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Today was almost unseasonably warm; it was
warm enough to gallivant around the city without worrying about
dragging a coat along. And I think it is going to rain.
Anyone who took earth sciences and actually paid
attention/wasn't drunk during class would remember that after a
long cold spell an immediate warm front causes rain through the
interaction of warm air with cold air and the condensation of
liquid water therein. Let me check out my window, hold on.
It's raining. Haha, look out Jeff Renner, there's a new
Seatown Meteorologist on the way.
In Korea, the first five planets (excluding
the Earth) are named after the Chinese symbols for the
traditional elements: water, gold, fire, tree and soil.
Here, we call Mercury Suseong (the Water Star); Venus is
Geumseong (the Gold Star); Mars is Hwaseong (the Fire Star).
The only two historically known Jovian planets also have
traditional names: Jupiter is Mokseong (the Tree Star) and
Saturn is Toeseong (The Soil Star). The other Jovian
planets and Pluto have Korean names that aren't based on Chinese
characters. There is Uranus (Chinwongseong), Neptune (Daewongseong)
and Pluto (Myeongwongseong). The minor planets retain
their English names: Charon, Ceres and Eris.
I've been studying the planets in Korean
lately. Thank goodness for Wikipedia! I don't have
enough Korean skills to sit down with a book about the planets,
so I just go to each individual planet's page on Wikipedia and
then switch the language to Korean. I know, I know, its
almost like cheating--but the keyword here is 'almost.'
It's actually kind of fun. I have actually purchased a
bunch of art suplies and I want to sit down and paint/draw a
poster of the solar system and then label it in Korean. I
am also enjoying having conversations with Koreans about the
planets. How's this for a conversation:
Owen: Mercury rotates in orbit around the
Sun. The moon rotates in orbit around the Earth.
Yona: Wow! How do you say
'Pluto' in Korean?
Owen: 'Pluto'
Yona: Wow! But, is Pluto really a
planet?
Owen: No, Pluto isn't a planet. It's
a minor planet
Yona: (Shriek)
Owen: (Laughing)
Yona: That's scary!
Owen: I know.
Of course, the italicized sentences were
spoken in Korean. We laughed so hard after that just
because my Korean coworkers were so shocked that I could say
that. It was a blast. I've always wanted to learn a
language secretly and then go to the homeland of that language
and surprise the locals (or more precisely, wait for them to say
something about me and then respond in their tongue). And
living in Korea is kind of like that. It's awesome.
Or as we say on the Peninsula, Awsa!
Let's see, you've already learned about the
weather and the Solar System, what else can I teach...
GOSTOP MADNESS!!
Gostop is now my favorite game in the world.
It is the most commonly played card game in Korea. The
game is quite complicated, but once I got the hang of it, it
became insanely fun. It is a forty-eight card deck with
twelve suits and each suit is symbolic of each month of the
year. The suits have fun names like the Visitor, Ddong
(Poop), But (Cherry), Beans, Rose, etc. So now, we get
together and play Gostop instead of Thirteen or Ratscrew.
Mark my words: when I get back from the ROK, YOU ALL ARE GOING
TO LEARN GOSTOP. It'll be Gostop Madness Seattle Style.
I'm studying Violin. My friend Kyra is
teaching me how to play the Violin. I've always wanted to
play a musical instrument and I decided that the instrument for
me would be the fiddle. So I hope in the next two months,
I can get the hang of it and when I get back to the US, I can
either study on my own or get lessons. I want to be able
to sit on the porch at Heron Haven and play the fiddle as the
sun sets over the canal.
Other updates. I've been doing some
serious thinking about life these last few weeks. I have
just spent a year in Korea and given that I don't die early, I
only get about 80 of those to work with over the course of my
terrestrial life. And 22.5 of those eighty years have
already passed, so I need to make sure I know what I'm doing.
So, I'm starting to make some goals. One of my new goals
is to be Dr. Wagenhals by the time I'm thirty. I want to
be a university professor and I want to be one by the time I'm
thirty. This means I have to pay off my current debt, gain
work experience and be accepted into a doctoral program.
Totally doable.
So where does that leave me next year?
Well, here's the definitive answer that you all have been
waiting for: not in Korea. I orginally wanted to stay
longer just because it is so easy to live here and pay down
debt. Then I decided that I would only stay given I found
a job with a salary around 3.0 million Won. Now, I'm not
even going to look for jobs here. I've made up my mind:
I'm returning to the United States. I have my experience
of a year in Korea; one more year would not necessarily be
overkill, just unnecessary. (Ok, if someone walked up to
me tomorrow and said: "I have a job for you right now, no
interview necessary, its your dream job with no Kindergarten and
3.0 per month." Then I would have trouble saying no and
would probably say yes. But that's not going to happen.)
I think the best thing for me to do for my
"Dr. by thirty" plan is to return to the US and get about two
years of experience before going to graduate school. Now,
I might return to Korea in the future to get money to pay for
graduate school, but for right now, I need to get my career
started.
Here's more news, but I don't think you'll
like this as much.
Xt
= xS + xSf + .75xNy
+.25xC
I'll let you figure that one out on your own.
Just kidding. Okay, here's the thing.
I really love Seattle, but I have always been intrigued in
living in other parts of the country. So, when I come
back, I'm not going to apply for jobs exclusively in Seattle.
I'm approaching it like this: I'm going to put X amount of
fervor into applying for jobs in Seattle. I'm also going
to put the same amount of energy into looking for jobs in San
Francisco; while expending only 75% of X into finding a job in
New York and 25% in Chicago. But, don't worry, I'll most
likely be right in Seattle next year. Due to the cost of
living differences, it would take a much better salary in SFO to
bring me there and an even higher salary in NYC. And I'm
only keeping Chicago open for really good positions.
I just wanted to let you all know so that it
wasn't a surprise when I come home.
I've got a disease. I've had it from
birth. The symptoms are a wandering mind, a culture
appetite and a constant inner inertia.
Oh and I really want a new NES console and a
working record player for Christmas.
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