The Hippie String or The Pushkar Puja

The other night, some friends and I were joking about travel clichés. We were at a Thai restaurant and I was telling them that I’m never going to Thailand because I think it’s cliché, the English teacher in Korea going on holiday in Kopipi. That got us started on the whole topic and we finally decided that the last non-cliché place to go would be Eastern Europe.

Of course, I’m guilty of quite a few middle class travel clichés. I was wandering around Nepal and India not too long ago, as one of my friends pointed out. He was especially keen to make fun of the red string around my wrist, saying it was the ultimate cliché for travellers in India and he wanted to know why I was still wearing it after 5 months. It’s something a lot of people have asked and here’s why.

I got the string in Pushkar, a small town in Rajasthan. I spent the bulk of my time in India in Rajasthan, the king state. It’s a lot of desert and a lot of forts and very freakin’ hot. Pushkar is home to a lake that is sacred to Brahma and it’s a very old, very popular pilgrimage site, one of the only devoted to that god. I was excited to go to Pushkar because many friends had recommended it and I was ready for a spiritual experience. This was where Gandhi’s ashes were scattered! I had fantasies of meditating by the lake and finding my chi’I there.

Ha!

The lake had been almost entirely drained for construction (I kid you not), it was hot and dusty, and there were scammers everywhere. I had my hand forcibly hennaed and people were trying to rip off tourists left, right, and centre. I was so disappointed that I ran back to my hotel room and cried. I spent the evening chatting with some obnoxious English gap year kids and managed to get a grip on things. The next day, my last day there, I decided to go to one of the ghats near the lake so I could perform a puja.

Puja is the Hindu form of worship. My knowledge of Hindu practices is shaking and mostly what I’ve picked up by going to temples but puja is the cornerstone and people do it on their own, not in a congregation. I went down to a ghat with a priest (not the correct term but I can’t think of it) and he recited the prayer and I repeated and I called for blessings upon my parents, my sisters, my friends and he dunked the water over my forehead. Then I released flowers into the water and he tied the string around my wrist.

I can remember so much from that particular puja. My feet felt like they were on fire from the hot marble of the ghat. There was a row of women making the pjua offerings that they would later sell. There were kids running all over the place, as there usually are in temples in India. I kept thinking to myself “100 rupees. No more! I will not be ripped off this time!” Of course, I ended up giving 300. Most importantly, I remember reaching out with my mind and seeing all my loved ones as I prayed for them by the lake.

The string on my wrist is a symbol of that puja. I look down and I see a tangible memory of the trip that is getting more and more distant in my mind. I’ve been home for as long as I was gone now and the memories are dimming. Maybe that’s why I flat out refuse to cut it off, preferring to follow the usual practice and wear it until it naturally falls off. It’s hanging on admirably and besides, it’s considered very bad luck to it cut off.

So that is why I am still a walking cliché, the backpacker returned from India with a prayer string on her wrist. I’m ok with that.

This photo is from the hike I took up a nearby hill. That tiny patch of water is where I performed the puja.

Swine Flu Hysteria 2010!!!

Oh jeeze. A few kids at school have come down with H1N1 again so the director got her panties in a twist and canceled classes for the week. I had to come in today and yesterday to do student evals and planning but I have Thursday and Friday off with nary a care in the world. Huzzah!

My brain is a bit mush from all the lesson planning but I did notice a wonderful little gem in the reading book for the five year olds. The chapter is about a marching parade and the students are learning new verbs so they have to tell whether they blow, bang, or join a flute, a drum, and a parade. Of course, being the 12 year olds we are, Charles and I cackled a lot over the "blow, bang, or join" choice. I took a photo! (sorry, it's backwards)



Sidenote: Charles just came barging into my classroom. I asked him what the hell he wanted and he said "To come in here and tell you that I am going downstairs to do a poo. Again." I responded "Hells bells, Trudy!" and he left. Another exciting day at the Wiz Island Play School.

I celebrated my return to health with a trip to the Library, our local pub. Well, pub is a bit of a stretch, it's a very Korean-style bar. I was afraid I wouldn't be allowed after accidentally seducing my ex there a couple weeks ago but aside from some teasing, they've welcomed me back with open arms. I think they have a love/hate relationship with the songs I request. Usually a lot of K-Pop and Lady Gaga.

Right now I am mildly hungover and bored out of my skull and wishing the next two hours would hurry up and finish. Tonight, I'm heading to the gym (it's a walk day yay!) then going to a goodbye dinner for one of my dearest friends here, Maria. She's off to Australia to get her teaching degree. I am happy and excited for her, but I'm going to miss her like mad. Maria and I are the same percentage of crazy and it's rare you find that with someone.

Alright, must get back to loafing around and reading dlisted.com.

