Acually 10/25/02 morning
Blogging as a personal diary of daily life or a journal of personl thoughts reminds me of the oral histories gathered during the Depression. To create work for writers, the federal government hired writers to travel around the country and take the oral histories or ordinary people, aging people who had lived in another age and whose stories would soon be lost. When I read about that, I thought it was such a grand idea. From history books we get the big picture and stories of the big players, all distorted for the benefit of the big players. There's something comforting in hearing disinterested stories of ordinary people. In recent years, I would guess there there have been far fewer people who have kept diaries and journals. People are so busy and with the advent of the Internet, people have been able to satisfy their need for self expression in online boards. Blogging is a little different. It's meant to be both private and public: it combines the old-fashioned diary with online BBS postings. It's more controlled, more thoughtful, and in the end, perhaps more truly an expression of the writer.

Certainly the Internet is full of very dull blogs. From some points of view, diaries in general, with some exceptions, are dull. A diary of a frontier farm housewife with little education was dull: got up at 4 this morning to milk the cows; cleaned the pig sty; came in and prepared breakfast for Joe and the kids - grits and taters and coffee... Well whatever they did and ate. The point is that that frontier farm woman's daily life may have been dull and the same every day. But today, we find her diary a treasure, a glimpse of a time and a people from a perspective that we couldn't have known otherwise. In addition, historians and sociologists have a primary source for their studies. Diaries may be generall dull but they're valuable.

Then we have oral histories written by professionals. They are probably less dull because the writers worked with a retrospective of a life and could dig out both the routine and the outstanding events of a person's life and organize them into an interesting chronicle.

Now we have blogs. Back to the dull daily accounts and the often inane opinions of ordinary people. Historians and sociologists will have all the data they could want, and other ordinary people can dip into the private lives of so many other people like themselves. We don't have to read every boring entry of every blogger we encounter. We can peak here and there and take what we want.

I like it. I like the idea of blogging for personal diaries and journals and I like the idea of blogging for dissemination of ideas, opinions, and information. It's a great age, this Information Age.

Actually 10/24 afternoon
Now I'm trying to figure out the difference between the Blogger and Blogger Pro services and the Blog*Spot and Blog*Spot Plus services. I want more than just my log. I want my site to be the way The Homeless Guy's site is, with a column for an intro and other permanent stuff, a column for my journal, and a column for quotes and lists and links and stuff. I wrote to the homeless guy, Kevin, but I doubt he'll answer. I reckon he gets a lot of mail. I can't figure out how to contact the Blogger administrators. What to do? Wait a bit and try to learn more.

Last night's tango was good. The lesson wasn't as good as I expected, but I enjoy every lesson because I get a chance to practice and concentrate on skills, two things I can't do when just dancing. Just dancing calls first for connecting to my partner and the music and following my partner. I do try some skill practice but not at the expense of the other two. Lately I've been trying to make myself light when I dance. I always feel so heavy, like I jerk myself through each step. I want to be light and glide through the steps. I want my partner to feel me light and flowy so he'll feel good and want to dance with me more and I'll feel good and want to dance with him more.

Last night a regular Azucar girl came and sat next to me and chatted a while. I was honored because most of the members - except my few friends - ignore me. The girl (Don't know her Azucar name; I'll call her Annie Hall becaue when she first came to Azucar her style was Annie Hall - very unusual for Korean women.) Difficult as it was for her to get the English out, she persisted in talking with me for a long time. She's 35. Unbelievable! She looks like a kid. She's not married. Unbelievable! She's not interested in getting married, or I should say she's afraid of marriage because she values her individual identity. Really unblelievable. I liked her. I told her I was 58. She said everyone knows my age because I announced it at the Baejae University performance. She said all the audience was shocked. She said so many Azucar members admire me for my youth and spirit. I felt like saying they sure didn't show it, but I didn't. Now I understand that they don't talk or dance with me because they are shy because of my age. They just don't know how to be equal to an older person. That knowledge - realization renewed - motivates me to be more outgoing and try to talk to more people and even ask guys to dance. Last night I asked Waltz to dance. He had never asked me to dance though he was so friendly and protective when we traveled to Seoul with the group for the Latin Soguro anniversary party. When I asked him to dance, he seemed delighted. Next time if he doesn't ask me, I'll ask him.

Now I'd better get to work. Much to do if I'm to meet my Friday deadline so I don't have to come in Sunday to meet the real deadline Monday.

