deery-lou.
for christmas christine gave me this book how koreans talk. its filled with a bunch of korean expressions/proverbs. i've been reading it at night and so far finished the first chapter which was about food. many of these sayings are quite funny on their own. they also give you a brief explanation of how the express came about and what it means. i'm thinking about adapting some of these for my own dirty meanings. hehe! anyway i thought i'd share some with you.
chapter 1: eat, eat: rice is everything
when will i have a chance to eat your noodles?
[guksu eonje meokji?]
meaning: when are you getting married? noodles are a common dish at wedding banquets. long noodles symbolize longevity, and are popular at celebrations such as birthdays of parents.
it's like slurping cold porridge
[sikeunjuk meogi]
meaning: it's a piece of cake.
the other man's rice cake always looks bigger.
[namui tteoki keoboinda]
meaning: the grass always looks greener on the other side.
i am cold rice.
[naneum chanbapida]
meaning: i get the cold shoulder from everybody. rice tastes better when hot.
small pepper is hotter.
[jakeun gochuga maepda]
meaning: koreans think short people are gritty. if you make fun of a koren man's diminutive stature, he might kick up dirt and charge toward you, fuming: "i will show you that a small pepper is hotter, you dumb telephone pole."…
just because you fear maggots doesn't mean you should give up making soybean paste.
[gudeogi museoweo janj mot damgeuna]
meaning: don't let obstacles deter you.
he can't distinguish between excrement and bean paste.
[ttonginji doenjanginji moreunda]
meaning: he can't tell good from bad.
more to come as i finish other chapters.
be well…
Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Sunday, January 29, 2006
the misadventures of jethan & the photo booth
deery-lou.
well its monday and i actually managed to get out of my apartment if only so briefly. earlier this week i learned that i might be going for my black belt on february 18th. i say might cuz i never know if they are going to change their minds or not. anyway my master gave me a form to fill out and a list of things i ended to have inorder to take the test. which makes me think that this times its for real. one of the things on the list was three 3x4 photos of myself. since all of this stuff is due feb. 3 i figured i should venture out and get it done. i was hoping i'd be able to find a photo booth in my hood but alas i did not. plus since its a holiday a lot of places are closed. so i headed to jungang station where i knew there was one. i settled down in the tiny booth ready to get some photos snapped. i tried inserted a 5,000 won note into the machine but it would not accept it. it only took 1,000 won, 500 won, or 100 won. seeing that i had no change i left to get some. i bought a mountain dew and with 5 1,000 won notes in hand i ventured back to the booth. i postioned the chair, fixed my hair [which has been completely out of control lately] and inserted my bills. i pushed all the correct buttons and sat waiting for the photo to be taken. the voice from the machine called out "hanna, dul" and snap the picture was taken. when it popped up on screen my eyes were completely shut. then the voice came on again. i had another chance. "hanna, dul" snap photo two was taken. then both of the photos i took appeared on screen: the infamous "my eyes are shut" and the gastly horrible new one where my eyes were partly closed and my face was all scruntched up. it looked like i had been high for a week straight. at the bottom of the screen was a countdown. i had 5o seconds to choice between two awlful photos. i looked all over for a redo button but couldn't find one anyway. the countdown stopped and out came my pictures. the mean photobooth chose the eyes completely shut photo. knowing that i could not use these and that i had no more 1,000 won notes i went back to the store to get change. with change in hand i went back to the mean photo booth for my second try. i adjusted the seat, primped and once again feed my money to the hungry machine. this time i sat there wide-eyed waiting for the sultry voice to come on. "hanna, dul" she spoke and snap my picture was taken. anticipating yet another mishap i sat there waiting for it to pop on screen. when it did my eyes were open but i looked scared. at least i knew i had one more chance. i tried to relax and await her voice. getting in as many blinks as possible. with a slight smile i sat and waited. "hanna, dul" snap! within seconds both pictures appeared on screen. the second one was much better so i selected that one. at least i didn't look scared. 10,000 won later i left the evil machine with the photos for my application and the horrendous "eyes completely shut" photos. who knew getting photos taken would be so difficult.
for your enjoyment i took a photo of the "eyes completely shut".
today's tips
on being a lady
a mysterious expression will add a lovely sheen to our complexion.
— the clue of the velvet mask, nancy drew
useful catch phrases
but blast it, man, that's impossible.
— the missing chums, the hardy boys
be well…
well its monday and i actually managed to get out of my apartment if only so briefly. earlier this week i learned that i might be going for my black belt on february 18th. i say might cuz i never know if they are going to change their minds or not. anyway my master gave me a form to fill out and a list of things i ended to have inorder to take the test. which makes me think that this times its for real. one of the things on the list was three 3x4 photos of myself. since all of this stuff is due feb. 3 i figured i should venture out and get it done. i was hoping i'd be able to find a photo booth in my hood but alas i did not. plus since its a holiday a lot of places are closed. so i headed to jungang station where i knew there was one. i settled down in the tiny booth ready to get some photos snapped. i tried inserted a 5,000 won note into the machine but it would not accept it. it only took 1,000 won, 500 won, or 100 won. seeing that i had no change i left to get some. i bought a mountain dew and with 5 1,000 won notes in hand i ventured back to the booth. i postioned the chair, fixed my hair [which has been completely out of control lately] and inserted my bills. i pushed all the correct buttons and sat waiting for the photo to be taken. the voice from the machine called out "hanna, dul" and snap the picture was taken. when it popped up on screen my eyes were completely shut. then the voice came on again. i had another chance. "hanna, dul" snap photo two was taken. then both of the photos i took appeared on screen: the infamous "my eyes are shut" and the gastly horrible new one where my eyes were partly closed and my face was all scruntched up. it looked like i had been high for a week straight. at the bottom of the screen was a countdown. i had 5o seconds to choice between two awlful photos. i looked all over for a redo button but couldn't find one anyway. the countdown stopped and out came my pictures. the mean photobooth chose the eyes completely shut photo. knowing that i could not use these and that i had no more 1,000 won notes i went back to the store to get change. with change in hand i went back to the mean photo booth for my second try. i adjusted the seat, primped and once again feed my money to the hungry machine. this time i sat there wide-eyed waiting for the sultry voice to come on. "hanna, dul" she spoke and snap my picture was taken. anticipating yet another mishap i sat there waiting for it to pop on screen. when it did my eyes were open but i looked scared. at least i knew i had one more chance. i tried to relax and await her voice. getting in as many blinks as possible. with a slight smile i sat and waited. "hanna, dul" snap! within seconds both pictures appeared on screen. the second one was much better so i selected that one. at least i didn't look scared. 10,000 won later i left the evil machine with the photos for my application and the horrendous "eyes completely shut" photos. who knew getting photos taken would be so difficult.
for your enjoyment i took a photo of the "eyes completely shut".
today's tips
on being a lady
a mysterious expression will add a lovely sheen to our complexion.
