off to the land of cyber athletes

for those i haven't seen in the past few weeks, i gots good news: i'm going to korea on a 6-month writers residency exchange program. it's more of a cultural exchange and immersion thingy. i have to attend korean language and literature classes mondays to fridays from 9am to 1pm at the korea university. then we have trips to cool korean places and we get to meet young korean writers (very important question: are there any cute guys in korea?). they pay for everything; we get a stipend of close to 6 million krw. hope that's enough for the many gadgets i hope to buy.

i have to be there by 28 march so it means i only have four weeks left to get my act together. i have yet to prepare my wardrobe (for spring, summer and autumn), books (pinoy lit and other good stuff i've been saving for prison or retirement) and luggage. eek. the only thing i've done so far is to buy a new digicam with a nice orange case. my friend E says i have to buy rechargable batteries and a charger and a big memory card so i can take videos of my dog to take to korea.

the semester is just about to wind down so this means i'll have to submit my grades a little early. i was also told that i'll have to resign from my teaching job at UP effective april 1st because my contract end may and i won't be here by then. i was also told i can't be renewed for the next academic year because this korea thing messed up my thesis defense schedule. i'll be back in september and will have to earn my degree when i get back so i can get re-appointed as assistant professor.

there'll be 6 of us participating in the program, 2 writers each from indonesia, thailand and the philippines. the other pinoy is young novelist S, aka JCM, who i'm told is a little weird. there are 4 novelists in the group, a poet and me (not sure how to classify myself--nonfiction writer-slash-teacher-slash-hottie? heh.) it'll be really cool meeting lots of new people and exploring a new city but i'm terrified of a lot of things.

i have a wonderful support system here, lots of friends and family who love me, and i'm about to travel and live abroad for the first time. aside from my family, i'm going to miss my dog, kitty, who my dad is going to foster while i'm gone. i'm going to insanely miss R and E and my sister B. but most of all, i'll miss my good friend P, who i'm used to seeing every so often, and having week-long conversations with. it'll be like losing my cousin A all over again.

anyway. this is a good thing that everyone tells me is a blessing i should enjoy. and i'm sure i will, once i get past the fear and the crazy crying jags P says i will most likely have the first 2 months. i remember something a student wrote for a stalking assignment i gave some years ago: we don't know what the hell we're doing and still, we soldier on.