I want some caaawwwwwwffeeeee

Haeundae Beach, Busan.

Kumazawa Mikiko, Erosion, pencil on geso, 2009.

I had my first guest house stay ever with Chan and his lovely girlfriend. 'Chan's house' in Busan

Oliver Clegg, There you are, oil on found wooden desks, 2010

Crazy installation! I neglected to take names down at first. oops!

The Busan Biennale. The Museum of Modern art in Busan.

A random beautiful lake at a rest stop on the way to Busan.

A victorious moment for my apartment. I bought and finally installed a new closet unit!

Singing my little heart out at Noraebang!

Helen, Mia and I. Peace Korea!


Life has these really lovely moments where if you stop and pay attention, there's really not all that much to be sad about. Life also has some pretty shitty moments. Both have ocured in my life recently. For every up there is a down... or something like that.

School, although it continues to give me slight moments of anxiety has fallen into a kind of rhythm that is much smoother and easier to maintain than I thought would be possible. The job itself is becoming easier and easier. What is not so easy is the dealing with incompetent bullshit administration errors which make my life a pice of crap some days and have begun to make my hair thin in a way that makes me wonder if a solid paycheque is really worth it?
We all have the things that get to us and the things we can let go.... keep working on the letting go part. I've come to the conclusion that the people who do really well in Korea are the people who are really good at that letting go part. And boy is it hard sometimes. Don't fight the man. Play dumb, follow along without questioning or surprise and all should go relatively well. Damn!

I do enjoy the teaching part, especially now that I have a fancy new class with a touch screen and a mic! The kids have also responded really positively to the new english environment although surprisingly it is harder to control them than when they're in their own classroom. Perhaps they can sense that it isn't really my classroom (I have to ask for a key to open it every day...) and that makes me weak... erg.

Last week was Chuseok vacation, and although I couldn't find anyone to travel with, I decided to still go to Busan by myself to see the Biennale and get out of Seoul for a couple days. It was by all acounts a pretty good trip. A bit lonely. I don't think I love traveling by myself... but still a good oportunity to see some good art. And I DID make it to a coupple kick butt Jimjilbangs as well as swim in the Ocean (always a very positive experience)! I ended the week by participating in the Seoul Drum Festival. I took part in a colaborative art piece that features 2 drum groups and several artists drawing the oerformance live as well as an affrican dancer. It was cool! What was even more interesting was the fact that last year I was in the crowd. It's moments like these that have been making me feel as though I may be finding a path here slowly but surely. I think it's time to start focusing more seriously on my artwork again. I took a bit of a break this summer with the move and all, but now that I have found a rhythm in my new environment it's time to get out there, see new things, and make more efforts to be productive in the evenings and weekends.

This week I have to pull my piece for the Yongsan Exhibition together. I think it will be fairly interesting to see how it turns out.

I may also go on a rafting trip with some people I met on my trip with Jeremy in Chuncheon. James might come. We've decided to make an honest effort to remain friends and so far things are going pretty well. Time will tell... c'est la vie!