Getting to first Florence impressions

I'm in Italy!

Typing the blog whilst enjoying the breeze and the view.

I can't imagine growing up here, simply because I can't imagine living here and seeing the beauty of this place as mundane. Growing up in the US, I found anything over 100 years old and still standing to be some mysterious and fascinating window to a distant past. In Korea, there are a lot of very ancient structures and customs, but Seoul is more like a city from a possible future than a city from the past. Florence looks a lot like it did hundreds of years ago. Unlike Seoul, Florence has left its streets narrow and cobbled, very unfriendly to drivers and high heels. In addition, the buildings are generally no more than 6 or 7 stories high with red terracotta(ish) tiled roofs, unlike Seoul demolishing their traditional style houses for high rise apartments and glittering commercial buildings.

I didn't realize that the "airport limosines," or very comfortable buses that run between various areas in the Seoul area and Incheon Airport, doesn't leave the first stop on the line until 4:30am. I knew the airport subway line didn't start until about 5am or so, but for some reason, I thought the bus would run all night, since there are flights coming and going at all times. Fortunately, a cab driver heading towards Incheon for personal reasons stopped by before the bus came around and offered to take me to Incheon for the same price as the bus. It's actually not uncommon for this to happen. The taxi driver, wanting to make some money during a very slow business time, will offer a discounted price (in cash of course) if you happen to be going in the same direction he/she is. If he can get 3 or 4 people, then he's made a profit. My taxi driver at least got his toll and some gas paid for by driving me. I benefited because he was pretty speedy and got me to the airport much earlier than the bus would have.

However, the check-in counters weren't opening till an hour before my flight, so I was feeling a little tense. I ended up going to the wrong line (after being pointed there by a airport assistant who was a bit groggy at 6 in the morning), then felt a bit ajjumma-ish going to the front of the real line and explaining that my flight was boarding in half an hour. Fortunately, I got the boarding gate just as the last person in line walked onto the platform. Whew.

I went to Tokyo where a airport assistant there was waiting for me, as I only had an hour to transfer and also had to check in. He speed-walked with me all the way to my gate and asked the assistants at the boarding gate to check me in. The only other major airport where I had someone actually run with me to my boarding gate was in Incheon. I had that happen once in a very small airport in the USA this winter on my way to Florida, too. I've been so grateful every time.

Ice cream~!

The flight from Tokyo to Zurich was pretty smooth. Although I was asleep for most of the flight, I met a very nice couple from Switzerland who had taken a vacation to Japan. Across the aisle and a little in front of me was a little boy with curly blond hair who kept looking back at me, for what reason I don't know. The first time I noticed was when his mother tried to open a little container for our meal and ended up splattering the contents all over her closed window. The boy was laughing, and when I saw the splat on the window, I smiled as he looked around to see if anyone noticed what had happened. Afterwards, I woke up from a long nap to see him turned around and looking at me. That happened again a few more times. o_O Later, as we were getting ready to land, he turned around to check on me again. I was a little disturbed, but oh well. Perhaps he was amazed at my ability to wake up every time a flight attendant rolled a foot cart within a certain radius of my stomach.

My little doodle about music.

At Zurich, I ended up drawing a doodle, and got a bit lost in it. They called my flight to Florence, but when I looked behind me at the line, I decided to stay seated a little longer. I glanced again a few more times, but it looked like the line wasn't getting any shorter. Finally, I realized that the line behind me was a line for another flight and the line to Florence had already been boarded. I ran to the boarding gate very embarrassed. Luckily for me, the plane hadn't taken off yet, even though it was about time for the gate to be closed. The woman called in, printed out the manifest (?), and ran into the plane with me. This time, I had a window seat and got to take a lot of pictures. =D

Zurich.

Zurich.

Clouds over Europe.

Clouds over Europe.

Brezel.

Swiss chocolate.

Mountains of northern Italy.

When I finally got to Florence, finding a taxi was no problem, but finding a payphone was quite difficult. Actually, I ended up borrowing the taxi driver's cell phone to call my very generous friend, Kwansima, who is letting me use her apartment as a base while I travel around Italy. That night, I slept pretty well; that is until I felt a mosquito biting me on my ankle, then buzzing around my head. But I think Italian mosquitoes are much less sneaky than Korean ones. The mosquito bite ended up not really itching much, and the mosquito gave up and left after I covered myself with a thin blanket from head to toe. In Seoul, they would wait or just bite through that thin blanket... because they're evil, sneaky little things.

View from Kwansima's window.

View from Kwansima's window.

The next day, I walked around Florence, and got to see the Cappelle Medici, the Cattedrale di Santa Mariea del Fiore (a.k.a. il Duomo), the Piazzaza della Signoria, the Museo dell Bargello, and the Galleria degli Uffizi. Luckily, most of the museums/galleries didn't allow cameras for their main exhibits; otherwise, I may have ended up cataloguing almost all of the Uffizi. So much art in one place.. Wow. I met Kwansima and her frends for dinner in the Piazza Santa Croce, where there was very tight security (and a very unhappy security guard). We had no idea who was performing there, but as we left we realized the main actor,  Roberto Benigni, from Life is Beautiful was giving a comedy show there. The audience sounded like they were having a great time.

Today, I'm taking a bit of a break. I was going to do a second day in Florence right away, but after running around all day in Florence, my energy and my wallet needed a bit of a break. Tomorrow, I want to go to the Galleria del Accademia early in the morning to try to beat the lines. I also want to go to the Piazza Pitti and the Bobli gardens. For now, though, I am just relaxing and writing on my blog.

Piazza della Signoria

Piazza della Signoria

My favorite moment of yesterday was after having dinner and walking back to the bus, we crossed through (and had desserts) in the Piazza della Signoria. A youth orchestra was performing in the breezy summer night, surrounded by the statues and fountains in the square, and, amongst the lingering and relaxed crowd, people were throwing these slow falling blue lights into the air. The atmosphere was so beautiful and moving. A picture couldn't capture that kind of moment, but at the very least, it can remind, so I took a  couple quick picture as a momento.

Other memorable moments were:
1. Running back up the Duomo because I forgot my hat. Walking up the first time was no problem, though definitely exercise, but running back up through the tiny, windy staircases and stone hallways was enough to make my body start a strike.
2. Seeing mimes. In real life. Man, they are creepy but super cool at the same time.
3. Taking too many pictures of architecture (and thinking of how my sister would love this place).
4. Missing the foreign artists section in the Uffizi, especially seeing Rembrandt's portrait of himself as a young man once more. (I've look for an image on the internet of this painting for so long, but as his self-portrait as an older man is more famous, the earlier work is difficult or perhaps impossible to find.)
5. Being dead tired on the way back to Kwansima's. I was seriously shutting down. I fell asleep a multiple number of times on the bus.
6. Meeting a sassy, smiley Italian waiter who would say things with this attitude that seemed like it could be a little rude, but then he's flash a huge smile and everyone would forgive him. At one point, a woman brought her tour group and before he was able to seat them, she said that she would just leave if she didn't like the place, so he told her just to leave. While I was there, I heard him speak in Italian, English, French, Spanish, Japanese and Korean. When an American couple asked him how he knew so many languages, he replied that no tourist ever speaks in Italian to him, so he had to learn.
7. When the security guard wouldn't let us into the Piazza Santa Croce, we were feeling indignant, but then a couple older Italian men asked to be let in, and when she wouldn't let them, started emphatically expressing how ridiculous it was, including saying, "Mama mia!" and the just walked right in, so we followed them. The guard ended up following us, with somewhat of a scowl.
8. Seeing so many works of art in person. Wow.

9. Getting some time to sketch (but wishing I had brought my pencils and eraser with me). 

Tourist shopping.

Capelle Medici in the background.

Il Duomo.

Il Duomo.

Il Duomo.

Il Duomo.

The view from il Duomo.

Il Duomo.

Where I had lunch.

I found his facial expression amusing.

Mime.

