Friday night at 신촌.


Carnival games and the winnings: Dae Ho, flexible 태권도 men, paw pillows, pig keychains, hanging fuzzy monkeys, back-scratchers, and Astro Boy! Most likely to games. "Supplies!" Hotdog 꼬치. Simon's punishment. Volleyball in the park. Fred spiking the ball into Sharon's face. Sus NRB. Brian falling asleep again. Uncle Yulib and Simon serenading one another. My first pseudo-찜질방 experience. An immobile Fred.




Sunday night.


Baskin Robbins. Yulib's observant behavior. BK Jr. Whoppers. Hitting myself in the head with the volleyball. 63 빌딩. Delicious imitation McFlurries. The wall of mirrors and taking multiple pictures. The prettiest ugliest picture. The Thrill Deck. Cranky Yulib. Yulib the pyromaniac. Sliding ass chairs. Beautiful sights, albeit a little crowded. Dizzying elevators.










동대문. Waffles and ice cream 소원 fulfilled. Watermelon! The pursuit of jokeballs. The van taxi that cost 50,000 won for approximately 6 minutes of driving. Watching the price increase with a literal blink of the eye. Excitement turned to disbelief and incredulity. Boyz II Men and Whitney Houston from the 80's. Sharon's frantic grabbing of candy to "compensate."




남대문. Jokeballs have actual toes and in Korea, do not come in nice uniform thin slices. Yulib's delirium and grease encrusted lips. He is also a 순대 purist. 2 ice-cold 칠성사이다. Jokeballs' hand gesture.



"JOKEBALLS 4 LIFE!!! - Yulib Kang."


Beautiful summer nights make me giddy for 수박 parties and fireworks.

Just finished re-reading one of my all-time favorite books, The Little Prince.



"Go and look again at the roses. You will understand now that yours is unique in all the world. Then come back to say goodbye to me, and I will make you a present of a secret."

The little prince went away, to look again at the roses.

"You are not at all like my rose," he said. "As yet you are nothing. No one has tamed you, and you have tamed no one. You are like my fox when I first knew him. He was only a fox like a hundred thousand other foxes. But I have made him my friend, and now he is unique in all the world."

And the roses were very much embarassed.

"You are beautiful, but you are empty," he went on. "One could not die for you. To be sure, an ordinary passerby would think that my rose looked just like you- the rose that belongs to me. But in herself alone she is more important than all the hundreds of you other roses: becuase it is she that I have watered; because it is she that I have put under the glass globe; because it is she that I have sheltered behind the screen; because it is for her that I have killed the caterpillars (except the two or three that we saved to become butterflies); because it is she that I have listened to, when she grumbled, or boasted, or even sometimes when she said nothing. Because she is my rose."

And he went back to meet the fox.

"Goodbye," he said.
"Goodbye," said the fox. "And now here is my secret, a very simple secret: It is only with the heart that one can see rightly; what is essential is invisible to the eye."
"What is essential is invisible to the eye," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

"It is the time you have wasted for your rose that makes your rose so important."
"It is the time I have wasted for my rose-" said the little prince, so that he would be sure to remember.

"Men have forgotten this truth," said the fox. "But you must not forget it. You became responsible, forever, for what you have tamed. You are responsible for your rose..."
"I am responsible for my rose," the little prince repeated, so that he would be sure to remember.

I borrowed Garfield from one of my students in my Smart class. Who knew Garfield was so funny? The class was laughing at me cuz I was cracking up by myself.


Remember the days when things used to be so simple?


