The First Blog From Korea

I'm 3 days short of my first month here, and I'm finally just finding solid ground. I can't really decide if this last month has been a sprint, or a slow crawl. It has been a sprint in the sense that everything has been moving so quickly and it feels like I haven't even had time to breath. The whole time, I'm just trying to keep my head above water. At the same time, it has been a crawl in the sense I haven't really gotten a grasp on things yet, so it feels like I haven't accomplished much. I'm almost in the same position I was about a month ago, only missing home more and, slightly more confused at work, but more comfortable in my new apartment (if we can even call it that) and surroundings. There has been so many good things this past month, but so many frustrating things as well. In my previous blog that I wrote around the New Year, I promised I'd challenge myself in 2010, and I think I've done just that. I don't know how long I'll last here, but I'm going to test my limits. I'm a people person, and I begin to feel unhealthy if I am unable to have a healthy, educational, and lengthy conversation for an extended period of time. If it weren't for my co-workers, I would have already been back home. They have been my support and my anchor. Our family&friends and our relatives that live in Korea both can't imagine the amount of stress we are going through. The only way we know we aren't alone is to speak to each other. I think because of that reason, we have become a family quite quickly. We've had talks on subjects that people that have just met would not talk about. Although, my co-workers weren't sober, and I'm an open book so this variable might also be a major factor. Alcohol consumption seems to be a savior here, but unfortunately I do not have that luxury. I wish I could write, or even better, I wish I could just speak about everything I have been through. However, my thoughts are every where right now and I don't know where to begin to organize them. I have some extra time at work on Monday afternoon, and so maybe I'll just start writing about my experiences from the beginning. That's a big maybe because my work is not a very good environment for deep thinking (even though it's a school) because of the pressure to keep moving. I've got to say, I must be working at one of the worst places in Korea. Well, that might be a bit extreme...okay, very extreme and unfair, but it's fair to say it's not a very considerate place. Again, many of the people I work with are such a blessing and I don't know how I got so lucky to be around so many wonderful people, but the whole program and slightly the way Korean labor is set up is not very worker friendly. I learned that Korea switched to 5 day work weeks not too long ago (within the last 8 years), and that labor laws are only just now being put into place. We are in the middle of a transition period, so many employers are still clinging to the old ways. Think about all the white people that didn't want to give up slavery. Why would Korean people with money want Korean people without money to have an equal say? Because it's fair and equal? Ha, fair and equal is such liberal paranoia and for such pussies. Learn how to get tough. Anywho, I'm going to cut myself off prematurely as I need to wake up a bit early. Actually, it's not that early, but earlier than I would like. My co-worker Scott and I are planning on hitting up a bank and changing some mighty American dollars into Korean won. Then of course, it's the beginning of a new work week for us. It's amazing that we all hate work this much, yet we keep going back.
I hope to write more soon. I don't think I've asked people to comment on my blogs before, but now I'm desperate. Talking to someone in English (even if it is just via text) is so refreshing. Speaking in broken, infant level Korean just doesn't satisfy my thirst to have a meaningful conversation. I hope that those of you reading are doing better than I am, and I hope that the weather where ever you may be is better than the weather here. If it's not raining, it's cloudy, and we even managed to get snow here. I thought weather sucked in Minnesota.