Sunday, February 27, 2005
hidden treasures
so the other day i was mentioning how i am constanstly waking up in the middle of the night and eating sweets. well, this prompted my friend kate, who was just here visiting me, to send me an email letting me know there was a piece of chocolate hidden behind my contact solution. what? more chocolate. yummy! it appears kate is also the one responsible for leaving a chocolate under my pillow. how sweet is that. now i'm looking for choccolate everywhere. are there more hidden treasures? if so, will i find them? i have no idea but the thought that there might be a random chocolate that shows up in a few months is very exciting. its like an easter egg hunt that lasts forever. and who didn't love easter egg hunts. we made my parents hide eggs up until we were in high school. of course by than a lot of the eggs were filled with money. that was always my favorite part of easter…the egg hunt. anyway, ever since kate told me of this last surprise i've been looking in every nook and cranny. omg. i can't believe i just wrote nook and cranny. am i a grandma now! mommom, my grandmother, use to hid chocolates in her shoes. once we found out about that we use to tear through her closet and shoes in search of the tastey morsels. those were the days. to be young and carefree. kind of like what my life is like now minus the young part. its amazing how laidback and stress free my life has been here. now if only i can find a decent toy store i'd be set. be well all…
Thursday, February 24, 2005
oh how i miss the wb…
oh how i miss the days of sitting on my couch with misty watching the wb. i don't even have a couch here. tuesday's was the night for "oth", or as we liked to call it "one tear hill". i forgot how good this show was. last night i had a mini-marathon of "oth, season 2". it's like my new drug. i couldn't stop watching. the only thing that made me was that my computer battery died. damn computer. as i laid there in bed it reminded me of the day i was home in sf and i was going to watch one episode of "my so called life". well, like pringles when it comes to teenage dramas you can't watch just one. that day i think i watched the entire season and watched my entire saturday vanish. now here i am watching back to back episodes of "oth". life can't get much better. it would completely rule if the 7-11's here had fountain drinks but that is a blog for another day. i forgot how much i missed this show and the characters. i must say i truely love brooke. she's the bad girl next door with the tender heart. she's someone you just HAVE to hang out with. i wish i knew a brooke when i was in high school. i have a feeling this weekend will include watching more episodes. this is exciting to me because i can't wait to see what happens. i could probably go on and on but who really wants to hear my rants about a teen soap…misty probably. thats why i love her so much.
lately i've been sleeping very irratically. i find myself watching up in the middle of the night and going to the kitchen to eat sweets. last night i ate cheesecake pudding. the night before i finished off the hersey minatures. i'm not really sure what this is all about. perhaps the aliens have found me in korea and are continuing thier probing. who knows. i've also discovered two more korea shows that have been taking over my life: "breathless", a drama about two brothers, and "guys and girls", a comedy about college life. you would have thought korean shows would be so good.I'M LOVIN IT! be well…
Wednesday, February 23, 2005
saneng-il ch'uk'a haeyo!
saneng-il ch'uk'a haeyo, appa!
or as they say in english HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!
i hope you have a great day. i wanted to let you know that i'm thinking about you and sending birthday wishes your way.
yesterday i was taking the train to gangnam to meet a friend for a drink. as i sat there looking around at all the people heading home from work i realized, "i'm in korea!" now, i know i've been here for 5 months already but some days it just really hits you. as i sat there with headphones on i watched several people have phone conversations. with my music blasting i imagined these folks talking in english and made up my own conversation in my head. this is what i do as i ride the train. the world i create for them is by far probably a lot more interesting that what they are actually saying. unlike being on muni where you can easedrop on others one really can't here. sometimes its an odd feeling being so out of the loop. the one cool thing i realized by meeting people in other areas is that it expands what i know about korea. before gangnam was just another stop on the subway. i would have never gone there but now after seeing it, its like a whole other world. there were tons of young people flooding the streets. it almost felt as if i was in downtown san francisco. minus all the english speakers. we went to this european pub which again was another experience. here in ansan, especially new ansan town, the bars/pubs are seldom packed. this place was completely the opposite. there were people everywhere. it was being at a happy hour back home. as i observed the people around me i imagined they had all just gotten off work and were there bitching about their day. the pub itself was quite charming. it was modeled after a pub in prague and if you took away all the koreans one would actually think they were in prague. it had that dark eastern european feel to it. the ceiling had these wagon wheel-esque candle holders, their were puppets like on would see in prague, and the tables were dark wood. there were big copper breweries so i assumed they brewed the beer there. we sat and had a glass of dark beer and some cheese sticks. they were the best cheese sticks i ever had. i thought i'd died and gone to deep fried heaven. i can't wait to go back. which i'm sure i will because i want to check out some of the shops in the area. it seemed very hip.
last night was also the full moon. there is a custom here in korean for people to eat walnuts and peanuts. the cracking of the shells and the eating of the nuts is to prevent misfortune in the future year. this is definitely one custom i'll be bringing back with me. be prepared for ethan's full moon nut fest when i return. i know you all are very excited about that.
be well…
p.s. can i say that i can't wait for winter to be over. will it ever end!
or as they say in english HAPPY BIRTHDAY, DAD!
i hope you have a great day. i wanted to let you know that i'm thinking about you and sending birthday wishes your way.
yesterday i was taking the train to gangnam to meet a friend for a drink. as i sat there looking around at all the people heading home from work i realized, "i'm in korea!" now, i know i've been here for 5 months already but some days it just really hits you. as i sat there with headphones on i watched several people have phone conversations. with my music blasting i imagined these folks talking in english and made up my own conversation in my head. this is what i do as i ride the train. the world i create for them is by far probably a lot more interesting that what they are actually saying. unlike being on muni where you can easedrop on others one really can't here. sometimes its an odd feeling being so out of the loop. the one cool thing i realized by meeting people in other areas is that it expands what i know about korea. before gangnam was just another stop on the subway. i would have never gone there but now after seeing it, its like a whole other world. there were tons of young people flooding the streets. it almost felt as if i was in downtown san francisco. minus all the english speakers. we went to this european pub which again was another experience. here in ansan, especially new ansan town, the bars/pubs are seldom packed. this place was completely the opposite. there were people everywhere. it was being at a happy hour back home. as i observed the people around me i imagined they had all just gotten off work and were there bitching about their day. the pub itself was quite charming. it was modeled after a pub in prague and if you took away all the koreans one would actually think they were in prague. it had that dark eastern european feel to it. the ceiling had these wagon wheel-esque candle holders, their were puppets like on would see in prague, and the tables were dark wood. there were big copper breweries so i assumed they brewed the beer there. we sat and had a glass of dark beer and some cheese sticks. they were the best cheese sticks i ever had. i thought i'd died and gone to deep fried heaven. i can't wait to go back. which i'm sure i will because i want to check out some of the shops in the area. it seemed very hip.
last night was also the full moon. there is a custom here in korean for people to eat walnuts and peanuts. the cracking of the shells and the eating of the nuts is to prevent misfortune in the future year. this is definitely one custom i'll be bringing back with me. be prepared for ethan's full moon nut fest when i return. i know you all are very excited about that.
be well…
p.s. can i say that i can't wait for winter to be over. will it ever end!
Monday, February 21, 2005
misty, kate, and derek…oh my!
now playing on e-tunes:
the smiths
hand that rocks the cradle
the smiths
welcome to the year of the cock, or as some call it the year of the rooster. i've decided that since i'm now asian i'm only going to celebrate the chinese new year. they have animals. and animals are cool. as many of you know by now misty, kate, and derek came to korea to surprise me. it actually worked out great because i only had to work one of the days they were here. i couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my first chinese new year's aboard then by having great friends here with me. the last couple of months have almost been like living in a bubble where i bascially just plodded ahead with my day to day activities: school, taekwondo, school, carrefour, etc. having them come to visit gave me the chance to show my friends my new "temporary world" and now when i talk about things at least three of them will know what i'm talking about. i also realized how much i miss my friends and how much they mean to me. its great though because with the three of them it was almost like no time had pasted. i love these guys. our week was basically jammed packed with activities. we went to insadong, meyongdong, hongik university area, dongdaemun market, namdaemum market, and even the infamous carrefour. we took a dmz tour, did the inwangsan shamanist hillside walk, hung out in a noraebang, and drank giant pitchers of beer. we ate kimchi, bbq, corn/puddidng treats, dried squid, and tofu soup. we drank soju, rose wine, and hot coffee drinks in a can. they got to see old and new ansan town, ansan park, my apartment, and even my school. and best of all we spent probably 20 hours plus on the subway. some of my best times were spent hanging out in my apartment being are goofy selves.
here are the highlights from dmk tour 2005:
1. me seeing derek at the ansan bus terminal and saying "what are you doing here?"
