The blisters are gone, I’m happy to report.

I went outside in the bright sunshine wearing shorts for the first time this year. I felt naked. My legs are white and blended well with the "stone"-colored fabric. I want a tan. I’ve been foregoing them because of, you know, the whole skin cancer thing, but I just hate having such white, white skin. So white you can see each little hair follicle. Attractive picture, I know.

First time outside since we got back from Japan. Yes, that’s two days in the house. (Hail Hermitdom!) I have not had cabin fever. That disappeared with the hotel days in the early months of living here. I can easily bounce between the computer, the TV, various chores, and the bed without feeling cooped up. No problemo. So it was the first time out and the first thing I noticed was a couple of guys hanging out on the sidewalk with their shoes off. They were chatting and smoking. I was like, Whoa. What a stark contrast to Japan where everyone seems so… metropolitan. (I don’t really think I’m qualified to make such a blanket statement after 4 days in country.) I started thinking about how closely tied Koreans are to their agrarian heritage. Catherine, who is now living in Tokyo, was in Seoul last week for a visit - shopping like crazy, I imagine. She called me and talked to me about being back and about the differences between the two places. She said she just couldn’t understand why Korea was so - and this is what she said, though she hesitated first, heavily scanning her mental thesaurus for something better - backward. We discussed a bit: Japan started reconstruction after WWII and Korea started less than 10 years later, yet Korea feels way more than 10 years behind. I mean, there are radical differences. And then I remembered that Japan voluntarily began industrializing in the middle of the last century while Korea was forced into industrialization first by Japanese colonization and then by a need to survive after the Korean War. For me, the difference is between voluntary and forced, whereby willingly industrializing allows the country to come to terms with it, and incorporate new technology into and along side cultural traditions. But Koreans, having industrialized reluctantly are always in conflict with it. They despise it even as they rush to achieve and the result has been much inefficiency and sometimes disaster.

What’s a word for someone who spouts like they know everything, but really they know nothing? That’s me today. Hahaha.

I got a nice note from Alan of Heinovision who said:

among expatriates, you're not alone in your problems with korea. there seems to be something visceral about the place that rubs people the wrong way.

Oh that’s so hilarious! Something visceral about the place. So true! I will have to repeat that to others who live here, others like me who feel all fucked up all the time and are driven perpetually to find explanations, like the one above. When in fact, the truth is easy: There’s something visceral about the place that rubs people the wrong way. Case closed.

Worked out tonight for the first time since before Bob arrived on the scene. It hurt and made me really hungry. We went out for weekly soojaebee and I ate the whole slab of p’ajon (green onion fried in a pancake of egg batter) myself!! It really put me over the edge.