zander, warrior boy

deery-lou.
so i'm finally getting around to posting my halloween video. i know, i know. sometimes i forget that i have video. anyway…here's zander demonstrating his great warrior skills. sorry for the sideways video. its too bad you can't just rotate it like a photo. hee hee. i need to teach myself how to use imovie so i can make fancier movies. however, i must confess i've been to lazy to learn. until then you'll have to put up with the video straight from the camera. and now on with the video…

click here to watch!

i found another image from halloween that i didn't post. it's of me and anna. we were at manhatten western bar. i was still in my korean high school student and anna transformed herself from a dead high school student to a pregnant one. i kept telling her that "it ain't my baby!"

high school baddies

today's tips:
on being a lady
lipstick is not just for looking glamorous; it can be used to signal for help on windows or other surfaces.
— the mystery of the fire dragon, nancy drew

handy instruments
always have a magnifying glass on hand for clues not visible to the naked eye.
— the wailing siren mystery, the hardy boys

be well…

toast

deery-lou.
it's amazing how sometimes the simplest things can make one happy or taste so good. it just so happens that this thing i'm talking about is…TOAST! yes, toast. christine decided to move back home with her folks so she gave me her toaster. i've been thinking about buying one for months now but haven't. so on saturday she brought over the toaster. what's the first thing i did? made toast. i can't believe how freakin' good toast with butter and jam was. this morning i had toast. just a few minutes ago i ate toast. i'm so lovin' toast right now. i never really appreciated it back home. toast was always taken for granted. passed over for a bagel or english muffin. no more i tell you. for me, from now on its all about the toast. now if only i had some bacon to put on the toast i'd be in heaven.

my sahbanim worked our butts off today. it was nonstop running and kicking. today kim jung-ho and his brother were late. when they walked in the sahbanim was saying something to them. jung-ho's brother wasn't even wearing his uniform. he had on a turtleneck sweater and cords. meanwhile jung-ho's pants were complete floods. the sahbanim pointed this out my pointing to his pants and saying "michael jackson" then started to moonwalk. it was pretty funny. jung-ho has become my new buddy. he's always saying "hi" or "good job" to me. i even ran into him and his mom at the store and he came running over to say hello. what a polite boy.

today around 3:30pm the sky got completely dark. then moments later it went to a sepia hue. we thought perhaps there had been an eclipse. still not sure what caused it. it was raining but i've never seen clouds turn the sky completely dark like it was the middle of the night. very strange. for a minute there i thought it was going to start snowing. fortunately it didn't. plus its not that cold yet. i found out today that i have to give a demonstration to the parents of one of my classes. apparently the parents are concerned about this class moving up to green level and want to see what i'm going to be teaching. good times.

i just discovered yet another new favorite drink. its called ambasa. it's coke's version of milkis, my other favorite drink. they're like milk soda drinks. to me they taste like liquid baby aspirin. so delicious. so anyway, i couldn't find milkis at the store so i decided to try ambasa. and sure enough its basically the same thing. the ambasa label is blue and white with clouds. like a little taste of heaven. if i'm not mistaken the tagline on milkis is "a new soda beverage sensation" or something like that. there are people floating with umbrellas on the label.

today's tips:
on etiquette
learning a new craft will make you chatter on incessantly about the art form. be careful not to bore your less artsy friends.
— the clue of the leaning chimney, nancy drew

useful catch phrases
"we sure pulled a boner."
— hunting for gold, the hardy boys