2. kate and misty waving to me in front of homeplus
3. airmattresses in my apartment
4. my sympathy jet lag
5. being giddy like schools girls and not getting any sleep until 5am on that first night
6. me sleeping on the airmattress [what was i thinking]
7. making breakfast for the gang
8. koreans playing on the frozen river especially the kid riding his bike on the ice
9. misty wanting a squishy mat
10. watching dmk in the madness of the grocery store
11. man walking pig down street
12. misty thinking that the choco boston creme would be filled with vanilla creme
13. dmk all saying "annyong haseyo"
14. dmk meeting the infamous bbq lady "madame galbi"
15. toasting with soju
16. misty and i stealing a poster
17. the cocks club
18. the girl in restaurant taking our photo
19. misty's sushi latte
20. the korean fashion shopping
21. finding the giant anime posters
22. eating mcdonalds on my floor
23. coffe at lotte hotel
24. cleaning lady standing in the bathroom while i was using it
25. the texans on our dmz tour
26. kate asking misty and i if the tourguide mentioned "lunch"
27. d's rabbit hat
28. misty asking tourguide where she bought her jeans
29. misty and kate walking down the tunnel
30. the guard at dorasan gettting mad at d
31. getting our passports stamped at dorasan station
32. dmk all buying stuff at the "factories"
33. the tofu soup
34. tea at sarangbang
35. playing dress up at sarangbang
36. kate's steal of a buddha
37. toasting to the new year in my apartment with rose wine
38. madame golbi being open on new year's day
39. d+m discovering hot coffee drinks in a can
40. the doll store
41. "hi. what?" "hi. what?" "hi. what?" [misty playing with blythe]
42. finding out the first blythe was a keychain!!
43. eating bbq with my closest friends
44. the seaweed with seasames
45. ninja-d
46. scaring our waiter in old ansan
47. photo booth madness
48. giant pitcher of beer
49. waking up everyday for a week seeing dmk in my apartment
50. hanging out in my apartment on new years day
51. the inwangsan shaminist hillside walk [seeing people praying all over the mountain]
52. the pizza hut delivery scooter delivering pizza at inwangsan shaminist area
53. finding a table in the trash
54. trying to walk to dongdaemum market and going under a tunnel
55. the craziness of doota department store
56. eating in the food court
57. panhandling and rating korean fashion in doota department store
58. being denied two cabs when trying to get to meyongdong
59. cold sweet potato fries
60. misty buying two more blythe dolls
61. dmk coming to school with me
62. dry-ice beer with flashing multi-colors
63. the 6:30 am noraebang night
64. singing bad metal songs
65. misty wanting a diet coke and doughnut at 6:30 am
66. being a zombie on saturday after noraebang night
67. SWEET EGG TOAST SANDWICHES. yummy!!!
68. d playing video game
69. kate craving salt, "everything has sugar!"
70. alleyway dinning experience at namdaemum market
71. lady exchanging money from a cardboard box
72. eating pizza hut on my floor
73. dmk experiencing carrefour
74. hanging out in starbucks in myeongdong
75. my blythe purchase
76. kate succuming to the pressure and buying a blythe too
77. buying a toy samurai
78. the good luck rice strainer i bought
79. m + d's head turning every time the music played on the train
80. wonderwoman blythe lighter
81. misty tampering with my hairdryer
82. misty diffusing my hair [can you say shirley temple hair]
83. misty and kates bunny slippers [now we all have bunny slippers!]
84. the drawing of dmk on my board at school
85. zander, one of my students, pointing to the picture and saying "no, teacher, no!"
86. the many talks we had
87. the floral gum experience
88. kate taking pictures on the bus to airport
89. dmk needing an extra bag for all the stuff they bought
90. coasters, a teapot, a rabbit keychain, and wonder woman stuff from dmk [how sweet]
91. showing dmk my taekwondo moves
92. the underwear fashion show
93. pumping up the airmattresses every night
94. the blythe doll show i did
95. discovering the crunky bars
96. random meetings with the candian girl in the all the western resturants of ansan
97. the man at bus station who thought he took our picture but didn't
98. playing on the frozen river with dmk
99. all the crazy t-shirt logos
100. HAVING A WHOLE WEEK WITH MISTY, KATE, AND DEREK!
that pretty much sums it up. i'm sure i might have missed many other things so if i think of more i'll post them. have a great day and be well…
the smiths
hand that rocks the cradle
the smiths
welcome to the year of the cock, or as some call it the year of the rooster. i've decided that since i'm now asian i'm only going to celebrate the chinese new year. they have animals. and animals are cool. as many of you know by now misty, kate, and derek came to korea to surprise me. it actually worked out great because i only had to work one of the days they were here. i couldn't have asked for a better way to spend my first chinese new year's aboard then by having great friends here with me. the last couple of months have almost been like living in a bubble where i bascially just plodded ahead with my day to day activities: school, taekwondo, school, carrefour, etc. having them come to visit gave me the chance to show my friends my new "temporary world" and now when i talk about things at least three of them will know what i'm talking about. i also realized how much i miss my friends and how much they mean to me. its great though because with the three of them it was almost like no time had pasted. i love these guys. our week was basically jammed packed with activities. we went to insadong, meyongdong, hongik university area, dongdaemun market, namdaemum market, and even the infamous carrefour. we took a dmz tour, did the inwangsan shamanist hillside walk, hung out in a noraebang, and drank giant pitchers of beer. we ate kimchi, bbq, corn/puddidng treats, dried squid, and tofu soup. we drank soju, rose wine, and hot coffee drinks in a can. they got to see old and new ansan town, ansan park, my apartment, and even my school. and best of all we spent probably 20 hours plus on the subway. some of my best times were spent hanging out in my apartment being are goofy selves.
here are the highlights from dmk tour 2005:
1. me seeing derek at the ansan bus terminal and saying "what are you doing here?"
2. kate and misty waving to me in front of homeplus
3. airmattresses in my apartment
4. my sympathy jet lag
5. being giddy like schools girls and not getting any sleep until 5am on that first night
6. me sleeping on the airmattress [what was i thinking]
7. making breakfast for the gang
8. koreans playing on the frozen river especially the kid riding his bike on the ice
9. misty wanting a squishy mat
10. watching dmk in the madness of the grocery store
11. man walking pig down street
12. misty thinking that the choco boston creme would be filled with vanilla creme
13. dmk all saying "annyong haseyo"
14. dmk meeting the infamous bbq lady "madame galbi"
15. toasting with soju
16. misty and i stealing a poster
17. the cocks club
18. the girl in restaurant taking our photo
19. misty's sushi latte
20. the korean fashion shopping
21. finding the giant anime posters
22. eating mcdonalds on my floor
23. coffe at lotte hotel
24. cleaning lady standing in the bathroom while i was using it
25. the texans on our dmz tour
26. kate asking misty and i if the tourguide mentioned "lunch"
27. d's rabbit hat
28. misty asking tourguide where she bought her jeans
29. misty and kate walking down the tunnel
30. the guard at dorasan gettting mad at d
31. getting our passports stamped at dorasan station
32. dmk all buying stuff at the "factories"
33. the tofu soup
34. tea at sarangbang
35. playing dress up at sarangbang
36. kate's steal of a buddha
37. toasting to the new year in my apartment with rose wine
38. madame golbi being open on new year's day
39. d+m discovering hot coffee drinks in a can
40. the doll store
41. "hi. what?" "hi. what?" "hi. what?" [misty playing with blythe]
42. finding out the first blythe was a keychain!!
43. eating bbq with my closest friends
44. the seaweed with seasames
45. ninja-d
46. scaring our waiter in old ansan
47. photo booth madness
48. giant pitcher of beer
49. waking up everyday for a week seeing dmk in my apartment
50. hanging out in my apartment on new years day
51. the inwangsan shaminist hillside walk [seeing people praying all over the mountain]
52. the pizza hut delivery scooter delivering pizza at inwangsan shaminist area
53. finding a table in the trash
54. trying to walk to dongdaemum market and going under a tunnel
55. the craziness of doota department store
56. eating in the food court
57. panhandling and rating korean fashion in doota department store
58. being denied two cabs when trying to get to meyongdong
59. cold sweet potato fries
60. misty buying two more blythe dolls
61. dmk coming to school with me
62. dry-ice beer with flashing multi-colors
63. the 6:30 am noraebang night
64. singing bad metal songs
65. misty wanting a diet coke and doughnut at 6:30 am
66. being a zombie on saturday after noraebang night
67. SWEET EGG TOAST SANDWICHES. yummy!!!
68. d playing video game
69. kate craving salt, "everything has sugar!"
70. alleyway dinning experience at namdaemum market
71. lady exchanging money from a cardboard box
72. eating pizza hut on my floor
73. dmk experiencing carrefour
74. hanging out in starbucks in myeongdong
75. my blythe purchase
76. kate succuming to the pressure and buying a blythe too
77. buying a toy samurai
78. the good luck rice strainer i bought
79. m + d's head turning every time the music played on the train
80. wonderwoman blythe lighter
81. misty tampering with my hairdryer
82. misty diffusing my hair [can you say shirley temple hair]
83. misty and kates bunny slippers [now we all have bunny slippers!]
84. the drawing of dmk on my board at school
85. zander, one of my students, pointing to the picture and saying "no, teacher, no!"
