Slump

I'm sure you're thinking, "Why hasn't Jason written more in his blog? What's his problem?" I know the world is asking themselves these questions (and by the world, I mean, all 7 of you who read this).

You're right, I haven't written in my blog of late. I assure you it is not because I haven't been doing anything.

For some reason, I have been positively (well, negatively I suppose) lazy for the past month or so. I believe it is partly the cold weather's fault. I simply have no desire to get out of my warm bed and go anywhere. Each and every time I leave this room, I have to wrap myself up like a mummy to survive in the "elements".

What makes it worse is the internal temperature of the different rooms I work in throughout the village. For some inexplicable reason (and it's only inexplicable because they will not give us answers), the administration is on a "save electricity/heat" kick. Now, usually I am all for saving electricity, etc. I hate wasting anything...just ask my brother and sister to recount the "Pool Water/College" story for you.

But the administration has gone overboard. The rooms we work in should be a reasonably comfortable temperature--that is to say, at no point should we be able to see our breath in the room. They will not allow us to go into a room early and turn on the heat, nor will they allow us to keep the heat on in between shows (when we leave and come back). Of course we can have the heat on when we're in the room, but before we leave, we have to turn it off.

One of my coworkers has a thermometer on his backpack. Yesterday, in the library, where we do the game show ("Snowy Mountain Challenge"), it was 7 degrees Celsius/44.6 degrees Fahrenheit. This temperature was taken AFTER the first game show, AFTER the heat had been on for approximately 45 minutes. That's not okay.

Snowy Mountain Challenge pictures:
The Board outside showing game times--
The Game Board--
The Challenge Wheel--
Some of the Challenges from the Challenge Wheel--
A Wider View--
The Snowman (he's part of the Final Challenge)--
The Reward--

This whole heat fiasco started about 2 1/2 months ago, just after I arrived. Several of my coworkers were complaining about the high price they were paying for heat in their apartments. At that time, I wasn't even living in an actual apartment yet, so I wasn't having to pay for heat (thankfully). Apparently, sometime during the summer, there was some discrepancy with the billing process for the heat/air conditioner, so the administration simply stopped billing anyone until the situation was resolved. But as winter approached, and just before I arrived, they started charging for utilities again.

One of my coworkers, Derek, has been charged over $200/month for using his heat (maybe 2 hours every day, that's all). My parents could correct me if I'm wrong--but I don't think our air conditioning bills during the Arizona summers were quite that steep, nor were our heating bills during the Pennsylvania winters that steep.

Adding to that problem is the fact that we cannot get a straight answer from the administration regarding WHY it costs so much. Some people say it's because we're paying company prices, others say it's because that's just the cost of gas here. Either way, people are avoiding using their heat at all, and consequently freezing. Even if you have a large space heater (costing as much as $100), the insulation in our apartments is abysmal. While the walls are perfectly solid--they're concrete--the windows/sliding doors provide absolutely no protection. The cold air permeates the entire room. As I've mentioned before, if I get up from the desk, where I am surrounded by my 3 heaters, I can immediately feel the temperature difference.

On a different but similar note, Derek, the same guy who has been charged over $200 for his heat, recently arrived at his apartment to find all the power was out. Thinking nothing of it, he went to the electrical box in the hallway to check if there was simply a short. I should mention, he lives next door to where the President of English Village lived. The President just resigned a few weeks ago; not in a negative way, but to take some government position. Obviously, because the President was leaving, he moved out of his apartment. Well, they turned the electricity in his apartment off. Derek saw that the power to 201 (the President's apartment) was turned off. Derek lives in 202. But the power to 202 was not shut off. Only the power to 201. Derek flipped 201's switch. He then had power in his apartment.

This means that Derek and the President of English Village were on the same circuit. The circuits were clearly mislabeled. But this potentially means that Derek could have been charged for ALL the President's electricity. Could that have happened to his heat? Could that be happening to the rest of us? Yet again, we could receive no helpful answers to these problems.

Instead, within the past few weeks, administration has not responded to those problems, but created more. If we do not turn off the heat/lights/computers, etc., in the rooms when we leave them (each and every time, even if we're returning within 30 minutes), we receive a warning, which could lead to being docked a day's pay or losing a vacation day.

It's mind-numbing...and not just because my brain is cold.

All that is to say that I am cold, and have been for some time, and it is not helping motivate me to do much of anything.

I also think my diet is having something to do with my overall energy level. Mom/Grandma--I'm not just eating junk food, okay! But Candy, one of my coworkers, mentioned that if your body does not get enough protein, you tend to desire sugar. She told me this as I was eating a whole bag of Skittles (which cost 600Won at our little corner store here). I don't think I'm getting enough protein.