be well…

an old friend in a new place

deery-lou.
last night i got to see mr. william crump who was in town with his wife agatha. her family was having some sort of reunion which brought them to korea. it was great to see them even though it was only for a short time. the last time i saw them was at their wedding and i really didn't get to spend too much time with them. i've known william since high school days although we didn't become really good friends until after my senior year. we had a sort of love/hate relationship in the beginning. looking back on it now makes us laugh. we even got to travel around europe together which was amazing. although we haven't lived in the same area for more than 10 years we remained closed. thats when you know you have a true friendship. so being able to see him here and catch up was fantastic. i met up with them in hongdae. we had some coffee, cake, and good chat. we then walked around a bit and stopped in a pc room. they needed to check their emails. it was the first time i've been in one so i was excited. the walls were painted black, there were indiviual computer stations, and big leather office chairs. everyone in there was playing computer games. computer games are BIG here, especially cart rider which looked similar to mario kart. when i was living in maryland i'd go to my aunt and uncle's house and play it all the time. i was always toad. i even bought my own controller so i could plug in any time. hee hee. . they were mostly korean guys too. i saw two girls. and being korea everyone was either smoking or there was a pack right next to them waiting to be smoked. they even sold snacks and refreshments in there. how fun is that. once they were done with their email check, bill was having a slight problem since the messages kept popping up in korean, we headed to maryjane's and had a drink. before we knew it the witching hour had approached and it was time to go. i almost didn't make the last train because i got held up at sindorim, my first of two transfers. even though track 4 said trains were heading in the direction i need to go none came. after seeing two go by on track 2 i decided it was best to go there myself. of course once i did the next 6 trains weren't the right ones. finally at 11:50pm one came. i seriously think i have waited at least a half hour. i was starting to get worried. i still had to go eight stops and transfer again. and not really knowing when the last train to oido was i thought for sure i'd be stuck. luckly when i got to my next transfer point there was a train waiting. when i got out of the station it was raining and cold. but it was alot better to get wet then be stuck.

on my ride home i felt quite nostalgic especially after seeing william. so it seemed only fitting to play some smiths on my ipod. that made me think of high school, ea, visage, hs friends, etc. its cool to be able to listen to music or a certain song and have it evoke such great memories. having been wired about missing my train i was unable to sleep. i stayed up until 4 am watching episodes of oth. sometimes i love me.

today's tips:
on accoutrements
a fagot is a bundle of tightly woven twigs, like a basket. just a good thing to know.
— the secret of the forgotten city, nancy drew

on lessons learned
a large mask will make a person's body seem smaller. a tiny face mask can make him look bigger.
— the missing chums, the hardy boys

be well…

me survey

deery-lou.previously on the e-list...

Here's a survey that I took while living in Korea but forgot to post. I'm posting it now according to the date I saved it—11.26.05

stay gold & be well

TELL ME ABOUT YOURSELF - The Survey
Name:	ethan
Birthday:	april 10, 1970
Birthplace:	camden, new jersey
Current Location:	south korea
Eye Color:	blue
Hair Color:	dirty blonde
Height:	178 cm
Right Handed or Left Handed:	right
Your Heritage:	east european mix
The Shoes You Wore Today:	the only shoes i wear:my swears
Your Weakness:	right now palace story stuff, in general toys
Your Fears:	the viking
Your Perfect Pizza:	cheese
Goal You Would Like To Achieve This Year:	learn to draw
Your Most Overused Phrase On an instant messenger:	cool
Thoughts First Waking Up:	ten more minutes
Your Best Physical Feature:	my eyes? i dont know
Your Bedtime:	whenever i've tired
Your Most Missed Memory:	christmas morning as a child
Pepsi or Coke:	wild cherry pepsi
MacDonalds or Burger King:	chik-filet!!
Single or Group Dates:	single
Lipton Ice Tea or Nestea:	mama's sun tea
Chocolate or Vanilla:	strawberry
Cappuccino or Coffee:	tea
Do you Smoke:	yes
Do you Swear:	yes
Do you Sing:	only at noraebongs or when i'm alone
Do you Shower Daily:	sometimes
Have you Been in Love:	hmmmm
Do you want to go to College:	i've been. would love to go back
Do you want to get Married:	maybe
Do you belive in yourself:	sometimes
Do you get Motion Sickness:	not really
Do you think you are Attractive:	in a weird sort of way, yes
Are you a Health Freak:	no
Do you get along with your Parents:	yes
Do you like Thunderstorms:	love them
Do you play an Instrument:	i played the recorder in 4th grade
In the past month have you Drank Alcohol:	yes
In the past month have you Smoked:	yes
In the past month have you been on Drugs:	no
In the past month have you gone on a Date:	yes
In the past month have you gone to a Mall:	no
In the past month have you eaten a box of Oreos:	no, but i wish i did
In the past month have you eaten Sushi:	nope
In the past month have you been on Stage:	nope
In the past month have you been Dumped:	nope
In the past month have you gone Skinny Dipping:	nope
In the past month have you Stolen Anything:	nope
Ever been Drunk:	ummm, yes
Ever been called a Tease:	no
Ever been Beaten up:	no
Ever Shoplifted:	when i was younger
How do you want to Die:	don't really think about that
What do you want to be when you Grow Up:	i don't want to grow up
What country would you most like to Visit:	i want to visit as many places as i can
In a Boy/Girl..
Favourite Eye Color:	don't have one
Favourite Hair Color:	don't have one
Short or Long Hair:	medium
Height:	175 cm
Weight:	75 kg
Best Clothing Style:	indie-geek, t-shirts
Number of Drugs I have taken:	zero
Number of CDs I own:	too many to count
Number of Piercings:	zero
Number of Tattoos:	zero
Number of things in my Past I Regret:	need to think about that
CREATE YOUR OWN! - or - GET PAID TO TAKE SURVEYS!

