Writer's Block

Bryan bought me a Nintendo DS as part of my birthday present. It came with the new Super Mario Brothers. And so, I have relapsed into my past addiction. It’s super fun and not much harder than the original games but more clever. I love it! I am already at the bowser in world six. I think about it at school, I think about it when I am trying to sleep, and I think about it when I am running, which is a lot these days. I am currently training for a half marathon that takes place on December 4. Soon, I will be at twelve miles, about 20 kilometers, which will officially be the farthest I have ever run. I have been enjoying training a lot more this time, perhaps because I have been training with some co-workers. Although we don’t run together very often, we talk about our runs. The training schedule has been rather intense but I have liked the variety. Some days I have to get up at 5:30 AM to complete ten to thirteen km runs before going to school. I wake up before the sun and on clear mornings, I can actually see stars and even constellations like Orion’s Belt. I always thought that the constellations would be different on this side of the world. And seeing stars in Seoul is also a novelty to me. I guess we live pretty far from the bright lights big city. As I run, the sun starts to rise, slowly, over the high-rise apartment buildings at Daechi, which might have the highest rent in Seoul. As far away as everything feels, living in a wealthy suburb type area has it’s benefits. Like the cushy maintained running path. It actually extends far enough to completely train for this marathon. However, at about the six-kilometer mark, I officially leave Seoul and enter Gwanchan City. It no longer feels like city though. There is nothing around anymore and it gets more and more bleak the further I run. Running gives me lots of time to think about how I can beat the bowser in world six and how I might be able to get some of those impossible big coins and I can think about what I might talk about during the English part of the Language exchange Bryan and I have started attending on Monday and Wednesday evenings. In an effort to learn Korea for free, we have started taking lessons through a language exchange at a place called Culture Complex. We get one hour of free one on one lessons and then have to spend an hour, or two hours if we want, in what is basically a discussion group for Koreans who want to improve and practice their English. Because we are in Gangnam-gu most of the Koreans in the group are professionals who need to keep up or improve their English for their jobs. Which means, I participate in discussion with engineers, accounts, computer programmers, and folks who work in overseas sales for companies like LG and Samsung. No big deal. They need to ask me questions sometimes. I don’t feel adequate in answering them. Sometimes I sit there playing with my perky pink alien watch or clutching my water bottle with the hello kitty stickers and feel like such a pre-school teacher. I am ridiculous. Last year I felt like I was teaching English to be in Korea. This year I feel like I’m in Korea to teach English. Both have their pros and cons but mostly the lack of sunlight is getting me down. Last year, I didn’t start work until mid-afternoon, giving me lots of daylight. This year, on some days I am lucky if I have enough time to run down to the coffee shop next to our building to grab a coffee. The coffee shop is a project set up by a school for people with special needs. The kids who run it are really friendly and have been making an effort to learn English just for us English teachers who frequent the place. They greet us with an enthusiastic “Have a good day”. The coffee is also super cheap, making it a good deal for everybody. Unfortunately, we are moving buildings soon and the coffee shop will no longer be nearly as convenient. We’ll have to pay Paris Baguette prices and be tempted by delicious smelling baked goods. (Don’t fall for it! They never taste as good as they smell or look!)