my new place

So I just got my new apartment settled, and the location, setup and price are an absolute dream. A 10 to 15 minute walk to downtown/work (I had thought I would have to commute in), or if the weather's bad, it's two to five minutes to get to the subway and then one stop away and all indoors. And that subway stop next to my place is also one of the major train stations of the city, as well as a giant luxury department store with a basement grocery store, and there's tons of other shopping, eateries and cafes in the immediate area. And I'm paying only about 50 bucks a month - just over a fourth of what I'd expected to pitch in - to upgrade to a full one-bedroom, instead of a studio, where it would have been difficult to host the many local and perhaps couple international visitors I expect in the next year.

But that dream I'm getting is a pretty colorful one, including giant psychadelic pink flowers on the living room wall and other decor no less than three tones of orange, plus one of red. I'm finding the cheese factor and artistic challenge quite entertaining - a great trade for a one-year stint of otherwise great conditions ... thought you all would get a kick out of seeing the pictures (click here), too.

I move in late this week - new mailing address to come.

the jjimjilbang experience

I finally made it to a traditional Korean spa this week - only 10 months into living here. Many Koreans go a couple times a week.

The spas (찜질방 - roughly "jjimjilbang" - in Korean, extra stress on the first J) come in different sizes and with different amenities, but they're basically sites where communities gather to scrub, soak, sleep, chat and chill out. They're roughly $5 to $10 to get in, and you can stay as long as you want - many feature sleeping rooms or mats for open floor space. The bathhouse areas - equipped of some assortment of hot tubs, showers, saunas and pools, are separated by gender and you go sans clothing. But other areas of saunas, open spaces, television, PC rooms, karaoke rooms and massage offerings are coed and you wear standard-issue gymsuits. There's a pretty good write-up here if you want more info.

I honestly didn't know much about them before, and I'd been a little hung up on the naked part of the venture - not really wanting to hang out there nekked by myself, fending off what I was sure would be 10 times the normal amount of stares you collect as a foreigner just walking around fully clothed, and feeling odd about being seen in my birthday suit by co-workers, who have been the only other easy option of companions. But being a short-timer at a job gives you immense freedom, and going to the jjimjilbang is turning into the thing everyone does, and maybe I'm just over it anyway ... I finally bit the bullet and just went. And it was totally fine - great, in fact.

Whole families turn out together - multiple generations hanging out chatting and escaping the often grueling pace of life outside. It's a quiet and friendly and bustling place all at once, a stronger sense of community than anywhere else I've seen in the country yet, and such a vastly different world than exists in Western culture.

And the naked part, well turns out that was quite alright, too. There are stares, but you're staring too, a little, and mostly it's just not a big deal. Everyone's got a body and they're all different and the same - and you just get over it. Like being in a swimteam locker room again, but with hordes of strangers from age 2 to 82. It's really healthy dose of reality for Western inhibitions, I think. Strange that it's in the same place where it's considered daring to bare your shoulders or collarbones in public, but whatever.

Anyway, if you come to Korea, get to the jjimjilbang quicker than I did. It's cool.

... and we're back

Hi, everyone. I got beyond behind in posting here over the past couple months, but back now. The short of it is that I've been too self-absorbed to write anything of note - been trying to figure out job changes and life plans in general, and there was a really exciting period in which I thought I might have to leave the country and teach in Japan for the next year because of visa issues. But after considering many options, the final plan is to stay here in Daegu at a position teaching adults downtown, starting May 26.

I'm really excited to move back into civilization, and have another year here to enjoy this place and people I feel like I'm just starting to know. Not to mention work more on Korean. The next couple weeks will be a whirlwind, but it's a good thing and I'm on the countdown.

I'm planning a trip back to the States sometime this winter, and then I'll probably be coming back for grad school in fall of 2009, as I'm pretty sure I want to do this teaching thing for real - college-level languages/culture something. There won't be a whole lot of traveling this side of the world in the next year because of limited time off and budgeting priorities, but if I'm lucky I'll be able to swing a big trip next summer between work and school.

That's about the wrap right now. Thanks for all your well-wishes and I'll keep you (more frequently) posted. :)