Hello June!

Just a quick one for the start of this month.

I had been occupied with other non-writing things last month that I wasn't really able to write a lot. I missed some writing deadlines I've set for myself because life happens. :)

This month's goal for me is to get my car checked, safe and ready for my daily work. It has been bugging me for a while now so that should be done soon. Another one is the phone that I also need for work. I still have a bit of work-related things on my list but those are the big ticket ones.

Reading took a backseat last month. I have Stephen King's book, "On Writing" still unfinished and got another book that I requested still sitting in my dashboard. I hope to be able to get back to those two books when I finally get the groove in my new workplace. The goal is to hit the point where you just show up without a lot of prep time needed and still have a good class at the end of the workday.

As for the writing part, I will need to finish and submit two articles that I had been drafting since last month this week. So far, I have the main part but will need to finish up the additional parts like the photos.

On the food and health aspect, I've signed up and attended one yoga class last week so I got a start on that now. I had also been seeking nature more this past few weeks to de-stress and to get the writing done without much success until yesterday. I found a school with a few trees that provided some shade on the parking lot and there was not a soul in sight until a family also showed up. That can be a short drive away but accessible for me now. Or maybe I'll try to hike by myself one day, do yoga and write on top of the mountain. :) That is the dream. ^^ That is my second best place to chill now since I have no idea how to find the seaside still.

Food wise, I got a few frozen stuff in the fridge and a lot of produce that is waiting to be cooked today. I am happy to see the vegetables and hope to make some nutritious food soon.

On that note, I'll start on it!

Life After Kids

36. 14. 

As I sit here in front of my trusty laptop, I reflect on these numbers. I am just half-way in the child-rearing journey and as I see my teen approach the bigger number of life, I just can't help but to equally look at my own numbers.

My life in numbers: 14, 20, 21, 22, 36. 5. I have a 14-year-old son, graduated from uni at 19, married at 20, had a kid at 22, and now at 36 years old, I am still at loss at what I want to do. Five. Five years at which my life was put on hold for the citizenship that I had zeroed in to acquire more than 5 years ago.

I had a job, I still do but it's a freelance job that is unstable as far as it can be. No work, no pay but I have the freedom to make my own schedule. I had not been very keen on the super stable job that my parents had groomed me from the beginning since both of them had worked in the government and they are now reaping their loyalty and dedication in their retirement years along with most people in their generation who sucked it up and went to work for an 8-5 job regardless of the pretty limited pay.

My parents are still hoping that I get my act together and join the government job but with extra citizenship, I don't think that is still possible under the law. The only possible field for me is private: freelance, employed and self-employed in a business. The best combination is being employed but at the same time running a business. That is one rule of life that I have seen worked pretty well. But of course, there's still the just do the business but that is riskier. 

So until I get that citizenship card, I will have to figure out what I can do with the remaining more-than-half of my life, one of which is to be able to get my son on a good footing better than how I had been despite my college education. I know I still got time, resources and a lot of ideas that I just have to really zero in. I got 12 days then I'm done and ready for the next life task! I know there is a higher Being who knows the proper timing for me that will yield better numbers.

Pictures, Videos and Storage Problems

Why do we have to keep photographs, videos, and all these things?

The need to document our lives? Totally a new addition to Maslow's hierarchy of needs? Why?

I try to reason with myself. I really don't take a lot of photos like most people nowadays but my storage still gets full ALL THE TIME. Things that I take photos of: sceneries, moments, interesting random things, practical infos, short-term reference photos like when snapping a shot is faster than writing it down. It is just endless especially with digital technology nowadays. I almost want to go back to the pre-photography period when someone has to sketch or write things in order keep this in memory. Just for a second.

Morning Read: Shoemakers Part 2

This is what got me starting writing earlier only to be sidetracked by something else. The last shoemakers in Korea. Where are they? In Seongsudong. Those fancy shoes Korean made shoes in the department stores or specialty brands are most likely made there. A not-so-very expensively made pair but sold in 5 to 6 digits in the window shops. The irony of life. 

Morning Musings

This is the second day that my son goes to middle school. I've managed to let him eat a thick slice of bread and drink a cup of choco milk drink before he went downstairs at 7:45. I watched him from the window until he got on the bus. It was a bit of a wait for him out in the cold along with other kids who were also wearing similar uniforms. He thought it was going to be bulky if he just stuff the jacket in his bag later so he opted not bring one.

