Hiya. There's not much to say about this one. It's short. It's my everyday life. There's some amount of looking inward instead of outward. And also, people from Canada came to visit! ^_^
This one also has a secret message! Let's jump inward, first. As all of you probably know, I came to Korea to be an English teacher. Theoretically, a robot should never be able to do my job. I mention this because lately I've been watching Last Week Tonight with John Oliver. In one episode, he was discussing the rise of automation and the subsequent changes in the number and kinds of jobs that would be available to the next generation. He interviewed children - asking them what they wanted to be when they grew up - only to inform them that the job they want might not exist because a robot might be doing it. The kids understood the problem and asked, "Well, what can I do?" to which John Oliver replied, "You can do a series of non-routine tasks that require social intelligence, complex critical thinking, and creative problem solving." It was actually kind of... uplifting to hear this and to think about it. I'm still not sure what my career will be, but as long as I find a job that requires me to use social intelligence, complex critical thinking, and creative problem solving, I think I'll find some amount of satisfaction in what I do. So I pose the question to you: Dear readers, what's your job? Do you find satisfaction in doing it? Do you think a robot could ever do it? Speaking of complex critical thinking and creative problem solving, I've also been thinking about Dungeons and Dragons. I feel like I've been comparing myself to a D&D character for a long time, in fact. Lately I've been choosing to upgrade my Korean and Swing Dancing skills. If you tried to imagine yourself as a character in a fantastical world - where you could gain discrete skill points in various things based on the time you spent on them - what is your character like right now? What kind of character do you want to have in the future? What skills do you wish you had more points in? I've had a lot of time to analyze... well, how I spend my time. And I realized something. This may seem like a pithy aphorism, but it's important to spend time actually doing the things that you want to improve at. For me, I was surprised by the amount of time I've spent reading, writing, and dancing. What do you spend your time doing? Reading: I've recently started reading The Selfish Gene, which everyone can and should read. Yes, you, you are part of everyone and you should read it. Do you remember when you were a kid and you had basically no choice but to learn new things every day? Learning new things was why I loved reading. A book can change the way we think about and view the world. The way the author wrote became the way I narrated my own world in my mind as things were happening. After each book, my vocabulary exploded and I was able to more accurately describe the world. Learning new words was like learning how to see secret, hidden things. To be honest, much of my moral direction has come from books. How to behave, how to perceive the world, how to remain open-minded and curious and brave. Please share some of your favourite books with me. =] Dancing: March 2 was the first day of the advanced class at Swing Family called Flyer. The teachers, Juliet and Adrian, were phenomenal dancers and I thoroughly enjoyed learning from them. My partners were also higher caliber than they were in the Learner level. That night, Jay came to the social dance and gave me an injeolmi macaron as a going away present - he was going away to the USA for a few months. Wish him luck as he begins the grueling process of applying for jobs at universities across the country. I didn't write much about my writing because so much of it is very personal. Whew, thanks for putting up with my tangential musings. On to the outward stuff. March 4 was the first day of my third term at work, which meant I got to meet my new kids. Well, truthfully only some were new kids - I had taught many of them in Telescope in my first term. We've all grown a lot, and now that we're older and wiser, I'm excited to teach them again. On March 13, I had another haircut. I walked in and saw that the employees were in the middle of eating their lunch. I apologized and asked if I should come back another time, but to my great surprise, they welcomed me in and shared their lunch with me. Smaller Korean restaurants and stores have a special, welcoming, familial atmosphere that I didn't encounter in Canada. As long as you're willing to open your heart and keep coming back to them, they welcome you with open arms (and sometimes platefuls of food). We ate rice, meat, spicy ramen, and a weird fish ovary thing. In return, I shared my oranges and cookies with them for a small dessert. So instead, if you'd like to read a science-fiction short story that I wrote... π day! On March 14, I went shopping for plants with Brandi before work. I bought three flowers: a purple campanula, a blue cineraria (like a tiny, blue daisy), and a beautiful white cyclamen with upswept petals. Having