How Do You Eat an Elephant?

It has been a restful weekend so far, something I've been desperately in need of after a long week. Aside from my normal plate of teaching 40 classes this week, I managed to pull two all-nighters, crashing after the sun came up for a few hours before going off to work. (I'm not quite sure either time how I thought I would last through the next day of teaching until 9 PM, but somehow or another I survived... and I suppose I should give credit where credit is due -- thank you, instant coffee -- you might be too sweet, you might be watered down, but you did the job!)

I have to laugh, though, because this ridiculous refusal to follow a normal sleeping schedule like normal people do is such a perfect example of the large pattern that is my life. I have never been one of those people who was good at breaking up a big project into itty bitty pieces and then plugging away consistently at it, one day after the next. (The socially acceptable answer to the question "How do you eat an elephant?" is "One small bite at a time.")

No, I have always been the "binge-on-elephant-until-you're-ready-to-explode" type. Okay, I realize that doesn't sound too pleasant. But it's this kind of intensity and passion for what I do that I pour into my work, whether it's teaching eight-year-olds or studying Korean or trying to perfect photo images from my latest shoot. Or, in this case, writing up a dozen blog posts and giving the whole weblog a much-needed facelift. Was it worth dragging through work the next day? For me, yes. As much as I like to think I can multi-task with the best of 'em (whoever "them" are), I know I will forever and always be more of the tunnel-vision warriors who put on their blinders and charge ahead.

So today, with my blinders in my back pocket, I tried out Microsoft's Movie Maker software. I have hundreds of photos from my recent backpacking adventure in southeastern Korea that are neatly catalogued on my Flickr page, just begging for a little attention. And after visiting the weblog of Tory, the EFL teacher from California that I met while at Palgongsan, I was inspired to take a stab at making my own video. After viewing my finished work, I realized that it's really nothing to brag about. The picture quality is unimpressive, and it's truly a photo montage, as I didn't have any video to splice in between still frames. But in 4.5 minutes, I think it does a decent job of giving you a taste of Korea. And let's be honest, that's kind of the point of reading my write-ups, no?

So, without further adieu, I give you "Summer in South Korea"... :)



Note: If you're having trouble viewing this video (it has been embedded in high-quality), you can view it in standard quality by following this link.