Julie Hecker

These past few days have been the first time that I have wished I was back in the states. Not because I actually want to be back in the US- but because my friend died.

It's really hard to be so far away from your long time solid community at a time like this. It's really hard to accept the passing of someone you love, no matter what happened, no matter where you are. I've had my share of death, several peoples share actually, but in the past I've been able to have a shared experience.

I like funerals. OK, 'like' is maybe the wrong word, but I need the catharsis that comes from sharing the shock of someone you loved, someone who had a weight, a strength, a power, a light, an effect, what ever- dying. Someone who meant SOMETHING to you. And death is always shocking- if you know it's coming or not.

Julie was a power house. She was a person that most people can only hope to meet. She was so energetic- like the kind of energy that was infectious- you felt full of energy in her presence. I first met her in 2005, through Janis aka Ma Belle aka Tura Skatana, when when my friends and I were starting the Detroit Roller Derby and she was starting Detroit Punk Fitness. Our first conversation was a giggly joking conversation about starting things that got drunken, smoking punk rock girls to exercise. Really, it's actually quite amazing that both of our endeavors succeeded. ha ha. ha ha. ha.

Julie formed the Detroit Derby's cheer leaders, which, through Julie, quickly out grew our league and became the Motor City Rah Rahs who cheered on many many a band, event, and general celebration. Julie was always so incredibly positive- through back stage insanity, diva derelictions, and just general chaos. I remember especially a particular time when I was so burned out, about 4 years into it, I just wanted to walk away, in the middle of a game no less, when Julie gave me a pep talk that went something like this, 'Crash, you've made a commitment, just do it, in the long run you'll be happy that you did it, who cares what people think, who cares what people say?- What we build will outlast us and that is what it's about'. And, I did, and- it's true. For both of us.

Julie, you rock. I do so wish I could be home today to be with the people who loved you like I do, but I can't. So- I made this video instead

High tech keyboard conversion

I really want to learn Korean. When I first got here I memorized about 2/3 of the script, Hangul, in the first few days. And then I started working (7 classes, 163 students), yoga, the weather got nice, I bought a bike, I could say 'soju' before I got here, I like all food, it's a super service oriented country so people go out of their way to make you happy, and I live in a building with ALL of the English speaking employees at Andong National University. The only thing I've learned since then is one of the 2 counting systems (the one you use for shopping). But- I DO really want to learn to speak the language.

So-as of last week, Lisa and I have started language lessons, Tuesdays and Thursdays, with our neighbor Chris. Payment in food. Thank whatever powers that may be I'm a darn good cook. He has been here for 5 years, on and off, and speaks the language pretty well ( at least as far as I can tell, hehe) and he's really into it- and the other languages it's led him to. You can check out his writings about it here on the site he has just started. I was a bit skeptical of how it was going to go, because he's our hang out buddy, but it turns out he's an exceptional teacher- makes us repeat it over and over, role playing, 'what did you say- you want a camel in Arabia?'. We've had 2 lessons so far and have covered: 'How to meet some one new', 'Ordering food' (based on our neighborhood, super awesome BBQ joint), and taking a taxi. Very simple and very VERY useful. It has renewed my enthusiasm for actively learning.

Chris also showed me how to make my computer type Hangul. But, my computer does not have a Hangul keyboard. We downloaded an image of a Hangul keyboard, but switching back and forth make my impatient ass lose interest in about 60 seconds, and today I went on a quest for stickers.

And converted my keyboard.

Tadah!!!!!!!!

Now I can type my name

조 디 (Hangul is totally phonetic. Sort of..)

with a click of a button!

