Lofbomm.com

Just a note about our photos page: I’m not sure how our photos page is displaying for you of the PC persuasion, but for the moment, it’s behaving wonkily for us. We’re working on fixing that, but Adam has had diminishing amounts of time to play the role of web-admin. If you’d like to view our photo sets in their natural, non-wonky environment, for now you can see them on flickr.

Thanks.

-Jessica

I told you I’d give you details, so here we go.

When we moved to Seoul from the country town of Paju in August, I put an ad online for other musicians in Seoul. I found some great guys, and we made Mosaic. We had a lot of fun playing together, and I loved singing again. I actually quit my job to pursue a hotel contract with them.

But then there was disagreement as to what sort of contract we would pursue. One guy wanted to be a pop/ top-40 cover band, but I felt a lot more comfortable singing in the roots and jazz realms. The other guys really just wanted to play music, whatever kind. We decided that it would be nicer to just play music together in a lower-pressure capacity. We officially disbanded. Since then, I’ve gone to a jazz jam with two guys, and two of us also recently recorded a Christmas song (that we’ll share with you soon). I’m glad to have made some good music friends in Seoul.

But, with the abrupt folding of the band, I found myself without a job and no hope of the hotel contract I was planning on. Adam began to train me and bring me into the voice actor’s world, and I’m slowly getting my feet wet in that career. It’s a fun job, and highly flexible. Adam has been getting more and more successful, working almost every day, and he’s also beginning to expand his range from just educational materials to commercial and corporate work.

We had to move apartments because my previous employer was providing our last place. We found an awesome apartment in a vibrant college area of Seoul, and we moved a month ago. We LOVE our new place and are so grateful for the circuitous path we’ve taken to get here. Interestingly, our new land-lord has a desire to convert some units of the building into a guest house, and we’ve already begun to talk about ways we can work with him and learn, since opening a guest house is our dream, too.

Through some of Adam’s voice-actor friends, we found out about another opportunity that would be flexible, give us some fun work, and also provide us with the ever-important visa. Three weeks ago, we began working for a Korean TV show called “Surprise”. There is a huge cast of foreigners, and each weekly episode has about five short stories with twist (i.e. surprise) endings. Then the stories are shown in front of a studio audience, and they vote on which story they believe is not true. Thus, most of the stories are loosely historical or based on bizarre urban legends. It’s a funny gig, and so far we’ve been all over the northern provinces of he country to film episodes. We’ve also made friends from Russia, Iran, Iraq, Canada, Nigeria, Moldova, France, South Africa, Switzerland, and USA among our cast-mates.

So far, I’ve only had bit parts, but yesterday, Adam played Santa in the Christmas special. He was actually one of six Santas in the mystery story, but he ended up being the “real” one. I know, I gave away the ending. Sorry.

Here is a brief part of Adam’s big debut last week in a story about a “remote viewer” working in the CIA. I apologize for the bad quality of the video, we’ll try to find a better way to tape the show in the future.

[youtube]http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MCiYmRhMNu0[/youtube]

And that’s the scoop for now. Again, sorry to leave you hanging. Thanks to those of you that visit our blog. It has been a busy time, but I do intend to pick up writing again. Take care, and I hope you’re enjoying the Christmas season.

-Jessica

My brother Jeff has recently started a photo blog. He is a fine artist in Long Beach, California, and I’m happy that he’s now making some of his photos available to view online. The blog also includes some of his reflections on his photos.

Visit jeffrau.com to reach The Jeff Rau Art and Photo Blog. I think you’ll enjoy it. Jeff’s strength and fascination is with what he calls urban textiles. Also, I have always loved his photos from the cool Long Beach music scene.

Finally, congratulations to Jeff for being accepted to a Masters of Fine Arts program! He’ll start in January. Very cool.

-Jessica

p.s. To give due credit, the three above photos are obviously Jeff Rau’s work, and he owns all copyright.

August 1, Adam and I woke up for the first time in our new Seoul apartment. It was still empty except for a few furniture pieces, including a rock-hard bed, provided by my new employer. Adam went to work, and I took the bus back to Paju. After a day of packing up the final stuff and cleaning the apartment, Adam came up to join me, and with the help of our friends Bill and Stu, we loaded the rickety van that we borrowed from Nick and Nolan and drove to our new home.

I spent the rest of the week getting settled in the apartment as Adam finished his stint with Kyohaksa. The next week, I went in to the office and took Adam’s place, teaching at five “study rooms”, one per day. I immediately enjoyed my students even though it was less than ideal to have to commute again. I’ve found that I like the Seoul buses, and I’ve been seeking out faster bus routes each week.

Freed from full-time work, Adam got back to his independent studies and prepared to start classes again in September. Timing was again perfect for him in that as he finished teaching, his voice-over work immediately picked up again. He’s a natural at the educational voice acting, and it’s a perfect, flexible job for him while he’s finishing his schooling. He hopes to graduate next summer.

Living in Seoul now, we get to spend a lot more time with our friend Annie. She and her mom were our first guests for Saturday lunch, and we met up several times through the month to just hang out or go and see the Seoul sights. Her parents also generously sent us and Annie to the Bolshoi Ballet on ice. It was beautiful! It was amazing to see Olympic level ice skating from the third row. We’re happy to be neighbors now.

On August 15, I had the day off of work for Japanese Liberation Day, the Korean holiday celebrating their independence from the Japanese in 1945. There remains some ill-will between Korea and Japan, and we encountered a small demonstration surrounded by hundreds of riot police. We spent the day as tourists with La Tisha and Cheryl. We shopped in Insadong, explored the grounds of Gyeongbokgung palace, and went up to the top of the Seoul Tower on Namsan Mountain at night. It was a great day. Later, Adam and I realized that it was the four year anniversary of when we met!

We had to say “see you later” to two of our good friends from English Village in August. In mid-August, our friend Nolan returned to Texas. He says he’s coming back to Seoul to get a new job this fall, so hopefully we’ll see him soon. Then, last weekend, we said good bye to Cheryl who is moving back to Italy. We’ve been through a lot with these two friends this year, and we’ll definitely miss their constant company.

Lacking the campus community that we had at English Village, we took advantage of some online networks in August. We stepped up our involvement with Couchsurfing, the travelers’ network we have belonged to for three years. We became co-ambassadors for the city of Seoul and will plan meet-ups for the 400+ Seoul members as well as host some of the travelers that are flowing through the city. We hosted three couchsurfers in August: a Canadian couple and then an Austrian guy named Andreas.

Adam and I have been posting our photos on Flickr for a while, and Adam decided to get into the people network available through Flickr in Seoul. He and Andreas went to a Flickr party to meet other Seoul photographers. We plan to go to another photo outing tomorrow.

I posted an ad on Craigslist, looking for other musicians who want to play in Seoul, and I have had an overwhelming response. I corresponded with several and will be meeting with quite possibly my new band this week. More news on that soon, hopefully.

Last Monday through Wednesday, Adam and I were sent to Fukuoka, Japan to get our new Korean visas. Adam has been to Fukuoka twice before on visa runs, but this was my first time. We had a great time exploring the city, getting a whirlwind impression of Japanese people and culture. It was a good mini-vacation for us.

And that’s our Summer in a nutshell. It is now September, and we’re stoked to see what’s in store for us in Seoul. We really want our friends and family from home to visit us this year. Okay?

I think I’m back in the saddle again with the blog, so I’ll see you soon.

-Jessica

July arrived, and Adam and I had just spent a month with 90 minutes between him in Seoul and me in Paju. Knowing we had another month of the same ahead of us, we were weary. Feeling especially homesick, we celebrated American Independence Day at an English Village party for Canada Day (July 3) and then with good old American cheeseburgers in Seoul on the 4th.

We went to an incredible Korean drumming concert a few days later. It was our first real encounter with traditional Korean music, and we loved it.

Adam and I prepared for the arrival of my good friend from college, La Tisha, who was coming from Los Angeles to work with Adam as an English teacher with Kyohaksa Publishing Company. That is, she would work with Adam until I finished at English Village at the end of the month and took Adam’s place. We were so happy to have La Tisha arrive, and I spent many of my off days showing her around in Seoul. During the week, Adam hung out with La Tisha while I finished up in Paju.

