I just discovered something somewhat retarded about the Seoul YMCA in Jongo, Seoul, which is that you can’t swim there without a monthly pass. I explained to the man (in what was, judging from his response, mostly comprehensible Korean) that I was in Seoul only for the weekend, and just wanted to practice, and was willing to pay the W5000 ($6 Canadian) to get access to the pool for one shot, but he said I couldn’t, that there was no way to go to the pool without a YMCA membership card (and my Iksan card is no good in Seoul …

Okay, so, we’ve graduated to learning the scissor kick, and frog kick (which is which and so forth are less than clear to me at this point). Our teacher is bent on having us understand the leg motion necessary. So imagine this: we’re all kneeling on floaterboards by the edge of the kiddie pool, knees slightly apart, and feet turned to the side. This really really hurts, especially for me… I have such inflexible ankles that I’ve actually had to do tendon-stretching exercises in the past to render walking less painful. And then teacher comes up and reminds us that …

I just got back from a weekend in Seoul. We played at a club called Bbang (Bread) and our lead singer Myoung Jae’s mother came up from Sydney, Australia to see us! The highlight of the evening was seeing her and two of her sisters (I think they were her sisters or relatives?) singing along and waving their arms in the air to our one traditional tune, the Bet Norae (Boat Song). It was fun to see a crowd having fun with us. My friends Dong Han and Sun Hwa came out to see us, which was really nice.

That’s how I feel right now. I have started swimming again, which is a blessing to my mind. I’ve been wearing some new clothes, which fit my new size. The weight seems to be peeling off again, now. My teaching is back on the “improving” slope, which makes for occasionally uncomfortable mistakes but usually is pretty good. I’m emailing people. I don’yt have a big fat project around my neck anymore, as most of the updating is finished on my website, except for integrating ESL materials. I met with John Wendel and talked shop about writerly craft, looking at his …

Aaaaaaaaaargh! I just got in to Jeonju from Seoul. I had a completely useless visit that I managed to salvage in a couple of ways…

and now the week is done… … and I find myself on the verge of an even more tiring weekend. I must go up to Seoul tomorrow to pick up one of my saxophones, which was being repaired, and test out a piece of equipment. I don’t really want to leave my house this weekend, to be honest. My ear infection (which supposedly isn’t an ear infection at all… actually, just isn’t an ear infection anymore, is still lingering and no doctor will give me enough medication to deal with it permanently; and I am exhausted from the busy week …

This week… This week is still busy. I started teaching a new term this morning, and my two classes, both of which are pretty high-level classes, looke quite good. I already know what I have ahead of me for one of my kids’ classes, but the other I don’t know about. We’ll see tonight. It’ll be nice to be finished teaching at 6:30pm instead of 7:30pm.

Busy Busy Busy This is where I spend 2 minutes in the morning posting how damn busy I am. I have interviews and then a lunch meeting (which may or may not happen depending on whether a film crew that is making a documentary about my band shows up and scares off my friend), followed by some hardcore web page design because I want my webpage (here) to be working by Monday, and then tonight I will go to Jeonju for a gig and documentary/interview at Led Zeppelin. I don’t know what time we play, but I know it’s in …

… I miss most of all the people I miss all year round. My family, my girlfriend (who can’t be here this year), my old friends flung into their faroff places all over the face of the planet.