I also had a great evening discovering that Koreans really want to help you learn. Walking through our local market on the way home, I was leafing through a rack of sweaters with one hand and holding my Korean lesson notebook in the other (because I was reviewing on the bus), the women from the store came out and started to talk to me. I've met them before but this time I said '반갑슴니다' (bam gap seum nida) which means 'glad to meet you' and she got super excited and went off. From what I gathered (from body language and expression) she said, 'Your learning!'. I just started laughing and handed her my notebook to show her that '반갑슴니다' was actually open in my hand. And then she dragged me inside and we spent a hilarious half an hour going through the first few pages of my 'Survival Korean' text book, laughing at my Korean and their English pronunciation. Until I looked at the clock and said, 'Yoga!-now!'. And we all said '반갑슴니다' again- this time with our hands clasped in the way we start and end yoga, bowing to each other- and laughed some more.

Then- after I made a mad dash home to change, I jumped on my bike, and I ended up 20 minutes early. The 7pm class ends at 8:10 and the class I went tonight starts at 8:20. The end of each session is always some sort of meditation and I don't like going into the studio when I might disturb people so I decided to go the toy stores up the street to look for Hangul stickers. I went to 3 different stores and in each store I pointed at stickers and said, 'Hangul? My computer, want Hangul!'(in English). And in each store they found me Hangul stickers- and then reviewed the sounds with me! Seriously! Can you imagine walking into a store in the states, asking for Roman alphabet stickers in a foreign language, and then having the shop workers teach you?

Here is my name again 조디
This is 'take me down town, please'시내 로 가주세요'

and this is 'love Jody'
살랑
도디

Additional comment 6/9/2010: I've gotten a few messages from people, ahem, in the states telling me I should study with a Korean if I really want to learn the language so why am I studying with an English speaker. One person even told me, 'They are disappointed, I should know better'.

I have tried to set up language exchange with a few people and it hasn't panned out. I've got a pretty crazy schedule and most Koreans work way more than I do. Also- I'm pretty sure that some of the men who have offered aren't really looking to 'talk'. Chris lives up a flight of stairs and is part of our regular crew. We start classes when we all get home from work, classes, errands- can't get much more convenient.

And- as far as learning with Koreans, well, I LIVE IN KOREA! I have an entire country of people to practice with and y'all know I'm not shy. Everything I've learned so far has been put to use with in a day or two. Last night was 'Do you have these shoes in size 230?' and 'Does this come in black?'. You KNOW that will be used by the end of the week....

Buddha's Birthday, My neighborhood

Again- not so great on writing much but here are pictures of a bike ride from my house to Andong National University and here are pics from Buddha's Birthday weekend.

Banchan-The story of the cat

3 weeks ago I went with Chris to the Samsung store, hoping that since he speaks Korean, I could finally end my 2 month search for a digital to analog converter. It's seriously ridiculous. This country loves it's electronic toys. SK LOVES the internet and everybody downloads stuff all the time. I know because my students tell me, my boss told me to just download Rosetta Stone Korean when I mentioned it's costs, and the phones can download movies in a blink of an eye. All I want to do is watch the stuff I download on the massive TV in my room that I never turn on. But I have been in a dozen stores trying to just get a simple converter box that is available in variety and inexpensively everywhere else in the world and I can't seem to find one. I've brought my dictionary ('though the Korean words for pc stuff ARE English), pictures, played charades- nothing. Best Buy and Amazon US won't ship to Korea, Amazon UK said they are legally prohibited from shipping electronics here, Samsung has one on the English part of it's website- but sends me to Hangul sites when I try and find a dealer. So- anyways, Chris had to go because he had to get his computer rebuilt from a virus (one should always run an antivirus- especially if you like to look at sites that make you confirm you are least 18) (or get a Mac) so I tagged along and it's the closest I've gotten. The guy actually knew what we were talking about- but still- he just gave us his number and told us to call the next day (but Chris keeps forgetting and isn't sure if his Korean can handle a tech call anyways). So still, no go. I think I'm going to have to get someone in the US send it to me and hope it makes it thru customs or get one in Thailand or Vietnam in August.

After that we walked up to a war memorial- beautiful! Cherry blossoms, temple like pagodas, view of the river. Of course, I didn't have my camera- I managed to not take a single picture during the 2 weeks of cherry blossom season- but here's some of Lisa and Sue's pics so you can see how lovely they are

After the memorial we went to the 'House of Won's mother'- and I do have pictures of the memorial statue across the street from the house that you can view here and then walked back home across the river.