— the clue of the velvet mask, nancy drew
useful catch phrases
but blast it, man, that's impossible.
— the missing chums, the hardy boys
be well…
Saturday, January 28, 2006
sollal
year of the dogdeery-lou.
sunday, january 29 is sollal "seol" [lunar new year]. being a korean holiday we naturally get monday off. yeah!!! unfortunately, yours truly was struck down with a slight bug on friday: sore throat, running nose, achy body, and very sleepy. it never fails that i seem to get sick whenever there's a three day weekend. go figure. most of the children were very excited for sollal, since it means getting money from their grandparents. check out this site korean festival:lunar new year for more information about the holiday. it actually felt like christmas on friday. i received several gifts from students and co-workers: cookies, oranges, a case of pears, rice wine, socks, lotion and cologne set, jug of honey, and same pieces of candy. had i not felt so rundown it would have been a great day. my whole day felt slightly off. it all started with a phone call from my mom. she wanted to let me know that my grandmother was placed in a nursing home. by the time i got off the phone i had 1o mins to shower and catch a bus for taekwondo class. in my sickly state i had to have a test on my poomsae and kicks. needless to say i wasn't quite all there. i messed up a few times. i'm not really sure how bad they thought i did cuz i couldn't stick around for the entire class since it was running late and i had to be at school. the school day seemed to creep by. its a good thing fridays are speech test days. i have my students working on the "noun" song from school house rock. i've broken it down into several parts. today was part 2 with the "oh, i took a train" section. it's actually quite amazing how most of them memorize it. once we are done learning the song i'm going to show them the video. paris, who's in my first class, wants to give me a speech test. which consists of learning the korean alphabet. i told her i'd play her game. although i banged out on friday since it hurt to talk i promised to give my speech the following friday. we'll see how that goes. i've spent most of today and last night laying around watching movies. so far i've seen aeonflux, crash, harry potter, and elizabeth town.
a couple of days ago i was in the local corner store. i saw a candybar that i thought said "hershey's smores" so i was like "yum" and decided to buy two. it wasn't until i got home that i noticed it said "hershey's & more marshmallow, crunchy cookie bar". ok. it'll still be good. of course what i thought was going to be marshmallow was actually some kind of creamy carmel tasting thing. do they not know what a marshmallow is! come on people. don't be saying marshmallow when you actually mean some weird cream thing. although it was quite yummy. so i reallly shouldn't complain. i'm drinking some green tea in the mug that misty gave me for christmas. its the picture of misty, kate, derek, and i from the photo booth in korea. i noticed that the mug was from thailand. so basically the mug has gone from thailand to the u.s. from the u.s. to hong kong. then from hong kong to korea. its definitely a well traveled mug. so seeing that i got i giant jug of honey i've been trying to figure out what to do with all of it. i added two giant spoonfuls of honey to my tea. last night i was dipping my pear in honey. and it still doesn't look like i even put a dent in the giant jug of honey.
while flipping through the korean herald this week i came across this photo.
apparently some children got to ice skate with a monkey in seoul. how bored does the monkey look. very! you've got to love it. and the outfit. come on! had i known about this earlier i so would have gone. skating with monkey = fun.
all right time to return to my bed for more movie watching.
today's tips
on being a lady
no complimentary makeup application ever looks good, especially when applied by a gypsy woman with an outdoor cart. derivative lesson: the perfume she sells is probably watered down.
— the mystery of the trolling bell, nancy drew
on survival tactics
to fake emotion, holding an onion in each hand will make your eyes red as if weeping.
— the shore road mystery, the hardy boys
be well…
Thursday, January 26, 2006
random tidbit
deery-lou.
a few weeks ago while walking around suwon with chen i stumbled upon this poster.
today's tips
on sleuthing
bluffing about questionable information can often lead to people revealing juicy secrets.
— the clue in the old stagecoach, nancy drew
don't crave too much action. you might get more than you bargained for!
— the bombay boomerang, the hardy boys
be well…
a few weeks ago while walking around suwon with chen i stumbled upon this poster.
today's tips
on sleuthing
bluffing about questionable information can often lead to people revealing juicy secrets.
— the clue in the old stagecoach, nancy drew
don't crave too much action. you might get more than you bargained for!
— the bombay boomerang, the hardy boys
be well…
Wednesday, January 25, 2006
kids say the darnest thing
deery-lou.
on tuesday my student peter aka shygirl asked if horace teacher was leaving in february. apparently anna had said something to him. i told him that yes horace was leaving but not until the end of february. more precisely march 1. that prompted peter ask me when i was going to leaave. i told him as i was going to be here until september 2006. he then gave me the "x-sign" with his arms and replied "one more time." i told him that i might stay one more time. then he looked at me and said "if ethan teacher leave, peter will [he now made a motion to his neck with his hand as if to stab himself]. then he closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue as if he was dead. how sweet!
be well…
on tuesday my student peter aka shygirl asked if horace teacher was leaving in february. apparently anna had said something to him. i told him that yes horace was leaving but not until the end of february. more precisely march 1. that prompted peter ask me when i was going to leaave. i told him as i was going to be here until september 2006. he then gave me the "x-sign" with his arms and replied "one more time." i told him that i might stay one more time. then he looked at me and said "if ethan teacher leave, peter will [he now made a motion to his neck with his hand as if to stab himself]. then he closed his eyes and stuck out his tongue as if he was dead. how sweet!
be well…
Monday, January 23, 2006
nothing gold can stay
deery-lou.
first of all every time i read this poem i think of ponyboy and the rest of the outsiders. sigh...but more importantly this poem sums how i feel right now. its definitely one of my favorite poems. now onto the reason for this post. it's an end of an era. last night we went to madame kalbi's for christine's birthday. a little reminder, m. kalbi was the bbq lady near my old apartment. we use to go there quite a bit before moving. she had the best food ever. and always treated us really good. she rocked! sadly last night we came to find out that she is no longer there. apparently she has immigrated to indonesia 3 days ago. i am bummed that i never got to see her again. i will definitely miss her and the times spent at her restaurant. she always made a feel so welcomed and the place had an overall good vibe to it. unfortunately, even before knowing the fate of m. kalbi i noticed that the vibe in the restaurant was completely different. it felt lifeless. although the meat tasted somewhat the same, the sidedishes were not nearly as good as when she was there. it has lost that spark that made it a great place to go: m. kalbi herself. so most likely it looks like i will probably not be venturing back there anytime soon. its time to move on. m. kalbi where ever you are i wish you all the best in life. it was pleasure to have met you if only so briefly.
be well...
