So ...
I suck at blogging. I was really good in the first week, haha. But now ... ehhhh. I'm SOOOoooOOO lazy!
Sorry.
An update?
Okay.
Since my last post, I have purchased a new iPod nano (it's blue and it's hot), gone to a baseball game (my team lost, but that's a moot point, it was still AMAZING), spent thirty minuets in COEX (to purchase said iPod - don't worry, I'm going back to COEX verrrrry soon ... AQUARIUM!!!), spent time in Apgujeong, gotten over one illness only to enjoy TWO sick-free-laughing days before CATCHING ANOTHER!, visited Lotte in Pyeongchon for the first time, visited E-Mart in Pyeongchon for the first time, maybe found a church, and ... played broom ball.
That's kind of a weird list. Best thing? The BASEBALL game! (okay, everything was great, not going to lie ... but c'mon. BASEBALL!!!)
Aura is leaving this week - I'm sad. She is such a great person. I don't know how things are going to be without her. New teacher coming ... this weekend? Exciting times ... exciting times.
This weekend is our last holiday until the winter holiday! It's Foundation Day, so we have Friday off. I'm thinking of heading up to Insadong at some point this weekend, to pick up some stuff to send home. I have a vague idea of what I want. I also am meeting Hyun's aunt ... not sure when, haha. Oh, annnnnd ... I think I want to explore Anyang. :D It's a pretty rad place.
So that's my plan for this weekend. Yours? :)
OH, annnnnd ...
CONGRATU-freaking-LATIONS to Chrey and Craig - September 28, 2008!!!
I love you and miss you tons. Congratulations to the both of you!
Tuesday, September 30
Sunday, September 21
POLY Conference Day
Twice a year, we have to work on Saturday.
That's not too bad. Really. Considering that this "work" is actually attending a conference which is held in a different location each time and consists of workshops and ALL of the POLY teachers being in the same building at the same time.
It's pretty crazy. Considering that there are like, thirty POLY campuses. Maybe more, maybe less. Anyways. This time, it was held in Ilsan, which is north of Seoul. It took about an hour to get there in the morning, but because of Saturday night traffic, it took around two hours to get back to Pyeongchon! Buuut, I slept most of the way, so that was good. It wasn't the most comfortable position - I think I was slouched in the seat, with my head against the side of the bus, and my neck cocked to the left at like, a 45 degree angle. But, it worked.
The event itself was pretty cool. I mean, for my first work-related conference ever and all. There was a key note speaker, lunch, and then three workshops. Lunch was AMAZING, oh my goodness. Think catered dinners at SMU ... only ten times more AMAZING (because it was asian food). The workshops weren't bad - I was reminded of sessions I attended while at Washington Business Week. The key note speaker was a little dry - but he did bring up a few things I found interesting (although, perhaps not in the same context that he was using them). Most notably is the theory of the multiple intelligences. It is a little difficult to explain, so let me copy and paste from an email I wrote to a friend.
"For example, there is the theory of multiple intelligences which suggests that the traditional idea of knowledge as we have been taught (based more on IQ testing with emphasis on the logical and the linguistic) is very limited and leaves room for serious error (which I agree with)."
In fact, I was interested enough in it that as soon as I got home I went online and found a website where there was a sample test. You can go there, too, by clicking here. Pretty sweet. Just for the record, my strongest area is allegedly Linguistic and my weakest is Spatial/Visual.
After the conference, a bunch of us went out to dinner in Beomgye. Good ol' Beomgye. When I say dinner, I also mean that we went to Bar 10. I'm not big on bars, but, you know ... with the right people, it's not that bad. Plus, we saw the coolest show there - I'll post a video or two at the end so you can see it.
After Bar 10, a few of us headed into Anyang because there is a hip hop club called MC there. So we went, and danced, and met a few people, and danced some more. I'm learning, however, that clubs really aren't my thing. So, don't worry - I'm not becoming a club-maniac or anything. Just for those worried folks back home. :)
That's about it. That was my entire Saturday. Work, dinner, dancing. :) Now, it's time for sleeping.
