still waiting on a "wow!" (the remix)

i have been in korea for nearly six weeks now, and i am still waiting on a "wow!" day, when i am excited about my life and everything going on in it. i have had a lot of those days over the past year and a half, as i've traveled to a lot of interesting places.

i have been in korea for nearly six weeks now, and i still haven't had one. i have had some good days, some solid-effort days, and the occasional bad ones. i don't expect everyday to be a "wow!" day, except for when i was in bali, but i do like to have one every now and again. if i'm not truly excited by anything going on around me, what's the point of travel? i suppose i am not traveling for the time being though; i live and work here, just as the other 5 billion people in the world live and work in their cities.

while most of my life has been a steady curve of highs and lows, with a few plateaus (bali) and a few flat valleys (first semester of senior year at vassar), good things usually come along soon enough. i feel like my time in korea has been a bit of a downhill slide, albeit a slow one, from a very high peak. i came here after a month at home and a brilliant time in phi phi, so i didn't expect to stay that content forever. things started out so well here. i loved everything with my school and the promise of new friendships. now, my school is giving me a headache. i'm expecting my first pay day this weekend, and they seem to be skirting around the issue. today, they just canceled my winter holiday. i will be at school until the usual 9 pm on new years eve. i'm only off for christmas day and for new year's day. i love teaching, but i'm starting to feel like all i ever do is work. when i was working 24-7 in thailand, i was diving my heart out and playing on the beach. my two lives seem worlds apart, a la wallace steven's professional life in connecticut and his fanciful one in key west.

i miss my thai life, not just my diving one but the teaching one as well. i miss my christmas and new years parties with the girls in thailand. there was this amazing moment on new years eve last year. we felt crowded at the central world countdown (the thai version of the new york times square party). we jumped on the skytrain at 11:30, went a few stops down sukhumvit, and ran out to a bar just in time to have champagne in hand at 12:00. cheers to those girls.

the way a new year starts says so much about the year to come. what if this one is alone and lame?

the remix: two little things that made me happy this evening.
1. i got out of school early because i'm sick.
2. mr. joon gave me a free red bean carp bread to thanks me for treating my kiddos yesterday.