deery-lou.
annyong! not much to report. my week has been pretty mundane. the weather is getting hotter and hotter. its time to find me a swimming pool or something. there's now a site for SHOT!, the exhibition i'm going to be a part of in july. if you have some time take a gander. i'm pretty much set for it. finished all my frames last week. now all i have to do is attach the photo hangers that miss kate sent. thanks, hun. that really saves me from having to use double-sided tape. hehe! hope everyone out in the cyber world is doing good.
stay cool and be well…
Wednesday, June 28, 2006
Saturday, June 24, 2006
jethan's mini adventure...
deery-lou.
friday night we had a company dinner. we went to this fairly new restaurant in our building. their specialty: chicken. the chicken was served whole. it kind of looked as if it had been split open then topped with rice gravy that had jujubes, a potato, and ginseng root in it all roasted together. they also served up a huge pot of sticky rice gravy soup. two words: unbelievably delicious. the chicken was like butter. although i did have to add tons of salt to the srs to give it some flavor. jk had brought some alcohol from china. not sure where it got it from. i guess its china's version of soju. i had a very small amount. which turned out to be a good thing cuz it tasted like i was sucking down rubber alcohol. freakin nasty. the worst part was that i couldn't rid myself of the awful after taste. me thinks i can still taste it now. blaahh! dinner ended quite abruptly and the next thing i knew we were at the faux-german bar that has barrel booths you can sit at. there more beer and soju were order as well as two sidedishes of fruit. fruit seems to be the ultimate drinking snack. nothing like muching on some bananas and chasing it down with a gulp of beer. yummy. the ks were drinking machines. downing one drink after another. most likely due to the fact that the world cup game between korea and switzerland was going to be on at 4am. i was hoping they didn't plan on all of us staying up to watch us. some of us need lots of pretty sleep. with the drinking comes the problems. it never fails that once two of my co-teachers get wasted they start up with the flirting and crap. one keeps calling me "honey" while the other says how much she thinks of me. its fine for a few minutes but as it continues throughout the night it starts to make me feel uncomfortable. kind of like if i'm even remotelly nice back to them they'll think i'm interested. i'm not sure how many times i've already told them i'm not interested. obviously they're not catching on. i haven't actuallly played the g-card, but come on they've got to know. unless they are just kidding around but its so hard to tell. needless to say i decided to leave around 1am before things got too out of control. that was staying out much later than i had anticipated especially since i had an appointment at 9:30am on saturday.
after my early-ass saturday morning appointment i went back home and vegged out until 5:30pm. i was so tired. i went to bed at 2am and then was woken up at 4 something by cheering red-devil fans. [footnote: korea lost 2:0]. don't they know its 4 am. after my much needed rest and laziness i set off for seoul to meet up with jen and astrid. we spent the evening at mr. october's [i think thats the name], a hof bar, in the insadong area. on the menu: beer, fries, and chicken. life couldn't get much better. come to think of it, it was my third night in a row to have chicken and beer. on thursday i met up with young after taekwondo for spicy fried chicken and ice cold beers. anyway but to jen and astrid. it was great to just chill with the two of them. we've been talking about hanging out forever now and it finally happened. usually when i see them its in a big group so you don't get enough one on one time. those girls are rad so it was good to have some qt with them. we left around 11pm. i was hoping to catch the last train back to ansan. the first train to come was one for sanbon. i decided to jump on it just incase there wasn't a train to ansan. at least that way if it was the last, i would be somewhat closer to home. what a smart move on my part. when we got to sanbon i was told by the attendant that there were no more trains for the night. i figured the best thing to do would be take a cab. of course i've never taken a cab before by myself and my korean is god awful. it was a good thing i had my trusty map with me. now i could just point to the station and have them take me there. as i was coming the stairs a man starting talking to me. it sounded like he was saying ansan. i pulled out my map and pointed to handaeop station. he said mahnwon [$10] and motioned me to the cab. the next thing i knew i was in a cab with 3 koreans heading off for what i hoped to be handaeop station. as the cab speed down the highway i kept an eye out for road signs that said ansan. i wanted to make sure i was heading in the right direction. it funny cuz i thought i would have been more concerned about what was going on but i really wasn't. perhaps all the beer had kept me calm. once we dropped the girl off at songnoksu, the stop right before mine, i knew all was ok. as we were approaching handaeop the man next to me decided to chat me up in korean. i had to tell him "i don't know" and they all laughed. when the driver pulled over and said handaeop i looked around and nothing looked familiar. then i realized on was on the other side of the station. i paid then made my way home happily knowing i successful got myself there.
this morning i went into homemart, our corner store, to get some coffee in a plastic cup with a straw. i also wanted an onion but didn't want to buy a bunch so i asked him if i could buy one. he smiled and yes. then he said service, service. which meant he gave me the onion for free. how nice. before i left he told me my hair was beautiful. i laughed especially since i had literally just got out of bed and told him that my hair was all crazy. i tried to explain bedhead but i think it was lost on him. it feels like its going to be a hot one today. not sure what i'm going to do…
hello again. its midnight on sunday night. wanted to fill you in on how i spent my day. after a lazy start to my sunday i finally ventured out of the house around 5pm. decided to head into jungangdong to get some things and shop a bit. i hadn't been there in awhile. young and ben met me there. i did manage to find a watch store that sells the watch i want. didn't have a chance to try it on because they were closed. ahhh! at least now i know i don't have to trek all over seoul to find it. its right here in my backyard. oh the joy. all right bedtime.
