1.4 Spring 2020 (COVID Archives)
The beginning of the end of the world.
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April 6
My hair has been extra polite because it knows this week I’m getting a perm. Too late ma’am! District elections are in full swing now. I walked past a gauntlet of picketers and happened to cast a glance which landed on the candidate herself who was standing on a trailer. She made eye contact with me and bowed and I felt SEEN. She didn’t need to acknowledge me, especially since I can’t vote here but wowza electric. I wonder if she’s running on a more conservative platform or if she’s facing her opponents as both a woman and a nonconformist. Over the weekend C asked if I wanted to order…
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An Ear for Accents – Part 2
I don’t want to be dramatic but the observations I’ve made about the Seoul accent, namely: 오 > 우 (o > oo)요 > 여 (yo > yeo) have been confirmed! When I pointed these out to average Seoul people, they had not a clue what I was talking about BUT if I spoke with a Seoul accent not one person dinged me for pronunciation. And I heard people speak this way all the time. The most notable, and ripe for satire, example is: 아니고 (anigo) > 아니고 (anigoo) which is a way to say “You’re wrong” or “That’s not it”. I hear it 99% of the time from whiny students…
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April 2, A Day of “I miss you”s
I miss you ton.
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April Fools
April fools if April really started the months ago because life keeps pulling pranks. More school delays– grades 4-6 *should* begin on April 16 online and grades 3 and below on April 20th. I have no idea what that means for me. I suppose I’ll find out tomorrow when I go to school. En route to the doctor to officially ask for an allergy test, I was confused by the gray, sunny skies. The weather app said it was a clear, cloudless day and yet there was no blue shell above me. Then I checked my most used webpage to determine that the PM2.5 was in the red (unhealthy for…
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An Ear for Accents
ㄲ is my only love.
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March 28, Blooming
I have been writing and rewriting the same post all this week but have officially swept it away due to increased rambling spurred by lack of human contact. For all our sakes, it has been deleted. I woke up this week in the middle of the night with a strange allergic reaction. Still on cold medication and not wanting to spend days with a burning eye, I returned to the nice clinic. The doctor was wearing a mask but looked deep into my eyes (to inspect them) but it still felt profoundly intimate. (Later on a walk a woman would turn to stare at me and I would feel seen,…
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March 18, Magpie Interlude
One for sorrow Two for joy Three for a girl Four for a boy
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March 17, Madness
Why didn't I see this coming?
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March 16, Last Day of “Telecommuting”
I know you hear me wax poetic about Chungju, the city where I did my orientation but I want you to understand why. And I’m grateful for the city, and was truthfully worried about being placed elsewhere. Now I’ve had my fill of convenience and want to hear birds, breathe cleaner air, even if that means what to some are unimaginable sacrifices. Maybe city living is for the young: they say I was born old. My apartment is nestled between other industrial grays and grim 80s brick; there’s only one blip of day that sunlight shines unobstructed between the buildings and into my room. The only signs of wildlife are…
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March 15
I’ve been riding what feels like the edge of a cold for a week now: fatigue, sore throat, gritty eyes. Obsessively I take my temperature but with no fever and no cough, there is no indication I have the virus. I suspect it’s another cold or sinus infection that is taking its sweet time to develop. Just come at me already! I’m not sure where I could even get sick: I’ve left my house four times in the last week and only two of those involved meeting someone else. Part of me suspects that my apartment is making me sick— Korean flats are known for mold and terrible plumbing. Coupled…