No me gusta estar enfermo

No sirree I do not like being sick at all and I'm one of the most whiny and annoying sick people you'll ever meet. Cranky and ill tempered, fussy and not one to suffer in silence. These past few days have been a trying time, indeed.

I haven't been able to sleep so well so last night I decided to go to the local Korean pharmacy to get some sleeping pills. While I was there I also got some stuff for the aching and coughing. Put all three of those pills together and sweet baby Jesus! I am high as a damn kite. Still sick, though.

I've done nothing all weekend but sit in bed, napping and watching Jane Austen movie adaptations. Obviously Pride and Prejudice (oh, Mr. Darcy!) but I also downloaded Emma, Northanger Abbey, and Mansfield Park. Had to stop Mansfield Park about 5 minutes in because the chick who played Fanny was so wildly miscast. It wasn't a huge disappointment since that's my least favorite book (seriously, Fanny kinda sucks) and I had already had my fill of Austen.

Popped another sleeping pill for tonight so must warn, this is kinda stream of concious blogging here.

Ode to My Cleaning Lady: A Series of Haiku

Dulce, I love you
Every other Wednesday she
Cleans my apartment

For only forty
Thousand won she gets it done
Ten bucks an hour

Hitting a reset
Button two times every month
The place looks so good

Trash, laundry, sweeping
You tidy for me and Joel.
Dulce, I love you.

The Crazy Lady at the Gym

One of the things I love about Korea is the plethora of affordable gyms all over the city. Ever "dong" (neighborhood) has its own community center with a basic gym. My dong's (hahahahaha...ok, Nicole, you are not 12 years old) gym is pretty nice and the treadmills are choice. I bought my membership on Monday and started Operation: Running, with the goal of running a 10K in under an hour in the fall.

To start off, I'm using this guide in order to do the first two miles and then I'll do a 10K training program. I've been good this week in getting my ass into the gym. I skipped on Thursday because of a dinner party and Friday because of a massive hangover but I went on Sunday so that's 5/6 of the days I was supposed to go. Not bad. My knee hasn't bothered me, I can already see a difference in my body, and I wore a slutty dress last night and it looked bangin'.

The problem is that in the past week, I've become the resident Crazy Lady. Tuesday, I bought a bottle of wine and stuck it in my purse to save the plastic bag. I forgot about it and when I went to the gym and got out my membership card, the little old lady at the desk saw the bottle of wine and busted out laughing.

The bigger cause for the Crazy Lady title, though, is my gym work-out iPod play list, titled "Run Foxy Run." I need super up-beat music to get motivated but I can't seem to stop dancing along when I'm on the treadmill, especially with the K-Pop. Worse, I started singing out-loud to one song without realizing what I was doing. I got Looks.

This coming week, I am going to try my best to be nice and normal. We'll see how it goes.

This song is awesome. Another Charles discovery.

Mid Week Hilarity

Ok, if you go to google.com and type in "why" the suggestions that appear underneath are:

why do men have nipples
why is the sky blue
why is my poop green
why do cats purr
why did i get married too
why do dogs eat poop
why can't i own a canadian (my personal favorite)

If you go to google.co.kr, the top suggestions to continue "why" are:
why do koreans have big heads
why do koreans love starcraft
why we love crazy japanese tv
why do koreans have good skin

Charles discovered this and it gave both of us, especially the big head question. It's one many of us have pondered.

Something's Cookin'

I woke up today with a headache due to excessive makkoli consumption from the previous night. Mary, Matthew, and I had an impromptu Jersey Shore viewing party and sat in front of the computer for over four hours. During that time, the three of us drank eight bottles of the makkoli and we all paid for it today.

Like every sensible person, I decided the solution to my hangover would be a nice greasy fry-up. I went marketing and bought some baked beans and bacon and then went to town. The fruits of my labor:



Thus fortified, I decided to make a nice creamy vegetable soup. I found a nice recipe on allrecipes.com and went back out to the shops, chopped and prepped then low and behold! Potato Vegetable soup!



I feel like I'm on fire, cooking-wise. Tonight, I am preparing the dough to make ciabatta bread. It has to rise for 18 hours so it'll bake tomorrow. How exciting.

iTunes Mayhem

Put your iTunes on "random shuffle" and see what it pops out with.

The Beatles - In My Life

Bebel Gilberto - Sem Contenção

Radiohead - Airbag

Beyonce - Single Ladies

KT Tunstall - Paper Aeroplane

Camille - Les Ex

Beirut - The Bunker

Madonna - Lucky Star

Marvin Gaye - Mercy Mercy Me

Joni Mitchell - Morning Morgantown

Ballin' On A Budget

Well kids, for the first time in a while I am being forced to budget. No me gusta.

