Mentally Packing, Not Yet Packing

My flight overseas to the land where kimchi curdles is rapidly approaching.  As I count down the days, I mentally prepare by doing absolutely nothing.  While I feel that I should be practicing Korean using the various forms of media that I have purchased and that are available to me online, I find that it is extremely difficult to focus on any task Korea related.  Also, my dad has a dish and a 47" flat screen that I stare at like a cluster of bugs on the hallway light at a cheap motel.  

 I have visualized packing numerous times, yet have failed to physically pack my bags.  Piles of clean, folded clothes stare at me from the end of my bed.  I need to separate the mountain of wardrobe and trim the fat substantially to pack efficiently and save room for things more oddly shaped than clothes.  The discarded clothing items are going to be donated to the Salvation Army.  I am determined to let go of clothing that I will not need, the excess shirts that have long since faded,  items that only get worn on dirty laundry days.

The last thing I want to do is bring too many clothes overseas to pile up on me in my tiny studio apartment.  It would be embarrassing to have new acquaintances relate the odor in my studio to that of a filthy, musty gym sock or worse.  My nose isn't the best, so the possibility of another form of stench lingering and plucked from the air by a keener sniffer could create an unwanted stigma attachment, an awkward moment for both parties.  I hope to reduce my clothes pile to necessary work clothes:  slacks, dress shirts, ties and also my boardshorts,  two jeans, a few weeks worth of teeshirts, boxer briefs and socks.  Two jackets, two hoodies, a few beanies... the desire to fit everything in two bags makes this a daunting task.

Another dilemma is sorting through my book collection and deciding what to leave behind.  This is not fun.  I need to bring the ones I have not yet read and feel I should bring those I have finished to possibly trade or lend out.  I'd hate to only bring the unread books and have inquiries from visitors and me feeling selfish for not wanting to lend them out because I still plan to read them.  I will see how many I can fit once the necessities are accounted for and not go over in baggage weight.

All this mental sorting for weeks and not doing it is getting me nowhere.  I need to do a dry run to see what fits...

The language barrier dilemma is a whole-nother ball of kimchi.  I have tried to sit down and focus on a few language items, but beyond the basic hello and thank you, I am useless.  The chances of retention and the possibility of successfully using any Korean right away is unlikely.  I have managed to learn to pronounce and write the basic hangul alphabet, which is no grand fete I promise you.  I rely on the idea of emersion being the only way for me to learn the language and hope to deal with any initial language struggles calmly, as they are to be expected.  I have experienced that discomforting feeling once before in Europe, so I am familiar with the sting of ignorance during a period of adjustment.

 I have been researching etiquette however, knowing that a cultural understanding about how one should act in Korea proves to be far more valuable than speaking the language initially.  I find these differences to Western ways charming and I am not the slightest bit frustrated by these different ways of doing things.  I am not the stubborn foreigner who feels there is one correct way, unwavering in my stance bound by Western logic and look forward to a cultural awakening through observation and assimilation.

 Until the novelty of newness wears off, I will be alive with wonder.  When I feel I have seen it all and become opinionated one way or another and let my pride interfere, that is when I will need to step back and evaluate the situation and make a decision.  I am smart enough by now to know that an adventure like this has no room for snap judgments. My livelihood is at stake and I am excited to go with the flow even if it looks like it is headed up a morbid, stinky stream of hateful piss and vinegar.  All I need to do to get over whatever comes my way is think back to the archives of lows I have survived before and laugh.  There is plenty of material in the back catalogs of my often tragically humorous existence to pull from and I welcome any experience that has the balls to try and top my greatest hits so far... i better get packing.