be well...
countdown to sf: 1 month, 2 days
friday night we had a company dinner. we went to this fairly new restaurant in our building. their specialty: chicken. the chicken was served whole. it kind of looked as if it had been split open then topped with rice gravy that had jujubes, a potato, and ginseng root in it all roasted together. they also served up a huge pot of sticky rice gravy soup. two words: unbelievably delicious. the chicken was like butter. although i did have to add tons of salt to the srs to give it some flavor. jk had brought some alcohol from china. not sure where it got it from. i guess its china's version of soju. i had a very small amount. which turned out to be a good thing cuz it tasted like i was sucking down rubber alcohol. freakin nasty. the worst part was that i couldn't rid myself of the awful after taste. me thinks i can still taste it now. blaahh! dinner ended quite abruptly and the next thing i knew we were at the faux-german bar that has barrel booths you can sit at. there more beer and soju were order as well as two sidedishes of fruit. fruit seems to be the ultimate drinking snack. nothing like muching on some bananas and chasing it down with a gulp of beer. yummy. the ks were drinking machines. downing one drink after another. most likely due to the fact that the world cup game between korea and switzerland was going to be on at 4am. i was hoping they didn't plan on all of us staying up to watch us. some of us need lots of pretty sleep. with the drinking comes the problems. it never fails that once two of my co-teachers get wasted they start up with the flirting and crap. one keeps calling me "honey" while the other says how much she thinks of me. its fine for a few minutes but as it continues throughout the night it starts to make me feel uncomfortable. kind of like if i'm even remotelly nice back to them they'll think i'm interested. i'm not sure how many times i've already told them i'm not interested. obviously they're not catching on. i haven't actuallly played the g-card, but come on they've got to know. unless they are just kidding around but its so hard to tell. needless to say i decided to leave around 1am before things got too out of control. that was staying out much later than i had anticipated especially since i had an appointment at 9:30am on saturday.
after my early-ass saturday morning appointment i went back home and vegged out until 5:30pm. i was so tired. i went to bed at 2am and then was woken up at 4 something by cheering red-devil fans. [footnote: korea lost 2:0]. don't they know its 4 am. after my much needed rest and laziness i set off for seoul to meet up with jen and astrid. we spent the evening at mr. october's [i think thats the name], a hof bar, in the insadong area. on the menu: beer, fries, and chicken. life couldn't get much better. come to think of it, it was my third night in a row to have chicken and beer. on thursday i met up with young after taekwondo for spicy fried chicken and ice cold beers. anyway but to jen and astrid. it was great to just chill with the two of them. we've been talking about hanging out forever now and it finally happened. usually when i see them its in a big group so you don't get enough one on one time. those girls are rad so it was good to have some qt with them. we left around 11pm. i was hoping to catch the last train back to ansan. the first train to come was one for sanbon. i decided to jump on it just incase there wasn't a train to ansan. at least that way if it was the last, i would be somewhat closer to home. what a smart move on my part. when we got to sanbon i was told by the attendant that there were no more trains for the night. i figured the best thing to do would be take a cab. of course i've never taken a cab before by myself and my korean is god awful. it was a good thing i had my trusty map with me. now i could just point to the station and have them take me there. as i was coming the stairs a man starting talking to me. it sounded like he was saying ansan. i pulled out my map and pointed to handaeop station. he said mahnwon [$10] and motioned me to the cab. the next thing i knew i was in a cab with 3 koreans heading off for what i hoped to be handaeop station. as the cab speed down the highway i kept an eye out for road signs that said ansan. i wanted to make sure i was heading in the right direction. it funny cuz i thought i would have been more concerned about what was going on but i really wasn't. perhaps all the beer had kept me calm. once we dropped the girl off at songnoksu, the stop right before mine, i knew all was ok. as we were approaching handaeop the man next to me decided to chat me up in korean. i had to tell him "i don't know" and they all laughed. when the driver pulled over and said handaeop i looked around and nothing looked familiar. then i realized on was on the other side of the station. i paid then made my way home happily knowing i successful got myself there.
this morning i went into homemart, our corner store, to get some coffee in a plastic cup with a straw. i also wanted an onion but didn't want to buy a bunch so i asked him if i could buy one. he smiled and yes. then he said service, service. which meant he gave me the onion for free. how nice. before i left he told me my hair was beautiful. i laughed especially since i had literally just got out of bed and told him that my hair was all crazy. i tried to explain bedhead but i think it was lost on him. it feels like its going to be a hot one today. not sure what i'm going to do…
hello again. its midnight on sunday night. wanted to fill you in on how i spent my day. after a lazy start to my sunday i finally ventured out of the house around 5pm. decided to head into jungangdong to get some things and shop a bit. i hadn't been there in awhile. young and ben met me there. i did manage to find a watch store that sells the watch i want. didn't have a chance to try it on because they were closed. ahhh! at least now i know i don't have to trek all over seoul to find it. its right here in my backyard. oh the joy. all right bedtime.
be well...
countdown to sf: 1 month, 2 days
Tuesday, June 20, 2006
happy tuesday
deery-lou.
happy tuesday. i love tuesdays and thursdays. they are basically my easy days at school. right now i'm on yet another 40 min break. although all i can think about it food. not really sure why i'm so hungry. i did eat early. i've been snacking on giant jelly beans from misty and oreos that christine just gave me. however its not enough. i want to eat, eat, eat...
had a pretty decent tkd class last night. i think i'm finally beginning to figure out goya poomse. kwanjangnim gave me homework which entails me practicing my side kick. he told christine that he likes working one on one with me. i wonder if this means there's more of it to come. all last week sahbumnim was awol. i don't think he's coming back. where do all the sahbumnims disappear too? i've been there a year and have had 4 of them. a new one is starting this week. well, he's actually not new cuz he was the first sahbumnim i had at this school. he's returning. i think he was scared of me. or at least scared to speak english to me. hopefully it'll all go well. from what i remember he had that chic-geek look about him. hmmm.....
moving on to things of the past. saturday night was spent being out til 5am. not sure how i'm doing it but i am. we went to a cd release party for the waking party at club ff. they had a bunch of bands playing including the mustangs. my problem was that i just wasn't into it that night. not even for the mustangs who i absolutely love. i spent most of the evening outside chatting with olivia and betsy. however, after all the bands had finished and the dance tunes came on i perked up a bit. maybe all the drinks i had had something to do with my perkiness. who knows? so the rest of the evening was spent dancing til dawn.
sunday was spent on chen's rooftop chillin. i finally made my way home around 8pm. but before i did i stopped off at my favorite anime shop to get me a "debt free" present. he he! it must have been my lucky day cuz i bought two toys. the kind that you're not sure which one you are getting cuz the box is sealed and it could be one of six characters. anyway it just so happened that i got both of the ones i wanted. imagine that! me so happy. i also found the mustangs cd this weekend. another score for me. a majority of the songs on the cd are all new. at first listen i was a little bummed since there are two songs i was hoping would be on the cd. i got over it though cuz the cd rocks! must stop eating oreos and jelly beans…
be well...
happy tuesday. i love tuesdays and thursdays. they are basically my easy days at school. right now i'm on yet another 40 min break. although all i can think about it food. not really sure why i'm so hungry. i did eat early. i've been snacking on giant jelly beans from misty and oreos that christine just gave me. however its not enough. i want to eat, eat, eat...
had a pretty decent tkd class last night. i think i'm finally beginning to figure out goya poomse. kwanjangnim gave me homework which entails me practicing my side kick. he told christine that he likes working one on one with me. i wonder if this means there's more of it to come. all last week sahbumnim was awol. i don't think he's coming back. where do all the sahbumnims disappear too? i've been there a year and have had 4 of them. a new one is starting this week. well, he's actually not new cuz he was the first sahbumnim i had at this school. he's returning. i think he was scared of me. or at least scared to speak english to me. hopefully it'll all go well. from what i remember he had that chic-geek look about him. hmmm.....
moving on to things of the past. saturday night was spent being out til 5am. not sure how i'm doing it but i am. we went to a cd release party for the waking party at club ff. they had a bunch of bands playing including the mustangs. my problem was that i just wasn't into it that night. not even for the mustangs who i absolutely love. i spent most of the evening outside chatting with olivia and betsy. however, after all the bands had finished and the dance tunes came on i perked up a bit. maybe all the drinks i had had something to do with my perkiness. who knows? so the rest of the evening was spent dancing til dawn.
sunday was spent on chen's rooftop chillin. i finally made my way home around 8pm. but before i did i stopped off at my favorite anime shop to get me a "debt free" present. he he! it must have been my lucky day cuz i bought two toys. the kind that you're not sure which one you are getting cuz the box is sealed and it could be one of six characters. anyway it just so happened that i got both of the ones i wanted. imagine that! me so happy. i also found the mustangs cd this weekend. another score for me. a majority of the songs on the cd are all new. at first listen i was a little bummed since there are two songs i was hoping would be on the cd. i got over it though cuz the cd rocks! must stop eating oreos and jelly beans…
be well...
Friday, June 16, 2006
celebration time!!
deery-lou.
a quick post before i make my way for what will probably be another saturday all-nighter. will be heading into seoul around 5pm to catch up with some peeps to see the mustangs. yes, i know. but when you like something you go out and support. right. however, this isn't my reason for blogging right now. todays post is indeed one to celebrate. just a few minutes ago i made my final payment on my credit cards. YEAH!!!! [picture me jumping up and down smiling]. i am now officially credit card debt free. who would have ever thought this day would come. i know i certainly didn't. its such a great feeling to have rid myself of that monkey on my back. this further supports that my coming here was the best thing i could have ever done. now lets just hope i don't fall back into that cc trap when i return home. and i don't think i will. i've learned alot while being here and one of these is that i can live without having to charge everything. sure i will use my cc for purchasing airline tickets, etc. but i won't let it get out of control like i did before. so tonight i will celebrate. celebrate being free.
be free. be real…
a quick post before i make my way for what will probably be another saturday all-nighter. will be heading into seoul around 5pm to catch up with some peeps to see the mustangs. yes, i know. but when you like something you go out and support. right. however, this isn't my reason for blogging right now. todays post is indeed one to celebrate. just a few minutes ago i made my final payment on my credit cards. YEAH!!!! [picture me jumping up and down smiling]. i am now officially credit card debt free. who would have ever thought this day would come. i know i certainly didn't. its such a great feeling to have rid myself of that monkey on my back. this further supports that my coming here was the best thing i could have ever done. now lets just hope i don't fall back into that cc trap when i return home. and i don't think i will. i've learned alot while being here and one of these is that i can live without having to charge everything. sure i will use my cc for purchasing airline tickets, etc. but i won't let it get out of control like i did before. so tonight i will celebrate. celebrate being free.
be free. be real…
Thursday, June 15, 2006
limbo
deery-lou.
hard training. hard training. hard training. those were the words of wisdom spoken by my kwanjangnim tuesday night. deja-vu anyone!! he keeps talking about me going for my second dan [second black belt]. the problem is i don't feel motivated to get a second black belt. i achieved my initial goal of getting a black belt and can't quite see beyond that. perhaps my attitude would change if i felt like i was improving but i feel like i haven't. my dolryo-chogi [round house kick] is still a major thorn in my side. my mind knows what its suppose to do but my body doesn't seem to catch on. especially when i have to do it naturally or fast. being a naturally tensed person i find it quite hard to relax. a big part of taekwondo is relaxing then given all your power at the end. i want to put all my power into it from the beginning. so i frustrated. i'm trying to find some to respark my interest. no luck. all i do know is that i really don't want to quit. or maybe i do and i'm just fooling myself. during my conversation [if you can really call it that] with kwanjangnim he mentioned that he felt i had become somewhat uninterested. saying i was doing very hard training before getting my black belt and now not so much. thats where the hard training, hard training, hard training came back to haunt me. he's concerned that i won't be ready to go to kukkiwon for my second dan especially when it comes to sparring. he made a jesture of me gettting kicked in the face then pointed to himself and hung his head low. translation: if i go and look like i haven't improved he'll be ashamed. must say i don't really blame him. afterall being at kukkiwon with all your peers you don't want to look like you can't teach. i had to agree with him. i'm by no means reading to get my second dan. i'm just hoping that the interest comes backs. on a second note kwanjangnim asked me about weight training. awhile ago i had told sahbumnim that i wanted to work on getting inshape especially my stomach. kwanjangnim said he had a friend who was a weight training master. not sure where thats going to go but hoping i'll be able to start a new kind of program soon. until then i'm going to stick it out no matter how much i'd rather be doing nothing.
be well…
countdown to sf: 1 month, 12 days
hard training. hard training. hard training. those were the words of wisdom spoken by my kwanjangnim tuesday night. deja-vu anyone!! he keeps talking about me going for my second dan [second black belt]. the problem is i don't feel motivated to get a second black belt. i achieved my initial goal of getting a black belt and can't quite see beyond that. perhaps my attitude would change if i felt like i was improving but i feel like i haven't. my dolryo-chogi [round house kick] is still a major thorn in my side. my mind knows what its suppose to do but my body doesn't seem to catch on. especially when i have to do it naturally or fast. being a naturally tensed person i find it quite hard to relax. a big part of taekwondo is relaxing then given all your power at the end. i want to put all my power into it from the beginning. so i frustrated. i'm trying to find some to respark my interest. no luck. all i do know is that i really don't want to quit. or maybe i do and i'm just fooling myself. during my conversation [if you can really call it that] with kwanjangnim he mentioned that he felt i had become somewhat uninterested. saying i was doing very hard training before getting my black belt and now not so much. thats where the hard training, hard training, hard training came back to haunt me. he's concerned that i won't be ready to go to kukkiwon for my second dan especially when it comes to sparring. he made a jesture of me gettting kicked in the face then pointed to himself and hung his head low. translation: if i go and look like i haven't improved he'll be ashamed. must say i don't really blame him. afterall being at kukkiwon with all your peers you don't want to look like you can't teach. i had to agree with him. i'm by no means reading to get my second dan. i'm just hoping that the interest comes backs. on a second note kwanjangnim asked me about weight training. awhile ago i had told sahbumnim that i wanted to work on getting inshape especially my stomach. kwanjangnim said he had a friend who was a weight training master. not sure where thats going to go but hoping i'll be able to start a new kind of program soon. until then i'm going to stick it out no matter how much i'd rather be doing nothing.
be well…
countdown to sf: 1 month, 12 days
Tuesday, June 13, 2006
korea 2, togo 1
deery-lou.
well my evening didn't really turn out like i thought it would. instead of sitting in a bar drinking beer, eating chicken, and smoking cigs i was home eating sweet potato noodles wrapped in sausage casings reading the game via live updates. poor me. i think its time to find some ansan friends. maybe the next time korea plays i can find someone to watch with me. young did asked me to go to seoul but i had taekwondo and really didn't feel like going there. the other teachers were watching from their home in suwon. i thought about going to lake ansan but after taekwondo i was tired and i had my computer with me and didn't feel like lugging it all the way there. on my way home every single shop i passed had their tvs on. i did stop in the city center of where i live and watched a little. there were tons of people on the sidewalk. most of the restaurants in the area pulled out their tvs and plastic chairs for people to gather. while getting my food i made friends with two young girls who told me my korean was good. little did they know those were the only two words i knew. from my apartment i could here all my neighbors cheering, blowing whistles, etc. every time korea scored or did something that made them happy. the two players that scored goals ahn jung-hwan and lee chun-soo both happened to be in my top 4 list [see tuesdays blog]. can i pick them or what. its too bad i didn't get to see it for myself. at least the live feed had uptodate photos. so it was kind of like seeing it live. lee chun-soo is definitely is hot. he currently plays in the k-league for ulsan hyundai. guess what i'll be doing? trying to get myself to one of those games. hehe. all the noise from my neighbors has since deceased. one would think they'd be out celebrating in the streets. perhaps they are doing just that in seoul. i'm sure tomorrow at school everyone will be uber excited. go reds!!!!