Nothing Gold Can Stay
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
- robert frost
Nature's first green is gold,
Her hardest hue to hold.
Her early leaf's a flower;
But only so an hour.
Then leaf subsides to leaf.
So Eden sank to grief,
So dawn goes down to day.
Nothing gold can stay.
- robert frost
first of all every time i read this poem i think of ponyboy and the rest of the outsiders. sigh...but more importantly this poem sums how i feel right now. its definitely one of my favorite poems. now onto the reason for this post. it's an end of an era. last night we went to madame kalbi's for christine's birthday. a little reminder, m. kalbi was the bbq lady near my old apartment. we use to go there quite a bit before moving. she had the best food ever. and always treated us really good. she rocked! sadly last night we came to find out that she is no longer there. apparently she has immigrated to indonesia 3 days ago. i am bummed that i never got to see her again. i will definitely miss her and the times spent at her restaurant. she always made a feel so welcomed and the place had an overall good vibe to it. unfortunately, even before knowing the fate of m. kalbi i noticed that the vibe in the restaurant was completely different. it felt lifeless. although the meat tasted somewhat the same, the sidedishes were not nearly as good as when she was there. it has lost that spark that made it a great place to go: m. kalbi herself. so most likely it looks like i will probably not be venturing back there anytime soon. its time to move on. m. kalbi where ever you are i wish you all the best in life. it was pleasure to have met you if only so briefly.
be well...
Sunday, January 22, 2006
camp everland
my new tiger hat!!!well i survived yet another camp. although sadly i didn't take that many photos. most of the time we were at caribbean bay, a waterpark, so a camera seemed kind of ridiculous to carry around with me. especially since i was in the water 85% of the time. the portion of caribbean bay we were at was enclosed. its actually pretty huge with a lot of rides outside. i was surprised to find as i was riding a tube in the river walkway that it goes OUTSIDE!!! um, hi. its like 20 degrees outside. there's no business being in the water outside. however, that didn't stop me. hee hee. there were a lot of kids playing in a pool that was completely outside. bizarre!! there were some hot tubes outside which were great. that i understand. a little side note: everyone wears swimcaps!! we left c.b. at 5pm and headed over to everland which was next door. we had dinner that had an hour and half to enjoy the park before it closed. on saturday we went back to everland to go to the european adventure section which was all the snow stuff. the day consisted on tubing, tubing, tubing. we also went on a safari ride. snore!! actuallly it was kind of fun doing that with the children cuz they get all excited and stuff. after lunch we had about an hour to do whatever. i went off to explore some gift shops. hee hee. i love theme park gift shops.
highlights from camp everland!
1. cute lifeguards working the outside pool wearing jackets and fuzzy tiger hats.
2. apple scented hot tube that was outside
3. getting in trouble twice for not having a swim cap.
4. having to rent a damn swim cap
5. the water tunnel ride
6. the steam sauna
7. buying a white tiger hat for myself [see picture above]
8. the eagle roller coaster
9. not going on the viking!!
10. the rodeo ride which made me feel sick afterwards
11. playing video games with the kids
12. bunnies and puppies at our hotel
13. rooster crowing from 4:30 am to 8am
14. snow tubing
15. tryin to stop after going down the bob-sled slope and getting a face full of snow
16. watching the kids enjoying themselves
17. seeing a little girl barfing
18. the sideways hand wave that all the employees at everland did
19. instead of staff all the signs said "cast only"
20. sheep that escaped from the petting zoo
21. little ted picking on little kevin [ted is actually 2 years younger than kevin but they are the same height]
22. 6 kids bailing out of the spooky masion ride cuz they were scared [ride was so not scary]
23. eating snacks on the bus
24. jeff sleeping on my lap while waiting for others
25. fran picking up chicken and carrying him
pictures from everland [there aren't many]
white tiger
hello chicken, petting zoo
ben with his eyes closed
julia and lydia
inside everland
at european adventures
sleepy bear
tiger
puppy at hotel
brent
isabella and other students by puppy and bunny cage
puppies
hi!
bunny
caribbean bay
ho and the pirates
inside everland at dusk
lunch!be well…
Thursday, January 19, 2006
off to camp…
deery-lou.
well the week is coming to an end. tomorrow my school is off to a two day camp. we are going to everland, which in an amusement. on the agenda is carribian bay [an enclosed waterpark], everland [for rides and mayhem], and then sledding on saturday. yippee!! i feel like an 8 year old right now. i'm so excited. i'll be sure to take photos and fill you in on my adventures at everland. my life rocks!!!
be well…
well the week is coming to an end. tomorrow my school is off to a two day camp. we are going to everland, which in an amusement. on the agenda is carribian bay [an enclosed waterpark], everland [for rides and mayhem], and then sledding on saturday. yippee!! i feel like an 8 year old right now. i'm so excited. i'll be sure to take photos and fill you in on my adventures at everland. my life rocks!!!
be well…
Tuesday, January 17, 2006
a poem
deery-lou.
