Look folks, I've been MIA for a while, but everything's OK.
It was a two-fold problem.
1) I didn't have many ideas.
Sometimes when writing I need to take a break and get some ideas. Take a look around and see what's happening and what would make a good post. I don't want to post just for the sake of posting (though this is what it feels like). I want to write a good entry, a good story that you will enjoy reading and - more importantly - that I will enjoy writing.
2) I didn't feel like writing.
I was a reporter for three years, as many of you know. There's little room to "find your motivation" as a reporter. There's a deadline and space to fill. You write because you have to.
I remember once hearing fellow SC alumnus Art Buchwald tell a story upon visiting the Annenberg School for Communication. Buchwald said, "When you're a reporter, there's no such thing as writer's block. You just write."
So I'm back and now comes the part where I ask for your help. Send me some ideas. I have some, but I want more. And more importantly, I want to know what you want to know. What questions do you have about Korea? Do you want to hear anything in particular? Do you want to know more about daily life, school or teaching? What do you want to hear about? I'll keep this post up for a week until I get some ideas from you people.
And for those of you reading this from the good ole' Palmdale, California, stop asking Marissa when I am going to post again. Instead write me and ask ME!!! (And include some ideas for blog posts.)
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5 comments:
100 things to do with kimchee
Hmmm, let's see:
What is the food like? Have you been offered dog or is that just a North Korea thing?
Do they talk about North Korea or family up there?
Have you been to the DMZ? What was it like?
I've heard Korean protests are kick-ass...seen any?
What kinds of questions do your students ask about America?
Do you feel tall in Korea?
What do you like most about their culture, what pisses you off the most?
Do you miss being in the USA at all?
Do they talk politics there? If so, what do they say?
Have you seen any hookers there? Do they say "love you long time"?
What's transportation like there? How do you get around?
Do you have lots of free time there? If so, what do you fill it with?
Are you ever coming back to America?
Compare/contrast your experience so far with the one you had in Turkey. What's better, what do you really miss?
Do you plan on traveling to any other states while out there?
Where do Koreans go on vacation?
Do they have kick-ass technology there that we don't get yet?
Are their eyes really slanted or is that just an optical illusion?
So they have a term for white people, like how we have terms for blacks and illegals?
Have you changed at all? Stopped certain habits or picked up new ones from your travels?
Do you actually enjoy teaching? What age level do you teach? Do you feel they are really learning or you're getting paid to half-ass it?
Do you see any Korean racism? Like how we see supped up Hondas and call them "rice rockets", have you heard them be racists towards others?
What's the most F-ed up thing you've tried since being in Korea?
Have you seen animation porn yet?
What do you miss the most from America?
That should do for now.
I had a similar problem in Korea. It's not that there isn't plenty to write about, it was that Seoul just felt so damn easy that it almost didn't feel foreign. I didn't feel like I was exploring as much as I do in China, and Dalian's not a tough place to live, either, and I've been struggling with my own bit of writer's block lately. Sometimes it does help to just squeeze out a post and take the pressure off.
Of course, I have my own DMZ post that's been sitting on the backburner for months now, so maybe I should just get on that.
(Oh, and I hate this spam blocker you're using. I've typed the damn letters four times now.)
Jeff had a lot of good ideas. I'm always interested in food and would add: Have you tried anything with tentacles yet?
What did your students know (or think they knew) about America that surprised you? Are there American stereotypes? Do they think we're all like John Wayne or something?
How's the tobacco? The liquor?
What is the city you live in like? Is it very modern?
Do Koreans know the song - Its Raining Men?
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