Taxes = evil

Hey all. Just a quick note to show that we're still alive and kicking. Summer's closing in, and it's getting unbearably hot and humid - we cope by living next to the fan and amusing ourselves with Chester, the lovable hamster.

Meanwhile, taxes are evil. As we live abroad, we were allowed a 2-month extension on our filing, which ends tomorrow. Hence, the mad scramble to try and actually finish the looming behemoth that is accountant-speak.

So a quick link to the site we used for filing taxes online:

Olt.com has apparently died (which we used last year), so we found freefilefillableforms.com, which just saved us a massive headache, instead giving us only the slightest of migraines.

Yippee!

Quote of the day: "Taxes make my brain vomit." - Jessie

Across the Pacific and back... and somehow married along the way...

We just got back to Korea after a wonderful whirlwind visit to California. Highlights:

1. Delicious food to tide us over until the next visit: burritos, Ethiopian food, fromager d'affinois, my dad's cooking, Jay's mom's baking, cakes by my mom and sister (birthday) and Julie (wedding), Chinese food, really nice Italian food, an amazing dinner at Chez Panisse, another amazing dinner at Vivify, Vietnamese dim sum, tons of root beer for Jay and salt&vinegar chips for me... Yeah. We were well fed. And cultural variety resulting in incredible amounts of delicious food is very very wonderful. We have been spoiled.

2. My birthday. I'm now a quarter century old and clearly have to get my butt in gear to get stuff done before I'm "over the hill".

3. Seeing friends and family - in Berkeley and in Mount Shasta. Especially when...

4. We got married. It was a very wonderful ceremony that was thrown together at the last minute. Hosted by Jay's parents in Mt. Shasta, it was very intimate and warm and we couldn't have imagined a better ceremony/gathering. With very few exceptions, the people we invited (by phone or e-mail) with just a few weeks' notice were able to make it. Some had to travel across the country and we felt incredibly lucky to have them.

5. We got our visas in SF. New non-crappy jobs!! Yay!!!!!

6. We had nearly a week-long honeymoon in San Francisco. We walked around the city, ate yummy food, read good books, relaxed, biked along the coast and across the Golden Gate Bridge, and saw Wicked (which was incredible and we're still listening to the soundtrack non-stop).

Now we are back in Bundang and getting ready to move into our new apartment in a few days. Our jobs start in March and our visas are already in order, so we are not very stressed out at this point. We're looking forward to starting a new year fresh. I've had a couple days to organize photos and so albums are now up for:

-Around Seoul: some new night shots

-Taebaeksan: a day trip we took with Grace and John, some wonderful Korean friends

-Our last months at LRDS: catalogue, remember that there were good bits, and move on

-Around Sunae and Seohyeon: new images from eating chicken galbi for dinner with Cynthia and Young-min

-Along the Tancheon: new winter shots

-Around Berkeley: new Marina photos and pictures of the beautiful flowers my dad bought for my birthday

-Mt. Shasta: a few new snowy images of the mountain

-Pre-Wedding Spa: my mom and Jay's mom took the ladies to the spa for massages/facials/pedicures/manicures. 'Twas lovely and fun!

-Our Wedding: photos by Aleisha Bradley, Jim Black, Carrie Noel-Nosbaum and Kathy Koger. Printing is enabled, so the album is password protected. Just e-mail us or anyone in the wedding party for the password :-)

-SFO: Late images from last June when we left for our second job in Korea. Note that Jay lost a hat within the span of about 10 minutes.

-Our honeymoon in San Francisco: Golden Gate Park, our bike ride, and around SF.

One more note, for those of you who were at our ceremony, apparently two geese landed on the pond as we exchanged rings. (Thank you Mona and Mary for the notice!) We were surprised and amused to hear this. The first thing we thought of is the traditional wedding/housewarming present in Korea: two wooden ducks. So we wondered what the symbolism of geese is. Here are some of our findings (ie the first few sites from a google search):

[from here]:

The animal symbolism of the goose hasn't got its full honor. Too often in myth and lore we see the goose representing silly attitudes or lazy dispositions.

On the contrary, the symbolism of the goose is quite inspiring.

When we consider the goose never leaves one of its own kind behind, we begin to see the goose in a different light. Just like the US Marines, "Semper Fidelis" (always faithful) is the motto of the goose too.

Geese annually migrate to warmer climates during the winter. Should a goose become injured during this trek, another goose will leave the migrating flock to stay with its fallen comrade. The goose will stay with the injured until he has recovered or until its final breath. Nothing silly about that.

Indeed, this kind of valor puts the symbolism of the goose in a far different light. Here are some attributes of the goose:

• Communication
• Determination
• Fellowship
• Teamwork
• Confidence
• Protection
• Bravery
• Loyalty

Geese are incredibly gifted navigators and instinctively know the way across the long haul to warmer climates. They forge ahead with confidence and bravery.