for most of my classes i have my students writing in journals. it usually consists of the same old thing: "i played computer game. i ate meat. etc." some of the students are really good at writing what happened, others not so much. but thats really besides the point. the whole idea behind the journals is to encourage them to write. and hopefully start being a bit creative with them. this week brent took a leap toward the creative direction and wrote a poem in his journal. i was so happy to see something different. although it was a bit difficult to understand, i encouraged him to continue to write poems. i also told him to write them in korean, too so that if i needed help in understanding what he meant i could ask one of the teachers. he actually seemed quite excited about that. i'm definitely looking forward to seeing what he comes up with. i wanted to share his poem with you so i copied it down exactly how it appeared in his journal…
be well…
for most of my classes i have my students writing in journals. it usually consists of the same old thing: "i played computer game. i ate meat. etc." some of the students are really good at writing what happened, others not so much. but thats really besides the point. the whole idea behind the journals is to encourage them to write. and hopefully start being a bit creative with them. this week brent took a leap toward the creative direction and wrote a poem in his journal. i was so happy to see something different. although it was a bit difficult to understand, i encouraged him to continue to write poems. i also told him to write them in korean, too so that if i needed help in understanding what he meant i could ask one of the teachers. he actually seemed quite excited about that. i'm definitely looking forward to seeing what he comes up with. i wanted to share his poem with you so i copied it down exactly how it appeared in his journal…
bag
bag is havey and beg
i bon't Put eeg
bag is many to Jeg
and i like too bag
bag is havey and beg
i bon't Put eeg
bag is many to Jeg
and i like too bag
be well…
Monday, January 16, 2006
the chronicles of e
deery-lou.
on saturday i found myself in a tv coma. i spent the entire day watching 9 episodes of "prison break". i love that show. i tried only watching 2 but got so sucked into the show i had to finish it off. of course wouldn't you know that it ended in a cliffhanger. i hope it starts back soon. if anyone haven't seen it yet your missing out.
on sunday i met up with chen in suwon. i was actually quite proud of myself because i took a bus there. hee hee. it the first time i've ever taken the bus somewhere besides work and the airport. it was quite exciting. although i almost missed my stop. it was a good thing i'd been to suwon station before so i knew what it looked like. chen and i spent the day shopping. there are a lot of cool stores in the area. we tried to see a movie at the theater there but there was only one seat left. instead we walked around the mall. to my surprise and great pleasure level 4 was filled with toy stores. yeah!! there's a really cool anime shop that had blythe dolls. chen ended up buying one. a big one. i must be a magnet for girls who want to buy giant blythe dolls. first misty and now chen. and like misty chen is talking about going back to buy an outfit and wig for her doll. so funny. i did manage to buy a few more palace story things to add to my collection. i think its getting a bit out of control. i can't seem to stop myself. so far my palace story collection includes:
1. 2 mugs
2. a bag
3. a pencil case
4. 2 packages of stationary
5. 3 pens
6. a glue stick
7. an eraser
8. a notebook
i had to stop myself from buying a bank. hee hee. i sure that by the time i leave korea i'm going to need an extra buy for my ps things. i also purchased a little anime figure. however on the box they are all colored. mine ended up being solid black. whats up with that! by the time we finished shopping we headed back to ansan. proud moment #2: finding the bus back to ansan. we got off near lotte mart to check out the movies. luckily there were still tickets for the 9:10 showing of narnia. it was such a great movie. the cinematography was so beautiful. they did a really good job adapting it to the big screen. how much did i love the snow queens hair. it rocked. perhaps that will be my new look for 2006. hopefully the books will start to get noticed again. it's such a great series. i remember the first time i saw "the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe" on hbo. it was an animation film and it was so good. i use to watch it every time it came on. i think the movie was done in the 70s. there was another animated movie that came out in the 80s but the animation sucked. i've been trying to find the 70s version on dvd but haven't had much luck. hopefully one of these days i'll be lucky enough to track it down. if anyone knows where i can get a copy let me know.
it was a great spending the day with chen. we had a blast. then again we always do when we hang out. i realized on my way home that we definitely need to do it more often. sometimes its just hard getting motivated on the weekends. especially in the cold. i'm definitely going to make more of effort to leave my apartment. otherwise this year in ansan might get way too boring. at least with the discovery of suwon which is only 20 mins away i have a new place to explore.
be well...
on saturday i found myself in a tv coma. i spent the entire day watching 9 episodes of "prison break". i love that show. i tried only watching 2 but got so sucked into the show i had to finish it off. of course wouldn't you know that it ended in a cliffhanger. i hope it starts back soon. if anyone haven't seen it yet your missing out.
on sunday i met up with chen in suwon. i was actually quite proud of myself because i took a bus there. hee hee. it the first time i've ever taken the bus somewhere besides work and the airport. it was quite exciting. although i almost missed my stop. it was a good thing i'd been to suwon station before so i knew what it looked like. chen and i spent the day shopping. there are a lot of cool stores in the area. we tried to see a movie at the theater there but there was only one seat left. instead we walked around the mall. to my surprise and great pleasure level 4 was filled with toy stores. yeah!! there's a really cool anime shop that had blythe dolls. chen ended up buying one. a big one. i must be a magnet for girls who want to buy giant blythe dolls. first misty and now chen. and like misty chen is talking about going back to buy an outfit and wig for her doll. so funny. i did manage to buy a few more palace story things to add to my collection. i think its getting a bit out of control. i can't seem to stop myself. so far my palace story collection includes:
1. 2 mugs
2. a bag
3. a pencil case
4. 2 packages of stationary
5. 3 pens
6. a glue stick
7. an eraser
8. a notebook
i had to stop myself from buying a bank. hee hee. i sure that by the time i leave korea i'm going to need an extra buy for my ps things. i also purchased a little anime figure. however on the box they are all colored. mine ended up being solid black. whats up with that! by the time we finished shopping we headed back to ansan. proud moment #2: finding the bus back to ansan. we got off near lotte mart to check out the movies. luckily there were still tickets for the 9:10 showing of narnia. it was such a great movie. the cinematography was so beautiful. they did a really good job adapting it to the big screen. how much did i love the snow queens hair. it rocked. perhaps that will be my new look for 2006. hopefully the books will start to get noticed again. it's such a great series. i remember the first time i saw "the lion, the witch, and the wardrobe" on hbo. it was an animation film and it was so good. i use to watch it every time it came on. i think the movie was done in the 70s. there was another animated movie that came out in the 80s but the animation sucked. i've been trying to find the 70s version on dvd but haven't had much luck. hopefully one of these days i'll be lucky enough to track it down. if anyone knows where i can get a copy let me know.
it was a great spending the day with chen. we had a blast. then again we always do when we hang out. i realized on my way home that we definitely need to do it more often. sometimes its just hard getting motivated on the weekends. especially in the cold. i'm definitely going to make more of effort to leave my apartment. otherwise this year in ansan might get way too boring. at least with the discovery of suwon which is only 20 mins away i have a new place to explore.
be well...
