sleeping on the job

I just had a really awesome experience at work. Being as the students are dab smack in the middle of midterm exams, I am free to do what I please for the long day, as long as I remain at my school. So what did I do today at work? Well I took a nap! A very comfortable, totally legit nap. Had I known before how easy it is to nap at work, I would have been taking post-lunch nap breaks more often. The nurse downstairs has a room that is less like an office and more like a posh room at a hostel, with six large beds, made private by room dividers, one wall of massive windows, soft lighting, and a lack of noise. So I walked right in to the office, motioned to one of the empty beds, tucked away at the back of the large room, and near one of the big windows and had myself a cozy nap. Two large fluffy pillows and a comforter and new book, and I had myself a great few hours curled up in her office, sick with nothing! I think this will be a regular part of my workday from here on out. This job can be difficult at times, but then I think of all the little things that make it so easy! Being paid good money for twenty hours of prep time that takes me one hour to complete is somewhere high on the list. That leaves me nineteen precious hours to read, research, study, email, watch movies, and NAP!

why do i sit at my desk all day long?

Sitting at a desk in not really my idea of a good time. I don’t think I am quite cut out for this line of work, which requires a lot of time staring at my computer and sitting stagnant, waiting for the hours to pass. But I do know this, taking this job and making the move to Korea has been a really good situation, regardless of my gripes or minor (or major) complaints. This move and decision to take a job as a public school teacher in the major metropolis of Seoul has opened up a plethora of new doors for me and opened my eyes to a contrasting way of life. Learning another culture is not easy, and has been in general a fun and quirky adventure. I never could have learned the small and large things that I have by simply being on vacation here, and these small and large pieces to our “Korean experience” are what make my time here seem worthwhile, and fill me with new knowledge and openness to other ways of life. It also makes me seriously dig where I am from!

In addition to the higher level of understanding I am gaining by being here, and the new and old relationships I am building, there is the paycheck, steady and plentiful and allows for us to live a luxurious life and also save save save for the year of serious round the world travel that is planned and also for setting up home again when we are done. So while I sit here perusing random websites, learning from the random massive collection that the world wide web has to offer in an attempt to stave off my boredom, I remind myself of all the reasons why we chose to move here, and all the plusses that we couldn’t have even planned for, made possible by these hours spent sitting at my desk.

Want to see where we went this past weekend? On an epic long walk through Myeongdong, Namdaemun, Dongdaemun, Cheongyecheon, and Iteawon. Perfect weather. We came across some pretty interesting stuff, including a festival to promote the end of violence to women and human trafficking, as well as a celebration of the Guinness world record of the most countries to band together to support a country at war, I think it was sixty two countries, on display on this 60^th anniversary of the start of the Korean war. Also saw a pig rotating over open flame, unattended, on the side of the street. And a seriously ugly mannequin. And lots of other stuff as usual. Love love love, Nicole 

hot fall day in iteawon

a lazy sunday in iteawon, josh and i spent hours at a coffee shop in haebongchong after a late breakfast with nate, ira, jenya, and kilm. the air was warm and clean (for a change) so we walked and walked through alleyways of slums and emerging in an upscale gated community, making an effort to notice the small thing, the little things that seem so normal now, but are unique to this city. we even made our modeling debuts on this sunny afternoon... actually that white wall just looked like an inviting back drop. we walked and talked and also endured long silences before settling down outside for an late afternoon/evening round of playing cards at the mini mart.

on our bus ride home across the long banbo bridge i glanced out the window to see a truly remarkable night sky, the clouds created a nice depth and there was a nice clear view of the floating buildings. it was a quick decision but we disembarked and stood in the middle of the bridge with the fast, cool fall wind whipping around as i got this shot: