Iced Swedish Berries

So it's been so long since I had a blog that it takes me extra effort to update it. Today's update, however, comes to you on my iPad at the coolest Coffee Bean around as it looks like an old-time coffee house, complete with a rather impressive list of coffee and tea selection. Today's choice for Tim: Iced Swedish Berries. Yummy yum yum yum...

I feel as I should somehow be witty in this post, proclaiming that I often think about what my life would be like if I hadn't lived in Korea or if I went to a state school instead of Emory. Truth be told, I've thought of all of that collectively around one time and it has been a while since the thought ever crossed my mind. What has crossed my mind on a regular basis is where I'd eventually like to live. Returning to Korea this time has made me realize, yet again, that living here could be a real good choice for me. The question is when...when will I be able to live here and would living here hinder my academic career after I obtain my Ph.D? For a discipline such as anthropology I'd venture to say yes. I look at possible options in Korea and there are no real anthropology departments here that could be taken seriously on a global scale. Not to mention that most of the possible conferences I could go to would be in the States. Yet more food for thought and I have many books to help guide this decision.

Well I am out and about today because I thought I would go crazy staring at the same four walls all day again. The rain pretty much subsided for a bit so I seized the moment to head downtown to the newly-renovated Kyobo Bookstore, which is amazing, and get me some CDs. I then headed to an underground dining plaza and found pretty delicious Spanish food, had myself a glass of wine and am now enjoying some good jazz at this Coffee Bean. Tomorrow: road trip... Hopefully.

Man, typing on an iPad iOS really difficult...

Danger Will Robbinson, Danger!

No nifty picture today, primarily because I haven't taken any yet...

It's technically day two, though it's the first full day today in Korea. When I was on the airport bus driving through Seoul yesterday, passing places like Yonsei University and Shinchon oddly enough elicited no particular emotions. Yet when we drove through Gwanghwamun and alongside Insadong I found my curiosity and interest peaked, perhaps because I had yet to see the unveiling of the new gate and all the new buildings going up. I certainly have a long list of places to go and things to see...

I came to Seoul with only vague plans set, at least knowing where I'd be staying and who I wanted to see. Yet outside of those rather loose parameters I left things wide open simply because I hadn't really talked to those I wanted to see as often as I long ago first imagined. Once I got my phone working, and seeing how I still had a good list of people programed into it from last year, my list of people I wanted to see expanded and my schedule quickly filled up the first week. Now comes the hard part... fighting the sleep deprivation, dehydration, and what those silly Liberals refer to as "Jet Lag."

Today I was totally praising the big guy upstairs (and not the Ajjushi that lives above us) that my afternoon plans were canceled given the fact that I felt like a walking zombie as I roamed the streets of Seoul today in god-awful humidity and heat. I walk outside and my hair automatically fucks itself up so I'm wondering why bother taking any time to do anything with my hair. So today's lesson: portable electronic fans are definitely an investment worth making and a hefty stash of batteries.

Yet I did rediscover Kylie Minogue on my ipod, and let's face it, that kind of rediscovery pretty much takes the cake, even with the Korean cheese cake in the fridge.

More later cats and kittens when I wake up around 4am tomorrow and feel at least a bit more functioning.

[RESET] Korea Back in Focus

Odd, one of my students had mentioned my blog to me yesterday before class. She stumbled upon it in an attempt to contact me and ended up reading some of it, enjoying what she read, and indirectly encouraging me to revisit this blog that I seemed to have forgotten in my attempt to better myself through yet even more graduate education. I can't say I'm necessarily better that I was one year ago, though I do think I'm more capable and definitely more resilient. But I suppose the point of all of this is to restart something I foolishly left hanging, bring back into focus the place I once called home. It is no coincidence that this coincides with a return trip to Seoul in roughly five days as I've had several people tell me that I should blog about my experience. Three weeks compared to three years seems somewhat muted, not to mention mooted, but of those 100 days of Korea-related pictures I find myself wanting to revisit each and everyone one individually in order to experience it yet again.

And so it begins. I in no way will challenge myself to revisit all 100 places and/or things, some a bit more difficult to stumble back upon than others. However, I challenge myself to bring back into the spotlight the place I still consider home, yet this time with a bit more substance (and of course the same wit and charm I know all of you are dying to read). This trip is dedicated to research, and so perhaps I should focus my posts around that general topic of 'Korea research' without pinpointing exactly what my research actually is. Maybe my posts can help other anthropologists or anthropologists-in-training with their own fieldwork, especially given my familiarity with the 'field' I am 'heading' into. I suppose, then, that the substance here will be multi-faceted as it will be consumed on multiple layers (look at me, talking like an academic even within what some may consider frivolous blog posts... I wonder where the off switch is).

Regardless, something to look forward to either alongside this new challenge and/or after I return from Korea: "English isn't really that cool...seriously." You'd think that with all the English-speaking foreigners in Korea that KPOP would release songs that have halfway-decent English in them... it's a lot like your dog running into the sliding glass door because he can't tell that it is actually closed. I'll leave you with that image for now, guys and dolls.

Epilogue: Beyond this Adventure

Almost exactly three years later and I am finally leaving the place I've known as 'home' with very little hesitation. Granted, others have been here for a longer period of time, have families here, and still move forward, they aren't me and those who know me know that me and Korea have a relationship that is different than most foreigners here, even those living here for so long. Going from a small, nowhere town to Atlanta and a reputable university, to Japan, and now to Korea; no sign ever pointed to that progression. I so freely allowed myself to move from place to place, because I believed that no place, no challenge, was ever big enough for me. I never move backwards, only forwards. Though I'm on my way back to Atlanta for school, it is a giant leap forward, one that both scares me and excites me.

Korea has been kind to me, but it has no doubt been difficult. I'm not a 'get used to the temperature and slowly get in' kind of guy; I'm more of a 'cannonball into the deep end' person and Korea was no exception. No one understood why I was going to Korea when I announced more than three years ago my intention. Now they get it, and I think even now I finally understand. The friends I made here are now my family, and I know I will see them because this kind of family never breaks apart. Those who have been with me through thick and thin over here know I love them and cherish them the way they deserve, and the way they should properly be loved and cherished. I've shared parts of me I never knew existed, done things I never thought I could. They know who they are, and they know it is never goodbye but simply see you later.

I leave knowing full-well I'll be back soon enough. Be it a year, two years, or even three, I'll be back. And though things will undoubtably change, Korea will always be Korea and just like home, I will welcome the return. Though at times confusing, difficult, and annoying, Korea is like family and it is simply part of the terrain.

Day 100:Hair, Coffee, and in Between

Well guys and dolls, we've made it! It's been 100 days and, incidentally, today is my birthday. Happy Birthday to ME! This final picture combines perhaps two of my favorite things of Korea: cafes and hair shops. Those who know me know that my favorite place to go is a hair salon; i get my hair did more often than the vast majority of women I meet. In Korea, I've had the best hair-related experiences and have done some of the most outrageous hair-related things with some of the best hair-related stylists. Most of them never have the opportunity to work on a foreigner, at least one that has such awesome dedication to his/her hair as I obviously do. My favorite salon is the Juno Hair around Ehwa Women's University. The best part is that while they do my hair, or while I wait, they offer me free cafe-related beverages. There is no better way to end this 100 Days of Korea than with the thing I'll miss the most about Korea (okay, one of the two things I'll miss most, because we all know what the other one is): my hair salon. Appropriately enough, as it is my birthday, I am off to this very hair salon today to get my hair did for the last time in Korea. This is certainly a sad moment in my life, but will no doubt be a certifiable Martha Stewart Good Thing.