Orientation - opening ceremonies

            The first day of orientation has felt like it’s contained an entire week. I lied about the jet lag – it hit me like a tidal wave the moment I left the cafeteria from lunch and I’ve been in a fog ever since.

I started the day off a weird shower:

I've used this kind of shower before at my host mom's in Spain so it wasn't entirely unfamiliar but still a bit of a challenge keeping my pile of clothes drive since you pretty much hose down the whole bathroom. Oh, and here's the rest of the dorm:

We're messy :/

            First thing this morning was our tour – in my usual style, I barely skidded into the midst of my group before they departed. They started by separating the vegetarians from the rest of the group to get special stickers put on our nametag – a strawberry with the Korean word for “eating disorder” written on it for all I could tell. During that time, I met Eilidh from Scotland who I’d talked to a little bit online beforehand.  We made jokes about them singling out the vegetarians so they could send us home first.

The tour went fairly quickly since there were only two buildings to show and, afterward, I attached myself to Eilidh and a girl from London, Ayesha. We wandered down the streets until we came across a nice little coffee shop and ducked in. It was nice to relax a bit before lunch since we have a long week of classes to look forward to. Ayesha is a Pakistani from London and comes from a Muslim family so it was interesting to compare the similarities and differences between our religious backgrounds. Part of the conversation dipped into UK politics and vacations to neighboring countries – all of which was over my head. They were surprised to hear that I’d only been outside the country 3 times and that most Americans don’t own a passport. Ayesha is mildly cynical and prefers sitting in the corner smoking cigarettes and judging passersby over surface-level mingling. I decided I liked her. Eilidh is more of a social butterfly but in a genuine and quirky way. The more excited she gets, the harder she is to understand. On our way back we found this rad spider:

Not an awesome picture - he was camera shy

We went to lunch together and sat outside afterwards so the other two girls could have a smoke.  After that I was inadvertently adopted into the UK clan when a few other English kids gathered round. I somehow felt the need to keep my mouth shut so they wouldn’t catch on that there was a Yank in their midst. When I got over my insecurity and was asked where I was from, I told them Utah. They had no clue where that was so I told them "Breaking Bad". Close enough and they all nodded knowingly.

The opening ceremonies were after lunch and involved a very cool Taekwondo presentation. I took one picture (and not a very good one):

 and then got sucked into the show. These kids were doing backflips while breaking multiple board with a  series of kicks and all sorts of crazy moves while playing drums and dancing to hip-hop. I felt like a slug next to them. Then we heard from Walter Foreman, a Canadian who’s lived and worked in Korea for over 15 years and talked to us about some of the cultural differences we might encounter, after which we were hearded off to our classrooms.

I met a few of the guys from our group. They were really funny and we exchanged some US vs. Canada banter. I’ve met more kids from Toronto than anywhere else here. Our class was entertaining mostly because the Gangwon kids are such a lively bunch. Our class president wasn’t elected like all the other classes but, rather, strutted to the front of the class upon hearing there would be a class president, gave his election speech, and sat down to some confused but enthusiastic applause. We may have a dictator on our hands.

Our teachers are two very sweet Korean girls who struggle a bit with English so we really have to strain to understand them. They explained that the most commonly spoken language in the world is “broken English” and we’d better get used to it since we were about to become a part of that community.

            I ate dinner with Eilidh and David from Manchester, England. Halfway through we all kind of shut down from the intense jet lag and agreed that we should all call it an early night since we have medical exams in the morning. I might not blog much til I get to Gangwon since it’s going to be a busy week (maybe not even then since I won’t have internet in my apartment for about a month).  Good night!

EPIK orientation - Arrival

            Quick entry before I go tour the campus for orientation so I can get this blog going.  14 hour flight – not so bad. Going two days with no sleep and emerging in a new country where I know very little language – not so bad. Jet lag – not so bad. I woke up at 4 in the morning but managed to go back to sleep and wake up at a decent hour. We missed dinner last night so we were ravenous this morning. Breakfast was kimchi, rice w/ mushroom soup, and cocoa puffs. It was different but also not bad.

            I sat by an Oceanographer from San Diego and a transfer student from Daejon on the plane. The oceanographer shared some apples from the farmers market with us since he wouldn’t be able to take them through customs and told us all about his upcoming voyage from Busan to Hawaii to measure… the ocean and things, I can’t remember. He told me I should move to Antarctica when I’m done in Korean because I would meet the most interesting people there. Not sure if that was a round-about way of calling me an ice-queen or if he was being genuine but I might consider it.

            There are zero Utahns at orientation -  the closest thing I could find was a band of Canadians from Toronto so they’re my people now. They’re crazy-friendly. My roommate, Shankary, is from Toronto as well and if anyone asks her she tells them she’s Canadian, but she’s definitely Indian with the cute accent and everything. She’s a tad shy and forgetful but very nice. We bonded over trying to “translate” TV shows on our little TV last night.