86. the many talks we had
87. the floral gum experience
88. kate taking pictures on the bus to airport
89. dmk needing an extra bag for all the stuff they bought
90. coasters, a teapot, a rabbit keychain, and wonder woman stuff from dmk [how sweet]
91. showing dmk my taekwondo moves
92. the underwear fashion show
93. pumping up the airmattresses every night
94. the blythe doll show i did
95. discovering the crunky bars
96. random meetings with the candian girl in the all the western resturants of ansan
97. the man at bus station who thought he took our picture but didn't
98. playing on the frozen river with dmk
99. all the crazy t-shirt logos
100. HAVING A WHOLE WEEK WITH MISTY, KATE, AND DEREK!
that pretty much sums it up. i'm sure i might have missed many other things so if i think of more i'll post them. have a great day and be well…
Sunday, February 20, 2005
forever and a day
i'm not sure where to even begin. once again it seems like i haven't been on here in ages. i spent most of this week and all of this weekend doing nothing. the week spent with misty, kate, and derek completely wiped me out. i'm not use to being on the go so much. it almost felt i travel across country. my school week was pretty uneventful. i have three new students and will getting some more on monday. oh the joy. i did go a a mini field trip with one of my students jeff. we were learning how to write directions and i figured the best way to do was to actually go to the place we were writing about. i picked primus which is the movie theater across from our school. so hand in hand we set out so he could learn right/left, etc. it was actually quite fun. we had a race up the bridge which i won. and then another race down the bridge which jeff won. once inside the theater jeff wanted to play a video game so i gave him some money. at first he thought it was for me to ride the bus home and didn't want to take my money but i told him that wasn't the case. on our way back to school we had another race up and down the bridge. i'm not sure why but running down the bridge always seems much harder. one would think since its down hill it would be easier but no. anyway jeff seemed to enjoy the mini-field trip and the video game. it seemed to help him alot when it came time for us to write the directions out since he was able to visualize it. he's such a great little boy. i'm glad i'm teaching him this month. all week in taekwondo we've been playing soccer for the first 20 minutes. not sure why but we have. anyway, playing soccer in barefeet is HARD!! the inner soles of my feet are black and blue. i've never been kicked so much in all my life. i can say this that once tkd is done i'm going to have the toughest legs ever. on friday i learned the rest of form 4. hopefully i'll have it mastered and be able to test for the purple belt. YEAH!! the weekend was spent doing nothing. actually i did manage to clean on saturday and rearrange my furniture some. i felt it was time for a new look. plus i got some sheets and pillow cases from jp. one set has dark red circles and the other is a brownish color with lines. these definitely bring some life to my bedroom. thanks again jp. you rock!! i'm going to spend some time this week adding stuff to my walls. i need to make it a bit more homey. not much else happening. now that i'm fully recovered i'll be posting more regularly. i know you all are excited. hopefully by midweek or sooner i'll have the details of my visit with the gang. until then be well…
Friday, February 18, 2005
more vacation photos with the sf gang
here are the last two photo albums from my week with misty, kate, and derek. SOB!! if it weren't for all these photos i would have thought i dreamed the whole thing. enjoy!
Links
Links
Wednesday, February 16, 2005
3 more photo albums…
here are yet more photos from my week with misty, kate, and derek. enjoy!
Links
Links
Links
Monday, February 14, 2005
i'm an uncle again!!!
on february 2, 2005 at 2:19 pm my sister gave birth to her third child. the new baby girl's name is morgan kathryn. she weighed 7lbs, 3oz, and was 20 1/2 inches long. both baby and mom are doing great.
here are two phots of the new baby.
Links
here are two phots of the new baby.
Sunday, February 13, 2005
winter sonata part 2: the final chapter
hello all. i feel like i haven't been on here in ages. there is so much to write about especially since i had houseguests this past week. however, before i get into what we did i must first finish my taekwondo winter retreat story so here it goes…
people started awaking around 6:30am. they were eager to get snowboarding. there was some misunderstanding throughout the night and most people thought we weren't getting up until 7:30am. needless to say the morning started off very shakey. the tension from the previous day had found its way into the morning. scrappy was already getting on peoples nerves. it seems that many people couldn't sleep with all the snoring that way happening throughout the night. luckily enough for me i slept through it all. "r' wanted to stay behind and sleep a little more but we found out that we all had to be out of the apartment. that didn't sit well with him. once we all rallied we piled into the van to head off to the slopes. we had to make a stop for "j" and i to rent equipment. this didn't sit well the "master" who made some snide comment about us being on our honeymoon and that it was going to take an hour to rent our stuff. "j" immediately snapped at him and it was at that time that i decided i wasn't going to snowboard. i'd been going back and forth and since my back still hurt and due to all the added chaos i felt that i wanted some alone time away from people. the idea to do my own thing was very appealing. plus i didn't want "tkg" to have to help me out. "j" returned 10 minutes later and we were off. at the slopes it was decided that we'd all meet back at 11:30am to head back. i waited around a bit until "j" and "r" where ready to take off for the slopes. once they were gone i set off on my own little adventure.
a little background on yongpyong ski resort. not only did it almost host the winter olympic games but its also the setting for a popular korean drama called winter sonata which is now very big in japan along with the actor bae, yongjoon. hi, how perfect for me. so i decided to set out and explore what it had to offer. here's a little snippet from my winter sonata tour map about the drama and the characters:
winter sonata - about unchanged love and people
even if he has changed his name and became a different person, his nature always remains unchanged. though the world keeps changing rapidly, there are people in unchangeable love. yoojin, joonsang, and sanghyok, the main characters of teh winter sonata, are one of those people. the story tells about these 3 friends' destined love, at teh same time, it makes us yearn for our past memories and old-pals. additionally, it will give a little comfort to someone who is exhausted to living in a bitter life, while bringing out dim recollections of the first love from thecorner of their hearts. thsi is the first starting and also, the last ending point of the drama.
the main characters
kang, joonsang [bae, yongjoon]
the son of a pianist, kang mihee. born as a fatherless child. sensitive, cold-hearted personality makes his look even pale and sorrowful. joonsang meets yoojin and sanghyok by destiny while he transfers to jaeil high school in choonchun to look for his father.
lee, minhyong [bae, yongjoon]
a man who is the exact image of joonsang. he is a supervisor of the skiing resort, white, which belong to the 'sewoon group' but he doesn't like to distinguish himself. he, as a representative of the construction company, comes across yoojin by destiny on his renovation project of the skiing resort.
jung, yoojin [cho, jiwoo]
after 10 years of joonsang death, yoojin is running an interior design company named, "polaris" with her colleague and is engaged to sanghyuk. but as soon as she meets chaerin's boyfriend, minhyong, who exactly looks like joonsang, she falls apart discovering the memory of joonsang that she buried in her heart.
kim, sanghyok [park, yongha]
after 10 years of joonsang's death by a car accident, he is happily engaged to yoojin. but uncexpectedly he meets lee minhyong, the supervisor of white skiing resort, whom yoojin is working for. he gets shocked knowing the fact that there is a man who has the same look at joonsang.
oh, chaerin [park, solmi]
a woman with full of groundless confidence and haughtiness. she has ambition and persistence to have everything that she wants no matter what happens. her on and only wound was from joonsang at high school who rejected her love.
let the tour begin. i was in my own winter soap opera land. how exciting. the funny thing is, is that i haven't even seen this show yet. i'm truly a dork. here are some of the highlights from my winter sonata tour.
1. the first scene: the beginning of love-cafe "cheo-um (the first)"
"you've never been in love before, have you?"
the cafe yoojin was in charge of its renovation, where joonsang played the piano and prepared the first dinner for yoojin.
i didn't have any drinks in the cafe but i did take my picture with the cardboard cutout the first night here. hehe
2. scene 2: the walkway between youngpyong condos
the promenade minhyong and yoojin strolled surrounded by snow.
i, too, was surrounded by snow as i walked through it.
3. scene 3: restaurant 'chalet' 'lobby'
the place where minhyong and yoojin had a cup of hot chocolate.
i got a latte here.
4. scene 4: dragon bar
the place where minhyong and yoojin had a cup of tea in a sweet and smooth atmosphere.
i didn't get anything here, just peeked my head in. i'm so retarded.
5. scene 5: the bench near the slope bottom
the place where yoojin and minhyong were just like a part of a beautiful picture.
i, too, was like a part of a beautiful picture as i sat here and watched the skiiers and snowboarders come down the slope.
6. scene 6: dragon plaza
the place where yoojin refused sanghyok's proposal and accepted minhyong's love
this where i browsed through a souvenir shop but didn't buy anything.
