I've been totally and completely awful about updating this blog, not for lack of things to write about but for lack of time or, perhaps, utter laziness. I won't lie, I'd come home from work with a good chunk of the evening left without tests to correct or grades to input, but I'd consciously and blatantly choose mindless drivel on which to waste time because of, well, the aforementioned laziness. That AND Star Wars: The Old Republic was unleashed upon the waiting MMORPG world and I had to partake in it. This is considered cream of the crop mindless drivel. I'll have you know that I set aside World of Warcraft and the Diablo 3 beta for this. Anyway, on with the with blog...
BUT before we go on, this belated blog has once again been brought to you by our sponsor, "This Is Why I'm Here:"
Allrighty, let's hit it.
So, before I left, my friend Nik did a tarot card reading for fun. Actually she did two and, strangely, they both resulted in indications that I'd find a strong love connection during my time in Korea. As fun as that idea sounds, I never had luck with Korean men in America so my chances with Korean-Korean men would be next to nil. I expected nothing. But then this Friday, I met him and fell in love immediately.
His name is Sam and he's quite boyish and charming. His mom owns the pork restaurant just around the corner from my apt. Almost every Friday, I go there for dinner with fellow teachers to support the local businesses. We have been there so often now that the owner, Gina, always gives us free items from the menu and often extra orders of meat.
So, imagine my surprise, after having been seated for our usual dinner this past Friday and getting up to go ask for more dipping sauce, when I saw him sitting there, waiting for his mom to come back out from the kitchen. I was taken aback at first. Was I seeing what I was actually seeing? I think I must have stood there, dumbstruck and slackjawed, for at least 15 seconds before finally pitching toward him with great momentum.
He was very patient and charming with me even though I couldn't stop vying for his attention all-throughout our dinner. I couldn't even be the proper meat-cutter-turner-overer that I usually am because I was so distracted. When his mom came over to ask if we needed anything, I took that opportunity to grill her about him. She was very gracious and happy to promote his qualities. He's even into cosplay!! I promised I'd come back the next day because I learned he'd be there. I don't recall the last time I threw myself so wholeheartedly and unabashedly into such an endeavor. I had no shame. But maybe that's what love does to a person.
So, I went back to the restaurant the next afternoon, bearing small gifts for her son based on what I had learned of him the previous night. I hoped it wasn't too forward of me. Indeed he was there and my face lit up just by seeing him. His mom was nice enough to give me a picture of him. Are you guys ready to see this guy? Here's Sam:
Sam is a cute, chunky, puppy breath-having little two month old Pointer-mix. Do you like his cosplay bunny outfit? What did YOU think I was talking about? A dude? Psh.
Apparently Gina has a friend whose dog had puppies and she wanted to give one a home for fear it would be hard for him to find people who'd take them. Unfortunately, she has two other dogs at home, one of which is a Chihuahua, that won't stop harassing Sam by biting and scratching. So, Gina decided to keep and raise him at her restaurant. (Let the "They aren't going to eat him at this restaurant, are they?" jokes fly.)
Done flying? You all know that if I did come across a restaurant that served dog, I'd go in there and turn tables over a la Wrestlemania VII, right? Okay, anyway, so she couldn't think of an immediate alternative so she opted to bring him to her work and keep him there since it was warm and he'd be around people. Thing is, some customers thought he was cute and some others didn't feel comfortable with a dog running around where there's food, puppy or no. The idea of a two month old puppy spending nights alone kinda made me feel sad as well. I mean, look at this face:
I wanted to have a dog to walk and just be in the presence of one even though I couldn't take him/her home with me when I moved back to America (Isa will be the only one accompanying me home). Gina needed someone to watch him while she worked so that he got attention and her customers didn't abandon her restaurant. So The Great Dog Deal of 2012 was struck. I would take him after school and drop him off before I went to school in the mornings. Once he gets old enough, I'll take him for walks/runs and so would Christy. In the span of one night, Sam became the adopted pup of three people instead of one.
There's the matter of Isa, of course. Since I have Sam over the long holiday weekend, I introduced him to Isa slowly in the requisite crate-in-the-room-first style. She hissed and spat as cats would and bristled her tail to about twice its normal size. Sam didn't just take it; he growled at her, too! They calmed down after a while and I let him out. After a lot of circling about, more hissing and spitting (Sam didn't pay her any mind after he was let out), Isa got closer and closer. She'd be fine until he'd turn around and make eye-contact with her. Then she'd hiss and spit again.
Sam about to get swatted...
But, as time passed on, she showed genuine curiosity:
Isa peeking into his make-shift house and waiting for him to wake up...
These last two pictures were taken a few minutes ago as they played:
Nap buddies:
I think they'll end up friends. At the very least, Isa will be tolerant of him being around for half a day. The other half she can relax and not be so hyper-aware/sensitive of her surroundings.
In other news, it's freakin' cold here!
I thought about ending the blog right there. Would have been funny...well, at least to me. It'll be -11°C on Tuesday night. I do have to qualify it by saying it's actually not too bad...until the wind kicks in. Then, even I, the one who happily wears a light sweater out when it's just above 0°C, will start whinging and doing the "It's COLD!" dance. Fyi, the "It's COLD!" dance highly resembles the "I gotta pee!" dance. It's so cold... (audience: how cold is it?)...that it takes several minutes for soap to start minimal lathering under running water.
I didn't quite get around to posting pics of the first snow except for one on FB so I'll put a few here:
Ice formations on the sliding door of my patio:
View from the east side of my patio:
View from the east side of my patio during an acid-fueled stupor that has me literally missing Thomas:
Snow started falling during one of my favorite afternoon classes so we stopped for a few minutes to revel in it so I could video it. I advise you to preemptively turn your volume way down due to the squealing children soon to appear...
(Don't mind the bars on the windows, we are on the 5th floor)
Christy and Becca on our street. The three of us live within 200 feet of each other:
Snow message I managed to write that night:
It has snowed on and off since then but am still waiting for the big one (the big snowstorm, you pervs!)...you know, the kind that makes schools close down (that's a HUGE hint, God, *wink wink, nudge nudge). I am not even sure we get that kind of snow dumped on us but one can hope. Maybe, like Cali, I have to go to the mountains for that kind of snowage. A ski trip should be percolating in the plans pretty soon.
There is something ethereal and magical about walking while it snows and being surrounded by the pure whiteness of it (I'm not talking about the community of Irvine) or just watching the fluff fall from the sky. When you catch one, it's soft, cold wonderment in the palm of your hand. The phenomenon is easily explained away by science but I don't want snow or rain to be explained away; I want to look up and believe it's something metaphysical and fantastical that happens to us. Then I'll blink away the precipitation from my eyes, step out of my reverie, and back into a world where "irregardless" is NOT A WORD, DAMMIT!
Had to get that out somehow.
Okay, next installment will actually have pics of my students and I'll talk about my school and what the feez I'm doing there. Long time coming, I think. Thanks for waiting, guys.
Parting shots... (and, no I did NOT buy the bunny suit -- you guys know how I feel about putting clothes on dogs...)
HAPPY LUNAR NEW YEAR, EVERYONE!!!
_____________________________________________________*Anime I'm currently watching: "UN-GO" and "Another"
*Manga I'm currently reading: "Ao No Exorcist" and "Fullmetal Alchemist"
*Book I'm currently reading: "Lord of the Rings" (the annual read starts again!)
*Song(s) on repeat: "Fantasy" by LAMA, "From Dusk 'Til Dawn" by Abingdon Boys' School and "Tsukiakari no Michishirube" by Stereopony
