Friday, March 30, 2007

Work me, Lord

When Twyla left tonight (or this morning) we could hear the rain falling so hard, it sounded like a waterfall. She called me describing how amazing it looked with the rain drops bouncing off the ground as the city lights were reflecting on the water.

And then once again, i recalled acid rain... damn Seoul! I love Korea, but all this pollution is bad. And as for global warming...

Annabella is coming all the way from Madrid in 2 days!!!! How awesome is that?! She'll be staying for 10 days and ever since she's told me she's coming, I've started to realize how much I feel at home here. How much I know about Korean culture. It's amazing!

Tonight we had a girls' night, with my famous shrimp curry and Kyngah's delicious kimchi pancakes. And Sangria. It suddenly hit me that i'm leaving in 2 months. I'm going to miss those people so much.

After Annabella leaves, i'm going to Thailand and i'm really looking forward to this vacation! Then i'll be back in May and i'm leaving four weeks later. Insane.

I HAVE SPENT A YEAR IN SOUTH KOREA!!! France was nothing compared to this!

So here's my big dilemma now: i'm definitely coming back next year, but where should I work? My current school, or at a public school?

My boss came up to me and said they want to keep me so they're willing to let me keep my apartment for free, even though the price will rise. That means keeping that perfect place with flat screen TV, piano, pink couch, AC and all the brand new appliances.

But I don't get a raise because, well they're paying for the apartment. And they let me go home for a month and a half. So i would have to be back mid July. And for next year, I would only get a week vacation. As for the rest, it's the usual deal with the plane ticket paid by the school.

HOWEVER, IF I work at a public school, I could spend 3 months home this summer, come back for a year contract that pays more than my school, get PAID sick days and two weeks vacation.

My schedule would be regular, i.e. 9 until 4 instead of 2pm until 8pm at my school. That's cool.

But i'd lose my apartment and I would need to pay to get all my stuff stored. I don't know if my new apartment would be better or worse. I don't know if people at public school woud be awesome or assholes. At least at my school now I get along with the staff and they're not on my back.

At public school I'd have to spend more time at work, but no grading. Right now i'm going insane with grading. Also, what if i'm in a crappy neighborhood? The reason why I love Korea so much is because I feel comfortable here. And my apartment (i know it sounds incredibly shallow) has a lot to do with this.

So what should I do?

I want to spend 3 months home just chillin' with friends and family. Plus a friend of mine is supposed to come from France in August. But I guess he could visit in Korea, that's more exotic! I mean, a month and a half home would be alright, wouldn't it?

I'm confused. And tired. I have so much grading to do. Tomorrow gym and getting my hair done with Erika. Then going out but not too late cauz Annabella's plane lands at 7am Sunday!

Also thinking about buying a new laptop: should I get a mac (performant, no viruses, no bogs but heavy), or that Sony SZ48 (light, performant, lots of space, but runs with stupid Windows)?

Hey you know what? This post is probably the most ridiculous one on earth. Who cares??????????????????????? People are starving and here I am talking about all this. Maybe I should volunteer in developing countries to set my mind straight... none of this matters in the end.

Ever heard Janis Joplin's "Work me, Lord"? Pretty good.

Seriously, get yourselves some Janis, Marvin Gaye, Al Green, Massive Attack, get in a jazzy mood with Holliday, Armstrong, Simone and Fitzgerald, sing your soul with Aretha Franklin, Otis Redding, even John Lee Hooker!

And you're never wrong with some good old reggae a la Bobby Marley, Peter Tosh, Tiken Jah Fakoly or Jimmy Cliff. Oh! Do you know Louisa Mark's "keeping it like this", or Janet Kay's "Loving you", both delightful reggae love songs.

Or kick in some Eminem and try to sing along. How about Chingy's "right thur"? That's all we sing at work, along with 50 cents' "in that club"... just because, they're catchy tunes ^^

I also recommend watching Chris Rock's one man shows, they're all good. But it's not for puritains...








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