An Imperfect Analogy, but it works

I am in Oregon. Oregon is nice. I like Oregon.

There's just one hiccup. See, God has said to fast until we get to Florida. So, no eating until you get to Florida. Well, you can eat, it's just bad, and you'll feel guilty, and it will screw up food for you for the rest of your life, and God will be disappointed. It's not that food is bad, though some people seem to think that wanting food is bad, it's just not supposed to be partaken of until Florida.

Now I'm fasting. I've been fasting for a long time. And, frankly, I want to go to Florida. But people say to me "Oregon is nice, why would you want to leave? Why wait until Florida?" "What if you get there and Florida has really crappy food?" "You know, there are alligators in Florida!" To them I say "You're already eating. I want to go to Florida."

Some say to me "Man doth not live by bread alone." To them I say "Your stomach clearly isn't growling the same way mine is. I want to go to Florida."
Now I know that getting to Florida takes time. It's a journey. You don't want to rush it and end up in the swamps or something, because if you're entirely mosquito bitten even the best food won't be worth it. But...I'm starving. And, I'm not going to eat till I get to Florida.
Some people are fasting but they like to smell the food. Others go as far as to lick it. Some even try drinking milkshakes and saying they're not "eating," some imagine how it'll be to eat.

I'm not doing any of that, but I have to say that you get to a certain point in the fast and you notice every time there's food around. Whether it's just laying there or someone else is eating, you notice. I notice.
Yes, God is good. I don't think he ask me to fast to punish me.
But I have this to say:
I want to go to Florida.

I had this dream

Last night I had this dream that people were disappearing. These men in black types were just plucking them off the street or out of the grocery store. At first there was a woman trying to find her friend, then it was a man trying to find the woman. They were in a big warehouse grocery, and behind the grocery was another warehouse. Depending on what door you opened it was empty or it was full. The empty one was where the men were, where the woman and her children were. To get to these people, the most recent abducties, he poisoned some woman who was a drug addict. She thought she was sniffing coke but it was some prescription drug that overdosed her. She had a daughter who he apologized to. Then he and I (though I may have been the woman who was abducted, or one of her children, or all of them) fought Kick-Ass girl style to get away from the men. They/we drove a car, ran over people,  plowed through doors to get out and it all ended with the warehouse exploding and children in the back seat.

I became aware again as I was standing in a muddy field in Alaska. After a little while my father was there. Of course, I thought, if I'm fighting like this and using guns, of course my father is here. He tells me that this is where the family lives now, and it's been four months. I'm a little peeved and I say that things that keep transporting me places (this has happened before? a part of me wonders) out to do it faster. I get to the house and we have a farm. It's not as far away from other farms as I thought it would be and I'm happy for that. It is pretty muddy though. There are two dogs now, and goats and chickens and my mother feeds them. My brother is there, and my sister, though she's younger. There is also a guy who asks to stay with us. I'm dubious at first but it is allowed. I worry that the people who we retaliated against four months ago will come after us. I see a man all made of bronze walking past the window. I get very upset and go out to confront this thing. I fight it and it turns into something else, something benign. My sister is there, though whether she's my true sister or the daughter of the abducted woman or the daughter of the ODed woman I can't tell. She has the power to make things appear and she wanted to scare us because she wasn't allowed to go out. I am so angry at her selfishness, maliciousness, and how spoiled she is.

There was more to the dream. Something involving a room, but I can't remember it now. However, it was rather storyish and sequential so I thought I'd write it down.

Had an odd dream last night

Well, for the record, most dreams are odd.
My dream went like this: I was leaving Korea to go to Ireland. I had made many friends in Korea and they all kept wanting to do last minute things with me, promising they'd help me get my flight (I hadn't booked it yet, it seemed more like getting a bus ticket than a flight) an get there on time, but I hadn't even finished packing, because people kept wanting to do things with me. Most of my friends seemed to be male. There was even a guy who confessed his love, which I awkwardly avoided saying anything about. This same guy said he'd get me to my flight, but at 30 till I thought we should go. Instead he convinced me to wait. We got there and there was a line. We took a number but all the numbers were off. We bought a ticket just as the plane left from a water dock. I was quite upset. I went to this absolutely tiny hotel room to pack. I started packing but got distracted by friends, then I said I really had to go, I'd already missed the flight once. They said they'd pack for me. I missed the flight again. At this point they said I'd have to wait until morning. I was very upset. I went back to this small room and began packing again. I packed all I could into two duffel bags. Now there were people coming into the hotel room. They were supposed to stay here, I was supposed to leave. It was people I used to know. A man and a woman. One was skyping M, an old friend of mine. I asked him if he could keep the hangers, I said they were expensive. Then I told them they could keep the roller blades too. Not my new ones, an old pair that I'm not sure I ever owned. Finally I went back to the plane station, and missed the flight AGAIN. At this point I decided it was better to sit there for hours than miss again. I was wondering how I'd get a hostel in Dublin when I hadn't booked. One of my friends suggested I take the bus to the next place the plane would stop. I was incredulous. How would a bus out travel a plane? But he was adamant. I went out onto a long dock and sat down to wait for the bus, but a flight attendant came and said that the bus had been canceled and the next flight was coming so all the people waiting for the bus went back to the plane area. We got on the plane, part cruiser, part sesna, and buckeled in. The seats were set up in circles, which is better than the "eat in" plane that was an option that involved messy meals, small pets, and children. Suddenly I wasn't in Korea, I was in Australia, and I wasn't going to Ireland, I was going to Korea, and I was going to be late. An 8 hour flight started at 6 in the morning will still result in not coming to work. Suddenly I was stressed out, I needed to call my work, tell them I'd be late. There was another girl beside me in the same situation. I figured I could use the in-flight phones and I hoped C wouldn't be too mad at me.
Dream over.
*sigh* if only I'd still been going to Ireland in the end.

