deary diary–
well its official…i quit my taekwondo class last night. i probably should have done it from day one since "the master" was always such an ass. but as i got to be friendlier with the others in class it kept me going. now that both "j" and "r" were kicked out and "h" isn't coming back the class just isn't the same. i went on monday after a 3 week asbsence due to my injury. the class itself was all right. its finally getting some structure to it but it's about 6 months too late. on tuesday i went with my boss to meet a new taekwondo instructor. i'm not a 100% sure but i think he's alot younger than me. which should be interesting. oh, and i don't think he speaks any english. if he does its very little. he's a little concerned about me being in a class with all 6th graders and not knowing much korean. my boss told him that i can relate to children and i'm not worried about the language difference. if anything i'm hoping it will help motivate me. i'm a little nervous about starting anew. i keep imagining myself getting my ass kicked by little kids. it should be exciting. i did get a good feeling from the institute and the instructor. the only downfall is that i'll now be going 5 days a week. yikes. i hope i can do it. at least it will make the week go by much faster. so i broke the news my old master on wednesday via phone. i thought i was going to tell him exactly what i thought of him and the class. as i spoke to him though i started to realize he only hears what he wants to so i sort of backed down. i basically told him that i didn't like how the class was operated in the past and that i felt with all the recent changes it was best that i take a break. of course he said he didn't understand and that it wasn't a good reason. i tried to explain it again is simpler terms but still he didn't get it. he told me he felt quilty which he should since he's the reason. and then there's the annoying one who told on "j". i just couldn't stand being there anymore and i really didn't feel motivated anymore. i'm actually quite excited about this new class. hopefully it will respark my interest. and lets hope i don't get too embarassed in front of all the kids. its definitely going to be interesting. wish me luck. my first class starts on monday.
be well…
Wednesday, April 27, 2005
Tuesday, April 26, 2005
sauna how i love the…
dear diary–
last night i finally went to a korean sauna. after 7 months of the sauna's neon lights beaming through my windows i got the nerve to get naked and go in. jenny and her friend sara are staying with me for a couple of days before they head off travelling. after they got settled in jenny wanted to go to the sauna. seeing that i've never been she insisted that i must go. there's a dry part of the sauna where its men and women and clothes must be worn and then the wet sauna where its broken down into different sexes and you're naked. i figured what the hell. at least i could experience part of it with someone else. around 10:45 we headed off to the sauna. the cost was a big whopping 7,000 won [about u.s. $7]. after paying the lady behind the counter gave me an orange towel, tan shorts, a white t-shirt, and a receipt. i was really going to do this. this was actually a big deal for me cuz i hate, and let me stress hate, being naked in front of others. i think its the shyness in me. anyway with clothes in hand i made a plan with jenny and sara to meet in the mixed part of the sauna. before entering i had to remove my shoes and place them in a locker. from there i walked to the counter and gave the man my receipt who in return gave me a key for yet another locker. now that i was wearing my highly fashionable sauna outfit i went looking for the mixed area. one would think it would be fairly easy but with all the signs in korean you really don't know where you're going to end up. walking around the locker room area i found the wet sauna part which i wasn't quite ready to do yet. besides i had to meet the girls. turning around and going back i saw some stairs going down. bingo!! i was now in the co-ed section and a few minutes later jenny and sara emerged. its so strange to see so many people there. some were simply in there sauna outfits watching tv, chatting with one another, or giving each other massages. its amazing how open the korean culture is in some aspects. in america you would never see two straight guys giving each other a massage in a sauna. the korean men are quite different and very affectionate with one other. the women too. our first stop was this igloo shaped oven. and yes when i say oven i mean oven. upon first entering i thought i had entered hell. it was so freakin hot. it took me two seconds before i was completely drenched. at one point it felt like my hair had turned to straw and was on fire. crazy hot i tell you. we stayed a few minutes and then went into a much cooler room. here we laid on burlap sacks and just zoned out. after we were done with this room we decided to see what else was around. this place is huge. it just goes to show how much saunas are a part of there lifestyle. like i said this first section we were in had the oven-hell igloo, the other florida-summer room, and a big open space for people to watch tv and lay around or talk. as we walked down the hall there was a computer station, a childrens playroom, and a gym. yes there is a gym in the sauna. surprisingly enough its stocked pretty well. as you go down another corrider there are all these leather lounge chairs that you put money into and it does something. i don't know what but next time i'll try it. in the last area there was a restaurant, a bunch of cubbies to sleep in [yes you can spend the next if you want], and a handful of other sauna rooms. we decided to hit one more room before going our separate ways. of course they picked the 76C room which felt just as hot as the hell room and had a woody smell to it. we stayed for a bit then it was time to hit the wet sauna. we decided to meet out front at 12:30 which gave us an hour. jenny was afraid i was going to hate it. as i made my way up the stairs i wasn't sure if i'd be able to do this. before entering the wet sauna i was sitting on a bench placing the key around my foot. thats when i heard "hello". i turned around and a korean man was approaching me. he sat down besided me [yes he was naked, i was still clothed] and asked if i was american. then came the am i single question. followed by the how long will i be in korea. and lets not forget the what do you think of korea. and then the bombshell question "am i religious". to which i answered no. at this point he patted me on the shoulder and told me that jesus christ loves me. and then we said our goodbyes. now it was time to shed my clothes and head through the glass doors into the wet sauna area. inside there were 4 different jacuzzis, 4 more sauna room [one had a mister and another was a salt room], two cold milky green baths, numerous showers, and a man who would scrub you down for a fee. oh, there were also these marble slabs under red lights that you could lay under. needless to say i tried everything except the scrub. he came by and asked if i wanted one but i didn't have any money so i said no. there weren't that many people in the wet sauna part. i think the most in the room at one time were five. it was like i had the place to my self. jumping from hot jacuzzui to cold bath. running into the hot saunas then getting under the cold shower. jumping back into the jacuzzi and then laying under the red lights. it was so relaxing. i could have stayed on that marble slab forever. when i looked at the clock i noticed it was time to go. i showered off and made my way back to the lockers. can i just say that they have everything on needs. shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, wash clothe, gel, combs, hairdryers, q-tips, etc. all this and no time limit for 7,000 won. never would you find that in america. i can't believe it took me this long to finally go to one. i must thank jenny for taking me. and now i feel it will become a part of my regular routine. i felt so relaxed afterwards and had the best sleep ever. even now i still feel calm and relaxed. love the sauna. gonna get the scrub next time.
