Getting SuperBetter!

"The time has come, the time is now!" - Me

Recently, I've been focusing on making positive lifestyle changes. I'm sick of my own laziness, indulgence, carelessness and thoughtlessness. My 27th birthday is in ONE week (!), and changing my brain and habits is only going to get harder with each passing birthday. I've heard this desire and worry echoed in the words of several friends around me, so I know I'm not alone in wanting to make some serious changes to my lifestyle. I have a lot of things going for  me (health, job, etc), and I don't want to just accept them with a lazy wave. I want to take all these gifts and MAKE something out of them. I want to make my healthy body stronger, I want to use my job to teach me discipline, I want to spend my free time pursuing the things I actually care about...

So, here I go:

I've joined a hip-hop dance class, as of one month ago (go ahead and laugh, Mary - me dancing "gangsta" is hilarious. The words "dang, Anna's looking really thug!" - said by no one, ever. ^_^)

I'm drinking more water.

I'm starting off each morning with 25 sit-ups, right off the bat. (Adam, too!)

I COOKED a dinner last week. It might even happen again - p.s. it tasted frickin' fantastic.

Aaaand, I joined this website "game" called SuperBetter.

It's not really a game, per se, so much as a "healthy living encouragement tool" - though I think it could easily be expanded into a true game format, if they wanted. Basically, this program is designed to help you improve your physical, mental, social and emotional health, and make you feel, well, better. It can be used to achieve a particular goal or overcome an injury or trauma, or just to become a better you. So far I've chosen my secret identity, a set of daily goals and a future "epic win" challenge to move towards.

It may seem a little "hokey" (Rob's words), but it's doing it's job so far, and actually making me Super Better. To a degree, it's keeping me accountable and allowing me to track my accomplishments and progress.

Neat, no? It all began when I watched this really interesting TED Talk, prompted by a friend here in Korea.

I joined the website immediately after.  I'm in. I'm all in.

To my friends & fam: I'd love your encouragement and help! One of the best motivators is having people you love, respect, and admire cheer you on towards a goal. If you're reading this, chances are high that you're someone I love, respect and admire. Help me make this stick (for once!)! A quick and easy way to do that is join SuperBetter as my Ally, and send me messages, suggestions, love, challenges, etc.

If you join and then decide to start your own quest towards a future Epic Win, I do solemnly promise to become your ally, and help you accomplish whatever it is your little heart desires. :)

Of course, if you don't join, I'd still love messages, suggestions, love and challenges, etc. And I promise to write you back.

Scavenger hunting at the Gwangju Kimchi Festival last weekend - we came in 7th place! It was fun AND good exercise AND a way of mingling with fellow teachers. (physical, social, mental, emotional -- check, all)

Taking time to stop and smell the roses... good for the liver.

Huge happy moment this week - a BD package from my grandma :)  Thanks, Mama B!

p.s. Happy Monday! Ok, it's Thursday  now, but I started this post on Monday, so it counts. The first 3 days of this week were mid-terms for my students, so it was a Mellow beginning to my week. Except for the SUPER INTENSE GETTING BETTER part...

Multiple Mondays

October the 1st was the best Monday I've had in a long while.
Not only was it a holiday (the day after Chuseok, Korean Thanksgiving), but it was also the first day of my favorite month,October - indisputably the best month in the calendar year.

It was glorious. The weather was glorious (blue skies, cool breezes, chill nights for snuggling). We had a glorious amount of NOTHING to do. We read glorious books. We ate glorious food. We overslept, gloriously.

I attended my tri-weekly hip-hop dance classes - these are my 2 zany instructors :)

It's dance class + a show with these two mugs

Tiny food! I found another human who shares my obsession for all things tiny, and so we made tiny banana splits together.

Presentation needs some tweaking, but they tasted mini-licious.

Adam and I attended our first Korean baseball game - what a riot!  You're allowed to bring your own food into the ballpark, and there are lines of vendors at the entrance selling fried chicken and drinks. The crowd's exuberance was overwhelming at times, and thoroughly enjoyable.

We remembered to stop and sniff the flowers, even... ^_^

In contrast with today's Monday, last week feels years and years away...

Today was a regular manic Monday, complete with sleep deprivation, skipped breakfast, crash-and-burn first class attempt (my poor students who have the first period class on Monday morning - they always have the rough version of the lesson.), and general grumpy feelings.

I remember when I was younger, I never understood why Garfield hated Monday so much. In retrospect, it still doesn't make sense for a housecat (who doesn't have to go to work), but at least now I can relate. :)

That said, I still feel happier than any Monday grump has any right to be. Not even my ruefully awful school ID tag has made me lose sight of how good life is right now.

It could be worse. Having a mile-high forehead is not as bad as having a pimple explosion or looking  drunk/stoned...

Sick sucks like a hoover

Last Monday was manic and mad and mental.

I've twice had a strange, painful illness/thing, and the doctors I visited on those previous occasions were mostly just puzzled and unhelpful. Monday a week ago, this nastiness reared its head a third time, and made for an unhappy couple of days. Wednesday and Thursday were spent consulting multiple Korean doctors, and Friday was spent running around preparing for a weekend surprise I was concocting for Adam (more on that later).

Thus, no post.