thai land videoes

deery-lou.
last night once again i stopped off at the little food stand to get some eats. here was the conversation i had with the woman:
me: [pointing at what looked like chicken in a red sauce] is that chicken?
woman: [smiles and gives me a confused look]
me: chicken?
woman: [said something that sounded like "ocra"]
me: fish?
woman: [shakes head and says something to her husband who came out]
me: [to the man] chicken?
man: [says the "ocra" sounding word]
me: fish?
man: ok, fish

i decided to pass on the mystery dish and instead settled for the pulled pork and sweet potato noodles. its just too good to pass up.

on a random note here are some mini-vids from the new years eve show last year at sea view resort in thailand. enjoy!
watch me! thai dancers
watch me! more dancers
dance contest [vickie and i got selected for a newspaper, sand dance contest]
watch me! sword fighting

be well…

little food stand of goodness

deery-lou.
i'm love with the woman who has the little food stand by my apartment. i've passed by it several times always looking by never buying. the one day i did decided to stop and get a closer look there was nothing that appealed to me. then the other day i noticed that she had this delicious side dish that consists of sweet potato noodles, veggies, and meat made with seasame oil. i bought some. it was so good. on my way home from work tonight i stopped again. no sweet potato noodles. that exactly what she said to me in korean. instead i decided to get some pulled pork and some seaweed and onions in vinegar. all for $3. it was so damn good. yum-yum. so as you've probably guessed by now i'll be eating there every day. forever and ever. love her. i ran into one of my students this morning at a stationary store. i'm looking at cards and i hear "hi, ethan teacher." she then picked up a cookie and said, "look cookie". so cute. i was at this same store last night buying some of those character frogs that my student had. obsessed much. now i've got three of my own. hee hee.

and now for todays tips.
on dating:
come up with a clever code with your boyfriend/girlfriend in case one of you is ever kidnapped.
— the invisible intruder, nancy drew

on manners:
when you solve a mystery, it's nice to throw a party with plenty of good food.
— the mystery of the aztec warrior, the hardy boys

be well…

beep.beep

deery-lou.
well, helloooooo scooter. yes, its no surprise that there's a hello kitty scooter. i've seen one before at the store. what surprises me is that someone actually bought one and is riding it around in korea. i so need to be friends with them. riding on the back yelling "beep-beep" to everyone we pass by. sort of like how pauline and i would drive around in her geo singing imperial teen songs. sigh...

recently i've discovered some new favorite things.
here they are in no particuliar order:

1. palace story [more on that later]
2. an ice cream sandwich that consists of sponge cake and an orea ice cream center. yum-yum
3. my new taekwondo pants [so warm, who would have known]
4. warm honey-red ginsing tea
5. these frog anime characters [i tried to steal one from my student but it didn't work]
6. hobbang [these delicious snacks that come out in the winter]
7. getting a free toy at mcdonalds for no reason
8. fancy leg warmers [i so need to buy these for someone]
9. these veggie snacks that look and taste like dorritos

be well...