Garfield Thinks Big


Things We Need More Of:

-Marathon Naps
-All-night Smorgasbords
-Bacon
-Wrestling on TV
-Jelly Donuts
-Back Scratchers
-Scary Movies
-Dog Muzzles
-Fuzzy Slippers
-Elvis Impersonators
-Cheese
-Roller Coasters
-Teddy Bears
-Weekends
-Pizza


Things We Can Do Without:

-Dogs
-Aerobics
-Brussel Sprouts
-Decaf Coffee
-Polka
-Spiders
-Bagpipes
-Fruitcakes
-Houseguests
-Lawyers
-Disco Tattoos
-Diets
-Mondays
-Dog Breath

에버랜드 [06/06/2007]

On Wednesday, Fred, Sharon, and I went to Everland, because Lotte World is temporarily closed and because my freakin kids have been talking about it for so much. I was fully equipped with a list of recommended rides from them and ready to have some fun. The day was pretty damn great, partly because I made an effort to not think about things that have been weighing on my mind and mostly because of Fred and Sharon. The weather was great, even though I got burned in the exact same spot from when I went to SD before, the food was delicious, and the kids were unbelievably adorable. Seeing all the babies run around made me think of the KCPC babies and Heidi. "Everyday is a holiday at Everland!"


Highlights:
-Word of the day: jolly.
-Mullet baby.
-The nauseatingly sweet and buttery smell of popcorn.
-Sweet banana pillows.
-Free pills. 골통 vs. 두통.
-김밥 도시락.
-Splash protection guards on the water rides.
-Baboon butt boils and blisters. Polar bears. Orangutans. Monkey Valley.
-The much anticipated Amazon Express.
-4,000원 coconuts.
-수박와 참외.
-Apple butter, soul food, mustard vs. ketchup.
-Magic Mountain, Knott's, and Disneyland.
-White people in the band, the parade, and the wedding photos.
-The Rose Garden.
-가위바위보 and water fountains.
-Babies, babies, babies.
-2 counts of 8.
-The Boxcar Children. The number 4.
-Rides the second time around.
-Eagle Fortress 기념사진 with the strange man.
-Consuming 85% of the park's concession food: slushies, coconut milk, ice cream, churros, dipppin' dots, pizza rolls, cream cheese bagels, buttered corn, cheese potato wedges, chili potato wedges, and hotdogs.
-Holla at a playa.
















Favorite pics of the day:

Happy 25th, Sharon Kim!! =]


I wonder why we look so excited holding sports paraphernalia?

Fred's Day of Rest


A message to not be lukewarm, but rather refreshing or healing to those around us.

The 우연한 만남 with Sarah Choi that led us to volunteer at the Hillsong concert.

The most disgusting 냉면 and 생딸기 juice ever.

여의도공원: being the first ones there, slushies, and unfulfilled desires to hit a volleyball.

Celebrity sighting: 주지훈 from 궁 or 신동욱 from 슬픔이여 안녕. Either way, he was extremely tall and skinny.

Apple sherbert and green Frisbee throwing.

Light exemplified with cell phones.

Hillsong - Mighty to Save.

To paraphrase Darlene Zschech: “Not one of you is here tonight by chance. It is by His perfect plan that each one of you is gathered here today.”





You are the Way the Truth and the Life.
We live by faith and not by sight for You.
We're living all for You.
Hillsong - One Way.


edit: I finally realized why I was there with Fred that day. God is seriously amazing.

Buddha's Birthday [5/24/2007]

Fred, Sharon, and I decided to go visit 석모도, a little island near 강화 because we wanted to get out of Seoul, get some fresh air, and see the country. There were four things on the agenda: go bike-riding on the island, see the house from 시월애, see 보문사, a Buddhist temple, and visit 민모루 해수욕장, the only beach on the island. Unfortunately, it was pouring rain the entire time we were there and the 시월애 house washed away after a typhoon, so we were only able to see the temple.

Afterwards we watched Fred get a haircut, ate 삼계탕 and 닭칼국수, ate Red Mango, and went to a 보드게임방, where I played Monopoly for the third time in my life.