be the reds…
p.s. during tkd my kwangangnim's cell phone went off and he has it set to play "baby's got back". you gotta luv it.
well my evening didn't really turn out like i thought it would. instead of sitting in a bar drinking beer, eating chicken, and smoking cigs i was home eating sweet potato noodles wrapped in sausage casings reading the game via live updates. poor me. i think its time to find some ansan friends. maybe the next time korea plays i can find someone to watch with me. young did asked me to go to seoul but i had taekwondo and really didn't feel like going there. the other teachers were watching from their home in suwon. i thought about going to lake ansan but after taekwondo i was tired and i had my computer with me and didn't feel like lugging it all the way there. on my way home every single shop i passed had their tvs on. i did stop in the city center of where i live and watched a little. there were tons of people on the sidewalk. most of the restaurants in the area pulled out their tvs and plastic chairs for people to gather. while getting my food i made friends with two young girls who told me my korean was good. little did they know those were the only two words i knew. from my apartment i could here all my neighbors cheering, blowing whistles, etc. every time korea scored or did something that made them happy. the two players that scored goals ahn jung-hwan and lee chun-soo both happened to be in my top 4 list [see tuesdays blog]. can i pick them or what. its too bad i didn't get to see it for myself. at least the live feed had uptodate photos. so it was kind of like seeing it live. lee chun-soo is definitely is hot. he currently plays in the k-league for ulsan hyundai. guess what i'll be doing? trying to get myself to one of those games. hehe. all the noise from my neighbors has since deceased. one would think they'd be out celebrating in the streets. perhaps they are doing just that in seoul. i'm sure tomorrow at school everyone will be uber excited. go reds!!!!
be the reds…
p.s. during tkd my kwangangnim's cell phone went off and he has it set to play "baby's got back". you gotta luv it.
Monday, June 12, 2006
fighting korea!!!
the teamdeery-lou.
everywhere i look its a sea of red. the people on the streets, shopkeepers, banners, etc., red! red!red! yes, korea is in full world cup mode to support their team: the red devils. the build up has been coming for months. at first shops had a few soccer tees here and there. and now its in full bloom. tees, bandanas, stickers, tatoos, devil horns, etc. you name it they got it. no where is safe. i've even seen a soccer ball with the teammates pictures on it. the team is also on every known piece of advertisement from chicken to cell phone. koreans sure do go all out. i'm surprised they don't have wheaties here. confession: i do have a "let's go korea" devil tee. whats next for me face painting? only time will tell. the students are in rare form today. the excitement is everywhere. most of them are sporting tees. the others have their face painting. in the hallway i can hear them sing the "korea fight" song. its all quite cute. tonight is actually the first match for korea. they're playing togo. the country has gone crazy. restaurants are busting out giant tvs, make-shift restaurants are appearing everywhere, in the park by my school they are having singers, dancers, etc. they definitely aren't holding back. its fun to see all the excitment building up. which makes it hard not to become a part of it. i can feel myself being drawn into the excitment like a fly to a web. it has actually given me a whole new outlook on sports, especially soccer. who knew it could be so fun. plus it doesn't hurt that the korean soccer team is full of hotties. the question is will i be watching tonight? there's acutally a slight chance i will. does this mean i've turned into a jock? far from it. but sometimes its fun to pretend.
here are the players i'll be watching [in order of preference]:
lee chun soo
park ji sung
cho won hee
ahn jung hwanbe the reds…
Sunday, June 11, 2006
rainy day parades
deery-lou.