As the bus left, I checked what other buses come around this time online. I found that there are 1 or 2 more that he can take if ever he miss the 7:50. The tricky part is how long it would be walk from the bus stop to school. Bus ride alone takes 10-15 minutes, depending on time and passengers. I checked the buses coming and their locations as it is a bit tricky to figure out if the bus coming is going out or in since we only have one-sided bus stop. The one going the opposite way stops on the same bus stop. There is no way to know if the bus coming is going in or out unless I open another tab on the online menu or actually see the bus with it's LED out in front. Sometimes, even the latter can be wrong. The color-coded one online info is better. One can actually follow the bus' current location as it is updated real time, give or take a few minutes. It's almost creepy to think of that GPS thing on buses but it is pretty useful.

It made me reflect on how a parent would try to push the kid out in the world while still trying to keep the strings on him. He has been keen on taking the bus himself since day one of middle school and we've tried to teach him the basics. But as I chatted with him last night, he said he'll just follow the crowd. Ha! I guess he's not that ready yet? Even if I tried to let him find the stationery store to buy his supplies, he flat out told me that he doesn't know it, he's not good at navigating and he might get lost. Good or bad? I guess he won't be going anywhere except school anytime soon. I should be contented with that view for now.

We should do some more navigation trips later when we can. I noticed from our last trip to Seoul that he has stepped up a bit in navigating unlike our previous ones before where he simply didn't care and just relied on me for directions unless I try to push and ask him. This time, he was more involved although when I remarked that getting lost and navigating is fun, he tells me that it's the opposite. Where has his sense of adventure (a.k.a. Amazing Race spirit) has gone? Let's see what other changes will come these coming years. It would be totally nice to have him plan a whole trip by himself one day. I managed to let him do a bit of route research this time. He was the one who researched the trains and buses schedules and cost to COEX and this was because he wanted to go there in the first place. I'm not sure what other destination places would encourage him to do such. Or do so even if it wasn't a trip that he would like to take.

I actually like planning trips and such. But as I am a free spirit, I am very flexible. I have a plan, yes, just so that I will be on the safe side but at the same time, I can also tweak some on the fly provided that I have an extra info as back up. My son, at his age, is still a work in progress. It would be an interesting life trip ahead for him and see him navigate on his own in this so-called life.

My husband had his literal life trips on his own but it's really amazing how he did it considering that he suck at navigating streets. We've lived for more than ten years together in four different cities in between and he is like a homing-pigeon. He will only be be familiar with a couple of routes. That is probably why he ended up in Coron when his final destination was supposed to be El Nido when he first came to Palawan eons of years ago! I should've known better. :) He managed without his luggage and survived to tell the story and it's still a good one to remember now.

This reminded me about the interest to travel abroad soon together. Destination: Vladivostok, Russia. We all came up with possible interesting places. P, for Italy. Me, Greece. But both are a bit far for starters so Hubs kind of zeroed in Russia. Kid was interested in Russian language last year, and German this month due to hubs' encouragement mostly. Crossing my fingers that some family trip will happen soon!

Got to get to that uniform shirt for handwashing now, though.

Phone Cable Dilemma --- Convenience Store to the Rescue

My knock-off phone cable has been acting strangely for about a few weeks ago. I've checked for possible replacement online and was ready to buy online since last week. But then, before doing that, I thought about checking an offline store at first. That proved to be an unfortunate choice because I couldn't find any store that sells it. It's a bit outdated so it's a little bit hard to find, I thought. I figured I need to find a replacement before we head out on the road this holidays. What I didn't count in was that online deliveries will be super delayed with the holidays coming!

Sunday came and I really had a hard time charging my phone during the whole day that I was out. My phone can only last until afternoon on regular use but it just can't with the heavy translating during Korean class. Good thing that I got my chromebook set up in the local wifi so I was able to use the online translation there. The phone miraculously found it's sweet spot and started charging. But boy! It was very frustrating to connect that thing to the lappy to charge. 

I am getting desperate to find the cable offline more than ever. But I haven't able to after class coz I just had to attend to my body needs, bathroom plus I had my monthly period and all, that I just went home right away. 

6500 KRW

The next day came and I am really getting desperate each hour. I decided to really find it before the day ends. I asked a local young adult student where I can possibly find one and she told me to check out convenience store. I'm like "really?" Even though there's one nearby, I decided to go downtown since the downtown ones would more likely stock up varied stuff and to pick up other stuff as well. After checking out DC marts, Daiso and a small phone accessory shop, I almost gave up until I remembered my last hope. I headed to the best location on the intersection and browsed the store. It wasn't hard to find at all. There it was on a corner a cable brand with all the cables neatly arranged together, even color-coded to easily find the price. It has various kinds and sizes which anyone would ever need in a pinch. I didn't know convenience stores were this cool!

