they're especially popular with people who want to fit in by doing what everyone else is doing. So, as I've said before, less tongue-in-cheek than possibly perceived, Covid 19 has become the latest Korean trend. Anyone who doesn't have it or hasn't had it, isn't trendy or fashionable. They are wankda. I've been considering contracting Covid for reasons of peer pressure, but it should come as no surprise that I am, as yet, proudly wankda.
I went to the health insurance office in Gongju and learned that my monthly bill is going to be 140,000 won. That's over 140 bucks Canadian. I was told to expect around 123 bucks, but, as I said last post, everything is getting more expensive in Korea. Covid profiteering appears to be the next business fad here. And with the newly board selected - I mean elected - leader, I can't see THAT being nipped in the bud. If anything, the new Korean leadership will encourage it.
I also went to Daejeon and got my visa sorted. I will have my new D-10 visa April 11th. But I have to make another trip into Daejeon to get it. Sitting on buses, in subways, in crowded waiting rooms, and walking around crowded streets or stores like Costco, are the exact things I really shouldn't be doing right about now when the Covid numbers are higher than they've ever been in Korea. But that's what I've been doing. Almost challenging Covid to infect me! Still, as far as I know, (and I really shouldn't even say this) I haven't had Covid. Even if that makes me look like I have no friends, I'm good with that. It's basically true. Other than my long-time friends here, which I can count on my fingers, not even needing the toes, I am friendless.
There are advantages besides not catching Covid that make me proud of my wankda status. I know I'll never become as successful a blogger as Heather Cox Richardson, Arianna Huffington, Trisha the traveler, or Brooke and Dave doing off grid living vids on their bushradical blog, but if I were, I don't know if I'd blog so much. I wouldn't have the time. I like the spare time my wide open social calendar provides me because it sometimes forces me to write. I am just a little more than a week away from the start of what will be a highly intensive period of writing much more than I ever have. Hopefully my blogging experience will have prepared me a little bit for my master's. If nothing else, it should at least make my writing better, and although I only have a handful of readers, I sometimes receive comments on blogposts and they're not all positive. This has thickened my skin for the upcoming criticism barrage that will undoubtedly be the worst part about becoming a Master of Education.
Other things I have the leisure to do since being unemployed? Well, just take a gander at this:
I don't make a lot of memes or videos, but in my free time, I have been known to mess about with photo editing and video editing software. It has definitely contributed to my teaching savvy and helped a great deal with getting comfortable with video teaching. I now prefer Zoom to the classroom. But if I need to change to some other program like Google Meet or use a video editing program that is preferred by some workplace, like Camtasia for instance, I'm sure it won't be so daunting a learning curve for me.
Also, one of my dream retirement plans is to start a YouTube channel on which I open hockey cards. Now is the part of this blogpost where you start to realize that "wankda" has a similar meaning to "nerd." Once again, if collecting hockey cards makes me a nerd, I'll proudly cop to it. I'll ANDREW Copp to it. Career Winnipeg Jet who just got traded to the Rangers. You'll hear more about him because he'll start scoring more AND he's in the center of the universe now, NY, instead of Winterpeg. Have I solidified my nerd status yet? Well, I don't care. If a little Filipino kid can make a fortune rating toys on You Tube, maybe my plan ain't so shabby. And the free time being a nerd/wankda affords me, just might make me some retirement scratch doing one of the things I love the most. So there!
Admittedly, I watch a lot of sports in my free time too. If the Andrew Copp joke wasn't nerdy enough, how about this one: The Masters starts on the same day as My master's. Not really so much a joke as a coincidental fact. April 7th I'll be watching golf and reading. April 8th I'll probably be watching The Masters and writing. That's if I can get my reading done in one day. The hockey playoffs are coming up, and the start of the Korean baseball season is days away. Sports is something that CAN extend your list of friends, but not so much here in Korea. I have met some nice folks at ball games here in Korea, but due to the lack of incoming money, that won't be happening much this season if at all. I may not even watch many games at sports bars. Much like going to a good dance bar can be euphemistically called "networking," hitting a good sports bar is a good way to meet people too. But my playing days are pretty much at an end and I know of no good bars of either sort here in Gongju. So staying at home and staring at my computer screen is just fine with me. On both counts.
TV and movies are easy for me too. I watch quite a bit of TV and a lot of movies on my own. That way I don't distract any other people while I'm yelling at the screen, "Come on, Rick, you KNOW that's a lowball offer," or "No! Vote out Drea! She's in an alliance AND has an immunity idol," or "Three penalties in a row - that's why Kane is nowhere NEAR worth his salary," or "That's SO realistic! If a huge meteor made of gold was gonna hit the planet, the richest 1% would all be fighting over who gets to own it and be the richest person ever for that last half a second of existence!"
So now that I have a status, until the end of September, of "looking-for-work," and looking for work doesn't take very much of my time, you know what I'll be doing. Studying and writing will be a full time "job" for me, but for the rest of my time here, I won't be getting out that much. I will be hibernating, hunkering down, staying in, a homebody, a wankda. But I'll be doing it with pride.
My main goal for my future is to get a little off-grid cabin in the bush somewhere in the Kootenays and watch sports and write and maybe open hockey cards on video for my declining years. That might be financed through a nice college job back at home or possibly a teaching gig online. That'll make the master's well worth the time and money. While building and then retiring in my secluded cabin, I will have to go into town for supplies and maybe a visit or two, but I'm expecting to be a wankda for life. Here's hoping...
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