Mass Media

I've developed a bad habit. I'm finding that Facebook has slowly overtaken the other forms of communication that I once used. For example: In 2005, a year after I had graduated from college, I had a friend send me an email suggesting I join Facebook. I had always been reluctant to join any chat site or anything because I remembered spending hours chatting with friends on Instant Messanger. The conversations had been somewhat meaningless and eventually I got fed up with it and quit using it when I went to college. I felt like I was wasting away my time. So when I got this email, even though I had known about MySpace before, I was intrigued because my friend said it was more filtered than MySpace and was just a way to see what friends were up to. So I joined.

Initially, it was really fun to see who was on Facebook. I would search people all the time and add them as friends. Rebs and I started comparing how many friends each other had, kind of a competition to see who had the most. It was fun to catch up with old friends that I hadn't talked to in a while. And then there were these fun applications you could dowload and make a cartoon family, giving names of your real family members that you didn't like to the dog and cat. Or you could see how "likable" you were by taking a quiz. And there were groups you could join or become a fan of a band or a person. Eventually, somewhere between updating my status and finding out which "80's heartthrob you are", I realized how ridiculous it was all becoming.

Since then, I've also noticed that my friends, though I have many, don't really write on my wall much to say hi. Instead, they just update their status to let everyone else know what they're doing. On top of this, twitter was created, so now you can update your status and see other people's statuses (statii?) every minute of the day. It's all too much for me. I miss calling people up to chat with them about life. If I have something important to say that is immediate, then I can email. And yes, it's fun to see my friends' picture albums, but I remember as a kid, looking through real life photo albums together, laughing at the memory of a good time.

I know some of this is my fault because we do have the option still to send emails and print photos and call friends on the phone. But this technology, that which is supposed to make life more fruitful and prosperous and easier, is encouraging me to exchange depth for quantity. It pushes me in the direction of getting on Facebook 5 times a day just to check and see what other people are saying about their lives, but never interacting with them myself. Basically to become a voyeur. Our culture or society, or whatever you want to call it, encourages this. Even this blog is for the world to see but to say nothing. (Yes, I know there's a spot for people to comment, but how many people actually do that?) It's just so easy to hide behind the computer. To feel like you have so many friends when you actually know none of them.

I've actually deleted a few friends from Facebook. I did it one day when I was passing through my friends list and was having trouble remembering how I knew this and that person. I looked at a couple of their pictures to make sure I could remember, and then after some thought, I deleted them. It's not that I don't want to be friends with those people, it's just that they are so far removed from my life that it would take twice the effort to include them. i've decided that a hand-full good friends is worth more than two hundred acquaintances. That doesn't mean that I'm going to delete everyone from my Facebook (I'd be more tempted to just shut my page down). But there is a lot to be said for the effort it takes for a person to handwrite and mail a letter. It shows that the author cares enough to take the time to do it, rather than it just being a convenience.

A Moment in Passing

We got up to see the sunrise for the first time on Sunday morning. It had rained fairly hard all day Saturday, which was actually a blessing in disguise because it helped to clear the air somewhat. We had a couple friends in town, which was the perfect excuse for it. I don't know if I could have convinced Rebs to get up otherwise. So we dragged our bodies from their slumber at 4:30am with just enough time to throw on clothes and drive over to the beach. We were a little surprised at how many people were there at the time, but none-the-less, it felt serene.
There is something about sunrises that is inspiring to me. Maybe because I've only seen a few in my lifetime that I remember and enjoyed. Personally, I like being one of the only people to do something. It could be the elitist in me, but knowing that not everyone is experiencing what I am, that I am different in some way, makes me feel good. And so it is with sunrises. Even though there were students still drunk from a night out laughing and throwing each other into the water next to us. And even though we went home and fell asleep for another 4 hours, it just made my day to reflect back at moments and relive the peace that comes with a new dawn.

Where Have We Been?

It's been a little over a month since either of us wrote because we have been really stinkin' busy. The past 3 weeks or so have been consumed with preparing for our final exams and finishing up grading and other obscure administrative tasks that come with the job. Everything kind of hits all at the end, and the Korean way is to throw something at you with a short deadline and see how badly you squirm. It's similar to putting salt on a slug, except you don't die. :)

But today--this morning actually--I gave me last final exam. So after I submit my grades in the next week or so, I'll be work-responsibility-free except from 4:20-6;10pm, Monday through Thursday, for the next 2 months or so. And considering those hours are overtime pay beyond our base salary, it's a very lucrative deal.

So after my final this morning, Rebs and I came home and I have been piddling around the house for the past couple of hours. I finished reading a children's book on Barak Obama that a student gave me as a gift for Teacher's Day. I cleaned our newly purchased toaster oven from head to toe with Windex, and washed its innards. Then I decided to test out the skewer that came with it and had a cheddar brat (from Costco) with fixings and some leftover homemade coleslaw and watermelon. And I watched Monday and Tuesday's world news on ABC. Sad to hear about the two American girls being convicted to 12 years in labor camps in North Korea.

And I start to wonder if this is what summer is going to be like for me. Piddling... I don't think I do so well without purpose. I don't entertain myself well unless I have a goal in mind, even if it's just a simple one. I don't rest well. Maybe it's my upbringing, maybe it's my nature, but I think I'm going to have lots of practice this summer. This isn't to say that I won't have anything to do. I actually have already made a list of things I'd like to do/accomplish. I heard once that if you write down something you want to do, you're 60% more likely to go through with it. I don't know if it's true or not.

Though we have been busy with work, we've also been busy seeing new things. Over the past two weeks, we got to experience the Dano Festival, climb at Seoraksan with friends, and go to a get-together at one of our colleagues' pension (a Korean bed-and-breakfast) in the country. I ate authentic Indian curry and Nan (oven baked flat bread) at the festival, got to climb a multi-pitch route with my friend Greg (with bolts so run out that you dare not contemplate the idea of falling), and ate fresh cherries off a cherry tree. All in all, every moment was unique, enjoyable, and memorable. Here are a few pictures to enjoy.