I've decided not to contact Robert again until I am confident that I can do so without fretting over his reply. The last time I sent him an email, I held my breath for a week waiting for him to respond, until I couldn't take it anymore and just called him. Nonetheless, there are certain things that I need to express, and here is as good a place as any.

Robert,

I was thinking about you a lot today, and thought it would be nice to touch base. There are so many things in Korea that you would love. I expect to get an apartment off campus within a year, so maybe you would like to visit. You could do so for very little (you cheapskate) except for the ticket, and stay in my apartment while I am working.

One thing that you would plotz over is how cheap it is. I ate a feast yesterday for 5,000 Won (about 5 bucks) at a restaurant. A stack of bulgoki, two soups, and five side dishes. It's even cheaper to eat at noodle stand on the street, and they are everywhere. 2500 won will get you full, no prob, and 500 won for a corn dog (heh) or a kebab later. I love going to Seomun market in Daegu, which covers five or six city blocks for three stories. housewares, clothes, fabric, food, it's like a giant cheap department store where you can haggle. Heaven.

Another thing that I think you would love is the jimjjilbang. It's a fancy sauna, and costs about 5000 won for the day. There are dozens of rooms, each at a different temperature, from 70 celsius, to below freezing. Some have steam, some have Rooibos pumped into the air, some have televisions running, some are burning mesquite, it's a theme park of relaxation. Of course, the male floors are nude, and the coed floors are clothed--your exhibitionism would be well-sated. There are massage rooms (for an extra fee) or vendors who will scrub the shit out of your skin with what seem to be brillo pads, leaving it baby smooth. I especially love the waterfall showers, which are so powerful they almost knock one over. The best part is that there are sleeping areas, in case one doesn't feel like springing for a hotel room, and they are open 24 hours. It's like a $5 hotel room--kinda--and they are everywhere.

I've been thinking about you in other capacities too. I feel like our parting was weird, and I could have handled it better. Aren't departures supposed to be weepy and emotional? Did I cheat us out of that? I'm not regretful about my decisions, but I worry that the way I executed them may have injured the opportunity for us to remain friends, which makes me really sad. Am I making this up? Probably. there is a lot of spare time out here, and this is what I do with an idle mind.

At any rate, you should come visit once I have my own apartment. It would be a tragic loss for me to not have you in my life at all.

BP

This seems like a great forum in which to write about a couple of weird little confluences in my life. What do they mean? Probably nothing, but here goes:

Firstly, we have the strange case of David Cross. My friend Eben has insisted that I download and watch the show Arrested Development. I just watched an episode. Haha, moderately funny. Then I have nothing better to do, so I toodle around Facebook, and click on the profile of some random friend of a friend. No, get your minds out of the gutter, it wasn't even a cute guy. It was just some girl. I don't even know what was so interesting that I clicked on her profile; I had never heard of her before. Oh, she's a fan of David Cross. Who's that? Click. OMG he's that actor on Arrested Development that I just watched 5 minutes ago.

Then there's the slightly more meaningful case of Naomi, a coworker. We did not hit it off, for a reason that nobody knows, but I will go into only here, where nobody EVER READS. GAWD. Anyway, y first week here, I was going through manwithdrawl, and toodling around in some online chatrooms. Some guy offered to meet me in a neighboring town the following day, and I was taking a tour there--led by Naomi--so I said yes. The only catch was, the tour ran a little long, so I cut it short, and ran off to meet this guy. TOTALLY SKEEVY, I KNOW, so shut up. He stood me up anyway. You will be pleased to know that was my one and only attempt at romance so far this trip. And by romance, I mean fucking. The point of which, is that I was a bit of a dick to Naomi, and we got off on the wrong foot.

Eventually, she warmed up to my charming and fascinating self, and we started hanging out. As it turns out, we have a bit in common. Oh what's that? You were also raised a Jehovah's Witness? Freaky! What are the odds (I calculated it. .1% of the American population are Witness at any given time, there are 40 teachers, there is a around a 4% chance that one of the has at least a Witness background)? Cool. Not mindblowingly odd, but cool. What's that? Your Mom also has Lyme disease? Whoah! Super weird! Those are two rare, and deeply personal things to have in common. It's not like both liking rhubarb pie, or something pedestrian like that (we both do). Wonder what it all means; things like this couldn't happen without THE HOLY FUCK! WE HAVE THE EXACT SAME BIRTHDAY?!?!?!?!? hominahominahomina

So the obvious question is, "What does it mean?" Of course it is easy to reply that the odds of something improbable happening are extremely high--the improbable is extremely probable. This is beyond that explanation. The elements involved are so miniscule and personal, that I can't help seeing it as a cosmic message of some sort. The David Cross thing I would simply cast off as a reminder that the universe smiles on me, and sends me little reminders of its love on occasion. The "Naomi Effect", as I shall call it, seems more powerful. The Celestine Prophecy was a book for which I didn't much care, but one thing that stuck with me was that "everyobdy who crosses your path has a message for you." Enough. I'm freaking out over here.

I haven't had much to say lately, but this seemed like the perfect forum to write about a little thing that happened today: it's private, but not too private. The chance that somebody might read this, however slim, heightens its cathartic strength.


I was planning to take a tour of the demilitarized zone this weekend. I had talked to one of my coworkers about it, and she was very excited. she and I aren't close--she is super Jesusy, and there are parts of my life that I could probably not share with her without making her uncomfortable--but I find her fascinating, and was looking forward to hanging out with her.

After making the plans, one of my other friends told me that there was a birthday party for another teacher this weekend. These two teachers I share more with--one frighteningly so, but that's another post, I suppose--so I told the other teacher that maybe we should do the DMZ tour another weekend, since it wasn't going anywhere, and the birthday was time-sensitive. I felt bad about it, as though I were blowing someone off, even though my reasons were quite aboveboard.

When I called the other teacher today to find out when I should show up to the party, I was really disappointed. I had misunderstood: the party was indeed tonight, but I was not invited.

I don't blame them for not inviting me--I've only known them two months--nor do I blame them for misleading me, since I am pretty sure I misled myself. Still, I feel sad, like I've been slighted somehow. And furthermore, I may have treated this other teacher second-handedly in my enthusiasm. I have only myself to blame, but writing all that down sure helps me to deal with it. Thanks for listening--whoever you might have been ;)