pictures from yeongdok

feels like home

Friday I visited Yeongdok which is eastern seaside in South Korea. For a little while I felt a little closer to home (as I do on any beach) with my feet in the sand and the sound of the waves. the video...

starbucks, st. patty's day and other random March things.

since it's been forever and a day that I've posted a blog I decided to do a "March-ness" blog.


apparently the officials of Gumi put their heads together and decided to further the westernization the area (which of course I won't complain about), so now we have a Starbucks. personally, I can't think of a better choice. On my first visit to the Gumi Starbucks I spent $15 dollars on a venti cafe latte and Kenyan ground coffee. afterwards I received this complimentary mug and coaster.



while Gumi is lacking somewhat when it comes to appealing to their non-korean (or alien) counterparts, there is one place where all waegooks (foreigners) can go and feel at home no matter what day or what time. the owner, Derrick is married is Irish and is married to a Korean woman named Suji. both of these are like adoptive parents to any and all who venture in to this bar/restaurant for a piece of "home" or sanity at the end of the week.

Derrick and me


my St. Patrick's Day was spent in the Waegook Cook (the aforementioned bar) where a waiter painted clovers on our faces and served us green peppermint beer.

narcisz clover paint on face happy smile


me clover face paint happy smile and Wendy's t-shirt

as of late

for everything that I'm sure of there is something else that I'm just as unsure of...

korea daily

5amcoffeemixquickfixbalibali
youdonotusemorewhenyouneedtosaybetter
8amlongbreakmyselfagainforafewhours
readmybookwhilecatliesinsunlitpatches
crossingmyondol.

without thinking I...

recently I read a blog that inspired me to post a similar one. in my everyday routine there are things that I do out of habit without thinking about them because they've been such a part of my daily life for many years. many of these I picked up as a child from my parents, grandmother, brothers, friends and others who left their impression on me for one reason or another.

• I open a bag of chips from the bottom because my brothers and I believed as children that the best ones were at the bottom (especially doritos)
• As a passenger I wait for my driver to open their door because my friends mother once told me "a lady should never be in a hurry."
• Smell my milk even if it's new with a fresh expiration date because I've had too many bad experiences with bad milk.
• Try my best not to crack my knuckles because my grandmother always told me it would make them swell and my rings wouldn't fit.
• Heard you could tell a lot about a man by looking at his nails and his shoes. To this day I assess the condition of both on first encounters.
• Pay attention to a person's handshake because "a handshake is a good judge of character" according to my elementary school principal.
• Think twice before calling someone stupid because not everyone comprehends and learns at the same rate. My brother was indeed slower to comprehend than some, but never stupid.
• Pick honeysuckles when I see them because it makes me think of my mom showing me how to suck on the middle for the drop of sweetness
• Use "hospital corners" when making my bed and make sure the inside of my top sheet faces outward so that when covers are folded down the printed sides (if printed) will face each other because that is how my grandmother always did it.
• Secretly hope on first dates, seconds, third and twenty-fifth my man will open my door for me.
  

what is real?

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

when I was a child i had no idea that this book was about anything more than a bunch of toys talking to each other. I could only wish that as a 7 and 8 year old my toys could be as cool. I even had my grandmother buy me a rabbit that resembled the velveteen rabbit. however, the older I get the more I realize this is more than a children's book. I read the story again when in college and wondered how I'd never caught on that this book wasn't about being real in a physical sense, but real in the sense that I'm alive and feeling. I'm not a mere machine. Furthermore in the beginning of the story the toys are carefully grouped into classes. Is it possible that every children's book has illusions to this tangled society we live in. I mean hell look at Alice and Wonderland. Anyways the quote above came to mind recently while reading a book which got me to thinking about my own personal experiences and my "real-ness" Real is when someone loves you, not just wanting to play with you, but really loves you. Indeed its true. Yet how many times do we, do I allow myself to be played with to only be tossed aside?

tbc...

the vacation: part I

saturday & sunday

view from temple

main prayer hall

kimchi and toenjang pots

I thought I was important enough to do that

innocent? why of course

sara and coke in korea

sara and panda in Koreamysterious soju cocktailjasonmargaritaseriousfaceforcamera

blog-o-phrenia

I give up apologizing for my sporadic blogging, it's pointless. And for those of you who know me my sporadic-ness is part of how I'm wired for better or for worse. Furthermore, I want to blog, but the motivation to do so on a regular basis is often non-existent.

This week was my first week back after my vacation, and at times it felt like my first week teaching. During my vacation, lesson plans, endless hours of repeating myself, and sounding like I belong in a hooked-on-phonics session were the last things on my mind. Besides not only was I on vacation, but I had company. Why would I think about work? As far as my vacation goes I've tried more than once to upload pictures, and it's been unsuccessful. Hopefully in the very near future I will be able to upload these because I refuse to blog a play by play of my vacation. at least for now I'm refusing.

anyways

It's friday and I've only one class today. how did I manage that you may ask. Well we have the day off at Global so I was supposed to have two company classes starting at 3:30. weeeelllll my boss called around lunchtime and said "oh jennifer, your 3:30 class cancelled so you only have LG class at 6:40." needless to say i did a happy dance around my apartment in my towel, and i put my pajamas back on.

taking Korea

It's day four of my girl's visit although it kind of seems like day seven. We have done so much thus far without really doing anything. No real time to blog of course; so look for pictures after the departure...