free market

deery-lou.
on saturday i went to hongdae to shop at the free market. the free market is where artists gather in the park and sell their work. it's becoming one of my favorite places to go. besides all the art venders they also have bands playing. it a great way to spend a lazy afternoon listening to music and buy cool stuff. i did a majority of my christmas shopping there. i can't believe i'm actually finished. now all i have to do is wrap and mail. which will probably take me three weeks to do. there are lots of great finds at this art market. there's jewerly, journals, clothing, picture frames, etc. and the fact that they are all hand made from local artists, rocks. its so nice to have a place where artists gather and you can buy their stuff. the whole free market idea is great. its too bad we don't have anything like this back home. perhaps that will be my new goal. to set up a free market in san francisco when i return. that would be cool. a friend of mine is thinking about selling some of her work there which inspired me to work on some stuff to sell as well. we'll see what transpires. i did come across one artist who's work i feel in love with. it had that gothy-cutesy-anime style that i've become obsessed with. the artist name is delos. i watched him draw a picture on some girl's camera. how cool is that. on my way home i realized i should have asked him to draw on my ipod. if only i had thought about it when i was there. many next time.

remember how a few weeks ago i mentioned the toy museum and had some pictures. well anyway i finally uploaded the video.

click here for a visual tour

be well…

in search of...

deery-lou.
since being in korea i've had a lot of time to think and reflect on things that have happened. recently i've been thinking alot about past friends that i've somehow managed to loose touch with over the years. one person in particular keeps coming to the forefront: amy poole. i met amy in college back in 1990. we both attended the university of georgia in athens, ga. our friendship last until 1992 when i ended up going back to florida. we saw each other once while i was living in atlanta. we met up for lunch at little five points. it was right before i was going to head home. then in the summer of 1993 while touring with my friends' band spoke we stopped in athens for a gig. i got to see amy then, too. from there things sort of just dwindled. i moved to boston for a few years, then found myself in baltimore and evidently ended up in san francisco before i came to korea. now over ten years have past i still can't forget her. we had a strange kind of relationship. at first i really liked amy and i think she felt the same but it was never the right time to persue any kind of romantic relationship. instead we formed a really close friendship. one that i cherished alot and one to this day that i kind of miss. we'd skip class when it was too "africa hot" out to study and eat gyros. this place we went to had the best half and half gyros. and the yogurt sauce was to die for. i would kill for one now. she was one of those people that i instanstly clicked with. life was good then. not that its not now but we were so carefree. college was great. anyway...the reason for this post is cuz i'd love to be able to find amy. i'm hoping that perhaps someone might stumble upon this who knows her. if thats the case please let her know about this blog and hopefully we can reconnect. if not, well, it was great to be able to write about it now. who knows what will happen...

be well...

guide to life

deery-lou.
well its wednesday which means quiz of the week…NOT!! as doppelganger willow would say, "bored now!" but don't fear. i've come up with a new weekly special which is much more a representation of who i am and to an extent how my mind works. for years now i've had this strange quirk, or actually a pseudo joke that a few of you know about already. it's my kidnapping theory and how one should always be prepared incase such an event happens. thats why i'm always conscious about what i'm wearing. it doesn't matter where i'm going or what i'm doing. i don't want to be last seen wearing a raggy t-shirt, sweats, and a baseball cap. besides if thats the description that was given none of my friends would recognize me. people joke about my giant shoes i wear but little to they knew that in a pinch they can be used as a weapon. i also make sure my bag is equipped with all the essentials. again, one never knows what is going to happen. just look at those people on lost. hi, plane crash now living on an island with crazy people. my philosophy is be prepared for anything. luckily for me, a few years ago two books hit the market that have become my so-called "survival bible" as well as my "guide to life". they are "the hardy boys' guide to life" and "nancy drew's guide to life". i've had the hardy boys' one for awhile now, but the nancy drew one was recently sent to me by d. needless to say they go with me everywhere. they are packed full of insightful tips especially for that budding sleuth in all of us. which brings me to my new feature. on wednesdays i'll be giving some tips from the aforementioned books. each week there will be one tip from thbgtl and one from ndgtl. and now for this week's tips:

moxxie and a good sense of balance are essential when crawling on a roof.
— the hidden staircase, nancy drew

thinking with a pencil often helps to clarify a case.
— the mystery of the chinese junk, the hardy boys

until next time. be well…

the weirdness of it all

deery-lou.
while wasting time walking up and down the newark airport back in august i stumbled upon a small treasure of sorts. i was in a bookstore looking through magazines and i notice one called weird nj. of course being born in jersey i had to take a look at it. it contained info on strange, weird places in nj. some of these places were houses where murders took place, haunted woods, strange looking trees, and weird folks. hence their name. it was the coolest thing i've seen in awhile. who knew jersey could be so cool. certainly not i. then again i left jersey in '78, i was only eight. then a couple of days ago i was thinking about this mag and i decided to check the web. sure enough they even have a site www.weirdnj.com. and it doesn't stop there. there's also a site for weird us [www.weirdus.com] by the same guys. during my investigation i discovered that they even have a show airing on the history channel. anyone who is interested in strange, weird things should definitely take a look. there's a lot cool stuff on these sites. it was on the weirdus site that i found out about the midget village [see misty's blog]. its amazing how much weirdness is out there. which makes me wonder why am i so drawn to it. i remember some strange and weird stories from my youth like deadman's cliff that was in the woods by my house or that the walt whitman house was haunted [its now a museum]. or even the academy that was in flordia which supposedly some people died at. i actually still have the yearbook from that place. the people looked scary. i love hearing tales that these. how cool would that be to be able to spend your time researching strange tales from towns. i want their job. anyway i just wanted to mention this stuff cuz i found it all quite interesting. if you have any strange or weird stories you want to share with me please do. i love that kind of shit.

be well...

freetalking…

deery-lou.
i got word today that they are giving me another class to teach on tuesdays and thursdays. its a freetalking class—basically it means conversation. normally the idea of teaching nothing but conversation would excite me, especailly since there are no guidelines its just talking. unfortunately its going to be with uber shy students. these are kids that i have a hard time getting to speak during normal class. now i'm going to have a special talking classes with them. yikes. of course this class would come about during the week i have a sore throat. oh well. then i was told that our classes are getting rearranged next month. its like "whatever". it seems like we are constanstly rearranging class times to appease the students. in taekwondo do tonight one of my buddies told me that my hairstyle was very good. he even gave me the thumbs up. i love these kids.

on saturday i went with horace to see the drawing restraint #9 film since we didn't see it the last time. i must say that i went in there we expectations of it being a very long drawn out art film. i left being pleasantly surprised by it. i actually enjoyed it. the worst part about the whole film was the chairs we were sitting in. not very comfortable for a two hour movie. then there was a scene where mathew barney was wearing denium on denium [at least it looked like a denium shirt] and i couldn't get past it. i don't care who you are d on d is a definite not cool. after the movie we got some tacos at this dingy looking place in itaewon. it kind of reminded me of the taco joints that surround college. you know the ones that the punk rock kids always hung out at cuz it was cheap eats. although this one had military peeps. anyway i had a burrito and it actually wasn't that bad. definitely nothing like a ground beef burrito from the place on valencia and 18th but it was better than nothing. we also hit namdaemun market and insadong for some shopping. other shopping day out for me and i didn't buy anything for myself. what's happening to me. oh yeah i'm saving up for my goth doll. the most productive thing i did on sunday was add album cover art to my ipod. how sad!!!

here are some random videos of korean drum music taken at different festivals.

watch me! drum band
watch me! children drum band
watch me! lantern festival

be well…

11.11

pepero madness

deery-lou.
today was pepero day, the korean valentine's day where folks give out pepero, bisquit sticks dipped in chocolate. this year since i have a much bigger class load i was inundated with pepero after pepero. chocolate ones, strawberry ones, big ones, little ones, boxes, and even an entire container filled with pepero. one student gave me a bread stick dipped in chocolate. how much pepero can one boy eat? so far 12 or maybe 13. i lost count. oink. oink. before being dismissed from taekwondo tonight my kwanjangnim and sahbumnim handed out pepero. oh, no! not more. my kwanjangnim handed me two pastry sticks with chocolate on them and a pepero and said, "i love you." then he giggled. i just finished eating one of the pastry sticks and all i have to say is… yummy, sugar goodness. speaking of tkd it seems we can purchase winter uniforms. my kwanjangnim gave me a form the other day. i tried to ask him tonight if i "have" to buy the winter uniform but i don't think he quite understood what i was asking. all i got as a response was "you going to order." so i'm seriously contemplating the purchase. basically it's a red and black sweat suit. i'm turning so korean. it looks super warm which would be a plus as opposed to our normal uniform. i remember freezing last year. so who knows. i'll sleep on it.

fridays are speech days in class. each monday i give my students something to memorize and on fridays they have to stand in front of class and recite it. last week was the days of weeks. simple and easy. this week i decided to spice things up a bit and gave them the smurf theme song to memorize:

la, la, la, la, la, la sing a happy song
la, la, la, la, la, la smurf the whole day long
smurf along with me
simple as can be
la, la, la, la, la, la now you know the tune
la, la, la, la, la, la you'll be smurfing soon.

i did cut out a couple of sentences to make it easier. each student had to recite it on their own. they could either sing it or speak it. i tried to make them sing and dance but no luck. for two of my classes i took video of them singing the song as a group. i think this song will forever be embedded in my mind.

click here for video

click here for video

be well…

adidas

deery-lou.
whenever i walk to school my route usually takes me through the outlet strip mall. thats where i first discovered the wonderful "crazy-faced" mannequin in all her glory. nowadays i make it a habit to check out whats happening in the adidas window. they have soccer player dolls that they pose. hee hee. dolls are funny. the anticipation of how they are going to be posed seems to brighten up my day. the best is that some of the soccer players have a bald spot. you got to love that. here's a glimpse in the world of adidas, korean style.

getting the shot

doin a split

nice bandana, cameraman

protecting the goal

bring it on! and looking after the family jewels

what's happening down there

ball playin

line dancin

threesome

is that a ponytail?

caught on film

siemens! dirty

be well…

"untitled"

deery-lou.
last night i thought about existence. and what actually happens once we are gone. i'm not really sure what triggered this. perhaps it was getting news about a friend of mine being hit by a car. who thankfully is all right. but as i lay in bed trying to get some sleep my mind had its own agenda: existence. it crazy how your mind works sometimes. here i am in my mid-thirties. more than halfway through my life and all i keep thinking is that i don't want it end. for when it does we will no longer exist. game over. our memories, our thoughts, everything will be gone and who will remember us? will we be just a random photo that someone finds. the vast majority of us will just be forgotten. no more going to the movies, no more listening to music, no more late nights out with friends, no more winters, smells, etc. its weird to imagine life without being an active part of it. then i started to think, "what if we do get to come back. would we know it?" most likely we wouldn't realize that we are living yet another life. or would we? and if we do come back would we be making the same mistakes as before or make new ones as we find our way in a new world. would be the same race? gender? i realize that getting older and dying is a part of life. which really doesn't bother me but strangely i don't want myself to disappear into the void. so in a way it must bother me a bit. i don't know. i feel like i'm just rambling. perhaps i am. i'm not even sure this makes sense at all. sometimes its hard for me to write exactly what i'm thinking. i'm not usually one to complaint the meaning of life and all that. however, i am starting to realize that we just have one life and i'm going to do my best to try not to let money, or work control it. anyway... thats whats going through my head. i've actually had this existence conversation with my sister before. she was visitng me in san francisco. we were sitting in a red convertible park on cliff overlooking the ocean eating pie. not sure how the subject came up but it did. i mentioned how one day we just wouldn't exist. that there be a time when the two of us would no longer be talking or seeing each other and didn't that seem strange. the conversation last for a bit then we just there silently eating our pie until it was time to go home.