be well…
last night i finally went to a korean sauna. after 7 months of the sauna's neon lights beaming through my windows i got the nerve to get naked and go in. jenny and her friend sara are staying with me for a couple of days before they head off travelling. after they got settled in jenny wanted to go to the sauna. seeing that i've never been she insisted that i must go. there's a dry part of the sauna where its men and women and clothes must be worn and then the wet sauna where its broken down into different sexes and you're naked. i figured what the hell. at least i could experience part of it with someone else. around 10:45 we headed off to the sauna. the cost was a big whopping 7,000 won [about u.s. $7]. after paying the lady behind the counter gave me an orange towel, tan shorts, a white t-shirt, and a receipt. i was really going to do this. this was actually a big deal for me cuz i hate, and let me stress hate, being naked in front of others. i think its the shyness in me. anyway with clothes in hand i made a plan with jenny and sara to meet in the mixed part of the sauna. before entering i had to remove my shoes and place them in a locker. from there i walked to the counter and gave the man my receipt who in return gave me a key for yet another locker. now that i was wearing my highly fashionable sauna outfit i went looking for the mixed area. one would think it would be fairly easy but with all the signs in korean you really don't know where you're going to end up. walking around the locker room area i found the wet sauna part which i wasn't quite ready to do yet. besides i had to meet the girls. turning around and going back i saw some stairs going down. bingo!! i was now in the co-ed section and a few minutes later jenny and sara emerged. its so strange to see so many people there. some were simply in there sauna outfits watching tv, chatting with one another, or giving each other massages. its amazing how open the korean culture is in some aspects. in america you would never see two straight guys giving each other a massage in a sauna. the korean men are quite different and very affectionate with one other. the women too. our first stop was this igloo shaped oven. and yes when i say oven i mean oven. upon first entering i thought i had entered hell. it was so freakin hot. it took me two seconds before i was completely drenched. at one point it felt like my hair had turned to straw and was on fire. crazy hot i tell you. we stayed a few minutes and then went into a much cooler room. here we laid on burlap sacks and just zoned out. after we were done with this room we decided to see what else was around. this place is huge. it just goes to show how much saunas are a part of there lifestyle. like i said this first section we were in had the oven-hell igloo, the other florida-summer room, and a big open space for people to watch tv and lay around or talk. as we walked down the hall there was a computer station, a childrens playroom, and a gym. yes there is a gym in the sauna. surprisingly enough its stocked pretty well. as you go down another corrider there are all these leather lounge chairs that you put money into and it does something. i don't know what but next time i'll try it. in the last area there was a restaurant, a bunch of cubbies to sleep in [yes you can spend the next if you want], and a handful of other sauna rooms. we decided to hit one more room before going our separate ways. of course they picked the 76C room which felt just as hot as the hell room and had a woody smell to it. we stayed for a bit then it was time to hit the wet sauna. we decided to meet out front at 12:30 which gave us an hour. jenny was afraid i was going to hate it. as i made my way up the stairs i wasn't sure if i'd be able to do this. before entering the wet sauna i was sitting on a bench placing the key around my foot. thats when i heard "hello". i turned around and a korean man was approaching me. he sat down besided me [yes he was naked, i was still clothed] and asked if i was american. then came the am i single question. followed by the how long will i be in korea. and lets not forget the what do you think of korea. and then the bombshell question "am i religious". to which i answered no. at this point he patted me on the shoulder and told me that jesus christ loves me. and then we said our goodbyes. now it was time to shed my clothes and head through the glass doors into the wet sauna area. inside there were 4 different jacuzzis, 4 more sauna room [one had a mister and another was a salt room], two cold milky green baths, numerous showers, and a man who would scrub you down for a fee. oh, there were also these marble slabs under red lights that you could lay under. needless to say i tried everything except the scrub. he came by and asked if i wanted one but i didn't have any money so i said no. there weren't that many people in the wet sauna part. i think the most in the room at one time were five. it was like i had the place to my self. jumping from hot jacuzzui to cold bath. running into the hot saunas then getting under the cold shower. jumping back into the jacuzzi and then laying under the red lights. it was so relaxing. i could have stayed on that marble slab forever. when i looked at the clock i noticed it was time to go. i showered off and made my way back to the lockers. can i just say that they have everything on needs. shampoo, toothbrushes, toothpaste, soap, wash clothe, gel, combs, hairdryers, q-tips, etc. all this and no time limit for 7,000 won. never would you find that in america. i can't believe it took me this long to finally go to one. i must thank jenny for taking me. and now i feel it will become a part of my regular routine. i felt so relaxed afterwards and had the best sleep ever. even now i still feel calm and relaxed. love the sauna. gonna get the scrub next time.
be well…
Monday, April 25, 2005
student art
art by vicky + paris
Originally uploaded by nightwing.
dear diary–
last friday since one of my students was missing from my 2:45 class i decided to have a free day with the girls paris and vicky. the two girls were in rare form. they kept pointing to my belly asking if i was pregnant. of course i told them yes i was. the whole class period was filled with them giggling, running around, and drawing pictures of me. at one point they even made "ethan" art on my whiteboard [see picture above]. these are the kind of days that make being here so great.
be well…
what's this?
manhole
Originally uploaded by nightwing.
dear diary–
last week while walking around another part of my neighborhood [about 20 minutes] from my place i stumbled upon this bar manhole. since it was early afternoon the bar was closed so i wasn't able to check it out. the sign itself was kind of cool with its black and gray camo feel and the red type against it. it looks like i'll just have to check it out one of these nights. the adventures continue.
be well…
window gazing
fire in the garden
Originally uploaded by nightwing.
dear diary–
for the past couple of weeks as i'm listening to the students read the same stories over and over again i constanstly find myself staring out the window. with the coming of spring the field/garden that stands outside of my window has been getting tended to. the other day a man was burning off some debris to start anew. its kind of cool to watch them plant their new crops. i'm not really sure how they acquire space in the public garden but i look forward to it starting to grow in. so far there are a few yellow flowers here and there. yesterday i watched a woman and child rake and plow their plot. soon it will be filled with corn, cabbage, and various other edibles. until then i'll continue to watch its progress.
be well…
Thursday, April 21, 2005
just another day…
pig heads, a tastey snack
Originally uploaded by nightwing.
deary diary–
something wicked this way comes…with the approaching warm weather that is finally hitting lovely ansan the temperature in our school is qetting quite frosty. i'm not really sure what is going on nor do i think i want to but something is definitely is brewing. the tension over the last couple of weeks has been mounting. jane who for the most part has been quite friendly become the ice queen. i think some words have been said between her and the korean teachers about losing students and who is to blame. what this means for our school i have no idea. i can only hope that they aren't planning on shutting down or getting rid of me. but if they do then i'll have to figure something out. can't be that hard. i was told today that we have to go to e-mart next saturday to pimp ourselves out. should be good times.
so with the change of seasons we've also be struck with yellow dust. it seems that every year around this time dust and pollution from the gobi desert [thats china] blows into korea. apparently its not so good to breathe in hence the sars masks. the also have alerts letting us know how bad it is. its so crazy. lately too the news has been nothing but japan, japan, japan. this whole textbook and dokdo island thing is all anyone can talk about. it'll definitely be interesting to see how it all plays out. especially since japan is not only pissing off the koreans but the chinese too. christine, my co-worker, is getting us "dokdo is ours" t-shirts. yeah!!! i can't wait. they are now allowing people to go tour the island too. i've never seen a whole country rally behind one cause before. they sure are passionate about it though.
today i saw my first scooter accident. well, i didn't see it happen but i saw the aftermath of it. i'm actually surprised i haven't seen more especially with how bad the scooter drivers are. it looked as if some woman in her car hit the scooter. the scooter driver was in the ambulance. and kid you not five minutes later as i'm crossing the street was almost hits me…a freakin scooter.
all around town the flowers are starting to blossom. from my school window i can numberous cherry blossoms. they are so pretty to look at. i'm so looking forward to spring and the flowers. they've also been practicing soccer over at the high school which i can see from my window too. every once in awhile i find myself staring out there watching them play. daydreaming. wondering what it would be like to be in high school here. my acupuncture/acupressure has come to an end this week. i'm starting to feel a little better which is good. its not as painful as it once was. it onlly hurts when i sneeze. the muscle relaxants are still working though. i had to go to a different pharamcy since i didn't want my student's parents to think i'd become a junky on the stuff.
here's something cute you should all check out iloveegg it made me laugh.
be well…
Sunday, April 17, 2005
bbq bye bye
dear diary–
i spent most of my mornings last week getting acupuncture. i'm hoping this will help with the pain. it's been a week and so far i feel a little better. not a whole lot but at least it something…right. it looks as if i'll be taking another week off of taekwondo. my doctor doesn't want me to go back yet. which is actually fine with me because i'm really not sure what i want to do about that. during my treatments this week i got to experience something new. they have these ceramic cups [a little smaller than the tea cup with no handles at chinese restaurants] which they dip into a bunsen burner type thing which cause a blueish flame to appear around the edge of the cup and then they sucked it to your chest. so i get like 8 or 9 of these put onto my chest and then they cover it with a towel and put a heating lamp on them for about 5 minutes. when i first the cup coming towards my exposes flesh and was like "this is going to burn alot" but actually it doesn't. i was quite surprise. it's actaully a cool feeling. i'm not really sure what it actually is suppose to do since my doctor and nurse speak very little english. it does seem to cause some blood spots to appear through my pores. and the best part is that it leaves a circular hickey. yes my right side of my chest is filled with hickeys. they've also been hooking me up to this ice massage type of machine which is now my favorite. i actually just got back from my appointment a little while ago. no ice massage today. sadness. i have to return again on wednesday.
this weekend i kind of just took it easy. i did some running around in my neighbor to get a few stuff. i met this really cool shopowner. her english was quite good and i think i spoke with her for a good 20 mins. i felt like i had to buy something and i almost bought a stuffed smurf but changed my mind. at last someone else came in and when she turned her attention to her i made my great escape. i'm so bad. the store actually had a lot of cool stuff. i'm sure i'll be back. on sunday my friend jenny had a rooftop bbq, or should i say her bbq bye, bye. she lives about 10 minutes away via subway. she's leaving in a couple of weeks which makes me sad. we've been hanging out quite a bit and i'm really going to miss that. thats the one thing about being here. you meet people, make a connection, and then they leave and you have to start again. at least i got a few more weeks. the weather was actually quite nice yesterday. i wore shorts and a short sleeve shirt which was so nice to do. there were about 8 of us total there. she had blankets and mats out for us to sit on. there was a portable cd player for us to listen to music. plus we had loads of food and beer. i got there around 2:30 and didn't get home til midnight. it was really great to just sit outside, drink, eat, talk, and chill with friends. it was kind of like being in dolres park. i actually felt like i was in new jersey. a lot of the buildings had these mutli-colored bricks that reminded me of my aunt rose's house. its so funny how little things like that can spark a memory. at one point jenny busted out this frog bubble gun that had glowing eyes. i'm still not sure why she didn't get me one. she said she got it at chinatown. hello. there's a chinatown in korea. i have to see this. i'm definitely going to make her take me before she leaves. it was a great day. i'm just paying for it a little this morning. but thats life. all right be well…
new favorite cocktail
soju + grape juice
i spent most of my mornings last week getting acupuncture. i'm hoping this will help with the pain. it's been a week and so far i feel a little better. not a whole lot but at least it something…right. it looks as if i'll be taking another week off of taekwondo. my doctor doesn't want me to go back yet. which is actually fine with me because i'm really not sure what i want to do about that. during my treatments this week i got to experience something new. they have these ceramic cups [a little smaller than the tea cup with no handles at chinese restaurants] which they dip into a bunsen burner type thing which cause a blueish flame to appear around the edge of the cup and then they sucked it to your chest. so i get like 8 or 9 of these put onto my chest and then they cover it with a towel and put a heating lamp on them for about 5 minutes. when i first the cup coming towards my exposes flesh and was like "this is going to burn alot" but actually it doesn't. i was quite surprise. it's actaully a cool feeling. i'm not really sure what it actually is suppose to do since my doctor and nurse speak very little english. it does seem to cause some blood spots to appear through my pores. and the best part is that it leaves a circular hickey. yes my right side of my chest is filled with hickeys. they've also been hooking me up to this ice massage type of machine which is now my favorite. i actually just got back from my appointment a little while ago. no ice massage today. sadness. i have to return again on wednesday.