7. scene 7: boarding of gondola
the place where yoogin and joonsang confessed their love for each other
seeing that i was walking around in a drama-daze i didn't realize i could actually take the gondola to see scenes 8 and 9. now i have something to do the next time i visit. YEAH!!
that was it for my winter sonata tour. i did manage to stumble upon another souvenir shop near the cafe where i purchased a winter sonata t-shirt. can't wait to wear it.
walking around was really cool. i saw lots of interesting things. it was so beautiful seeing everything covered in snow. there were lots of crazy korean snowmen, igloos, and i even saw a film crew filming something. i'm not really sure what they were working on. i tried my best to become an extra but it didn't work. it was pretty cool watching them though. by now it was time to head back to the van. of course when i got their only "the master" and "dr. no" were there. finally people started to show up but since "j" and "r" were on the lift "the master" gave everyone 20 more minutes. i got stuck going for coffee with "the master" and "dr. no" which turned into my own personal nightmare. "the master" kept asking me if there was anything going on between "j" and myself. even though i told him a million times no he kept saying that they won't interfear if there is. as we walked down the mountain he mentioned that it wasn't fair that i paid the same amount and didn't snowboard. and that i probably wouldn't get any money back. i politely told him that life isn't fair and that i'm not asking for any money back. it would have cost me more had i done this trip alone even without snowboarding so i really didn't care. all through coffee i had to hear "the master" complain, bug me further about "j", and defend "scrappy". i felt so sorry for "dr. no" who looked completely bored. for some apparent reason koreans can't understand that a guy and a girl can just be friends. they automatically think it's some kind of relationship and that was the root of the problem. finally i told "the master" to just drop it. on our way back to the van we ran into "r" and "j". i immediately told "j" about the "coffee talk" with "the master" and how it seems to be a problem that we were friends. the road trip back was pretty much the same except that both "scrappy" and "the master" were doing their best to impress the two korean women. it was so sad. it was like watching school boys. i decidced it was best to put the headphones on and tune it all out. and thats what i did. we did get pulled over by the police but managed to get out of the ticket. mostly likely cuz it was a car full of westerns. we did stop once where we were able to grab some food. i went for the egg toast sandwich. otherwise it was nonstop. the koreans really wanted to get home and i don't blame them. back in ansan it was decided that we were all going out to dinner. i politely told "the master" that i was going home. he tried to convince me to stay saying it was going to be free food. free food or not my apartment was one building away and i wanted out so i left. i stopped at the family mart grabbed myself a beer and went home. it was the best beer ever.
at monday's class "j" was a no show and i had to listen to more of "the masters" rants. he took up the first 30 minutes complaining. i'm not going to go into it all cuz i'm sure my now you guys get it. at point i almost left the class because he just wouldn't shut up. will some people ever learn.
that basically sums up the crazy weekend and monday. for a sport that is suppose to bring people together and help us mentally and phsyically this class does everything but that. hopefully now that "scrappy" will be departing things will get better. we can only hope.
people started awaking around 6:30am. they were eager to get snowboarding. there was some misunderstanding throughout the night and most people thought we weren't getting up until 7:30am. needless to say the morning started off very shakey. the tension from the previous day had found its way into the morning. scrappy was already getting on peoples nerves. it seems that many people couldn't sleep with all the snoring that way happening throughout the night. luckily enough for me i slept through it all. "r' wanted to stay behind and sleep a little more but we found out that we all had to be out of the apartment. that didn't sit well with him. once we all rallied we piled into the van to head off to the slopes. we had to make a stop for "j" and i to rent equipment. this didn't sit well the "master" who made some snide comment about us being on our honeymoon and that it was going to take an hour to rent our stuff. "j" immediately snapped at him and it was at that time that i decided i wasn't going to snowboard. i'd been going back and forth and since my back still hurt and due to all the added chaos i felt that i wanted some alone time away from people. the idea to do my own thing was very appealing. plus i didn't want "tkg" to have to help me out. "j" returned 10 minutes later and we were off. at the slopes it was decided that we'd all meet back at 11:30am to head back. i waited around a bit until "j" and "r" where ready to take off for the slopes. once they were gone i set off on my own little adventure.
a little background on yongpyong ski resort. not only did it almost host the winter olympic games but its also the setting for a popular korean drama called winter sonata which is now very big in japan along with the actor bae, yongjoon. hi, how perfect for me. so i decided to set out and explore what it had to offer. here's a little snippet from my winter sonata tour map about the drama and the characters:
winter sonata - about unchanged love and people
even if he has changed his name and became a different person, his nature always remains unchanged. though the world keeps changing rapidly, there are people in unchangeable love. yoojin, joonsang, and sanghyok, the main characters of teh winter sonata, are one of those people. the story tells about these 3 friends' destined love, at teh same time, it makes us yearn for our past memories and old-pals. additionally, it will give a little comfort to someone who is exhausted to living in a bitter life, while bringing out dim recollections of the first love from thecorner of their hearts. thsi is the first starting and also, the last ending point of the drama.
the main characters
kang, joonsang [bae, yongjoon]
the son of a pianist, kang mihee. born as a fatherless child. sensitive, cold-hearted personality makes his look even pale and sorrowful. joonsang meets yoojin and sanghyok by destiny while he transfers to jaeil high school in choonchun to look for his father.
lee, minhyong [bae, yongjoon]
a man who is the exact image of joonsang. he is a supervisor of the skiing resort, white, which belong to the 'sewoon group' but he doesn't like to distinguish himself. he, as a representative of the construction company, comes across yoojin by destiny on his renovation project of the skiing resort.
jung, yoojin [cho, jiwoo]
after 10 years of joonsang death, yoojin is running an interior design company named, "polaris" with her colleague and is engaged to sanghyuk. but as soon as she meets chaerin's boyfriend, minhyong, who exactly looks like joonsang, she falls apart discovering the memory of joonsang that she buried in her heart.
kim, sanghyok [park, yongha]
after 10 years of joonsang's death by a car accident, he is happily engaged to yoojin. but uncexpectedly he meets lee minhyong, the supervisor of white skiing resort, whom yoojin is working for. he gets shocked knowing the fact that there is a man who has the same look at joonsang.
oh, chaerin [park, solmi]
a woman with full of groundless confidence and haughtiness. she has ambition and persistence to have everything that she wants no matter what happens. her on and only wound was from joonsang at high school who rejected her love.
let the tour begin. i was in my own winter soap opera land. how exciting. the funny thing is, is that i haven't even seen this show yet. i'm truly a dork. here are some of the highlights from my winter sonata tour.
1. the first scene: the beginning of love-cafe "cheo-um (the first)"
"you've never been in love before, have you?"
the cafe yoojin was in charge of its renovation, where joonsang played the piano and prepared the first dinner for yoojin.
i didn't have any drinks in the cafe but i did take my picture with the cardboard cutout the first night here. hehe
2. scene 2: the walkway between youngpyong condos
the promenade minhyong and yoojin strolled surrounded by snow.
i, too, was surrounded by snow as i walked through it.
3. scene 3: restaurant 'chalet' 'lobby'
the place where minhyong and yoojin had a cup of hot chocolate.
i got a latte here.
4. scene 4: dragon bar
the place where minhyong and yoojin had a cup of tea in a sweet and smooth atmosphere.
i didn't get anything here, just peeked my head in. i'm so retarded.
5. scene 5: the bench near the slope bottom
the place where yoojin and minhyong were just like a part of a beautiful picture.
i, too, was like a part of a beautiful picture as i sat here and watched the skiiers and snowboarders come down the slope.
6. scene 6: dragon plaza
the place where yoojin refused sanghyok's proposal and accepted minhyong's love
this where i browsed through a souvenir shop but didn't buy anything.
7. scene 7: boarding of gondola
the place where yoogin and joonsang confessed their love for each other
seeing that i was walking around in a drama-daze i didn't realize i could actually take the gondola to see scenes 8 and 9. now i have something to do the next time i visit. YEAH!!
that was it for my winter sonata tour. i did manage to stumble upon another souvenir shop near the cafe where i purchased a winter sonata t-shirt. can't wait to wear it.
walking around was really cool. i saw lots of interesting things. it was so beautiful seeing everything covered in snow. there were lots of crazy korean snowmen, igloos, and i even saw a film crew filming something. i'm not really sure what they were working on. i tried my best to become an extra but it didn't work. it was pretty cool watching them though. by now it was time to head back to the van. of course when i got their only "the master" and "dr. no" were there. finally people started to show up but since "j" and "r" were on the lift "the master" gave everyone 20 more minutes. i got stuck going for coffee with "the master" and "dr. no" which turned into my own personal nightmare. "the master" kept asking me if there was anything going on between "j" and myself. even though i told him a million times no he kept saying that they won't interfear if there is. as we walked down the mountain he mentioned that it wasn't fair that i paid the same amount and didn't snowboard. and that i probably wouldn't get any money back. i politely told him that life isn't fair and that i'm not asking for any money back. it would have cost me more had i done this trip alone even without snowboarding so i really didn't care. all through coffee i had to hear "the master" complain, bug me further about "j", and defend "scrappy". i felt so sorry for "dr. no" who looked completely bored. for some apparent reason koreans can't understand that a guy and a girl can just be friends. they automatically think it's some kind of relationship and that was the root of the problem. finally i told "the master" to just drop it. on our way back to the van we ran into "r" and "j". i immediately told "j" about the "coffee talk" with "the master" and how it seems to be a problem that we were friends. the road trip back was pretty much the same except that both "scrappy" and "the master" were doing their best to impress the two korean women. it was so sad. it was like watching school boys. i decidced it was best to put the headphones on and tune it all out. and thats what i did. we did get pulled over by the police but managed to get out of the ticket. mostly likely cuz it was a car full of westerns. we did stop once where we were able to grab some food. i went for the egg toast sandwich. otherwise it was nonstop. the koreans really wanted to get home and i don't blame them. back in ansan it was decided that we were all going out to dinner. i politely told "the master" that i was going home. he tried to convince me to stay saying it was going to be free food. free food or not my apartment was one building away and i wanted out so i left. i stopped at the family mart grabbed myself a beer and went home. it was the best beer ever.
at monday's class "j" was a no show and i had to listen to more of "the masters" rants. he took up the first 30 minutes complaining. i'm not going to go into it all cuz i'm sure my now you guys get it. at point i almost left the class because he just wouldn't shut up. will some people ever learn.
that basically sums up the crazy weekend and monday. for a sport that is suppose to bring people together and help us mentally and phsyically this class does everything but that. hopefully now that "scrappy" will be departing things will get better. we can only hope.
