as well, here is a video of the trailer from downloading nancy, this was a film shot in regina last february, and was a really intimate shoot. i have high expectations of the film, and although it will definitely be a hard film to watch, it will be a horribly beautiful film. viewer discretion advised, BE WARNED, NUDITY VIOLENCE AND SWEARING ALL IN THE TRAILER. but it truly will be a great film.

Well, here i am sitting at our new desks in our new apartment with the newly connected internet. things are shaping up quite nicely. we've finally been connected with a phone line, so for those who wish to call, you're welcome to. the trick is to dial 011-82-33-553-5365. that ought to get you through. i hear that sasktel international rates are quite cheap through landline, 3 cents a minute in there. just remember that we're fifteen hours ahead of you, so don't phone us in the midafternoon sasky time. the best time is to call around 8 or 9 on a friday or saturday night, and you'll hit us on the weekend around 11 or 12.

this week was the settling in to the dreaded aspect of the whole trip, the actual teaching of the students. i taught about 12 classes over four days, a fairly light load, although i believe my teaching load won't increase much past 18 hours a week. even that turned out to not be the big nightmare i expected. there is one class that was the hell class, but even they had loads of fun, which apparently is not allowed. but no need to rant, life is good, and korean life is going to be quite luxurious, as we have received our first paychecks. many times, even after weeks of being here, i must pinch myself to remind me i'm not dreaming. because there are times i just don't believe i followed through and that it truly is as good as i hoped it would be. i no longer have that nagging feeling when i'm out sightseeing or visiting, that i should be doing something more productive. i'm doing what i came to do. and if it turns out i can write some music or film stuff, i will, but right now, my duty is to travel, take in the beauty and culture around me, and that i will.

though in my happiness and complacency, my mind still drifts back to yesterday. watching news in korean doesn't always get across as clearly as one would hope to someone who speaks none of the language. i was watching retrospective images of opposition leader Bhutto in all of her successes, thinking that something great must have happened in pakistan, she must have got elected! the military rule must be over! i walked to school thinking in my head, "see, sometimes things work out!"

then i checked the internet and discovered she was dead. one step forward, ten steps back.

i guess it's not surprising, we still sit are sitting in limbo at the hotel eastern. not that i want to complain, as we are very comfortable, however, it's where we are not that is bothering the most. our precious young cat meenos has a terrible affliction that has rendered her mostly paralyzed. i feel very helpless over here, and not to downplay that of the pet who we've grown very affectionate for, but i keep thinking of what it would feel like for somebody else to go through something terrible, and me being 10,000km away. i guess it's just a bit of the early stages of homesickness kicking in. but what do you do? we're just immersing ourselves in the happy things here so that we don't think about it.

such dichotomy of happiness and sadness really makes me feel strange. melancholy. i hope that we can move into our place soon, and start the difficult part of work, so that everything moves over to the happy side of the scale. with meenos, i just don't know if there's anything that can be done. this is another stone on the scale side of sadness.

soon, soon, things will start to tip, but until then, this indescribable sense of teetering balance is all i have.

peace
rob

yes, believe your eyes, this is a new post. i am posting from a small computer centre in a "resortel" in a city of approximately 90,000 called Yang Yang (pronounced "yong yong"). it's been an intense last few days as kat and i finally get settled into what will be the next year of our lives spent in the bustling country South Korea. already there has been a great many adventures, and we've only been here for around 4 days.

i pet a squid today, it was very soft. we are in a province that is entirely mountains, and we explored a very sacred place known as soraksan national park, where there sits a giant seated buddha and many buddhist temples. sipping rice wine in a restaurant several kilometres into the park, i realized that this ain't kansas, and i am not dorothy. though we are still waiting in limbo for our placement, we have no choice but to patiently wait out the beaurocratic procedure that is the South Korean government's work.

the job itself will be interesting, we will be thrust into the role of high school conversation english teachers. the first of their kind in the small corner province of korea known as Gangwon-do. In a similar sense it reminds me of Saskatchewan, though only superficially, (population, agrarian society, people have never seen foreigners)...

i now know how the beatles felt when they had hordes of screaming girls come at them. this is how South Korean schoolgirls react when they see foreigners. they squeal in excitement, and their eyes go wide. we are strangers in a strange land, and we are like rock stars. i can't say it doesn't feel good, but it does feel strange. we are the angelina jolies and the brad pitts, as celebrity culture permeates here just as obsessively as it does in north america...

i feel like posting more, and i will, but for now this is a taste...we will get settled in in a few days, and more information will come, but jet lag and sightseeing combined with the overwhelming fear of teaching makes me a very tired man, and i will bid you adieu for now, but only for now...

peace
rob