what do you know its monday again! due to my saturday all-nighter, sunday was a complete waste. was there even a sunday! all i have of proof is the dirty dishes. i spent the entire day in bed having a lost marathon. yes i was lost in lost. i finished watching season 2. so good. is it me or does the show seem to get better and better. although i must say i wasn't that impressed with the season finale. i love how ddk's hair is getting all wavy. he's so hot. he needs more screen time. this past week has been korea's queer cultural events. yes even though there are no "gay" people in korea they still have a week long event. there were several things happening from speakers to films throughout seoul last week. unfortunately living out in ansan i didn't get to attend any of these. however i did manage to make it to the parade on saturday. even in the pouring rain. i met up with betsy around 3pm and we made our way to jongno park where the parade started. the turnout was somewhat bleak due to the weather but that didn't stop the parade from going on. having lived in sf i've been to my fair share of pride parades and although korea's was probably a fourth of the size and no booths that i saw, it was still a great experience to be a part of. especially when you consider how "in-the-closet" this whole country is. but its these tiny steps that will eventually help this country and its people to understand and accept all people. in the meantime if my friends and i can go out and support such events we will. even if it means getting soaked. most of the korean marchers had their faces covered. i guess there's still that fear of being recognized as gay. the parade went on for 12 city blocks. i followed along on the sidewalk. betsy, jen, and astrid deciding to join the parade and jumped in at the tale end with some of jen's friends. it was interesting to watch the onlookers and shopkeepers as the parade passed by. many probably weren't even aware that it was going to happen today. there were some surprised watches but in all most people seemed to enjoy it. i did a little bit of shopping along the way. i was looking for a watch that i saw on but had no luck. at the parades end i met up with jen, astrid, and betsy. feeling like drowned rats we decided that the time had come for coffee, beer, food, and relaxation. we went to ob pub [the first and closest place we found]. we settled on getting french fries, smoked chicken, and lots of beer. we hung out for a few hours chatting and drinking. outside it was still raining. around 9ish we decided to head over to the twon where some other friends of mine were. on our way to catch a cab we were stopped by two girls katy and gwendolyn who were asking where all the "gay" parties were. we gave them the scoop then decided it was best for them to join us. so they did. our first stop in the twon was bungalow's. bungalow's is quite chill and they have sandy floors. it was quite fun to be rid of my shoes and socks. the cold sand felt good on my feet. we ran into ruth and arleen which was an added bonus. i chatted with them for a bit then joined my party in the back of the bar. most of the evening i spent talking to my new bud katy. she's from england and the two of us hit it very well. it was almost as if we had known each other for a long time. i love meeting people like this. numerous cocktails were consumed and spilt and the time came for us to bid farewell to bungalow and head to the hill. ruth and arleen eventually showed up and i also met up with my friend howie. the rest of the night was spent there drinking and dancing. at 5am i said goodbye to my new bud katy. then howie and i went to eat spicy ramon while we waited for the subway to open at 5:30am. even though i didn't get home until 7am it was a great evening out. here's to pride 2006!!
be well…
countdown to sf: 1 month, 15 days
what do you know its monday again! due to my saturday all-nighter, sunday was a complete waste. was there even a sunday! all i have of proof is the dirty dishes. i spent the entire day in bed having a lost marathon. yes i was lost in lost. i finished watching season 2. so good. is it me or does the show seem to get better and better. although i must say i wasn't that impressed with the season finale. i love how ddk's hair is getting all wavy. he's so hot. he needs more screen time. this past week has been korea's queer cultural events. yes even though there are no "gay" people in korea they still have a week long event. there were several things happening from speakers to films throughout seoul last week. unfortunately living out in ansan i didn't get to attend any of these. however i did manage to make it to the parade on saturday. even in the pouring rain. i met up with betsy around 3pm and we made our way to jongno park where the parade started. the turnout was somewhat bleak due to the weather but that didn't stop the parade from going on. having lived in sf i've been to my fair share of pride parades and although korea's was probably a fourth of the size and no booths that i saw, it was still a great experience to be a part of. especially when you consider how "in-the-closet" this whole country is. but its these tiny steps that will eventually help this country and its people to understand and accept all people. in the meantime if my friends and i can go out and support such events we will. even if it means getting soaked. most of the korean marchers had their faces covered. i guess there's still that fear of being recognized as gay. the parade went on for 12 city blocks. i followed along on the sidewalk. betsy, jen, and astrid deciding to join the parade and jumped in at the tale end with some of jen's friends. it was interesting to watch the onlookers and shopkeepers as the parade passed by. many probably weren't even aware that it was going to happen today. there were some surprised watches but in all most people seemed to enjoy it. i did a little bit of shopping along the way. i was looking for a watch that i saw on but had no luck. at the parades end i met up with jen, astrid, and betsy. feeling like drowned rats we decided that the time had come for coffee, beer, food, and relaxation. we went to ob pub [the first and closest place we found]. we settled on getting french fries, smoked chicken, and lots of beer. we hung out for a few hours chatting and drinking. outside it was still raining. around 9ish we decided to head over to the twon where some other friends of mine were. on our way to catch a cab we were stopped by two girls katy and gwendolyn who were asking where all the "gay" parties were. we gave them the scoop then decided it was best for them to join us. so they did. our first stop in the twon was bungalow's. bungalow's is quite chill and they have sandy floors. it was quite fun to be rid of my shoes and socks. the cold sand felt good on my feet. we ran into ruth and arleen which was an added bonus. i chatted with them for a bit then joined my party in the back of the bar. most of the evening i spent talking to my new bud katy. she's from england and the two of us hit it very well. it was almost as if we had known each other for a long time. i love meeting people like this. numerous cocktails were consumed and spilt and the time came for us to bid farewell to bungalow and head to the hill. ruth and arleen eventually showed up and i also met up with my friend howie. the rest of the night was spent there drinking and dancing. at 5am i said goodbye to my new bud katy. then howie and i went to eat spicy ramon while we waited for the subway to open at 5:30am. even though i didn't get home until 7am it was a great evening out. here's to pride 2006!!
be well…
countdown to sf: 1 month, 15 days
Thursday, June 08, 2006
moon
deery-lou.
last year my student sue wrote a poem about the moon. i had written the poem down in a notebook. i had completely forgotten about it until the other day when i came across it. enjoy
Moon
Dad
The moon follows me.
The moon?
Yes.
It seems she likes you.
No.
It seems she likes dad.
The moon is on daddy's head.
be well...
last year my student sue wrote a poem about the moon. i had written the poem down in a notebook. i had completely forgotten about it until the other day when i came across it. enjoy
Moon
Dad
The moon follows me.
The moon?
Yes.
