Right now, I'm baking bread.
Yes, I realize it's 10:00 PM, and I have other things that are more important to do. But this is pretty dang important. See, today I bought wheat flour and brown rice. I was super excited because that meant I had food (rice) in my room for tomorrow morning ... say ... breakfast. Or lunch. Whatever.
Well, I got back to my room at like, 7 PM and was pretty hungry since I hadn't eaten since noon. So I decided to cook some rice for dinner. I have a rice cooker. This is NOT rocket science. It's measuring rice and water and hitting the switch. When the light turns green, the rice is ready to eat. NOT HARD.
Evidently, it is beyond my abilities to use a RICE COOKER to make rice. I failed. Miserably. So, I am now baking bread out of necessity because if I don't, I will not have food tomorrow (with the exception of whatever they're serving in the cafeteria ... which ... is sometimes hit or miss).
How I failed with a rice cooker, I'll never know.
___
Anyways. I also might have messed up my bread since you're supposed to mix all-purpose flour with wheat flour, and I didn't really have enough all-purpose flour so I tweaked the recipe and improvised a little ... but it's easier to eat messed-up bread than it is to eat messed-up rice. Trust me on that one. This isn't the first time I've failed at making rice (nor will it be the last, probably).
___
And yes, I've been ignoring this blog - although I'm getting pretty good at my once-a-week updates. (but I HAVE been doing that "31 days of pictures" garbage on my *new* CyWorld [which 지선언니 made for me]).
So what did I do last week? Well, as always, there was church on Sunday. I love church. I love that church. Specifically, I love the people at that church. I know I've said it before, and I'll probably say it many, many, MANY more times, but I'm so blessed by the people I've met there. I'm so very, very lucky. And I know sometimes I may be viewed as the odd-ball ... since, you know, I'm Catholic (with a big "C") and some people really don't seem to understand that ... but we have thus far managed to overcome our differences, haha.
Monday was Matt Loutz's last FULL day in Korea ... for this time around ... since I didn't have to work, he and I met up at 서울대 (Seoul National University) and walked around ... a lot ... since the campus is pretty HUGE. We went to the museum there - not the art museum, but the regular one, and practice reading in Korean. We also got to talk a lot, which was nice since it's been FOREVER. PS, I've since decided that I want to go there to study a little ... maybe some graduate school ... maybe just to study something random. I don't know. But I'll keep you posted on that.
At some point in the past week (the days all kind of got jumbled in my head), I went to the National Museum of Korea (국립중앙박물관) to explore. First of all, that museum is HUGE. I'm not joking. I was there for over two hours, and I only made a small dent ... as in I only made it through half of one floor (intensively) while merely glancing at everything else. It's got an AMAZING set of collections. Oh, and it's free. That's right - free. If you want to see the special exhibitions, well, you have to pay ... but if you just want to go peruse the permanent galleries (which is what I did), it's totally free. They even offer free tours in English (and other languages), but I chose to rent a headset for like, a dollar. Less than a dollar. uh-MAY-zing. And I will be returning SOON to finish perusing everything.
Yesterday (Saturday), Chang-gi and Nick and I met up in Seoul, which was cool because it's been a while since the three of us have been TOGETHER. Come to think of it, I guess that was the first time since we were all at the Saint. Wow. That's pretty crazy. Oh, and I just realized that it's been almost three years since I graduated university ... which seems like a long time ago (or NOT). But, that reminiscing is for another day (and another post).
I didn't stay long at church today - I peaced out right after the sermon so I could catch that bus from Suwon Bus Terminal to Gimpo at 5PM. The general gist of the message today was on dating/courtship. It was sorta interesting, and I got a good look into the mindset of ... Korean Christians in regards to dating? Or, at least, into my pastor's thoughts? We'll see. Again, that's for another day and another post.
___
Mainly I just wanted to tell you how much I FAIL with a rice cooker. Oh, and that Winter English camp starts tomorrow and I'm all sorts of not prepared - I haven't taught anything since maybe the first week of December ... that was a long time ago ... I feel WAY off my game. Luckily tomorrow is just introductions (lesson plans be damned).
I'll let you know how it goes ...
___
Oh, and today (and yesterday, for that matter) was WAAAY too cold.
Sunday, January 16
Wednesday, January 5
Random Odds and Ends
"You have to at least say goodbye before you leave. If you don't, I'll hunt you down, kick you in the shins, and run away. Korea is a small country - it wouldn't be that hard to find you."
"And then you'll write to me? After you kick me and run away?"
"... yeah."
