I have started psychotherapy and had two sessions so far. I realized that it's very similar to what I do as an English tutor. Basically, the therapist asks a couple key questions here and there to keep me talking. This requires intense concentration and critical thinking on the therapist's part, as every word could contain a hint about what to ask next and what problems there are. In English tutoring, I hang on to every word to try to look for mistakes and chances to teach grammar, vocabulary, or idioms. But I also listen closely so I can ask key questions to keep my students talking. The thing they invariably end up talking about is themselves.
On March 26, 2009, I left my life in America and moved to South Korea. I put my worldly possessions into two suitcases and a backpack and got on a plane. On December 8, 2012, I returned not to my hometown of Detroit, but to Silicon Valley, California, where I married an Indian engineer. In 2020, I divorced and moved to southern California. In this blog are my successes, failures, and observations of life in different cultures.
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Friday, October 5, 2012
Crossroads
This morning I woke up hungry and realized there was no immediately edible food in my home. So I washed some dishes, made rice in the rice cooker, beat some eggs, made egg fried rice, and sat down to watch CSI: Miami with Korea subtitles on TV. This is my life, I realized as I lay down waiting for the rice cooker to finish the rice. My stomach hurt from walking around and doing things without eating first, and I was miserable because I didn't want to have egg fried rice again. This is my life.
I know it's only temporary, but it begs the question: what do I want in life?
I know it's only temporary, but it begs the question: what do I want in life?
Thursday, September 20, 2012
Detroit is a Seoul Subway Beggar
I was walking from the subway station to my office and on the stairs between the two (my office's underground entrance is in a mall connected to the subway station) there was a beggar. This is not unusual for any city, and I must say that there are fewer beggars in Seoul than in New York if I remember right from my one visit there. What struck me was the receptacle he was using for money. It was a Detroit Tigers hat.
Monday, September 17, 2012
Employment! And Unemployment by Choice
I got a job! And I started this morning at 8:30am. I dislike it so much I have begged for my part time afternoon job back and started looking up plane ticket prices to go back to the US. Air China is the cheapest at $691 in mid-November, when my stay in Korea expires again. I could take another "visa vacation" and leave for half a day, get my passport stamped, lie at the border saying my visa is being processed, and get another 90 days, but I'm so tired.
Thursday, September 13, 2012
Raindrops
Raindrops gather into streams on the pavement after a long journey from the sky.
They become "we" and forget "I".
Somehow the rain feels like me and the rivulets on the windows feel like everyone else.
Like they have all lost themselves.
But I know that's not true; I'm one of them, too.
A tiny raindrop connected to you.
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