like a fish

so i opened this up because i thought i might have something interesting to talk about.
scratch that idea.

i'll ramble.
oh wait....
i do that every post.

these damn kids.
today we didn't have morning classes.
instead we all romped around in hanbok (wiki it).
one of the teachers let me wear her dad's.
photos should come soon.

why, you might ask, were we wearing hanbok?
we had like a little celebration day for chuseok (again, wiki it).

and we get friday and monday off.
pretty nice.
as long as my money is effective on friday since i get paid thursday.
first payday of the real world.
i'll let you know exactly how sweet it tastes in the next post.
i can only imagine how delicious it will be once i'm able to buy some more music.

i'm feeling cramped.

partly because of the shortage of music.
maybe it's because of the small apartment and my lack of social interactions throughout the week.
and the watching of lost on my computer.

we'll see what becomes of it.

training is coming along.
just a lot of tempo runs.
i'm not sure if i should be doing any speedwork at any point.
but i'm started my little training plan.
hopefully it proves good enough.
i might post it online next week as soon i as i complete the entire thing on one spreadsheet.
i'd like some comments.

i have to get back to lost.
i need to finish season one tonight.

lots of love.

jo

nothing but a G/it's all good in my hood

where to begin....

i guess with the daily grind.
work hasn't thrown any curveballs yet.
except for a ball a little high inside called the 'swine flu.'
apparently one of the kids in our school tested positive for it.
though i think it was one of the kids downstairs
(i work on a floor that's a little isolated and english-only daily kindergarten with afternoon elementary and kindergarten lessons for kids from the korean kindergarten downstairs on the first 2 floors).
so we've had a bunch of kids just not show up and stuff since thursday.
but no big i guess.
i'm not sick yet so i'm still praying.
but work progresses as usual.

training is coming along okay.
except for the fact that i haven't the foggiest how far i'm running when i run.
i can only time things.
so i think the first kick-ass self-present i'm getting will be a....
garmin forerunner 405.
assuming the gps works here in korea too.
and i don't see why it won't.
i'll just have to email garmin to make sure.
i'm about to make a little training plan with info i've found on the interwebs
and datum collected mentally over the years.

the only tough part will be all the cold weather training.
since it apparently gets colder than donkey dick here in the winter.

ohhhhhhh lost.
this is the new balance for me.
it's a love/hate relationship.
i love watching the show.
sun/jin with a little michael thrown in have such a great story/relationship triangle.
and sawyer's character is unfolding so....so....greatly!
i love the way they're developing his story.
so much good stuff.
charlie's got good stuff.
and i can't wait to see more of hurley.
hopefully his stuff will be good.

but the hate comes from....
me being silly.
i come home after work.
either eat a little here or get something on the way back.
walk in the door.
and load an episode of lost.
watch it.
read some/study some korean.
sleep.
wake.
run.
work.
repeat.

it's starting to take it's toll.
or maybe tonight is just a peak on the wavelength.

but i'm starting to feel a little alone.
don't send pity.
if you read this as a cry for attention, please don't act on it.
it may be one, but i just need to vent my thoughts.
see my words.
and i can cope on my own.
i can always manage a way.

i mean cripes.
the group on lost is (as far as i know through 17 episodes) 'stranded' on a freaking island.
but they still have each other don't they?

i definitely know i'm living on my own now.
what about the other foreign teachers at my school?
they're weak. straight up.
sorry if you're reading this tammy and kimberly.
i see friends on the weekends usually.
but that's only the weekends.
and i have to travel to see them.
seeing friends on the weekends is like having a mini-vacation from my lonely life.

i know it'll get better.
somehow.

i'm starting to feel a plus side from it though.
not only do i get to train without social obligations.
but the solitude is starting to kindle a fire.
somewhere. i can feel it.
and i see the flames to blaze soon.
in the shape of photography.
in the form of words.
by means of colors.

i only have musical input.
i've no melodic means of output being alone in a small apartment.
maybe i can save up and get a mac soon to help fix that.
that would open a few doors to old friends
(driggers, you know how 'the postal service' got their name?).

of course, i'm no artist for those who know me at least a little.
but i've got a lot of time on my own to learn, right?

if you'll excuse me, i've got......
nothing to do.

nice face.

i think i'm going to try to start titling my blogs with random shirts i see here in korea.
you know how asians always have like those crazy shirts with english on it but the english doesn't make sense?
yeah.
and fortunately, there are a few which do make sense and they're just funny as shit to see on a shirt.
more or less, on a shirt a korean teenager/pre-teen is wearing.
nice face.

a few days off the blog.
and i've been itching to get back.
sorry for the delay.

i moved to suwon a week ago and started working.
of course, this came after a stressful weekend of people tugging on both sides of me.
i toyed with the plan of cutting my contract and finding a school in seoul.
for those not in the know, i have a visa differing from other ESL teachers.
possible because of my ex-korean citizen mother.
and this different visa would allow me to cut my contract and remain in korea.
since my contract is not tied to my school at all.

long story short = i moved to suwon to fulfill my contract.
and it's working out quite well.
i'm not that far from friends in seoul anyway.
plus, i feel like the slight removal from seoul well help give me alone time.
to train.
to read.
to study korean.
to think.
to live on my own for the first time.

training has been on hold until today, however.
short 30 mins. since i haven't run in a week.
i think training in suwon will be better than seoul.
where i was in seoul i was running on nothing but flats along the river.
suwon is gentle slopes all over the city.
hopefully this will be good for training.
i know that living across the street from an asics factory outlet will at least keep my equipment fresh.

up to episode 9 of lost.
and what an episode i must say.
i'd watch episode 10 but i really should do some reading.

so i'll get to that reading.
and possibly make some headway on finding a korean/english language exchange.

until the next post.

lots of love,

jo

EDIT: i'm also going to start posting photos at the end of each post.
these photos will be part of a 'series.'
the guy that lived here before me left a bag full of magnets.
for the fridge.
the ones that are just words.
so you can create your own sentences and stuff.
and these happen to be the movie set.
with classic movie quotes broken up into words or chunks of words.
so i decided to go all mars volta on their ass.

here is issue #1: