Leaping

Happy leap day to all. This day has always struck me as such an odd phenomenon. I mean, couldn't the proverbial "they" have just done better math? Ah well, it's an awfully well-established system, and I suppose it gets on my nerves a lot less than many other systems I could name. On to my update.

Last Monday I threw a bit of a baby shower for Drina, my friend Alex's two-month-old. We called it a "coming out party" because basically we wanted it to be a chance for EV residents to meet the baby. In Serbia where Alex is from, you don't give gifts before a baby is born because that brings bad luck (it's kind of like tempting fate) and it is customary for the baby to stay in its house for the first forty days of its life (anyone with anthropological interests can probably imagine a few reasons for this custom). Also, Alex was nervous about the term "baby shower" because she didn't want people to feel pressure to bring gifts.

The party took place at the home of my lovely friend Mel.


Here's Mel, furnishing the baby with some tunes.

We both took care of the food, and I planned games and set up a little memory book for Drina, wherein people could write her messages (this idea is totally copyright my mother). Alex plans to give Drina the book on her 18th Birthday.

The first game I set up, was a baby trivia challenge. Basically people had to answer questions such as "A baby is born without which body part?" or, "What percentage of babies actually arrive on their due dates?"

The second game was called "dress the baby." It was a renamed version of a game I had played before, and it worked out really well. I hid clothing items all over Mel's apartment and the guests were divided into teams. Each team had to choose a person to be "the baby" and was given a baggy full of folded slips of paper with various clothing items written on them. When the game started, each team member in turn took a slip of paper from the baggy, hunted for the clothing item on the paper, and placed the clothing item on the "baby." The first team to finish dressing the baby won.


The "babies" ended up looking like this. Of course there were also awesome prizes.


Here I am with the baby and mommy of the hour. Oh, the cuteness. The party was well-attended, and people seemed to enjoy themselves. Alex was very, very appreciative.

One of the highlights was when Kyle, a friend of Alex and her husband Stu's summoned us all outside to look at the amazing snow.


Hopefully this picture gives you a sense of what it was like. The flakes were crystalline, and it was easy to see them individually. It actually looked a lot like fake snow. So beautiful!

I also had an interesting adventure on my way to set up for the party. I stayed in Seoul Sunday night, because I wanted to pick up my newly fixed camera, and because I needed to Fedex a package of wigs to my former University Professor (don't even ask). I figured I'd pick up my camera, do my shopping for the party at a nearby store which I knew would have what I needed, head to the train station, lock my goods briefly in a locker there and head to the Fedex office adjacent to one of the subway exits. All of this worked out as planned, I even found an "EZ Locker," down in the subway, which meant that I did not have to go up to the train station itself, making things significantly more convenient.

When I returned from Fedex, mission accomplished, on schedule and ready to head back to Paju, I found, to my dismay, that my locker simply would not open. I kept swiping my T-Money card (an all-purpose pre-paid card, used primarily for transportation), and getting an error message that I didn't understand (it being in Korean and whatnot). I kept trying to get it to work. The instructions were all in Korean, but there were pictures and logic told me that I was doing everything I should. Finally a man saw that I was frustrated and stopped to try and help me. Unfortunately he was not the most tech-savvy of fellows and was unable to make much headway. He kept pressing the button for ID card, and I kept showing him that I had a T-Money card, not an ID card. He finally got frustrated and left. I tried calling the service number, but they didn't speak English. All I could think of was how I had $100 worth of stuff that I had bought for the party in the locker and the fact that I still had several tasks to accomplish in order to set up for the party once I got home. Time was most certainly a-wasting. I went to the subway information desk, but they didn't speak English either. In short, "EZ locker" had turned out to be anything but.

I decided to try my luck at the train station information booth upstairs. When I got there, I asked the woman at the counter if she spoke English and she said a little. I started explaining my sordid tale of locker woe and immediately began choking on tears of frustration. She motioned to a Korean man nearby who was with a group of foreigners, explaining that maybe he could help me. She then got his attention and explained to the man that I needed help. He immediately rushed to my aid, translating for me and asking questions. The information lady ended up writing down the details of my situation so that I could give them to the subway information booth people and hopefully get some help. I took the note to the subway people and they sent someone right away. He used my phone to call the locker service number and eventually got my locker open. I was beyond grateful and beyond relieved.