Actually 10/23, 6:00 pm
Busy, productive day so I didn't get to write here. I did, however, locate and copy lots of articles on blogging; I still don't know exactly how it works. I write here, but I wonder how anyone else gets to see it. Further, it seems that some blogging sites provide a means to respond to the blogger. I have to investigate more.

I read a few Blog sites and was so impressed by a young Australian girl, about 22, who is staying alone with her sister on their parents' farm. She was so articulate; I wondered is she exceptionally intelligent, highly talented, or do all Aussies learn to write like that.

Last night I finally got a haircut after two full months. UHG! Now I feel better though I may not look any better.

Today is another tango lesson. I'm excited because it's by Dance Boy. He's the most talented of our members in both dancing and teaching. Wish he were more comfortable speaking English; he just won't talk to me. At least I can watch and try and maybe later, during the milonga, dance with him. Last week he asked me to dance: First time for tango. Afterwards he said, "Hmmm, pretty good." I was thrilled.

Off to tango.

Actually 10/22/02, 10:20 am
Yesterday I came across the word "blog" in something I read. I vaguely remembered having encountered the term before and thought it was some kind of journal posted on the Internet. After searching Google for more information, I got a good definition and then found this site. It was 6 pm and I was to meet Chang outside my building at 6:15. The site said it would take three minutes to create my own blogging site. WHOA! I did it and met Chang in time. I know nothing more than that I can post my journal here. I don't know how others will find it or why they would want to find it. I don't know what making links to it or from it entails. That will come later when I have time to look it up.

In the meantime, just in case someone finds his or her way to my blog, I'll introduce myself.
I'm 57, female, from Californian, living in Daejeon, Korea. I came to Korea in 1997 after four years in Romania. For four years I taught English science writing to graduate students at Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST). In June 2001 I returned to the States to try to make a living there but failed. I chose Silicon Valley just at the depth of the recession (one of the depths). No work. I admit I didn't try very hard. I sat in my lovely apartment circa 1928 in downtown Palo Alto, and wondered why I couldn't find a job. I sent a few resumes to Stanford where their recruiting system reviews resumes with a machine. I got no replies. I registered with a temp service for any kind of clerical work and got no calls. Hmmm... I cycled and danced and read and wandered around downtown Palo Alto. I lived the life of the grand lady of liesure. As I realized I was soon to be broke, I accepted an offer to return to Korea, this time as the English language editor of a journal published by a research institute, ETRI (Electronics and Telecommunications Research Institute). It's a good job and pays well; they gave me an apartment a 20 minute walk from work, and I have a lovely life here with the friends I made at KAIST and some new friends. I cycle and dance tango. The only problem is that my time in Korea was from '97 to '01. It was time to go in June 2001. I think expats develop a sense of when it's time to leave the country they're living in. Everything here is good, but I'm not content to be here. Nevertheless, I'm luckier than most people in the way I live. I'd better stay here and gather some money for my retirement because I have no retirement plan.

Actually 10/22/02 9:29 am
Good tango lesson last night at Azucar. The Argentinian teachers are good because they explain and demonstrate slowly, then make us do it over and over, then explain and demonstrate negative moves followed by correct moves, then make us practice over and over. Our regular Azucar and other Latin Soguro members do lots of talking, demonstrating as if they were just dancing, let us try it a couple of times, and then go on. They do their best but they're not teachers.

Last night we did milonga, basic steps and a milonette. Then we learned a regular tango step with the basic first five steps followed by six front ochos, then count of three to cruzada and count of three to close. Good workout.

I danced a lot but only with Chang and Ken and one set with Dongha. The young men just don't want to dance with an old woman. An obese or novice or ugly or sloppy young woman will get asked to dance more than me. Oh, for a world with men in my ballpark. I suppose they'd do the same.

Before Azucar, Chang and I went to Bibi Space. As we left work, I told him about arranging with the chef to have a small salad and pesto spagetti, though neither is on the menu. He said, "Let's go there." I was delighted. It's expensive but what happiness salad and pesto pasta is. I reckon that's where most of my food budget will go from now on. What a pity I can't also afford wine. Maybe I'll make a deal with them if I get to the point that I can eat there a couple of times a week.

It's so strange. Four years of Korean food and I was content to eat only Korean food. No cravings for western food. Then six months in the States craving Korean food, and now I'm back in Korea and have no interest in Korean food. OK, I still enjoy Korean food but I am no longer content to eat it daily. I want pasta and salad.

My first posting but I'm on the run - off to a tango lesson by real Argentinian professional dancers. Gotta run. Gotta dance.