I was tired and anxious to be in Seoul with Adam and La Tisha, but I had reached the busiest weeks of my entire contract at English Village: the Two Week Program. The TWP is a program in which 700 students stay at the village for, you guessed it, two weeks. I had spent months preparing new activities and materials with my co-workers for the TWP, only to know that I would be leaving in its midst. TWP arrived the third week of July along with tons of new teachers, new classrooms, new everything, and a non-stop busy work schedule. I was enjoying the spunky students and my excellent co-workers, but it was hard to get into new, new, new in the last two weeks of my contract.

Of course, I had Harry Potter to help me through it.

And I had a little perspective in the midst, with the 40-day fast.

Not wanting to have to pack up in a frenzy at the last minute (as is our custom), Adam and I spent a Saturday and Sunday packing everything up, a week before we had to move. It made our wrap-up at English Village a lot easier, with more time for our goodbyes. We closed our time at English Village with a couple of nice farewells. Some of my friends from work brought me to a nice dinner. A few days later, we had a lovely party in our packed apartment. Hours were spent in a classic-rock sing-along with our friend Nolan on guitar.

On Tuesday, July 31, I taught my last class at EV alongside my friend Yu Jin, then I hopped the bus to Seoul to view the apartment that would become home for the next year…

I remember how the week before my high school classes started every August, I would rush to get the Cliff’s Notes versions of my summer reading list. I love reading, but not if I’m told that I have to (kind of how I respond to most things in life, actually…).

Anyway, the Lofbomm.com blog has been a little sparse this summer, and a lot has gone undocumented. Thusly, I now introduce to you the Cliff’s Notes version of our Summer 2007 in three easy-to-read-volumes: June, July, and August.

So, without further ado, June!

I continued working at English Village, but I was changed once again to the weekend shift. Lousy schedule, but nice work, younger children, variety in classes taught, etc. Adam completed another quarter at De Paul with straight A’s and looked toward a summer with an empty schedule wondering, ‘What will I do with my time?’

A friend called, not knowing Adam’s desire for work, and handed him a temporary full-time job piloting a new teaching program in Seoul, affiliated with an English publishing company. Said friend also had a large apartment in Seoul with an empty bedroom for Adam. Adam began two months of work, living with our friends Monday-Friday, coming to Paju on the weekends. I spent my days off, Wednesdays and Thursdays in Seoul with him. We enjoyed the opportunity to miss each other and had a really nice time whenever we were with each other.

Living in Seoul, Adam continued taking his weekly photography class. He took some great photos in the process and learned more about handling his DSLR camera. We spent a bit of time with his photography teacher Giorgia and her husband Luca before they returned to Italy at the end of the month.

Our weekends at English Village were filled with parties including a Mexican Fiesta in the cafeteria (a farewell for several friends departing EV) and our friend Cheryl’s birthday party.

We celebrated our third wedding anniversary at the end of the month with a formal Italian dinner, a view from the top of Seoul’s 63 building, and $12 desserts at the Grand Hyatt, taking taxis the whole way (a treat for the public transit couple that we have become).

The end of June wore on as I prepared for my last and busiest month at English Village, spending all of my spare time commuting 90 minutes to the city to be with my husband. Our families were telling us of the lovely summers and vacations they were having while we were getting the runaround from certain Korean administrations. We were pretty exhausted and homesick for each other and for home by the end of June.

But there was another month to go before any resolution…

-Jessica

I have just stayed up too late uploading tons of photos.  We had a bit of a backlog, but now there are SEVEN new photo sets.  Just click your way to the photos page to see some of what we’ve been up to.  Adam’s photography is growing with leaps and bounds.  I am so proud of him.

Adam has gained a lot from his photography class in Seoul.  We’ll miss his teacher Giorgia and her husband Luca as they return to their home in Italy this week.  They have become good friends in such a short time.

-Jessica

There is a lot going on in Adam’s life as a photographer. He has been taking a ton of photos lately with his new SLR camera, and this evening he’s taking his first photography class in Seoul. He has also submitted a few photographs to JPG Magazine.

The photo below was entered for the theme “Entropy”. Click on the photo to vote if you think it’s a good fit for “Entropy”. Voting ends on April 11.

Thanks!
-Jessica

Yes, there have been an incongruous amount of doggie pictures recently, but seriously. Look at this photo. Adam is a great photographer, isn’t he? He’s enjoying his new camera, and I get more doggie pictures. We’re all happy.

-Jessica

Our new friend, Gremlin.