As we approached the front door this tiny little cat walks up to us meowing at the top of it's lungs and limping badly. It promptly lays itself across Chris' feet, puts it's paw on my foot, and starts purring like a locomotive. Of course, we are instantly suckered. We discuss how it's obviously not a feral cat, there are alley cats everywhere and they're NOT friendly, but it's obviously injured and sooo skinny. We decide to bring the cat in and feed it and make signs to hang around the neighborhood so that a potential owner can come claim it. We also discussed what a bad idea it is for us to adopt it because we're in a foreign country and don't know what are plans are for more than a year or two down the road. And decide to convince Lisa that she is going to share a 3 way adoption of the kitten.

So, we bring it to Chris' apartment where it snuggles up on a blanket and continues to purr and just be unbearably cute. I go to see if I can buy some cat food and Lisa, Nicole, and Sue are planting tomatoes, celery, and other stuff- including cilantro, hallelujah cilantro, oh, how I've missed you, in the back yard. Turns out the cat has been hanging out all day and Lisa and Nicole fed it too and Lisa asked Eric what we should do because he volunteers at animal shelters. Again, we all discuss how adopting a pet is just not the best idea for transient peoples. And I go off on an unsuccessful trip to buy cat food. Home Mart, the grocery store has tons of dog supplies- but no cat stuff, a couple of the corner stores have dog food- but no one has cat anything. At the market down the street I point at a bag of dog food and give the 'no' gesture (making an 'x' with one's fingers) and then meow and give a thumbs up. The woman behind the counter tells me 'ruff ruff- Home Marteh, meow meow- E Marteh', so I thank her and buy some tuna and return home.

When I get back, Chris and I stare at the cat for a while longer and then Sue informs us some Koreans have come to claim the cat. We hadn't hung the signs yet but I believe they knew we had it because a- I had been walking all over the neighborhood meowing at people, or b- the neighborhood likes to watch our house and see what the wacky waygooks (foreigners) are up to. We give the cat to the 2 teenage boys, trying to show them it's leg is hurt, they just bow and look at us funny and walk off. We were both relieved and disappointed.

The next morning is pouring rain and it's about 40 degrees Fahrenheit and the cat is meowing it's head off underneath our house. It's still there, and still raining and freezing, when we get home from work so Lisa and I feed it again, complain about it's treatment (Koreans have a different attitude about pets. Occasionally you see super pampered miniature dog things carried like accessories, but for the most part they are outside animals and treated in a way that would make us call the humane society), but then take it back outside because we know it belongs to someone. The next day the super friendly lady who runs our local store had the cat in a box all day hoping someone would claim it (I found this out later). That night we hear the cat meowing but don't see it anywhere but Chris told us at the bus stop that Eric had it in his bathroom. That night we ALL heard the cat meowing- our building is like a dorm, it's cement, things echo, and the next day I asked Eric what was going on. He told me he found the cat inside a wheel well of a car about a block from our building and took it home. He had taken the cat to the vet, it had a broken hip and got some medicine and the vet said the cat would probably be ok. Eric asked him to look for a shelter, but was going to keep her if there wasn't one. But he has a dog, doesn't like cats that much, and our apartments are tiny. Not being able to resist the fuzziness, I said I would take the cat if would use a litter box. It did.

I apologized to it for the fact that it was going to end up in quarantine at least once, spent about $60 on cat supplies at E-Mart, resigned myself to the fact that my neighbors were coming by for kitten love and not me, and started trying to decide on a name. My students said I should name it 'Nabi' (butterfly) because, as one young man told me, 'All girls name their cats Nabi'. Chris suggested quote, 'Ya-Ong - a cute slangy name for kitten'- but that's almost as bad as 'Nabi', Nicole suggested 'Bong', and then Donna Eis suggested 'Banchan' (side dish) which is much more appropriate in my opinion.