Tuesday, February 08, 2005
surprise vistors come to ansan
winter sonata part 2 will just have to wait! an unexpected surprise came to the land of the morning calm in the form of misty, kate, and derek. it was definitely a complete surprise. now the land of the morning calm is anything but calm. it's so GREAT to see them. this is the best new year's ever! for those of you who don't know its the lunar new on feb 9. i'm going to keep this short since they're sitting on my floor as i type this. i still find myself looking over at them and thinking "is it really them". so cool. my friends rock! wanted to send out a little note so you all know i'll still around. here are some pictures of our first two days in korea. there will be more to come and i'll definitely be writing more too. HAPPY NEW YEAR! to all. time to get back to the F.U.N…
p.s. misty is playing blythe doll, kate is sewing d's rabbit hat, and d's doing crunches. it's all good times.
Links
p.s. misty is playing blythe doll, kate is sewing d's rabbit hat, and d's doing crunches. it's all good times.
Saturday, February 05, 2005
winter sonata…part 1
last weekend as most of you know i went on a weekend snowboarding/site seeing trip with my taekwondo class. the trip itself was quite excellent although along with the good times there were quite a few tense moments. on friday night "j" and i decided to get a beer after class. on our way out "the master" couldn't figure out why "j" didn't need a ride to the subway station. we didn't want anyone to know we were going for drinks so she told "the master" that she was going to my house to get something. right there and then we should have been wise to the fact that this would later cause some problem. we went to the wa bar and had a few beers then decided to call it a night since we had to be back at the taekwondo school at 8am on saturday. before i go any further i must backtrack a bit. during class on friday "the master" told us there was a change of plans. since he decided to invite two korean women from the english conversation group he attends and they didn't get off work until 3pm they would be departing separtely. "the master" asked several of us if we wanted to wait and ride with them but no one did. so now we had two departure times. group 1 ["r", "j", scrappy, "s", dr.no, "tkg", and myself] would be leaving at 8am. group 2 ["the master" and the two korean women] would leave at 6:30pm. we all thought it was kind of strange to have two separate groups going especially when "the master" had arranged the whole trip. the whole point of this weekend was to be a group outing and now that changed. its the korean way after all. "the master" feels he must bring more women to induce to the lonely western guys. whatever.
6:30am arrived quite quickly. i felt like i had just gone to bed. i jumped out of bed because i still needed to packed. by 7:30am i was ready to go. needed some cash i went to the atm. however, i should have known living in the "land of the morning calm" that i wouldn't be able to get into any of the buildings that had atms. this is the most ridiculous thing ever. i never had a problem getting cash in the u.s. at any hour. realizing i'd be able to get cash at the resort i stopped my search for cash and tried to find a convience store since i was thirsty. after several failed attempts i finally found one that was open. i got to the school right at 8am. i was the first to arrive. shortly after "r" showed up looking like he'd been out all night and basically he had been. he headed out to get some food and i stayed behind to wait for the others. one by one they started to arrive. when "tkg", who's korean and speaks very little english, arrived he kept asking where "the master" was. it appears that "the master" never informed him of the change of plans. to make matters worse their was no sign of "dr. no" either, the other korean guy. he was actually absent from class on friday because he was sick and we figured he wasn't going. after several phone calls made by "tkg" "dr. no" showed up and the two of them engaged in conversation to which none of us knew what was being said. shortly after we headed down to the van. we basically drove across the streets to an apartment complex to wait for "dr. no". he was coming afterall. most likely to keep "tkg" company since "the master" was coming later. "dr. no" looked like he'd rather be home and i don't blame him but koreans have a way of doing the noble thing when the times comes. finally we were on our way. "tkg" was driving and "dr. no" had shotgun. in the very back was scrappy, then "s", and "j", "r", and i were next.
we weren't even on the road for an hour when scrappy wanted to start drinking. he had brought a half bottle of whiskey and immediately went to town on it. from there it all went down hill. once he was buzzed he would not shut up. this kid runs his mouth so much. it was all "fuckin this, fuckin that", "canada rules", "i need soju". it got to the point where "j", "r", and i went about to throw his ass out of the van. every once in a while he'd settle down and even passed out for a bit which was a pleasant relief. during our travels it snowed quite a bit. it was so cool to be driving along with big snowflakes hitting the window. along the way we stopped at a rest stop to grab some food. we were all hungry. the rest stop was completely packed. it was crazy. there was snow and people everywhere. i will say this though the rest stops are so clean. far better than any i've ever been in the states. we quickly exited and searched for food. "j" and found found a stand where they were selling egg sandwiches. i'd never had one before. let me tell you. it was the best egg sandwich i'd ever had. they grill the bread and then place the egg which has onions and potatos in it and top it off with ham and ketchup. but the best part was the sugar coating on the breadcrust. i was in heaven. of course before leaving we had to wait for scrappy. it seems that he was on a quest for soju. it continued to snow as we drove along. unfortunately scrappy was now at top form. it was soju this, soju that. i've never been more happy to have my walkman with me. i immediately put the headphones on, tuned scrappy out, and got some rest.
i awoke to find ourselves at yet another rest stop. i got out to stretch and watched as a group of kids were having a snowball fight. a couple of times i thought i was going to get caught in the crossfire. i was ready just incase. yet again we had to wait for "scrappy" who was on some kind of mission. could it be a soju mission. as if he really needed to drink anymore. finally he showed up sojuless but he did mangae to buy some gloves. to bad it wasn't a muzzle. so our journey continues. as we were getting off the highway and leaving the toll we got pulled over my the cops. it must have been a sight. two koreans and a call load of westerns. apparently the cops were looking for a criminal who was driving in the same type of van. "r" said we should have given them "scrappy". now we were driving along the coast and you could see the east sea [thats what the koreans call it]. there seems to be some debate between the koreans and japanesse who call it the japanesse sea. will their love/hate relationship ever end. the scenery was quite beautiful. however it was strange to see all the barb wire fence along the beach. since we were so close to the north korean border the beaches are fenced off to prevent refuggees from entering south korea. it ashame because it would have been cool to walk along the beach. i think at some places you are actually allow to enter but they're few and far between. at this time "scrappy" was back to his usual antics. by this time the tension in the van had built up so much. finally "j" explored and told him to shut the fuck up for at least five minutes. this trip wasn't going to be pretty.
finally we arrived at our first destination seoraksan national park. it was beautiful seeing all the snow on the ground and on the mountains. it was going to be great to walk around and get some peace of mind. as we entered the gate to get into the park there were all these snow and ice sculptures. it kind of felt like that scene in "edward scissorhands" where he's making the ice sculpture. it was so peaceful and beautiful. like my own fantasy land with snow. we walked around a bit then went to have lunch. during lunch "scrappy" busted out some soju which he found at one of the stores in the park. oh joy. for lunch i had fried rice that was wrapped by egg and served with gravy. i forget what its called but it was quite good. they also had my new favorite sidedish which is sweet potato noodles and vegetables. so good. after lunch we walked around the park some more. thats when we saw the giant buddha statue [see my photos on snapfish]. there's a link on one of my previous blogs. walking around in the cold and looking at all the snow and wonderful sites made me feel so alive. i forget how much i love snow and the beauty that comes with it. after several photo opps we headed over to catch the cable car to the top of the mountain. the cable car ride was great. i love how it looks like you are going to crash right into the mountain. at the top we started to make our climb to the top. this was when i realized that my big shoes were probably not the best footwear. didn't i learn my lesson when i wore them hiking through the joshua tree. obvioulsy not. it was a challenge i was definitely not look forward to especaily once i realized i had absolutely no traction with them at all. earlier in the day "s" asked me why i wore platforms and now i was questioning it myself. but as all of you know my now its always "fashion first" "practical last". i carefully made my way up the mountain. some patches were definitely easier then others. as i got higher it got icier. i could just imagine the headlines now "western falls to death as he climbs mountain in giant platforms". at one point when i finally got near the top i couldn't even move. the wind was blowing like crazy and i was basically on all fours trying not to fall over. after crawling toward some rock i was able to go a bit higher. the view was amazing. everywhere you looked there were mountains. i could have stayed there forever taking it all in. i was dreading the climb down. getting up was one thing. thankfully once i made it down the mountain there was a railing and rope to hang onto before i reached the path. the climb down was basically me holding onto the railing and sliding down. it was actually quite comical. as we waited for the last cable car "r" bought some cass beer and we had a group drink. it was now time to head off to yongpyong our final destination for the day.