be well…

a shoppin' day

deery-lou.
i actually had a very productive day shopping for the holidays. i know what you're thinking, "why so early" but if i don't start now i'll wait til the last minute then i'll be running around like a maniac. plus factoring in the mailing i figured its best to get going on it. and i must say i got alot done. yeah!!!! i went to both insadong and meyoungdong. i forgot how crazy meyoungdong is. the last time i was there was with misty, kate, and derek. while in insadong i went into the newly expanded toy museum. that place rocks. this time i actually acted like a korean and took pictures. this was this random underwear hanging art in one section of insadong. not really sure what that was all about. in meyoungdong i was sadden to find that the store where i purchased my blythe doll was no longer there. in fact all the cool stores on that floor were gone. although the really good 1000 won store is still there but on a different floor. i did spot some very expensive goth dolls. this is the one that i so want to buy.

glam rock

check out the eyes!

time to start saving my won. [smile]. it was another great fall day. it was chilly but not too cold. i love seeing all the different color leaves in the trees and on the ground. it reminds me of living in boston. fall was always a great time of year there. while walking around meyoungdong i saw two very interesting things:
1. tiny puppies in wooden boxes for sale. it looked like some kind of science fair. each box had one puppy in it and there was plastic on top or what looked like plastic and a light bulb. hmmm
2. then a few feet away i noticed a lady sitting on the ground with a basket of tiny puppies wearing cheap gold chains. she was hawking the pups. i tried to take a picture but she yelled at me. not once but twice. theres always something to see out on these streets. i did find alot cool new shops in meyoungdong. i also found this really cool shirt. however, when i went to try it on it was like ultra skin tight and that was the large. talking about feeling like a fatty.

on friday night i found out that one of my sabomnims, the one who's been teaching me, is leaving. he's going on a taekwondo tour throughout europe. which is good for him but sucks for me. i really liked him. oh well. that night i stopped off at the mandu [korean dumplings] shop near my apartment and order some wangmandu, which are "king dumplings" and so freakin good. the woman started talking to me in korean. we had a converstion for like 3 minutes but i don't think either one knew what the other was saying. the next thing i knew she was giving me some kimchi mandu for free. love her. before school on friday i got my haircut by this guy who had "cher" hair. while he was cutting it the two assistants stood to the side and watched. there's nothing like having two people stare at you while your getting your haircut. talk about feeling nervous. the cut turned out pretty good especially since no one spoke any english there. at one point i did hear one the of the assistants say "handsome". i can only assume she was talking about me. how sweet is that.

check out the photos from the toy museum and other random things from the day here!

be well…

jebudo pics II

deery-lou.
these shots were taken by mr. bae.

leaving the rock

playing titanic

scared on the viking

me & my buddy jun-ho

at the harbor

in the pagoda

looking at the sea

the gang

be well…

i'm fat...

deery-lou.
at least thats what my kwanjangnim told me. it took me awhile to figure out what he was trying to tell me. he kept grabbing his side saying "a little fat", "pig". thats when the light bulb went off and i realized he was calling me fat. according to him the fat is not allowing me to kick high enough. personally i believe i just can't kick that high due to flexibility. whatever. anyway he told me i must diet and do special training. so now everyday before class i have special exercises to do. these exercises consist of placing my foot on a ledge and then doing side crunches standing up. normally if someone called me fat i'd take it all personally, but to be honest i could really care less. i thought it was actually quite comical. especially when the sabumnim called out "esan fat" and make a big tummy gesture with his hand. all the kids started to comment as well although i have no clue as to what they were saying. this all came about because i had my test with the kwanjangnim tuesday night. i thought i did quite well on the poomsaes. there were some little things he told me i needed to work on but at least i remembered how to do them. that made me happy. he wasn't too happy with my kicking. hence the special exercises. its all about getting the hips up. up! up! up! of course we had the same conversation about getting my black belt. i can't go until he gives me the ok. i realized that i'm going to have to be nearly perfect. the sabumnim gave me homework to do: practice all my stances. i need to make sure i keep the same distance between my feet for my stances. so its work, work, work for me. perhaps i'll actually be a lean, mean fighting machine when its all done with. one can only hope. on a happy note, my taekwondo photo has been uploaded. [big smile].