this weekend i kind of just took it easy. i did some running around in my neighbor to get a few stuff. i met this really cool shopowner. her english was quite good and i think i spoke with her for a good 20 mins. i felt like i had to buy something and i almost bought a stuffed smurf but changed my mind. at last someone else came in and when she turned her attention to her i made my great escape. i'm so bad. the store actually had a lot of cool stuff. i'm sure i'll be back. on sunday my friend jenny had a rooftop bbq, or should i say her bbq bye, bye. she lives about 10 minutes away via subway. she's leaving in a couple of weeks which makes me sad. we've been hanging out quite a bit and i'm really going to miss that. thats the one thing about being here. you meet people, make a connection, and then they leave and you have to start again. at least i got a few more weeks. the weather was actually quite nice yesterday. i wore shorts and a short sleeve shirt which was so nice to do. there were about 8 of us total there. she had blankets and mats out for us to sit on. there was a portable cd player for us to listen to music. plus we had loads of food and beer. i got there around 2:30 and didn't get home til midnight. it was really great to just sit outside, drink, eat, talk, and chill with friends. it was kind of like being in dolres park. i actually felt like i was in new jersey. a lot of the buildings had these mutli-colored bricks that reminded me of my aunt rose's house. its so funny how little things like that can spark a memory. at one point jenny busted out this frog bubble gun that had glowing eyes. i'm still not sure why she didn't get me one. she said she got it at chinatown. hello. there's a chinatown in korea. i have to see this. i'm definitely going to make her take me before she leaves. it was a great day. i'm just paying for it a little this morning. but thats life. all right be well…
new favorite cocktail
soju + grape juice
Thursday, April 14, 2005
to hell and back…
dear diary–
i awoke to gray skies on saturday [april 9] morning. surprisingly enough no hangover although i was very sleepy. my first thoughts were "how am i going to be able to go out again tonight?" all i really wanted to do was stay in bed and sleep. if only i didn't make advance plans. i was actually looking forward to tonight. i've been wanting to check out skunk hell for some time now. i heard it was the spot to hear korean punk bands. hell yeah!! i couldn't even tell you the last time i was at a punk show. high school? college? its been awhile and the inner youth that haunts my soul was excited. it rained off and on all day. figures. one friend canceled due to the rain. around 5:30pm horace and i met damion at jungang station. he came up from asan. he's been here for almost two months, maybe more, and this was the first time we saw each other. i was excited to see an old friend from sf. how odd that two people from the same city who hung out with the same crowd [for the most part] would end up in south korea. crazy!! we caught up on the subway ride. once at our destination we waited for jenny and ryan to show. once they got here we went into hell. skunk hell was a tiny space. all black and smokey. there were perhaps 30 people there tops. a majority of them members of one band or another. there were also quite a few weguks, three of which drove me crazy. i've got a very short fuse when it comes to other weguks here. not really sure why. enough of about them. the strange thing i've noticed about korean shows is that a lot of people sit during the show. along the back wall of hell the kids sat. there were a couple of folks standing up front and we stood in the middle. basically we were up front since this place was so tiny. i can't tell you how happy it made me to see korean punks. colored mohawks, studded jackets, combat boots, striped socks, etc. it really didn't matter what the bands sounded like. i could have just stood here all night taking it in. luckily enough the bands were quite good. not really sure who was who but i liked what i heard. at one point one the singer from the first band asked me if i knew how to say "last song" in korean. of course i had to answer no. there was even an all girl punk band. i soon dubbed them the korean go-go's. the show started early around 7pm and was over by 10pm. not that long but we did get to see 4 bands for $7. you can't really beat that. they have shows there every saturday so i'm sure i'll check it out again. i mean, why not. towards the end of the gig vicky and neeve arrived. at least they got to enjoy some of it.
after experiencing hell we decided it was time for drinks. while we were in hell we had to run to the 7-11 to get beer. they didn't sell it there. i love the fact that 7-11 have paper cups for when you buy a pitcher of beer. love it. the only bar i knew of in this area was cocks where we went with misty, kate, and d. after traveling in the rain to get there we found out it was closed. instead we went to shooters which is the upstairs part of cocks. go figure. cocks and shooters. tonight shooters was giving its customers a free guiness. can't be that. except that the guiness was gross. there's something wrong with guiness in a bottle. anyway we ordered a pitcher and some food and hung out for a bit. after a horace, vickie, and neeve all left to catch the last subway. it was now down to the four of us. the staff at shooters were super nice. since they were so late in bringing out our food we got it for free plus a free fruit plate too. goodtimes. goodtimes. from shooters we moved onto yet another bar. jenny knew about this place and it had super cheap drinks. i completely forgot the name of it too. i'll have to ask jenny on sunday. anyway we had to wait to go in because there were no seats. thats the thing about korea. if there are no seats available in the bar you can't go in. they don't allow standing like they do in american bars. its odd but also nice. the bars never get super packed this way. here we have more beer, more food, and vodka drinks. the night was on. our final destination for the night was ska bar to do some dancing. i wasn't quite sure what to expect but i figured why not. the ska bar was quite small too. it was upstairs on the 3 floor. inside it had wooden floors and the walls looked redish. with our admission we got a free drink coupon. for some odd reason i wasn't able to get a corona with my coupon so i opted for the cranberry vodka. the music was all over the board: 80s one minute, disco the next, some 60s tunes thrown in here and there, a little hip-hop, and some greenday. what more could you ask for. it was a total trip dancing about being the only 4 westerns there. i almost forgot. for a snack they had cherry tomatoes. korea is all about the healthy snacks while drinking. finally around 3ish we decided to call it a night. after 10 minutes of talking to the cab driver he agreed to take us home. the trip home was pretty uneventful. i was thankful we made home. sometimes you just never know. be well…
snaps from hell night…
Links
i awoke to gray skies on saturday [april 9] morning. surprisingly enough no hangover although i was very sleepy. my first thoughts were "how am i going to be able to go out again tonight?" all i really wanted to do was stay in bed and sleep. if only i didn't make advance plans. i was actually looking forward to tonight. i've been wanting to check out skunk hell for some time now. i heard it was the spot to hear korean punk bands. hell yeah!! i couldn't even tell you the last time i was at a punk show. high school? college? its been awhile and the inner youth that haunts my soul was excited. it rained off and on all day. figures. one friend canceled due to the rain. around 5:30pm horace and i met damion at jungang station. he came up from asan. he's been here for almost two months, maybe more, and this was the first time we saw each other. i was excited to see an old friend from sf. how odd that two people from the same city who hung out with the same crowd [for the most part] would end up in south korea. crazy!! we caught up on the subway ride. once at our destination we waited for jenny and ryan to show. once they got here we went into hell. skunk hell was a tiny space. all black and smokey. there were perhaps 30 people there tops. a majority of them members of one band or another. there were also quite a few weguks, three of which drove me crazy. i've got a very short fuse when it comes to other weguks here. not really sure why. enough of about them. the strange thing i've noticed about korean shows is that a lot of people sit during the show. along the back wall of hell the kids sat. there were a couple of folks standing up front and we stood in the middle. basically we were up front since this place was so tiny. i can't tell you how happy it made me to see korean punks. colored mohawks, studded jackets, combat boots, striped socks, etc. it really didn't matter what the bands sounded like. i could have just stood here all night taking it in. luckily enough the bands were quite good. not really sure who was who but i liked what i heard. at one point one the singer from the first band asked me if i knew how to say "last song" in korean. of course i had to answer no. there was even an all girl punk band. i soon dubbed them the korean go-go's. the show started early around 7pm and was over by 10pm. not that long but we did get to see 4 bands for $7. you can't really beat that. they have shows there every saturday so i'm sure i'll check it out again. i mean, why not. towards the end of the gig vicky and neeve arrived. at least they got to enjoy some of it.