            I haven’t taken a single photo yet but I’ll try to get some for my next entry.

            Everyone here is really fun, I talk to a new set of people everywhere I go. The Toronto kids and I spent last night helping people with luggage and chatting. We met people from New Zealand, South Africa, the UK, Canada, and a couple of Americans. A lot of the teachers here have already lived abroad in places like Spain and China before this or have been in Korea for a while. One guy had a massive bag that was about 3 ft wide and 7-8ft long. He told us we had to guess what it was… I’m going with Kayak or a strange Japanese instrument. I guess we’ll find out.

            Anyway, Korea’s great so far – people are really friendly and it’s hella humid. I’m pretty sure it’s more humid than Atlanta was in the summer. It’s also monsoon season so it’s been really rainy and that doesn’t help the humidity thing. My hair had gone curlier than ever. I’ve seen the most beautiful mountains and rivers though and a couple little temples and shrines from the bus. The lady in the convenience store downstairs doesn’t speak any English so we get to practice our Korean when we go to buy snacks. She’s constantly got her Korean Dramas going too so sometimes we’ll hang out and watch a bit. Man, I’m so nervous about the language barrier. I’ve never been in a country where I speak so little. I had a lot of random people approach me in the airport and ask the most random questions. I’m not sure if they were practicing English or if I just looked super lost but it was entertaining.

            More to come and hopefully some pictures!

            

Hot-lanta!

I've been in Atlanta for a couple days now and it's already been kind of crazy. I took a summer sales coordinator job on a whim because I was bored with Utah life and serving and here I am 2,000 miles away from home getting ready to move to the other side of the planet in August since my Korea program overlaps with this job.

It started with a cross-country drive with 3 guys I'd never met and getting 0 sleep since leaving. We drove from li'l old Utah to Kansas city on Sunday. The drive was ridiculous, we started on the Northern route until we hit severe snowstorms in Wyoming and had to take a massive detour that put us on the Southern route. This meant we didn't reach Kansas City 'til about 3 in the morning.

We crashed at the seediest of seedy hotels in the seediest part of town. Their "continental" breakfast consisted of cold Eggo waffles and stale bagels. The world clocks on their walls were all twitching with their second hands stuck at the 6 and Paris was long-gone.  The hotel shared a parking lot with two condemned and obviously haunted buildings. When we arrived we stared at the concierge as he repeated "The ahn-trahnce is on the othah side" about 6 times before we realized he was pointing out the entrance. And in the morning, we filled up at a decayed gas station with no attendant and only one working pump. I'd downloaded the Walking Dead soundtrack as a joke to get in the mood for Georgia but hadn't actually expected to walk into a post-apocalyptic scenario.

We ate lunch in Metropolis, Illinois near the Kentucky border the next day. Cutest tiny town ever dedicated to superman fanaticism. This Southern boy named Buck made our sandwiches at the local Quiznos and had a story for each of our orders. Then we hit Tennessee and encountered a massive rain and thunderstorm that essentially blinded us for minutes at a time. Most of the rest of the drive was slow and daunting with my little Hyundai hydroplaning and nearly getting blown away by wind gusts and drastically-maneuvering semi's. Eventually we made it to another hotel, much nicer and cheaper than the one in Kansas City where the man at the front desk greeted us with some filtered water and a sofa.

The next morning we headed to the home office for 8-10 grueling hours of training for the boys while I hung out in the stuffy break-room reading a book and waiting for them to get done. I talked to some of the Terminix employees and found that one of them was LDS. He gave me a rundown of the local YSA activities and meeting spots and was super nice.

Finally, the guys were done and we headed to our apartment. Which won't have furniture until the 5th. And we're basically squatting here because only 1 of them has a contract and the apartment I'm supposed to be in won't open up til the 5th. Also, the AC's been broken up until about an hour ago.

My bed

My office

One of the most bizzare moments when we arrived was when we met our new neighbor. I had been soaking in all the Southern charm from our previous encounters - such as the ladies at Chick Fil-A who would pat my arm and call me "baby". Then we walked up the steps to find our neighbor smoking heroin and adjusting her weave. One of the guys cheerfully shouted "Hi, we're your new neighbors!" which obviously caught her by surprise because she backed away saying "Don't judge me, don't judge me." until she'd withdrawn into her apartment. We're off to a great start.

So the boys have been sleeping on the floor and being the only girl they felt the need to be all chivalrous towards me and give me the master bedroom with my own bathroom and the only cot we had. Which is no softer than the floor so I don't feel that bad taking the stupid thing. Since then, I've had very little to do so I've mostly been wandering the area and hanging out at the local Starbucks to siphon their internet since we have none. The baristas already know me pretty well.

I haven't had any work to do while I wait for the guys to start making sales so I've spent the day catching up on Korea prep and scaring the maintenance man -

I was watching Jimmy Fallon when he arrived and had my headphones in so I didn't hear anything when he knocked on the door. I smelled smoke for some reason though (probably the guy's cigarette smell) and was creeping towards the kitchen to investigate when I heard someone fumbling with the door. I jumped out of the hallway and shouted "HEY!" thinking it was an intruder and the poor guy clutched his chest and squealed like a girl, nearly falling to the floor. I felt real bad when he told me he was just there to fix our AC.

The area's really interesting because it's a big city but you can't see anything through all these gigantic, lush trees. Our apartment's tucked away into a wooded area by the highway so we get a mix of traffic sounds and birds chirping through our windows. Oh and the humidity. Ohmigosh, I'm gonna look like a sweaty Hermione Granger all summer but I'll rock it. I have yet to try the famous peaches but their tomatoes are really sad and puny. But I think I'm really going to like it here. Good radio - no more obnoxious outdated hip-hop and worst top 40. And the scenery is beautiful. Only downside is the traffic, which is completely awful. Oh my gosh. So bad. Oh and tornado warnings every minute but I have yet to see one. I'm kind of disappointed but honestly, I wouldn't know what to do if I saw one. I'd probably just stop, drop, and roll.

ER - Medical Drama

So since it's approaching 3 AM and my medically-induced coma has screwed up my sleep patterns, I figured I may as well document my super fun trip to the ER this weekend.

I've had this weird little twinge in my right side for the past couple weeks and kind of just ignored it. I figured it'll either go away or turn into something. Well, it turned into something.

Thursday was my active day. I got my trash kicked in Self-Defense class by my own mother (pent up rage, Mom?) Then went rock climbing with my sisters and was pretty proud of myself despite being really rusty.

I was reading that night with the cat laying on my side and it kind of hurt so I thought, "Jeez, Fatso, you are obviously crushing me." And kicked the cat out. Then I went to sleep.

At 2AM I woke up from dreams of being stabbed with a barbecue prong to the nagging feeling that my organs were about to break free of my torso. It hurt A LOT. The next few moments involved me pathetically dragging myself to the bathroom to puke and just collapsing in the hallway and laying on my face, making sad dying animal noises instead. I couldn't even stand up straight, it was ridiculous.

I debated what I should do. Wake up my roommate/brother in the next room? Call 911? Try to drive myself to the hospital without passing out? I nearly talked myself out of doing anything and just waiting it out but then decided it hurt kind of a lot so this was a hospital thing. In the end, I drove myself to the ER because I still didn't want to bug anyone.

Once there, I felt really foolish. I hobbled up to the desk like a sad little quasimoto and grunted my info to the lady behind the glass. When the nurse asked me what was wrong, I started feeling like a hypochondriac because I could not describe what was happening to my body and was starting to think they might not find anything.

After the doctor checked me out, my nurse came in with a cart full of torture devices and was creepily chipper about my demise. He cheerfully told me they were going to shove an IV in my arm, take a bunch of blood, run some awful-sounding tests, and do an ultrasound. I did not mask my irritation with being stuck there for hours doing unpleasant things to which he replied, "Where did you think you were - the Ice Cream Parlor? This is the HOSPITAL!".  Touche, Sassy Nurse. He did give me morphine, though, and that was kind of nice.

In the end, they found a gigantic mother-freakin' ovarian cyst that had ruptured and was oozing all up in my other organs. No serious damage done but they said it'd be painful for another few days and prescribed me some narcotics, which apparently make me naseous and migraine-y.

The funny thing is I had joked with my boss about calling in sick on Valentines day since it's the busiest day of the year at our restaurant. Then I ended up doing that exact thing.

It was 4 or 5 in the morning when I finished up at the hospital and since they'd given me morphine I did have to call my brother for a ride home. There really is no reassuring way to ask your brother to pick you up at the ER and I completely left out my reason for being there so he was properly freaked out when he rolled up.

I also forgot that my parents are insane and get up at 4 every morning so when I texted them to let them know I had used their insurance, they started texting and calling immediately and I realized I didn't need to wake Brady up after all -  I could have just called them.

Poor Brady got woken up a couple hours later when I ignored a call from my mom and she called him instead. I woke up to this in my doorway, telling me it needed my keys:

Thanks to the morphine I was tripping balls and was hella confused (my brother's bed head is ridiculous). I'd forgotten my car was still at the hospital so my parents had called to get my keys so they could pick it up.