The first week and a half was ideal, fuzzy, furry, purring kitten snuggles. Even when I cut the bell of it's toy at 4am I just reminded myself kitten grow up. But then the meowing started. All night. All day. Really really loud meowing. At first I wasn't sure what was going on- maybe it wanted out? Then I thought maybe it was sick and on Saturday night (after our 3rd or 4th bottle of wine) Nicole offered to have it spend the night at her and Mark's apartment. I had brought the cat with me because it would stop howling when held. I agreed because I hadn't slept in 4 days, Chris and I had gone on an epic bike journey to check out a temple that was 'right past the stadium' (like 15 miles past the stadium over a mountain) and had left our bike at the temple because it was getting dark and still had to get them the next day.

The next day, Chris and went and got the bikes from the temple, looked at another temple, lazed in the sunshine and threw rocks in the river, then began the ride home. About 1/2 way home, about 2/3 of the way UP the mountain, Chris got a thorn in his tire so we walked the last 5 or so miles pushing our bikes (well, ok, Chris walked- I couldn't resist the cruise down the other side- but I waited at the bottom and walked the last mile or 2) and then I went and got the cat. Nicole and Mark said they thought it was something to do with going to the bathroom and by the next day with nothing in the litter box, I agreed and spent the whole day apologizing to my neighbors and took the cat to the vet on Tuesday.

Dr Hang, the vet, speaks pretty good English. I told him it was the same cat Eric had brought in, he asked me if I wanted to keep it and I told him, 'Yes, if it will stop meowing. My neighbors are going to kill me'. He said it was just constipated, he would give it an enema and then I could take it home and if it didn't stop meowing he had a shelter it could go to. Then he gave it enema #1. And we hung out and Dr Hang asked me if I was married, had a boyfriend, was dating anyone, why I wasn't married, didn't have a boyfriend, and wasn't dating anyone. Enema #2 and Dr Hang told me I should date Eric because we are the same age and neither of us is dating anyone and we both loved animals and we are both very good looking, didn't I agree? I believe I said something really witty and smart like, 'um, uh, well, I don't know, I, er, Eric is sorta my supervisor'. Then he told me he was 54, he knew what he was talking about, and hierarchy doesn't matter with Americans and asked if we ever hung out and I told him we'd hung out with the other teachers, and he said we should both come have a drink with him. After I continued with my witty repertoire he relented and told me he hoped I would find a good man soon. And then squirted a bowel stimulator up the cats ass and gave it a can of food.

At this point it had been about 2 hours and Banchan had produced one tiny little turd and Dr Hang was looking more and more concerned. After another half an hour he said, 'OK, you can go now. I will give the cat another enema in a little while and give it to the shelter tomorrow'. I didn't have the heart to push the matter to find out if he was going to put it to sleep. I'm choosing to believe that Banchan is chasing field mice on an Andong country farm as happy as can be. I asked how much it would cost and he said 'Nothing, I want to thank you for being such a good person, you, Eric try and save the cat because of love'. I told him I would bring him the cat supplies I still had and he could donate them or use them. He told me to have Eric bring me.

Yesterday, Dr Hang called to tell me he had another rescued kitten 'that was very quiet' and I should come look at it. Luckily, it was a Persian and I can't handle long haired cats, due mostly to allergies but also because I hate having hair all over my clothes, so I explained that to him and also that I shouldn't really adopt an animal anyways.

Very sad. This is really the first time in my life that I haven't had a pet but it's just not a good idea. I know I'm going to re-sign my contract next year but after that I don't know. I might go teach in Vietnam for a year. I've also been looking at this MA program that just looks awesome. I can't subject an animal to all that and I can't just desert it or 'hope' someone will take it when I'm ready to go. Sigh.

Happy Children's Day!

National holiday! So, I'm going to go hang in the gazebo behind my building and read, maybe take a nap...

Pics from my past couple o'weeks can be seen here