Wednesday, January 11, 2006
a story
deery-lou.
a couple of weeks ago i had my students write fairy tales. here's what charlette wrote:
once upon a time there was
a mom, dad, boy, and girl.
they were playing in the woods.
the witch caught them.
she ate them.
on a side note. today i had to interview a new teacher via the phone. let me ask you this, "how did i get stuck interviewing people?" i really don't want to have that responsibility. unfortunately, i have a feeling i'm going to have to interview all the candidates. great!
be well…
a couple of weeks ago i had my students write fairy tales. here's what charlette wrote:
once upon a time there was
a mom, dad, boy, and girl.
they were playing in the woods.
the witch caught them.
she ate them.
on a side note. today i had to interview a new teacher via the phone. let me ask you this, "how did i get stuck interviewing people?" i really don't want to have that responsibility. unfortunately, i have a feeling i'm going to have to interview all the candidates. great!
be well…
Monday, January 09, 2006
a new wave of music
deery-lou.
from the first time i listened to throwing muses "hunkpapa" back in 1989 i was hooked. it was actually the song "dizzy" that made me a fan. over the years i purchased everything prior to "hunkpapa" as well as any new releases the band had. while attending college in athens i got to see the last tour with tonya donnelly and a very pregnant kristin. even at 8 months pregnant kh can rock like no one else i've seen. since then i tried to catch them live whenever i could. they were so amazing live. i managed to catch them in boston, florida, georgia, california, and maryland. every show better than the last. tm had quickly replaced "the smiths" as being my favorite band. and to this day they still hold the title. tm's song affected me in a way none others have. they made me feel alive, feel happy. which is strange to think because if one actually sits down and read the lyrics they aren't all cut and dry. perhaps that says something about myself. but to simply put it, kristin hersh is an amazing song writer. so when the band dissolved around 1996 i was quite sad. what was i going to do? thankfully kristin still had her solo stuff which is just as good as tm stuff. however, i missed the rock feel that tm consumed me with. in 2003 tm came out with their very last album and did a very mini tour. luckily they played in san francisco. of course i went. it was so good to see them live. i continued to check out kristin's solo gigs too. i must admitt she is the sole reason i was such a big tm fan. when i learned that kristin had formed a new band 50foot wave i was very excited. i got to see them play in sf and was blown away by the set. it sound hard and rough. like old tm stuff. i was thrilled. now once again i had the solo kristin [for my mellow side] and the rock kristin [to make me jump and shout] to complete my life. here's to hoping 50foot wave will be around for a while.
which brings me this post. i want to make people aware of 50foot wave and their music. it always surprised me how throwing muses, or even kristin hersh as a solo artist never quite made it big. the shows were always packed and there's a huge fan base. then i realized its mainly because they never sold out. kh, tm and now 50foot wave make music for music. thats so rare to find these days. 50foot wave has just released a new ep called "free music". the band has decided to try something new and basically give their ep away for free in hopes that people will share the music with others. for this and many other reasons is why i love kh and her music so much. i highly recommend any music fans to give this ep a listen. it's definitley worth it. below is the information from their site:
Official Press Release, 15 December 2005:
50FOOTWAVE is proud to announce "Free Music!" -- a 5 song Ep of new studio recordings to be given away via the band's website www.50footwave.com/freemusic or www.throwingmusic.com/freemusic as well as several partner sites including Archive.org and the sometimes controversial BitTorrent tracker DimeADozen.org.
The band will be offering FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) files as well as hi-resolution mp3 files. The band is also encouraging fans to seed BitTorrents and set up CD burning trees to ensure that people without time or technology may also receive the free music.
The tracks will include Creative Commons "Some Rights Reserved" licenses (for more info on Creative Commons, see www.creativecommons.org)
The band states its goal as simply to circumvent the 'money cycle' and get high quality (free) recordings into the hands of a maximum number of people for evaluation at their leisure.
The band's manager, Billy O'Connell, says, "The capacity for reaching new ears with unknown music has become so diminished that we felt we had to try a new approach. It has become prohibitively expensive to reach people via traditional marketing means (radio, press, retail promotion) - lately, CD distribution costs and even touring costs have gone through the roof.
"This project is simply attempting to tap the power of the network -- we're asking individuals for their enthusiasm rather than their money. It's an experiment we're eager to see play out."
The band's founder, Kristin Hersh, explains, "Money has so polluted the music world that my overwhelming urge right now is to divorce money from recorded music. Over the last 2 years we've been relying on standard 'industry' channels to help us educate listeners about 50 Foot Wave and we've met resistance every step of the way -- caused by little other than money -- and to an extent I've never seen before.
"So we're sending free recordings off into the world to do their work. If people enjoy these songs and are excited by them, we ask that they share them with others. The music business is about fame and huge profits -- egos and greed -- music itself, is not."
© 2005, ThrowingMusic
here's the main link to the site throwingmusic.com. kh even has a blog. love her.
spread the music.
be well...
from the first time i listened to throwing muses "hunkpapa" back in 1989 i was hooked. it was actually the song "dizzy" that made me a fan. over the years i purchased everything prior to "hunkpapa" as well as any new releases the band had. while attending college in athens i got to see the last tour with tonya donnelly and a very pregnant kristin. even at 8 months pregnant kh can rock like no one else i've seen. since then i tried to catch them live whenever i could. they were so amazing live. i managed to catch them in boston, florida, georgia, california, and maryland. every show better than the last. tm had quickly replaced "the smiths" as being my favorite band. and to this day they still hold the title. tm's song affected me in a way none others have. they made me feel alive, feel happy. which is strange to think because if one actually sits down and read the lyrics they aren't all cut and dry. perhaps that says something about myself. but to simply put it, kristin hersh is an amazing song writer. so when the band dissolved around 1996 i was quite sad. what was i going to do? thankfully kristin still had her solo stuff which is just as good as tm stuff. however, i missed the rock feel that tm consumed me with. in 2003 tm came out with their very last album and did a very mini tour. luckily they played in san francisco. of course i went. it was so good to see them live. i continued to check out kristin's solo gigs too. i must admitt she is the sole reason i was such a big tm fan. when i learned that kristin had formed a new band 50foot wave i was very excited. i got to see them play in sf and was blown away by the set. it sound hard and rough. like old tm stuff. i was thrilled. now once again i had the solo kristin [for my mellow side] and the rock kristin [to make me jump and shout] to complete my life. here's to hoping 50foot wave will be around for a while.
