Friday, July 29, 2005

Your Bubble Gum Tongue

Home Again. Mountain Spring Tide is delicious. My clothes have never been happier. My mom let me move into her other house that's being remodeled for her office. It's very quiet and clean over there. What's next? Who knows? For now I'll lay out in the back yard, wear my pink skirt, paint my toenails, and carry on my morning coffee rituals with Starbucks and cups and saucers.I told my mom today that I want to find a church in McMinnville to go to. She said, "Have you thought about Coast Hills?"
me: "What's that? Do they dance around all crazy like there?"
mom: "I don't think so."
me: "But that's the kind I'm looking for."
mom: "Well then, I dont know what to tell you."

hehe. Where's the party? It's so hot here, in the 90's. I love it! Some of my ancestors are island people. I think I could do the island life. Every day is a tank top day, and every night is sultry. Tonight I had salmon and marionberry cobbler for dinner. That reads like Laura Ingalls Wilder's diary. Except maybe she didn't eat salmon. Maybe she ate prarie dog. So how's America these days? Upon returning home I can feel that the spirit of fatherlessness in America is more pervasive than ever, but there is something brewing deep beneath the surface of communities all over this nation. The One who blesses America will no longer tolerate the destruction that is being brought about by an ophan spirit that has settled on the emerging generation. He's not tired, He's not frustrated, He's not weak, and He's not low in supply. He's ready for action.

When my father and my mother forsake me,
Then the LORD will take care of me.
A father of the fatherless,
a defender of widows,
Is God in His holy habitation.
God sets the solitary in families;
He brings out those who are bound into prosperity;
Assyria shall not save us,
We will not ride on horses,
Nor will we say anymore to the work of our hands, ‘You are our gods.’
For in You the fatherless finds mercy.
“ I will heal their backsliding,
I will love them freely,
"For My anger has turned away from him."

Pslam 27:10; Psalm 68:5,6; Hosea 14:3,4

Thursday, July 14, 2005

Position Filled

The position has been filled, and they are very happy with the replacement. Thank you to anyone who was interested enough to send your resume. I'll be home in less than a week. I cannot wait to eat American food again! Macarroni and Cheese, steak, burritos, nachos, CEREAL!!!, english muffins, Oregon pinot noir, cheese enchiladas, the list goes on... No more seaweed soup for lunch.
We've been having a tasty time around here though. Almost every night we've gone to a chicken hof for the spiciest of spicy chicken and beer. There's one little hole in the wall place near Bucheon Station that makes the best spicy chicken I've ever had. I will miss the chicken hofs.

Monday, July 11, 2005

Open Position

Update on the position that is open: The start date would be Aug. 24th. The school has decided that they won't need someone for summer school. Also, if you take this position, you will be signing a 6 month contract that will last through next February. They prefer to have a teacher who is already in Korea with an E-2 visa but there is enough time for someone in your home country to acquire the proper visa the normal way. I can help you with that. If anyone is interested, please email me: misscoffey@gmail.com

Leaving Korea

It is time for me to leave Korea. My boyfriend has come to take me away and we're leaving in about a week. I'll be going back to Oregon for awhile to stay with my mom. Korea has been an interesting, though exceedingly difficult, time in my life.

If there is anyone reading this blog who is in Korea looking for a job, please let me know. I am supposed to find my replacement by the end of this week. This is a public high school position. During summer school you will only be teaching 12 hours/week, for which you are still paid full salary. So there is lots of time for preparation and they will not require you to be at the school a full 40 hours. During the regular school year you will be teaching a maximum of 24 hours/week Mon-Fri with an occasional saturday morning (once/month) that is paid as overtime. The hours are 8:30-4:30. The school provides you with a laptop, which is helpful for passing some of the free time. Vacation time is 2 weeks in summer and 2 weeks in winter, all paid, but you will also get mid-terms and finals off which all adds up to another month of vacation. The accomodations are fantastic, a brand new furnished officetel with a loft. See photos here. Two other foreigners live on the same floor of my building, and they are very sweet. :o) Salary is always paid on time and directly deposited into your bank account. Leave a comment with your email in it for further details.

