Oh man, another exciting day. I guess I should travel more often, so I'm never at a loss for things to say...
So this post marks the halfway point in my goal to blog every single day in September. I'm surprised and pleased that I've made it this far, and now I'm confident that I can do it-- that I can achieve this. The mini-entries expanded upon the next morning of the past two days were not exactly how I imagined doing it, but what's important is consistently showing up and writing. So as long as I do that, I'm doing the right thing. This weekend was an exception, an aberration, but I still pulled it off, so I know I can be successful by sticking to my routine.
Something really irritating just happened, although I'm not even sure why it bothers me so much. I went to one of my little local quicky food restaurants, which was quite busy because of the holiday. First off, the waiters ignored me for 10 minutes, until I finally had to flag them down in a dramatic way. Then I waited twenty minutes, ignored, for my food, which takes five minutes to prepare. I actually watched them, by accident I'm assuming, give away my order twice to a different table that came in after me, until I finally caught someone's eye with a wtf? look, and they put it in again. Brought it to me finally... no apology. Then I go up to pay and the owner guy is like "미안해, sorry," which is a pretty insincere sounding apology. I said, "That's fine," trying to be reasonable. True, this would never happen to a Korean person, because they would have the vocabulary and balls to be like "No, that's my food, what are you doing?" And the apology to a Korean person would actually be sincere, but that's probably just because he felt uncomfortable not knowing if I'd understand him anyway.
But the last straw was when he overcharged me. I got outside, looked down at my change in my hand, and said, "Oh for pete's sake." (Okay, I said something else, but this is a PG-13 blog.) Granted, it was only 50 cents, but still. You and I both know that I know that you messed up, and I waited way longer than I should have, and then you don't even really apologize. And then you overcharge me? I considered going back in, was contemplating what I could say in Korea, but settled instead for just never going to the place again. I should have gone in, because not going there again doesn't really prove anything, but I was probably just overreacting. These things happen. No use taking it personally. I've really just been annoyed in general lately, I think, with the way Korean people treat me as a foreigner, and this was just another little irritating manifestation of it.
Other than that, the day was pretty good. Started off with a really good run, which I was proud of. I headed in a different direction this time and wound up on a nice little trail by a river. I stayed out for about an hour, with twenty-five minutes of running interspersed. I run a lot faster on these mixed run/walk days, which is super-hard and kicks my ass but makes me feel awesome afterwards. The weather was perfect, not too sunny and a little cool, so it was just a lovely day for a workout outside.
Tony woke up sick this morning, so it was up to me to find a cab and get to the bus terminal, which I did with almost no problems. I'm amazed, really, at how much braver I've become in the past year. I really started thinking about it this morning as I was contemplating whether or not I could have thrived in a big Korean city. I did used to be a big scaredy cat, with an almost crippling fear of having to do new things and meeting new people. But I feel almost certain that things that would have seemed unbearable to old Brittany will be a cakewalk for new Brittany. Because even the simplest task in Korea is a million times harder without being able to speak the language confidently. I probably could move to Boston and settle in, just because I'd be able to ask for help, and understand when it was given to me. I'd be able to research things on the internet. I will never again underestimate the importance to my sanity of being able to make small talk with a person next to me on a bus, or to ask a question of the driver without worrying about whether or not he'll understand my accent.
Despite my co-teachers warnings that this would be the big everyone-travel-home-from-Chuseok day, I didn't run into any complications or traffic jams. Found the place to take my bus, got on, and arrived in Gwangju three and a half uneventful hours later. Didn't even have to wait for a bus home to Naju, just hopped right on one and was home by 5:30. Started my laundry, and probably should have cleaned my room or lesson planned, but I was tired (six hours of sleep last night), so I laid down with a book for a few hours and caught up on my reading. I have tomorrow off of school too, so there should be plenty of time to get the rest of my stuff done.
The best news is that I finished a first draft of my TFA letter of intent! Granted, it's 50 words over the limit, and has some holes, but the bare bones are there, and I'm pretty happy with them. I've got to do some serious editing, but I'm so happy to have that first draft finished! My old procrastinatory habits returned a bit recently. I was supposed to be working on the letter since last Wednesday and be finished with a rough draft by yesterday, but I was so intimidated by the blank page that I kept putting it off. Wisely, however, I didn't bring a book for the bus ride, so I was bored enough to give it a try. I set my alarm for thirty minutes and vowed to work on it for at least that long. I hit snooze for ten minutes once, then cancelled the alarm altogether, and when I sat back with a finished first draft, I'd been working on it for about an hour and a half, and I was proud and satisfied with the day's work. This week I'll write a first draft of the essay, which is the last part of the application, and then I'll be solidly into final revision stages. There are four parts: the actual application questions, the resume, the letter of intent, and the essay. I'm feeling good about what I've been coming up with, and I'm daring to get hopeful. :)
Now, however, it's time to go home and hang up my wet laundry, and then maybe vacuum before I hit the sack. Tomorrow's another day.
Note to self: Tomorrow, Jehovah's Witnesses
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