This IS real life!

Everything's Coming Up TAMARA

I went up to Seoul two weeks ago to apply for my German passport and I had a lovely adventure. I tried to make a post about it on my blog, but I couldn't work it out on my iPhone. I managed to save the post and I'm finally putting it on the ol' internet. 

Ja-ja!

I've been reading a lot of blogs lately (well, maybe just obsessively reading *one that Lizzie reminded me existed) and I then I remembered that I have a blog, too!   

 * This Blog. Shit's fabulous.

This weekend I've been clomping about, eating turkey with friends, working on my German passport (I apply tomorrow!), and Christmas shopping. Man, this is a lot of activity for me. It's 6pm on a Sunday and I'm fucking tired.  

I'm currently in a Starbucks in Itaewon, charging my phone and hanging about until it's late enough for me to get into the Hamilton jimiilbang to SLEEEEP. 

I totally stole a cup from that table over there so I could sit my ass here without twitching around, feeling guilty.
  

Here is my glorious breakfast from today.  

And here are my passport photos!  

Man do  I look "I don't give a fuck." And German. And like a 15-year-old boy. WIN. 

I had to haul my ass all the way up to Seoul for those bad boys. I had originally planned to apply for my passport in one terrifyingly manic day midweek. That was a shitty idea, but I couldn't justify the money to do anything else. And then The Germans informed me that I couldn't just bring any old passport photos I damn well pleased. No, I had to go to a special studio in Seoul. So, very luckily, my idea for a frenzied escapade doomed to failure turned into an epically lovely and well-planned 3-day weekend.  

Also, when I called the German embassy and had this conversation, it became quite evident that the people who answered the phones were not the people who I had been emailing for over a year…They couldn't understand what the hell I was even playing at, ringing them up for a passport appointment unable to speak German.

Have I mentioned that I'm terrified of Germans?! They're so…matter-of-fact. 

Anyway, I trundled all over this hill for about an hour to scout out the embassy today and avoid 8am panic tomorrow. (Good idea, all of the people who told me to do that!) 

Then, I FOUND IT!!!!! (like 20m behind that map)  Effing. Cheezed.
After that, I rushed off to Dondaemun for shopping! I bought lots of goodies! 

Like my first bow tie. 

This sweater made me audibly gasp, so I had to flee the building and headed into the trashy flea market trash bag shit show outside. Turns out, a lot of the department stores are shut on Sunday and every old person for miles hawks their trash outside. 

This place is for me. 

I don't have any non-terrifying ideas of what a hollow, ceramic fist could be used for.  

THEN SUBWAY. 

 IN ITAEWON. 

And here we are, almost charged up, feeling more homeless than usual.  

Wish me luck tomorrow. Those people didn't almost take over the world being cute. 

And here's some prologue:

THIS WAS MY FACE BEFORE THE GERMANS

Shitting. My. Self.

AND THIS WAS MY FACE AFTERWARD

LIVING THE DREAM!

Is this real life?

Things are going well! Today is my last day of vacation and it's been SO LOVELY (well, except for the part where my mom was in the hospital, but she's ok and she finally got a thing fixed that's been wrong for at least a decade). I have so many great people in my life, especially my amazing partner. Simchah.

Anywho, going to run off to the gym with my new resolve and then do a million other productive things today, including my taxes and playing with Sai, a program my computer can handle as opposed to Photoshop, which makes it want to die.

My life is great. Today seems like a day that's on the brink of SO many adventures. That could be the coffee, though. ^_^

Since this is a Korea blog and I want to post this somewhere, here's a video my friend Kevin showed me of a Korean band. K-pop is terrifyingly crap, so he's been on a mission to find good Korean music. Here's some!

"It's No Use" (소용없어) by Scarfish

I made MANDU! (Korean dumplings)

I made these! And they're vegan! 

Lizzie made the boob ones. ^_^

Fryin' 'em up.

Lizzie was so excited that I was so excited about making mandu.

JA-JA! Ramyen and mandu. CLASSIC.

We're practically Korean up in here.

It's Korea outside!

I had a day off. I went for a much-needed hike. It was lovely.

The start!

And at the beach!

BEST FIELD TRIP EVER!!!!

BOOM. VIDEO.

They were stupid hard to photograph today because they were too busy BEING AWESOME.

Here's some blurry guys!

Claire

Daniel (telling me to COME ON TEACHER!)

Jeremy

Mikey

and Brian!

Dunno this kid, but mine made that arch!

ALSO MINIATURE MUSEUM WAS AWESOME. I HAD THE BEST TIME.

And a class picture!

(click to enlarge! It's a must!!!!)

I LOVE MY BABIES!!!! AH!!!!

OPEN CLASS IS OVER! SO IS OVERTIME!

MY BABIES BUILT A DRAGON!!!!! (it's wings moved and shit!)

L to R: Mikey, Katie, Dongwook

ja ja!

Haven't posted on here in AGES! Our open class is next week at school and it's a little bit killing me. I worked about 7 hours of overtime last week! 4.5 of those hours were paid! WOOOO!

But, it's getting there. And of course everything is coming to a head all at once, but after next week, open class, overtime classes, and report cards will be finished. SCHWOO.

Then on the 30th, we'll be going to a giant theater FILLED WITH CARDBOARD BOXES. "Why?" you undoubtedly ask. So that we can build shit and then KNOCK IT OVER.

BEST. FIELD TRIP. EVER. Pictures? YOU BET.

Oh, aside from teaching (which I still love because 5 year-olds are hilarious, tiny, drunk people), uhm, rehearsing for a dance routine up in Seoul in 2 weeks, doing some drawing, planted a garden with Lizzie THAT IS SPROUTING THINGS and summer is upon us. NOT TOO SHABBY. Also, I turn 26 soon. Thanks to Korea, I've been "26" for quite a while, so it's not really too bad adjusting to the thought of being in my "late 20s." You know. Oh! and I benched 30kg at the gym!

Ok, I've got to grab some songs from the internet and hop on the train!

tooooooooot

Strawberry Picking!

Another field trip! I was assigned to watch and photograph four kids, so here's some pictures of Mikey, Daniel, Devin, and Katie. Enjoy. ^_^

Daniel seems to say, "Why G-d? Why?"

[ aaaaand, the internet doesn't want to post anymore pictures and it's time for me to get dressed and do some errands! That was cut short, I guess. ^_^ Later! ]

p.s. My kids thought I was the bravest for picking up a scary spider and moving it. Yeah!

Why I Love Teaching 5-Year-Olds:

(click to enlarge)

My babies! (and Amy, Eva, and some poor dude in a wizard costume)

(click to enlarge)

One of my students called another kid a crazy bastard (in Korean) during P.E., bwahaha

BABIES

Here's some snaps from our recent(ish) field trip to Neverland, a kids' play place.

Daniel (my favorite), trying to shove snacks up his nose

Grace, one of the twins, sitting in a tub of wheat (pssst, there's an ocean outside with sand)

Elly and Eileen!

Just Eileen. She cracks me up. ^_^

Devin. Devin is a tiny ajushi (Korean old man).  Just look at him.

I've got more students (16 of them!), but no decent pictures yet! I'll get some more during our next field trip (picking strawberries!) and I'll steal some from our school's blog once I get the address.

Ok, time for work. 

preow!

Kids. They know some things.

Eileen: Tamara Teacher, are you a boygirl?

Me: Nope, just a girl.

Eileen: I think you are a boygirl.

Me: *shrug*

Hey, I'm alive!

Man, I've been meaning to toss some words on here for a few days now. Thanks to Lizzie's 8am debate class, I'm up super early and I've got a minute to drop a line. SCHWOO.

Since work started, my days have been packed! Let me tell you...about it. I teach "7-year-olds." That's their Korean age, so they're really 5. I am the native English speaking teacher for DOLPHIN CLASS. That means our classroom has dolphins plastered all over everything and my littles have an animal name to respond to. Our class also has Eva, a Korean teacher fluent in English (and she really is fluent!!!! hurrah! And awesome! hurrah!!!). She teaches 2/5 of the classes and we manage the classroom together. She also has to deal with the moms. And finally, our third adult in the room is Amy. She's an assistant teacher and helps the kids with bandaids and eating and she helps decorate and clean. Some of the assistant teachers speak English, but Amy doesn't. She was formally a kindergarten teacher, though! And the three of us are generally always in the room with the kids. It's not a bad system. ^_^

So, I've got the same 16 little dudes from 9am until 2:30pm every day. I was a little worried about it before I started and I'm only a few weeks in, but I really love it right now. Sure, teaching these kids all day is NOT easy, but it feels really cool getting to know these kids so well. They're SUPER adorable (even when I want to push them over by their giant bobble heads) and they'll be plenty of pictures (and stories) to follow.

I also took some videos of the graduation ceremony from this past February. I'll upload one o' thems ever. Maybe. ^_^

FIRST FIELD TRIP IS THIS FRIDAY! I'm excited to play with these guys! I've got to make them learn shit or plan for other classes all day and we never get to chill. Stoked.

AND THEN AFTER 3pm! You'd think I'd have time to plan shit and be the best teacher ever, right? NOPE!  I've got 3 to 5 elementary classes to teach each day, including surprise mandatory overtime 3 times a week (I do need the money, though.... sigh). On Tuesdays,  I teach 6 of my own kids held after school for extra reading and these kids CANNOT COPE. BECAUSE THEY ARE 5-YEAR-OLDS.

Oh, Korea.

Also adding to the hilarity of everything is that my school is in a massive department store in the wealthiest area of the second largest city in Korea. These kids are effing RICH. One of them has a fur coat. Their moms are insane. And they're in constant contact with us. Also, most of the kids have a nanny (and moms who stay home), which cracks me up. It also accounts for the constant contact I mentioned earlier. ^_^

So....I like it. It's a lot of work, but I don't worry much about planning and the kids are SO smart and interesting. I feel like a good teacher this year. And I'm setting up a studio space and Lizzie and I joined the gym across the street. Even some drawing is happening. I'll take it!

Ok, time to get ready for work!

Later!

Blog title will change to "Our life in Harry Potter"

LIZZIE GOT INTO CAMBRIDGE!!!!!!!! AHHHHHHHHHHHHHHH!!!!

yeah! yeah! yeahyeahyeah!!!!!!

Also, don't want to forget her saying this:
"We're going to have to agree to disagree about the Amish."

I’m finally watching this movie all the way through and the sassy ladies montage just made tears of joy fly out of my face.

yay.

Safely back in Busan.

G-d, that takes FOREVER.

weeeeeeeeeee.

Beautiful Moment

Mom and Tyler singing "Like a Virgin" together in the car.

The End.

E-Ticket Totally Gotten

Getting my e-ticket was way less of a hassle than I expected. Also, when EDDIE! asked where I wanted to fly from, I just said Erie. And that's where I'm flying from. Fancy that. I somehow doubt that would've flown with The Cha anyway (she tried to get me to fly back to JFK my first year), but hey, I'll take it. Well, my parents would have had to drive me, so they'll take it.

Anyway, I fly back to Korea next Wednesday. The flight's at 5:30am, so we're doing goodbyes the night before and then one of my parents (I'm thinking it'll be my dad) will trot me over to the airport so I'll get there by 3:30am. I won't be able to sleep all that much, anyway, so that'll be alright. Whenever I think about it, my tummy get all jumpy. I can't believe that I've been home for over a month. It's gone by at all the speeds at the same time. When I think about it, it feels really lovely. There were times where I got my pants in a wad, but fortunately, I've had enough reminder to de-wad, that, on the whole, I've really enjoyed my time. I do think next year, that my trip home will only be 2 weeks and then it's off to England (where I'm moving, fyi). While I'm there, I'll try to get a driver's license and that will help travelling considerably, I should think.

I digress. Flying back to Korea next Wednesday. First work thing is February 24th. Feeling ready to go back to Korea, totally having some butterflies. Packing officially starts next Monday. The end!

BOOM.

This visa made possible thanks to: Missy, Steve, & Ally Belden, Phyllis Hoople, Lizzie Pope, & Alice Oliver. THANK YOU!

Oh, America.

How come in commercials for cleaning supplies/ laundry stuff, only women are ever using the products?

Lame.

Here's Some Boring, Obessive Minutae!

My passport is at the Korean Consulate in NYC (in less than 24 hours for $18)!

And! I'll know it's done processing and on it's way back when this stops happening:

That's the tracking for the second envelope. USPS tracking isn't updated very quickly (I don't really know why...shit's electronic. How does UPS manage?), but I'll still know the night before it arrives when it's heading back.