This was a pretty interesting experience to have at this point in the game. I have been in South Korea for almost a year. Generally I feel very able to find my way around and to communicate with people to the degree I need to. I can order food correctly. I can direct a cab driver. I can ask about rooms in hotels and the prices of goods and ask for directions and actually understand the answers. Having an experience like this, wherein the problem would have been solved easily if only I could have been able to communicate effectively, was a painful reminder of how little I actually know. Mostly I'm just grateful to the people who helped me and for the fact that I got home in time to handle all of my preparations for the party. Phew!

A few other noteworthy points: There is a picture from what I believe was my second or third post here of Namdaemun gate. It was one of the first places I "discovered" when exploring Seoul for the very first time. This gate, South Korea's national treasure number 1, was destroyed by arson on February 12th. The gate was over 600 years old and had survived numerous wars and foreign occupations. The perpetrator was a man who had a bone to pick with the government over their alleged seizure of lands that belonged to his family. This is definitely a blow for South Koreans--they do not take their national pride lightly--and I feel for them.

Also, in much less serious and monumental news School Days, the play I'm directing, will open next Wednesday, March 5th. This means that right now I am scrambling like mad to tie up loose ends and make sure that everything is ready. The actors have been working really hard and we're almost there. I'm really excited to see my professional directorial debut come to fruition. I'll definitely report on how things turn out, and there will certainly be pictures.

Incidentally, tomorrow is my last day performing in The Show Queen, the show I wrote. It's been fun and I'm proud of the piece, but I am definitely ready to let it go. Hopefully I'll soon be able to post some pictures from that show as well.

Oh, Boracay!

It's been a while! This is mostly because my camera died on my latest adventure and it took some doing to get my photos uploaded. Luckily, I am now armed with a multi memory card reader AND Sony called today to tell me that they fixed my camera for $35! Good news when I was pretty much resigned to the fact that I'd have to buy a new one. So fear not, friends, this shutterbug/documentarian will rise again!


Here is the previously promised picture of my flowering jasmine tea (er... herbal infusion). Cool, idinit? You put a little bud in the cup and it opens as the tea steeps. Now that that's settled, on to the tale of my trip to the Philippines.

I took off for Manila early on the morning of February 3rd and arrived around noon. I decided on the jet way, while waiting to board the plane, that I already loved the Philippines (I think this was mostly due to the kindness and patience of my fellow passengers). I arrived in Manila where the weather was nice and hot and headed for the domestic airport. A man there told me that all of the flights to Caticlan (the town one flies to on Panay island to catch a boat over to Boracay) were booked, but said he could help me. He took me to a travel agency, and while they were able to find me a flight to Caticlan, I opted to fly into Kalibo (another town on Panay, from whence I could take a bus to Caticlan) as this option was much cheaper. This ended up being a very good decision. The van-ride cost about as much as a can of Pringles that I bought at the airport and the drive was beautiful.


Here's a view from my seat in the van. We drove down a winding road and had to honk so that cows, chickens and dogs would get out of our way. The preferred mode of transport on the islands seems to be the tricycle. Basically it's a little carriage with a motorbike attached to the side. One tricycle probable comfortably fits about 3 people plus one on the bike. I saw trikes with three people on the bike and maybe 6 inside the carriage, though.

The drive took about 1.5 hours, due to the curvy nature of the road. Once we made it to Caticlan, I boarded a boat to Boracay...


just in time to watch the sunset from it. The ride was short and sweet, and then I hopped on a trike and headed to the hotel where five of my friends were already staying. The trike driver dropped me off next to what looked like a scary, dark alleyway and told me that the hotel was "down there." I was a little wary, but I didn't really have any other options, so I headed into the darkness. I walked next to a swamp that looked like a toxic waste dump (eerily glowing green "water") and wandered into what turned out to be some people's backyard. Luckily a nice man was willing to point me toward the hotel.

I received an enthusiastic and warm welcome from my friends and we immediately got down to what was important...

Drinking enormous cocktails.

We had some dinner and visited a few bars along White Beach and even ran into some German fellows whom the girls had met the previous night. As it turns out there were Germans all over the island. I ended up being the group interpreter, and it felt really, really great to be speaking German again (and to still get complements on the supreme power of my German skills--you know I still got it!)


Later in the evening we even smoked some tasty rose-flavored tobacco out of the hookah pictured above. Ah luxury. That night I had a long, intense conversation with an Australian stranger, and went to bed just as the sun was starting to come up.



Here, for your viewing pleasure, is a gratuitous sunset that somehow got loaded out of order (I believe it is from my third day on the island)


When I woke up the next day (well, that day, if you're a stickler for such things) around noon, I walked out of our bungalow and down a weird little alley to find this. Paradise. I had breakfast (western breakfast food! It barely exists in Korea), took a dip in the ocean, rested in the sun a bit, and then got a manicure and pedicure on the beach with two of the girls. My manicurist was awesome and she had an adorable daughter named Princess, who kept asking me questions and trying to talk to me. Too bad the only words I know in Tagalog are "mother," "father," "grandfather," "pee" and "poop."