after experiencing hell we decided it was time for drinks. while we were in hell we had to run to the 7-11 to get beer. they didn't sell it there. i love the fact that 7-11 have paper cups for when you buy a pitcher of beer. love it. the only bar i knew of in this area was cocks where we went with misty, kate, and d. after traveling in the rain to get there we found out it was closed. instead we went to shooters which is the upstairs part of cocks. go figure. cocks and shooters. tonight shooters was giving its customers a free guiness. can't be that. except that the guiness was gross. there's something wrong with guiness in a bottle. anyway we ordered a pitcher and some food and hung out for a bit. after a horace, vickie, and neeve all left to catch the last subway. it was now down to the four of us. the staff at shooters were super nice. since they were so late in bringing out our food we got it for free plus a free fruit plate too. goodtimes. goodtimes. from shooters we moved onto yet another bar. jenny knew about this place and it had super cheap drinks. i completely forgot the name of it too. i'll have to ask jenny on sunday. anyway we had to wait to go in because there were no seats. thats the thing about korea. if there are no seats available in the bar you can't go in. they don't allow standing like they do in american bars. its odd but also nice. the bars never get super packed this way. here we have more beer, more food, and vodka drinks. the night was on. our final destination for the night was ska bar to do some dancing. i wasn't quite sure what to expect but i figured why not. the ska bar was quite small too. it was upstairs on the 3 floor. inside it had wooden floors and the walls looked redish. with our admission we got a free drink coupon. for some odd reason i wasn't able to get a corona with my coupon so i opted for the cranberry vodka. the music was all over the board: 80s one minute, disco the next, some 60s tunes thrown in here and there, a little hip-hop, and some greenday. what more could you ask for. it was a total trip dancing about being the only 4 westerns there. i almost forgot. for a snack they had cherry tomatoes. korea is all about the healthy snacks while drinking. finally around 3ish we decided to call it a night. after 10 minutes of talking to the cab driver he agreed to take us home. the trip home was pretty uneventful. i was thankful we made home. sometimes you just never know. be well…
snaps from hell night…
Wednesday, April 13, 2005
to the batcave…
dear diary–
last friday [april 8] my work took me out for some eats and drinks to celebrate my birthday. at first we were going to hit the wa bar until i remembered my new fav bar in jungang-dong: the batcave. that's what i call it anyway. i'm pretty sure i mentioned this place before. needless to say there was lots of drinking to be had. at one pont anna teacher tried to convince me that i had to chug a beer for each person. there were five of us and there was no way i was about to chug 5 beers. what am i in high school all of a sudden. i told her i'd do two at the most. what i didn't know was that i had to chug a beer with a shot of soju in it. let the party begin… they brought out a cake and everyone sang while holding sparklers. yes there were sparklers inside. i've always had a fear of being burned by sparklers and tonight was no different. my eyes followed the sparklers until i knew that each one was safely burnt out. during the singing i got to wear a monkey birthday hat which i ended of losing at some point in the evening. sadness. however there is a picture of the monkey hat on the barrel of beer. we ate cake. jk refused at first but i told him that in america its bad luck if you don't eat any. so he did. hee-hee. there's nothing better then sugar and beer on an empty stomach. soon afterwards our table was filled with fried chicken and snails. yummy!!! i truly got caught up in the birthday moment cuz the beers were doing down like water. i'm not sure what happened. we stayed there for a bit drinking, drinking, and drinking. i think 3 of my beers were spiked with the evil soju. from there we moved on to the luxury noraebang. we weren't able to get the room that overlooked the street. instead ours had a winter wonderland scene in the floor. F.U.N! little santa village. of course more beers were had in the norebang. around 1:30am we decided to call it quits. it's a good thing too, cuz i have plans to go out with my friends on saturday. not sure how i'm going to manage that now. oh what a crazy birthday weekend it will prove to be.
my set list from the noraebang [at least what i can remember]
1. love hurts
2. white room
3. 500 miles
4. shout
5. hazey shade of winter
6. piggy [duet with horace]
be well…birthday adventure part II coming soon!
snaps from the batcave…
Links
last friday [april 8] my work took me out for some eats and drinks to celebrate my birthday. at first we were going to hit the wa bar until i remembered my new fav bar in jungang-dong: the batcave. that's what i call it anyway. i'm pretty sure i mentioned this place before. needless to say there was lots of drinking to be had. at one pont anna teacher tried to convince me that i had to chug a beer for each person. there were five of us and there was no way i was about to chug 5 beers. what am i in high school all of a sudden. i told her i'd do two at the most. what i didn't know was that i had to chug a beer with a shot of soju in it. let the party begin… they brought out a cake and everyone sang while holding sparklers. yes there were sparklers inside. i've always had a fear of being burned by sparklers and tonight was no different. my eyes followed the sparklers until i knew that each one was safely burnt out. during the singing i got to wear a monkey birthday hat which i ended of losing at some point in the evening. sadness. however there is a picture of the monkey hat on the barrel of beer. we ate cake. jk refused at first but i told him that in america its bad luck if you don't eat any. so he did. hee-hee. there's nothing better then sugar and beer on an empty stomach. soon afterwards our table was filled with fried chicken and snails. yummy!!! i truly got caught up in the birthday moment cuz the beers were doing down like water. i'm not sure what happened. we stayed there for a bit drinking, drinking, and drinking. i think 3 of my beers were spiked with the evil soju. from there we moved on to the luxury noraebang. we weren't able to get the room that overlooked the street. instead ours had a winter wonderland scene in the floor. F.U.N! little santa village. of course more beers were had in the norebang. around 1:30am we decided to call it quits. it's a good thing too, cuz i have plans to go out with my friends on saturday. not sure how i'm going to manage that now. oh what a crazy birthday weekend it will prove to be.
my set list from the noraebang [at least what i can remember]
1. love hurts
2. white room
3. 500 miles
4. shout
5. hazey shade of winter
6. piggy [duet with horace]
be well…birthday adventure part II coming soon!