That's not too bad. Really. Considering that this "work" is actually attending a conference which is held in a different location each time and consists of workshops and ALL of the POLY teachers being in the same building at the same time.
It's pretty crazy. Considering that there are like, thirty POLY campuses. Maybe more, maybe less. Anyways. This time, it was held in Ilsan, which is north of Seoul. It took about an hour to get there in the morning, but because of Saturday night traffic, it took around two hours to get back to Pyeongchon! Buuut, I slept most of the way, so that was good. It wasn't the most comfortable position - I think I was slouched in the seat, with my head against the side of the bus, and my neck cocked to the left at like, a 45 degree angle. But, it worked.
The event itself was pretty cool. I mean, for my first work-related conference ever and all. There was a key note speaker, lunch, and then three workshops. Lunch was AMAZING, oh my goodness. Think catered dinners at SMU ... only ten times more AMAZING (because it was asian food). The workshops weren't bad - I was reminded of sessions I attended while at Washington Business Week. The key note speaker was a little dry - but he did bring up a few things I found interesting (although, perhaps not in the same context that he was using them). Most notably is the theory of the multiple intelligences. It is a little difficult to explain, so let me copy and paste from an email I wrote to a friend.
"For example, there is the theory of multiple intelligences which suggests that the traditional idea of knowledge as we have been taught (based more on IQ testing with emphasis on the logical and the linguistic) is very limited and leaves room for serious error (which I agree with)."
In fact, I was interested enough in it that as soon as I got home I went online and found a website where there was a sample test. You can go there, too, by clicking here. Pretty sweet. Just for the record, my strongest area is allegedly Linguistic and my weakest is Spatial/Visual.
After the conference, a bunch of us went out to dinner in Beomgye. Good ol' Beomgye. When I say dinner, I also mean that we went to Bar 10. I'm not big on bars, but, you know ... with the right people, it's not that bad. Plus, we saw the coolest show there - I'll post a video or two at the end so you can see it.
After Bar 10, a few of us headed into Anyang because there is a hip hop club called MC there. So we went, and danced, and met a few people, and danced some more. I'm learning, however, that clubs really aren't my thing. So, don't worry - I'm not becoming a club-maniac or anything. Just for those worried folks back home. :)
That's about it. That was my entire Saturday. Work, dinner, dancing. :) Now, it's time for sleeping.
Monday, September 15
Boo, computer. YAY, Chuseok!
Well, I had a great post going. A really, really great post. And then, my computer decided that what it REALLY wanted to do was to shut down. Pfft.
Seriously?
Blah.
So, I'm going to give you the Clif's Notes version, and I'll go more indepth later. Maybe.
Chuseok weekend was awesome - I hopped on a bus at the Seoul Express Bus Terminal at 3:20 PM on Saturday and made it to Daejon a little after 5:00 PM. My friend, Kwon Sun-Joong, had asked his family to have me to their home for the weekend, so his father (Sung-Won) picked me up at the bus terminal. He is a very nice man, and was so kind to have me to his house. :)
Sun-Joong (who is currently in New York, studying at a seminary with Jae-Young) had also asked his older brother to, in a sense, look after me while I was there. So, he did. His older brother is named Sun-Hyung, and he is very kind. I'll put a picture of him at the end of this post. My first night there, Sun-Hyung and his friend took me out to dinner. Then, on Sunday, I went to church for the first time in Korea! That was so nice! I really need to find a church in Anyang. After church, Sun-Hyung and I took his grandmother home, and then we went to lunch.
Later that evening, I went with the whole family to visit Sun-Joong's mother's family. There were MANY people there! I was so surprised! Everyone was SO nice to me, too. I really enjoyed my evening. This morning, we went to the Expo Center to see some traditional Korean culture. Afterwards, Sun-Joong's mother made us lunch, and then everyone took me to the bus terminal to catch my bus. It was a very fun weekend. I really like Daejon, and hope to go back there sometime relatively soon. It was very peaceful. :)
So that was my weekend. It was a lot of fun - I'm very glad that I had this opportunity. Now I'm back in Anyang, preparing for my shortened school week - YAY for three day weekends. :)
Sun-Hyung oppa and I after lunch on Saturday - do you like the fact that we're wearing similar shirts? :)
One of Sun-Joong's many cousins - isn't she CUTE?!