It seems she likes you.
No.
It seems she likes dad.
The moon is on daddy's head.
be well...
Monday, June 05, 2006
grease is the word...
deery-lou.
thanks to hez, i too, decided to chart my morale. the only problem is that i keep forgetting to do it and now its becoming a chore. sigh…
the other day while playing the wonder woman theme song for hanna and chelsea, hanna asked me if i knew grease. i gave her the look, said yes, and started to sing. that's when chelsea said to hannah, "he likes to sing sometimes." hannan tells me that she was in her school play of grease. i asked if she was rizzo or sandy but she wasn't. she was frenchie. i'm gonna like this girl. although i do find it odd for an elementary school to be putting on a play of grease. go figure.
be well…
p.s. i'm on holiday today. i love korea!!
thanks to hez, i too, decided to chart my morale. the only problem is that i keep forgetting to do it and now its becoming a chore. sigh…
my chart
the other day while playing the wonder woman theme song for hanna and chelsea, hanna asked me if i knew grease. i gave her the look, said yes, and started to sing. that's when chelsea said to hannah, "he likes to sing sometimes." hannan tells me that she was in her school play of grease. i asked if she was rizzo or sandy but she wasn't. she was frenchie. i'm gonna like this girl. although i do find it odd for an elementary school to be putting on a play of grease. go figure.
be well…
p.s. i'm on holiday today. i love korea!!
Saturday, June 03, 2006
e.rants & other random things…
deery-lou.
today's entry is going to deal with rants & other random things that have happened recently. i will break them down into topics.
conversations with koreans:
so a few weekends ago i was sitting out front of ff with betsy and ym. ym mentioned that he was in a band. seeing that there was alot of silence in the air [which is often the case when hanging out with koreans] i decided to engage him in conversation:
me: what instrument do you play?
ym: bass. [at least i think he said that]
me: what's the name of your band?
ym: [he says something but i don't understand]
me: [i repeat back what i thought he said]
ym: [he says it again but still i can't understand]
b: [betsy steps in thankfully] its half-brother
me: what do you sound like?
ym: punk like pop
me: ah, so it's like punk pop
ym: no, its punk like pop, not punk pop
the silence returns as i sit there pondering this quote "punk like pop, but not punk pop." hmmm…
on korean fashion:
it has finally dawned on me. the fashion here is belinda carlisle during her go-go's phase circa talk show. do you all remember the "head over heels" video. i think that says it all. its the dreaded rounded-cut tees that show off your shoulders in pinks, oranges, blues, and yellow. the konlish on these shirts is something else. and the best part is that these are the guys shirts. most of the tees here seem to be unisex. which makes shopping difficult cuz i often don't know what section i'm in.
the go-go's
another big fashion trend seems to be the two different tank tops as well as the tank top with the rounded-cut shoulder tee on top of it. then there's 80s favorite layered tee look. you know where it looks like two tees but its actually one. but lets not favorite the other latest trend that seems to be sweeping over korea. the black/white and red/white stripes shirts. i counted about 30 of these one day. the thing that kills me is that the korean guys can totally pull off these fashions. if i attempted any of these looks i'd look like a complete fool.
yipes stripes!
on using public transportation:
it never fails that anytime i'm riding the subway i always have to fight my way off. the people are so eager to get on they don't let the passengers get off first. then theres the high school students who all stand in the front section of the bus making it nearly impossible to get to the back where its completely empty. a few of them also let to stand right in front of the back door and don't move when your trying to get off. umm, hello! move please!
on corner stores:
there's been numberous times when i'm standing in line to check out and some random person will come in and butt right in front of me.
on public urination:
i was riding the subway one day and as we were leaving the station i noticed there was a man standing at the end of the platform taking a piss. its not like the station doesn't have bathrooms. then this morning as i was walking there was a little boy standing in the grass with his pants down going to the bathroom while his grandmother watched. granted i'm no saint when it comes to public urination. but i always try to conceal myself the best i can. i don't just whip it our for all to see.
on things that make me happy:
1. yogurt drinks
2. roasted hard-boiled eggs
3. korean soccer players
4. 2 for $5 floor pillows
5. discovering new k-bands
6. my side-dish lady
7. the treasures you find in the stationary stores
8. the parks
9. iced coffee in a can/cup
10. spring time in korea
11. $.50 ice creams
on my class with chelsea:
chelsea is quite a sassy young girl. always has something to say whether its asking me "why i'm not married" or "what's wrong with my head" when i'm wearing a bandana. on friday a new girl joined our class. her name was hanna. the two seemed to get along fabulously. like two old woman. asking me question after question and just chatting away. while we were sitting around chatting hanna whispered something to chelsea. teasing them i asked what they were saying. chelsea chimes in and says that hanna said i was sexy. i thought she said sassy. so i replied by saying yeah i guess i can be sassy. they both giggled and said no sexy like you are going to go on a passion show. i had no clue as to what they were talking about. i still thought they were saying sassy and was trying to figure out what a passion show was. then they got up and walked over to the wall of superheroes and pointed at the aquaman picture on the wall.
sexy aquaman
"sexy like aquaman," they said. finally it hit me. sexy and passion show. i didn't quite know what to say. especially when being called sexy by two 10 year-olds. naturally i changed the subject.
