or "Blogging,
it's not easy."
or "No news
is good news?"
or
"Finally"
I'm sorry everyone
for my extended silence. I have been quiet, too quiet. I have been back at
school for a few months now. Its getting warmer and I'm doing better. Of all
the things that that could defeat my spirit, who would have thought it would be
the cold. Next year, for the winter vacation I'm getting on a plane and flying
off to some warm place. The Philippines or something, I'm going to
lay on the beach and be happy.
The cold really
does bad things to me... I hide in my bed and feel bad about the world. I don't
blog, I don't cook... basically I sit in bed and eat my feelings which usually
consists of microwave popcorn, rice cakes and fried chicken. I miss being happy
and on top of my game... I have been way too glum to write honestly from my
heart. Often feeling I have little to say or little worth hearing. The cold, it
does things to me, cruel things. It sucks the life out of me. Simple things I
love are stripped from me; the ability to wear earrings (they freeze and hurt
my ears), the long nature walks I love, even the enjoyment of Korean food. I
didn't work out or eat properly and now I am almost back to my original weight.
It costs more cause I have to keep my under floor heating on all the time so I
saved less money each month. I also take cabs everywhere rather than walk and
that gets expensive. Snow is so over rated. I just need to sit in the sun
somewhere and wear a short skirt and brightly coloured clothing. My soul needs
it. The winter is so long. I told my SA friend that people in South Africa are
no longer allowed to speak to me of winter. As a people, we know nothing of
winter. You probably haven't feared for your fingers like I did many times this
winter, I was brought to tears by the cold. I had to fight for my sanity. I
need to lay in the sun for like 100 days just to recover from the damage that
this winter has wrecked on me. Frozen facecloth, the dreaded walk from my
shower to my bedroom in the morning, none of my clothes drying properly unless
I put my heater on it at full blast for two hours solid in a room I am not
using cause I also have to open a window a little to let the humidity out. The
northern hemisphere in January is a cold, cruel world.
I'm 26 now, I
don't yet look it (at least that's what my kids tell me) but there
is irrefutable evidence that I am a grown up. For example, just the
other day I considered buying an ugly but practical pot. I spent quite a lot of
time considering not popping my pimples anymore. I even thought of buying grown
up clothes and not just dressing up my usual clothes with a scarf and smart
jacket. People I know since they were in nappies are now 21 and when I thought
of missing their parties I thought more about the company than the food... yes,
that's how grown up I am. Maybe this grown up-ness is part of the reason I have
been so quiet, since for as long as I can remember there has been a grown up
telling me to be quiet, or at least asking me if I have to speak as much as I
do. Anyhoo, I feel a little mellowed out, so I don't expect bogging will be on
the sharp rise but I do owe you a quick recap.
 |
| This is how I look now |
Apart from
the hibernation and the weight gain I have been well. This year is
going better than last year because I am a lot more prepared, and last year
this time I was still afraid of the kids. Can you believe I have been
here a full year already. Thanks to Sinclair and his visit I am stocked up on
goodies to last me for the rest of my time year. Thank you Mommy and Aunty Emmy
for all the delicious tea and oats and chocolate you sent and Bruce for
that fruit and nut slab. Oats in the morning is really the best start to my
day. Sometimes I'm mean and judgmental to people here who don't
integrate, they don't like eating Korean food, they have no Korean friends and
they don't try to learn the language, but sitting here sipping my rooibos tea I
think I should reconsider the judgment.
I think the best
way to get back into blogging is to keep it short and post more often so let me
end this off with a cute anecdote. Every lesson with the grade 3’s starts with
me asking them what day it is, what the date is, what month, season and year is
it. They have a bit of trouble with the months since Koreans simply name their
months Month 1, Month 2 and so on, anyhoo, at some point we were doing a lesson
on time zones and they found out that it's a different time in South Africa
than it is in Korea...Their little minds were blown. So they asked me what
season it is in South Africa and since it was Spring in Korea I told them it
was Autumn in South Africa. Those little eyes could not have gotten any
bigger.
"Teacher, teacher
what day is it in South Africa!?!"
Me: "Guys
relax, it's still the same day in South Africa."
Them: “Teacher,
What moth is it in South Africa! What year is it in South Africa?!"
Me: "Guys,
calm down, South Africa is still on the same planet. Months, years, those stuff
stay pretty much the same everywhere."
Co-teacher:
*translates and explains what the hell is going on*.
Anyhoo, the little
snot-nosed monsters cheer me up sometimes when I'm low and it took them a year
but they've crept right up into my heart. Even the boy who everyone says is in
love with me but who always tells me "I very much no love you
teacher!" has special spot in my chest cavity. And so the lion becomes the
slightly less aggressive lion :-)
Hope you're all
well, in my next installment I'll complain about not being able to come
vacation in SA in July.
