Mom and Dad – Hi! As you can see I finally found some unlined paper. So, while my letters may end up crooked, they’ll be at least comfortable. How are you? Things here are mostly the same though there have been some changes. First, I received some mail. 1/3 of my seeds have not yet come to fruition, but I’m batting better than .000 (oh no! – I can’t believe I just used a sports analogy). I haven’t received a letter from you since the one dated labor day – what’s up? I dedicated a couple of days of furious effort to researching e-mail, but have so far come up with nothing more than a few people to talk to (whom I have not yet been able to reach). So, again, that’s on hold. We received a new housemate. Reports were exaggerated: he’s not 65, just 59. Roy Isaac (sp?) has embarked upon his third visit to Korea. He was here in 1952 with the army, 1971 with the air force, and now, again. He retired from the service in ’73 – but previous to that, he had a long and somewhat dignified career as a Master Sergeant (sp?). He’s from Missouri, proud to be a rebel (yes, he still cherishes the Confederacy, and complains, jokingly I think, about living with three Yankees). And he likes to talk. Naturally, this is a somewhat profound change on the home front. Nevertheless, I’m trying to make the best of it: He’s teaching me how to play poker. I caught my first cold of the year. It’s a drag. As a teacher I have to be able to talk (and it helps if I can pronounce my “v’s” and “m’s” as “v’s” and “m’s” rather than as “b’s”). Not to mention that it makes me less happy to be doing anything other than sleeping. Actually, for the last few days I’ve been really depressed – I don’t know why. All I really want to do is lie in bed and never come out. I think contributory factors are the season, my cold, my home life, general frustration, and the dawning realization that I cannot befriend Koreans – at most I can be a curio or an opportunity to speak English, but it doesn’t seem like more is possible. The language is still progressing – I’ve learned simple past tense and am trying to get a hold on simple future. And the more I meet people, the more (and more quickly) I will progress. Other than that, it’s all basically same shit, different time-zone. I sent [sister] a b-day present and card – it should’ve arrived by now. And if I had her # I’d call on the [date], but I don’t. So I can save some money. Went to the public bathhouse today for some warm water. And I weighed myself: 68 k. (about 148 lbs.) – so I guess I’ve lost a little weight – but I’m exercising too (sort of). I do push-ups, sit-ups and sometimes chin-ups, and I practice Tae kwon do kicks, generally every day. I also am trying to learn Buddhist meditation – which so far is the same as yogic asana. My knees and hips have given up their protest over this treatment, and I think my conscious thoughts are beginning to dissipate upon command (of course to notice that they’re doing that is to have a conscious thought, so, maybe not). Um. You asked how I thought we should handle Christmas. There are a few ways to do this, but I think sending as little as necessary is best. There are, however, a few things I really want. First – Levis. Here they cost more than three times the price at home and I don’t want to pay that much. But my two pairs are getting pretty beaten. Also, I want books by Aleister Crowley. I’ll quote my friend [redacted] as a preemptive strike against the “evil” argument/paranoia: “’Evil’ or ‘harm’ can come from his teachings if the person doesn’t realize that they are tools. The more tools you need to get along the Way, the more tools you need to rid yourself of further on.” That said, I don’t care whether they’re good or evil (I don’t even believe in such terms), they interest me. I have checked the “best” bookstores in the country and been unable to find anything close to The Book of the Law, Magick (I think this is also called “Liber IV”), The Tree of Life, and The Book of Thoth. And that’s all I really want for Christmas. Or, that’s all I want sent. I don’t know yet if your packages will get through unmolested (Link and Duke have both received packages apparently with all their contents intact), so wait until a trial package succeeds as suggested in my last letter. I think that’s all I have to say. I’m rolling with as much as comes my way, and 9-1/2 months ain’t long. But it seems long. I hope you’re well. I hope you continue to be well. That’s all for now.
Yours, Oomph
PS. “… She told me herself that she had no morality – and I thought she had, like myself, a more severe morality than anybody. . . .” - Nietzsche on Lou Salome