Resolved...

*To be better about distilling my thoughts into posts.

Happy New Year!

Best wishes for a smashing 2009!

Complaints about Korea.

In order of importance:

1. Vicious little mosquitos.

2. Foreigners with bad attitudes.

And right now, the mosquitos are top on my list.  In mid-November.  Yes, really. 

I was hoping that the cold would kill 'em off, but the heat in my building went on early and pervasively, so I suppose it hasn't been cold enough to encourage them to move the heck on, which motivated me to turn on the air-conditioner last night at 4 in the morning.  In mid-November.  Yes, really.   

This morning I woke up w. three new bites:  one on my nose, one on the knuckle of the first finger of my left hand, and one in my *ahem* bust region.

Cheeky devils. 

But really, that's the sum of my complaints after nine months of living in the country.   

Not too bad.  

Focus...?

Was in Ulsan last week for work, and while it can be a bit of a hassle, it's also quite interesting and a lot of fun to see different parts of the country.  Also had a chance to meet up w. Guitar Guy, who I met through the Leader of the Banned.  We jammed a bit and I went home with homework and a listening list.        

Had coffee w. a friend last Sunday and she mentioned that she was taking Masters courses.  I said that I wanted to get my masters in something, but that I had so many interests that it was difficult for me to choose an area.  What I really meant to say was that I'm so scattered that I can't bring myself to commit to one specific program.  

In what one subject do I see myself investing a significant amount of time and energy?  This is the question...       

Right now, my main areas of focus are (in no specific order):

Learning French

Learning Korean

Re-Learning (and continuing to learn) the violin

Hacking out words.

        

The Limey suggested picking up a new hobby in Korea that would be specifically "Korea" with which I would always associate my time here.  So far, it feels like I'm reclaiming parts of myself that I thought I'd lost or wouldn't have a chance to use again.  I'm also trying to develop areas that I'd always meant to work on, but never had the time.  So thank you, Korea, for giving me this gift of time.  Now the challenge is to use it wisely...

           

Good Gracious!

It's been a long time.

October has been a whirl-wind and I'm still working on breaking it all down.  Have traveled three weekends this month and it's been wonderful, but exhausting. 

More updates to come.  Promises, promises...

 

How I Spend My Money: Part 2

This week's spending, in which I...

...pay bills (15,740)

...treat myself to a (teeth) cleaning (60,000)

...get a haircut (20,000)

...and stationary (15,340) 

I ended up dropping more than 150,000 in one day, but they were all planned expenses, so it wasn't too painful.  Overall I've found that I feel better about finances when I plan first and act second.  That's the ideal situation, anyway. 

9/8/08 Work Expense (re-imbursible) Cab 5,000.00

9/9/08 Gas Bill 15,740.00

9/9/08 Groceries 2,500.00

9/9/08 Groceries +Houseware - E*Mart 48,470.00

9/10/08 Groceries - Home Plus 8,280.00

9/10/08 Transportation - cab 10,000.00

9/10/08 Groceries 2,000.00

9/11/08 Work Expense - cab 7,000.00

9/12/08 Health- Dentist 60,000.00

9/12/08 Personal - Haircut 20,000.00

9/12/08 Business- Stationary 15,340.00

9/12/08 Take-out - Kimpop 8,000.00

9/12/08 Work Expense- cab 11,000.00

9/12/08 Groceries- E*mart 21,110.00

9/12/08 Personal - Post office 21,000.00

9/13/08 Restaurant 6,700.00

9/13/08 Housewares- Dollar Store 6,000.00

9/13/08 Housewares- Home Plus 27,490.00

9/14/08 Fast Food- McDonalds 7,000.00

Total = 302,630.00

Chuseok

Great big thanks to Irene and SeungSik Yu, friends of my good lady mother who sent me this package (and thanks to mom for the goodies you sent as well!) The package weighed in at 32 kgs (70.4 lbs!) and contained gift sets of tuna, ham, rice, and grapeseed oil, which I've heard are the staples of Chuseok, the Korean three-day harvest festival, which falls on Sept 13,14, and 15 this year.     

How I Spend My Money: Part 1

It is ridiculously easy to save money over here, but with the recent medical expenses (emergency room and dentist), plus the fact that there are so many fun people around me to hang out with, it makes sense to be a bit more aware of the money I'm spending.  One of my main reasons for being in Korea is to improve my financial situation and while working on this I also hope to teach myself new spending habits and methods of dealing with and thinking about money in general.  

Total spending last week equalled a grand total of 133,860, including groceries for next week.  I managed to buy healthy food, fill up my transit card, pick up some (inexpensive) clothes and accessories, purchase a very small early Christmas present, and even squeeze in two fun "nights out".

  

My Spending Log:

Monday:

2,000 won - chamchi kimpop

Tuesday:

2,700 won - snacks

Wednesday:

Groceries - 8,550

Post Office- 700

Early Christmas Gift- 1,500

Newspaper: 700

Bracelet: 10,000

Entertainment ("bar bill") 2,000

Fast Food: 4,000

Cab: 3,000

Snacks: 1,700

Total= 32,150

Thursday:

Water: 9,000

Groceries: 16,510

Bag of Apples: 5,000

Friday:

Snacks- 3,900

Saturday:

Coffee- 3,700

Movie- 7,000 (Mamma Mia!) 

Snacks- 4,800

Sunday:

Snacks- 3,000

New pair of pants- 4,900

Groceries- 32,200

Transit card- 10,000