I've got a pretty sweet European vacation planned for this summer and in order to make it happen, I've got to buckle down and save hard core. Then, after I return, I'm going to have to save for Montessori school tuition so there's no going back to the carefree days of spending that characterized my first year in Korea.

I knew this on a certain level but it really hit home today. I get paid on Monday and I was doing my financial planning for the month and holy shit, it was grim. It occurred to me that this is how it's going to be every month from here on out. I'm 28 damn years old and it's high time I learn how to save.

I must keep in mind that saving will let me do cool stuff, like go to Norway and hang out in Gent for a beer festival. I think the key is learning to spend intelligently so I don't have to eat ramen and be depressed but learn how to stretch my dollars (or rather won). Oooh, now it seems like an adventure!

The eating this is going...well...argh. It's totally bringing me down, writing out all my food intake.

RANDOM ASIDE: I am totally jamming out to Harder, Better, Faster, Stronger on my super hi-tech headphones. It's incredible though difficult to dance because I'm attached to my computer. I love Daft Punk.

Back to food. Yeah, so I am thinking more about what I eat for sure but I am dreading the end of the three months, when I have to "recast" my stomach. Eek. The main benefit from this book is all the water I'm drinking. I am now having a glass right before I go to bed and right when I wake up, while I wait for my coffee to brew. I already feel the difference. Last night, I had a few too many "digestifs" after dinner and usually I feel like poo the next day but no such problem today.

RANDOM ASIDE #@: Last night was a perfect example of accidentally drunk. I get made fun of for saying that but seriously, it was completely on accident last night and just one of the many times I've stumbled into fun. When you're Nicole Fox, the good times are plentiful.

Monday is the day I go back to the gym. I am excited and eager to get running. Let's hope this lasts!

RANDOM ASIDE #3: Daft Punk has lead to Justice and now I'm rocking out to Let There Be Light. If you haven't heard their album, it's time you get off your ass and get it.

And now, your moment of zen:

Snow Days Are Made of Win

It's been snowing like a mo fo here in Seoul and because the city is completely unequipped to deal with the snow, I've had two days off this week. It's been awesome!

Yesterday, I felt like a little kid. I had taken a shower, had a pot of coffee and was in the process of getting dressed when I got the phone call from work telling me not to come in. I'm not going to lie, I did the Snoopy dance all over my living room. It was my first snow day in seven years and seriously, I feel like they're even better as a teacher.

I spent the day doing typical snow day activities. Charles, our friend Amy, and I walked over to one of the steeper sections of the hill we live on and went sledding, using my cookie sheet. There were a bunch of kids doing the same and man, it was so much fun. This Korean woman, about our age, tried to tell us that it was too dangerous and we were making it hard for people to walk but we ignored her and went on our merry way.

After we couldn't stand the cold of the snow that went down our pants, we hauled ass to Amy's to eat homemade turkey and vegetable soup and brownies whilst watching Spaceballs and Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. About that time, all three of us got the call telling us our schools were canceled today too so we decided it was beer o'clock and we made our (very cautious) way down to the pub. Other friends joined us and we had a lovely time.

Today, I spent the day inside, cleaning and cooking and being a homebody. It was very lovely and I highly recommend it. I'm reading this book called "French Women Aren't Fat" and it's all about eating like the French and the author gives you a program to get your eating style on track. For three weeks, you're supposed to write down everything you eat and dude, it's bumming me out but it's making me think more about what I eat. After those three weeks are up, I'm supposed to identify the patterns of my eating and cut out repeat offenders for three months then eat them in moderation after. We'll see how it goes.

One piece of advice she gives is to switch up your food and I'm a total creature of habit. I need to get more variety in my food and cook more. I started tonight by making chicken with potatoes and capsicums. I hate cooking for just myself but I need to get over that. I have a sweet ass pink apron that I love to wear and that gives me motivation to cook.

Happy New Year! Or, 2009: A Retrospective

It's January 3rd and the dust has cleared from a raucous New Year's Eve. After being incapacitated for two days due to the hangover to end all hangovers, I am ready to share my thoughts on the past year. Buckle your seat belts, ladies and gents.

2009 was a very very mixed bag for me. The first 8 months were stressful, difficult, and very straining and the last four were among the best of my life, period. The stressful months turned out to be completely worth it and while they sucked to go through, they made me appreciate the time I got to travel. I only had a very dim idea of how miserable I was and the three month break restored me to my proper balance and I am so grateful that I was able to do it.

On to the resolutions!
1. Cook more! I am going to learn how to make bread if it kills me.

2. Save money and stick to my budget! I've got big plans for this year and I need the money to make them happen, dang it.

3. Run a 5K in the spring and a 10K in the fall. Part of getting fit and having my muffin-ectomy. Skinny bitch in '10!

4. Buy less, craft more. Re-using materials, etc. and it helps save money.

Here's hoping 2010 is better for the world at large!