas a great way too meet some Brunswick locals and generate a community event as friends and strangers alike tore my car apart in an attempt to reunite me with the keys.
Sunday we went to a Russian festival in Federation Square - I went for the advertised pancakes and was BITTERLY disappointed when we had to queue for ages to get a lousy pancake with a blob of cheap jam on top. Better then the ones JC and LTR got, though, which has meaty icicles inside. Yuk-o. But there were Russians in costume, Russians in BAD Eastern fashion and Russians in paper hats looking like wallies so that was all worthwhile.
Visited Z and Ot in the evening which was great... I'm in love with that child!
Today is an exciting day - I've become a seller on eBay! Shit scared. I really hope someone buys my lovely Sigma Zoom lens. If this works out I've got BOXES of crap I'll try to flog.