"Well, there's a KFC to the right and an Italian place to the left. What do you want? I wonder what else they have at the KFC ..."
"Chicken."
"... thanks."
~~~
Went to the Marc Chagall exhibition today in Seoul with my friend - I think the best way to sum it up is to say that his art work REALLY evolved throughout his career (which spanned like, 6 decades or something). My favorite ones were "The Acrobat", "The Prodigal Son", "View from a Window", and one that was of a vase of flowers - it was very bright and cheerful, and I can't remember/find the name of it. The first one, "The Acrobat", is of a woman who appears to be holding some sort of hoop. I'm not sure why I like it, but of the pictures in his "Circus" series, it stuck out to me the most. Now, before you start, let me be the first one to admit I'm anything BUT an art aficionado. In fact, I'm kind of set in my ways - I know what I like, and what I don't like, and that's that. But, it was fun to go to the exhibit, and see everything. And, of course, it was great to hang out with my friend.
After the art exhibit, we grabbed lunch which is where the "KFC vs. Italian restaurant" quote came from (and the decision of where to eat was decided by a simple game of rock-scissors-paper). Then came coffee, where conversation ranged from university requirements to military to church to religion to architecture (I still believe that that building is best described as "the one with the hole in it") to whatever else in between. Finally, we went to the Kyobo bookstore at Gwanghwamun Station (it was too cold outside to do anything else). Then, I fell asleep on the bus on the way back to Gimpo (but luckily woke up before my stop, unlike this morning on my way to Seoul).
So, all in all, it was a really fun day. (^_^) Tomorrow, I gotta buckle down and get some work done. Psssht, right.
~~~
Totally felt like a rock star yesterday - came back to Gimpo for the first time since vacation and decided I wanted to see some of my students. Walked into their study hall, and was greeted like a celebrity. No joke! The way some of my kids reacted, you'd've thought it had been months since I'd seen them (and yes, I know you can't make a contraction out of you+would+have).
Last night, I got to meet Chang-gi for dinner in Gangnam! We were also supposed to get together with Jae-Jun, but he didn't answer. *sad face* Jae-Jun will start his military service soon - which makes me kinda sad. Hopefully, I'll get to see him before he enlists. AHHH! ENLIST! That's the word we were looking for today to describe it.
I knew that would come to me eventually. Oh well. A little late (9 hours later), but ... meh.
~~~
OH! PS, my phone has made its comeback. Thanks to Seong-Don oppa ... he helped me take my phone to the service center yesterday AND fielded their phone calls AND took me back there this morning AND taught me the sentence I needed to say AND made me go up on my own to retrieve it. I still remember it, too - "한드폰 찾지로 왔어요" (or something that sounded like that. I probably wrote it wrong. But, I said it correctly! And the guy kind of started, looked at me, and said, "Ahhhhhhhhh!" And knew exactly who I was.
So, now I have a phone again. 성돈오빠, 고맙습니다!!!
~~~
Alright. I feel like I should be off now. Just wanted to post a short, rambling update. Oh, and I think you should read what my friend, Jen, posted on her site - http://jkganal.tumblr.com/post/2594905754/late-night-rambling
I especially like the part she quoted from the Catholic catechism. Think about it. Discuss. Let's talk sometime. :) Her thoughts kind of go along with some of the things we talked about today. Sort of.
Anyways. Food for thought.
(^_^)
"And then you'll write to me? After you kick me and run away?"
"... yeah."
"Well, there's a KFC to the right and an Italian place to the left. What do you want? I wonder what else they have at the KFC ..."
"Chicken."
"... thanks."
~~~
Went to the Marc Chagall exhibition today in Seoul with my friend - I think the best way to sum it up is to say that his art work REALLY evolved throughout his career (which spanned like, 6 decades or something). My favorite ones were "The Acrobat", "The Prodigal Son", "View from a Window", and one that was of a vase of flowers - it was very bright and cheerful, and I can't remember/find the name of it. The first one, "The Acrobat", is of a woman who appears to be holding some sort of hoop. I'm not sure why I like it, but of the pictures in his "Circus" series, it stuck out to me the most. Now, before you start, let me be the first one to admit I'm anything BUT an art aficionado. In fact, I'm kind of set in my ways - I know what I like, and what I don't like, and that's that. But, it was fun to go to the exhibit, and see everything. And, of course, it was great to hang out with my friend.
