thoughts for today.......

i had a beautiful walk along the river behind where i live and had a few random thoughts......

as i looked up in the sky, while i was walking, i noticed quite a bit of military activity. not an uncommon sight in a small country (especially a small country in a "cold" war with it's neighbour to the north). we especially always notice when there is more activity than usual. in light of the new gov't that came into power almost one year ago, there has been some unrest between north and south korea. the new president in south korea is being a bit hard nosed with the north and it is not going un noticed. with aheadline on the front page of the bbc news website saying," North Korea tears up agreements
North Korea says it is scrapping all military and political deals with the South over its "hostile intent", as ties worsen. " we can only hope it doesn't get much worse.

i kept walking, thinking about my next few months in korea. i still have a month left of my vacation (i am so blessed!), and teddy will be finishing his contract on the 22nd of next month. he wants to buy his apartment that the school he currently works for provided him with. they gave him the go ahead, so long as he sees to the paper work. he had applied for a position with the uni i am working at, which didn't work out. so he wants to have his own housing, leave the country when his working visa expires and re-enter the country as a tourist and look for a better job in march. he has a tough time in different ways than me, living in korea as a foreigner. all too often i think that because he's asian he blends in and life for him is much easier.......he doesn't have to deal with the staring and racism that i do as a caucasian. wrong! every so often i get reminded that simply not being korean is enough to cause racism---nothing to do with being asian and blending in. the people who interviewed teddy at my university couldn't get past his asian skin tone and asian eyes enough to believe that english is his first language. the 2 korean women in the interview (from the english department) argued with my 2 friends (foreign co-teachers of mine who know teddy) whether he was a native speaker or not! teddy often gets spoken to as though he is korean and when he doesn't understand he gets second glances from koreans trying to figure him out. at the school he is leaving they even asked him to fire a newly hired english teacher because they decided they didn't want to hire another asian!!! it's a mixed life of greatness and utter frustration living in korea. i only hope that teddy can have the chance to have a better job than at an academy, teaching bratty korean kids who don't want to be there, with bosses who care nothing about their employees or students so long as the money is rolling in. i have truly been blessed this past year with the job i have!

whew! now on to a much more positive note........as i kept walking i watched the ducks in the river and i was reminded of the beauty in the korean springtime, which is right round the corner (we're having an unusually warm day today and the ducks were loving it---as was i!). korea has one of the most beautiful springtimes i may have ever experienced. there are so many flowers and so many shades of "new" green. amongst the crowds and garbage you can see it if you look. i spent my first 5 years here in the country, so it may be easier for me to see then the foreigners who have only lived in metro areas. i love korean spring and i very much look forward to quitting the gym for the outdoors and watching everything turn from this dull gray-brown to rainbows of color. i will be more diligent about taking photos of it this year and will show you what i'm talking about.