It's My Fault It Snowed

WTF, Korea! I told you to stop this already, back in January. I know you think you're being all cool by imitating Canada, but I've yet to hear an expat here complain that they miss the 9 months of winter part. Enough!

The kimchi pots, a key part of directions to where I live.

I totally should have realised it had snowed because when I got up to pee in the middle of the night, the sky was oddly light, but I was half asleep and didn't take it in. While it's awesome that the world is getting light by the time I wake up these days, it's less awesome that I had a great view of a lot of freaking snow. I had to leave five minutes early so I could slowly penguin walk down the steep, slippery hill (Koreans do the oddest snow clearing I've ever seen and it always results in patches of ice rather than anything helpful - tie that in with the odd use of very, very slippery marble as steps and on the sidewalks, and Korea in the snow should be an Olympic event of its own) and when you leave at 7:20 and get out of bed at 6:45, five minutes has quite an impact on the morning routine.

I almost used the photo above, taken just a few minutes from my school in Nowon, as my 365 photo of the day.


As days go, it was a fine one. The Korean teachers come in to my classes frequently - usually to take photos of the kids and I - I'm guessing they'll do something like Polly school did and give the kids a commemorative photo album upon graduation. It's a bit odd to be in THAT many photos though - plus, I don't wear makeup to school. We still don't have books and might not until Wednesday, so I'm still sort of winging it. I don't think I'm going to like teaching most of the six year olds - they are always tired by the time most of them get to me and since none speak any English, it's frustrating for me too. However, Bia told me that one of the 7 year old students went out and was loudly talking to her mom about how I complimented her and she loved me and English (I wonder if I came before the language or after?), so that's good, I guess. I do try to be as sweet to the little ones as possible, but discipline is sort of key right now, since most don't even respond to their English names yet.



I took some pics out the window of my classroom. The second one below is the one I uploaded to Project 365. I find it really hard to choose a picture out of what I take each day and it has occurred to me to collage a bunch, but that seems like cheating a bit. If it's work to pick one, I should probably be trying to it - after all, I really have no eye for photos a lot of the time. My best pics are usually culled from lots and lots of bad, bad pictures. I seem to take about three times as many pictures as most people I know, so some are bound to be good. Developing a critical eye is definitely part of the goal of this project; granted, some days I'm too lazy to take enough pictures to have much to choose from.


The picture below was my attempt to show water streaming down the pipe in the sunlight. It didn't work. Wonder what I would need to have done for it to work?


Pictures taken on my way into the subway, of the snow on the roof over the escalator. Also contenders for the Project 365 photo of the day.



These ladies got on the subway at Suraksan station, so that hiking gear is the real deal. They were all putting on nail polish as the train jerked along. Thus they beat me twice over: more hardcore (mountain climbing in snow is not my thing) and more girly (I can't recall the last time I wore nail polish.)

Self portrait while commuting. I would look considerably more tired if this wasn't merely a reflection.


Quiz tonight, following my pizza splurge. I'm tired, but I skipped it last week, so I'm gonna suck it up and put on my winning panties.