After the art exhibit, we grabbed lunch which is where the "KFC vs. Italian restaurant" quote came from (and the decision of where to eat was decided by a simple game of rock-scissors-paper). Then came coffee, where conversation ranged from university requirements to military to church to religion to architecture (I still believe that that building is best described as "the one with the hole in it") to whatever else in between. Finally, we went to the Kyobo bookstore at Gwanghwamun Station (it was too cold outside to do anything else). Then, I fell asleep on the bus on the way back to Gimpo (but luckily woke up before my stop, unlike this morning on my way to Seoul).
So, all in all, it was a really fun day. (^_^) Tomorrow, I gotta buckle down and get some work done. Psssht, right.
~~~
Totally felt like a rock star yesterday - came back to Gimpo for the first time since vacation and decided I wanted to see some of my students. Walked into their study hall, and was greeted like a celebrity. No joke! The way some of my kids reacted, you'd've thought it had been months since I'd seen them (and yes, I know you can't make a contraction out of you+would+have).
Last night, I got to meet Chang-gi for dinner in Gangnam! We were also supposed to get together with Jae-Jun, but he didn't answer. *sad face* Jae-Jun will start his military service soon - which makes me kinda sad. Hopefully, I'll get to see him before he enlists. AHHH! ENLIST! That's the word we were looking for today to describe it.
I knew that would come to me eventually. Oh well. A little late (9 hours later), but ... meh.
~~~
OH! PS, my phone has made its comeback. Thanks to Seong-Don oppa ... he helped me take my phone to the service center yesterday AND fielded their phone calls AND took me back there this morning AND taught me the sentence I needed to say AND made me go up on my own to retrieve it. I still remember it, too - "한드폰 찾지로 왔어요" (or something that sounded like that. I probably wrote it wrong. But, I said it correctly! And the guy kind of started, looked at me, and said, "Ahhhhhhhhh!" And knew exactly who I was.
So, now I have a phone again. 성돈오빠, 고맙습니다!!!
~~~
Alright. I feel like I should be off now. Just wanted to post a short, rambling update. Oh, and I think you should read what my friend, Jen, posted on her site - http://jkganal.tumblr.com/post/2594905754/late-night-rambling
I especially like the part she quoted from the Catholic catechism. Think about it. Discuss. Let's talk sometime. :) Her thoughts kind of go along with some of the things we talked about today. Sort of.
Anyways. Food for thought.
(^_^)
Saturday, January 1
Out With the Old ... In With the New
How 2011 began:
♥ Noraebang-ed it up in Anyang ("Noraebang" for those of you NOT in the know is Korean for "Singing Room" = 노래방) with some uh-MAY-zing people ... Matt Loutz (welcome back to Korea!), Yooooooooon, Trevor-and-SeulKi, "Grandpa" (Steve) and Mi-Hee, Dean, Judy. Seong-Don oppa, Danielle, Sung-Min oppa, Jung-Soo oppa, Dan, Rob-n-Hannah, et all.
♥ Coffee with a long-lost oppa at Starbucks (^_^)
♥ Dinner with Matt Loutz, Yooooooon, Grandpa, Mi-Hee, Dean, Rob, and Hannah
♥ Dropped my cell phone in a bunch of water (and it's not sitting in a bag full of rice - hopefully it'll dry out before tomorrow morning ... or else it may be i-Phone time)
♥ Currently in the process of falling in love with the movie "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" (and Robert Downey Jr. is now one of my favorite actors)
2011 has, so far, been a great year (minus the dropping the cell phone part). :) For lack of a better update, how about a review of 2010?
In 2010, I ...
▫ Rang in the New Year in style at Bar Rouge in Shanghai (www.bar-rouge-shanghai.com) with Mindy, Stephanie, Noel, and our two German hostel-mates Mahur and Christoph.
▪ Taught exceptionally smart children - the Lions Class at Knox School (Harry, Lucy, Hye-Won, Robin, Da-Eun, Nathan, Julie)
▫ Flew back to America for the first time in almost 2 years - less than optimal circumstances, but we do what we can, right?
