1. Flight to Korea was amazing. I caught a cold somehow, as I always seem to, but I had a row of three seats to myself for the flight from San Fran to Seoul, which was unbelievable. I got to spread out, which meant I slept a lot, which was great. Still some discomforts, but definitely the best flight I've ever had. I had some crazy stress at San Fran wherein I didn't think I was going to make my plane, and almost didn't but once we took off and I was alone in that row... man. I was soooo happy.
2. Got through immigration and got my luggage really quickly, which was surprising, and got on an earlier bus back to Naju than I thought I would. Told Manuel not to meet me, because by the time we got home it would be past curfew in the dormitory. It would have been nice to have someone greet me, but whatever, I made it.
3. Got back to the homestay house a little before midnight, and was asleep by 1, I think. Good, because I had to get up and go to school for graduation the very next day.
4. Lots of stress at school. Remember that "criminal background check" co-teacher told me I could get in Korea, that I didn't need to worry about getting in the US? Oh wait, no I can't. They were trying to change my visa from an A-3 Fulbright (also for diplomats and military) to a normal E-2 so that I could be employed normally. And apparently co-teacher didn't really realize how difficult that would be, and didn't bother to figure it out until I got back. So she was super stressed, because I wasn't going to be able to get one before school started. Lots of drama... she sent me to a hospital to waste $50 on a medical checkup, including peeing in a cup, x-rays, bloodwork (I don't have AIDS). Then in the long run it's all a waste, because getting the other visa in time is impossible. So I have to go back to Fulbright with my tail between my legs asking for them to take me back. I wanted to stay with them in the first place! Co-teacher told me this would work out. Grrr.... Anyway, now I'm staying as a Fulbrighter, and getting $400 more than I did, but $300 less than I was going to, I think.
5. Moved into my new apartment, which is right next to the university and in the same complex as my friend Tim. Will take some pictures and post them soon. Oh shit... I just realized I have no idea where my transfer cord is. Could be that I left it in America and will have to go buy another one. That would be frustrating. Great, one more thing to worry about. Actually, I can take pictures with my laptop, so there should be some coming today anyway. In words... the apartment is pretty great. I'm worried about some things, like having to separate the trash, and hot water disappearing inexplicably. Also I have to write down some numbers from my gas and water meters on certain days of the month? That could be confusing.
6. Valentine's Day was pretty nice. Manuel and I had lunch together, then we went into town to buy some things and then walked back to my apartment. I made spaghetti, which turned out surprisingly well, and we ate. I gave him a few gifts, we had wine, and we put in the DVD we rented, but I fell asleep immediately. I was still jet lagged, plus it was boring, and I was really sore from running that day and being on my feet cooking. So I woke up when it was over and we went to sleep around midnight.
7. ... Until about 4:00, when I woke up violently ill. I sat on the toilet (tmi?) for about four hours, then around 8:00 the puking started. I threw up about five times in all, over a period of three hours or so. So I spent the rest of that day lying in bed, and by the next day I felt much better, and able to keep down food.
8. Actually, I've spent a lot of time in bed watching TV in the past few days. At any given time there's usually at least one, if not two or three, English language shows or movies on Korean TV, but it's on a variety of channels, so I spend a lot of time just flicking through to find something marginally interesting. I've spent almost two whole days this way because...
9. I'm on vacation for two weeks. I came back for graduation, and to change my visa, but actually, no, I couldn't do that. So why am I here, doing nothing, for two weeks? I've been asking myself the same thing for two days, especially because...
10. My boyfriend is annoying me to death. I think I'm sadly coming to terms with the fact that he's not the one. Even insofar as I don't believe that there is such a thing as the one, I think he's perhaps not even a one. Meaning, I think that probably there's multiple people who can make each person happy for a long time, but he's perhaps not even one of those people. I don't know for sure. It could be that time of the month or something. And I'm surprised I don't feel worse. I mean, I agreed to stay in Korea for an extra six months, rather than staying in that wonderful country of mine, so that I could see how things would go with him, and so far they're not off to a great start.
Awkwardly, I'm not sure if he knows this. I mean, I don't think he's annoyed with me the way I am with him. It could be I'm not as annoying as him, but that's silly. Maybe he is and he just isn't showing it, the way I'm trying to. I feel like we both know that we made sacrifices so that we could be together, so we don't want to have wasted it, so it's better if we are together. That's how I'm looking at it, practically. I don't want to date anyone else and things are still much better with him than not, but lately we've had some more practical conversations about the future, which are depressing, but necessary. More depressing for him than me, I think. I'm glad I'm not so depressed.
11. Part of the reason I'm not so depressed could be that my contract will end sometime around July 20, not September 30. I don't get as high of a raise, now that I'm staying a Fulbright ETA, but the bright spot is that I can leave sooner, if I want. Which, see #10, I'll probably want. It might also mean I could possibly get a job teaching, but we'll have to see. I still can't apply for TFA, which is disappointing. Whatever, I have lots of options. I'm not worried. I know I can be successful.
12. I feel like I should be more scared about the prospect of being single again. If Manuel and I do break up, I'm afraid the shoe will drop and I'll be devastated. But whatever... I know it's all in my head. I can also choose not to be devastated, and especially, choose not to regret staying, especially now that it's for even less time.
13. Just as I recovered from my illness, I was in the middle of chopping vegetables when I awesomely took a big chunk out of my left index finger. I'm not sure it qualifies as a big chunk actually, but it seems awfully big to me, and it hurt something awful. I think it's finally getting a little better, but I've impressed myself with my resourcefulness. It was too cold for me to walk all the way into town for bandaids the past two days since it happened, and I didn't want to waste the money for a bus... plus I'm just lazy. So I created my own bandaids with a little toilet paper and scotch tape. It's not perfect, but it works well enough.
14. Money's tight at the moment. I didn't expect all the money I left in my account and brought to Korea to go so quickly, particularly because I don't know when I'll get paid, but it probably won't be for at least a month. I had to spend a lot on necessities for the apartment, then wasted $50 on a physical for the new visa, which I now don't need. I mean, I have a credit card, so there's so reason to worry about having no money, but I didn't want to dig into that, and pay for credit card advances this time around. But maybe I'll have to, at least until I get my first paycheck.
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