Speaking the same language vs. communication

Before I go into this issue I just want to point out that the police officers here look to be all of about 14 years old. 14 years old and carrying big sticks. I'm not sure whether to respect them or pat them on the head.

Ok, language. Language is a funny thing, and as I've learned, often has very little to do with communication. It's the ideas that bring communication. Ideas are key. If we could create a language that conveyed specific ideas than we'd probably never be confused again. Sadly that probably won't happen in this world.

Some prime examples come from the Korean-English Gap (as I have named it). The Gap is that space between English words and Korean ideas where any understanding of what the other person is talking about gets lost.

"Okay" is a good example. In English "Okay" can be a few things; a filler word, a word stating your condition, or an agreement. AN AGREEMENT. If one is given an option, "okay" is not an answer because okay is a response to some sort of argument. Apparently this is no so in Korean.

"Yes" and "No" have similar issues in Korean ideas vs English words. In Korea yes and no are given as answers to decision questions "You wanted to go to the store, right?" but in reverse to English. Therefore I never know what a Korean is actually saying when they say "Yes" or "No" to a question that I've posed. I keep trying to have them answer in full sentences but that's difficult.

Another example is "prepare," which takes on an entirely new meaning in the Korean mind. For them it can me, get, buy, get ready, bring, make available. They don't even imagine that it might mean "make."

I had a point here...
It's just that, language is more than words. You can say lots of words and not make a lick of sense. Particularly if the words mean something different to you than they mean to someone else. Things can get confusing, people can get hurt. It's the ideas you have to collaborate, communicate.

Communication is key.

An Update on my weekend

Well, I've had a rather productive weekend.
That's unique since the last two (three?) weekends have been spent away from Sangju and certainly not doing much productively at home.
I went shopping, three times I think, and finally managed to get everything I had on my list after visiting several stores. I now have those Korean staples of dried seaweed, rice, and onions. No tofu. I have enough estrogen in my body. Bought fruits and veggies. Have yet to wash the apples, but I don't think that small amount of laziness will damage me in the long run. I can wash the apple before I eat it.
Finally began to use my Brita filter. Boiled the water first, then filtered it. I've spoken to a few people (mainly guys) who have drank (drunken?) the water in S.Korea to no ill effects but my coteacher S suggested boiling it first. So, boiling water may become part of my daily routine. However, I will say that if I am super thirsty I'm not above just filtering and drinking. A little stomach bacteria now and again is good for you. (-;
I had the hardest time finding just one onion for sale. Even at the market they wanted to sell me a whole bowl of onions. The conversation went like this "[Korean]hello" "[Korean]welcome, want anything?" "[Korean]this, one." "[Korean]4,000 won" "No no, just one onion, not the whole bowl." "[Korean] you get the whole bowl." "sigh" "[Korean]3,500 won" "but I don't want the whole bowl, I want just one" "Do you want the bowl in a bag?" "sigh. thank you. no. bye." Finally someone suggested Home Mart and I was able to buy two small onions for something like 170 won (or 17 cents).
The truly difficult thing to find was hangers.
Now I just need to get myself an air purifier so I can actually BREATHE.
Ah, yes, I also bought plants. I now have a pot of tiny tomatoes, a pot of something green, a slightly bigger though still small pot of a vine, and a medium pot of another vine. Oh, and an empty pot and lettuce seeds. I need to get dirt. Real dirt, not the sand outside. If I'm growing my own lettuce for eating it's darn well going to be with real dirt.
One thing I didn't buy was trash bags. I probably should have, but by the time all that shopping was done I just wanted to go home.
Speaking of home; I cleaned. I mean, I really cleaned. Three weeks I haven't cleaned and at least 5 since I really scoured the place. I used the swiffer (several times) to get all the dust and dirt out cleaned the bathroom. Cleaned the door handles, washed and dried the clothes, cleaned the counter tops and the cabinets, and dusted the tv and the ledges and the sills. My apartment looks like a proper apartment now. One owned by someone who likes veggies, plants, green, and books. Which is perfect because that is exactly what I like.
I also think I've finally discovered a system in which I can keep the dirt from outside from coming in AND avoid my socks being contaminated. However, it may require me buying another mat.
I am also contemplating getting either a scarf or a baseball cap, whichever costs less at some point as it is getting very very hot.
A mosquito net has been suggested by one Korean and rejected by another. Perhaps the one didn't understand what I meant. Not that I'm adverse to a mosquito net, I just don't want a canopy unless I need one. I'm more of a "green girl" than a "girly girl." ...If that makes any sense.
Ah, yes, and I bought beef (and failed to boil some eggs, but I did boil some potatoes). Not organic. They don't put the prices on the beef at the organic place but 6 apples are 9,000 won. I don't think I can afford the beef.
Tomorrow should be interesting.