If Only, South Korea
Mar. 3rd, 2026 11:52 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
disappointed_lesbianThe dentist said the anesthesia would wear off in an hour. It's been two and a half hours since my dental appointment, and I'm still waiting. I think I've bitten my lip; there's a red mark on it that wasn't there before. I can feel the lip, but the sensation is off; it feels larger than it is, like it's in a spot that it shouldn't be in, or is swollen beyond it's normal size, but it doesn't look swollen in the mirror.
I've given myself another headache by going out for a walk after under-eating, so I came back from my walk early and now I'm having a small soup. I did some research on preventing fasting headaches (even though I'm not really fasting, just eating less than my body wants or less than my brain can handle I guess). I came across a suggestion to take electrolytes, but I don't think that's going to work. It seems like I would have tried that before, and that I failed, and I don't want to risk yet another headache by trying it.
The organization that offers the scholarship in Taiwan also offers one in south Korea. Because I like Korean and would enjoy speaking it well and want to get out of this country, I took a look at the scholarship. It's for only a ten-month long research project, not a full degree. The description mentioned that the research project should be relevant to S. Korea, and I thought that work on how to fix the country's shitty air quality would be quite relevant. I looked up dealing with the air in the country and came across this Reddit thread that makes it sound worse than I'd imagined:
https://old.reddit.com/r/teachinginkorea/comments/9yk273/what_is_it_like_living_in_south_korea_with/
Imagine never having had asthma before, then developing it after a short period of time in a new country. I would be pissed. I've read somewhere that s korea's transformation from a poor country into what it is today is admirable. I don't find it so admirable seeing as how the county has paid for that transformation with terrible air quality. It's better to be an unsophisticated agricultural society where people can breathe normally and enjoy seeing the sky without some filthy haze blocking their view. I hate that human health is considered less important than money and industrialization. The same goes for China. I think that seeing the sky is probably important for human health, and not just for sun exposure.
The latest in male sociopathy is the Alpine Divorce:
https://metro.co.uk/2026/02/28/alpine-divorce-chilling-breakup-trend-men-subjecting-partners-27139129/
Men abandoning their female partners in isolated places in the wilerness. One womon died of hypothermia after being abandoned on a freezing cold mountainside. Her garbage partner was charged with negligent manslaughter, but I read in another news report that he was given only five months suspended sentence.
That goddamned headache has messed up my mood, and it's worse even after I've eaten. Perhaps I'll treat myself to a frozen pizza. I've got to stop doing this shit to myself. I don't even have my migraine meds. So many headaches that I ran out before I could renew it.
I remember now why I was having espresso instead of black tea: I have to make the tea strong to reap the energizing benefits, and strong black tea tends to make me nauseous. I think the espresso is unhealthier, though, because it's roasted and therefore probably contains acrylamide, which is carcinogenic. I know that acrylamide is carcinogenic because signs in fast food restaurants say so, warning about fried foods.
I burned the crust of the first half of my pizza. I ended up eating the other half as well, so my headache is mostly gone.
I'm having a difficult time finding scholarships for studying in Taiwan. The Taiwanese government's scholarships don't pay enough and the u.s. one I've been planning on requires me to do a full degree that I'm not really terribly interested in. I'm not interested in classical Chinese; traditional Chinese literature might be interesting for like five minutes, but I don't want to study it.
I've given myself another headache by going out for a walk after under-eating, so I came back from my walk early and now I'm having a small soup. I did some research on preventing fasting headaches (even though I'm not really fasting, just eating less than my body wants or less than my brain can handle I guess). I came across a suggestion to take electrolytes, but I don't think that's going to work. It seems like I would have tried that before, and that I failed, and I don't want to risk yet another headache by trying it.
The organization that offers the scholarship in Taiwan also offers one in south Korea. Because I like Korean and would enjoy speaking it well and want to get out of this country, I took a look at the scholarship. It's for only a ten-month long research project, not a full degree. The description mentioned that the research project should be relevant to S. Korea, and I thought that work on how to fix the country's shitty air quality would be quite relevant. I looked up dealing with the air in the country and came across this Reddit thread that makes it sound worse than I'd imagined:
https://old.reddit.com/r/teachinginkorea/comments/9yk273/what_is_it_like_living_in_south_korea_with/
Imagine never having had asthma before, then developing it after a short period of time in a new country. I would be pissed. I've read somewhere that s korea's transformation from a poor country into what it is today is admirable. I don't find it so admirable seeing as how the county has paid for that transformation with terrible air quality. It's better to be an unsophisticated agricultural society where people can breathe normally and enjoy seeing the sky without some filthy haze blocking their view. I hate that human health is considered less important than money and industrialization. The same goes for China. I think that seeing the sky is probably important for human health, and not just for sun exposure.
The latest in male sociopathy is the Alpine Divorce:
https://metro.co.uk/2026/02/28/alpine-divorce-chilling-breakup-trend-men-subjecting-partners-27139129/
Men abandoning their female partners in isolated places in the wilerness. One womon died of hypothermia after being abandoned on a freezing cold mountainside. Her garbage partner was charged with negligent manslaughter, but I read in another news report that he was given only five months suspended sentence.
That goddamned headache has messed up my mood, and it's worse even after I've eaten. Perhaps I'll treat myself to a frozen pizza. I've got to stop doing this shit to myself. I don't even have my migraine meds. So many headaches that I ran out before I could renew it.
I remember now why I was having espresso instead of black tea: I have to make the tea strong to reap the energizing benefits, and strong black tea tends to make me nauseous. I think the espresso is unhealthier, though, because it's roasted and therefore probably contains acrylamide, which is carcinogenic. I know that acrylamide is carcinogenic because signs in fast food restaurants say so, warning about fried foods.
I burned the crust of the first half of my pizza. I ended up eating the other half as well, so my headache is mostly gone.
I'm having a difficult time finding scholarships for studying in Taiwan. The Taiwanese government's scholarships don't pay enough and the u.s. one I've been planning on requires me to do a full degree that I'm not really terribly interested in. I'm not interested in classical Chinese; traditional Chinese literature might be interesting for like five minutes, but I don't want to study it.