we arrived at yongpong and found our accomodations which was someone's apartment that they rent out. it kind of felt like being at your grandma's house sans furniture. there two bedrooms and on big living room and kitchen. in the corner was a stack of blankets and pillows that would be our bed. nothing like sleeping on the floor. afterall that is korean style. there was something going on with the koreans. "tkg" left to pick up "the master" and the two women. "j" and i decided to walk into town to find some beer. it was about that time. as we were leaving poor "dr. no" was in the kitchen cooking. when we returned from the beer run everyone was there. and of course the food was all gone. although they had ordered a pizza which was on its way. there was a lot of discussion about whether or not there would be snowboarding that night. finally the descion was made and there would be snowboarding. "j" decided she didn't feel like going. she need some away time from "scrappy". seeing that i was extremely tired and my lower back hurt i decided to sit it out too. "the master" told us that if we didn't go rent our stuff that night we wouldn't be able to go tomorrow. this didn't sit well with "j" who let "the master" have it. i stuck with my original plan and stayed behind with "j". "the master" didn't look to happy but whatever. we told them that we'd meet them up at the resort later. its funny because "the master" was absent the whole day and now he was trying to control everything. whatever happened to our two hours of freetime. it didn't. i knew that if i didn't get some down time away from "scrappy" that i was going to say something i'd probably regret. "j" and i spent the next couple of hours chatting and drinking beer. it was so relaxing and nice. it was like all the tension had gotten up and disappeared. besides being at seoraksan national park this was the next best thing. after we finished our beer "j" and i set out to catch a cab and head to the resort. as soon as we hit the street a cab showed up. we jumped in and off we were.
when we got to yongpyong ski resort we realized that this was the same resort where they filmed the very popular "winter sonata" drama. how happy was i to be here. apparently this drama is very big in japan right now and has made the actor bae, yongjoon very popular both in korea and in japan. as we were walking around we found a cardboard cutout of bae, yongjoon and the actress from "winter sonata". of course we had to stop and take a picture with them. we found the slopes and watched for the members of our gang coming down the slope. i was amazed to see so many people still out skiing and snowboarding. "j" and i were definitely a site as we stood on the edge of the sloop. she had on her black coat with fur hood and i had my white coat on. it was then that i came up with the names "the raven and albino". which are now our ninja names. eventually we found everyone. "the master" asked us if we had gotten married and were on our honeymoon. seriously i'm not sure where he gets this stuff. "j" and i laughed and said yes thats exactly what we did. after everyone cleaned off their boards we piled into the van and headed into town for some beers. we found a nice cozy bar and settled ourselves in with beer and food. at point "j" and i realized we could be invisible since "the master" was sitting with his back to us and no one else was saying anything. however, that didn't stop us from having fun. "j" kept trying to scope out the table of guys sitting next to us. at one point they made idle chitchat but it didn't last long since he didn't know much english. at least she tried. when the pitchers were done we headed back to the apartment since we had an early day ahead of us. it was decided that we'd leave for the resort at 8am. after realizing that all three girls weren't going to fit in the same room "j" decided to sleep out in the big room with "r", "scrapp", "s", "tkg", and myself. since "j" had a fold out mat we decided to share it. i'm sure that peeked "the masters" curiosity even more. day one was now over…
6:30am arrived quite quickly. i felt like i had just gone to bed. i jumped out of bed because i still needed to packed. by 7:30am i was ready to go. needed some cash i went to the atm. however, i should have known living in the "land of the morning calm" that i wouldn't be able to get into any of the buildings that had atms. this is the most ridiculous thing ever. i never had a problem getting cash in the u.s. at any hour. realizing i'd be able to get cash at the resort i stopped my search for cash and tried to find a convience store since i was thirsty. after several failed attempts i finally found one that was open. i got to the school right at 8am. i was the first to arrive. shortly after "r" showed up looking like he'd been out all night and basically he had been. he headed out to get some food and i stayed behind to wait for the others. one by one they started to arrive. when "tkg", who's korean and speaks very little english, arrived he kept asking where "the master" was. it appears that "the master" never informed him of the change of plans. to make matters worse their was no sign of "dr. no" either, the other korean guy. he was actually absent from class on friday because he was sick and we figured he wasn't going. after several phone calls made by "tkg" "dr. no" showed up and the two of them engaged in conversation to which none of us knew what was being said. shortly after we headed down to the van. we basically drove across the streets to an apartment complex to wait for "dr. no". he was coming afterall. most likely to keep "tkg" company since "the master" was coming later. "dr. no" looked like he'd rather be home and i don't blame him but koreans have a way of doing the noble thing when the times comes. finally we were on our way. "tkg" was driving and "dr. no" had shotgun. in the very back was scrappy, then "s", and "j", "r", and i were next.
we weren't even on the road for an hour when scrappy wanted to start drinking. he had brought a half bottle of whiskey and immediately went to town on it. from there it all went down hill. once he was buzzed he would not shut up. this kid runs his mouth so much. it was all "fuckin this, fuckin that", "canada rules", "i need soju". it got to the point where "j", "r", and i went about to throw his ass out of the van. every once in a while he'd settle down and even passed out for a bit which was a pleasant relief. during our travels it snowed quite a bit. it was so cool to be driving along with big snowflakes hitting the window. along the way we stopped at a rest stop to grab some food. we were all hungry. the rest stop was completely packed. it was crazy. there was snow and people everywhere. i will say this though the rest stops are so clean. far better than any i've ever been in the states. we quickly exited and searched for food. "j" and found found a stand where they were selling egg sandwiches. i'd never had one before. let me tell you. it was the best egg sandwich i'd ever had. they grill the bread and then place the egg which has onions and potatos in it and top it off with ham and ketchup. but the best part was the sugar coating on the breadcrust. i was in heaven. of course before leaving we had to wait for scrappy. it seems that he was on a quest for soju. it continued to snow as we drove along. unfortunately scrappy was now at top form. it was soju this, soju that. i've never been more happy to have my walkman with me. i immediately put the headphones on, tuned scrappy out, and got some rest.
i awoke to find ourselves at yet another rest stop. i got out to stretch and watched as a group of kids were having a snowball fight. a couple of times i thought i was going to get caught in the crossfire. i was ready just incase. yet again we had to wait for "scrappy" who was on some kind of mission. could it be a soju mission. as if he really needed to drink anymore. finally he showed up sojuless but he did mangae to buy some gloves. to bad it wasn't a muzzle. so our journey continues. as we were getting off the highway and leaving the toll we got pulled over my the cops. it must have been a sight. two koreans and a call load of westerns. apparently the cops were looking for a criminal who was driving in the same type of van. "r" said we should have given them "scrappy". now we were driving along the coast and you could see the east sea [thats what the koreans call it]. there seems to be some debate between the koreans and japanesse who call it the japanesse sea. will their love/hate relationship ever end. the scenery was quite beautiful. however it was strange to see all the barb wire fence along the beach. since we were so close to the north korean border the beaches are fenced off to prevent refuggees from entering south korea. it ashame because it would have been cool to walk along the beach. i think at some places you are actually allow to enter but they're few and far between. at this time "scrappy" was back to his usual antics. by this time the tension in the van had built up so much. finally "j" explored and told him to shut the fuck up for at least five minutes. this trip wasn't going to be pretty.
finally we arrived at our first destination seoraksan national park. it was beautiful seeing all the snow on the ground and on the mountains. it was going to be great to walk around and get some peace of mind. as we entered the gate to get into the park there were all these snow and ice sculptures. it kind of felt like that scene in "edward scissorhands" where he's making the ice sculpture. it was so peaceful and beautiful. like my own fantasy land with snow. we walked around a bit then went to have lunch. during lunch "scrappy" busted out some soju which he found at one of the stores in the park. oh joy. for lunch i had fried rice that was wrapped by egg and served with gravy. i forget what its called but it was quite good. they also had my new favorite sidedish which is sweet potato noodles and vegetables. so good. after lunch we walked around the park some more. thats when we saw the giant buddha statue [see my photos on snapfish]. there's a link on one of my previous blogs. walking around in the cold and looking at all the snow and wonderful sites made me feel so alive. i forget how much i love snow and the beauty that comes with it. after several photo opps we headed over to catch the cable car to the top of the mountain. the cable car ride was great. i love how it looks like you are going to crash right into the mountain. at the top we started to make our climb to the top. this was when i realized that my big shoes were probably not the best footwear. didn't i learn my lesson when i wore them hiking through the joshua tree. obvioulsy not. it was a challenge i was definitely not look forward to especaily once i realized i had absolutely no traction with them at all. earlier in the day "s" asked me why i wore platforms and now i was questioning it myself. but as all of you know my now its always "fashion first" "practical last". i carefully made my way up the mountain. some patches were definitely easier then others. as i got higher it got icier. i could just imagine the headlines now "western falls to death as he climbs mountain in giant platforms". at one point when i finally got near the top i couldn't even move. the wind was blowing like crazy and i was basically on all fours trying not to fall over. after crawling toward some rock i was able to go a bit higher. the view was amazing. everywhere you looked there were mountains. i could have stayed there forever taking it all in. i was dreading the climb down. getting up was one thing. thankfully once i made it down the mountain there was a railing and rope to hang onto before i reached the path. the climb down was basically me holding onto the railing and sliding down. it was actually quite comical. as we waited for the last cable car "r" bought some cass beer and we had a group drink. it was now time to head off to yongpyong our final destination for the day.
