17th May 2008

...and another year ticks by.  That's thirty-five I have in all now.  That's starting to sound a little old now!  The last three years of my life have been my most happiest, so I ain't complaining.

My 35th birthday is going to be another one of the days that I am going slot into the "Happy" category.  As the recently departed - so it goes - Kurt Vonnegut said, "Everything was beautiful, and nothing hurt".

Sharing House Visit
After my involvement with V-Day ended, I was looking for something else to scratch the volunteer itch.  The Sharing House here in Korea is that scratcher.

The Sharing House is a place where survivors of sexual slavery at the hands of the Japanese military during WWII now live.  The are seven Halmonis (respectful term for grandmother) living in the house.  About twice a month, a group of English speaking folk are shown around the Sharing House - which includes a museum - and can listen to the rather distressing stories of the halmoni.

I will be helping out by leading the aforementioned tours, creating a self-guided audio tour of the museum and preparing some educational materials.

I am sure I will be writing much more about the halmoni and the Sharing House in the coming months.

My birthday started with a trip to the Sharing House - my first as a volunteer.  I didn't actually do very much, but spent an hour or so in training.

Once the visitors had finished their tour, an informal concert was put on for the halmoni.  Only a couple of halmoni watched.  The rest were either too tired or too ill.  We had an American lad, an Irish lad and a Korean lady all perform some music.  Joe Banwait - a fellow volunteer - also performed some magic tricks.

I really enjoyed the vibe of the mini-concert.  Relaxing in the shade on a sunny day while musicians performed in an amphitheatre is just cool.

Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt.

Birthday at Curry Town
In a rather odd coincidence Ben - the director of the Hagwon (private school) I work at - shares the same birthday as me: May 17th, 1973. I am six hours older than him.  Ben is a friend first and director second.  We figured that we would having a combined birthday party at the Curry Town Indian restaurant in Itaewon. 

It was nice to bring together my disparate group of friends together: My friends and co-workers at the Hagwon, people I met during V-Day, people I met through the Sharing House and assorted Korean friends.  There was about thirty-give people there all together.

I specifically asked people not to bring any presents and to buy GrassRootsUganda.com necklaces instead.  My friend Angela Lytle had a better idea.  She presented me with a big red piggybank and explained to assorted onlookers that people could put money into the piggybank and that the money would eventually be used to fund a school I plan to build in the Philippines. 

I gave a little spiel about my school in the Philippines.  The school - by the way - will be run by garbage.  If a kid - for example - brings along 100 recyclable cans or five bags of garbage from the beach, then that will be good enough for one terms worth of fees.

As I had already sold about $NZ300 worth of necklaces at the Sharing House, I thought Angela's idea was a great one.  This way both of the countries I love - Uganda and the Philippines - would benefit.  We raised about $NZ370 for the Philippines.

There is - of course - always one person who ignores what you say and gives you a present anyway.  Jiha - a good Korean friend - painted this picture for me.  I was blown away by the effort and very, very touched.  The painting is going to become one of those items that will always be special.

There was the obligatory cake and candle blowing.

After everyone had gorged themselves on copious quantities of heavenly Indian food, we danced and talked and danced and talked.

Everything was beautiful and nothing hurt. 

Looking back
It has become somewhat of a tradition to do a brief summary of how I felt during the time of my birthday.  Here are my previous entries:

• 30th: Blubbering Mess

• 31st: Lost and frightened 

• 32nd: Impotent anger

• 33rd: Excited
  
  
• 34th: Happy, tinged with a hint of sadness
  

For my 35th birthday I am going to add "Content" the list.

When I first came to Korea, I wasn't really happy. You can almost feel it in posts like this.  I had just had a rewarding time in the Philippines and Africa.  Korea was always going to be a let down.  I was bitter that I had to be here earning money, when I really wanted to be there working with the disadvantaged. 

But since then, Korea has grown on me and I'm starting to like the place and especially the people that I have met along the way - most notably the fine people I met during V-Day and now with the Sharing House.

"Content" sums up best what I feel now.  I still really want to be back in the Philippines, but I am content for now. 

Peace. 

Wanna help in a real and tangible way?

Then visit GrassRootsUganda.com and purchase some crafts made by Ugandan ladies.  100% of the profits are returned to the ladies