Highlights:
-Sharon's misplaced cell phone. "야! 여기 다리 어디써?"
-The 5 minute ferry boat ride and watching Fred throw crackers at the seagulls.
-Sharon slipping and falling down a flight of stairs.
-Climbing a million flight of stairs to see Buddha engraved on the side of the mountain.
-Sharon and I getting completely drenched and Fred merely getting splashed.
-Countryside 막걸리.
-Walking in the rain and breathing fresh air.
-Listening to old school hiphop with Sharon.
-Watching narcoleptic Fred conk out within seconds of sitting in a moving vehicle.
-Using a hole-in-the-ground toilet for the first time in fifteen years.
-Wigs and hammers.
-Monopoly bringing out the worst in everyone.
-Speed Scrabble.
-Fred and Sharon.

어버이날

It's 어버이날 next Tuesday so we're having the kids write letters to their parents in English, correcting it, and then having them make cards for their parents.

This is what my Level 4, 9 year old Heather wrote:

"To my dad:

Thanks you father. My teaching and good school in the study. I love you and good dress and good crown. I love very you. And you love me yes or no? Father very very thanks and I love mom and dad"

She's so cute in her posh little princess clothes and her Harry Potter glasses. I'll have to post a picture of her sometime.

Coughing.

My junior year at Berkeley something happened, so now I have this recurring cough that pops up whenever I get really cold. It's been about a week now and I'm sick of coughing. I think sleeping on the floor with only a sheet may have possibly caused this. Korea's weather, its dust and air pollution, and my trekking up hills everyday is not helping the situation.

Rain.

I love it when it rains and was especially ecstatic the day it rained in Korea. To commemorate the occasion, I decided to purposely leave my umbrella at home so I could thoroughly enjoy walking in the rain. Imagine my dismay when my co-workers told me that the rain in Korea is so polluted that it is more like acidic rain and it could actually harm me to go about without an umbrella.

English.

My English abilities are slowly fading and I find it increasingly difficult to articulate myself in English. During my breaks, I've been assigned to edit textbooks and the simplicity of the grammatical errors have me racking my brain in frustration.

Church.

I went to Jubilee on Sunday with Fred and Sharon and literally forgot that I was in Korea for the entire service. I was a little taken aback by the number of 교포s and foreigners speaking English without a Korean accent, but it was nevertheless a welcome relief.

Work.

My 학원 must be the worst 학원 in the history of all the 학원들 in Korea. It's just my rotten luck that I didn't even know how bad I had it until I spoke with Fred and Sharon and we compared our working conditions. It's funny how bad they feel for me, but it's not funny when I realize that I'm stuck with this place for at least the next few months. It has been exactly thirteen days since I began working here, and I knew I hated it from day two. It's amazing to see how with each passing day, something new happens here to warrant an even greater feeling of animosity.


Anyway, here's something fobby:

Teacher: "Bad times."
Student: "침대 시간?"
Teacher: "Bad, not bed. 나쁜 시간."

Korea...

...has been thus far a crazy experience, stretching me emotionally, physically, and definitely financially. I believe these past 11 days have been some of the hardest in my life. I have moved three different times, have heard more people having sex than I ever want to hear again, and have some of the world’s craziest bosses.

Anyway, I am slowly adjusting and things are better. I met Fred for lunch today and was unbelievably glad to see someone familiar who I didn’t have to front with. His 학원 and mine are so different it’s not even funny.

It’s crazy to be in Korea while the Virginia Tech thing is going on… it’s been interesting to hear the responses of my Korean co-workers but at times like this, I feel an even larger cultural disparity and I wish I was back in Los Angeles witnessing firsthand what Korean-Americans are going through. Maybe it’s just my co-workers, but all I’ve been hearing are very superficial comments about how “싸이코” the guy was and how his picture makes him look like a “변태.” But again, the co-workers who are making these comments are the abovementioned crazy people. I’ve also noticed that most pictures and interviews being portrayed are Caucasian people… something that’s been sort of bothering me because I feel like there is probably a significant number of equally distraught Korean-American students affected by this. But maybe I’m being biased.

My weekend plans will be shopping at the famous 동대문, working, going to Costco (I’m very excited about this one), and possibly checking out a church with Fred and Sharon. It’s nice to have plans.