It's How You Get There

You have to taste a culture to understand it. - Deborah Cater So, I haven't seen anyone (well hardly anyone) from my local congregation since October. We've been meeting through zoom, and video etiquette determines that if you're not speaking the video and audio stays off. Since I'm not quite at church speaking level, most people haven't seen me for almost 4 months now.  Which leads to something that will be a secret between you and me - my goal is to lose enough weight that the ladies at my church start asking me if I've been eating enough. Yeah, it's a weird goal, but I don't do well with numbers. Just ask my Mom - she's the one who's suffered most from my stubborn dislike of numbers (the fact I can do any math at all is 100% due to her tireless patience). But reactions? Subjective responses that have little or nothing to do with anything?  Sign me up.  Honestly though, that has been an interesting side effect of moving to Korea - I'm shrin...

Violence is never the answer but sometimes, like with cockroaches, it is the only possible response. Tanya Huff If you've read the title, and it made you squirm, this post may not be for you. I'll still love you, I won't even know you didn't, and since you clicked on the link, I've already got the click count so feel free to move on to a bug free realm.  For those of you who have stuck around, LET ME TELL YOU. I've become a ninja. My powers of observation have tripled. I know the black spots in my apartment intimately , and if there's a new spot, I have a swath of toilet paper or my Squisher Swiffer (a repurposed floor mop) in a matter of seconds.  My "Sweet Home" fans (all two of you) know how I'm vibing. Before you go "But Shayla, there's poison for those!", I've got my passive defense too. I have two different types of roach bait, some roach spray, and a Borax/sugar mix that I keep under the sink and sprinkle in the garbage...

"The limits of my language mean the limits of my world." Ludwig Wittgenstein Today I flexed my new Korean skills and told my friends that (and I quote) the "stomach skin called me". What I meant  to say, was "I called my family", but both the friends I was messaging and google translate assured me that was not what actually happened.  Welcome to the perils of language learning.   Before coming to Korea I knew that some people would likely speak English, and that I would be spending most of my days in English due to work. I didn't realize though how much all of the other time would be in English too. I was talking with my Dad today, and he said that he was realizing how different my "immersion" experience was compared to his. Both of my parents served missions for our church in different countries, Mom in Guatemala and Dad in Argentina. When Dad was there by about 6 months in he felt he had a decent mastery of the language and could express hi...

“Live your life by a compass, not a clock.” – Stephen Covey How did I end up spending my first Korean Thanksgiving in one of the most historic cities of South Korea? Well, it wasn't entirely by accident, and it wasn't entirely on purpose. It was entirely Tharek Teacher, and that's really all that can be said. My plans for the five day holiday had mostly consisted of watching dramas (Chinese or Korean was TBD), continuing with my rice and dumpling diet, and maybe possibly going out for pizza towards the end to finish it all in a style that all my previous roommates will attest to being very Shayla-esque.  So when Tharek texted me asking if I had any plans for Chuseok, I wanted to say yes. But I also knew that while Tharek would be polite about it, he'd still call me out my lameness. So I said no, and he presented me with this proposition to go traveling over the break. Immediately the part of Shayla that GETS REALLY NERVOUS ABOUT GOING PLACES jumped forward to remind me ...

“The past is a foreign country; they do things differently there.” ― L.P. Hartley, The Go-Between 2020/7/26 Sometimes so much happens it's hard to know what to write about. A first week at work post? A first time at a karaoke room post? Or build on that and have a "first night on the town" post and include the samgyeupsal, the Irish Pub run by a Korean, and the broken umbrella all in one? Is it a post about the kids, how lovable and earnest they are. About teaching again after such a long break.  In the end often what gets written is what comes pouring from my fingers once I place them on the keyboard. And that is a mixed bag. It results in having 5 published posts, with 5 in progress...with only a few actually making it to becoming published drafts. It's convenient though, since it means I almost always have something in the works that I can have ready for my posting schedule. It also makes for out of order narratives, different storytelling styles, and sometimes inc...

