The passage of time is incredible here. It feels distorted somehow. Faster somehow. All half trip and half life like a drunken night bleeding into morning. Last year for Chu-seok, my friend Fabio visited. We went to a traditional village and saw a mask dance festival in a neighboring city. It was luscious. This year, I made a solo trip to Japan. I stayed at couchsurfer’s pad and ate a butt ton of Japanese food. It was fantastic. If you’ve never seen or heard of couchsurfing I would highly recommend giving it a google. My host made my trip ten times more fantastic than it would have been otherwise. He gave me a lot of insight into the culture and made for some best company.
As I briefly mentioned in my last post, my little brother Eli has joined me in South Korea. He’s doing really well and living outside of the city of Gwangju in a place call Hampyeong. The city itself is the fourth largest city in the country, which is saying a lot with the way population density condenses itself here. It’s about a four hour bus ride away, which considering where most of my loved ones be at, is not so far away.
Two Fridays ago, my mom flew into South Korea to visit my brother and me. It was very different having her visit in comparison with the couple of friends I’ve met up with. For starters: MOMMY. Secondly, she wasn’t so interested in Korean food (in fact she made it a running joke that California Pizza Kitchen was by far her favorite Korean food :P) and the crowding in the city was a little difficult for her as well. I didn’t realize how used to being jostled I’ve become. Anyhoot, my brother came up from Hampyeong for the first weekend she was here. We spent a week avoiding Korean food in Seoul, meeting up with my friends, and then went down to visit my brother. WOW. It was just amazing. Eli introduced us to one of his student’s families. They lived in a house that the father had built more or less on his own and drank tea that he had grown in pottery that they had traded for. The stars felt palpable and the kids only spoke a few sentences of English with gusher candy smiles. They made us feel so welcomed and were so open. The following day we met Eli’s pottery teacher and the mother of his student from the night before (she actually teaches English). We drank more tea and painted ceramics cups. They both assured my brother was being well taken care of and that he loved her dearly (awwwwwwwwwwwwwww). My mom spent a few more days there after my return and then took off this past Tuesday: WAAAAHHH. Luckily, my vacation time has been approved so I will be coming home for a month at Christmas time!!!! I’m still figuring out what I will be doing next year, but I don’t see myself returning for good anytime soon.
Next guest: swing dancing Lori. She’s been living in Germany for a gig as a nanny of sorts and she’s decided to stop on by. HOTEL JILL: in working condition. I’m super psyched to show her around and do a disgusting amount of swing dancing.
As usual, Yeah yeah yeah.
Jill looks at things. 