Mime.

Mime.

Bathroom garden.

I'm certain there will be more memorable moments. I am still planning on going to Venice, Rome, and perhaps explore Tuscany a bit while I'm here. :)

Random new update

Jenny P and I are going to try a new project. We're going to post at least one photo a day of something that we are thankful for - something beautiful, something amusing, something intriguing, something hopeful. I just posted my own photo from this morning.

Please visit: http://thankslovehope.tumblr.com/

Speaking of this morning, I started boxing. Oh my! I'm hoping to get more fit and accomplished this summer. I have a few ideas in mind. I want to get in shape (perhaps by boxing, maybe tennis, badminton, bowling, pingpong, jogging, and hiking), learn how to ride a bike (it's true... I never finished learning how...), learn how to cook/bake better, improve my Korean language skills, take art classes... etc... Sounds ambitious? Well, you're probably right. I'm not teaching summer courses this year, so I have 3 weeks extra of free time I don't know what to do with... except to start on this list!

I am trying to decide if I want to travel to any destination this summer as well. A good friend of mine, Kwansima, is in Italy until next winter, and I've been meaning to visit. Perhaps, if not having a summer teaching position doesn't hit me too hard, I can scrounge up enough change to procure a ticket to visit her.

As for other news, I was getting enough sleep until yesterday night, so I'm feeling great now, but I better get back to sleeping regularly.

Spring in Korea

These past two weeks have been recuperating weeks. I've been keeping on the dl, not going out much, trying to stay home when possible. It's been sort of nice, actually. I've had some time to clean my apartment, make myself some new recipes, and catch up on some chores.

One thing I thought I would really miss when I left my old neighborhood was the birds, as hearing birds (or any wildlife) is a bit rare in Seoul. However, I realized that I do have birds singing in my neighborhood, which is nice. They're mostly in the alleyways, as I'm on a busier street, but I can still hear them.

Meanwhile, it's lovely in Seoul this spring, so far. Usually, it's "yellow dust" season and every other day or so is a health hazard, but this spring has been very kind to my lungs. (*knocks on wood*) The skies have even been blue, rather than a borderline grey-blue or white color.

Depending on where you are, there are more or less trees and blossoms to see, but Seoul seems to have become much more nature friendly since I've moved here. Perhaps, that's because I've moved to more nature friendly areas.

Cherry blossoms along an apartment complex. 

One of the most visited places in Seoul for cherry blossom viewing is Yeoido, which is an island in the middle of the Han river which runs through the city. It's a popular spot for picnicking and leisurely walks, as well as the location of the National Assembly building.  

Every spring, Yeoido holds a cherry blossom festival, which also serves as a flower show of some sort. I remember my father bringing me to the annual flower shows back in Philadelphia, and that must have instilled some deep appreciation of flora in my life, as I love looking at, taking pictures of, and nurturing plants. (Though I can't say I'm particularly any good at gardening.)

I didn't get to go up to the mountains for cherry blossom viewing in Seoul, but I did get this really nice view of Namsan and its cherry blossoms.

If you look carefully, you can see the "pink fluffs" of the cherry blossons on the mountain.

After the cherry blossoms had come and gone in Seoul, I went to Seoraksan. More specifically to the valley where "Osaek" is located. I took my sister there her last weekend in Seoul, and I fell in love with it.

Oseak literally means "Five Colors," referring to the spring waters of this location.

I love the different colors of the water, particularly the deep blue-green against the red rocks of the cliffs.

Soft green on craggy rocks.

Green is starting to sprout up around the tops of the mountains.

And then back to Seoul, there are a lot of beautiful plants and trees growing where I work, and I sometimes can't help but stop and take pictures (even though a certain coworker teased me about it).

From the other end, near World Cup Stadium, there was more beauty to be seen.

Can you spot the kite?

When I first moved the Seoul, I really missed the flowers and blue skies of spring, but now that I'm seeing there here as well, I feel more content. I used to take a lot of random spring photos back in the USA, but I get to do that in Korea as well. It's a little joy, but little joys make life much more consistently happy.