Nearing the end of my second month here there's a little principle I'm currently internalizing that warrants sharing:  Sanity Requires Flexibility.  Sometimes that looks like buying the 30 pack of toilet paper, because bulk shopping toilet paper is apparently the only way to buy toilet paper and no waiting for a smaller pack to show up will actually make that happen.  It looks like realizing my new debit card doesn't actually work as a bus card and having to decide if I'm going back to the bank to fix it, or see if my phone is compatible with their electronic payment system. Then realizing that because my phone is "pay as you go" and not on a phone contract they may not take the phone option anyways (EVERYTHING is attached to you phone number, EVERYTHING.  Or there's when one of the boys pretends he's Legolas shooting me with an imaginary bow and arrow, and since Legolas primarily shoots orcs I have to decide if that's a point of discipline or shou...

Dating relationships are a hot topic among the kids at English school. It's a reflection of a culture where everyone needs to have someone, even if it's fairly shallow, and not necessarily founded on much of anything. That being the case, it's strange to have people who are single. But sometimes the dating situation at English school rivaled even the most dramatic of Desperate Housewives episodes.  Before R Teacher left almost two months ago, the school whirled with stories of her walking home with T Teacher (highly suspicious, not withstanding that they live in the same apartment building). They also had been seen eating out and they often arrived at work at the same time. To top it off, they both would say when asked "Of course we're dating!". So when R Teacher left to go to Seoul, there was a lot of concern for T Teacher and everyone was all ears on Monday when the youngest of the kindergarten class asked him what would happen now that R Teacher was gone.  ...

"To have another language is to possess a second soul." -Charlemagne I think every teacher or parent has that one phrase that they find themselves saying almost automatically. Like a broken record, the words and sounds wind through their heads and out their mouths almost thoughtlessly, triggered by the behavior they're meant to influence.  As a teacher with a wide variety of students ages, these sayings can vary. For my littles "find you seats" and "wash your hands" are pretty standard. For my early elementary I'm regularly caught saying "Is your name (insert name of child I had actually asked to answer)?". And for my older classes a variation of "really, dude?" is not uncommon. But the phrase most uttered in every class regardless of the situation, is "Is this Korean class?", "It's okay if you whine at me, but it has to be in English.", "Korean? What's that?", and the one to rule them all, ...

There have been so many times lately where I've wanted to do something, and had a crippling wave of fear and doubt come crushing down on me. Grocery shopping was one of those things actually. Going back to "Diagon Alley" with money, to actually buy something, was really difficult for me. All the possible worst case scenarios fought for first place in my mind, and all I could think was that I would fail horribly and never be able to buy anything again. Then of course I would starve to death and die.  Yes, I'm aware my inner thoughts are a titch dramatic.  But I hadn't come this far just to come this far, and it's ridiculous to move to a country where you know you'll be shopping in a foreign language and then be totally put off by it. At this point I've had the COVID test done twice here, taken all the buses everywhere, found my local congregation, successfully handled a drunk ahjussi, bought ice cream at a convenience store, and walked home in the middl...

“People don’t take trips, trips take people.” – John Steinbeck Unlike the ones preceding it, the day I finished quarantine was overcast, the sun hiding away during monsoon season. While technically not free of quarantine until noon, I celebrated early, waking up late after snoozing my alarm. Then a sluggish beginning that involved getting dressed just in time for the sibling call-in. Normally these mornings are our DND sessions, but due to finals for one of us, and general insanity for the others, we chatted with each other on a video call for the next couple of hours while I munched on my cereal.  (Fun fact about South Korea - many of their sweets and treats are nowhere near as sweet as ours in the States. It took me admittedly much too long to realize this. But it was eating their equivalent of Cocoa Puffs that it clicked. The first time I sat down to eat it, I was trying to figure out what was wrong. Bite after bite, it just didn't quite feel complete. My mind and tongue were ca...