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small miracles of the new year

this quote was posted on the wall in my friend kristin's bathroom during her going away party in dajeon on saturday. it truly touched me because i have these fits of self pity here in asia where i feel so profoundly alone--so far from anything and anyone familiar and like my heart will implode from the pressure of this void. and what always makes me feel better is getting out into nature, communing with a tree or two and the ocean.

the party was amazing--i met so many interesting people (none of whom live in tongyeong, unfortunately) and it was followed up by a fantastic day of eating spicy tofu, watching "about a boy" and "a scanner darkly" in a dvd bang ("bang" means "room" in korean and this is an undeniably cool korean invention--click on the link to be schooled about it), and overall just enjoying not being in sleepy little tongyeong for a while.

speaking of tongyeong... i was having a hard time (read: impossible) finding anywhere to buy canvas or canvas boards here. i had given up actually and was going to make a 2-hour-by-bus pilgrimage to changwon to visit dream depot and hit up the art supply section, but yesterday one of my adorable little students, brandon, brought a painting into class that he had done at his art hagwon (academy) and my life here changed forever. oh yes, i managed to use my ace miming skills (read: melodramatically caressing the canvas while looking wistful) combined with using very very basic english phrasing (he is not terribly high level with the english) to communicate that i wanted to buy a plain canvas--not one with his painting on it. this was an important distinction and it took a few minutes to get this point across--at first i think he and the entire class thought i was psychotically enamored of his art skills because i do not know the korean word for 'canvas' and he didn't know the english word. fortunately i have no sense of pride left after 6 months working with kids, and actually delight in humiliating myself in front of my students if it will help them to enjoy class more. brandon said he would find out how much his art hagwon would charge me, and i frankly expected him to forget entirely to do this favor for his wacky waygook (foreigner) teacher.

well today he utterly surprised me by showing up early at our english hagwon beaming and brandishing a little piece of paper on which he had written down "5,000 won" and some other things in korean. he was so excited to follow-up on this canvas matter and i was twice as excited by it all. i gave him a 10,000 won note and asked for 2 canvases and by the time i got out of my next class there were 2 canvases gracing my cluttered desk with their luminous white 2-d potential. fantastic! i totally gushed all over brandon and even hugged him awkwardly (even though i am a mere 5' tall, i still had to stoop down to embrace his puffy-coated little body). how cool is it that i have my very own private little canvas 'dealer' right at my job? now if only i could figure out how to ask about different sizes of canvas (as this kind is landscape proportioned and not my ideal size)....

***i must here note that this day just got even better (is that possible?). while i was typing the above my phone rang and it was this guy, dave, i met at the party sat. night. he had showed me photos of his dog, gogi (the korean word for 'meat'), whom i then expressed a desire to meet, and just called to ask me if i'd like to dog-sit gogi for a couple of weeks while he goes on vacation. wow! i have been so desperately missing animal companionship--and looking at pics of beth's puppy has given me serious pangs. now i will have a dog to love and sleep with for 2 whole weeks! thank you universe!

had i not gone to do a temple stay in dajeon 3 weeks ago, i wouldn't have met kristin. had i not met kristin, i'd not have met dave. had i not met dave i'd never have gotten to dog-sit gogi. it's amazing when the hindsight affords such a clear view of causality--each small blessing like a domino set in motion by the one preceeding it.

before = after