Further, geese have intricate methods of communication - not only do they sense when their brethren are in trouble, they also work as a team to communicate warnings, as well as messages of prime landing sites.

Geese are also fiercely protective of their young - often presenting an impressive thrashing display to would-be predators. These scare tactics often work to protect goslings from attack.

Those who have the goose as their animal totem need not worry if they are silly or lazy. This is far from the truth. In actuality, those who are kind, loyal, and brave-hearted attract geese as their totem. Those with the goose totem are the clear communicators, true-blue defenders and compassionate keepers of the community.

Lessons we all can learn from our totem geese include:

• Remember your roots - don't forget the people who helped you along the way
• Follow your gut - rely on intuition and instinct in order to get where you need to be
• Communicate your needs to others - no one can help you if you don't speak out
• Protect that which is most valuable, but make sure you have your priorities straight (meaning, be sure you're protecting that which is worth protecting)

[from here]:

Goose: Celtic Symbolism

Goose, Gèadh, symbolizes parenthood, productive power and vigilance. Geese are excellent “watch dogs” and highly protective of their territory. Goose brings creative and constructive power to people and shows it’s possible to be both grounded and spiritual in daily lives. She also represents wisdom, new beginnings, happiness, inspiration, communication, protection, bravery, loyalty, practicality, determination, fellowship, teamwork and confidence.

Goose: AmerIndian Symbolism

Keywords are the call of the quest and the trek to legendary places. Cycles of power are autumn, the full moon and the winter solstice. Goose symbolizes fertility and fidelity. Goose represents the Sacred Circle, its life cycles, and family. She teaches people respect for tradition and authority and how to break free from ruts and soar into new patterns.

Goose: Other Symbolism, Superstition and Lore

• Ancient Greeks saw her as Hera’s emblem, a representation of love and being a good wife.
• She was a messenger of good news and symbolic of inspiration, light and marital happiness to the Japanese and Chinese.

So there you are. Interpret as you like. We were rather pleased :-)

Be well. More updates to come when we move to our new home!

Love,

JJ

Jobs and weddings and psychotic ex-bosses, oh my!

Some updates...

Our school ended up closing on Wednesday, January 13th (with one day's notice for the new date) and will re-open some time in February in Pangyo. I wonder how long those teachers will stay?

The change in plans is 100% welcome and, in addition to releasing us earlier, gave us the chance to interview for more jobs (I'll start at a public elementary school in March!) and to take a quick side trip to the USA.

On the 2nd of February, we'll head back home, have my birthday in Berkeley, finish up last-minute visa stuff, and...get married! :-) The date will be February 14th/Valentine's Day/Lunar New Year/2-year-anniversary of our engagement. And we're very very excited!

The new opportunity to do this was very unexpected, and our wedding will be very small and personal in Jay's family's backyard. Pictures will of course follow. Later on (this summer or next), we hope to make another trip back to the US for a larger reception/gathering with more advance notice and so that we can see more of our friends and family.

Mostly for now we're just counting down the hours until we can get home, see friends and family, get married, and start our new jobs elsewhere. Our roommate seems to be having some stalker trouble from our ex-employer so... yeah. Moving on will be nice.

We'll go with friends to the mountain this weekend and then update lots of pictures from the last few months...

We're looking forward to seeing many of you in the near future!

Love, warmth, and joy,

J&J

Updates on the job search

We were informed today that our school will be closing on Friday, so that will be our last working day. They'll move the school to Pangyo in February, but it'd be after our 8 weeks' notice so this is officially our last week of work at Little River Day School. Shockingly soon, and I would have liked a little more warning since I had to turn down an incredibly good job offer because I thought I would be working here until the end of January... but, c'est la vie. I'm going to refrain from speculating about the possible reasons for the early closing because Korea's slander/libel laws seem to have been inherited from their northern neighbors and very much skewed in favor of companies.

We're looking for suitable positions, mainly focusing on public schools in Seoul and Western/Southern Gyeonggi-do. Luckily, we're already renting an apartment (that is not provided by the school) with our Canadian co-worker who was also released early from her 8 weeks' notice, so we won't be homeless this weekend (good planning? Yes, I think so). I'm daydreaming of ideal situations... We find amazing jobs that want us in mid-late February and we actually get paid from the 2 weeks of work at LRDS in January, so we run off to Southeast Asia for 2 weeks... Yes, I can smell the fresh pineapple juice and delectable curries now.

On that note, I think it's time to eat dinner. Be well everyone and be safe. More updates will come as they happen (or, you know, a month or two afterwards).

Love!

-J&J