After getting my nails did, I took a walk down the beach where I ran into my friend Carrie


And a table full of her newfound friends. She had actually been playing Frisbee with them in the water and then decided it was time for some lunch. I joined the group for some tasty Mexican food.

The kids even got some ice cream,


Which Carrie showed them how to eat with their fingers, once they'd done all they could with their spoons.

Carrie and I then decided it was time for a parasailing adventure. We'd been shopping around for the best price all day and having found it, we headed off in a boat with some Australian ladies and a crew of muscular Filipino men.


Here we are, locked and loaded and ready for take-off. Carrie was really scared, but I (having been told that it was not really scary) was pretty calm.


Here we are up in the air. It was beautiful and very relaxing. It's so quiet up their in the sky. The view was great, and for some reason I had the strange feeling I could dip my toes into the water if I just reached a little further, even though I was so far away from it. We kicked our legs and swung in our harnesses, and the boat people dipped us into the water on our way down. I was so glad that I went, though I don't know that I'll need to ever do it again.


That night I had Mongolian barbecue ON THE BEACH with Andrea, Nadia and Colleen.


In spite of a crazy, yet short-lived downpour, which ruffled Colleen's feathers a bit, the meal was delicious and the atmosphere relaxed and lovely.


Later that night, we headed to Summerplace, a popular beach bar, where we played pool and made new friends and drank many a drink.


The following day, after breakfast at a Greek restaurant (which is where I broke my fast every day for the rest of the trip, because it was lovely and delicious), we decided to head out on a boat (with the same folks who took Carrie and me parasailing) for some snorkeling, to check out a different beach and just for the sake of general boatiness. We loaded up the cooler with San Miguels and set sail. This may have actually been the only time that all six of us were together in the same place at once.


When we stopped at a reef to get our snorkel on, this man was conveniently available to sell us coconuts. My friend Mary bought one.


Here I am snorkeling about. It was truly awe-inspiring. I had been once before in Mexico, but the water was murky and there wasn't much to see. On this trip, however, it was like stepping onto a different planet. There were hundreds of fish and other creatures swimming everywhere. Sometimes the guys from the boat would throw crackers into the water, because it made all of the fish swarm near us. I kept trying to touch the fish, but sadly they wouldn't let me. I definitely found Nemo, and I saw a big stripy fish and decided to follow him around, because he looked like he had connections. I really wished, more than anything, that I had had an underwater camera.


We parked the boat on what I believe was the northern end of the Island, where there was a more secluded beach...


And a nice little place to get some shade and food. Note the sand on my arms (I managed to fall up a three-foot hill).


There was an adorable little boy at the restaurant, but unfortunately he was camera-shy.

It was at this point, that my dear little camera ceased to turn on and thus the pictures stop here. This is probably okay, since the rest of the trip mostly involved more beach and water, delicious food and imbibing of spirits.

On the boat-ride back, we saw an enormous sea turtle. We then decided that it was probably just a Filipino child in a costume trying to make a buck. I then decided that "sea turtle-impersonator in Boracay" might well be a fruitful and enjoyable next gig for me.

The rest of the trip was just as wonderful as the first half. I met some really cool people who live in Taiwan, a guy who lives in Kuwait, and an Australian guy with the exact same sense of humor as me and I fell in love with a gay Puerto Rican. I had two mango daiquiris and took some long walks down the beach. I think the happiest part of the trip for me was when my friend Nadia brought a bag full of stinky aged cheeses (Bree, Gorgonzola, Cheddar) into the ocean and we ate them. We ate aged cheese IN THE OCEAN. Throughout the trip I kept wondering what I did right in my life to get to such a wonderful place.

Because my flight to Korea was at noon on February 8th and the first flight out of Boracay on that day was booked, I had to spend a night in Manila. I was really sad to have to leave my friends and the beautiful, beautiful island, and unfortunately I didn't care for Manila. I was properly sketched out by it. I went into a weird, seedy bar-type place trying to find food. When I entered, everyone stared at me. My hotel room was awful. It was the wrong way to end my vacation. Still, in some ways I am still amazed that I came back from this trip. I could easily have stayed forever (though I think my liver might have a different opinion about that). If I disappear come September, I think you'll know where to find me. Just head to Boracay, get on a boat and look for a sea turtle.