I live in magical library land. I think I mentioned the lack of crazy/disgruntled/homeless patrons before. I also have a magical budget. I have enough money to buy all of the books, DVD's, and CD's my library can hold. I think someone somewhere signed a “get kids to read” initiative, because the department of defense (read: not my budget) lets me choose about 50 additional young adult and children's books a month through our lease plan AND they sent me a lot of summer reading promotional stuff. One of my facilities is brand new and the other was recently remodeled. My old library branch had duct tape holding some of the chairs together. My new one has nicely upholstered furniture, new computers, and tons of shelf space.
Working for the federal government not only comes with a full budget, but every vendor I use throws me a discount. Just a whiff of a federal contract sends price slashing my way. Everything I buy for work comes discounted, from supplies to plane tickets to electronics. When I was a disgruntled student and spouted rhetoric without supporting evidence, I used to bitch about how rich people caught all the breaks. Well, rich libraries catch all the breaks.
I hope this doesn't send anyone into a marxist rage. After all, this is your money. Why shouldn't you get a discount? I promise I am careful to spend government money wisely, as the three people who have to sign every request to use our credit card can attest. Plus, I'm no Bernie Madoff. I spend my copious budget on books for soldiers and their families and computer access so they can talk to the folks at home. They deserve the best library services out there, and I'm glad I can provide them. I just have to stand back and marvel at the irony.
Friday, April 30, 2010
Sunday, April 25, 2010
Odds n' Ends Again
I have to start with another mea culpa. I'm about to commit the same error I complain about in a lot of blogs I read: not posting for awhile, then bringing forth an epic. Internet media ain't easy to read in large doses, I know, and I thought about breaking this into two or three posts. But I didn't.
Well, I spring is actually here after a couple of false starts. We actually had snow last week and had to turn our heat back on. Today, there are people walking around in shorts. I can only hope it sticks this time.
Yesterday I manned a booth at a fair in honor of the month of the military child. Somewhere between scrambling to keep craft materials on the table and chatting with patrons it hit me how colossally awesome my life is. I love the military community and my role in it. Medical professionals field questions about friends and neighbors' health problems, mechanics provide free car advice, and I get to talk about books. There are a lot of readers of all ages over here, and I never tire of talking shop with them. I admit, I operate in somewhat of a utopia—inside the gates, everyone has healthcare, housing, and food. I think my former colleagues at PLCMC would be surprised at how reasonable patrons are when the bottom of their Maslow pyramid is taken care of. I have bad days like everyone else, but it's hard to ignore how fortunate I am.
And on that note, allow me to pay homage to customer service in Korea. Bobby and I had lunch downtown last week. We ordered a pizza, a salad, and a coke. We received these things, garlic bread, and coffee and tea, the last three free of charge. This is called “service,” and it's so common here I've started to take it for granted. We order dinner at a restaurant, and they'll bring us a coke and say, “service” (here, a coke comes with glasses for everyone at the table, and no one drinks the bottle alone. I can't say for certain why asian people are so thin, but part of it probably relates to the much smaller portions in which they take sweets.) We buy a bag of apples, they come with some oranges. I once received a hat with a cake. When I lived in Wales, the brits called courtesy and solicitousness in sales clerks “American service.” I'd have to say Korean service knocks American service out of the water. Sometimes this can get creepy. Sometimes shopping involves nervous clerks following us around stores, clearly feeling that they should help but unable to say anything to us.
That's it for now. I'll keep up with my postings from now on, I swear!
Well, I spring is actually here after a couple of false starts. We actually had snow last week and had to turn our heat back on. Today, there are people walking around in shorts. I can only hope it sticks this time.
Yesterday I manned a booth at a fair in honor of the month of the military child. Somewhere between scrambling to keep craft materials on the table and chatting with patrons it hit me how colossally awesome my life is. I love the military community and my role in it. Medical professionals field questions about friends and neighbors' health problems, mechanics provide free car advice, and I get to talk about books. There are a lot of readers of all ages over here, and I never tire of talking shop with them. I admit, I operate in somewhat of a utopia—inside the gates, everyone has healthcare, housing, and food. I think my former colleagues at PLCMC would be surprised at how reasonable patrons are when the bottom of their Maslow pyramid is taken care of. I have bad days like everyone else, but it's hard to ignore how fortunate I am.