As ESL jobs go, this is an excellent one. I'm just moving into a new season of my life and need to go home. Also, I had never tried teaching before and I discovered that I don't enjoy it. After I finish on Friday, I will have five more days for site-seeing and packing. Thursday night is salsa dancing with my boy and Friday is sparring night at tkd. Then the weekend, followed by a brief visit to the pension office on monday. Insadong, palaces in seoul, lots of spicy bbq chicken... not a bad vacation. :o)

Sunday, July 03, 2005

Fire Breath

Lunch was some kind of fish and spicy soup with lots of tofu and cucumbers. yay! When I arrived in the lunchroom, there was nobody there, so I just served myself. I'm pretty used to not ever knowing what's going on. Okay so now I have fire breath. Time to get out the Arm and Hammer gum. My co-workers all keep towels, toothpaste, and toothbrushes here at school. One day, the girl who sits next to me asked, "Sarah, I'm sorry to ask this but where is your toothbrush?" Where do ya think, lady? At home with my pillow! We had a good laugh about that one. Sometimes I feel like we're all the same age, but in reality, all these teachers are over 30 and I'm the youngest one here. They're rarely patronizing or condescending, but from time to time I get the feeling that I am really just the school's foreigner mascot. They know I'm not a real teacher. I've been instructed to play Friends episodes for my classes today and tomorrow, since it's finals week. My purpose for being here is to promote interest in English. They don't care what I teach, so it takes some of the pressure off.
My boyfriend arrives from America on wednesday and then we're going to the east coast of Korea for a little vacation. :o) It's like Christmas in July, and I can hardly sleep.
There's no Americans around here to celebrate with, but Happy Independence Day to all of you!

Friday, July 01, 2005

Return the Princess to the King

Saturday afternoon at home in the neighborhood. I've been out in Seoul almost every weekend for the past many weeks, so it was time to stay home in preparation of a new season. As many of you know, the Home Plus sells whole roasted chickens. I went out and brought one back to the dollhouse. Because I haven't had one of these in such a long time, I was so excited that I cranked up the Matisyahu and danced around the kitchen. Much like one would imagine a post-battle celebration of barbarians, I brought the whole bird to my mouth and tore it apart with my teeth. Then I devoured the wings and the legs and packed a fat sandwich. This day my enemies see their defeat. :o) And I feast upon Home Plus rotisserie chicken.

Who is Matisyahu? He makes music. The genre is Hasidic Reggae. I love it. Go here
to hear/download the remix of his song "Warrior." He's also, in my opinion, a modern day prophet to Israel. And if it matters to you, he's on tour with Trey Anastasio from August 4-11. ;o) Go here: http://www.hasidicreggae.com/ and click at the bottom to enter the site. You may have trouble saving the mp3, so here is an easier link for downloading it: http://www.jdubrecords.org/music/1.%20Matisyahu/1.%20Warrior%20%28laswell%20Dub%29.mp3
Here are the lyrics to one of my favourite songs by him:

You're a warrior fighting for your soul
Taken from the world above and brought down the world below

You're the son of his majesty
Remember how it used to be
In the light of day it's easy to see
Now it's nighttime
You had to leave

Separated from the king
Now the water's rushing and you keep trying to swim against the stream
And it seems, like your not moving the many water's gushing you gasp for air
Almost drowning ears ringing, once upon a time we were singing
One day the trees will stand and clap hands
Stream of thought getting caught in the klipa, this place is just a shell, external
Egos swell, that one'll burn ya, we fell a long way down, that eternal frown'll get you
You look vexed it's the dregs, the yetzer hara's lurking
Trying to make you forget we got a job to do
You're a priest and a prince and you can't be moved

Chorus: You're a warrior, Fighting for your soul
Taken from a world above, and brought down to a world below
Re-united, re-united return the princess to the king,
Re-united, re-united, she's been taken for so long
Re-united, re-united and then she'll be filled with joy
Re-united, re-united like the days of her youth

Descended to the pit
What's this feeling can't get rid of it
Soul sick
Can't seem to shake it
When one retires at night weeping, joy will come in the morning
You made my mountain stand strong

Chorus

Like an ancient memory
Remember how it used to be
Close your eyes and breath in
That's the scent of freedom
Ringing across the sea
Land of milk and honey
One day will wake up from this dream and we'll stop sleeping,
Oh, yo, then we'll see clearly