which brings me this post. i want to make people aware of 50foot wave and their music. it always surprised me how throwing muses, or even kristin hersh as a solo artist never quite made it big. the shows were always packed and there's a huge fan base. then i realized its mainly because they never sold out. kh, tm and now 50foot wave make music for music. thats so rare to find these days. 50foot wave has just released a new ep called "free music". the band has decided to try something new and basically give their ep away for free in hopes that people will share the music with others. for this and many other reasons is why i love kh and her music so much. i highly recommend any music fans to give this ep a listen. it's definitley worth it. below is the information from their site:
Official Press Release, 15 December 2005:
50FOOTWAVE is proud to announce "Free Music!" -- a 5 song Ep of new studio recordings to be given away via the band's website www.50footwave.com/freemusic or www.throwingmusic.com/freemusic as well as several partner sites including Archive.org and the sometimes controversial BitTorrent tracker DimeADozen.org.
The band will be offering FLAC (Free Lossless Audio Codec) files as well as hi-resolution mp3 files. The band is also encouraging fans to seed BitTorrents and set up CD burning trees to ensure that people without time or technology may also receive the free music.
The tracks will include Creative Commons "Some Rights Reserved" licenses (for more info on Creative Commons, see www.creativecommons.org)
The band states its goal as simply to circumvent the 'money cycle' and get high quality (free) recordings into the hands of a maximum number of people for evaluation at their leisure.
The band's manager, Billy O'Connell, says, "The capacity for reaching new ears with unknown music has become so diminished that we felt we had to try a new approach. It has become prohibitively expensive to reach people via traditional marketing means (radio, press, retail promotion) - lately, CD distribution costs and even touring costs have gone through the roof.
"This project is simply attempting to tap the power of the network -- we're asking individuals for their enthusiasm rather than their money. It's an experiment we're eager to see play out."
The band's founder, Kristin Hersh, explains, "Money has so polluted the music world that my overwhelming urge right now is to divorce money from recorded music. Over the last 2 years we've been relying on standard 'industry' channels to help us educate listeners about 50 Foot Wave and we've met resistance every step of the way -- caused by little other than money -- and to an extent I've never seen before.
"So we're sending free recordings off into the world to do their work. If people enjoy these songs and are excited by them, we ask that they share them with others. The music business is about fame and huge profits -- egos and greed -- music itself, is not."
© 2005, ThrowingMusic
here's the main link to the site throwingmusic.com. kh even has a blog. love her.
spread the music.
be well...
albums that got me through 2005
deery-lou.
to offically ring in the new year i've compiled a list of albums that rocked me through 2005. seeing that i don't do resolutions [who needs them] but wanted some kind of list-thingy thought this would be fun. fyi: these albums weren't necessarily released in 2005. and the order is random. enjoy!
e's top albums of 2005
1. smoosh - she like electric
2. 50 foot wave - free music
3. interpol -antics
4. metric - live it out
5. throwing muses - the green album
6. blonde redhead - misery is a butterfly
7. drunken tiger - 1945
8. 50 foot wave - golden ocean
9. my life with the thrill kill kult - sexplosion!
10. dressy bessy - dressy bessy
11. interpol - turn on the bright lights
12. ladytron - 604
13. 50 foot wave - 50 foot wave
14. ladytron - light and magic
15. metric - old world underground, where are you now?
16. le tigre -le tigre
17. throwing muses - limbo
be well…
to offically ring in the new year i've compiled a list of albums that rocked me through 2005. seeing that i don't do resolutions [who needs them] but wanted some kind of list-thingy thought this would be fun. fyi: these albums weren't necessarily released in 2005. and the order is random. enjoy!
e's top albums of 2005
1. smoosh - she like electric
2. 50 foot wave - free music
3. interpol -antics
4. metric - live it out
5. throwing muses - the green album
6. blonde redhead - misery is a butterfly
7. drunken tiger - 1945
8. 50 foot wave - golden ocean
9. my life with the thrill kill kult - sexplosion!
10. dressy bessy - dressy bessy
11. interpol - turn on the bright lights
12. ladytron - 604
13. 50 foot wave - 50 foot wave
14. ladytron - light and magic
15. metric - old world underground, where are you now?
16. le tigre -le tigre
17. throwing muses - limbo
be well…
Sunday, January 08, 2006
out and about
deery-lou.
today i spent the day with jenny who's back in korea for a month to teach at a camp. according to her its like living on a compound. it was great to hang out with her again. i miss her. whenever we're together all we do is laugh. goodtimes. i have until feb 8 to enjoy her company once again. we spent the day shopping, eating, and drinking in meyoungdong and hangdae. we found this really cool cafe called ordinary cafe in hangdae. it felt quite trendy with lots of plants, low tables and chairs, and cushions. we also found a shop that was korea's version of urban outfitters. though much small and not as cool. which lead me to the idea that perhaps i should open a uo in seoul. how cool would that be. i think it would totally go over especially in the meyoungdong. i'll need to look into that. hee hee. things i bought today included a d.i.y action figure from a bubble gum machine[it was store devoted to bubble gum toy machines] and a "name card" holder for all my name/biz cards. i feel so korean now.
some random things i noticed today:
1. outside of seoul station is the hangout for vagrants and drunk men
2. one such vagrant or drunk man was taking a piss right outside in public
3. at least 4 people asked to bum a smoke in that area
4. the bench where they were sitting was lined with emply soju bottles
5. meyoungdong is dead in the early morning
6. shops come and go quite quickly [hi, goths dolls no longer where i last saw them]
7. jackets i really like are ruined with stupid writing on the back
8. korean shirts never seem to fit
9. shopping with someone else is always F.U.N
12. this poster
13. even better this detail from same poster
10. a group of 10 hikers sleeping on the train on my way home
11. a restaurant sign in my hood that says "we server you like mom's ture heart"
be well…
today i spent the day with jenny who's back in korea for a month to teach at a camp. according to her its like living on a compound. it was great to hang out with her again. i miss her. whenever we're together all we do is laugh. goodtimes. i have until feb 8 to enjoy her company once again. we spent the day shopping, eating, and drinking in meyoungdong and hangdae. we found this really cool cafe called ordinary cafe in hangdae. it felt quite trendy with lots of plants, low tables and chairs, and cushions. we also found a shop that was korea's version of urban outfitters. though much small and not as cool. which lead me to the idea that perhaps i should open a uo in seoul. how cool would that be. i think it would totally go over especially in the meyoungdong. i'll need to look into that. hee hee. things i bought today included a d.i.y action figure from a bubble gum machine[it was store devoted to bubble gum toy machines] and a "name card" holder for all my name/biz cards. i feel so korean now.