And on that note, allow me to pay homage to customer service in Korea. Bobby and I had lunch downtown last week. We ordered a pizza, a salad, and a coke. We received these things, garlic bread, and coffee and tea, the last three free of charge. This is called “service,” and it's so common here I've started to take it for granted. We order dinner at a restaurant, and they'll bring us a coke and say, “service” (here, a coke comes with glasses for everyone at the table, and no one drinks the bottle alone. I can't say for certain why asian people are so thin, but part of it probably relates to the much smaller portions in which they take sweets.) We buy a bag of apples, they come with some oranges. I once received a hat with a cake. When I lived in Wales, the brits called courtesy and solicitousness in sales clerks “American service.” I'd have to say Korean service knocks American service out of the water. Sometimes this can get creepy. Sometimes shopping involves nervous clerks following us around stores, clearly feeling that they should help but unable to say anything to us.
That's it for now. I'll keep up with my postings from now on, I swear!
Friday, April 16, 2010
There is an odd symmetry to my life
Bear with me, I'm having a moment. This week was National Library Week. In the footsteps of my predecessor, I brought in a coffeepot and provided coffee for patrons all week.
12 years ago I was a waitress. I bussed tables, chopped vegetables, and made coffee. Pot after pot of coffee. Waitressing at Pizza Hut is about the most thankless job I've ever encountered. I had up to 15 tables to serve at a time, and my tips averaged a dollar a table. People, for the most part, treated me like dirt. If you have ever snapped at a Pizza Hut waitress, shame on you.
Now I am an administrator. I made my first hire today. I am entrusted with a substantial budget. I was making a fresh pot of coffee when it hit me: I was doing the exact same thing 12 years ago. There's a life lesson in there somewhere.
*I apologize to anyone reading this blog to learn about Korea. Every writer devolves into "me me me me me" passages once and awhile. Consider my self refection over.
12 years ago I was a waitress. I bussed tables, chopped vegetables, and made coffee. Pot after pot of coffee. Waitressing at Pizza Hut is about the most thankless job I've ever encountered. I had up to 15 tables to serve at a time, and my tips averaged a dollar a table. People, for the most part, treated me like dirt. If you have ever snapped at a Pizza Hut waitress, shame on you.
Now I am an administrator. I made my first hire today. I am entrusted with a substantial budget. I was making a fresh pot of coffee when it hit me: I was doing the exact same thing 12 years ago. There's a life lesson in there somewhere.
*I apologize to anyone reading this blog to learn about Korea. Every writer devolves into "me me me me me" passages once and awhile. Consider my self refection over.
Sunday, April 11, 2010
Spring is here!
This week, my side of Daegu exploded into bloom. The change was nearly instantaneous, and now we have colorful blossoms everywhere. There are a few different flowing trees and shrubs that have come into bloom, but all are overshadowed by the cherry blossoms, which decorate out neighborhood. The ethereal blooms have brought tourists, along with all of the crowds and traffic that people who live in tourist destinations always complain about. For the first time, I live in a tourist destination, albeit a seasonal one.
Asians are fanatical about cherry blossoms, and the whole area has a festival atmosphere. We took a wrong turn coming back from dinner yesterday and ended up in stop and go traffic around Susong lake, which is surrounded by cherry trees. There was live music and tons of people walking the paths. I understand the excitement a little. Rows of cherry trees in full bloom is an otherworldy sight, they smell wonderful, and winter is long here. Seeing the end is a relief. Of course, it's cold and windy today, but the thermometer has been pushing 70 some days.
I was up on the mountain when I saw two old ladies wandering off the path to look at these purple flowering trees. I know more about mechanics than I do botany—that is, less than nothing—but there were purple flowering trees all over the mountain, especially at higher altitudes. On a side note, old people are incredibly fit here. Those mountain paths are no cakewalk.
Our street
Facing the other direction. Cherry blossoms as far as the eye can see.
Asians are fanatical about cherry blossoms, and the whole area has a festival atmosphere. We took a wrong turn coming back from dinner yesterday and ended up in stop and go traffic around Susong lake, which is surrounded by cherry trees. There was live music and tons of people walking the paths. I understand the excitement a little. Rows of cherry trees in full bloom is an otherworldy sight, they smell wonderful, and winter is long here. Seeing the end is a relief. Of course, it's cold and windy today, but the thermometer has been pushing 70 some days.
I was up on the mountain when I saw two old ladies wandering off the path to look at these purple flowering trees. I know more about mechanics than I do botany—that is, less than nothing—but there were purple flowering trees all over the mountain, especially at higher altitudes. On a side note, old people are incredibly fit here. Those mountain paths are no cakewalk.
Our street
Facing the other direction. Cherry blossoms as far as the eye can see.