I'm lucky to have a vice-principal who really likes me, because normally Koreans just get sick and then go to work regardless. When my V-P found out I was ill, he insisted I stay home on Friday to recover (which is not usual behaviour) and it was extremely welcome:

http://kikinitinkorea.tumblr.com/post/23215962924/when-i-tell-my-school-i-cant-teach-because-im-sick

My co-worker said to me today, "I think you know more about Korean culture than most foreign teachers." When I asked her why she thinks that, she responded, "because you have spent so much time in doctor's offices!" I'm not sure exactly which parts of Korean culture have been revealed to me thru the various waiting rooms/examining rooms I've visited, but it's true that I have always left said areas feeling well-serviced and impressed. Not only is it cheap to visit doctors here (CHEAP AS DIRT CHEAP, thanks to insurance and nat'l healthcare, etc), it's also always an extremely efficient experience.

And I love efficiency:

http://kikinitinkorea.tumblr.com/post/23290832389/going-to-the-doctor

My latest visit to the hospital was fascinating (I got a full body CT scan, which is a WEIRD experience), and thankfully somewhat illuminating. This doc thinks he knows what the problem is (nothing serious, just a serious annoyance), and we'll soon be taking steps to fix me right up.

This encouraging news helped me fully enjoy the fabulous weekend I just spent with Adam and friends in Seoul. Wigs, sweet tea, babies, sunshine, martial arts silliness, good food, picnics, books -- it all added up to a weekend of pure F.U.N.

Bicycle built for two? Yes, please.

p.s. Thanks to Danielle for hosting us, feeding us SWEET TAY, being an awesome friend and helping surprise Adam!

Just another manic Monday

Just kidding about the "manic" part.

These photos make me feel happy. (disclaimer: pics may or may not actually be from today)

Adam's "wasted" impression - done while impressively sober :)

Today was lovely. A very welcome change from last Monday - everything has gone perfectly, no upsets or surprises, students being good, classes going well, stress levels at an all-time low. THIS is how every Monday should go!

Today's idiom for my classes was "to pull someone's leg", and to get the point across, I started each class by telling them they had a pop quiz. The kids' reactions were priceless. :D

Today's Quirky Korea GIF:

http://kikinitinkorea.tumblr.com/post/23215962924/when-i-tell-my-school-i-cant-teach-because-im-sick

is explained easily: Koreans don't take sick days. They are SUCH a communal society that they believe it's better to take all their germs into work and wipe them all over every doorknob in the building. Seriously though, while Koreans get sick fairly regularly, they don't usually take off work. I don't get it.

The above GIF doesn't completely apply in my case, however, because each time I've been sick my co-workers have kindly urged me to stay home/go to a doctor if I'm feeling too bad

Here, however, is a GIF that is completely and totally accurate:.

http://kikinitinkorea.tumblr.com/post/23290832389/going-to-the-doctor


...AND none of my (four) doctor's visits have cost over $5, if you don't count the one where they x-rayed my stomach. And that one was still under $50!

So the moral of the story is, it's definitely cheaper to be sick in Korea - and a good thing too, because of all the germs everyone is going to be sharing with you.

love,

A

p.s. currently feeling as healthy as a horse, mom! Not to worry. :)

Monday Madness

Hello world,

This weekend, I realized that I miss my blog, and I want to re-begin updating it regularly. "It's just a habit I have to re-learn, that's all," I thought.

"I'll start small," I thought. "Just a tiny little 'hello' post on Monday, to get me rolling. I'll call it 'Monday Madness!' Yeah, that'll do."

And then I proceeded to have one of the worst days of my life yesterday. In retrospect, I find myself a little amazed that I managed to make it to the ripe age of 26 before having a day like that. There was one piece of bad news after another, and by the end of the day.... well, it wasn't pretty. :) I had no idea how appropriate my made-up title was going to be! Anyway, yesterday was indeed madness personified, but it didn't kill me, I'm stronger now, yadda yadda, all that good stuff. And today is going much better, because I'm remembering that Life is Beautiful.

In fact, Sunday morning, I turned on my husband's computer and saw this post-it note on his desktop: "I am living my dream!"

It was a note to himself, and it warmed me right down to my cockles.

It's so true!:
 The money for my future hostel is piling up in my bank account already.
 Adam is writing articles AND short stories that are being published.
 I'm learning a new language.
 Adam has a part-time PAYING gig at the local foreigner's radio station, which is a very nice C.V. bullet.
 We're getting to travel (some), and have many future travels in the works.

Life is really, really good.

And on that note, let me introduce you to my Monday Madness theme: Korean Quirk GIFs.
There's a woman living in Korea who has taken it upon herself to find funny GIFs that illustrate some of the quirkiest quirks of living in Korea as a foreigner. I'm going to post my faves and expound upon them! **No reading ahead!**

http://kikinitinkorea.tumblr.com/post/30842091551/getting-off-of-work-during-summer

YES! This is LITERALLY what Adam and I have been doing all summer. Except, the clothes have to be peeeeeled off our gross, sweaty bodies, and then we stand in front of our wall AC unit until it dries us and our faces return to a normal color.

I thought New Orleans was humid and gross - but I have to do waaaay more walking around outside in nice clothes HERE. Blech. :)

Happy Tuesday everyone!

"Sunsetting" together

p.s. Happy late, August BDs to my Dad, Mom, Jess & Martha!