Happy spring!

On Stage

When I get tired, I start feeling a bit depressed and esily anxious. I need to get more sleep...

I've been doing some extra things for my work place, however, which has been a bit exciting, if not nervewrecking. I'm learning a lot, in particular that I'm much more comfortable on stage than I have been in the past.

Last week, I gave a special lecture on academic essay writing for students interested in the essay contest happening tomorrow. I was in high heels, but I was walking up and down off of the stage due to my habit of walking around in the classroom. I was really nervous about it when I started trying to come up with my plan for the lecture, but by the time things were falling into place, I felt prety confident, though I generally have that slight fear that things will just implode when it actually gets down to it.

Fortunately, it went well. I wasn't sure how it went, but the administrator who organized it let me know that it was the first time they tried something like this and that she would recommend that the school put on this lecture every year for students.

Tomorrow, I will be the MC for the essay contest, which should take about 10 to 15 minutes, or less I hope. I have no idea what to expect or how to approach 150 students who are waiting to write an essay in a couple hours for a nice little bundle of cash. Should I just be straight forward and keep things short and simple? Should I try to make them laugh? Should I encourage them?

Tonight's Subway Report

After having a nice little dinner with Lisa, I headed home on the subway.

As I walked down the stairs to transfer to another line, I heard a very loud, sputtering, airy noise. An older man in front of me turned around to look at me with a concerned look, as if thinking, "Did you hear that?" I realized that he probably just farted a very ... uh ... moist fart.

I gathered my powers of self control to erase the look of shock off my face and relax my eyebrows and close my mouth (partially because the thought of having the cloud of moist fart float into my mouth made me feel even more shocked). I then walked past him with my best forced expression of disinterest, though I think I had a little bit of an awkward smirk on my face. He kept his eyes on my for another half second before he checked the faces of other people who weren't quite so close by.

Once I boarded on the subway, I ended up sitting next to a man looking very intensely at his smartphone. He looked very tired and very red. We got the the next stop and the doors started closing, to which he yelled, "Ah!" and jumped up and ran, somewhat stumbling, but with a rather impressive velocity, towards the sliding doors. By the time he was up on his feet, the doors had already closed, but he didn't seem to register this fact. He just ran straight into the door, yelled, "Ah!" again, and then just stood, still just as red faced, blankly for a few seconds wondering what went wrong. He then pulled out his smartphone and contemplated its bright interface again.

I think everyone in the car winced when he hit the door, then waited, preparing ourselves to try to catch him as he fell, but after he seemed to be oblivious to the fact that he slammed his face into the door, we all turned away, trying not to catch each others' eyes. If one person had even let out a chuckle, I think we would have all burst out laughing.

Poor guy.

My cool brother

Today, I had brunch with Missy, my coworker and friend, and her husband, Nevin. We were talking about mmorpg's and I started talking about Halo. I was really thankful, actually, that this came up. I don't know if many of you know, but one of my brothers is going through a really tough time. He's been so withdrawn that I sometimes feel almost like he's a ghost in my life. I hardly have anything to say about him, not because I don't love him or miss him or want to talk with him, but because although he's still present in my family's lives, he's very absent and refuses to engage us or life in general.

I was thinking back on playing Halo with him, and how amazing he is at that game. I usually kept quiet while playing it because people on that game are disgusting. Haha. And by that I mean, they will joke about "raping" and even do the motions (for those of you not familiar with Halo culture). Ten year olds curse each other out and just ooze homophobia and hatred of women.

In any case, one day, while playing Halo with my brother, I sniped from an elevated place, and the other team couldn't find me. They started trying to taunt me, first by cursing and such, but then they elevated their insults by saying, "Stop hiding like a girl!" My brother smirked, turned on his microphone, and said in a cool and calm matter of fact way, "Actually... she *is* a girl." Afterwards, all four of them came up to try to take me out, and I took three of them out in the process with my shotgun.

