Monsoon season
July 14, 2009
The definition of insanity surely must be an “office-tel”. An office-tel is a cookie cutter building in Seoul popping up everywhere! They house several very small studio apartments. Your kitchen is also your bedroom which is also your living room. If I had to guess, I would say it is the size (if not smaller) of a dorm room with a few more amenities. Mine has very dark wall paper and a scenic view of the office-tel that was built about 5 feet away from “Oak Vill” (spelling was not a mistake). I can’t stay there very long (even though I spent all of last Sunday there watching a True Blood marathon - next week- HEROS!). When I stay there too long, I become oddly unmotivated and extremely lazy. It could be because my bed takes up most of the space; power of suggestion. So, it’s no wonder that I have fallen in love with Tom N Toms. When I have nothing planned for an evening, the Toms are always there to save me from my insanity and motivate me to do something rather than drool like an invalid in front of the TV. No normal person would be out on a night like tonight, but fear of the insanity pushed me into my flip flops, capri tracky bottoms, and raincoat and forced me into the monsoon.
Insanity aka: Oak Vill
My room
I have to admit, though it sounds like a chore to go out in the rain, part of me loves it! I love thunderstorms! I remember one night back in good ol’ Greenfield, all of the power went out. I sat in front of the family room window and watched the thunderstorm for a good hour and a half. That thunderstorm was small change compared to this one. After 2 minutes of walking to Tom’s, my tracky bottoms were soaked. As I am sitting here, I am still dripping, the whole seat is soaked.
The word ‘monsoon’ never meant that much to me. I knew that July and August in Korea was referred to as the monsoon season. After last year, I had a very bad perception of what ‘monsoon season’ really meant. It has been raining everyday for about 5 days now. Today was a great day for rain because it was field trip day. Carting kids around in the rain always equals fun.
‘This would never fly in the states’ moment today: The school sprung a leak today! Several leaks to be exact. One of the leaks was running right into the circuit box. I walked in to find Dowomi Teacher (the hall teacher, a little old lady that cleans and serves lunch) sticking a screwdriver into the wet circuits. They couldn’t fix the problem (I can’t understand why a screwdriver poked into wet circuits wouldn’t fix it) so, instead, they just left the lights off in the front of the building for the rest of the day.
The term ‘raining cats and dogs’ doesn’t even begin to describe how hard it is raining (I have also learned that this seems to be a favorite idiom to the Korean English learners. In the past week I have had about 5 people ask me where it comes from. I had no idea, so I looked it up.)
‘raining cats and dogs’ origin: One hypothesis that has been furthered to explain this phenomenon is that strong winds travelling over water sometimes pick up creatures such as fish or frogs, and carry them for up to several miles. However, this primary aspect of the phenomenon has never been witnessed or scientifically tested. Thank you Wikipedia….
But I like this one better: Houses used to have thatched roofs. Thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. They were the only place for the little animals to get warm. So all the pets; dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, bugs, all lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery so sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Thus the saying, "it's raining cats and dogs."
So, here I am, blogging when I should be writing letters (e-mails) to my friends and family. I guess this is what addiction does.. makes you slack a little.. yes, addiction.. I am addicted to blogging now. I like to look at it as a creative outlet. I really enjoy writing and blogging helps me tell my story to all of my friends and family at once, even if it does seem a little impersonal, but I have you all in mind when I am writing. Some of you are learning more about me than you may have ever wanted to know!
Having said that…. Whew!! July is going by in a blur! I set out with some good travel plans this month, but with people bailing and money constraints, looks like July is going to prove to be any ordinary month (except for the fun times that I spend with my pals). For the 6 day vacation at the end of July, I still have my hopes set for a trip to the southern islands of Korea, Somaemuldo, Maemuldo and Oedo. Maemuldo has kind of a strange history. You can check it out if you are interested. http://hallyeo.knps.or.kr/Hallyeo_eng/info/legend01.html
My time is growing short here, so I am trying to spend some time with friends that I may not see for years. My friend Lara is leaving in just two short weeks! We will be having Thursday burrito night this week and on to a nice little 2-weekend going away party! I’m excited to meet my friend Jess’ boyfriend who is coming in a few weeks. Also, my other friend Jessica, who you may remember from the beginning of the year, is coming back! Not just back to Korea, but back to the same school! She is a ball of energy and so much fun! I am ready to hear some knew “Jess-isms”.
Lara and Lauren Jessica on her last day, last year.. welcome back, friend!
That’s all from me… tell me more about YOU!! I am beginning to think that blogging has greatly reduced my return e-mails… prove me wrong!!! PLEASE!