Since she told me that, I've tried to eat more. Eggs, peanut butter, chicken. But all but the peanut butter require some sort of work to make. Eggs don't cook themselves, and neither does chicken. I shouldn't have to remind you that I'm feeling particularly lazy of late. When I get home, the last thing I want to do is get the hot plate out, crack some eggs, and stand over them for even 5 minutes while they cook. I want to sit down by my 3 heaters and do nothing. It's an awful cycle.

The only thing that gets me to go to the gym is the fact that I paid 50,000Won for a membership (oh yeah, they raised the price from 40,000 to 50 this year), and I don't want to waste my money. I shouldn't have to remind you that I don't like wasting things.

Yes, I'm feeling lazy and all that, but I'm obviously still doing my job, and I am enjoying it (besides the inclement cold in most all the rooms).

In addition to continuing to work on my script for the summer season (which is about Little Red Riding Hood and Jack and a new adventure for the both of them), I'm also rehearsing for the upcoming show, "School Days", which opens March 5. Regular rehearsals are perfectly fine, but now we're getting into dance rehearsals. I cannot explain to you the extreme distaste I have for dancing. And this is worse than "regular" dancing. This is a show that takes place in the 1950's. Need I say more? Today we learned about "lifts", which I thought was simply how to lift a girl up. Oh no, it's not. This is that flipping the girl over your back, tossing her from one side to one side type stuff. If I had wanted to do this type of stuff, I would have auditioned to be in "Hairspray". I hate it. Sorry, but they picked the wrong guy to do fancy 50's tosses and flips. Can't I just sing a song or tell a joke or something--at least stick with something I'm more comfortable with?? I'm not in college anymore--I'm not here to "learn" a new skill.

Obviously I'm not saying I'm opposed to learning stuff here. I'm in South Korea for crying out loud--everything about being here is learning something new!

In other news:

For those of you who don't know, this past Sunday a man set fire to the oldest wooden structure in Korea; destroying it. It was Namdaemun Gate (which is actually redundant, because Namdaemun means "Great South Gate"), the original southern entrance into Seoul. It was 600 years old.

Namdaemun Gate circa 1900--
It may come as no surprise that years and years ago there was a wall around Seoul, with 9 gates into the city. Only 4 of those were major or "Great" gates.

Sukcheongmun--North; though by name it is “Great North Gate,” it has never been a major gate into or out of the city, because it's so close to the mountains to the north of Seoul, it still exists, though you must have an appointment to visit it (which I intend to do)
Namdaemun--South; was one of the two main commerce entrances in or out of the city
Dongdaemun--East; was one of the two main commerce entrances in or out of the city, still standing
Seodaemun--West; was torn down in 1915 as part of an urban renewal plan under the colonial government

A few of other smaller ones still exist. They all look similar. Apparently even Bosingak, the pavilion with the bell I was at for New Year's, was a gate into the city.

For more information on the gates, you can access this webpage: http://www.rjkoehler.com/2008/02/13/the-gates-of-seoul/

I thought all of the old wall would have been destroyed or dismantled by now, but apparently, much of it still stands. I look forward to seeing some of it. Up to this point, the only "Great" gate I've seen was Namdaemun, the one that burned down. I consider myself very fortunate to have seen it before it was destroyed.

My first shot of Namdaemun, riding the bus into Seoul the first time--
Namdaemun in the distance as I'm waiting for the bus to go back home--What it looks like now (not my picture)--
Often times, after the various activities with the kids, the parents/teachers want us to take pictures with the kids. This is always fun. Instead of saying "CHEESE" when they take pictures, they say "KIMCHI", like the pickled cabbage they love so dearly. I just think that's funny, though I don't think they intend it to be funny.

Tonight, despite my utter laziness, I cooked some chicken nuggets for dinner. I'm running out of other options...I need to go to the store again. Unfortunately, they stopped the free shuttle that took us to E-Mart to grocery shop, so our options are even more limited than before.

When I was cooking these chicken nuggets, I noticed something rather disturbing. MOST of the nuggets have interesting shapes. A heart, a bell, a star, a spade, a diamond...and a DOG!? A DOG SHAPED NUGGET. Is this some kind of sick Korean joke? Like I'm not already afraid of the food here--they have to make a puppy shaped chicken nugget!! I can't read the package--what if I'm eating dog nuggets and not chicken!? How do I know? Well, I ate them all, and they tasted perfectly fine. I turned the lights off and ate by the light of the 3 heaters while I watched an episode of "Quantum Leap", the old time travel show from the early 90's.

The nuggets in question (notice 1 diamond, 2 stars, and a DOG!)--

If you're keeping track at home, I've drank 23 cans of Dr. Pepper so far. I think that's pretty good, considering I love the stuff...though it does cost 1,000Won to buy ONE single can. There are supposedly 23 flavors in Dr. Pepper...and the number 23 (not just a Jim Carrey movie) is supposed to be a big deal.

Just doing what I can to keep you informed, updated, and entertained.

Until later--