The price is a little bit more than what you can find online. I was eyeing something more multi-functional online at about the same price but the availability and the sturdiness-look of this one makes up for the difference. It's flat cable and some pink part so I'm hoping this will be worth it's price before I change my phone a few years later. Procrastinating cost a steeper price.

Just this Sunday, I also had to do a quick run there to buy a pair of cotton gloves since I forgot to bring one of the three that I have up on the 10th floor. It was a life-saver since I still have to drive a bit more later the day on a sunny day.

So, if there's a random thing needed to buy, I think a convenience store should always be checked out. I got my gloves, and my replacement cable. What a relief!

Missing Wallet (nth Time)

So I lost my wallet last Friday. I just found out over the weekend when I was preparing to head out for my weekend class. I do think that I just had it misplaced. I had been hoping that I'll find it in the cafe where I last remembered using it last Friday. But I couldn't go back there until Tuesday so I had to double check my account online and clear out the cash for the time for my peace of mind.

Tuesday came and I went back to the cafe. It wasn't there. Great. I got one more possible card, my friend's car. I called her lunch time but she was in Seoul and couldn't check her car until she gets back around night time. Oh well, I can only hope and keep my fingers crossed. Then I got busy that night and wasn't able to check my phone until this morning. What a great morning when I saw her message from last night! It was indeed lying on her car's passenger seat. I arranged to drop by and pick it up later at the center.

Thank God for positive vibes. I do know that there's a big chance I've just misplaced it and that I'll still find it. This Wednesday has been a good one for me. More tomorrow, I pray.

Note: Whenever I do a narrative account, I seem to have just kept on it. Going back to the title, it's funny how my friend has mentioned that we are pretty similarly scatter-brained in that sense. Hah! It takes one to know one. I think I'm really that kind of person who loses, misplaces things. I've tried to "combat"/ prevent these things from happening in the worst scenarios as I should learn with age or else. But yeah, people who know me (specially my husband, heh) won't be surprised about things like these happening to me.

Note to self:
NEVER put stuff on my lap, specially smallish ones. I need a pocket all the time. And on that note, watch out for my clothes that have shallow pockets.

Korean Mart Delivers (even in winter)

It's almost the end of February but winter is still around, making it's presence felt and seen today. I should have known this coming when my nose has started to hurt because of the dry air lately.  

It was pretty cloudy in the morning and I was just expecting some rain later today but I was delighted to see some snow fall as I head back home midday. It was snow but it still melted upon hitting the ground. It started to fall harder when I got in and it wasn't melting anymore. The ground has quickly turned to white as my headache progressed and drove me under covers for a nap. 

An hour or so later, it was still the same and even more on the ground. I suddenly remembered that we still have to get that sack of white rice from the mart. Good thing about living here is almost everything can be delivered! Did a quick listing up, made a phone call, and the goods were delivered before 6 pm. I feel a little bit guilty of having to ask someone to go through that snowy ground in this cold to work but....(this maybe our 2nd or 3rd coz I remember clearly the first month when we got here and found ourselves in this same situation)

I'm just thankful than I have enough balance in my card, and that service is available. Isn't it just very convenient? Thank you Korea.

A nation of suicidal nature...

Ex-president commits suicide.

How many foreign Presidents ever committed suicide? That is something that I have to check on history first. Sure, there are typical cases of murder, assassination but suicide? Hmm...culture, personality are factors. This can be a good paper to write on.

In a highly religious country I grew up in, suicide is seen an ultimate sin. Something that is irrevocable (for obvious reasons and beyond), something almost shameful. Why would anybody actually do it is still unfathomable. It's beyond my own comprehension as I was in the belief that it is unpardonable.

This latest news is a big shock indeed. It's quite usual (almost) to hear about famous actors or other personality (showbiz and biz) to commit suicide, but politics? Specially someone who held a very high position of a country.

The late president was uncannily soft-hearted to look at. I used to find his "swagger" entertaining everytime I see footages of him walking. The issues that surrounded him before his death would not have been worth his life, in my opinion. But I guess, he regarded them very highly. Enough to take his own life. Or perhaps, there's more to it than that. We'll never ever know.

One thing for sure, he is now one of statistics in a nation who have a high suicide rate in the world.