we arrived at yongpong and found our accomodations which was someone's apartment that they rent out. it kind of felt like being at your grandma's house sans furniture. there two bedrooms and on big living room and kitchen. in the corner was a stack of blankets and pillows that would be our bed. nothing like sleeping on the floor. afterall that is korean style. there was something going on with the koreans. "tkg" left to pick up "the master" and the two women. "j" and i decided to walk into town to find some beer. it was about that time. as we were leaving poor "dr. no" was in the kitchen cooking. when we returned from the beer run everyone was there. and of course the food was all gone. although they had ordered a pizza which was on its way. there was a lot of discussion about whether or not there would be snowboarding that night. finally the descion was made and there would be snowboarding. "j" decided she didn't feel like going. she need some away time from "scrappy". seeing that i was extremely tired and my lower back hurt i decided to sit it out too. "the master" told us that if we didn't go rent our stuff that night we wouldn't be able to go tomorrow. this didn't sit well with "j" who let "the master" have it. i stuck with my original plan and stayed behind with "j". "the master" didn't look to happy but whatever. we told them that we'd meet them up at the resort later. its funny because "the master" was absent the whole day and now he was trying to control everything. whatever happened to our two hours of freetime. it didn't. i knew that if i didn't get some down time away from "scrappy" that i was going to say something i'd probably regret. "j" and i spent the next couple of hours chatting and drinking beer. it was so relaxing and nice. it was like all the tension had gotten up and disappeared. besides being at seoraksan national park this was the next best thing. after we finished our beer "j" and i set out to catch a cab and head to the resort. as soon as we hit the street a cab showed up. we jumped in and off we were.
when we got to yongpyong ski resort we realized that this was the same resort where they filmed the very popular "winter sonata" drama. how happy was i to be here. apparently this drama is very big in japan right now and has made the actor bae, yongjoon very popular both in korea and in japan. as we were walking around we found a cardboard cutout of bae, yongjoon and the actress from "winter sonata". of course we had to stop and take a picture with them. we found the slopes and watched for the members of our gang coming down the slope. i was amazed to see so many people still out skiing and snowboarding. "j" and i were definitely a site as we stood on the edge of the sloop. she had on her black coat with fur hood and i had my white coat on. it was then that i came up with the names "the raven and albino". which are now our ninja names. eventually we found everyone. "the master" asked us if we had gotten married and were on our honeymoon. seriously i'm not sure where he gets this stuff. "j" and i laughed and said yes thats exactly what we did. after everyone cleaned off their boards we piled into the van and headed into town for some beers. we found a nice cozy bar and settled ourselves in with beer and food. at point "j" and i realized we could be invisible since "the master" was sitting with his back to us and no one else was saying anything. however, that didn't stop us from having fun. "j" kept trying to scope out the table of guys sitting next to us. at one point they made idle chitchat but it didn't last long since he didn't know much english. at least she tried. when the pitchers were done we headed back to the apartment since we had an early day ahead of us. it was decided that we'd leave for the resort at 8am. after realizing that all three girls weren't going to fit in the same room "j" decided to sleep out in the big room with "r", "scrapp", "s", "tkg", and myself. since "j" had a fold out mat we decided to share it. i'm sure that peeked "the masters" curiosity even more. day one was now over…
Wednesday, February 02, 2005
disappointed
here's a song by morrissey which basically sums up my feelings today:
Our unsleepable friend
Gets the message on an ill wind
"All your friends and your foes
Would rather die than have to touch you"
TO SAY THE LEAST: I'm truly disappointed
Truly, truly, truly, oh...
Drank too much
And I said too much
And there's nowhere to go - but Down
Young boy - I wanna help you
SEE THESE LINES ? : Truly disappointed
Truly, truly, truly, oh...
Don't talk to me, no
About people who are "nice"
'Cause I have spent my WHOLE LIFE
in RUINS
Because of people who are "nice"
Oh, this world may lack Style, I know
Each bud must blossom and grow, oh...
Young girl, one day you will be old
But the thing is, I love you NOW
Mmm ...
This is the last song I will ever sing (Yeah!)
No: I've changed my mind again (Aaw...)
GOODNIGHT
AND THANKYOU
not really sure if its being in another country or i'm just overly sensitive these days but yesterday something happened which pissed me off. right before my last class teacher "a" asked if i wanted to join her and "c" for dinner. i mentioned that i had class and she responded by saying i should join them after. when i said that class was done at 10:30 she gave a look like "oh we won't be out that late." at first i thought it was just going to the two of them then i found out that all of the teachers and jk were going. i asked why tonight and she told me that her and "c" had a talk with jk about his wife jane and he decided to take everyone out. i asked if if could be done on a different day and the response i got was "thursday is enough time to relax and fridays are too crazy". not sure what that means but whatever. as i sat in class this started to bother me. in the past we always made sure that everyone could attend when a group dinner is planned. normally i wouldn't mind taking off from taekwondo but since i'm not going friday i didn't want to miss two classes. another part of me is tired of always changing my plans for the needs of others. a few weeks ago we were all suppose to go out for "c's" birthday but since jane was coming "a" and "c" decided they didn't want to. for some reason they have a problem with jane who just so happens to be the boss. they feel that when jane is there they can't let loose, which means get completely drunk. its like i'm back in high school or something. i'm not sure why everyone can't enjoy a simple dinner out. does alcohol always have to be involved. obviously yes. needless to say i didn't go. someone even had the nerve to tell me that i had an hour and half before class which wasn't true. school is over at 8pm, i have class at 9pm. not sure where the extra half hour comes in. plus doing taekwondo after eating a huge meal is not my ideal. i think the thing that bothers me most is that that didn't even ask if i was free. it was more like we are going to dinner. oh, you can't join us well met us afterwards. of course with both "c" and "a" saying that did i ever receive a call later in the evening. no. like i said, i'm not sure why this is bothering me. when the whole incident with not wanting to go out with jane happened i thought it was completely rude. this woman is our boss. and now i kind of feel like they did it to me. i'm starting to realize that some people really only care about themselves and in that sense i feel very disappointed. disappointed with human behavior. sure there are times when you want to do your own thing or need your own space but if you're planning a group function make sure everyone can attend. i think last weekends outing is still sitting with me. which was filled with both good times and very tense moments. i write more about that later. anyway, i fill like i'm rambling on and on with no clear focus. perhaps i'll look back at this entry and think how foolish i was. but in the meantime it feels good to just get it out there. could't we all just get along…at least for one evening. is that too much too ask.
Our unsleepable friend
Gets the message on an ill wind
"All your friends and your foes
Would rather die than have to touch you"
TO SAY THE LEAST: I'm truly disappointed
Truly, truly, truly, oh...
Drank too much
And I said too much
And there's nowhere to go - but Down
Young boy - I wanna help you
SEE THESE LINES ? : Truly disappointed
Truly, truly, truly, oh...
Don't talk to me, no
About people who are "nice"
'Cause I have spent my WHOLE LIFE
in RUINS
Because of people who are "nice"
Oh, this world may lack Style, I know
Each bud must blossom and grow, oh...
Young girl, one day you will be old
But the thing is, I love you NOW
Mmm ...
This is the last song I will ever sing (Yeah!)
No: I've changed my mind again (Aaw...)
GOODNIGHT
AND THANKYOU
not really sure if its being in another country or i'm just overly sensitive these days but yesterday something happened which pissed me off. right before my last class teacher "a" asked if i wanted to join her and "c" for dinner. i mentioned that i had class and she responded by saying i should join them after. when i said that class was done at 10:30 she gave a look like "oh we won't be out that late." at first i thought it was just going to the two of them then i found out that all of the teachers and jk were going. i asked why tonight and she told me that her and "c" had a talk with jk about his wife jane and he decided to take everyone out. i asked if if could be done on a different day and the response i got was "thursday is enough time to relax and fridays are too crazy". not sure what that means but whatever. as i sat in class this started to bother me. in the past we always made sure that everyone could attend when a group dinner is planned. normally i wouldn't mind taking off from taekwondo but since i'm not going friday i didn't want to miss two classes. another part of me is tired of always changing my plans for the needs of others. a few weeks ago we were all suppose to go out for "c's" birthday but since jane was coming "a" and "c" decided they didn't want to. for some reason they have a problem with jane who just so happens to be the boss. they feel that when jane is there they can't let loose, which means get completely drunk. its like i'm back in high school or something. i'm not sure why everyone can't enjoy a simple dinner out. does alcohol always have to be involved. obviously yes. needless to say i didn't go. someone even had the nerve to tell me that i had an hour and half before class which wasn't true. school is over at 8pm, i have class at 9pm. not sure where the extra half hour comes in. plus doing taekwondo after eating a huge meal is not my ideal. i think the thing that bothers me most is that that didn't even ask if i was free. it was more like we are going to dinner. oh, you can't join us well met us afterwards. of course with both "c" and "a" saying that did i ever receive a call later in the evening. no. like i said, i'm not sure why this is bothering me. when the whole incident with not wanting to go out with jane happened i thought it was completely rude. this woman is our boss. and now i kind of feel like they did it to me. i'm starting to realize that some people really only care about themselves and in that sense i feel very disappointed. disappointed with human behavior. sure there are times when you want to do your own thing or need your own space but if you're planning a group function make sure everyone can attend. i think last weekends outing is still sitting with me. which was filled with both good times and very tense moments. i write more about that later. anyway, i fill like i'm rambling on and on with no clear focus. perhaps i'll look back at this entry and think how foolish i was. but in the meantime it feels good to just get it out there. could't we all just get along…at least for one evening. is that too much too ask.
