79- Scenes from SoKo: The Local Convenience Store

Located about 100 steps from my front door. The proprietor sells things like stationary, bread, and light bulbs (and ice cream and potato chips... not that I would know). I've rolled out to visit him in pajamas and slippers. It's a new experience, this being so close to a center of community commerce. I quite enjoy it. I catch glimpses of the little kids running down to buy cucumbers for their moms (and a bag of chips for themselves), the middle school students buying ice cream and candy, the grandparents fussing over watermelons (and trying to see how many bottles of soju they can fit in one backpack).

It's quite a happening place to be.

80 - The Frugal Files: Part 1 - Watering Hole

People who know me know that I drink an insane amount of water. We're talking 4-6 liters (120-180 ozs) a day. Really.

It costs 5,000 won (about $4.50) to have a 25 liter bottle of water delivered directly to my apartment, which is rather cheap, but it's a hassle and I always feel so bad for the poor guy lugging those barrels of water up the stairs.

So rather than shell out cash and hassle the poor delivery man, I haul my own collection of water bottles down to our local watering hole, which is about about 500 steps from my front door. It's a round fountain with 8 spouts that hosts a varied crew of water-seekers: the old men and women filling carts and jugs for their families, shop keepers and taxi drivers taking a water break, college students topping up bottles and throwing them onto the back of their motorbikes, and children grabbing a drink on their way to school. I join them and become part of this cross-section of society, bound together by our mutual need for water. How privileged we are to have such an abundant supply-- clean, fresh and free for the taking.

Savings: about $40 a month and some poor delivery guy's back.

81 - Technical Difficulties

My keyboard is acting up... That's my excuse for today. Not very valid, but there you go.

Also, it is raining. A lot. Not very profound, but we give what we have.

Hope to have more later.

82- Syllabus

Going home in February made me realize just how mentally flabby I had become. My life here in Korea is not without its challenges, but I must admit that not much is required of me in the way of cold, hard intellect.

In an effort to combat said laziness, I challenged myself to try to read a book a week for the (approximately) 30 weeks that I had left in Korea. Realizing that this was a bit of a tall order and also realizing that I would rather read one book of weight than four books of fluff, I have since amended this challenge to the more nebulous, but still challenging "read as much as possible". Will be aiming for approximately 15-20 new books before I go home.

So what's beside my bed right now?

David McCullough's excellent (Pulitzer-prize winning) biography of John Adams. Something about living abroad has made me want to read more about my home country. Go figure.

83- Sounds of the Wild, Wild, Workplace, Part 1

1. Students begging for "mercy" on a test. (He got it, but only because he used that word)

2. Me: crashing into the door of the staff room with a CD player the size of a compact car, which I carry in the crook of my arm, like an expensive purse.

84- "Earthquake"

In my last class of the day, I tried for a little light-hearted revelry, taking a (tiny) flying leap, and landing in front of an unsuspecting young gentleman with his head down on his desk.

"Earthquake." he muttered, under his breath. And his desk was promptly taken away (for one minute).

That's right. Cross me and .... lose your desk.

85 - Blog-stalking

So when I first came to Korea, I "stalked" a number of Korea-centric blogs. It was mostly to check out the scene and get an idea of what I would be coming into, but I ended up being hugely motivated by a few very special bloggers. I was a silent presence, contributing to their hits but not outright announcing myself. In an interesting and freakishly rare turn of events, last February, I actually ended up on a tour bus with one of the bloggers whom I knew by sight, but I'm supposing had no idea who I was. We ended up hitting it off (I never let her know that I read her blog...) and now we're friends on facebook. Now I'm wondering if I ought to go find these women and let them know how much their blogs inspired me...

I'm thinking that I just might do that.

Here's to those silent, motivating forces.