Once Upon A Dream

I’ve just had the most wonderful dream. I went to Greece and tanned on the beaches of Glyfada while staring day after day at the striking turquoise water of the Saronic Gulf. I visited the Parthenon, the Temple of Zeus, the Temple of Athena, and other ancient sites in Athens. I flew to Santorini and, after making some new friends, rented a car and drove over every inch of the island. I caught some sun on the black sand beach of Perissa and traversed the most gorgeous red sand beach in the entire world. I walked passed the beautiful white stucco churches with the blue domed rooftops and witnessed some incredible sunsets in Oia. Then I flew home for a week and saw my family and friends. We talked and talked while sharing photos and stories and eating foods I’ve only dreamt about during the past year. In the in-between moments, I seized every opportunity to shop for things I’ll need in the coming year.

It was the most wonderful dream. And then I woke up.

I found myself back in Korea and in a new city, Daejeon. I’m at a new school and in a new apartment. My new school is impressive in that it’s a school from the second you walk out of the elevator. There are learning aides on the walls, student projects for show, friendly faces and children ready to learn. There is a principal and a head teacher, plus about 20 other teachers, including one other foreign teacher, also from Florida. All of the Korean teachers speak English fluently, and everyone is very kind and accommodating. My apartment is quite large, and although there are a few small apartment problems, I see myself being happy here.

I may be in Daejeon now, but I still have my friends in Gwangju. One of my friends explained it as having two cities. And she’s right. I am fusing my life in Daejeon and my life in Gwangju, and I’m living that life this weekend as second-time sound tech for an entirely sold out weekend of the Gwangju Performance Project’s extremely comedic performance of Ives: Just Got To Dance. The performance is three one-act plays by playwright David Ives, including Sure Thing, Variations on the Death of Trotsky, and Universal Language, another short one-act, English Made Simple, and an interpretive dance piece uniting the music of Vivaldi and James Brown.

I may have woken up from one dream, but I’ve found myself back in the original. While it is different, it is just as wonderful.

Please don’t wake me up. I’m not ready yet.