Thursday, April 8, 2010
Chinhae Cherries
We took our first CAC trip yesterday. For the uninitiated, the CAC (Community Activity Center) hosts trips around the area for the USAG Daegu community. We have intended to take a CAC trip for awhile, but this was the first time the destination sparked our interest and we were available. Chinhae is known throughout Korea for its cherry blossoms, and they have a big festival every year in honor of them. They also have a navy base.
We piled into two buses and drove an hour and a half, past Busan, to Chinhae. We were a little dismayed to see that the cherry trees were about ¾ in bloom, but not all the way. The other disappointment was that the navy did not take part in th e festival—they usually host part of it—because they were in crisis. A ROK ship went down near the North and South Korea border, and they lost several people. So we saw a diminished, though still lively, festival.
In Chinhae, we encountered a roundabout with festival tents radiating from all sides. There were some aspects of the fair that were surprisingly familiar. We saw cotton candy sellers, handmade Indian clothing, a Peruvian flute player, and the same carnival games you see in the states. There were also some very foreign sights, like a row of booths with pigs roasting on spits and a booth where people gathered around to have what looked like hot metal buttons applied to differing parts of their bodies (accuburn?) And, of course, entire tent restaurants full of fantastic Korean buffets. We talked about having pig-on-a-spit for lunch (usually a good choice) until we encountered...donor kebab!! That's definitely something I have been missing. It was not the kebab I know, but the filling was scraped from a cone of mystery meat, so it was close enough for me.
There were tourist everywhere, even other English speakers. We decided to check out the ocean and headed away from the crowd. Down by the water, we found a pavilion that we could actually climb. Pavilions are all over Korea, but usually the top level is closed. We nervously went up the stairs, expecting to be accosted the whole time, but it we found a fantastic view at the top. There were a couple of buildings facing the water that had dragons on their roofs.
At the appointed time, we returned to the bus, which was flanked by street vendors with what I had always assumed was some nutty snack mix roasting in cauldrons. That day I finally figured out I was looking at bugs, gobbled by the handful as though they were nutty snack mixes. The bus was parked in a roundabout that had a statue of Admiral Lee Sun Shin in the middle. Admiral Shin is a major attraction in Seoul, and a massive statue of him adorns a major intersection. This statue had a shrine in front of it, and people were praying to him.
All in all, a very decent way to spend the day.
People everywhere
Green tea squid, whatever that may be
A dragon head family mart
Admiral Lee Sun Shin.
We piled into two buses and drove an hour and a half, past Busan, to Chinhae. We were a little dismayed to see that the cherry trees were about ¾ in bloom, but not all the way. The other disappointment was that the navy did not take part in th e festival—they usually host part of it—because they were in crisis. A ROK ship went down near the North and South Korea border, and they lost several people. So we saw a diminished, though still lively, festival.
In Chinhae, we encountered a roundabout with festival tents radiating from all sides. There were some aspects of the fair that were surprisingly familiar. We saw cotton candy sellers, handmade Indian clothing, a Peruvian flute player, and the same carnival games you see in the states. There were also some very foreign sights, like a row of booths with pigs roasting on spits and a booth where people gathered around to have what looked like hot metal buttons applied to differing parts of their bodies (accuburn?) And, of course, entire tent restaurants full of fantastic Korean buffets. We talked about having pig-on-a-spit for lunch (usually a good choice) until we encountered...donor kebab!! That's definitely something I have been missing. It was not the kebab I know, but the filling was scraped from a cone of mystery meat, so it was close enough for me.
There were tourist everywhere, even other English speakers. We decided to check out the ocean and headed away from the crowd. Down by the water, we found a pavilion that we could actually climb. Pavilions are all over Korea, but usually the top level is closed. We nervously went up the stairs, expecting to be accosted the whole time, but it we found a fantastic view at the top. There were a couple of buildings facing the water that had dragons on their roofs.
At the appointed time, we returned to the bus, which was flanked by street vendors with what I had always assumed was some nutty snack mix roasting in cauldrons. That day I finally figured out I was looking at bugs, gobbled by the handful as though they were nutty snack mixes. The bus was parked in a roundabout that had a statue of Admiral Lee Sun Shin in the middle. Admiral Shin is a major attraction in Seoul, and a massive statue of him adorns a major intersection. This statue had a shrine in front of it, and people were praying to him.
All in all, a very decent way to spend the day.
People everywhere
Green tea squid, whatever that may be
A dragon head family mart
Admiral Lee Sun Shin.
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