July 17th

It's been so long since I last jotted my musings and happenings. I don't do many different things these days, but those that I do, I do often. I read a lot books. Sometimes 1 a week, sometimes 3, this doesn't seem like many, but considering that I work on music, work full-time, study Korean, work on a story I've begun writing, and hang out with Yumi a lot, it is a good amount of reading. I've read 15 or so novels since I've been here, and have a few on deck. If books weren't so dreadfully expensive, I'd actually read more. I've been savoring them. (authors I've been reading lately; Gabriel Garcia Marquez, Orwell, Chekhov, Vonnegut, Carlos Castaneda, Dostoevsky, Paul Auster etc.) I haven't really watched tv at all since I've been here, and have seen only a handful of films. I listen to a lot of music though. My life has a certain tranquil nature that I am grateful of. Anyone who has known Dom to get absurdly upset and flip out over things will be surprised to see my demeanor I think. I have had to deal with multitudes of scenarios where there was simply nothing I could do except accept the given circumstances, and it takes a lot to get me worked up these days. I imagine this is an integral part of "growing up". I am also quite used to people staring at me, much of the time in disgust, since aprox. 50% of the people who pass Yumi and I together in public do the complete look up and down with looks of chagrin painted on their faces. It takes about 4 hours in public for this to get to me now, and even after that point, I find myself not blaming them for being racists or whatnot, I simply want to be in our private world away from people. Most of my friends are gone now. Their contracts having finished, they ventured off in search of travel pleasures or new job horizons. I miss some of them, others I hardly notice their absence. The time has passed so rapidly, that I'm holding on to time in a rather strange fashion, lamenting a week's quick passing with a sort of pre-nostalgia. I certainly miss my friends terribly though. I will be eager to make rounds upon returning for December. Yet, I can already see the nature of my social circle's evolution on the web, and through my correspondences (or lack there of) . My climbing friends have moved on already, on to new projects, and partners. No doubt they will be happy to see me, but I am more memory than man now. My other friends are moving on to great things, music, and graduate school etc., or some don't even reply to my emails. (Ironically, those who don't respond are precisely the same friends who chastised me for separating myself when I was in a relationship.) My cousin has made his own world with his band and job, and my brother has gone off to the army during two wars. I am grateful of my independence and contentment, as I now can further grasp the nature of our lives, and extremely short nature of this whole experience. I will be filled with joy to see my loved ones in the states, and then return to my life in Korea, for this life has given me a true self sufficiency unlike any of my other experiences or moves. Next year will be the test to whether Yumi and I are cut out for great things as well. More on that, and the job, and my creative pursuits in the following paragraphs.

First, my job. It is after all a job, which by very definition implies something that one does not for enjoyment, but rather for compensation. The compensation is decent, I am paying off my debt, and have bought some things I wanted. I love the kids I teach, but don't want to teach kindergarten next year. It's amazing to be in their presence, but not all that beneficial to my career to continue at this grade level for another year. I am trying to get a job in Seoul for next January that pays $40,000 a year if you count the free rent, and I'll be teaching 7-12th graders only. My boss is amazing though, and I'm quite sure I'll never have a boss I like more.

Yumi and I. Excellent. We actually get along better as time goes on. As our fear of boring each other fades, we find that we enjoy the same things that we feared would bore each other. We spend a lot of time sitting on her bed talking, and reading. When we do things, there things we both truly enjoy, like going to art museums, palaces, hukah bars, or theatres and DVD rooms. Last Sunday, we sought out a strange used book store and had an amazing experience looking for book among isles not even wide enough to fit shoulder to shoulder, and packed with books floor to ceiling. We see shows together when there are good shows too. It's really quite amazing to never do things just please each other, but rather to find that we both want to do the same things. I'm certain I'll never meet another person quite like Yumi. The only minor problem is that we're both completely indecisive about choosing places to eat, so at times we walk around for over an hour trying to figure out where to eat. I seriously think I eat more Korean food than her.

On creative aspirations. Tough going, but exciting and nearly constant. I have been developing as a musician a good deal this year. I am starting to get better at making the kind of music that I want to make, which is some sort of ambient-ish metal-ish, melodic experimental music. I am working with a Korean American girl named Sarah. We are trying to finish 4 or so 10 minute songs before I leave (rough drafts) she'll be here next year as well. (or she intends to be, people come and go here despite their intentions). My great friend Joe from work, who is a drummer will be coming back at the same time as me next year, and we have already began planning a project. I bought a Les Paul, I love it. Next year, I'll buy an amp. Also, I have been working on a story for about a month, and I hope to finish the rough draft by the end of November (only about 100 pages). Though not really creative, I am also giving the majority of every Saturday to Korean classes still, though not studying daily as I would like to be, I am progressing slowly but surely. I have had a 30 minute conversation with a taxi driver in Korean, and my day to day affairs usually go over without a hitch in Korean. I think I will be conversational when I leave, but it will take at least another year of fairly diligent study to be fluent, and about 4 more years to speak at a native level.

In the last 3 weeks I have been simplifying my life in nearly every imaginable way. I hardly drink any more. I have few friends, but quality ones indeed. I read only books I think will be excellent, I have been only listening to the music I am into at the moment. I eat simply, I don't smoke. I am sober pretty much everyday, which is 180 degrees from the life I lived in Boston. I only wish I got more exercise.

I have an 8 day vacation in a week or so and I will use it all to work on music and my story, read novels and walk around the mountains behind my neighborhood. It's dreadfully hot here, and will be until about mid September, this is compounded by the humidity, which is often around 100% and rarely below 75%. Since living in Korea, I have reached a state I never thought possible, I like winter better than summer. I have to hide much more indoors during the summer. It rains ALL THE FUCKING TIME!. Well, I'll update over my vacation, and add a lot of photos I have accumulated, as well as give a new tour of my apartment which has changed a lot. Best wishes to all, and I'll see you before you know it. (In about 4 months!)