The grass is greener.....where you can actually find it

Yes, ladies and gentlefolks, after 8 months of searching, I have finally found accessible grass. No, not the widely popular recreational drug (shame on you for even thinking that...don't you know its illegal?), but the green follicles that adorn the ground in most places (most places not being Korea). I can't really blame Korea, as in a country trying to squeeze every possible use out of every inch of land, green grass just for looks can't really be a high priority. Now, I've seen grass in some spots, namely Olympic Park in Seoul, but the key word is accessible grass. Though this spot may stretch the definition a bit, as it is located about a 25-30 minute jog from my apartment along the Han River jogging path. Though the distant location does give it a nice quiet feel, devoid of Koreans, which Olympic Park, with its million or so Koreans cluttering the premises at any given time, cannot hope to offer. So, you ask, what did I do upon finding this holiest of holy sites? I laid down and took a nap...sort of. Being a connoisseur of lazing about and napping in the grass (remember? English major and a lazy one at that, leaves a lot of free time), I can tell you that this might have been the least comfortable grass I've every laid on, all stiff and coarse and generally unpleasant. Not like I cared. Eventually I got up and continued with my day, as I was in the midst of a jog and it was only 52 degrees and windy, so I really didn't feel like staying forever.

As you might have guessed, the past week has been terribly slow, given that my joy upon finding grass made page 1. School is the same old, same old. Have even less work to look forward to in the next couple weeks, as midterms eat up most of this week, next week features a national holiday on Tuesday and a trip to Everland on Friday, and in several weeks the entire school goes to the English Village for an entire week. Not sure what the school intends for me during that week, but I sincerely hope I don't have to go to the English Village. It's a bunch of religious crazies that run the place. Middle of nowhere (30 minutes by bus from Yangpyeong and 15 minutes from any town at all), no smoking or drinking allowed in the rooms (as you apparently live a dorm life) and no members of the opposite sex in one's rooms. Ouch. I would in all likelihood start spouting anti-Christian hate by Tuesday morning and that would possibly be detrimental to my continued employment. The weather has been dog shit for the past week as well, so that's always a plus. Looking back at previous posts, I notice just how much the weather is responsible for my mood. Couple weeks back, when the sun was shining and the temperatures were great, I was having a ball. Now that its been rainy and shitty and cold for the last week straight, I can only describe my mood as blase.

This lovely weather ruined a perfectly good weekend in Seoul, and that is simply unforgivable. Wanted to go to a baseball game but it was raining in the evening. Boo. Wanted to go to the blues club we managed to find, but didn't wanna just sit around for several hours waiting for the live acts to start, so we just went home even earlier than usual. All my time in Seoul accomplished was a haircut, which as usual was a struggle. I had never realized the issue that haircuts would be before I came. It was always pretty easy back in the States, just describe the cut, and the lady would more or less get it right (Maria, you can just shut your damn mouth about my haircuts...not everybody can look as good as you do all the time, its just too hard to reach your demi-god status on a regular basis). Here not only is the language issue, but the fact that the Koreans have no idea how to give me a simple Western cut. They have experience in women's haircuts and women's haircuts (aka Korean "men" haircuts....Wallin 9,999,999,999 and counting, Anna and her Korean "boys" 0). This was my second time at the particular place, which did a decent job last time and the owner speaks a little English. This time I laughed when I saw the final result. The picture I showed him in the book was some Western guy with a similar cut to what I get, and this is important, the hair in front was laying straight down. What I got: hair parted on a slant across the face, heading to one ear, which is quite popular for, you guessed it, Korean haircuts. I almost asked him if I looked Korean to him. "Do you see the arm hair, the not black and straight hair, the whole not two feet tall thing, the inability to speak Korean? Do I look friggin Korean?" I can't really expect too much from a country that has been idolizing this guy and his absurd hair for the past several months.

http://www.kbs.co.kr/drama/photo_gallery/popup_new.html?Drama_Type=&Img_Code=151005002&mcode=005

Now, it may not be clear whose absurd hair I'm referring to, but in this case its the guy front and center with the perm. Now this particular show has been going gangbusters over here and all the students can't stop talking about it, so obviously I see his hideous hair wherever I go and it makes me frustrated to no end. Now, I'm no supporter of the American idea of "manliness" and not doing "girly stuff", whatever that may be, but I have a huge problem with a dude having a perm. My problem is that no one, male or female, should care that much about their hair or spend that much time getting it ready. While the lack of this male pressure to be manly otherwise you are gay is refreshing, I do badly miss the lack of pressure on men to spend huge amounts of time on their appearance. Over here, the boys have to deal with all the same looks bullshit that women have to deal with. If only the West could find a way incinerate this societal pressure for women to dress and look a certain way. But that is asking way too much of the good ol' USA, at least for right now. Now quick quiz. The chick on the right in the picture, the one with the lighter longer hair? You see her. She's pretty good looking isn't she? She's pretty flat in front, but she is Asian, so that comes with the territory. Otherwise, though, she's good looking. Yeah, you'd buy her a drink at the bar. Now here's the stunner: its a dude. Bammm. Have I blown your minds? Probably not. I just can't pass up a chance to burn the Korean men. Ohhhh Anna, that's another point.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=66yP7UKNf0g

This last link is just to give you an idea of what we foreign teachers are working with over here, in regards to music and popular culture. I'm not sure if it was the pink suits, the shiny pink suits, the colors, or the breathtakingly bad song, but I'm really in need of an abortion for my eyeballs. And I don't even mind the particular boy band most of the time. This was just much too much. Ohhh and the best part, the entire song/video is just a advertisement/plug for the phones that everyone was rocking, which the model type is appropriately named Lollypop, I believe. Yeeeesh, artistic integrity my ass.