Woo!

p.s. Jersey Shore is boring. It's not even entertaining trash. sigh.

Right Now Is Very Nice

Invariably, whenever I get a visa (I can say that now...I'm on my third), I always promise myself that I'll stop worrying once some step of the process is finished. It feels SO GOOD after I complete a step and there's a giant WHOOSH of relief, but then I always find something else to worry about. Sometimes, it takes me 10 whole minutes. Sometimes, it's while I haven't even finished the step I'm on.

But I'm pretty much on the very last step of this thing. I've been waiting for my passport to be on its way to NYC for a long, long time. Other than The Great Diploma Fiasco* that ensued after my notarized and apostilled degree was lost by the USPS and my employer just sitting on my documents for a week and a half, it's been ok. Better than last year, haha. And once that visa shows up, it really feels worth it.

* You can see a recap of said fiasco in comic form on my artsy blog, posted January 14th of this year. It's there and not here because of mad swears. I try and keep it relatively PG-13 up in here.

All this time and stress and money for a shiny sticker. Well, with a German passport and grad school in my future, more of such adventures to come!

Life's pretty good.

Wish me luck explaining to Noah that I'm leaving in just a few weeks. And I'll try not to obsess over not knowing my employer's birthday for that application form. ^_^

Ok, time to play Call of Duty 3 with Noah.  Later, dudes.

AMERICA

I'mablog my face off. Deal.

I'm all set up for the post office and I'm just chilling with my family's puppy, eating an orange that's as big as my head, and 

WATCHING JERSEY SHORE.

For the first time ever.

Yesssss.

NO INTERVIEW IN NYC!!!!!!!!! WOOOOO!

I GOT MY VISA ISSUANCE NUMBER!


 WOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOHOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO!

Vidya Game Dance Video!

Less cranky today, but Oh, Please G-d, Let Me Get My Visa Number This Week.

And here! For your viewing pleasure!

Some Grumbles

Still no visa issuance number. Called work last week and they were all like, "oh, we're going to immigration this afternoon!" I was sent an updated version of the Health Statement form (oh, that guy....) to scan and send back and have heard nothing since. Hello. I just want my damn visa and for just one person from my new job to stay in contact with me. It's a good thing I have some idea of what goes on during the visa application because things only ever seem to happen when I call them up. I know they're busy...but that's exactly why the company's recruiter, whose job it is to handle this stuff, should be in contact with me. I'm so glad that I paid $57 to overnight this paperwork to Korea so it could just sit there. I feel pent up and grumpy today. I don't really want to sit on having to call the embassy in NYC. I know it's ridiculous to worry about, but what if I have to go for an interview again? I just want to get to the part where I send off that paperwork to New York and that's that. Well, really, I want my passport back in my hands with my visa in it and my e-ticket in my inbox.

There are many, many things I love about Korea. And rather than write about the things I don't love about Korea, which is what I want to turn this sentence into about 1000 times, I have to remember those things that I love. And remember that I have a job and that puts me way ahead of the game. I'll get back. And I'm going to have a great and productive year.

Happy time!

My documents are off to Korea, which is a giant step toward getting my visa (a process that started mid-September)! And now I can chill out for a damn minute and just ENJOY my friends and family. BALLA!

Ally and Tyler playing some futuristic dance game. That shit scans they body!

Ally and Mom doin' such a dance! 

p.s. Don't tell Missy B. that I put this on the internet. She will murder me. 

Oh, King Sejong. You had no way of knowing.

Tyler's dapper outfit! Shirt and socks provided by me! And fancy vest provided by Mom!

Noah pulling his badass face with the Lego UFO and Knight Bus we built together.

Ally with a lap full of new pups.

Woo! Monopoly Time!

And while I'm having a lovely time at home, I'm far, far away from the woman I love. This makes me quite heartbroken, really. But we talk every morning (her evening) on Skype and we're getting along.

Here's some pictures from our Christmas in Korea before I left:

Our tree and gifts!

We've got such outfits on. We tried really hard to get good pictures of them, but we couldn't really manage. So, Christmas Faces, instead!

I'm a lucky girl with loads of lovely people in my life. And with that, I shall drift asleep while watching Eddie Izzard.