Apparently an hour later, Brady got woken up AGAIN by the dogs and nearly blew a gasket at them. Poor brother.

My mom came to my house and dragged me out of bed so she could keep an eye on me at her house since Brady and Eli were going out of town.

So, since then I've been in and out of consciousness due to all the narcotics and aside from being sore all over my torso, I'm feeling way better and glad to have my family around. Maybe next time I won't ignore it when there's a ticking time bomb in my gut, as much fun as it's been.

Filmy film film

I'm a little surprised by how much the film world has absorbed my life. I remember considering film in High School and thinking "Ohmygosh, I could never get into that. It's too competitive and out there. I wouldn't even be good at it, I have no experience. I'm gonna be a doctor who secretly paints and writes instead." And even after I dove into the film program in college, I was full of doubts about post-graduation. This little voice in the back of my head kept saying I'd just end up being a receptionist after I graduated and would never use my degree toward a career. But then I applied for Colorless Green on a whim and it all went from there. I met people, started a network, worked on 4 feature films and a horror short and I just keep getting deeper and deeper into film.

I love it. It's frustrating and hard and the people can be assholes (for lack of a better word) and sometimes I find I'm not taking care of myself - food and sleep go out the window during a project. But I'm hooked, nonetheless. I've discovered a subculture full of people who think like me. Or who are willing to find out how I think and geek out about things that might go over other peoples heads because, let's face it, film people are freakin' weird.

Okay, I'm rambling. The point is, I've finally hit that point where it's become a passion and I can't shy away from it anymore. I want to make short films, write screenplays, and draw storyboards. And I've kind of let go of the fear that I might not be thriving, hugely successful, or making a ton of money in the near future. It doesn't matter because I'm having all these amazing experiences.

Anyway, recently my restaurant had a fire and I was put out of a job. The timing wasn't horrible because I'm volunteering at Sundance Film Festival full-time and would have had to take work off anyway. The downside is, I'm gonna be poor as dirt for a while and my roommates (aka my brother, his girlfriend, and his best friend) may have to put up with me scraping by for a while.

But, Sundance has been incredible and I'm a little sad that it's almost over. I'm surrounded by people who are equally enthusiastic about the films and who join me in disecting them.

It's been pretty turbulent though. I barely have time to eat and usually get a quick meal each day and that's about it. My time is being split between working at the theater, sleeping in my car, roaming Park City, and watching as many films as I possibly can. I'm never sure where I'll end up crashing so I keep all my belongings in a duffle bag in my car and my personal hygeine is probably lacking in some areas (I can rock dreadlocks, right?)

The theater I work at is one of the smaller ones and is a bit off the beaten path. But the team I'm on is hysterical and they make it so it never feels like work. The volunteers come from all over too so we've got a mix of people from the UK, Canada, all over the US, and elsewhere.

 I seriously lucked out this year. I also got a job that allows me to sneak into any movie that we're screening and participate in the Q&A's with the filmakers, which is my favorite part because I want to know everything about how the films were produced. Hopefully tomorrow I'll get to see Richard Ayoade's movie and check out his Q&A. Sadly, I missed one of my idols, Marjane Satrapi, but I'll probably catch her movie in theaters later.

Also, celebrities tend to visit pretty frequently since mine is a discreet theater that they can easily sneak in and out of.
I've met Irrfan Khan (Life of Pi), John C. Reilly, Katy Couric, and William H. Macy while scanning tickets. Irrfan Khan actually grabbed my shoulder and asked me to show him where he could go to smoke. Then William H. Macy gave me the wrong ticket and I had him stand next to me while he searched for it so I could continue scanning tickets. He later grabbed my shoulder and asked where he could get popcorn. Super nice guy. And needless to say, that jacket is never getting washed. It's been insane. I kind of thought I might spot a celeb or two but I didn't think I'd have that many encounters. I also had Matthew Gray Gubler skip past me with his friends and got a friendly "hello" from him. Then took a terrible picture of the back of his head as he skipped away. And shortly after saw the guy who plays Saul Goodman from Breaking Bad dipping into a restaurant. So so weird.

Matthew Gray-Gubler

Irrfan Khan (in the tux)

I wish I had better pictures but we're not really supposed to bug celebs when we're on our shift. Plus I probably wouldn't want to go around jumping them anyway.

Anyway I'm beyond excited to do this again next year now that I know the ins and outs. It's been a great chance to network, reconnect with friends and professors from film school, and see some beautiful films and artists. It's also made me more determined to make my own stuff to submit to festivals. I'm probably just high off the festival but we will see! Just two more days and then back to real life but I'm going to get as much as I can from it.

I'll try to blog more so I can catch up on some of the films I've worked on and my trip to LA but I'm so attention-deficit that  I can barely answer a text message these days. More to come!