Keeping busy in Limbo

My remaining days in the United States I’d like to say are numbered, but as I still do not have a definite departure date, I cannot accurately state what that number would be.  What remains to be done? 

1. submit my apostilled FBI Criminal Background Check results to my recruiter
2. receive a visa code
3. attend an interview session with the Korean Consulate in Atlanta
4. receive my visa
5. book a flight

In the meantime…….

My Korean language learning is, well, I guess “progressing” would be the appropriate word.  I’m not really sure how to gauge my progress on Rosetta Stone.  I can tell you that each time I log in, I can see the number of green check marks has increased, but as far as what that means in my retention or comprehension of Korean, I am clueless.  However, I can now identify, in Korean, man, woman, girl, boy, (as well as their plural forms), children, adults, dog, cat, and horse.  I can say if they are eating food or drinking water/coffee/tea/juice or if they are cooking/reading a book/reading a newspaper/swimming/running/walking.  While I still cannot ask a man/woman/girl/boy/cat/horse if they speak English, I can assure my future Korean neighbors that yes, in fact, I am a woman, and this woman is drinking tea.  So fear not!  There will be no confusion as far as what my preference is for my regular fluid intake.

Very recently I have begun using Declan’s ReadWrite Korean! Software.  I can now read, write, and pronounce about 4-5 Hangul characters.  Check out the results of my practice below:

I am pretty sure that compared to any normal Korean’s, my Hangul can be likened to the scrawl of a first-grader’s.  

In other news, this past weekend I did the Katie Ride for Life on Amelia Island.  It was a pretty nice ride.  I conquered the 36-mile course in about 3 hours, give or take a little.  It was pretty sunny, but not terribly hot.  We started around the Fort Clinch area and rode around the park a bit before it took us through Fernandina Beach and down towards Amelia Island Plantation.  It was a bit windy and had little bit of rolling hills going through Fernandina.  However, probably the biggest challenge was the Nassau Sound bridge.  Southbound crossing, there was a constant, fairly strong headwind, which I powered through to the other end only to be told to turn around and go back the other way.  All I’m sayin’s that the stars must have been in an auspicious alignment or something because as soon as I turned around, I noticed that the angle of the wind was blowing in such a way that I was pretty much blown back to the other side of the bridge—piece o’cake.   

Here's a nice aerial shot of the course area.  The infamous bridge is the long one down on the left hand side.  This photo does not show the new bridge, which is the one I actually rode over, but the new one is right next to the one in the photo.  

Part of the course took us through residential areas of Amelia’s golf communities. Most of the local people we’d pass would wave at all the riders.  I saw a lawn care guy in one of the neighborhoods with a Doctor Who license plate on the front of his truck.  I should have given that dude a double thumbs-up, but I rode by too fast.  All said, it was a successful ride.  They had free Firehouse Subs at the end, so it was definitely worth it.  That was one awesome turkey sub.

Annyong haseyo?

Greetings, internet world!  Welcome to the inaugural post of this here web log, or “blog” as the cool kids say.  To be honest, I really only thought of creating this blog as a means of keeping in touch with friends and family so I don’t have to reply to copious amounts of emails from multiple people all asking the same question:  “What have you been doing?”  So, friends and family, if you want an answer to that question, this is where you need to be!      

However, while I was busy figuring out how exactly to set up a blog (forgive me, I am a lowly noob to the blogverse), I also began to see it as a medium for collecting all sorts of things that interest me.  As I am preparing to start living in South Korea, I am anticipating there being a lot of new and exciting experiences in the future. I started listing some things I would be looking forward to: new people, new job, new foods, new culture, new fashion, new environment, etc.  I have always found that when I want to be articulate, writing has always been the easiest way for me to organize my thoughts.  So not only will I use this as means of letting people know that yes, in fact, I am still living and breathing, but also as my outlet for my raves, rants, musings, observations, etc..  So, for now, here is my preliminary plan for life in South Korea: teach, eat, sleep, eat, drink, write, eat, cook, attempt to speak Korean, write, eat some more, and maybe climb some mountains…you know, to balance out the eating.

Let’s begin.  Here’s what I currently know about South Korea:

1. kimchi is good.  If you have never eaten it, try it.  (Publix has it in the produce section)
2. the Korean writing system, Hangul, is phonetic—language gods, kamsahamnida!
3. There is apparently a growing awareness and popularity of Korean pop culture and entertainment sweeping East Asia and may have just now begun landing on Western shores-this is known as the Korean Wave (or Hallyu)
4. K-Pop star, Rain, has an ongoing rivalry with Stephen Colbert.  For reference, see below:

The throwing of the gauntlet:

The showdown:

But, putting aside popstars and vanity--looking ahead, here’s the kind of things I plan on chronicling in my brand spankin' new web log: 

1. my struggle to learn the local language, preferably at least the basics before my departure.  I’ve pulled out the big guns and will be working my way through Rosetta Stone Korean Level 1, gifted to me by my parents (much gratitude and thanks).  I’ll include updates on my progress on that as well as my ongoing progress while in Korea. 

2. my ongoing gastronomy studies. I plan to eat well and eat often…well, maybe not that often… and will attempt to learn Korean cooking as well. 

3. updates from the classroom front.  I’ll talk about my lessons, my school, and my students. 

4. my every-day life.  I’ll probably use this as a catch-all category for anything that does not fall in the ones mentioned above.

I haven’t nailed down a posting schedule yet, so please bear with me.  I may also decide to create a couple special feature entries for those certain things I feel would not be done justice in the “every-day life” category.  I already have 1 special feature in the works that will appear from time to time, mainly for the sakes of sister no. 1 and sister no. 2.  As of now, there is no set premiere date for “Kats of Korea”.  Stay tuned!