I also reflected on how intelligent and funny he is/was. I really miss those times. And I was so thankful to relive them today. I sometimes forget and try not to say anything about him because the most immediate thoughts about him tend to be a downer in conversation. Today, I was certian that I was smiling while telling that story, remembering my cool little brother. I miss him a lot. I pray that one day when I go back to the US, he'll be there, a whole person again, ready to engage and be present. Until then, I'll treasure those happy times and remember to summon them from my memory.

Good people, bad people

I feel I haven't been very fair to some lately. While I understand all people have flaws, I've run into people who I have judged rather harshly in my own heart. I don't mean that I hated them or wished them harm, but I did, and in some cases still do, feel rather displeased by patterns of their behavior or other aspects of their lives. Believe it or not, I'm rather stringent in terms of how I live my own life; I try my best to uphold the high expectations I carry for myself in terms of character and my own movement in the world. I disappoint myself quite often, but forgiveness, even of myself, is part of those expectations, and I've gradually learned to be better able to give myself time to work on bettering myself at a realistic rate.

In the meantime, because I hold those expectations for myself, I think I also tend to hold, to a lesser degree, high expectations for others around me. When people make mistakes, I try to understand, but when mistakes are patterns, and simply not mistakes at all, I take them as part of the person's character. If the person is hurting her or himself, then I want to say something to help them. If the person is hurting others, I can be quite judgmental. If the person hurts me, I try to find out what I may be doing wrong first, and if I find nothing, then I try to find out what circumstantial influences may have played as a variable in this perceived slight. If it happens more than once without any wrongdoing on my part, I assume that the person is the one in question.

What I mean by unfair is this: we are at our best when we're happy and feeling secure, but when we are feeling unhappy and unstable, we often become, in some form or another, little monsters. We punish ourselves or others for our unhappiness, and we often find ourselves spiraling into a pattern of hurt and humiliation and anger and sadness and bad decisions. While it's not an excuse, happiness or the lack of happiness is a powerful influence in how we interact with others. Being responsible and mature is difficult when we're deeply unhappy, even for the best of us. Even just being too hungry or tired brings out a little monster in me at times, so being depressed or deeply wounded would certainly bring out a side of me that I would rather remain dormant and hidden away. It's understandable and very human.

I believe that most people who are behaving in destructive ways are unhappy, and are often caught in a spiral between their unhappiness and the behavior that springs from their unhappiness. Both feed off of each other, and it's so very difficult to climb out of that awful place. Some people I've met have always behaved destructively for as long as I've known them, but knowing someone for a year or two doesn't mean I know their full character. Being unhappy has no time limit. Some people, I've never known when they were happy; all I've seen is their unhappiness, with their little monsters lashing out in some way, trying to protect themselves, but only pushing themselves deeper down into that spiral. I should remember this.

Of course, being unhappy is when we learn about those little monsters within us. Only when we're unhappy can we really work to tame them, perhaps even vanquish them. We learn how to cope, to work through problems, to constructively talk with others, to express ourselves, to pinpoint the roots of our unhappiness, to take care of ourselves, and to nurture things that we value and admire, rather than those monsters that continue to bring us back down.

However, this take a lot of strength, and unhappiness, as well as those little monsters, tend to be vampires of energy and motivation. What becomes most prominent is the weight of the unhappiness and the constant urge to alleviate the problem as quickly as possible, usually by short term means, such as escapism, passivity, blaming others, substances, and the like. These short term means are, of course, adding to the problem, but oh so tempting to someone who simply wants to feel, for some short period of time, appreciated, hopeful, normal... happy.

And I should not only *try* to understand, but just *understand.* I have plenty of little monsters, despite my strict self-character training. I've been down and unhappy in my past. I've lashed out at others. I've avoided my problems before. Other people do the same things, sometimes in different ways, but it's all from the same root and the same feelings and the same hurts. I may know it's not healthy to be around someone who is simply destroying and harming everything around him or her, but I know we're all human and all flawed. Help won't come from being disappointed or upset at someone who is already in pain. Help comes from real understanding and wisdom. I hope I can achieve both those things.