snaps from the batcave…
Sunday, April 10, 2005
clubbing at aura
dear diary–
the weekend before last jenny and i went into hongdae to do a little bit of shopping, eating, and band watching. it always seems that every time i venture out there's some little mini-adventure waiting to be had and of course this outing was no different. we started off the day shopping at the ewha womans university stop. it was mostly girl shops but there were a couple of guys stores that are worth checking out again. i tried on a shirt at one of them and it barely fit my upper arms. i seem to have a problem here with buttondown shirts being a bit tight. i'm a little more broader than most of the korean guys here i guess. but never fail, i'll find a shirt one of these days. i also tried on this silver chain belt which was way rad. again it barely fit. sadly i had to put that back too. i also stumbled upon a little punk rock shop. it was great to see that. then i wanted to buy a bandana from this little market store and she wanted 8,000 won [us $8] for it. i wasn't in the mood for bargining so i left. in our journey we stumbled upon this store that has a lot of japanese pop band imports. a whole store devoted to pop stars who all look twelve. you gotta love this country sometimes.i did find a barbapapa notepad. unfortunately it was a bit expensive for me. i still can't believe i actually saw some barbapapa merchandise. barbapapa was my favorite childhood book. for the last couple of years i've been asking people, bookstore clerks, etc. if they ever heard of it and most of the time i got a blank stare. i couldn't remember how to spell it either so that didn't help. then oneday while talking with my friend magali the barbapapa subject came up and knew actually had heard of them. that made me so happy. for awhile there i look i had made the whole thing up. anyway…back to the now. i manage to leave the japanese pop import store empty handed. as we continued on our way we found this giant anime store. HELLO!! how happy was i. the store had lots of great stuff. i bought a little figure. hee-hee. jenny disappeared while i was in the store and returned moments later barring gifts: waffles with creme. i love these things especially when the waffle is nice and warm. during our stroll i noticed little mini-pizza vendors. "what's this new magic", i thought. i haven't seen mini-pizzas before. i didn't get one cuz i had just ate the waffle but next time i'm so going for the "mp". by now it was 6pm and we figured we should start finding our way to the club. jenny forgot the directions and all i had was a map that was in korean. we saw this girl infront of another club and stopped and asked her. we found the club which was kind of the beaten track. we figured we should get some dinner so we started to scout out the area. all we wanted was a pub to drink some beer and something fried. all we kept finding was bbq places. most of these places too were all korean. both of us sucked at speaking or reading korean. as we continued on we saw this cool guitar bar and down an alley i saaw an open door taht said "HELL". not really sure what it is. just as we were about to give up we found a friend chicken place that also had pitchers of beer. score! of course as we order 6 pieces of chicken and a pitcher we realized we had no idea how much it was going to cost. oh well. the chicken was excellent. i love how you can stumble into a place and ending up with a great meal. after dinner we made our way back to club aura. with our admission price was a free drink. we had a choice between welch's grape or strawberry. i went for the strawberry. when we got down to the club everyone was sitting down around the perimeter of the stage. no one was sitting in the middle or up front. odd. we found some seats along the floor and planted our asses down. the first band was a korean band called marijuana. the lead singer of marijuana is so cute. he's going to be my new bf. the music reminded me of a mixture of sonic youth and my bloody valentine. they're my new favorite band. the next and last band to perform was limited express [has gone?]. they're a trio from japan. and how much did i love her and i know misty would too. they were way indie rock with a slight popness to them. during their performance i went over to the merchandise table. marijuana didn't have any goods but limited express [has gone?] did. when i walked over the guy working the merch table gave me a big thumbs up to my smiths shirt. its great to know folk are still listening to the smiths. they didn't have a large tee so all i ended up with was a cd. i chatted with the merch guy for a bit. he was way cool. when i walked back over to jenny the guy from marijuana was standing behind us. after limited express was over i had jenny ask him if they had a cd out. not yet but it will be out in july. yeah!! we hung out a little while longer drinking beer. afterall it was only 2,000 won. jenny's friend who happened to show up wanted his picture taken with the singer from limited express so jenny went over and asked her. the next thing i knew all three of us were having our picture taken with her. hee-hee. overall the crowd was very cool. there were a few annoying wayguks, and during marijuana's set a lot of people with giant cameras kept getting in the way. the one thing i do know is that i will definitely be checking out marijuana again. its been so long since i've seen a gig and i felt so alive after it. it was like i've been rejuvenated. what a great feeling it was. now all we had to do was catch the last train. on our way out i got stopped by one of the girls who work there to make sure i added my email to the list. i told her i did then she asked if she could take my picture with the singer of limited express. after my picture with her she said "thanks for coming". how cute is that. luv her. the trip back home was uneventful except for the fact that i had to pee. be well…
snaps from club aura…
Links
the weekend before last jenny and i went into hongdae to do a little bit of shopping, eating, and band watching. it always seems that every time i venture out there's some little mini-adventure waiting to be had and of course this outing was no different. we started off the day shopping at the ewha womans university stop. it was mostly girl shops but there were a couple of guys stores that are worth checking out again. i tried on a shirt at one of them and it barely fit my upper arms. i seem to have a problem here with buttondown shirts being a bit tight. i'm a little more broader than most of the korean guys here i guess. but never fail, i'll find a shirt one of these days. i also tried on this silver chain belt which was way rad. again it barely fit. sadly i had to put that back too. i also stumbled upon a little punk rock shop. it was great to see that. then i wanted to buy a bandana from this little market store and she wanted 8,000 won [us $8] for it. i wasn't in the mood for bargining so i left. in our journey we stumbled upon this store that has a lot of japanese pop band imports. a whole store devoted to pop stars who all look twelve. you gotta love this country sometimes.i did find a barbapapa notepad. unfortunately it was a bit expensive for me. i still can't believe i actually saw some barbapapa merchandise. barbapapa was my favorite childhood book. for the last couple of years i've been asking people, bookstore clerks, etc. if they ever heard of it and most of the time i got a blank stare. i couldn't remember how to spell it either so that didn't help. then oneday while talking with my friend magali the barbapapa subject came up and knew actually had heard of them. that made me so happy. for awhile there i look i had made the whole thing up. anyway…back to the now. i manage to leave the japanese pop import store empty handed. as we continued on our way we found this giant anime store. HELLO!! how happy was i. the store had lots of great stuff. i bought a little figure. hee-hee. jenny disappeared while i was in the store and returned moments later barring gifts: waffles with creme. i love these things especially when the waffle is nice and warm. during our stroll i noticed little mini-pizza vendors. "what's this new magic", i thought. i haven't seen mini-pizzas before. i didn't get one cuz i had just ate the waffle but next time i'm so going for the "mp". by now it was 6pm and we figured we should start finding our way to the club. jenny forgot the directions and all i had was a map that was in korean. we saw this girl infront of another club and stopped and asked her. we found the club which was kind of the beaten track. we figured we should get some dinner so we started to scout out the area. all we wanted was a pub to drink some beer and something fried. all we kept finding was bbq places. most of these places too were all korean. both of us sucked at speaking or reading korean. as we continued on we saw this cool guitar bar and down an alley i saaw an open door taht said "HELL". not really sure what it is. just as we were about to give up we found a friend chicken place that also had pitchers of beer. score! of course as we order 6 pieces of chicken and a pitcher we realized we had no idea how much it was going to cost. oh well. the chicken was excellent. i love how you can stumble into a place and ending up with a great meal. after dinner we made our way back to club aura. with our admission price was a free drink. we had a choice between welch's grape or strawberry. i went for the strawberry. when we got down to the club everyone was sitting down around the perimeter of the stage. no one was sitting in the middle or up front. odd. we found some seats along the floor and planted our asses down. the first band was a korean band called marijuana. the lead singer of marijuana is so cute. he's going to be my new bf. the music reminded me of a mixture of sonic youth and my bloody valentine. they're my new favorite band. the next and last band to perform was limited express [has gone?]