Tuesday, February 01, 2005
the final chapter: my christmas vacation by jethan
day 7 [new years eve]
i awoke this morning with a feeling of sadness. not only was it new year's eve but it was also the last night at sea view resort, koh chang island. we started the morning off the same as usual with breakfast at the hotel. as i looked around i realized that this was going to be the last time i saw all these familiar faces. we spent the day relaxing in the sunshine. as i sat in my lounge chair staring off into the water i couldn't help but think how relaxing this trip was. a part of me didn't want to leave. if only we could have a few more days. unfortunately thats not meant to be and before long i'd be back in the cold making my way to school. i did a lot of swimming today. frolicing around like a little fish. playing with seaweed and sand until i got bored. for lunch we strolled down the beach and went to one of the nearby resturants. i had a coconut milkshake which was out of this world. so delicious. i don't think there's been one meal here that i didn't enjoy. after lunch we went back to the beach for some more r&r. i decided i wanted to try to get one last massage or something in so i went up to the spa. unfortunately there weren't any massages available for the day so i opted for a petticure. why not. at least i'd get my feet massaged. my appointment wasn't until 6:30 so i went to the pool and had a beer, watched the sunset, and took a final swim in the pool. the pool water was icy cold but refreshing.around 6pm i went back to the room to shower and start organizing my stuff. i didn't want to have to do it in the morning. the petticure was quite interesting to say the least. all the ladies kept talking about me although i wasn't quite sure what they were saying. i just sat and smiled. at least two of them were trannies. i love that they have trannies working at the resort. it felt like being in san francisco. the foot massage part felt really good but then she dipped my foot into hot wax. that was quite interesting. but in the end it felt really good and my feet were rejuveniated. as i was leaving the spa they asked if i was going to the big party and i said yes. our hotel was putting on a big event for new years. i meet horace and vickie back at the room and we made our way down to the party. as we entered they gave us each a flower to wear. there was tons of food and our table was right in front of the stage. throughout the night they had a lot of different events planned: singers, dancers, and games. overall of it was kind of cheesey but i was enjoying myself. i felt bad for them though because it seemed that after people ate they left. at one point the announcer looked out and said "where are the people. i thought we were going to stay until the new year". of course the quilt set in and i felt like i had to stay. horace wanted to leave but we stayed for a little longer. vickie and i had to participate in one of the games. we had to dance around a piece of newspaper and when the music stopped we had to jump on the newspaper and stay there for a minute. after every time they folded the paper smaller and smaller. we didn't win but we weren't the first ones disqualified which i'm happy about that. a little later there was another game and since there weren't many people left vickie and i had to play again. this time it was musical chairs. there were a lot of little kids for this games so we decided it would be best to throw the game. although i know i couldn't have beat them. at this point horace said he was going up to the room and he left. vickie and i sat around a little longer. then the mc said that there was going to be dancing. vickie and i looked at each other and realized it was time to make our escape. i've already played two games and knew that we'd get picked for dancing and i didn't feel like doing that. we quickly bolted and went back to the room to get horace and head over to the porn bar. horace decided he was going to stay in so vickie and i left for the porn bar. the porn bar was packed with people. there were people dancing on the beach, fireworks, and even people doing fire dancing. it was all very cool. it was such a great way to ring in the new year. we had a quite a few drinks there and were enjoying everything. we even ran into a few of the hotel staff getting their grove on at the porn bar. it was a very festive. finally around 2am we headed back to the hotel. before going up to the room we sat on the beach just looking out at the water. it was a great ending to a great trip.
day 8 + 9 [back to bangkok and home]
we had our final breakfast at sea view this morning. sadness. after we were packed we went back to the hotel to await our taxi to the ferry station. while waiting we saw a monkey in the trees. how cute was that. the rest of the day was spent traveling by ferry, then we got on a bus and went back to bangkok. the shuttle van was packed and we made about three stops along the way. once in bangkok we took a taxi to our hotel, freshened up a bit and then went back to the main shopping market. we spent the rest of the evening buying up everything we possible could. back at the hotel they didn't have an extra bed for us so they gave us two rooms instead. the next morning we got up earlier, had breakfast then went off to the airport. our vacation was now over. we got back to korea where horace and i boarded a bus for ansan and vickie boarded a bus that would take her back to her place. it was on the ansan bound bus that i would later forget and lose most of my purchases. oh well. such is life i guess. at least i was back in korea and was safe. i mean afterall it could have been a lot worse, especially if we had gone to the phucket where the tsumani hit. i look forward to my next trip to thailand which i'll definitely do. i feel like i didn't get to see much of bangkok and would definitely like too. perhaps i'll return next year.
i awoke this morning with a feeling of sadness. not only was it new year's eve but it was also the last night at sea view resort, koh chang island. we started the morning off the same as usual with breakfast at the hotel. as i looked around i realized that this was going to be the last time i saw all these familiar faces. we spent the day relaxing in the sunshine. as i sat in my lounge chair staring off into the water i couldn't help but think how relaxing this trip was. a part of me didn't want to leave. if only we could have a few more days. unfortunately thats not meant to be and before long i'd be back in the cold making my way to school. i did a lot of swimming today. frolicing around like a little fish. playing with seaweed and sand until i got bored. for lunch we strolled down the beach and went to one of the nearby resturants. i had a coconut milkshake which was out of this world. so delicious. i don't think there's been one meal here that i didn't enjoy. after lunch we went back to the beach for some more r&r. i decided i wanted to try to get one last massage or something in so i went up to the spa. unfortunately there weren't any massages available for the day so i opted for a petticure. why not. at least i'd get my feet massaged. my appointment wasn't until 6:30 so i went to the pool and had a beer, watched the sunset, and took a final swim in the pool. the pool water was icy cold but refreshing.around 6pm i went back to the room to shower and start organizing my stuff. i didn't want to have to do it in the morning. the petticure was quite interesting to say the least. all the ladies kept talking about me although i wasn't quite sure what they were saying. i just sat and smiled. at least two of them were trannies. i love that they have trannies working at the resort. it felt like being in san francisco. the foot massage part felt really good but then she dipped my foot into hot wax. that was quite interesting. but in the end it felt really good and my feet were rejuveniated. as i was leaving the spa they asked if i was going to the big party and i said yes. our hotel was putting on a big event for new years. i meet horace and vickie back at the room and we made our way down to the party. as we entered they gave us each a flower to wear. there was tons of food and our table was right in front of the stage. throughout the night they had a lot of different events planned: singers, dancers, and games. overall of it was kind of cheesey but i was enjoying myself. i felt bad for them though because it seemed that after people ate they left. at one point the announcer looked out and said "where are the people. i thought we were going to stay until the new year". of course the quilt set in and i felt like i had to stay. horace wanted to leave but we stayed for a little longer. vickie and i had to participate in one of the games. we had to dance around a piece of newspaper and when the music stopped we had to jump on the newspaper and stay there for a minute. after every time they folded the paper smaller and smaller. we didn't win but we weren't the first ones disqualified which i'm happy about that. a little later there was another game and since there weren't many people left vickie and i had to play again. this time it was musical chairs. there were a lot of little kids for this games so we decided it would be best to throw the game. although i know i couldn't have beat them. at this point horace said he was going up to the room and he left. vickie and i sat around a little longer. then the mc said that there was going to be dancing. vickie and i looked at each other and realized it was time to make our escape. i've already played two games and knew that we'd get picked for dancing and i didn't feel like doing that. we quickly bolted and went back to the room to get horace and head over to the porn bar. horace decided he was going to stay in so vickie and i left for the porn bar. the porn bar was packed with people. there were people dancing on the beach, fireworks, and even people doing fire dancing. it was all very cool. it was such a great way to ring in the new year. we had a quite a few drinks there and were enjoying everything. we even ran into a few of the hotel staff getting their grove on at the porn bar. it was a very festive. finally around 2am we headed back to the hotel. before going up to the room we sat on the beach just looking out at the water. it was a great ending to a great trip.
day 8 + 9 [back to bangkok and home]
we had our final breakfast at sea view this morning. sadness. after we were packed we went back to the hotel to await our taxi to the ferry station. while waiting we saw a monkey in the trees. how cute was that. the rest of the day was spent traveling by ferry, then we got on a bus and went back to bangkok. the shuttle van was packed and we made about three stops along the way. once in bangkok we took a taxi to our hotel, freshened up a bit and then went back to the main shopping market. we spent the rest of the evening buying up everything we possible could. back at the hotel they didn't have an extra bed for us so they gave us two rooms instead. the next morning we got up earlier, had breakfast then went off to the airport. our vacation was now over. we got back to korea where horace and i boarded a bus for ansan and vickie boarded a bus that would take her back to her place. it was on the ansan bound bus that i would later forget and lose most of my purchases. oh well. such is life i guess. at least i was back in korea and was safe. i mean afterall it could have been a lot worse, especially if we had gone to the phucket where the tsumani hit. i look forward to my next trip to thailand which i'll definitely do. i feel like i didn't get to see much of bangkok and would definitely like too. perhaps i'll return next year.
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