Sung-Won, Sun-Joong's father ... he is really funny!
Sun-Joong's mother. She is very, very kind.
Friday, September 5
Wake Me Up When September Ends ...
Today is September 5, 2008.
If my grandma was still alive, she would have turned 93.
That doesn't change the fact that she died on July 21, 2003. That seems like so long ago, but really ... five years? Five years really isn't a long time. I guess a lot can happen in five years. In the last five years, I have attended three different schools (high school, community college, university), I have graduated twice (high school and university), I have flown over the Pacific Ocean five times (to and from Korea in March 2008, to and from Japan in May 2008, back to Korea in June), and I started my first "real" job. That's a lot of changes to occur in five years. Maybe that's why it seems like it was so long ago.
Doesn't change the fact that I still miss her.
She was a really sweet lady. She hated when other people didn't get along - especially me and my (adopted) brother. When we would fight, she would start to cry because she thought that if she cried, we'd feel bad and therefore we'd stop. It usually worked, too. She taught me so many things both before she died and after. She's the first person who taught me to read, when I was really young (before preschool I think) and to this day I still have a deep love for reading. She taught me how to bake (ps, I think I'm slowly dying without an oven), she taught me about nature (thanks to long walks through the woods that we would take when I was really young), and she showed me how to love other people, no matter what they do or say.
Some of my earliest memories involve my grandmother and the things we would do together - taking care of animals on the farm, making pies, reading "Rabbit's New Rug" ... there's more. Trust me. There's lots more. I just ... I ...
As I get older, I'm finding that my memories come and go. What I remembered about her two years ago, I can't remember now. It saddens me, and scares me - I don't want to forget about her. There are things that I want to forget in life - and I can remember those so clearly. But what I hold dearest to my heart, the person who for all intensive purposes raised me, I can't forget her.
Sometimes, if I try really, really hard, I can remember things about her from a long time ago that I had forgotten about. Do you know what I mean? It's like those memories were stored in the farthest corner in the attic that is my brain, removed from everything else, gathering inches of dust on a tiny shelf that is just holding on to the wall with a single nail and about to fall. Sometimes, it's almost like I can catch those memories before they fall from the shelf and shatter into millions of pieces, lost forever to the sands of time.
Sometimes, even when I am trying to remember, I can only come up with a single memory of my grandma - the one from July 21, 2003. It's a memory that is painful to think about, but sometimes it's all I have and I stubbornly cling to it. Sometimes, it's all I can think about.
I'd like to think that somewhere, my grandmother knows what I'm doing and what I have done. I'd like to think that she was there, holding my hand, when I received my high school diploma, something she'd never received. I would like to believe that, as I walked across the stage at Saint Martins University behind Raymon and Daisuke and before Jesse and Deidre, that she was walking beside me. And I'd like to think that somehow, somewhere, she's proud of me.
September is generally a hard month, and I sense that this one won't be an exception. We'll just take it a day at a time.
Happy birthday, Grandma - I love you.
If my grandma was still alive, she would have turned 93.
That doesn't change the fact that she died on July 21, 2003. That seems like so long ago, but really ... five years? Five years really isn't a long time. I guess a lot can happen in five years. In the last five years, I have attended three different schools (high school, community college, university), I have graduated twice (high school and university), I have flown over the Pacific Ocean five times (to and from Korea in March 2008, to and from Japan in May 2008, back to Korea in June), and I started my first "real" job. That's a lot of changes to occur in five years. Maybe that's why it seems like it was so long ago.
Doesn't change the fact that I still miss her.
She was a really sweet lady. She hated when other people didn't get along - especially me and my (adopted) brother. When we would fight, she would start to cry because she thought that if she cried, we'd feel bad and therefore we'd stop. It usually worked, too. She taught me so many things both before she died and after. She's the first person who taught me to read, when I was really young (before preschool I think) and to this day I still have a deep love for reading. She taught me how to bake (ps, I think I'm slowly dying without an oven), she taught me about nature (thanks to long walks through the woods that we would take when I was really young), and she showed me how to love other people, no matter what they do or say.