plants in your home is like medicine for your soul. I love caring for plants. And animals. During a break at work that day, I was talking with a precocious boy in my oldest class and on a whim decided to ask him if he knew what pi was. I drew the symbol on the board and explained how today was March 14 (3.14), and to my astonishment, he started writing the digits of pi. He wrote at least 30 numbers down - from memory - before the bell rang and I had to leave the room. Needless to say, I bragged about him a lot to my coworkers afterwards. I hope you ate pie that day! When I arrived home after work, I found a big package sitting outside my apartment door. It was from mom and dad and Auntie Leianne! Inside was cereal, my favourite tea (called Read My Lips -peppermint and chocolate), Coffee Crisps, and two hand-written notes that made me smile and miss my family. Guys, please hug your moms and dads and aunties for me. ... or some first drafts of short stories I'm currently working on... March 19 was climbing at Red Point with a huge group of people: Mai, Dilay, Hunter, Aiden, Logan, their girlfriends, and Painter Kim. Painter Kim and the owner of the gym both took a liking to Hunter, since he's incredibly strong. Also, Painter Kim left early because he needed to pack - he was going on a trip to mount Everest base camp! He said he'd send pictures. I'll let you know if he ends up doing that. On March 23, I took a train to Busan with Hunter. We had purchased our tickets too late to get our own seats, so we had to stand on the train for most of the trip. Interestingly, once the train starts moving you are allowed to sit if the seat is vacant; however, the person who bought that seat can kick you out once they board. This is actually when I started reading The Selfish Gene (which you should read). The countryside was a refreshing change from the concrete forest that is Seoul. When we arrived, Hunter, Troy, and I walked to Haeundae Beach and splashed in the waves. It was delightful. The wind smelled like the sea, the sand was warm and fun to walk in, the water was cold and fun to splash in. As we were walking, we saw a very strange sight - there were flocks of seagull-like birds hovering in midair in front of groups of people. Check out the pictures below. The birds were waiting for people to throw little snacks into the air, and then the birds would swoop and dive to catch the food and resume their hovering. I walked so close to one flock that I easily could have reached out and touched them. After the beach, we walked along the seaside boardwalk. The breeze was refreshingly cool, and the water was a deep, beautiful blue. We saw a mermaid statue and a wild orange cat. I realize I never told you the purpose of our trip to Busan. March 24 was the Holi Hai festival in Miryang. Troy's friends and Hunter drank alcohol, but I was on antibiotics (for another bout of bronchitis), so I didn't. It was a day full of music and colorful powder. One moment that I will never forget is when a very tall Indian man in a yellow turban joined us in the throng of people and carefully, delicately put yellow powder on my face. Then a boisterous black man accidentally threw some orange powder directly in the Indian man's eyes. I helped him get it out by gently brushing his eyes and blowing the dust out. Also, it's worth mentioning that there was a group of men who were throwing people in the air for fun. A few of the girls in our group did that... myself included. The shower that night was probably one of the best and most colourful I've ever had. ... send me a message! On March 29, I met up with Donna, Duncan, and Hunter for a hike up Achasan. Even though the air pollution and smog were terrible that day, I was nevertheless overjoyed to see familiar faces. Afterwards we ate bibimbap at a restaurant, and then it was time for me to go to work. It's nothing special, but maybe you'll find something that you like. Or maybe... On March 30... Nick and Megan came to Korea!! I met up with them at The Hyundai and we ate 낙지비빔밥 (squid bibimbap) and 된장찌개 (spicy tofu veggie soup). Megan had never eaten squid before! I think she liked it? We talked about life and the world and made plans to hang out and see the cherry blossom trees later in the week. It was so nice to just walk around and be with them. They cheered me up when I was feeling a little bit sad because of the air pollution and homesickness. Thanks for putting up with mopey Ashley, guys. =] ...we can talk about your thoughts on the topics I present. But even if you don't enjoy them... And that's all I have for you this month. Canadian friends came to visit! And I can regale you with even more friend-y tales next month when Nick and Megan and I watch Starcraft and look at cherry blossom trees. ... I hope you enjoy being part of the secret. n_n
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AuthorAshley is a Canadian teaching English in South Korea. Although between the Korean, swing dancing, and general life skills, she's probably learning more than she's teaching. Archives
June 2019
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