some random things i noticed today:
1. outside of seoul station is the hangout for vagrants and drunk men
2. one such vagrant or drunk man was taking a piss right outside in public
3. at least 4 people asked to bum a smoke in that area
4. the bench where they were sitting was lined with emply soju bottles
5. meyoungdong is dead in the early morning
6. shops come and go quite quickly [hi, goths dolls no longer where i last saw them]
7. jackets i really like are ruined with stupid writing on the back
8. korean shirts never seem to fit
9. shopping with someone else is always F.U.N
12. this poster
13. even better this detail from same poster
10. a group of 10 hikers sleeping on the train on my way home
11. a restaurant sign in my hood that says "we server you like mom's ture heart"
be well…
Thursday, January 05, 2006
bali: the hi's, lo's and everything inbetween
deery-lou.
the bali trip was amazing. not a place i would have chosen on my own to visit but i'm so glad i did. as i've said the beaches especially at sanur aren't the greatest but there is so much other cool stuff to see. all of the temples were beautiful. i think this is the first time i didn't get temple burnout. instead of writing a day by day account [which will probably bore you to no end] i'm going to do one of my famous lists. so sit back and enjoy the memorable and not so memorable moments of me in bali.
bali highlights
1. telling the shopkeeper [mimi] it was too dark to shop since there was no electricity
2. mimi telling me if horace bought something i had to buy something too [nice try, mimi]
3. statues with penises for some random beach bar
4. space cadet [my new favorite drink made with a banana liqueor]
5. watching the children jumping off boats and swimming
6. christmas morning breakfast with strangers [mostly australians]
7. a little christmas present on my plate
8. sally asking me if i wanted a coke during breakfast
9. meeting jan and peter [owners of flashbacks] and their friends sallly and rodger [who live there]
10. bat flying by my head
11. small offerings to the gods everywhere you look
12. stray dog running across the street with some strange piece of meat in its mouth [it kind of looked like a skinned rat or something]
13. local hangout for the motorbike crew [kind of looked like a run down rest area with shacks, i so wanted to investigate but didn't have a motorbike handy]
14. cows munching on grass
15. taxi driving wanting to take us to a fetish bar
16. bali boys with mohawks and bleached hair
17. children playing volleyball with ducks on the court
18. women carrying giants baskets, sticks, etc on their heads
19. people bathing in river
20. woman standing in an open section of the sidewalk doing her laundry
21. all the villages i passed in the van
22. man standing on the side of the road in the pouring rain pissing in the street [classy]
23. a motorbike going up a trail from the waterfall with a passenger on the back
24. the waterfall
25. watching all the water pour from the stairs of temples, roofs of villages, etc. during the rain storm
26. daily rainstorms
27. monkeys [they were sitting on the guard rail watching the cars go by]
28. the giant fruit bats [how cute were they]
29. some "g"-drama during breakfast
30. little boy waving to me from the side of the road
31. fried meat pies of tastiness
32. avoiding getting run down by jetskis, boats, etc while swimming in ocean
33. getting called "boy"
34. being asked if i wanted a sarong every 5 minutes
35. being stalked by a shopkeeper my first day at beach
36. waving to shopkeeper from restaurant telling her "no"
37. caving in and going to shopkeepers store but telling her "just looking"
38. buying a wooden bunny for $2.50
39. realizing a couple of days later that my wooden bunny was missing a foot
40. tall beers
41. clove cigarettes
42. lunch looking at a volcano [for that matter all the great scenic views while eating lunch]
43. the amazing temples
44. taxi drivers asking if i needed a ride, when said i no then asked if i wanted to go somewhere special, or if i wanted some girls
45. taxis, vans, etc. beeping at you to see if you wanted a ride
46. motorbike riders wearing ponchos in the rain
47. our driver made [marday] making our tour even more awesome
48. the alila hotel which in the middle of rice fields
49. wandering around ubud
50. cocktails with the gang from flashbacks
51. waterfall in the pool at parigata
52. circle k
53. dinner at bumbu bali where we had to get "the wand" before entering
54. waiter at bumbu writing a note to horace asking if he was gay
55. not getting bali belly
56. making an offer at a temple then being asked for money
57. someone at temple trying to get me to give them some won for his collection
58. getting out of the holy hot springs and being covered with a yellow tint
59. the tombs at gunung kawi temple
60. pura dalem sidan [temple of death rites]
61. all the cool demon like statues
62. beach club resort [sounded fancy but was a bust]
63. bad lounge singer at the flambouyant restaurant that was part of the parigata
64. spending my last $3.00 on two bottles of hot sauce and a coke at the airport
65. trying to get my coke for 80 cents [she didn't bite so i had to borrow money from charlie]
66. having my own row of seats on the flight back
67. bad buffets with fried bananas that tasted like rubber tires
68. the friendly people
69. all the swimming i did [i love pools, especially cool pools]
70. sitting at the beach at night listening to 5o foot wave [the band] not the actually waves
all righty. i think that about wraps it up. my head is spinning trying to recap the whole experience. i'm sure i left some things out but you get the general idea. bali is an amazing place and hopefully tourism will pick up again. its definitely worth checking out.
be well…
the bali trip was amazing. not a place i would have chosen on my own to visit but i'm so glad i did. as i've said the beaches especially at sanur aren't the greatest but there is so much other cool stuff to see. all of the temples were beautiful. i think this is the first time i didn't get temple burnout. instead of writing a day by day account [which will probably bore you to no end] i'm going to do one of my famous lists. so sit back and enjoy the memorable and not so memorable moments of me in bali.