Some of my earliest memories involve my grandmother and the things we would do together - taking care of animals on the farm, making pies, reading "Rabbit's New Rug" ... there's more. Trust me. There's lots more. I just ... I ...
As I get older, I'm finding that my memories come and go. What I remembered about her two years ago, I can't remember now. It saddens me, and scares me - I don't want to forget about her. There are things that I want to forget in life - and I can remember those so clearly. But what I hold dearest to my heart, the person who for all intensive purposes raised me, I can't forget her.
Sometimes, if I try really, really hard, I can remember things about her from a long time ago that I had forgotten about. Do you know what I mean? It's like those memories were stored in the farthest corner in the attic that is my brain, removed from everything else, gathering inches of dust on a tiny shelf that is just holding on to the wall with a single nail and about to fall. Sometimes, it's almost like I can catch those memories before they fall from the shelf and shatter into millions of pieces, lost forever to the sands of time.
Sometimes, even when I am trying to remember, I can only come up with a single memory of my grandma - the one from July 21, 2003. It's a memory that is painful to think about, but sometimes it's all I have and I stubbornly cling to it. Sometimes, it's all I can think about.
I'd like to think that somewhere, my grandmother knows what I'm doing and what I have done. I'd like to think that she was there, holding my hand, when I received my high school diploma, something she'd never received. I would like to believe that, as I walked across the stage at Saint Martins University behind Raymon and Daisuke and before Jesse and Deidre, that she was walking beside me. And I'd like to think that somehow, somewhere, she's proud of me.
September is generally a hard month, and I sense that this one won't be an exception. We'll just take it a day at a time.
Happy birthday, Grandma - I love you.
Just a Few Questions ...
So, I just found out today that someone I went to college was killed earlier this week.
Click here to read a short newspaper article about it.
It's pretty crazy. I didn't know Josh well. I knew who he was, but we just didn't run with the same crowd, so to speak. However, going to a university with only 1,200 students pretty much guaranteed that everyone knew everyone else, so yeah. I knew who he was.
At times like this, it seems only natural that we have a lot of questions. Why do things like this happen? I mean, tragedies like this occur every single day, everywhere in the world. Why? Why can't people coexist peacefully with one another?
My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those who were close to Josh, his friends, and his family. It's hard to make sense of such a tragedy. I hope that whoever did this is brought to justice.
"Just a Few Questions"
Performed by Clay Walker
A Few Questions
How in this world can we put a man on the moon,
And still have a need for a place like St Jude's?
And why is one man born,
In a place where all they know is war?
An' a guy like me,
Has always been free.
An' how can two people who built a lovin' home,
Try for years an' never have a child of their own?
When somewhere out there tonight,
There's a baby no-one's holdin' tight
In need of love.
To me, that don't add up.
But I wasn't there the day you filled up the oceans.
I didn't get to see you hang the stars in the sky.
So I don't mean to second guess you,
Or criticise what I don't understand.
These are just a few questions I have.
An' why did my cousin have to die in that crash?
A good kid, only seventeen,
I still wonder 'bout that.
It seems unfair to me,
Some get the chance to chase their dreams,
An' some don't.
But what do I know?
I wasn't there the day you filled up the oceans.
I didn't get to see you hang the stars in the sky.
So I don't mean to second guess you,
Or criticise what I don't understand.
These are just a few questions I have.
Why do I feel like you hear these prayers of mine
When so many oughta be ahead of me in line?
When you look down on me,
Can you see the good through all the bad?
These just a few questions I have.
Click here to read a short newspaper article about it.
It's pretty crazy. I didn't know Josh well. I knew who he was, but we just didn't run with the same crowd, so to speak. However, going to a university with only 1,200 students pretty much guaranteed that everyone knew everyone else, so yeah. I knew who he was.
At times like this, it seems only natural that we have a lot of questions. Why do things like this happen? I mean, tragedies like this occur every single day, everywhere in the world. Why? Why can't people coexist peacefully with one another?