. they're a trio from japan. and how much did i love her and i know misty would too. they were way indie rock with a slight popness to them. during their performance i went over to the merchandise table. marijuana didn't have any goods but limited express [has gone?] did. when i walked over the guy working the merch table gave me a big thumbs up to my smiths shirt. its great to know folk are still listening to the smiths. they didn't have a large tee so all i ended up with was a cd. i chatted with the merch guy for a bit. he was way cool. when i walked back over to jenny the guy from marijuana was standing behind us. after limited express was over i had jenny ask him if they had a cd out. not yet but it will be out in july. yeah!! we hung out a little while longer drinking beer. afterall it was only 2,000 won. jenny's friend who happened to show up wanted his picture taken with the singer from limited express so jenny went over and asked her. the next thing i knew all three of us were having our picture taken with her. hee-hee. overall the crowd was very cool. there were a few annoying wayguks, and during marijuana's set a lot of people with giant cameras kept getting in the way. the one thing i do know is that i will definitely be checking out marijuana again. its been so long since i've seen a gig and i felt so alive after it. it was like i've been rejuvenated. what a great feeling it was. now all we had to do was catch the last train. on our way out i got stopped by one of the girls who work there to make sure i added my email to the list. i told her i did then she asked if she could take my picture with the singer of limited express. after my picture with her she said "thanks for coming". how cute is that. luv her. the trip back home was uneventful except for the fact that i had to pee. be well…
snaps from club aura…
a k-wedding
dear diary–
at last i'm getting around to posting the wedding photos. its amazing how taking meds can effect your whole week. i've been lazy, lazy, lazy. now i'm completely back logged with posts but promise to get them up this week. after going through these photos i realized that the beginning ones are quite grainy and fuzzy. oops. anyway i hope you enjoy this little bit of culture i got to experience. be well…
snaps from the korean wedding i attended two weeks ago…
Links
at last i'm getting around to posting the wedding photos. its amazing how taking meds can effect your whole week. i've been lazy, lazy, lazy. now i'm completely back logged with posts but promise to get them up this week. after going through these photos i realized that the beginning ones are quite grainy and fuzzy. oops. anyway i hope you enjoy this little bit of culture i got to experience. be well…
snaps from the korean wedding i attended two weeks ago…
Tuesday, April 05, 2005
is it a sign from above…
dear diary–
i'm am in complete and utter pain. monday night during taekwondo i took a wicked fall while doing a freestanding handstand. apparently i fell to the side, my chin jammed into my chest and now everything hurts. hurts bad. as i crashed down and heard a sound come from my body and immediately look i snapped my neck. fortunately that wasn't the case. tuesday we had a national holiday and instead of being able to enjoy my free day i spent the entire day in bed unable to move. it feels like someone threw a brick into my chest and its still there. it hurts to bend down, take deep breaths, rolling over in bed, etc. i'm being to wonder if these are signs from above telling me that taekwondo is not for me. i mean how many times can one person injure themselves. in the 7 months i've been takening this this so far i've: 1). hurt my ankle 2). bruised my tailbone 3). broke my pinky toe and 4). did something to my chest. i realize that its been forever since i ever participated in any active sport on a regular basis but come on. it looks like i'm be sitting out this week. i decided that if the pain doesn't go away soon its back to the acupuncturist for me. on another note the master has kicked out two of my friends "j" and "r". still not sure why that happened but it did and it really sucks. the thing that really gets be mad is that i was trying a new approach to class this week too. especially since "r" and "j" are gone i have no friends in there so i was going to concentrate really hard on what we are doing. and by doing so look what happens. i get hurt. its crazy how things seem to work out. it looks as if i'm going to be spending the rest of this week in bed after school. so much for having a fun birthday weekend. i did manage to get some kind of muscle relaxant from the pharmacy which seems to be working. hopefully its nothing really serious. now i just feel so doped up from the relaxants and the xanax i'm taking. it will definitely be an interesting day at school today. hopefully i won't fall asleep on these little munchkins. be well…
i'm am in complete and utter pain. monday night during taekwondo i took a wicked fall while doing a freestanding handstand. apparently i fell to the side, my chin jammed into my chest and now everything hurts. hurts bad. as i crashed down and heard a sound come from my body and immediately look i snapped my neck. fortunately that wasn't the case. tuesday we had a national holiday and instead of being able to enjoy my free day i spent the entire day in bed unable to move. it feels like someone threw a brick into my chest and its still there. it hurts to bend down, take deep breaths, rolling over in bed, etc. i'm being to wonder if these are signs from above telling me that taekwondo is not for me. i mean how many times can one person injure themselves. in the 7 months i've been takening this this so far i've: 1). hurt my ankle 2). bruised my tailbone 3). broke my pinky toe and 4). did something to my chest. i realize that its been forever since i ever participated in any active sport on a regular basis but come on. it looks like i'm be sitting out this week. i decided that if the pain doesn't go away soon its back to the acupuncturist for me. on another note the master has kicked out two of my friends "j" and "r". still not sure why that happened but it did and it really sucks. the thing that really gets be mad is that i was trying a new approach to class this week too. especially since "r" and "j" are gone i have no friends in there so i was going to concentrate really hard on what we are doing. and by doing so look what happens. i get hurt. its crazy how things seem to work out. it looks as if i'm going to be spending the rest of this week in bed after school. so much for having a fun birthday weekend. i did manage to get some kind of muscle relaxant from the pharmacy which seems to be working. hopefully its nothing really serious. now i just feel so doped up from the relaxants and the xanax i'm taking. it will definitely be an interesting day at school today. hopefully i won't fall asleep on these little munchkins. be well…
Saturday, April 02, 2005
a korean wedding
dear diary–