bali highlights
1. telling the shopkeeper [mimi] it was too dark to shop since there was no electricity
2. mimi telling me if horace bought something i had to buy something too [nice try, mimi]
3. statues with penises for some random beach bar
4. space cadet [my new favorite drink made with a banana liqueor]
5. watching the children jumping off boats and swimming
6. christmas morning breakfast with strangers [mostly australians]
7. a little christmas present on my plate
8. sally asking me if i wanted a coke during breakfast
9. meeting jan and peter [owners of flashbacks] and their friends sallly and rodger [who live there]
10. bat flying by my head
11. small offerings to the gods everywhere you look
12. stray dog running across the street with some strange piece of meat in its mouth [it kind of looked like a skinned rat or something]
13. local hangout for the motorbike crew [kind of looked like a run down rest area with shacks, i so wanted to investigate but didn't have a motorbike handy]
14. cows munching on grass
15. taxi driving wanting to take us to a fetish bar
16. bali boys with mohawks and bleached hair
17. children playing volleyball with ducks on the court
18. women carrying giants baskets, sticks, etc on their heads
19. people bathing in river
20. woman standing in an open section of the sidewalk doing her laundry
21. all the villages i passed in the van
22. man standing on the side of the road in the pouring rain pissing in the street [classy]
23. a motorbike going up a trail from the waterfall with a passenger on the back
24. the waterfall
25. watching all the water pour from the stairs of temples, roofs of villages, etc. during the rain storm
26. daily rainstorms
27. monkeys [they were sitting on the guard rail watching the cars go by]
28. the giant fruit bats [how cute were they]
29. some "g"-drama during breakfast
30. little boy waving to me from the side of the road
31. fried meat pies of tastiness
32. avoiding getting run down by jetskis, boats, etc while swimming in ocean
33. getting called "boy"
34. being asked if i wanted a sarong every 5 minutes
35. being stalked by a shopkeeper my first day at beach
36. waving to shopkeeper from restaurant telling her "no"
37. caving in and going to shopkeepers store but telling her "just looking"
38. buying a wooden bunny for $2.50
39. realizing a couple of days later that my wooden bunny was missing a foot
40. tall beers
41. clove cigarettes
42. lunch looking at a volcano [for that matter all the great scenic views while eating lunch]
43. the amazing temples
44. taxi drivers asking if i needed a ride, when said i no then asked if i wanted to go somewhere special, or if i wanted some girls
45. taxis, vans, etc. beeping at you to see if you wanted a ride
46. motorbike riders wearing ponchos in the rain
47. our driver made [marday] making our tour even more awesome
48. the alila hotel which in the middle of rice fields
49. wandering around ubud
50. cocktails with the gang from flashbacks
51. waterfall in the pool at parigata
52. circle k
53. dinner at bumbu bali where we had to get "the wand" before entering
54. waiter at bumbu writing a note to horace asking if he was gay
55. not getting bali belly
56. making an offer at a temple then being asked for money
57. someone at temple trying to get me to give them some won for his collection
58. getting out of the holy hot springs and being covered with a yellow tint
59. the tombs at gunung kawi temple
60. pura dalem sidan [temple of death rites]
61. all the cool demon like statues
62. beach club resort [sounded fancy but was a bust]
63. bad lounge singer at the flambouyant restaurant that was part of the parigata
64. spending my last $3.00 on two bottles of hot sauce and a coke at the airport
65. trying to get my coke for 80 cents [she didn't bite so i had to borrow money from charlie]
66. having my own row of seats on the flight back
67. bad buffets with fried bananas that tasted like rubber tires
68. the friendly people
69. all the swimming i did [i love pools, especially cool pools]
70. sitting at the beach at night listening to 5o foot wave [the band] not the actually waves
all righty. i think that about wraps it up. my head is spinning trying to recap the whole experience. i'm sure i left some things out but you get the general idea. bali is an amazing place and hopefully tourism will pick up again. its definitely worth checking out.
be well…
Tuesday, January 03, 2006
monkeys, bats, and statues…
monkeys!!!…that must mean only one thing. part 2 of e's bali journey. yes, folks as if the first album wasn't enough i have one more for you to look at. i do hope you enjoy it. hello…there are monkeys in this bunch. who doesn't love monkeys. speaking of monkeys i almost bought a chain of hanging monkeys. basically they were a wooden version of monkeys in a barrel. its a good thing the merchant didn't meet my price. an hour later the novelty of them wore off. thats the main problem with bargining you get so caught up that you start buying crap you don't really want just to make a deal. without further ado i give you…
photo album 2
be well…
Monday, January 02, 2006
bfb [back from bali]
rice terracesdeery-lou.
i'm baaaaack!!! it's hard to believe my week in bali is already over. it was a great trip. the weather was quite humid much like florida so it was 8 days of bad hair for yours truly. it also rained alot. although i'll take a warm rain over freezing cold. did alot more sight-seeing on this trip and less lounging by the ocean. mostly cuz the beach and ocean just didn't appeal to me for some reason. perhaps it was due to the lack of tourists and because every 5 seconds you were being ask to buy something. its sad to see that since the bombing the tourism has dropped. shopkeepers were desperate for sales. i think i was asked if i wanted a sarong at least 10 times every day. bali is a wonderful place. the people are really friendly and the food is delicious. i definitely recommend visiting just to see the temples, rice terraces, and other sights. driving through the country side everything was so lush. a couple of times i wanted to jump out and run barefooted through all the green. there are all these little villages along the way. much like little communities. driving around was simply fantastic for that reason alone. i couldn't help but wonder what life would be like there. you can catch a small glimpse like people bathing and washing in the river, working in the rice terraces, etc. i'm really curious about what it would be like to be a child or teenager there. if i ever go back i'd love to spend some time in a village and get a real feel for life. its seems like almost every house has some kind of shop in it. you see people with general stores, selling fruits, carving wood, painting, etc. there are a lot of galleries but unfortunately most of the art looks like its mass manufactured. i'm still amazed at seeing all these people walk down the streets with giant pots, sticks, etc on their heads. i can't even balance a book. one thing i know for sure is that motorbikes are the major means of transporation. they're everywhere. during the rain they wear ponchos as the ride around. motorbikes scare me. i think its because i wrecked one when i was younger. i need to get over my fear cuz like look like they'd be fun to ride. one of these days. anyway…there's a lot more to tell and lots of photos to post. i'll write a highlights post in a few days. in the meantime i got one set of photos uploaded so i'll leave you with them for now.
be well…
click here for bali photo album 1
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