The Doubts, With the Waxing and the Waning and the...

It's been a sort of rough twenty-four, maybe twenty-eight hours.
I spent a lot of it wondering 'where am I, what the Hell is going on,' etc.
Feeling like I'd left my heart in Denver.

I think it was just a trademark bad day, which I'm known to have here and there.
It happens, and it doesn't matter which time zone, country or continent I'm in.
These phases come and go.
And luckily, this one's come and gone.

Today consisted mostly of working on music and ironing everything that got all wrinkled in my luggage... which means everything, down to my plaid awesomejacket. I was ironing in my laundry room, which proved to be quite a task- I didn't know it was possible to get so hot that your temples start hurting and your eyeballs feel like they're going to come out of your mouth, but it does happen. I bought an ironing board at the lovely Lotte Mart today, though, so I'm ironing in my room with A/C and a large, opened window. Add some Radiohead to the mix and it's perfect.

As for music, well, I started reading up on another issue of Computer Music that I grabbed before I left and, uh, it's really useful. Who'd have thought that not overloading effects devices would make such a difference? And who'd have thought that EQing out a little niche in the bass for the kick drum to rest in was really that important? I might've relocated to Korea, but the music isn't gonna stop. It's just on a very, very temporary hiatus as I'm still getting used to the speakers, the laptop setup and I don't have internet. Soon, though... soon I'll come back stronger than a powered up Pac Man. It don't matter to me.


Tried shipping things yesterday and forgot the addresses at home. Think I'll end up express shipping everything- it's only a 5,000 Won difference per package, and it's already a little pricey as is so I don't really understand the 'value' of sending parcel through regular mail.


Just got back home from 만구 with Joel. Mangu (as you'd romanize the characters there) are dumplings- mine were steamed and filled with meat. And I'm getting better with chopsticks, to the point that I can actually pick up a steamed dumpling and eat it with some degree of success. I can only imagine how many people are going to be like 'o man I showed you how to chopstick la la la' but it's really Meaghan's fault that I can use them at all. Trust me, guys... the 'no, look, it's really easy, you just go BOOM BOOM BOOM I'M USING CHOPSTICKS NOW' approach isn't a good approach to teaching anyone how to do anything. :P

I'm supposed to be to work at 10:00a tomorrow so I can get my ARC and get my bank account going. Supposed to have internet by Friday or Saturday. This means Skype, this means 303 number, this means a lot of stuff. So I'm really excited. I'll also have a Korean cellphone tomorrow, which is huge as well. Now I can call/text co-workers and new friends, which will help me ship my heart to Incheon. Nobody's anybody anywhere until they have the internet and a phone, damn it.


Not much else to report. Oh, I'm probably going to Yongsan for Red Mango on Sunday. Either that or it's coffee/tea time in Seoul (pronounced Suh-ool, by the way). I'll be meeting with a foreigner like myself in an attempt to broaden my social horizons 6,100 miles from home. It's gotta happen if I'm going to survive out here; otherwise I'll spend all my time thinking about Denver, etc. And doing that would defeat a large part of the purpose of this adventure now, wouldn't it?

So yeah, that'll be nice. I'm hoping for Red Mango, honestly. It's like Pinkberry in L.A. or Kuulture in Denver (which is, you know, a Pinkberry rip-off that nobody working there will ever admit to). Just have to figure out how to say 'strawberries' and 'bananas' in Korean before I go there. I guess the whole 'topped frozen yogurt' craze started with Red Mango, and Red Mango started in Seoul... so I hear. So that's pretty awesome.


Anyway, back to the point.
It's good to get a bad day out of the way.
Just to know how I'll react in such a situation.
And to start adapting to life here.
Because life isn't just sightseeing and soju.
I'm almost entirely sure that it was Denver stuff that triggered all of this, and that's okay.
Like I said, I'm working on shipping my heart to Incheon.

And once that happens, I can really start working towards one of my main reasons for being here: learning to master the orange fret button. Only by improving myself and becoming more self-sufficient and reliable can I do so.

So bring it on, life.
There's nothing I can't do.

-토맛