today i attended my first korean wedding. and no it wasn't mine…it was by boss's brother-in-law's. mr. oh, jane's father, invited us. the wedding was held in a banquet hall. by the time we got there the room was completely packed so we stood along the wall with jk. first to walk down the aisle was con, jane's brother who was getting married. when he got to the front the lights dimmed and then the dry ice started. yes they had dry ice at the wedding. as the bride made her way down the aisle a giant spotlight was on her. it was pretty amazing. she had on a western style dress and he wore a tux. they were having two ceremonies. the first a western style one and then after they change into traditional korean wedding attire and going into a separate room for the korean ceremony. of course horace and i were the only foreigners there. it wa great seeing the woman dressed in hambaks [sp?]. we stood there for a bit until jk motioned for us to follow him. he lead us into another group that was completely packed with people sitting at tables eating. i wasn't sure where we were going. at first i thought we were cutting through to get to the other side until he sat us at a table. apparently this room was filled with guests too. instead of being in the actual ceremony room they sat at tables eating and watched the ceremony via a video. it was very lynchian. we started off our meal with an appetizers of raw fish, shrimp, and scallops. we also had clam chowder. i'm quite surprised that i actually ate the tuna and salmon. i guess being in korea has completely changed my eating habits. after the appetizer they brought out a salad. for the main course we had steak, rice, a giant shrimp [and i mean giant], and some spicy cucumber. it was all very delicious. jk kept leaving us every once in awhile to take care of wedding duties: pictures, pictures, and more pictures. so there we sat at a table we a bunch of people we didn't know and either in jk and in a room filled with hungry koreans. it was actually quite comical. literally 30 minutes later the room was vacant. it was basically horace and i and some people at another table. it appears that they come to the wedding, watch, eat and then leave. i think there were over 200 people there. feeling uncomfortable sitting in this almost empty room watching them clean up we went into the hallway where we saw jk. we went into the main room where they were they had the ceremony and said hello to mr. and mrs. oh. it's unbelievable how amazing these people. they kept making sure we had enough to eat and asked us to stay to watch the korean ceremony which we did. it was such a great experience. they wedding clothes were amazing. during this part of the ceremony the couple pour tea and bow to their family. then the parents of the groom throw nuts into a piece of fabric that the bride and groom are holding. this represents good fortune and family. mr. oh made a comment about how he wishes for lots and lots of grandchildren. this part of the ceremony lasted for 30 minutes and that was jsut for the grooms family. after they were done the oh family left so that they could do the same for the brides family. i can't even explain how wonderful it all was. this is exactly the kind of experience i wanted to see here. i'm completely lucky to be working for people who have taken us in and treat us a family. the best part of the whole day was watching everyone get a kick out of us saying hello in korean. i took a few photos and will post them soon. be well…
today i attended my first korean wedding. and no it wasn't mine…it was by boss's brother-in-law's. mr. oh, jane's father, invited us. the wedding was held in a banquet hall. by the time we got there the room was completely packed so we stood along the wall with jk. first to walk down the aisle was con, jane's brother who was getting married. when he got to the front the lights dimmed and then the dry ice started. yes they had dry ice at the wedding. as the bride made her way down the aisle a giant spotlight was on her. it was pretty amazing. she had on a western style dress and he wore a tux. they were having two ceremonies. the first a western style one and then after they change into traditional korean wedding attire and going into a separate room for the korean ceremony. of course horace and i were the only foreigners there. it wa great seeing the woman dressed in hambaks [sp?]. we stood there for a bit until jk motioned for us to follow him. he lead us into another group that was completely packed with people sitting at tables eating. i wasn't sure where we were going. at first i thought we were cutting through to get to the other side until he sat us at a table. apparently this room was filled with guests too. instead of being in the actual ceremony room they sat at tables eating and watched the ceremony via a video. it was very lynchian. we started off our meal with an appetizers of raw fish, shrimp, and scallops. we also had clam chowder. i'm quite surprised that i actually ate the tuna and salmon. i guess being in korea has completely changed my eating habits. after the appetizer they brought out a salad. for the main course we had steak, rice, a giant shrimp [and i mean giant], and some spicy cucumber. it was all very delicious. jk kept leaving us every once in awhile to take care of wedding duties: pictures, pictures, and more pictures. so there we sat at a table we a bunch of people we didn't know and either in jk and in a room filled with hungry koreans. it was actually quite comical. literally 30 minutes later the room was vacant. it was basically horace and i and some people at another table. it appears that they come to the wedding, watch, eat and then leave. i think there were over 200 people there. feeling uncomfortable sitting in this almost empty room watching them clean up we went into the hallway where we saw jk. we went into the main room where they were they had the ceremony and said hello to mr. and mrs. oh. it's unbelievable how amazing these people. they kept making sure we had enough to eat and asked us to stay to watch the korean ceremony which we did. it was such a great experience. they wedding clothes were amazing. during this part of the ceremony the couple pour tea and bow to their family. then the parents of the groom throw nuts into a piece of fabric that the bride and groom are holding. this represents good fortune and family. mr. oh made a comment about how he wishes for lots and lots of grandchildren. this part of the ceremony lasted for 30 minutes and that was jsut for the grooms family. after they were done the oh family left so that they could do the same for the brides family. i can't even explain how wonderful it all was. this is exactly the kind of experience i wanted to see here. i'm completely lucky to be working for people who have taken us in and treat us a family. the best part of the whole day was watching everyone get a kick out of us saying hello in korean. i took a few photos and will post them soon. be well…
Friday, April 01, 2005
a princess story
dear diary–
this week in one of my classes i was teaching point of view. i had my students write two stories. one from the first person point of view the other from the third person point of view. it amazes me with what these students come up with. sally's stories were so cute and bizarre that i want to share them with you know. granted i made some corrections to them but you'll get the general idea.
sally's first person point of view story
I was a small girl. all of the people liked me. It was a good feeling. I always had happy days. But one day my father died and we were sad.
The End
footnote: there was also a little picture to go along with this story.
sally's third person point of view story
Once there were three princesses who lived in a castle. Two of the princess were good. One was bad. Two of the princesses were pretty. One was ugly. They went to a party and they saw a big dog. It was the biggest dog they have ever seen. And then they all died.
Granted now these are stories coming from an 8 year old. cute and innocent and yet they both center around death. i love the imagination that children have. perhaps that why i surround myself with childish things like pez, action figures, and comics. sometimes i yearn for the days when i was in my room with my star wars toys scattered on the floor building a styrofoam hoth ice fortress waiting for the big showdown between good and evil. i use to steal my sisters finger nail polish and paint my action figures so it look like blood. what is our big fascination with death and blood when we are young. perhaps its because it seems so mysterious to us. who really knows. be well…
this week in one of my classes i was teaching point of view. i had my students write two stories. one from the first person point of view the other from the third person point of view. it amazes me with what these students come up with. sally's stories were so cute and bizarre that i want to share them with you know. granted i made some corrections to them but you'll get the general idea.
sally's first person point of view story
I was a small girl. all of the people liked me. It was a good feeling. I always had happy days. But one day my father died and we were sad.
The End
footnote: there was also a little picture to go along with this story.
sally's third person point of view story
Once there were three princesses who lived in a castle. Two of the princess were good. One was bad. Two of the princesses were pretty. One was ugly. They went to a party and they saw a big dog. It was the biggest dog they have ever seen. And then they all died.
Granted now these are stories coming from an 8 year old. cute and innocent and yet they both center around death. i love the imagination that children have. perhaps that why i surround myself with childish things like pez, action figures, and comics. sometimes i yearn for the days when i was in my room with my star wars toys scattered on the floor building a styrofoam hoth ice fortress waiting for the big showdown between good and evil. i use to steal my sisters finger nail polish and paint my action figures so it look like blood. what is our big fascination with death and blood when we are young. perhaps its because it seems so mysterious to us. who really knows. be well…
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