My thoughts and prayers go out to all of those who were close to Josh, his friends, and his family. It's hard to make sense of such a tragedy. I hope that whoever did this is brought to justice.
"Just a Few Questions"
Performed by Clay Walker
A Few Questions
How in this world can we put a man on the moon,
And still have a need for a place like St Jude's?
And why is one man born,
In a place where all they know is war?
An' a guy like me,
Has always been free.
An' how can two people who built a lovin' home,
Try for years an' never have a child of their own?
When somewhere out there tonight,
There's a baby no-one's holdin' tight
In need of love.
To me, that don't add up.
But I wasn't there the day you filled up the oceans.
I didn't get to see you hang the stars in the sky.
So I don't mean to second guess you,
Or criticise what I don't understand.
These are just a few questions I have.
An' why did my cousin have to die in that crash?
A good kid, only seventeen,
I still wonder 'bout that.
It seems unfair to me,
Some get the chance to chase their dreams,
An' some don't.
But what do I know?
I wasn't there the day you filled up the oceans.
I didn't get to see you hang the stars in the sky.
So I don't mean to second guess you,
Or criticise what I don't understand.
These are just a few questions I have.
Why do I feel like you hear these prayers of mine
When so many oughta be ahead of me in line?
When you look down on me,
Can you see the good through all the bad?
These just a few questions I have.
Tuesday, September 2
When Korea decides to kick your butt ...
... it does it hard.
This morning should have been like any other morning. You know, the whole waking up, showering, getting ready for work, working, coming home, etcetera etcetera.
Well, I woke up. That was good, right? Yeah.
Woke up. Hot water decided it didn't want to work. I tried for an hour, believe me. It was raining, and slightly cool outside, and the prospect of a cold shower was not at all inviting.
No dice. So I took a cold shower. Easily remedied with a facilities management order filled out at work.
Problem number two? My bathroom light hasn't worked since I moved in here. You might think that I have just been too lazy to try to change it, but really I have tried. So tonight a coworker came over to try to fix it for me. No dice. He tried to unscrew the cover, and it just wouldn't budge. No worries, tomorrow I'll fill out another work order.
Third issue tonight? I was going to Skype-call someone who I haven't talked to in a while (okay, like two weeks) and was pretty excited. Yeah. Skype decided it didn't want to work, and was really crappy quality. So now tomorrow I'm going out to buy an actual microphone, as a supplement to my webcam.
And I didn't get to talk to my friend. :(
Like I said. You get kicked hard.
But that's not too bad, I know. I'm still doing well. It's the beginning of a new semester now, and I'm really excited. I have plans for Chuseok, as long as I remember to buy my tickets on the KTX, and everything should work out fine. I hope. :)
Off to bed now. I'm tired. Like, can hardly keep my eyes open tired. :) Oyasuminasai!
This morning should have been like any other morning. You know, the whole waking up, showering, getting ready for work, working, coming home, etcetera etcetera.
Well, I woke up. That was good, right? Yeah.
Woke up. Hot water decided it didn't want to work. I tried for an hour, believe me. It was raining, and slightly cool outside, and the prospect of a cold shower was not at all inviting.
No dice. So I took a cold shower. Easily remedied with a facilities management order filled out at work.
Problem number two? My bathroom light hasn't worked since I moved in here. You might think that I have just been too lazy to try to change it, but really I have tried. So tonight a coworker came over to try to fix it for me. No dice. He tried to unscrew the cover, and it just wouldn't budge. No worries, tomorrow I'll fill out another work order.
Third issue tonight? I was going to Skype-call someone who I haven't talked to in a while (okay, like two weeks) and was pretty excited. Yeah. Skype decided it didn't want to work, and was really crappy quality. So now tomorrow I'm going out to buy an actual microphone, as a supplement to my webcam.
And I didn't get to talk to my friend. :(
Like I said. You get kicked hard.
But that's not too bad, I know. I'm still doing well. It's the beginning of a new semester now, and I'm really excited. I have plans for Chuseok, as long as I remember to buy my tickets on the KTX, and everything should work out fine. I hope. :)
Off to bed now. I'm tired. Like, can hardly keep my eyes open tired. :) Oyasuminasai!
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