Getting down to business

"Full Moon", Acrylic on Canvas, 60 X 90cm, 2011.

Painted for the International Artist Communities group exhibition "Erotic Fantasies" at Cafe Blind Spot in Hongdae. November 26 ~ December 17, 2011.

As my first semester as a full time Professor begins to decend into a frenzy of panic and marking, I have to say that I've never felt quite so happy and content with myself and my life since coming to Korea. I am actually happy here!? How did this happen? How is it even possible that I could come to a place of acceptance and contentment when for so long I was miserable, homesick and literally sick from culture shock and a lack of regional anti-bodies?

I suspect a lot of it comes from the previous mentioned job sattisfaction and actually feeling like I'm doing a worthwhile job on some level. I also feel as though I am being challeneged in new ways and that push is so refreshing after floating in a sea of pure bordome for so long. But it's more than that. I feel at home in my little appartment. It's so quiet and cozy. I enjoy my co-workers not only for their talents and genuine friendliness, but also because for the first time since grad school I feel like I have peers. They can teach me new things and help me become a better teacher and worker. I hope to continue learning and developing professional relationships and friendships with a bunch of them.

Maybe the words I'm looking for are positive outlook and posibly also brighter disposition and sense of meaningful purpose? In any case, it has led to a bit of a transformation for me in the last months. A renewal of energy and determination to continue doing things that I enjoy and becoming involved in activities. I have begun painting again and drawing more and it feels good. I really want to keep working towards having enough paintings to put on a solo show before the end of the school year. Who knows? Anything is possible right?

With the New Year on the horizon, I've been recently thinking of things that I should add to my list of goals and while some goals have been achieved since last year and some others have still not changed and or been acheived, I'm happy to find that I do have new goals to put down on that list that I think will bring new meaning to my life in Korea.

And while it could be the left over turkey sandwhiches (from the staff American Thanks Giving we had yesterday) or the residual paint fumes from painting in my very tiny appartment, I think that the feeling of contentment that I have comes from a deeper degree of having made a good stable situation for myself here. I can all of the sudden start to see my future here as something not to dread but rather, as something to look forward to. And that, well that is something to be both thanksful and excited about.

Here are some links to the exhibition and some reviews of the show.

http://www.koreaherald.com/lifestyle/Detail.jsp?newsMLId=20111122000544

https://www.facebook.com/#!/events/225333014201175/

Feeling the pieces of the puzzle falling into place.

October has slowly been bleeding into November in a sea of brightly colored leaves, outrageous Halloween events and concerts. November has also marked the sh*t hitting the fan part of the college semester, where everything seems to be racing forward towards finals at a dizzying pace. Korea, unlike Northern Ontario seems to think that Fall should last from September allllll the way till December, and for that I am eternally gratefull. The weather has been absolutely fantastic this Fall and has kept the party going for all who can keep up with it to enjoy.

I've found that as I become more used to my job and my routine, time has been slipping by more quickly than ever, but that in this time, I seem to be able to do more and have more fun doing it that I ever have since coming to Korea 2 years ago. Perhaps this means that I have truely reached the acceptance phase of culture shock and that I am more or less ready and able to deal with all that is thown at me in the context of living and surviving in this country. It may also be that the amount of time that I spent stressing out and being angry and poorly rested at my last job has been and continues to be slowly replaced by more energy, more creativity and many more hours of unbroken and restful sleep in my new living and working environment. Don't get me wrong, my new job is a LOT of hard work and is challenging me in ways that I've never been challenged in a work environment, but rather than get me down, this seems to be motivating me and helping me find new interests in working towards goals in education, teaching and art.

A new degree of empowerment and interest in life and the things around me has come over me recently and for that I am very thankful. I was begining to worry that there was something wrong with me, that I would forever be reduced to a lazy unmotivated lump of angst. I'm happy to say that a lot of the bitterness and angst and frustration that seemed to cling to my life in Korea is slowly evaporating and leaving in it's place a freshly renewed interst in learning and improving my abilities and talents.

Chris and I enjoying the set at Boys Noize


Definitely one of the best concerts I've ever been to in Korea, despite the fact that all they were serving was extremely overprices Jagermiester.

My Japanese Victorian inspired Gothic Lolita look

Me and the lead singer of the 'Rock Tigers' ~Velvet Gina, on Halloween http://www.reverbnation.com/therocktigers

For example, I have always liked to sew and to design costumes based on a lot of research, and yet this is something that I have rarely done in the past several years and never done in Korea. So I took it upon myself this Halloween to be something that would require me to make a costume and have fun researching and making it in the process. I decided to be a goth. I think there's always been a small part of me that wanted to be goth. Yet I didn't want to be an angsty goth, I wanted to be something Asian and something Victorian. I found out soon enough about the Lolita Goth movement in Japan and other countries around the world which takes Victorian Goth and makes it cute with Asian female sensibilities. For me, living curently in Korea, this seemed to be the perfect fit. Sothing dark and costumy without being too dark or concerned with death. I like gothic, but no so much the macabre. http://www.japaneselifestyle.com.au/fashion/gothic_lolita.html

So out of this, was born my Gothic Lolita costume, which was worn to great effect and got many positive reviews. I was even told by more that one person that I should take up this look more regularily as it suited me very well. LOL! I went to see Boys Noize, a German Electronic DJ, with my friend Chris in costume and had a great time. It was made even better by being in costume and I can't wait to try my hand at more embellishments in the future. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Boys_Noize

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VwzRLgJorYQ

Last weekend, I took a second trip with I.F.X. to Seoraksan mountain. http://english.knps.or.kr/Knp/Seoraksan/Intro/Introduction.aspx?MenuNum=1&Submenu=Npp

It was a lot of fun, but the best part of the trip was not necessarily the hiking (not really a big fan) but the hot springs that we went to on the Sunday before heading back to Seoul! I think I've been in Korea long enough to have been a lot of places and done a lot of things. It comes back to me once in a while, such as with the hot springs, that there are a lot of things that I love about this country but don't so often enough because they feel like they're a novelty rather than something that can be integrated into my life on a more regulara basis.

So in looking forward towards the next months of my time in Korea, I want to make a concerted effort to keep this renewal of enthusiastic and creative energy going in as many ways as possible. I am working on painting for an upcoming exhibition with the I.A.C. and intend to make my art a stronger focus in my life. I recently attended an EFL Conference sponsered by Cambridge University Press at Sookmyung Womens University and was reminded not only that I really do LIKE academics but that I really SHOULD be studying more about my field and how to become a better EFL instructor. http://koreabridge.net/event/seoul-cambridge-day-xi-2011-sookmyung-university-november-2011 Books to read, courses to take, materials to improve and art to see and read about. All this will help me find ways to make my life and work more meaningful and interesting while I continue to explore and live through the adventures of being and Expat in South Korea.