▪ Started teaching a new class of equally smart (if not smarter) students at Knox - the Tigers class (Ethan, Ryan, Kipper, Dave, Lina, Angela)
▫ Celebrated the marriage of Trevor and Seul-Ki
▪ Made new friends at church and got to know people there better
▫ Spent untold amounts of hours at Central Park in Beomgye (not to mention at Cafe Harrar and Indigo Blue)
▪ Cheered on the South Korean football (soccer, to all of you in America) Team with awesome people in Beomgye
▫ Spent more time studying Korean (language exchange at church, study group, private lessons)
▪ Met up with Jae-Young and Sun-Joong in Seoul while they were in Korea for a vacation
▫ Welcomed Nick to the world of native-speaking English teachers in Korea
▪ Celebrated another birthday in August with some of the most awesome people ever (^_^)
▫ Spent a week as an unemployed person living in a foreign country
▪ Experienced my first typhoon (^_^)
▫ Went on my first ever "REAL" job interview for the experience, got lost, did the interview, and was offered the job
▪ Became a high school teacher
▫ Went on a church retreat
▪ Made new friends outside of work and church
▫ Watched Korea play Japan at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul (three cheers for Makoto Hasebe and Ji-Sung Park being in the SAME place at the SAME time)
▪ Baked my first pie ever (ew, pumpkin)
▫ Reconnected with old friends (^_^)
▪ Was in a Christmas skit at church
▫ Went to a sauna (spa) twice in two days
▪ Rang in the New Year Korean-style (that means NORAEBANG)
All in all, 2010 was a fabulous year. There were obviously good things and bad things that happened. Luckily for me, the GOOD outweighed the bad. Oh, and I know that the bad things were only there to help me grow.
And that's all. Here's to 2011 being an EVEN better year than 2010. (again, minus the phone dropping part) ^^
♥ Noraebang-ed it up in Anyang ("Noraebang" for those of you NOT in the know is Korean for "Singing Room" = 노래방) with some uh-MAY-zing people ... Matt Loutz (welcome back to Korea!), Yooooooooon, Trevor-and-SeulKi, "Grandpa" (Steve) and Mi-Hee, Dean, Judy. Seong-Don oppa, Danielle, Sung-Min oppa, Jung-Soo oppa, Dan, Rob-n-Hannah, et all.
♥ Coffee with a long-lost oppa at Starbucks (^_^)
♥ Dinner with Matt Loutz, Yooooooon, Grandpa, Mi-Hee, Dean, Rob, and Hannah
♥ Dropped my cell phone in a bunch of water (and it's not sitting in a bag full of rice - hopefully it'll dry out before tomorrow morning ... or else it may be i-Phone time)
♥ Currently in the process of falling in love with the movie "Kiss Kiss, Bang Bang" (and Robert Downey Jr. is now one of my favorite actors)
2011 has, so far, been a great year (minus the dropping the cell phone part). :) For lack of a better update, how about a review of 2010?
In 2010, I ...
▫ Rang in the New Year in style at Bar Rouge in Shanghai (www.bar-rouge-shanghai.com) with Mindy, Stephanie, Noel, and our two German hostel-mates Mahur and Christoph.
▪ Taught exceptionally smart children - the Lions Class at Knox School (Harry, Lucy, Hye-Won, Robin, Da-Eun, Nathan, Julie)
▫ Flew back to America for the first time in almost 2 years - less than optimal circumstances, but we do what we can, right?
▪ Started teaching a new class of equally smart (if not smarter) students at Knox - the Tigers class (Ethan, Ryan, Kipper, Dave, Lina, Angela)
▫ Celebrated the marriage of Trevor and Seul-Ki
▪ Made new friends at church and got to know people there better
▫ Spent untold amounts of hours at Central Park in Beomgye (not to mention at Cafe Harrar and Indigo Blue)
▪ Cheered on the South Korean football (soccer, to all of you in America) Team with awesome people in Beomgye
▫ Spent more time studying Korean (language exchange at church, study group, private lessons)
▪ Met up with Jae-Young and Sun-Joong in Seoul while they were in Korea for a vacation
▫ Welcomed Nick to the world of native-speaking English teachers in Korea
▪ Celebrated another birthday in August with some of the most awesome people ever (^_^)
▫ Spent a week as an unemployed person living in a foreign country
▪ Experienced my first typhoon (^_^)
▫ Went on my first ever "REAL" job interview for the experience, got lost, did the interview, and was offered the job
▪ Became a high school teacher
▫ Went on a church retreat
▪ Made new friends outside of work and church
▫ Watched Korea play Japan at the World Cup Stadium in Seoul (three cheers for Makoto Hasebe and Ji-Sung Park being in the SAME place at the SAME time)
▪ Baked my first pie ever (ew, pumpkin)
▫ Reconnected with old friends (^_^)
▪ Was in a Christmas skit at church
▫ Went to a sauna (spa) twice in two days
▪ Rang in the New Year Korean-style (that means NORAEBANG)
All in all, 2010 was a fabulous year. There were obviously good things and bad things that happened. Luckily for me, the GOOD outweighed the bad. Oh, and I know that the bad things were only there to help me grow.
And that's all. Here's to 2011 being an EVEN better year than 2010. (again, minus the phone dropping part) ^^
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