the infamous taekwondo studio shot:



be well…

jebudo

teens of jebudo

deery-lou.
on sunday i found myself going to jebudo with mr. bae and his son jun-ho. the last time we had an outing it was off to daebudo, an island in ansan. we planned to meet up at 10am near my old apartment building. i stopped off at holly's to get a coffee to warm me up. it was cold. i decided to go with a sweet potato latte which was actually quite good. surprise, surprise. mr. bae and jun-ho were already there when i arrived. i was told to get into the backseat and off we went. jun-ho kept trying to talk to me but his english was very limited. he's so cute. we did our best to communicate and ended up bonded over sour cream pringles. our first stop was gungpyeong harbor in the city of hwaseong. there was a long concret pier on either side of the market area. the harbor was filled with people fishing. some were even having picnics between cars. boats were everywhere. some out at sea, some docked, and some stranded in mud. at the end of the pier fishing boats would dock and sell their catch right off the boat. it was definitely interesting watching all the people gather around the fresh, and i mean fresh seafood. mr. bae stuck his hand into one of the containers and pulled out a giant shrimp. i wanted to throw him back into the water but knew i'd probably end up joining him if i did. we took a walk along the other pier too. jun-ho wanted to go to the pagoda. the air that day was crisp and cold. it made you feel alive. i love the ocean air smell. as we walked around i kept thinking to myself "i really like it here". yeah there are times that i miss living in the states but overall life is just so simple here. my only stress is wondering if i'm going to get my black belt. mr bae told me it was time to head off to jebudo. apparently we have a small window to visit: 8am to 2pm. once 2pm hits the tide starts to come in and covers the bridge leading to jebu. how exciting. as we crossed over to jebudo i looked on either side of this cement bridge. all i saw was mud. i had a hard time imagining that the water actually came in this far and covered both sides. perhaps this was just another one of those stories. mr. bae then told me how jebu is like a miracle much in the sense of how mosses parted the red sea, this sea parts too, allowing folks into jebu. the island itself is quite small. there were all these purple tiny tree-like bushes in the mud. along the beach were nothing but restaurants. there was even a very small amusement park. we parked at the end of the beach strip and started to walk to the three giant rock formations. these were the draw of jebudo. mr. bae told me that at high tide these rocks get submerged. we were there for a while and then the whistle blower came. it was time to head out. the tide was coming in. before leaving we stopped at the amusement park. jun-ho wanted to ride the viking. i tried to tell them that i didn't like the viking but it was no use. there was no one at the park. mr. bae tracked down the ride operator so we could get on. i sat with jun-ho and mr. bae was in front of us to take pictures. did i mention how much i hate this ride. we hadn't even picked up speed when jun-ho started to cry. i did my best to console him by putting my arm around him. however, i was secretly happy for i knew the ride would be over. sure enough the operator stopped the ride. hee hee. that was the shortest ride ever. when the hand rail was going up my arm got stuck in it. the operator had to release it again so i could free myself. i love little beach towns. they are so interesting. i saw a bunch of teenagers walking around the park and wondered what it would be like to grow up here. especially since they are so isloated. in a weird kind of way it reminded me of when we would go to wildwood, nj for the summers. wildwood was a beach town where we'd go to the beach, go crabbing, and spend our nights walking the boardwalk. the amusement park was ten times better than jebudo's. i can still here the tramcar ladies call out "watch the tramcar please. watch the tramcar please." we left jebudo to beat out the tide. as we crossed over the bridge the water on the right side was very close to the bridge. once across we stopped for lunch. the restaurant had a view of the bridge and i watched the water continue to grow. we had giant jumbo shrimp which they cooked alive in front us. it was cool to watch them go from their brownish color to a reddish cooked color. they were tastey too. by the time lunch was over i looked out and notice that the bridge was now submerged. off in the distant i notice the 3 rock formations from earlier. they too were halfway covered in water. after mr. bae dropped me off i went into jungangdong to do some shopping. it was such a great fall day to be out.

be well...

click here for jebudo photos

quiz of the week: which dc superhero are you?

deery-lou.
i wish i was a millionaire playboy by day. sigh...


Millionaire playboy by day, dark knight by night.
You are the world's greatest detective. You are
Batman, and you are feared and respected by
both hero and villian.


Which DC Super Hero Are You?

be well...