Catch up

I have written a few times, but left it in word format and keep forgetting to post it here.  So I will try to post the ones I've written recently on back to back days to make them all seem a bit cogent.

092913

So the weirdness of being an expat is a little more intense living on an island.

I am unsure if the people are just less worldly or what the problem is.  It’s really odd.  I am shocked that I actually have more teachers (not co-teachers, just co-workers) that speak better English in general (maybe I am wrong…I dunno), but I sure feel the daggers more often here.

It would happen in Seosan every once in a while, almost like a monthly or bi-monthly fee for being foreign – getting ignored.  I don’t really even mind the being ignored part, though I guess I ultimately must if I am writing about it.  What seems to glare in my mind is not even the ignoring, but almost the intension to do so.

There’s a lady that sits very close to me and it’s like she will go out of her way to turn away.  And then there will come a time where I feel like everyone is celebrating the fact that I am here.  Maybe I am being too needy, although other than wanting to have a few of the basic amenities that make living in the middle of nowhere a little easier, I don’t need a whole lot; maybe a smile or a hello once in a while.

As I said, I used to experience this in Seosan once every 45 days or so and it would last a few days and then fade, before returning after running its cycle.  It’s conceivable that I am just imagining things due to the lack of other things to really focus on (distractions like restaurants, cultural exchanges or things of note, etc.) 

All I know is that it kind of makes me think that there is something terribly wrong with me…so what else is new?

I would like to head to Jinju in the coming days for the Lantern  Festival.  One of my co-teachers said, “You can take your girl-friend”.  Another asked who I was going with.  I’ve been on the island for one month and for the most part, treated like a leper…who the hell do they think is going with me?

And so the isolation intensifies.