Signs of change

"Spring is when you feel like whistling even with a shoe full of slush." ~Doug Larson



It's been freezing this week, literally I don't want to go outside I'm so cold. However it was a beautiful day outside today. No rain, not too cold and best of all the sun was out! It even smelled a bit like spring. Probably because it had that just after rain smell that I love. It's so refreshing to know that soon spring will be here even if it's another few months away. Winter here is dreadful. It's not cold enough to snow much; and it's so blustery all the time I don't want to do anything having to do with going outside. But in my inbox this week something wonderful happened...the new Vera Bradley Spring Collection!!! As any girl in the South will know the changing of Fall to Spring collections in Vera is a sign change is coming. Soon we'll get rid of our bulky winter clothes and break out the sundresses and short sleeved polos again. At school we'd start skipping classes (don't tell our teachers) and layout tanning by the pool until the sun went down. Those were some of the best memories I have shared with some of my best friends.

I feel some good things happening soon

Please sir, can I have some more?

One thing that does remain the same here and in the South is people shoving food in your face.

Example: today was a birthday at work, and so we had cake, then we had a soup. All the while I keep getting asked if I want more. Trying to politely say no to a Korean woman making food is exactly the same as it is at home. I finally had to get reall animate about not wanting more due to the fact I had already had too much.

On a more exciting note I had an interesting version of fried okra the other day at a sushi restaurant serving tempura veggies. Not too different but not quite the same...as for everyone sipping on sweet tea, talking about how the Panthers should have made it this year and eating a $4 cookout meal...I'm jealous

It's just hair

"Hair style is the final tip-off whether or not a woman really knows herself. ~Hubert de Givenchy, Vogue, July 1985

Korea is great for hair. Literally there are hair shops on every street. And usually there are five to six on the same block. I'm always fascinated at how many there are. I think hair upkeep is sometimes a daily things for these women. Anyway, awhile ago and for some time I had been wanting to go blond. I had gotten red streaks in my hair back in high school; they had bleached my hair first though and I had always thought that it would just be fun to do one day. I had gotten pretty close last year when I got blond peek-a-boo streaks but that didn't last too long. Now with a new found hairstylist that I trusted I took the plunge. As she started to work my hairstylist asked again"Is this what you want?" To her I answered "It's just hair, it'll grow out and I'll always be able to change it." And so it went.

I'd like to say that in my opinion (and maybe b/c I'm not a natural blond) they certainly do not have more fun. The idea of blond is more fun, but actually being blond is not. So for a few months I walked around freaking out the ladies here with my glowing head of hair. Finally it was time to return to brunette. Unfortunate for me being in Korea the instructions were in Korea...luckily I had done this so many times it didn't matter. 30 minutes later I had chocolate brown locks. It's probably was my favorite hair color of all time. I absolutely loved it! It was sensual and fun and very me.

But as all things change so did my roots. My hair grows insanely fast. So I bought a box of Black/Brown. I thought it was going to just be a real dark shade of brown... apparently not. The other part of this story is that I had to do this at the gym showers because our shower is frigid like the arctic circle. So I'm standing around naked in the locker room getting ready (already being stared at b/c of all of my tattoos and piercings) finally get a towel around me, and then have to wait for a number of women to leave so I don't get yelled. Now just add that I had dripped hair dye on my back and shoulders and that was how I spent those 30 minutes in the locker room.

As it turns out because I was a bit frantic to get things over with (its kind of weird just hanging out in a locker room full of naked old ladies) I ended up missing a few spots. The color itself is a bit darker than my natural color as well and took a day of getting used to it. I like it a lot now I look real mysterious; my students like it too and in their way try to tell me. This is usually done by taking their own hair and pointing at it saying "teacher, hair." At which point I get the message.

So the theme of the story is this, in my opinion women and men put way too much care in to things that aren't world ending. I'm a bit more bold with hair than most, getting the "Posh bob" last year. But I really feel is everyone just cared less about how they looked everyone would be less stressed...for God's sake it's only hair.

Delayed reaction

The picture is from a fall hike up Muhaksan. It was a gorgeous day and saw a lot of things on the way. Btw this is from October...

I'm an extreme procrastinator which is why it's been such a long strand of time since the last post. I just feel that for me anyway, after about a lifetime of being super punctual and on top of things the time has come to just not care. That's not to say I don't do anything, but after about a decade of doubles (two swimming practices in one day two to four hours each) and being responsible, it's nice to just not be for once.

Which explains the late arrival of pictures online and blog posts. I promise to keep up with this stuff more often. Especially now with the downhill slope of my contract here in Korea, the arrival of spring and my vacation and getting back home!