on my parent meeting:
tuesday we had to meet with the moms of one of my classes. the students are about to go from orange level to green level. the moms were concerned. the moms and one dad showed up at 6:30. for most of the meeting anna did all the talking and i just sat there. which was fine with me. then i had to do my little part. as i was telling the moms and one dad how i teach the class they all had blank looks on their faces. they didn't understand a word. thankfully anna was there to translate. i decided instead of telling them what i do i'd open it up to them asking me questions. of course i got the standard "how is my child doing" etc. sue's mom then went on to say how much sue likes me. she's always saying how handsome i am, telling her mom she loves me, etc. how cute is that. i love my students.
well i think that about does for me today. i'll post more e.rants & other things in the future. thanks for tuning in to ketv.
be rantful. be well…
countdown to sf: 1 month, 23 days
today's entry is going to deal with rants & other random things that have happened recently. i will break them down into topics.
conversations with koreans:
so a few weekends ago i was sitting out front of ff with betsy and ym. ym mentioned that he was in a band. seeing that there was alot of silence in the air [which is often the case when hanging out with koreans] i decided to engage him in conversation:
me: what instrument do you play?
ym: bass. [at least i think he said that]
me: what's the name of your band?
ym: [he says something but i don't understand]
me: [i repeat back what i thought he said]
ym: [he says it again but still i can't understand]
b: [betsy steps in thankfully] its half-brother
me: what do you sound like?
ym: punk like pop
me: ah, so it's like punk pop
ym: no, its punk like pop, not punk pop
the silence returns as i sit there pondering this quote "punk like pop, but not punk pop." hmmm…
on korean fashion:
it has finally dawned on me. the fashion here is belinda carlisle during her go-go's phase circa talk show. do you all remember the "head over heels" video. i think that says it all. its the dreaded rounded-cut tees that show off your shoulders in pinks, oranges, blues, and yellow. the konlish on these shirts is something else. and the best part is that these are the guys shirts. most of the tees here seem to be unisex. which makes shopping difficult cuz i often don't know what section i'm in.
the go-go'sanother big fashion trend seems to be the two different tank tops as well as the tank top with the rounded-cut shoulder tee on top of it. then there's 80s favorite layered tee look. you know where it looks like two tees but its actually one. but lets not favorite the other latest trend that seems to be sweeping over korea. the black/white and red/white stripes shirts. i counted about 30 of these one day. the thing that kills me is that the korean guys can totally pull off these fashions. if i attempted any of these looks i'd look like a complete fool.
yipes stripes!on using public transportation:
it never fails that anytime i'm riding the subway i always have to fight my way off. the people are so eager to get on they don't let the passengers get off first. then theres the high school students who all stand in the front section of the bus making it nearly impossible to get to the back where its completely empty. a few of them also let to stand right in front of the back door and don't move when your trying to get off. umm, hello! move please!
on corner stores:
there's been numberous times when i'm standing in line to check out and some random person will come in and butt right in front of me.
on public urination:
i was riding the subway one day and as we were leaving the station i noticed there was a man standing at the end of the platform taking a piss. its not like the station doesn't have bathrooms. then this morning as i was walking there was a little boy standing in the grass with his pants down going to the bathroom while his grandmother watched. granted i'm no saint when it comes to public urination. but i always try to conceal myself the best i can. i don't just whip it our for all to see.
on things that make me happy:
1. yogurt drinks
2. roasted hard-boiled eggs
3. korean soccer players
4. 2 for $5 floor pillows
5. discovering new k-bands
6. my side-dish lady
7. the treasures you find in the stationary stores
8. the parks
9. iced coffee in a can/cup
10. spring time in korea
11. $.50 ice creams
on my class with chelsea:
chelsea is quite a sassy young girl. always has something to say whether its asking me "why i'm not married" or "what's wrong with my head" when i'm wearing a bandana. on friday a new girl joined our class. her name was hanna. the two seemed to get along fabulously. like two old woman. asking me question after question and just chatting away. while we were sitting around chatting hanna whispered something to chelsea. teasing them i asked what they were saying. chelsea chimes in and says that hanna said i was sexy. i thought she said sassy. so i replied by saying yeah i guess i can be sassy. they both giggled and said no sexy like you are going to go on a passion show. i had no clue as to what they were talking about. i still thought they were saying sassy and was trying to figure out what a passion show was. then they got up and walked over to the wall of superheroes and pointed at the aquaman picture on the wall.
sexy aquaman"sexy like aquaman," they said. finally it hit me. sexy and passion show. i didn't quite know what to say. especially when being called sexy by two 10 year-olds. naturally i changed the subject.
on my parent meeting:
tuesday we had to meet with the moms of one of my classes. the students are about to go from orange level to green level. the moms were concerned. the moms and one dad showed up at 6:30. for most of the meeting anna did all the talking and i just sat there. which was fine with me. then i had to do my little part. as i was telling the moms and one dad how i teach the class they all had blank looks on their faces. they didn't understand a word. thankfully anna was there to translate. i decided instead of telling them what i do i'd open it up to them asking me questions. of course i got the standard "how is my child doing" etc. sue's mom then went on to say how much sue likes me. she's always saying how handsome i am, telling her mom she loves me, etc. how cute is that. i love my students.
well i think that about does for me today. i'll post more e.rants & other things in the future. thanks for tuning in to ketv.
be rantful. be well…
countdown to sf: 1 month, 23 days
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