The definition of insanity surely must be an “office-tel”. An office-tel is a cookie cutter building in Seoul popping up everywhere! They house several very small studio apartments. Your kitchen is also your bedroom which is also your living room. If I had to guess, I would say it is the size (if not smaller) of a dorm room with a few more amenities. Mine has very dark wall paper and a scenic view of the office-tel that was built about 5 feet away from “Oak Vill” (spelling was not a mistake). I can’t stay there very long (even though I spent all of last Sunday there watching a True Blood marathon - next week- HEROS!). When I stay there too long, I become oddly unmotivated and extremely lazy. It could be because my bed takes up most of the space; power of suggestion. So, it’s no wonder that I have fallen in love with Tom N Toms. When I have nothing planned for an evening, the Toms are always there to save me from my insanity and motivate me to do something rather than drool like an invalid in front of the TV. No normal person would be out on a night like tonight, but fear of the insanity pushed me into my flip flops, capri tracky bottoms, and raincoat and forced me into the monsoon.
Insanity aka: Oak Vill
My room
I have to admit, though it sounds like a chore to go out in the rain, part of me loves it! I love thunderstorms! I remember one night back in good ol’ Greenfield, all of the power went out. I sat in front of the family room window and watched the thunderstorm for a good hour and a half. That thunderstorm was small change compared to this one. After 2 minutes of walking to Tom’s, my tracky bottoms were soaked. As I am sitting here, I am still dripping, the whole seat is soaked.
The word ‘monsoon’ never meant that much to me. I knew that July and August in Korea was referred to as the monsoon season. After last year, I had a very bad perception of what ‘monsoon season’ really meant. It has been raining everyday for about 5 days now. Today was a great day for rain because it was field trip day. Carting kids around in the rain always equals fun.
‘This would never fly in the states’ moment today: The school sprung a leak today! Several leaks to be exact. One of the leaks was running right into the circuit box. I walked in to find Dowomi Teacher (the hall teacher, a little old lady that cleans and serves lunch) sticking a screwdriver into the wet circuits. They couldn’t fix the problem (I can’t understand why a screwdriver poked into wet circuits wouldn’t fix it) so, instead, they just left the lights off in the front of the building for the rest of the day.
The term ‘raining cats and dogs’ doesn’t even begin to describe how hard it is raining (I have also learned that this seems to be a favorite idiom to the Korean English learners. In the past week I have had about 5 people ask me where it comes from. I had no idea, so I looked it up.)
‘raining cats and dogs’ origin: One hypothesis that has been furthered to explain this phenomenon is that strong winds travelling over water sometimes pick up creatures such as fish or frogs, and carry them for up to several miles. However, this primary aspect of the phenomenon has never been witnessed or scientifically tested. Thank you Wikipedia….
But I like this one better: Houses used to have thatched roofs. Thick straw, piled high, with no wood underneath. They were the only place for the little animals to get warm. So all the pets; dogs, cats and other small animals, mice, rats, bugs, all lived in the roof. When it rained it became slippery so sometimes the animals would slip and fall off the roof. Thus the saying, "it's raining cats and dogs."
So, here I am, blogging when I should be writing letters (e-mails) to my friends and family. I guess this is what addiction does.. makes you slack a little.. yes, addiction.. I am addicted to blogging now. I like to look at it as a creative outlet. I really enjoy writing and blogging helps me tell my story to all of my friends and family at once, even if it does seem a little impersonal, but I have you all in mind when I am writing. Some of you are learning more about me than you may have ever wanted to know!
Having said that…. Whew!! July is going by in a blur! I set out with some good travel plans this month, but with people bailing and money constraints, looks like July is going to prove to be any ordinary month (except for the fun times that I spend with my pals). For the 6 day vacation at the end of July, I still have my hopes set for a trip to the southern islands of Korea, Somaemuldo, Maemuldo and Oedo. Maemuldo has kind of a strange history. You can check it out if you are interested. http://hallyeo.knps.or.kr/Hallyeo_eng/info/legend01.html
My time is growing short here, so I am trying to spend some time with friends that I may not see for years. My friend Lara is leaving in just two short weeks! We will be having Thursday burrito night this week and on to a nice little 2-weekend going away party! I’m excited to meet my friend Jess’ boyfriend who is coming in a few weeks. Also, my other friend Jessica, who you may remember from the beginning of the year, is coming back! Not just back to Korea, but back to the same school! She is a ball of energy and so much fun! I am ready to hear some knew “Jess-isms”.
Lara and Lauren Jessica on her last day, last year.. welcome back, friend!
That’s all from me… tell me more about YOU!! I am beginning to think that blogging has greatly reduced my return e-mails… prove me wrong!!! PLEASE!